July 27, 2025, 9am MDT
Laura Miraval, from Lavega in the Dominican Republic, was baptized after her best friend invited her to attend for the Youth Conference with her.
At first, Miraval said he wanted to spend more time with his friends. But in FSY, everything changed.
“I felt something different. I felt a positive energy that opened my mind to something I didn’t know,” she said in a news release on Churchofjesuschrist.org.
Young people from the Latter-day Saints of Jesus Christ attend the FSY meeting to deepen their faith in Jesus Christ. The multi-day experience includes opportunities to learn the gospel, build new friendships, and participate in healthy activities.
During the prayer, Mirabal heard testimony about the Savior’s love.
“I felt a very strong peace, something that cannot be explained in words,” she said. “I felt a sincere desire to be loved, understood and approached God. I began to read the Book of Mormon and felt that I wanted something more for my life.
Sister Andrea Munoz Spannaus, the second counselor in the Young Female General’s presidency, said FSY would change life, like a young man named Mauro, who invited him to attend FSY a few years ago.
“He wasn’t a member of the church, but after that experience he loved it, so he began accepting missionaries at home and learning about the church with his family,” she said earlier this year on the church news podcast.
The whole family was baptized and Mauro later served on a full-time mission.
“The FSY has this power to change people’s lives because they learn about Christ and feel the Holy Spirit, and because they can feel it there,” Sister Spannaus said.
Alexander Infante, a native of Lavega, joined the church after his friends invited him to fsy.
“From the beginning, I realized a very spiritual and beautiful environment that helped me to learn more about Jesus and the Church over time. I met incredible people.
Ynfante thanked his friends and said he was able to learn about the church and then change his life and transform.
“(fsy) is a spiritual place where you can grow spiritually that will help you remember our Father (and) Jesus Christ more,” he said.
Miraval said other young people who want to invite their friends to FSY or share the gospel should do so with heart, without pressure.
“It’s only enough to share how good you feel about living the gospel and talking about your experiences with joy,” she said. “A sincere invitation can change someone’s life, just like it did for me. You never know the impact you can have by simply talking with love and enthusiasm about what you believe.”
Learn how to “love, share, invite” with FSY
At the FSY conference, young people participate in activities that help them learn how to share the gospel, such as panel discussions with full-time missionaries, activities focused on missionary work, and prayers that teach “love, sharing, and invitation.”
These experiences not only strengthen their faith in Christ, but also help them gain confidence in sharing their faith with others, a church news release said.
Canadian Calgary Mission President Peter H. Baath and his wife, Sister Heathers, helped promote the FSY panel where missionaries answer questions about the gospel.
“Young people help them understand that they have the opportunity to share their testimony and experiences with others,” President Bath said.
During the panel discussion, the missionaries shared some of their experiences, the sacrifices they made to serve the mission, and what they did to prepare for the mission between the ages of 14 and 17.
“We received great feedback from the youths of FSY about the missionary testimony,” President Bath said.
Clark B. Maxwell, former mission president of the Idaho Boise Mission, and his wife, Kari Maxwell, organized the FSY missionary panel in 2024.
Maxwells dedicatedly invited young people to use their mobile phones for a few minutes to share gospel messages with friends and invite friends to future church activities.
“The young people in Zion are full of testimony and light,” Maxwell said. “We have realized that it is very natural for young people to share the gospel. They really understand how to invite friends in a normal, natural way.”
At another FSY conference, Elders Isaac Wilkins and Davin Avery from the Idaho Boise Mission gave young people two or three minutes to allow the names of at least five friends to share the gospel.
“We sat there and realized that there were thousands of individual names in the room, which was overwhelming,” they wrote.
The missionaries said the Savior testified that he knew each of them and helped young people to know how to share the gospel with their friends.
“I can only imagine the impact that young people have had since.”
For more information about FSY at fsy.churchofjesuschrist.org, see details. Find out more about how to love, share and invite at share.churchofjesuschrist.org.
