I love Girls Camp. I didn't always. In fact, one of my very worst experiences ever as a leader in the church happened at camp, but I didn't give up. I didn't give in. I kept going, and I have been rewarded a thousand times over with humbling, faith promoting, and inspirational moments that are precious to me.
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| Savannah getting her ukulele magic going with the Youth Camp Leaders |
It was a different experience this year preparing. Normally I am consumed with planning for camp, but this year I wasn't able to because of all the time I have to devote to teaching seminary. How did it go? Well ... there were definitely a lot of things that I would do differently, but that is always the way I feel after camp. I did have my mandatory once-during-camp super cry. The only difference this year was that it happened on the last night instead of earlier in the week. But all is well. Herman was a sweetheart and talked me through it and managed to make me laugh a little at myself. Either way, although doing a primitive camp is not everyone's cup of tea, I think that it accomplished what I set out to do this year. No drama ... well, at least no more drama than you normally get when you throw a hundred girls together in one spot for a week. A break from the busy lives we are all living. A chance to grow closer to each other and to our Father in Heaven. A chance to breathe. Ahhhhhhhh! Loved it!
I thought this year I would tell a bit about camp by showing just what we give up when we come to camp and all that we receive for our sacrifice. Here you go:
Things you give up
- Modern Convenience. Herman likes the different opportunities that girls are presented when they can experience a camp with cabins and also experience a primitive camp with tents. Not everyone likes this. In fact I know that there were several girls and potential leaders who chose not to come to camp because they couldn't give up their modern comforts. I have run both types of camps, and they both have their strengths and their weaknesses. With our choice to do a primitive camp this year we were asking our young women and leaders to make a huge sacrifice to give up the things that make life comfortable. Things like ...
- Convenient Bathrooms. Oh how I hate port-a-potties! I hate them! I really, really hate them! They stink. They feel like saunas in the middle of the day ... fly infested, aromatic, saunas. I constantly worry about them tipping over. I miss being able to flush a toilet and never having to deal with human waste. Every year when I order the things the port-a-potty companies tell me that we only need a few. Every year I still order twice as many as they recommend. And every year it seems like they get nasty way sooner than they are supposed to. But we survived. When the only other option for us is for us to dig latrines for ourselves I guess I am super grateful that we at least have modern portable toilets as an acceptable option.
- Showers. This is a big one. The lack of available showers is the biggest complaint I receive from leaders and girls whenever they find out that we are having a primitive camp. And many of the leaders are louder complainers than the girls. No one can imagine how they can possibly survive four days without a shower. But they do. And, believe it or not, we don't end up completely smelly. You never do feel quite clean, but you aren't grossing out your neighbors either. A few baby wipes, a swim, and lots of deodorant can do wonders. I didn't smell one girl during the week ... but maybe that was just because I was so malodorous that my smell overpowered all others. Who knows?
- Comfortable Beds. I used to be able to sleep on the ground in my tent, but my body has finally decided that I am too old to swing that any more. Even with my super comfy cot I do miss my even more comfy bed at home. Speaking of home ...
- Family Time. I wonder if the young women really realize what a sacrifice it is for leaders to come to camp. Most of us have families at home with younger children who need someone to care for them while we are at camp. This year in our ward things were complicated because we also had our young men at two separate scout camps. That put a huge strain on some families. Leaders had grandmas coming in to help with childcare. Men and women were taking leave from their jobs. Mommas were leaving their babies. It is a huge sacrifice, but it is one we make willingly because we love our young women.
- Sleep. Oh man, is this a big one. I never sleep well when I am at camp. Late nights getting things ready for the next day. Listening to others talking late into the night. And then I always wake up with the sun when I am in a tent. This year it was even worse because we had the good fortune of being right next to some train tracks. I knew they were there when we picked the place, but the Nothums told me that the trains only go by in the day a few times. The young men were out there for their father son campout, and Herman said that they didn't come by until around 7 am. We could handle that, I thought. But on the first night I was there I was jolted awake at 2:45 by this amazingly long train that blared its whistle the entire time it passed us. I sat straight up and said, "No way!"as I listened to it pass. It was going to be a long week if we had to be woken by trains all night long. The trains did come, but I found that I hardly noticed them by the second and third night. We survived.
- Technology ... mostly. We ask the girls to stay off their phones while they are at camp. This just about kills some of them. We are so addicted to being constantly connected. But this year I didn't notice anyone complaining at all. They gave up this modern convenience in order to give themselves the chance to grow closer to Heavenly Father and to enjoy the nature that was all around them. I hope that they were rewarded for their sacrifice.
So, yeah ... there is a lot that we give up to come to camp. But there are so many blessings that outweigh any sacrifice we may make ...
Things You Gain
- Stronger relationships. It was midnight on Wednesday night, and I couldn't sleep. It seemed like EVERYONE was awake. Everyone. This was going to be a problem because we were going to have to wake everyone up at 4 am in order to hike to our spot where we would watch the sunrise together. Sometimes people get irritated by all the girls staying up into the wee hours of the morning talking with each other, but as I lay there and listened to everyone I could only feel happiness. As I heard leaders and girls gathered in their camp areas I just thought to myself, "This is what camp is all about." No one may remember the proper way to tie knots. They might forget how to start a fire without matches. My nightly messages for the girls might completely fade from their minds. But what they will take with them is a deeper relationship with one another and with their leaders. It is while they talk to each other around camp fires and in gathering spots that they truly learn to know each other. Do you know who hates primitive camps? Girls who hang out in their tents all day. They miss out on the very best part of camp ... the late night talks, the afternoon discussions, the unplanned moments that make camp the joy that it is. Hearing the leaders and girls laughing together, even if it was at midnight before a 4 am wake up, brought true joy to me because I knew that we were forging bonds that could endure most trials that might come their way during the year.
Speaking of trials ... - The beauty of nature. We were blessed to have a super beautiful property for our camp. Bob Nothum is amazing. I wish he could have spent a lot more time with the girls to share his story of how he found this property in the middle of Missouri sixty years ago. He takes such good care of it, and pictures just don't do the place justice. Every time I show up there I just feel a calming peace and this intense desire to buy some property and move to the country. We had so many neat opportunities to come face to face with the beauty of our Heavenly Father's creations, but sometimes in order to see that beauty we had to sacrifice. Several young women and leaders chose to take their free time to go on a 2.5 mile hike so that they could see a natural bridge rock formation that is gorgeous. All of us made a huge sacrifice to wake up at 4 am so that we could see the sunrise on Thursday morning. I'll admit that I was REALLY worried about this. I thought that the girls might mutiny when we tried to wake them up super early in the morning. I'm sure there was some grumbling, but not much, and everyone marched on the early morning hike to get to the hilltop where we could see the sunrise. We were richly rewarded for our sacrifice. The sunrise was GORGEOUS. Seeing all the young women silhouetted in the rising sun was an awe inspiring sight. Loved it!
At the Clifty Arch trail. 
The 4th years mapped out our sunrise hike the day before.
... and were rewarded by rescuing a kitty stuck in a tree. 
Waiting for the sunrise at 5:15 am. Our young women are rock stars! 
The three Blau ladies enjoying the gorgeous sunrise. 
Camp Star enjoying the view. 
On our way back 
Admiring the view. - Confidence. The girls got lots of opportunities to do things they thought they couldn't do. They woke up super early to hike across the world. They got to practice difficult tasks and succeed. They learned that they could do all things if they stuck their mind to it. They got a chance to catch a glimpse at the things that make them amazing. Confidence isn't something that you can gift to someone. It is something that you earn for yourself as you complete difficult tasks. Those who chose to extend themselves were rewarded with added confidence that will bless them throughout their year.
Here I am getting ready to explain the helium hoop challenge. 
Getting ready to begin. 
Teamwork makes this work. 
Can they all make it through the jump rope together before it whacks them? 
Tossing the balls between parachutes. Harder than it looks. 
Several girls stopped me to tell me how they pushed past their
fears in order to jump off the diving board. Confidence booster.
Fear mastered! - Mad camper skills. Speaking of confidence ... many girls are not seasoned campers. They have never lit a campfire or cooked over coals. They don't know how to put up a tent or take it down. They don't know how deal with the elements of the outdoors. By the end of the week they figure things out ... especially if they take the time to volunteer and get involved in all the duties of camp. When Katie came up to camp with me on Monday to help set up see would give a little mini scream any time that a grasshopper or other assorted insect would leap on her. By Friday she would just look calmly at them and flick them off her arm if they got on her. That is an added benefit of camp. We aren't raising wimpy girls here. They're tough, and hopefully they'll know a few camper things to get them by in a crisis.
- The ability to do hard things. It seems like in today's modern world we shrink away from hard things. If it is too hard we just avoid it. But sometimes it is when we are doing hard things that we truly discover just how much we can do. I don't really think we should just run out and look for artificially hard things for our lives, but I also don't think that we should stay in our cocoons all day and hide our heads in order to keep from stretching outside our comfort zones. Camp this year was hard at tiimes. Being outside in the elements could be hard. Waking up early for the sunrise hike was hard. Some of the activities in the week were hard. But each young women who chose to do those hard things was rewarded in the end. I think the sunrise hike was the most evident example for me this week. Sure, it was a major pain to wake up so early. Sure it might have been nicer or easier to stay in bed a few hours more. But if we hadn't made that sacrifice we would have missed the AMAZING sunrise we were able to witness. I'm glad for the chance I had to sacrifice because it helped me to know that I could do hard things. I gained confidence in my own abilities, and I also gained a better understanding of how Heavenly Father helps me do hard things when I don't have it in me to do it on my own.
- A closer relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Our lives are so busy, and sometimes we make ourselves so busy that we never take a moment to just stop and reflect and allow ourselves to feel. This week gave all of us the chance to just take a breath. Being in nature always helps me to reconnect with my Father in Heaven. I feel more peace, and it is as if the connection between us is reinforced. We had the chance to journal our thoughts during the week. We had the chance to hear how we can put on the whole armor of God as we fight to stay strong in a world that is constantly shifting and pushing us away from a loving Heavenly Father. This week gave each of us the opportunity to remember our Savior and exactly what he has done for us. Everyone should make time each year to reconnect in such a way.
Sister Clayton is a superstar coming to camp seven and half months pregnant. 
Bro. Adams meeting with Eldon during Bishops Night. 
All the ward flags were super duper cute this year! 
Bro. Albrecht doing an excellent presentation on
the importance of armor.
Sis. Bennion during our closing activity. 
Cedara Stribling during closing. 
Sis. Stichler during closing. 
Sis. Ludlow 
Sis. Dustin 
Sis. Ritchel - Memories. Sure, you didn't have to come to camp. Life would have gone on just fine. The world would not have ended. But when you come to Girls Camp you have the chance to create fabulous memories that form the glue of the relationships that we form in Young Women. Even when things go wrong you get some wonderful memories. The blaring trains in the middle of the night were no picnic, but each morning as we woke and shared our wake up story of the trains we connected. My favorite parts of camp don't even happen during camp. They happen afterwards as we are packing up and heading home. Savannah is a master story teller. She can make the dullest of activities seem like they were actually the best times in the world. I love to hear her recount her camp stories. She was the YCL who helped the flag ceremonies ... a job that ended up being more stressful than it should have been for some reason this year. I loved hearing her recount those moments of her camp experience. Hearing Katie and Savannah go back and forth as they told about their experiences of the week is when I really feel the true satisfaction that comes from putting together a good camp. I will miss having Savannah with me next year, but Katie will be a joy in the upcoming years, so all is not lost. Camp is all about creating memories, and I hope that the memories that the girls have of this year will be positive ones.
Yes, there is a lot that we give up when we come to Girls Camp. A lot. But there is so much that we gain. I think it is a trade that I would make every single time. I wish that I could find a way to attach the videos of the girls singing our camp songs that have been posted on facebook, but technology isn't cooperating with me today. Either way, hearing the young women sing to their bishops and the Nothums for camp this year was a highlight for me. These young women are so good and have so much divine potential within them. I hope they have caught a little vision of that this week. I love camp!
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| These ladies made my life easier this week. They are my heroes! |
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| The girls with Bob and Audrey Nothum on the last day saying thank you in front of the amazing view! |
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