For those of you who did not come to the South East Youth Convention from July 11–18, 1999, in Harrison, Tennessee, USA, you really missed a blessing. We do not know about most Youth Messenger readers, but sometimes we as young people do not find sermons very interesting. At the Youth Convention though, it was different. We looked forward to all the studies that we were going to have. We are going to try to summarize everything and tell you a little about the topics we found most interesting.

“Dare to Be Different” was very interesting. This topic was a challenge to the youth to be different in the swelling tide of peer pressure. An example that Bro. Jonathan Tyler gave was of Daniel—how he stood up for what he believed even though it could have meant death.

Another interesting one was “Choosing Your Profession Before Marriage.” Why should you choose your profession before marriage, and how can you decide what profession you will undertake? One piece of advice given was that you should first determine your capabilities. For example, if you and math do not click, do not become an accountant. One question to be asked when deciding your profession is “Does it glorify God?” If it does not, then you should look for another profession.

“In Style With Jesus” was another topic that we really enjoyed. This was about dress reform—what we are supposed to wear, why we are to wear what we wear, and so on. But the way Sis. Linda Kiker presented it was totally different from how we usually hear it. One of the things that she discussed was about how what we wear protects us, the girls especially. One example she gave was with the split skirts. When they’re split, it’s as if you are playing “peek-a-boo” with your legs and the boys. “Now you see it, now you don’t.” After a while it starts to become a temptation for them. She spoke more about the dress of girls than she did about the guys, but the same rules applied to them, she said.

“The Sounds of Music” was a very interesting one also. Bro. Nathan Tyler explained how certain types of music were wrong to listen to and how to tell which kinds were good and which ones should be put in the recycle bin. He drew two circles and divided them both into three parts: PARTS OF THE BODY: Spiritual, Emotional, and Physical. PARTS OF MUSIC: Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm.

He said that melody affected the spiritual part of the body, harmony affected the emotional part, and rhythm affected the physical part. Then he said that the parts of music should be balanced. He compared music to food. When you season the food, you try not to put in too much salt, right? Well it’s the same with music. Not too much rhythm, or harmony, or melody. If you can taste the salt (rhythm), you have too much. He had us listen to some samples of music and a few of us were asked to get up and come to the front to keep time for him so that the others would be able to know the rhythm. Then we all had to tell him whether the sample was trash or not.

One study that we know everyone enjoyed was “Choosing Your Life Partner.” In it Bro. Peter Lausevic discussed how to choose your partner, how to correctly start a relationship, and how to maintain a pure life during the relationship and after marriage. He also answered questions that some people had concerning this topic. Questions like “Is sex a sin?”, “Is it right to date?”, “Is it OK to kiss before you get married?”, “Can you marry someone of another race?”, and “Can you marry someone of another religion?” One twelve-year-old asked “Is sex before marriage a sin?” Bro. Peter answered all these questions, and there were others that people asked throughout the course of the study that he also answered. This study was so interesting that after an hour and a half had gone by, he still had plenty left to discuss so he asked us if we wanted to continue and the answer was a unanimous YES! We went on for another half hour. I don’t think any of us will soon forget what we learned and discussed.

Now, those of you who did not attend, not only missed out on the blessings received from the meetings, but missed out on a lot of fun which we had during the activities.

One place we went to was Ruby Falls, which is the “Jewel of Lookout Mountain.” The 145-foot flowing waterfall is located over 11,000 feet inside Lookout Mountain. In order to get to it we had to take an elevator that took us 260 feet underground. Our guide said that we were down as far as the Empire State Building is tall. We passed through the Lookout Mountain Caverns on our way to the falls and saw many stalactite and stalagmite formations that were very interesting. Our favorite formations were the “Dinosaur Foot,” “Angels’ Wings”, “Beehives”, and the “Steak and Potatoes.” When we got to the waterfall, we looked up to see the top of the falls—and we mean we looked way up. The guide said that they don’t know where the water comes from or where it goes, but whenever it rains they can see that the waterfall has received more water. We were told not to drink of the water from the falls because it had much more magnesium than any laxative, so we didn’t. On the way out, the guide allowed us to stop and sing a couple of songs. One song that we sang was “Seek Ye First.” We sounded pretty good even if we do say so ourselves. One guide we met by the elevators, which would take us up to ground level, said they could hear us singing and they were not even close to where we were at that time.

We got a chance to experience the thrill of riding “America’s Most Amazing Mile” as the incline ascended historic Lookout Mountain. Chattanooga and the surrounding mountains and valleys came alive as the trolley-style railcar carried us cloud-high. The breathtaking grade of the track—72.7% near the top—gives the incline the unique distinction of being the steepest passenger railway in the world. We often wondered what would happen if the cable broke and the railcar took off down the mountain. What a ride that would be! Once at the top, we were able to see a few states. If we had been there on a clear day, we would have been able to see six states. After we had seen enough of this, we went to visit Point Park. Point Park is the location where the famous “Battle Above the Clouds” was fought in 1863. We even got to stand on the bluff where General Ulysses S. Grant stood.

Another place we went was the Tennessee Aquarium. It was pretty neat. They have about 9,000 animals, some of which were snakes, alligators, sharks, turtles, jellyfish, and of course, fish. Then we went down to the corner and crossed the street to see an Imax film at the Aquarium’s six-story, Imax 3D Theater. The film was a documentary about some of the creatures of the ocean—about their habitats and some of their unusual habits. Pretty interesting, if you ask us.

Now, after we had finished our studies and completed our activities for the day, you can imagine how hungry we must have been. And we are very thankful that we had such good cooks who prepared several healthy and very appetizing dishes for us. We got a lot of our energies from the delicious food that we ate.

Apart from the fun we had during the activities, and the food that we enjoyed, several wonderful things happened that we would like to share with you. It was surprising how many people attended. During the week we had nearly 70 people, but by the time the weekend came we had over 90 people attending. Many of these came from different states and even different countries! Some came from California, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, Texas, Louisiana, Canada, and we even had some coming from Brazil and the Philippines.

All of us made many new friends and enjoyed the time we spent with them. When the Youth Convention came to an end we were really sad to go our separate ways. And next year we hope to see them all again and meet new people.

On Sabbath, July 17, after the sermon, Bro. Peter gave the call for those who wanted to dedicate their hearts to the Lord to come forward. More than half of the people went up. Most were young people, but a few adults went forward also. Bro. Peter had a special prayer with us and we hope and pray that the Holy Spirit will work in our lives. And we also pray that next year more young people will attend and experience such a wonderful encounter with the Lord.