Rows of ylang ylang trees in bloom at the Young Living Ecuador farm.

Oil brokers who are just selling oils to the food and flavoring industries as well as the aromatherapy industry are not particular about the smell. Too often the smell is chemically enhanced, so who can be sure about getting a pure fragrance anyway?

Young Living is different. We want the pure, most beautiful smell possible. All of our workers are on our payroll and receive a salary, so the problem of trying to “fill the basket” is eliminated. They are taught how to pick the best flowers and leave the rest.

Many of the distributors, who were learning how to pick while visiting the farm, had a hard time leaving the undesirable flowers because they were still nice to smell.  But everyone understood and participated in the gathering of the very best, because that is important to Young Living.

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I just wanted to say “THANK YOU” to everyone who came to 2010 International Grand Convention and everyone who supported us from afar. Convention was a huge success. I have heard so many wonderful and complimentary comments from distributors. Please know how much I appreciate all of you. Whether you were with Mary and I at convention, or at home, we wouldn’t have had a convention without each and everyone of our valued distributors and customers. Thank you for being part of the Young Living family.

Warm Regards,
Gary Young

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Gary Young, president of Young Living Essential Oils, on the Frankincense trail

For thousands of years, frankincense was transported across the most desolate wilderness on earth: the Empty Quarter. This vast desert covers some 250,000 square miles and spans part of Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

I grew up in an Idaho wilderness area, packing horses and mules and traveling across treacherous terrain. So it wasn’t so difficult for me to understand life on a camel caravan, as rugged men left their homes and loved ones to take their precious cargo of frankincense and myrrh north to market.

To travel with a caravan was a dangerous and sometimes deadly occupation. The desert itself could be a vicious opponent with violent sandstorms that could change the landscape, covering precious waterholes, creating huge new dunes and possibly burying a caravan. There were poisonous snakes and scorpions as well. But the most dangerous adversary of all came on two legs: robbers, thieves, and marauders determined to steal the resins worth more than gold.

I have walked and driven over the majority of the frankincense trails that brought the prized resins from southern Arabia to the ports of Gaza, Alexandria, and Damascus. I have such an appreciation for the rugged men who risked their lives to bring such a treasure to the world. That same spirit of adventure has inspired me to bring the very best frankincense and myrrh to today’s seeker of physical and emotional wellness.

I can’t wait to join you all next week at International Grand Convention where audiences will get to see the marvels of the Frankincense Trail on the big screen with the premiere of my frankincense documentary, The One Gift.

—Essentially Yours,

D. Gary Young

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Gary Young, president of Young Living Essential Oils, in Oman

The process of collecting frankincense happens two times a year—once in the spring (March to May) and then in the fall (September to October). To harvest the resin, you have to take a little axe and chop the hardened resin crystals off the branches—but there’s a process that comes in the week before that. To begin the process, you cut the bark of the frankincense tree and then it allows the liquid resin to ooze out onto the external part. Then, when it hits the oxygen, it starts to crystallize and harden. Naturally, the longer it is left on the tree, the longer it is present in the oxygen and the harder it gets. It takes about a week before you can actually come back and cut it off as a hardened resin crystal. So this is a week to two-week process from when you go in and you cut the tree to when you come back and collect the crystal resin. Then the crystal resin goes into the distillery where it is crushed into powder, put into an oil bath, and steam distilled to extract the oil from the crystal resin.

This process produces different types of frankincense resins. The one that is very white is called Hojari. Now, when I was collecting frankincense years ago and they said “Hojari,” I thought they were being very friendly and saying, “How, Gary?” And I said, “With an axe.” But this was Hojari. There are actually five grades of frankincense resin. The first grade is brownish resin. It has a lot of bark particles in it, and that’s very commonly used because there’s more of it available. But the Hojari is what was selected just for the kings and queens because it was the purest of the frankincense.

I can’t wait to join you all June 16–19 in Salt Lake City where I can share more of my experiences from the Frankincense Trail. This is one Young Living convention you don’t want to miss!

Essentially Yours,

D. Gary Young

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I have walked ancient paths where caravans carried resin from the precious frankincense tree that grows from the limestone rocks, cliffs, and mountain slopes. A scrubby, twisted, deformed tree that lives 10 months of the year without water, yet yields this rich life-giving resin that for 3,000 years commanded a price 5 to 10 times higher than gold. I traveled throughout Africa collecting resins from the many varieties of frankincense, including Kenya, and visited the neglected land of Somalia collecting the carteri and the frereana varieties. This is the only place frankincense grows, unlike stories of it growing in Oman that are not true.

You cannot miss this convention to see the documentary on the truth about frankincense! You’ll learn why it was such an expensive commodity that Nero, the emperor of Roman Empire, wanted to pave the streets with it. This is your opportunity to learn about the different species of frankincense and hear from Arabian experts, PhDs, medical doctors, etc., talk about the latest discoveries for the treatment of disease and how it can build your immune system and protect you. I will be sharing with you all of my experiences and discoveries.

This convention will be unlike any that have come before! For the first time, I will reveal the ancient secrets of the people and how they protected themselves from diseases. I will reveal the actual Frankincense Trail that was traversed by merchants and the caravaners centuries ago. From this information, I bring a gift that will change how we view the healing properties of frankincense and why it was cherished more than gold.

From my heart, I invite you personally to join me this June in Salt Lake City. Take those five days and immerse yourself with memories, friendship, and knowledge that will last a lifetime.

Essentially yours,

D. Gary Young

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