To all my LDS friends

Dear Liahona Magazine Reader,

My name is Victor Cave. I work alongside the staff of the Church magazines in Salt Lake City, Utah. One of our good editors, Melissa Merrill, works for the Liahona Magazine.

She is writing an article, for the adult members of the Church, about strengthening young men and young women ages 12¬- 18, by helping them have their own spiritual experiences.

For this article, she would be pleased to receive stories from parents, readers of youth, and youth themselves about times when they felt the Spirit, gained their own testimony, found a solution in the scriptures, received an answer to prayer, etc.

Melissa is very interested in receiving practical ideas about things leaders and parents can do to foster an environment where youth can discover and build their own testimonies. In other words, what can a parent or leader do not to force a young person to obtain a testimony but to guide the youth and facilitate a testimony-building experience? Are there things they can do at home? In classes on Sunday? At youth activities?

Please feel free to use as many or as few words as you need to tell your story. It can be written in any language, and sent directly to Melissa Merrill by e-mail at melissa@ldschurch.org by August 1, 2011.

If you have any questions, please contact Melissa directly.

Thank you so very much for your help.
Victor Cave
Curriculum Department

P.S. You may also forward this e-mail message to other parents or leaders of youth, inviting them to participate in the same way.

Bonding with former classmates after 25 years

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Last January 1, 2011 , twenty five of us (my classmates in high school and some kids) travelled to the province of Albay to visit our former classmate. We’ve been planning to visit her and we thought that it was the most opportune time for us, after hosting our high school home coming last Dec 30, 2010 to enjoy , relax and have fun after all the stress and hard work we did during the planning, preparation and hosting of our homecoming.

Leaving our alma mater at around 2 pm, our bus headed to Albay despite of the cloudy skies and slight shower in Pili, Cam.Sur. Inside the bus, we were so happy chatting with each other about our former school days and present lives.

Since most people in the group haven’t seen the historic 16th century old Cagsawa church buried by the Mayon volcano’s eruption in 1814 , our batch president asked the driver for a short stop to see the ruins. I could not refrain from feeling sad upon seeing the place, yet could not ignore the beauty and serenity of the surrounding. The belfry, serving as a memoriam of the 1,200 people buried inside the church still stood strong. It has become a notable landmark of the province of Albay and one of the most frequently visited tourist spots in the country.

At the background one could only see the foot of Mount Mayon. If not for the cloudy weather condition, our camera would have captured the majestic view of the volcano, which is another major tourist attraction in the Philippines and notable in the world.

Sitting silently at the bus on the way to our friend’s resort at Sto. Domingo, Albay, I was humbled at the realization that the forces of nature can be very destructive and when they strike man is totally helpless that’s why we ought to take care of them and pray for safety to the one in whom our life depends and who created and controls everything that is happening in this world.

A memorable sidetrip (Touching the walls of the Cagsawa ruins)

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It was on a rainy afternoon of Jan 1, 2011 when our high school class ‘85 travelled to Albay to visit one of our classmates. After several months of tiresome preparation for hosting our school homecoming activity last December 30, 2010, we’ve decided that as a way to relax and reward ourselves for the job well done, most if not all of us 50 alumni visit our friend’s resort.

Despite of the cloudy weather and heavy downpour in most parts of the province of Albay, our group decided to pursue the trip to Sto. Domingo to take advantage of our long Christmas holiday vacation.

Since most of us, especially the kids, wanted to see the historical tourist spot of the Cagsawa ruins, we've decided to take a short stop.A friendly photographer offered to take our photos. We had fun and was amazed at the camera tricks the local guys showed us there. The guides were friendly and polite too.

After offering a short prayer for the souls of the people who had been buried alive on the spot where I stood, I suggested to our group leader to go on with our trip. We only stayed there for about 30-45 minutes and moved ahead to our destination for fear that after raining for days in Albay , we might get caught in a landslide in that low lying part of the area.

Although our stay was brief because of the seemingly bad weather, we had fun especially with our photo shoots and I was grateful for having the chance to see the place for the first time with my friends.