Young Single Adults Serve, Dance and More, Ahead of 2024 Utah Area YSA Conference

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By Kaitlyn Bancroft, Joe Wirthlin, Joel Randall, Lucy Esplin, Church News

Ahead of the 2024 Utah Area Young Single Adult Conference, young adults gathered for a variety of free, local events across Utah, including temple trips, service projects and parties.

The majority took place on Saturday, July 27, and were held in Logan, Ogden, Salt Lake City, Utah County and St. George.

Here are some highlights from the events.

Salt Lake City

A battalion of 124 volunteers arrived at the Salt Lake City Cemetery on Saturday, July 27, to photograph gravestones. The idea, originally proposed by young adult Eliza Stewart, involved using a new software program piloted by the cemetery to digitize the gravestones.

“Once I heard I was over the service project,” she said, “the first thing that came to mind was the cemetery.” She contacted the Salt Lake City Cemetery to ask how YSAs could help, and she was asked to try out the software program, which collects the image of gravestones and their exact location. “I think it will move the work forward a lot faster and a lot more efficiently as we use the resources that we’ve been blessed with.”

During the first 30 minutes of the orientation for the service project, the organizers ran out of flyers to hand out to volunteers. The participants went row by row within two plats of the cemetery, clearing away grass and dirt and taking photos of the gravestones. They then emailed the photos to coordinators to be uploaded to the software once they had better service.

Grant Beck, a young adult living in Salt Lake City, said family is important in his life. He wanted to help others learn about their families, to give them a sense of identity and help them connect to their roots. “When you’re done serving, you just feel great, and you feel just like a better person, and there [are] so many blessings.”

Mason Hawes from South Jordan, Utah, said it can be easy for young adults to feel there’s not much they can do to be involved with family history work. But they can change their perspective as they realize today’s technology allows young adults to bless their ancestors like never before, he said.

“We understand that we’re blessed today because of them,” Hawes said, “and there’s a lot of them in the past that might not receive the same blessings gospel-wise that we receive today. So it’s really important that we seek those same blessings for those that made it possible for us to be here.”

Zak Osgood from West Jordan, Utah, said he loves researching family history and is eager to see the effects of this project. “Doing this really helps ... people like me who are researching this kind of thing on the other end.”

He said love for family connects Latter-day Saint young adults in family history efforts. “We all have those shared beliefs and also the same goal, and it helps us to connect more that way.”

Utah Valley

July 27 also saw young single adults in Utah Valley joining the Turtle Shelter Project to create insulated vests for people who are homeless. Though the event was set for 9:30 a.m., over 100 people were diligently marking fabric, pinning and sewing before the event had officially begun.

As more young adults trickled in, many stopped at the happy chatter and efficient work — until they were quickly welcomed with a smile and an invitation to join a station.

As the room swelled with volunteers, the founder of the Turtle Shelter Project stood with a microphone to share her story.

“My name is Jen Spencer, and I am a daughter of God,” she said. “I am also a recovering meth addict.”

Spencer explained that while she grew up in a faithful Latter-day Saint family in Mountain Green, Utah, her misunderstanding of repentance generated an unbearable amount of shame. “I truly believed that God felt like I was spitting in His face every single time I would screw up.”

So she stopped trying to repent, and her poor coping methods led her to a full-blown addiction. For the next 20 years, Spencer struggled with depression and homelessness.

But with the help of friends, she began to understand and develop a relationship with God. She checked into a rehab facility, which is where she first learned about high-tech foam fabric that keeps a person warm in temperatures as low as 10 degrees below zero. Realizing its potential for the homeless, Spencer founded the Turtle Shelter Project to make vests from this fabric for homeless communities.

After Spencer spoke, volunteers jumped back into their tasks. “Getting to work with so many different people who play such an important part and are so loved by God means so much to me. ... [I] get to feel His love for people I’ve never even met before,” said Kalia Reyes, a student at Brigham Young University.

Spencer and her team of volunteers will personally deliver the vests to homeless camps once the weather turns cold, ensuring each vest is “fit like a tuxedo.”

Later that evening, young single adults piled into cars and made their way to Saratoga Springs to participate in a 5K race past the Saratoga Springs Temple. Runners were greeted with unlimited snow cones and leis, befitting the luau theme.

At the finish line, red-faced and smiling runners found food trucks, field games and Samoan fire dancers waiting. As the sun set, more young single adults joined, and the event turned into a dance party.

Ogden

In Ogden on July 27, pouring rain didn’t stop hundreds of young single adults from turning out to help tie blankets for refugees and to enjoy food, a comedian and a dance.

The event began outside the Ogden Institute of Religion at Weber State University; and while inclement weather necessitated a hasty shift inside the building, the young single adults were in high spirits as they sat in circles throughout the hallways and rooms, laughing off the rain while cutting and tying hundreds of fleece blankets.

Aubree Nilson, a young single adult who helped plan the event, said the service project was picked through JustServe and would result in about 600 completed blankets for refugees around the world. Event organizers anticipated a turnout of 1,800 to 2,000 young single adults, she added.

Nilson said the event “truly is the spirit of service, the spirit of Christ. ... We really do believe that as we come together and serve each other, we can change the world in different ways.”

Nicole Hooker, a young single adult who helped tie blankets, said she appreciated being around other people who share her values, especially as the world becomes a more difficult place.

“You’re reminded that there are people that are out there that believe like you do, and it’s OK to be religious and active in faith,” she said.

The rain let up as young single adults enjoyed a dinner of loaded pork nachos and then a performance from comedian Sam Adams inside the Shepherd Union Building. After, the skies were clear as an outdoor dance started beneath Weber State University’s Stewart Bell Tower.

Andrew Barss, a young single adult who attended the dance, said he decided to come after receiving an invitation to the event via text. Even though he came alone, being with a large group of young single adults gave him a sense of belonging, he said.

“Even though nobody here knows me, I still feel like I’m just part of something,” Barss said.

Logan and St. George

In Logan, young single adults attended endowment sessions in the Logan Utah Temple on Friday, July 26, at sessions set aside specifically for the event.

On Saturday, July 27, young single adults helped with a service project in the morning, and all 115 slots filled days before the event. A group of participants cleaned up trails and campsites with the U.S. Forest Service in Green Canyon, while others cleaned up pine needles and trash and painted fences at the Logan City Cemetery.

Then in the evening, they enjoyed yard games, a dance and free Karie Anne’s Italian Ice and Custard.

In St. George, young single adults served in the Red Cliffs Utah Temple and the Cedar City Utah Temple on Friday, July 26.

On Saturday, July 27, they attended a party at the St. George Institute of Religion that included dinner, a service project, a dance and games.

About the 2024 Utah Area YSA Conference

The 2024 Utah Area Young Single Adult Conference will be Friday through Sunday, August 2-4, in Salt Lake City, the Utah Area presidency and conference leadership announced Thursday, April 11.

“Following the excitement of the 2023 YSA conference, the Utah Area presidency is excited to invite young single adults ages 18-35 to the upcoming 2024 Utah Area YSA Conference,” the event’s website states.

At the conference, young single adults “can strengthen their faith in Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ,” the Utah Area presidency wrote in a letter to stake presidents, bishops, Relief Society and elders quorum presidents, and all young single adults.

Participants can expect a conference modeled after last year’s inaugural event. Activities will include:

• A two-day convention August 2 and 3, with keynote speakers, service opportunities, classes and other activities.
• Concerts August 2 and 3 in the Delta Center, featuring singers Ben Rector, Rachel Platten and Emma Nissen.
• Dances and other evening entertainment.
• A devotional in the Conference Center on August 4 with Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Conference tickets are $50 and are available at utahysaconference.org. Conference registration includes the convention, concert and dances as one ticket.

The conference’s devotional requires a separate, free ticket, also available at utahysaconference.org. Conference registration is not required to obtain a ticket for the devotional.

Follow updates about the 2024 Utah Area Young Single Adult Conference at utahysaconference.org or on Facebook and Instagram at @utysaconf.

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