Oh dear, well the whole month of August has flown by and I haven't written about anything...which is a shame because it has been just a wonderful eventful month! I'll try to recap here by looking back over the pictures I took...
I'll start off with girls camp. I have a lot of pictures...but we were there a lot of days. Seriously...who goes to camp all week?
Anyway. It really was a great girls camp. We got to go to Heber Valley which is just wonderful. Plus, the stake decided to do all of the food so that was even more wonderful. Becky really goes way beyond her duty as camp director...I mean she puts her whole heart into it. This year was a little different because she had a organ seminar at BYU during the week of camp so she was only going to be able to be there on Monday. When Sherry B learned of our delemna, she offered to step in as assistant camp director. That was not the easiest thing to do and I just love her to pieces for the service she gave. It was really fun to be at camp with her.
We headed out early monday morning with a little trepidation...the forcast for the next three days was for rain. (started having panic attacks thinking about rain-hail-snow storms, our tents and everything in them soaked and roads washed away at camp Timberlane) And it did rain. But it really wasn't horrible. We had the big pavilion to hold all of our gatherings in and our cabins were cozy and warm.
The stake camp leaders did an amazing job. It was well planned and had very meaningful activities and speakers.
They had some good scripture study activities that got all the girls involved.
The girls all got along for the most part which was a miracle in itself.
Tuesday night they had this gal come and speak who was the vice president of Deseret Book. I think her name was Laurel Day. She was an awesome speaker and left the girls with a message of hope and perserverance.
Another night they had this gal, Meg Johnson come up and talk to the girls. She was an expert rock climber until she fell off a cliff and broke her back. She is paralyzed from the neck down with a little bit of movement in her hands. She was an incredible speaker and had the girls laughing and crying. She had such a positive happy attitude, I think she really made an impression on all of us.
On Wednesday they did games that required the girls to really work together and help each other to accomplish it. Our ward won almost all of them.
We acquired much swag for all good deeds done...so much swag that our sign couldn't hold it all and we had to add more rope. I wish I had got a picture of it.
I was really proud of Mckenzi. She was a great youth leader and example to the other girls.
They had us take turns helping in the kitchen, either preparing or cleaning up after a meal. They had some special ladies that had volunteered to come to camp and be our cooks. They made being in the kitchen fun! They had the girls singing and dancing and rapping while they worked. The meals they had planned were pretty incredible. It was like eating at a five star restaurant every meal.
Tom Beck came up for a couple days to represent for the priesthood. He was so great with the girls. Taught them a lot and helped them pass off all their camp requirements. He even let them paint his fingernails before he left.
This was a neat activity that really got the girls thinking. They all stood in a line, then as the Stake YW president asked them questions, they would either take a step forward, back or stay still. There was a big picture of Christ up at the front so when the girls were able to step forward, it was bringing them closer to Christ. I think it made them think about things they were doing and how it was affecting them... like the music they listen to, if they read the scriptures, if they pray every day, things like that. I think it made an impression on the girls.
Sherry had a fun activity where the girls made necklaces out of bottle cap looking things. She had a bunch of different inserts they could choose from to put in their necklace. They turned out really cute.
We hiked to the lake on Wednesday. It's so beautiful up there, and with the recent rain, the trail was damp and easy to hike on.. I tried to get Bonnie to drive down there, she has had a lot of pain in her legs and was scheduled for knee surgery, but she wanted to do it. She is an avid hiker so this thing with her legs has really given her fits. Anyway, she made it through like a trooper.
The lake was really fun! They let the girls pick a canoe or a paddle boat then let them loose on the lake.
After all the girls had gotten in the boats, there was Elizabeth left standing there. So we decided to all go in a paddle boat with her. It was pretty hilarious cause we couldn't seem to steer our boat for some reason so we were all over the place.
The deer up there weren't the least bit afraid of all these noisy girls. I guess they are used to having people around
We played volleyball for a while before heading back up to camp. It's sure a great place for the young women. You can just feel the spirit in these amazing surroundings. President Hinkley was sure inspired to plan and build this beautiful place for them.
A couple of the girls deserved a little payback so Stacey and I got them right after they got dressed. They still don't know who got them. hehe
They had a neat fireside one night where they retired a flag that had hung over the Navoo Temple. I had never seen one before. It was a really moving ceremony.
Kelley came up Thursday and picked me up. They had to paint his nails before we left though. I was really torn when it came time to go...I wanted to stay that last night, but needed to get myself together before we headed off for California on Friday. So I gave everyone a hug and said goodbye. I don't usually love girls camp...I don't sleep at all and usually the girls are fighting with each other or complaining or whining, but this year was different. I still didn't sleep but aside from a few incidents, the girls were great and we had fun and spiritual experiences together. I was really impressed with some of our new beehives that came to camp. They were good sports and willing to do whatever was asked of them. I heard after camp that at the testimony meeting, Kateland bore her testimony and told about how she was afraid she wouldn't fit in and was worried about other things, but would go off and say a prayer, then she would feel better. She is not a member of the church so this is pretty cool. They said on Sunday after camp, she told her whole family to get up and get ready cause they were going to church! Wow this brought me to tears when I heard this. It sounds like something that would happen in the movies, but this was real! If not one other good thing happened at camp, this was more than enough for me!
