Arise and Shine Forth!

I love Girls Camp!

I recently discovered that's a little rare, but I really do! I loved it as a teenager. I had a great ward and I had some of my best friends in my stake so whenever I was sick of my ward, I'd just go hang out with Cara or Carlee's wards. As we got older we started hanging out with the stake ladies too, so I was never bored or inundated with whatever flavor of drama my ward was cooking up!

Anyway, so I was really excited to be called as Assistant Camp Director. I've been waiting for this calling for about seven years! And because of my regular calling as YW Advisor, I already have relationships with all the girls so I knew I would have fun. I was a little worried about drama because we had a set of twins and their older sister, and another set of sisters close in age. To me that's just a recipe for disaster! But the girls were all so sweet to one another and to the leaders. A few of the girls were particularly mindful of my pregnancy and were always looking for ways to serve. They set a wonderful example to me of how to treat others; it was actually a little humbling.

I had a couple of favorites this week. On our first night up there we took the girls on a Faith Walk. We started them at the bottom of a pretty steep trail and had them turn off their flashlights and follow a rope (the Iron Rod) in the dark. We told them to look for light sources to guide their way. They stumbled and fell a few times, and really had to look after one another. Throughout the way they learned about Prayer, the Scriptures, Patriarchal Blessings, and Temples as light sources in life before the rope brought them to a small Christus statue where we talked about Christ as the greatest source of light and guidance. It was really cool to see how it affected the girls not only during the activity, but throughout the week as they referred to the principles we talked about. I was really grateful to be the speaker at the top because I was able to continue to develop my own relationship with the Savior by studying about how to invite him to have a greater role in my life and then share those feelings with my girls.

The other really cool part of the week was the hike. I wasn't planning on participating because it was a 4.2 mile hike in the hot sun, but I decided to go for it at the last minute and I'm so glad I did! It felt great to do a longer hike again and I was able to keep up well with the girls, even with my FOUR potty breaks. Again, I was really impressed with the girls. Even our little twins who don't turn twelve until next week didn't complain or whine at all during the hike! They all encouraged one another and the group was always willing to take breaks so that we could all stay together. It was a lesson not only in endurance, but in unity.

I recognized early on in the planning stages that although I absolutely loved Girls Camp with my home ward and stake, there are a lot of things that just don't transfer to this group of girls. For example, these girls don't love to sing like we did when I was a kid, so they really didn't care to learn anything new. There was one tradition, however, that I felt would be really great to introduce. We asked the parents of each girl to write her a heartfelt letter for her to read after Testimony meeting. It was a small nightmare tracking down the parents to get the letters, but we did it! It only took about three minutes after handing them out before we heard surround-sound sniffles throughout the camp as our girls read the tender words of loving parents. It made me think of my first year and how loved and cared for I felt as I sat away from anyone else and read my dad's testimony and words of love and encouragement. I still have each letter and I treasure them! It was cool to see how much it meant to the girls.

Also, it rained. A. Lot. I spent the last night sideways in a minivan. When we checked our tent the next morning we found about an inch of water! I don't remember a single rainy year at camp as a teenager, but apparently it's a 2nd Ward tradition! We were drenched to the bone by the time we drove home!

The week brought back a lot of really special memories of camp as a kid, and although it's very different going as a leader, it was nice to have my love of Girls Camp reaffirmed again and again! I'm so grateful for my ward and to be in Young Womens. We have some really wonderful girls and leaders and I'm just so happy to be a part of it!