March 10th, 2025, 12:06pm MDT
Thousands of young people and their leaders encouraged bad weather, travel challenges, and language and cultural barriers to find strength in Jesus Christ and each other at the Youth Strength Conference in Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand.
The recent Pacific Region FSY Conference took place in the region’s summer months in December 2024 and January 2025. In some regions, this was the first event or recorded a return of the meeting years later.
“Christ will bless you and change you.”
Vanuatu saw its first FSY meeting in December, where nearly 1,000 young people and young leaders from three island countries spoke three different languages that gathered in Port Vila. Teens, ages 14 to 18, traveled from the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia and Outer Islands in Vanuatu.
Pauline Daniel, one of the coordinators of FSY Port Vila, felt that the meeting helped young people interact with each other and “strengthened their faith in the Savior” and at the same time made new friends.
Breedley of the Solomon Islands learned to focus on Christ through biblical studies and prayer. “He will bless you, change you, and life will be easier,” Breedley said.
Ready to overcome challenges and seize opportunities
They put cultural differences aside as more than 4,000 young people from across Papua New Guinea, who come from both urban and rural villages, share testimony of Jesus Christ, the church’s Papua New Guinea newsroom says about the December meeting.
Many Latter-day Saints in Papua New Guinea live in distant villages in jungle forests. Young people from these areas ran down the winding road and took motorboats to access the road leading to the nearest FSY location.
Organizers of Daru Island FSY had to make some preemptive changes to forecast high winds that could prevent two-thirds of youth from attending due to safety issues. These young people arrive by boat from remote rivers and island villages. Last minute coordination and accommodation, four days before the event, provided a way for all 600 young people to participate in the meeting.
The report noted a lot of excitement among members about the still-built temple announced in Kilibati, and that the FSY conference is preparing their youth to become temple responses.
“Current generations are ready to seize the opportunities they have gained through the enthusiasm, strength, dedication and testimony of Jesus Christ,” the newsroom wrote.
Choose a Savior together
FSY conferences in New Zealand and Australia attract thousands of teenagers in January to strengthen their faith, make friends and enjoy themselves.
Sister Tamara W. Lanier, the first counselor for the young female general president, spoke about the FSY conference in a recent podcast interview with Church News. She said the church sees the benefits of young people from these gatherings by forming friendships that strengthen the faith. She commented on the Australian event she attended previously.
“You can say these were young people who longed to be with that energy and that light,” she observed.
Sister Rania said these gatherings are helping young people all over the world.
In a recent prayer at FSY in New Zealand, Elder Jared V. Ormsby, a region of 70, spoke about this year’s youth theme: “Christ on Christ.”
“We must choose Christ, we must choose the Savior,” says Elder Ormsby, reassuring the young people that Jesus Christ is always there for them.
“He will never disappoint us. He can heal anything, anyone, in this life,” he said. “All we have to do is ‘live to the Savior’.’ ”
Celine Pierkura, a young man from the Cook Islands, shared how focusing on Christ helped her make difficult decisions.
“When I was having problems with my friends, I had to look to the Savior. They weren’t doing anything good,” Pierkura said.
“I had to make some sacrifices, feel happy and let go of some friends to follow my Savior,” she said.
Meeting for the Strength of Youth across the Pacific Region
The Pacific region of the Church is located in 17 different countries and territories. Other regional FSY conferences are held in Samoa, France, Polynesia, Tonga and Fiji.
