Reminiscent of the old Church dance festivals that used to be held in conjunction with June conference, the programs have given youth, who are sometimes isolated as one of few Church members in their schools, a chance to know each other, work together and have good, old-fashioned wholesome fun.

The blue printed program for the evening took a quote from President Hinckley’s recent April General Conference address as a reminder:  “It is wonderfully refreshing to see the faith and faithfulness of our young people.  They live at a time when a great tide of evil is washing over the earth.  It seems to be everywhere…But we find literally hundreds of thousands of our young people holding to the high standards of the gospel. 

“They find happy and uplifting association with those of their own kind.  They are improving their minds with education and their skills with discipline, and their influence for good is felt ever more widely.”

The performance looked as fun as President Hinckley hoped it would be.  The Radio City Music Hall stage brimmed with performers who kicked and twirled, curtsied and flipped, break-danced or swung arm in arm.  The long weeks of practice paid off in a colorfully costumed series of dances organized by stakes.  The teens have been practicing every Saturday since March, sometimes for six or seven hours at a time.

At one point in the midst of talking about fun, President Hinckley quipped, “I’ve only had one sorrow—for those who have gone to such tremendous effort to do this the right way.”

The evening began with a sea of primary children dressed in white singing “Teach Me to Walk in the Light and ended with an epilogue of all the performers singing “The Lord is My Light.”  In the darkened auditorium sitting in the audience, all the youth held up their lights, making the scene as if filled with a thousand stars. 

“Verily I say unto you all:  Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations” (D&C 115: 4-5)

Click here to go to Part 3 of The Youth Jubilee in New York City