We met at the stake center at 6 AM on Wednesday morning. The girls got on the buses and we packed a few more things into my car--actually I took Brian's car. Then we were off to Pine to Camp LoMia. Karolyn and Erin M. rode with me and it was a fun ride up. They are both funny and chatty and it was fun to mostly listen to them. When we got up to camp, we unloaded and found our respective cabins. I was in cabin 7--we had 8 girls in our cabin and 7 after one of our girls got sick and went home. After we got a little settled, we were off to certification.
This deer was right by our cabin!
Eliza drew me a picture for my cabin--I had to put it up!
Inside our cabin.
I was with 3rd years. The girls painted on socks with fabric paint to give to a homeless shelter and they made a cute bookmark to put in their scriptures.
Then we went to another certification and basically they played a get to know you game where you got a few pieces of candy and for each kind you had to tell something about yourself. One of the topics was your crush (for the young women)--either regular or celebrity. ...a total girl game!
We headed to lunch and to one more certification before getting back with our cabin to practice our skit. We had to act out a skit based on "friends" from the For Strength of Youth booklet. We had dinner (pizza, salad and a pear half), the girls had companion study time, then they performed the skits. They were pretty cute. At the end, the lady that was running the night, said, "Wait! We have a special guest!!!" So everyone got really excited and before we knew it, Kayleen was up on the stage doing an encore presentation of their High School Musical performance from last year. This time they sang "Everyday." It was so hilarious and everyone was screaming. It was Kayleen first, then Tahshena came walking up the center in an 80's sequin-y dress. It was great. From there we headed out into the woods for singing trees. Our ward sang "To Become Like Him." When it was our turn, we pointed our flashlights up into a tree and sang our song. It is always a fun camp tradition. We headed back to our cabins and our two YCLs (Youth Camp Leaders) came in and gave our cabin a little devotional. Our girls were great and got right into bed. We would have stayed up with them, but no one mentioned wanting to, so we didn't bring it up! We had one girls--a little spicier of the group--said she was sick--she actually threw up, so she got to sleep in the nurse's office.
Thursday:
--Flag ceremony
--Our hike! It was a pretty little hike--I think we went about three miles. During part of the hike, there was a little creek and we stopped and sat on the rocks while the YCLs did some certification.
We got back and had lunch, which was an interesting mish-mash of the following: baked potato bar, chicken, refried beans, lettuce, tomatoes, etc. After lunch, the girls learned a dance, then participated in a call center activity. Our theme of camp was the YWTC (Young Women Training Center). More than being like a missionary training center, it was more of training the young women to prepare for and look forward to marriage and having children. Like at the MTC (Missionary Training Center), where they have a call center where people can call in and ask questions about the church, the girls had a similar activity. For one part, they got their picture taken in front of a map and pointed to the temple where they wanted to be married. Then they played the telephone game and discussed how messages can miscommunicated and that is what happens in the world. The last part was what I thought was the best part. The girls were taken out into the woods and where placed on one side of a tree and on the other was one of the stake staff leaders who pretended to be the young women's future daughter. So each young women took that "call" and answered questions their "future daughter" asked. It gives me chills to think about and it made the girls really realize that the choices they make now are not just affecting them but are affecting their future families and the children that will come to them. They asked things like how do I know that I'll be born into an eternal family or what is it like on earth or what will you do if I lose my way and make a mistake...etc. It was powerful.
The next activity were P-Day activities (like a P-day that a missionary would have). They were mostly water activities--water softball, pudding eating contest, throw the sponge at your cabin mom, a sponge relay, water balloon volleyball and a watermelon seed spitting contest.
After a yummy dinner of hamburgers, I hurried and got a shower. Yeah! Then the stake YW presidency had the girls go on a faith walk, followed by an amazing devotional by Deryl Eastman. He spoke about the power and influence we as women have (either for good or bad). He shared examples in the scriptures and in real life. I was really touched and inspired by his words. The world would teach us to not get married or have children, but that is part of the Lord's plan.
We got s'mores from the stake and went to bed. Again, our girls were heavenly and went right to bed! Score!
Friday:
Our YCLs came in at 5:45, saying that we needed to get up and be at breakfast at 6. What?!?! Turns out they were mistaken and we didn't have to be somewhere until 6:30. After that early wake-up, we went to flag, then to breakfast. We hurried and left and drove about 45 minutes to Blue Ridge Reservoir where the 3rd years went canoeing. It was a blast! First off, it was beautiful, not to mention a peaceful canoe ride. Rachel, Brooke, Wendy and I went in one canoe. We got to our destination and got out. There were some rocks we could jump from. I opted for the wimpy 6' high rock, but it was still fun. The water was a little cold at first, then it felt good. After being in the water a little bit, Brooke and I headed back out in a canoe to watch the rock jumping from the water. Before we knew it, some girls were rocking our canoe. We tried to hold our ground and we kept them from tipping it for quite a bit. Then Brooke stood up and over we went! The girls took off and we had to swim in to shore with the waterlogged canoe. After eating our lunch, we got back in the canoes and headed back. We got back to camp and I hurried and showered, then went to some more certification.
We did a service project--loading up wood onto a trailer and then unloading it. It wouldn't have been too bad, but we didn't have gloves! Ouch! From there we went to our ward time where we played a fun candy bar game with the girls and gave them their letters from their parents.
That afternoon, we went back to a part of the woods that has been named the "Sacred Grove." It just a section with log benches. Lori Wagner gave a wonderful devotional. She showed three pairs of shoes and talked about when you would wear each one (baby booties--baby blessing; white little girl shoes--baptism; and white slippers--at the temple), then she talked about other shoes we wear between being baptized and going to the temple. She had collected shoes from some of the girls' moms and told stories of those girls and how they were keeping standards to help them on their journey to the temple. After telling the story of the young women and the great things she does, she would say, "And _______ wears the shoes of learning or of service or of family love, or of being a good friend, etc." She talked about wearing "covenant keeping shoes" and how wearing those shoes will lead us/them to the temple. It was wonderful.
From there we went to dinner and then it was Bishop's night. Each bishop came up and they did a little get to know you game. Each bishop had brought a pair of shoes and the girls had to guess which ones belonged to which bishop. Jessie created a slide show that we all watched, then we separated into our individual wards for testimony meeting. We had a great time and a very nice testimony meeting. After we gave each girl a little gift we had put together: a framed picture of President Monson, a quote block with a quote by him and a copy of the Book of Mormon we challenged them to give away. Bishop brought ice cream and cheesecakes and we all indulged. That night there was a little (crowded) dance party in the YCL cabin and I enjoyed a little boogie-ing before settling down for the night. I knew it would be a later night--girls from another cabin came in and they played a few rounds of Mafia, then I laid down and zonked out!
Saturday morning we were up by 6 and got packed up and cleaned up. We had kitchen duty, so we had to serve breakfast and clean up the kitchen. The sweeping and mopping were a chore for sure! There were awards for the girls at 8, then Debbie talked about the motto (Return with Honor) on the back of the camp shirts and we sang the camp song one more time (Steadfast in You). Then we were off! We got gas right there in Pine and drove straight home. After dropping off Erin and Karolyn, I stopped off at Chipotle for some lunch. YUM! When I got home, Brian was still up at his parents' cabin with our girls, so I was able to get unpacked, get all clean and take a little nap before they got home. When they all got home, we hung out together, played the thimble game and just had fun. It was great to see them all again.
I am so glad Brian willingly and easily lets me go to girls camp and takes great care of our girls while I am gone. It doesn't fluster him at all. This time he had some extra un-fun duties. Ellie had been constipated, so he first had to take her to the doctor on Wednesday, PLUS he had to give her an enema for the next three nights!!!! What a dad. She is doing better and hopefully with the combination or pear juice, Miralax, and high fiber cereals, she can stay on course! Ugh. I also have great friends who helped out--Thanks Terri who watched them on Wednesday. Then we got one of my YW who wasn't able to go to girls camp and then Sarah on Friday. Brian took them up to the cabin Friday afternoon, so that was fun for them. I had a lot of fun, but it is good to be home. This week will be getting final things ready for school to start in ONE week. Crazy!
1 comment:
Good Times!
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