I attended our church girls camp last week as a stake leader. The weather put us through periods of thunderstorms, pouring rain, and steamy hot and humid air. We were told to drink scads of water, to avoid the chance of heat stroke, or dehydration.
It took me about two days to pack for camp. The camp item list was long, and I overpacked. It was embarrassing how much I took, but it was all on the list. I discovered it's hard to stay organized in a tent!
I was especially worried about getting my sleep at camp. I was right to be concerned. I only slept well one night of the five days at camp.
The Stake leaders left a day early, and we stayed in an inn in Hiram so we could be there bright and early. I grew to love those I work with in the Young Women's Stake Presidency, as well as other leaders and young women in our stake. We had oodles of fun together, and actually had time to talk and enjoy each other's company.
The camp was right behind the Church Historical site, the John Johnson farm in Hiram, Ohio (about 30 minutes from Kirtland). The ground is sacred to me. Many sections of the Doctrine and Covenants were revealed there including section 76. The landscape is simply beautiful, and I gained a greater respect and reverence for all of God's marvelous creations.
Highlights of the camp were: 1) Contra Line dancing (it's old fashioned English dancing, and we had a blast), 2) A 7 mile canoe trip, 3) a 5.5 mile strenuous hike to a waterfall, 4) passing out "warm and gentle fuzzies" to the girls when they did a good deed, 5) singing camp songs that I sang as a girl, 6) learning girls and leaders names, and getting to know them better, 7) enjoying the natural earth in all her splendor, 8) feeling safe and secure in a tent with rain drenching everything surrounding me, 9) taking two showers a day in HOT water - it was awesome!, plus having FLUSHING toilets - what a luxury! 10) going to exercise classes in the morning, and being able to run, so I could stay on my exercise plan! 10) Testimony meeting - I gave a short talk to the girls about testimonies when we wrote our testimonies in Books of Mormon. The girls testimonies were spiritual, and deep, and wonderful. (Some I couldn't hear well, but I was very impressed with them and they increased my faith).
Frustrations of the camp were: 1) not sleeping well, 2) the migraine headache I came down with - luckily it never became serious (my prayers were answered), 3) the day of the hike was on the hottest day of the summer [94 degrees with 70% humidity] , and the girls were so tired and thirsty that some of them didn't finish the hike, 4) I had to turn down s'mores, lava hot fudge cake, and all sorts of goodies because I'm working on losing weight.
There was a leader whose whole duty was to take photos at camp, and make a slide show while at camp to show the girls. She sent me these photos, so I could post them. Thank you Sister Jastal.
Canoeing with the Young Women Stake Leaders
Cuyahoga River, Ohio / July 21, 2010
Girls and Leaders at Toledo, Ohio Stake Girls camp/July 2010
The flags in the background correspond to the colors of the Young Women values and flew all week as reminders of those virtues and values.
Young Women and Priesthood leaders performing a skit where we built a model of the Stale Lake Temple. The theme of the Young Women's camp was "Young Women Under Construction." I'm at the top, standing on the bench. The photo was taken when we didn't have a "plan" and we just put all the pieces on anywhere. Once we followed our plan - we were able to construct the Temple.
Young Women Stake presidency
Young Women Stake presidency Girls Camp/ July 2010
We are wearing our girls camp T-shirts, and our sweatshirt which reads "Got values?" on the back. We also have our "warm and gentle fuzzies" around our necks which we made.
A few days after our camp, our Young Women Stake President (leader in the middle) had a mild heart attack. She's in the hospital, and I'm so glad she's okay.
Overall, I am so thankful I was able to attend girls camp (it was a sacrifice for me) and come away with such unique and fun-filled memories, and a stronger testimony too!
How wonderful that the Lord cares so much about his daughters that he affords them this special opportunity while in their youth.
