In December and January when the youth are out of school, the Church holds SOY. This is similar to EFY or Youth Conference, and sessions are held throughout Central America, each conference getting a visit from a member of the Area Presidency. Youth attend a session within their country that runs for 5 days. We were invited to visit one afternoon at SOY for the 756 youth who attended from the Retalhuleu and Quetzaltenango Regions. The Guatemala SOY program is held at a wonderful Church-owned camp near Chimaltenango, which we hear has 10,000 acres. It even has purified water! The youth camp in tents, two to a tent. The girls' camp is in the background here, with rows and rows of tents! And
some distance away (separated by a well-lit no-man's land) is the boys' camp. In addition to the canopy cover shown above, the camp has large pavilions for instruction, and a building big enough for all the participants. On the afternoon of the fireside we attended with Pres. Duncan of the Area Presidency, the youth were all dressed in their Sunday-best. Because the youth all want to attend SOY, it is limited to 17 and 18-year-olds and really becomes a time of preparation and commitment for missionary service. The day we attended we heard that all the young men made a commitment to serve a mission, and many of the young women did so the next day.
