National camps prepare youths for missions, future

In recent weeks, some 17,000 Central American youths have participated in nationwide camps organized by their respective local leaders in Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.Similar nationwide youth camps are planned in the coming months in Honduras and Panama. Once completed, it's expected that 25,000 young people will have participated in an LDS youth camp designed to better prepare young men and young women for missionary service and the blessings of the temple.The young men and young women from each of the nations participated in separate camps, allowing the boys to concentrate on missionary preparation and the girls to focus on the goals and requirements found in the Young Women Personal Progress program."The national young men's and young women's camps provide the youth of Central America the opportunity to understand and feel the greatness of this work," said Central America Area President Don R. Clarke, a member of the Seventy. "The youth have spiritual experiences, form friendships, make commitments to go on missions, prepare to make temple covenants and have temple marriages."