Girls Camp

 

Girls camp went really well, I’m sort of sad it’s over.  I could do a very long post about it all but no one would read it. So here is a summary – There are negative things, positive things, and spiritual things.

Top 10 list of most memorable parts -

10) No sleep - the first night I got 3 hours of sleep (a perfect storm of Nyquil, stress, hot tent, and noisy campers/animals). The second night someone gave me a sleeping pill and I got 4 hours of sleep. The last night I got 5 hours of sleep. Somehow, and I’m sure it has to do with Priesthood blessings, I wasn’t really affected by not having sleep. I could work, play, remember what I needed to remember, be happy without problem. 

9) Awesome leaders – one of the best parts for camp for me was getting to know the other leaders. I think there is some quote about men going into battle together and becoming really close. That really applies here—we put our blood, sweat, and tears into this. I’m so glad I had really supportive leaders with me.

 

8) The girls – We had 19 girls come to camp this year. There were girls I already knew, but then there were many I hadn’t really talked to before. Spending that much time with the girls I got to see their strengths and weaknesses*. I made friends with lots of young women who relate better to adults than to girls their own age. The girls were so funny, creative, kind and just delightful to be around.  I can’t wait to go to girls camp with Annie! Our girls were so good. For example, the last night I heard giggles from a tent so I went to go check on them and found almost all of my girls in one tent. I hung out with them for a minute, and they pleaded with me to let them stay up all night. I said, no, because they wouldn’t be able to be quiet. I told them if they stayed pretty quiet, they could stay together for 10 minutes before going back to their tents. Guess what!? They didn’t take advantage of push-over me and about 10 minutes later, they went back to their own tents and went to sleep. Good girls!

*Note- For any given activity, a large number of girls would sit on the sidelines and watch. I figure the main reason is because the are self-conscious or uncomfortable with their bodies. So TRAGIC! These girls are so young and are missing out on fun and life. For all my friends with daughters – put them into sports, dance, things that they can become comfortable with their bodies. Also, don’t pass on your fears of germs quite so much. Many of these girls are so scared of getting dirty, again missing out on fun.

7) Skit night – I was the leader of the 3rd year girls – teaching them certification, etc. I was so proud of the 3rd year skit. I think it was the best and I’m not even being biased. Their song for the skit was the song from Tangled. They were so creative – tarp for water, balloons over flashlight with suns on it for the lanterns, cute rapunzle hair made out of yellow streamers. They even did the samba in the middle of the skit—we had taught them samba because they were Brazil. The priesthood skits were really funny too—I have the feeling the scouts do a lot of gags for their skits.

6) Hiking – I lost 3 lbs while at camp. That’s because our campsite was quite a ways from our vehicles and we had to haul food up and down the trail. We were allowed to have food in our campsite at night due to bear danger. We would get the food up and then realize we had forgot Jam, so I would run really fast down to the car to get it and run back up. There was also a hike for highway clean up (2 miles) and the 3rd level hike (1.5 miles). After we hiked, we had the girls learn how to pan for gold—I was pretty proud of that idea. One of our leaders happened to have 13 gold pans, plus my 3 gold pans. The Mutual Dell campground itself is large and on a hill so it’s a hike to go anywhere.

5) Heat – I’ve never been to girls camp where heat was such an issue. There were several girls that got what I can now recognize as heat stroke. The last night, it was so hot, my leader tent-mate and I were daring and slept in our underwear—that was the best night of sleep. Good thing there was a crisis we had to jump up to go fix in the middle of the night.

4) Giant water slide—they set up this giant water slide on the hill that several people could go down at once. It was so much fun—normally adults shouldn’t do slip n’ slides because that’s how we get back injuries, but because it was on a hill and because they added soap, it was perfect for even us old people to do. It was glorious to feel like a kid again.

3) Missing my Dad – I don’t know how the afterlife works. I don’t know how much loved ones get to help out and hang out with you, but I have a strong feeling that my Dad has been with me throughout this process, and especially at camp. My mom had a dream about me and my dad a few months back and she thought the point of the dream was that my Dad was with me. I’ve kept a picture of my Dad in my camp binder. In a more physical sense, I had my Dad’s backpack on my back the entire time at camp. I love that backpack. We used his hatchet to split the wood on Testimony night. It seems he has been able to bestow upon me his outdoor/camp wisdom and general love and support. I’m grateful to have felt closer to him. Thinking of him made me a little more brave when I was checking out the hike for the 2nd year girls and hiking alone. The last conversation I had with him about seven years ago, was about hiking.

2) Being an instrument in Heavenly Father’s hands – I think I became some kind of camp director robot with Heavenly Father in control. I felt like he sort of took over the controls as I was able to remember things, think of things, accomplish things, say things, notice things well beyond my own abilities. I’m so grateful for this experience because it gives me great confidence that if you put in as much faith and work as you can, Heavenly Father will more than make up for an short-falls you have. This is exactly how the Atonement works. Do as much work as possible, but have faith and hope that Heavenly Father and the Savior will help cover that gap to perfection.

1) Iron rod experience – the stake orchestrated a really cool experience for girls. In the scriptures, Lehi has a dream about the iron rod which the people in his dream hold onto. The rod leads them to the tree of life where they partake of fruit. When people let go of the rod, they are lost and can’t find their way. The rod represents the word of God (found in scriptures or words of living prophets) and the tree of life represents Christ and salvation. 

 

After dark, the girls were led up a trail to the end of the iron rod, which was a PVC pipe. They were put on the rod. Soon they saw what was “the great and spacious building” which in the scriptures represents the world, or worldliness. The great and spacious building looked like a lot of fun with glow stick people (YCLs, the youth camp leaders) jumping rope, music, and flashing lights. I watched as our first young woman let go of the rod and went straight to the building. A Priesthood holder then led her back to the rod while reading a statement about how she had been deceived, but that Heavenly Father  still loved her and that she could repent. He put her back on the rod and she continued on.  After this point, the girls had blind folds put over their eyes. This was to represent the mists of darkness in the scriptures, which represents the temptations and confusion we all face in life. The girls were then tempted and tricked by the YCLs to let go of the rod. Some of the YCLs got a little overzealous at this point (unfortunately, a little like hazing) so the girls were really scared and confused. If they did let go, a Priesthood holder would help them “repent” and get back on the rod. There was also someone to be the still small voice of the Holy Ghost to encourage the girls to keep going and hold onto the rod. At the end of the rod, the girls had their blindfolds removed and they stepped through a curtain. In front of them was a lighted tree, a well lighted area, Stake leaders wearing white, and there was church music playing. I knew exactly what was going on, wasn’t blindfolded, and the sight had a profound impact on me. It’s the same feeling you have when you walk into the Celestial room of the Temple—of peace, of reaching towards something more Heavenly and Sacred than anything on earth. There was lots of crying at this point as the girls arrived one by one. They were able to partake of the fruit of the tree of life, which represents the Love of God. Afterward, we went back to camp to talk about. The girls totally got it! They understood the analogy of how confusing, scary and dark life is. They understood about repentance and that they can always return to the rod. They understood the importance of holding onto the rod at all times so they wouldn’t get lost. They understood how joyous and wonderful it was to have finally arrived back to our Heavenly Father. It took a lot of work on a lot of people’s parts to put this on, but I think it was well worth it because it helped the girls really internalize these principles of the gospel.