I have survived Survivor Girls Camp!!! (Yes, I was a little worried about it)
I actually had so much fun at Girls Camp and it was a Stake Camp (which if you know anything about camp, most girls dread the Stake Camp). Even after camp I heard a few of the girls comment that it was really good.
The theme was Survivor and it start on a tuesday when I left with 8 other girls and 1 other leader from our ward to the overnight/adventure hike. We camped by a lake but the hike started farther down the road and we hiked to the lake and then over to camp.
The hike was beautiful! At first I was thinking about how fun it would be to come back and bring Mr. Doorman with me. But after awhile the hiking trail turned into a cow trail, and I started wondering if I would be able to find the trail again if I came back. Then even the cow trail disappeared. I started noticing that the weeds we were walking on were freshly trampled . . . by us. We were bushwacking our way to the lake! Now I definitely knew that I could not bring Mr. Doorman because there was no trail to come back and follow. So, we hiked up the mountain and rested at the top and that is where we found out that the stake leader had lost the trail (oops) but she had found it again (hooray) and we hiked back down the mountain to get back on the trail and then we hiked back up the mountain, but this time we were hiking in the correct spot so that the lake was at the top of the mountain.
The lake was so beautiful and peaceful. Well, peaceful is a relative term. There were a lot of young women and a few other families at the lake so it was noisy but it was a good noise. We enjoyed a great lunch around the lake. I enjoyed a bagel and an apple so big I couldn't finish it. But the best part is that my plan to bring chocolate worked :) I froze a water bottle and wrapped it in a towel with my bag of snickers mini. Because of the frozen water my snickers stayed cold and they didn't melt at all. So each of my girls were able to savor a bit of chocolate after such a long hike. (it was about a 2 1/2 hour hike- if my memory serves me right)
After setting up camp the girls decided to go on another hike. (too much energy) We hiked up to the top of the mountain and were able to see the most spectacular view. From the ridge we could look one way and see home (barely- good thing there is a small hill to mark the spot) and when we turned around we could see the other valley. It was breathtaking!! It wasn't a long hike, about 1/2 hour, but it was straight up the mountain so it took a lot of breath. But... I brought the snickers again and we enjoyed some more chocolate at the top of the hill.
After dinner we spent the evening playing games. Most of our girls played and were joined with a few girls from the other wards, and occasionally a leader. My favorite games was "I have never." The game itself was fun but I think the best part was what came out in the game. Like when somebody said "I have never intentionally eaten a bug" when three girls stood up because they had, there were lots of laughs and then of course we needed to know the story. It created some good memories for me and really helped me to become friends with the girls.
After breakfast we packed up camp and drove out of the canyon to join the rest of the young women at camp, which was in another canyon. At the top my car load decided we should stop at the overlook/visitors center so that we could use a bathroom and had running water. It sounded like the best idea ever. So we stopped and I am so greatful we did, and not just because of the flushing toilets.
The other leader from our ward was in a truck and was behind me when we left campground #1. Because we stopped and she didn't she was now ahead of me heading to campground #2. As we started the decline down the canyon we were stopped by a construction stop light. As we looked over at the pull out we saw the other leader with a broken down truck. I kind of broke the law to get over to her by running the red light. But I will justify it by saying to was only for a few feet and no other cars were coming. Her truck had just died at the light and she was able to coast it down to the pull off. She tried to start it but it was no use. The thing was dead! Another leader pulled up to offer moral support but we all just felt useless as we looked at the dead truck. Boy I have never been so glad and so comforted with the tradition that the Priesthood leaders bring up the rear. After a few minutes the first Priesthood brother came to our rescue, and also as a blessing he is a farmer so that makes him smart and handy, and he had some tools. A few minutes after that the other Priesthood leader came and they both started working on the truck.
Poor truck, it was looking hopeless. It was decided that I would drive my girls down the canyon and drop them off at camp and then turn around and go back for the driver and her load, which included 4 girls from another ward and tents. By the time I reached camp word had already gone out that we had a dead truck and they had sent help up already, so I just parked my car, unloaded stuff and sat with the rest of our ward waiting. Skipping ahead in this story the truck died at appox 10 am the brethren worked on the truck until around 2 pm before they could start it and get it to camp. To get it started they had to take a trip into town (about an hours drive one way) to get supplies to fix the truck. Thank you! Thank you! That was a lot of work and a lot of sacrifice. I am so glad to be able to be acquainted with such good men.
(pardon my spelling, the blog does not have spell check)
In the meantime I taught the girls that they shouldn't hang around me if they want to eat :)
For all the girls that were on the overnight hike, the stake provided lunch for us (hooray) but we had to wait until noon for it. we had about 15 minutes before lunch and we were starving so to pass the time more quickly I told the girls (this is in reference to about 5 of the girls (mostly laurels and mia maids) that I hung out with the most) that we should go and do our immunity challenge while we waited. The challenge took us about 20 minutes, but we succeed and we got a necklace :) As we walked from the games to lunch we were stopped by another of our girls saying that the tents and stuff had arrived from the broken truck in another truck and we needed to go and get our stuff. The girls looked at me asking if they could eat first. I told them sacrifice brings blessings and lunch will taste better if we work for it :) So, off we went to unload the truck. (they are very very good girls and didn't complain) We finally got lunch about 12:40pm. And it was delicious!!
(one of the same girls with this lunch experience continued learning not to hang around me when they are hungry. We were at the park unloading stuff and waiting for parents to come and pick up the girls, I was taking this girl and her sister home. They (and I) were hungry but before I could take them home and let them eat, they had to run around town with me dropping things off that girls forgot at the park and taking things to girls who went home early. The older of the girls told me she would eat before she came around me next time)
During camped I learned the importance of the Priesthood leaders role at girls camp. And I am not talking just for the spiritual reasons. Our ward's priesthood leaders for the first night was the Bishop and one of his counsels. (whose wives are both in young womens) They got in the water fight with the girls and they played games with the girls. (and girls camp games are mostly just silly. Like the game "Would you like to buy my donkey") Most importantly they laughed and played with the girls. Now, on the surface it might not seem so important but I realized that by those simple actions they have built a friendship of trust with those girls. And now if any of them need advice or help from their Priesthood leader, the trust has been built that the girls will go to them for help. I saw evidence of this a week later at our Pioneer day celebration. One of the girls was feeling bad for herself because her friends had not shown up for the events yet. She was crying and she turned to her Bishop for comfort. He was able to get her the comfort she needed. I truely feel that she sought comfort from him because of the bond that was made at girls camp.
I realize that this blog is really long, there is just so much to tell. So many experiences I had. But for the sake of your eyeballs I will skip ahead by saying that camp was a fun and very spiritual experience. They stake prepared physical games for the girls to play where team work was vital. But they also had a very spiritual activity for the girls with a "Walk with Christ." And that activity changed and touched hearts in a very special way. My heart was changed and so was my love for the young woman. I don't just have a calling that I enjoy but now I have a calling I want to magnify. I hope that through my calling and what I do I can help the girls grow closer to Christ. And help them see that they don't need to do it alone because Christ is there to help each of us in all that we do. I want them to be strong in the gospel so that they can "Survive" Life. And that is what survival camp was all about. Helping us to know that with Christ in our lives and by taking our place along side Him was can survive and succeed in life and reach our destiny as a child of God.
So all in all, camp was the most amazing experience and I am so glad that I was able to be there for the whole thing so that I didn't miss anything. Even including the late nights and early mornings, sleeping on the ground, and trying to beat my cousin by yelling at her first and knowing I never will she is too quick :)