Well, instead of finding my calendar pages, I found my spiritual journal! And it includes tons of stuff... so glad I found this! :D
This was about my first year as a YCL and my first year at camp in the Queen Creek Stake.. I was there from thr 2nd of June till the 7th of June... it was a long camp! I'll write down (almost) anything that I feel about these events. ;)
JUNE 2ND - YCL OVERNIGHTER
So, we finally left the Stake Center around 11:30, our stake is n e v e r on time for anything. Me and Kami practically slept the entire way, mostly because I woke up at 5 in the AM. I'll never do that again. 5 is an evil number. We got to the Gordon's cabin just outside of Strawberry. It's a tad difficult to fit 40 girls in the front room of a cabin. We played get to know you games (I DESPISE THESE), It was freezing cold at night and the Spanish Branch decided to eat tamales at 11:45... okaaayyyy? We planned out our skits/commercials for the following night when we would get to camp along with everyone else. My YCL comp is Max King. Most likely the funniest person alive. She's a gem.
JUNE 3RD - WHOM SEEKEST THOU?
Wake up at 6 AM. Wait in the bathroom line for an hour. Wait some more for the cars. Get to camp. Highly confused. Meet and greet the other girls. THIS STAKE ONLY KNOWS LIKE 5 CAMP SONGS... I almost died of massive head nerve injuries. And the best part? I only know one of them. Super fun standing awkwardly in the back just clapping and having a deer in the headlights look on your face. I know I'm awkward, you don't have to tell me. And the best part of being a YCL? Being able to wander around aimlessly all day and passing down your responsibilities to the ones below your position. ;) Me and Max were over the 2nd years of Pegasus ward (coolest ward name. ever.) Thank goodness they are so sweet and talkative! We then went to our "special activity" which Sister Calhoun was supposed to keep a secret, but ended up telling us last night anyways. We walked along the Friendship Loop and up a mountain, and stopped a few times for mini lessons. Apparently walking without a water bottle up a mountain is extremely difficult for some people? Idk. Anyways, they were very spiritually filling (fav part of GC) Up at the top we beheld a "beautiful white pavillion" where the leaders were all dressed in white church dress and handed out water bottles and home.made.bread. yeah. umm, our stake makes their own bread for everything. It's magnificent. <3. We couldn't have water because it symbolized Christ and how it was very desirable at the end. A few hours later we had dinner and watched The Best Two Years on a big screen?? Haha this stake is the best. Later after being cramped into fetal position for two hours in the cold on the ground, me and Max had a devotional with our girls about seeking Christ. We're a pretty great team! I'm so glad she's my comp, because she helps me get out of my comfort zone (not an easy task). Before bed, ironically enough we talked about Lady Gaga and the fact that she was actually a man. A valid argument, I must say... which lasted an hour. haha :)
JUNE 4TH- SEE THE BIG PICTURE
Didn't get much sleep last night because it was FREEZING COLD. It was better than the cabin, go figure! Long day ahead of us. Me and Max were in charge of Flag Ceremony. Apparently, some girl's from my ward stole a girl's underwear and hung it on the flag pole... goodness. And they wonder why people don't like them? haha ;) We later listened to talks on friendships, played archery, and did a service project for kids in Africa. Bishop Petersen came up to camp and we had lunch with him and participated in the highly glorified "Bishop's Challenge" basically about 10 mini games that you play to try to win rights to the Spirit Stick in your Bishop's office for one year. We lost, even though we WERE winners because Bishop scored 150 points in archery!!! But we figured out that Brother Alleman and Brother Olsen are the cheer leaders of the ward. Haha! They're great. Girl's are so icky when it comes to showers.. it doesn't take you an hour to take a shower and get dressed in the stall! Yeah and people kept getting mad at us because time was going over and were cutting us in line. Laaaame. Wait yer turn. Good grief. We had our skit later, and I'm not gonna speak of it. Luckily me hair dried quite curly and nice, I was happy!
JUNE 5TH- BE NOT DECEIVED
HOLY AMAZING SLEEP THAT WAS THE GREATEST THING OF MY LIFE!! Probably the best sleep I've had... wait, it WAS the best sleep I've ever had! Buuuut, today is Fast Sunday... testimonies and meeting! The best place to have it is at GC. No babies crying, and everyone can feel for the person speaking, and there isn't so much pressure to get up there. Sister Brooks spoke about 'staying in the pasture' and it was truly a great lesson! One of my favorites. We had like 5 hours of down time, so again that meant aimless wandering. We chilled at the Montelena cabins and made cute little deer fabric diaries. Our ward gathered in some wood behind the cabins and held our own Testimony meeting. That was the first time I bore mine at camp. I needed to do it and I still need to do it more often. We finally had dinner/lunch! Our ward does "Bishop Walks" where he talks to us and gives us a blessing. My blessing was great! Very comforting and reassuring of myself and my future life. We then had a fireside and Brother Wilcox spoke. He's super funny! I think I'll be okay with the Seminary teachers over here.. We did Singing Trees later that night and sang I Know My Heavenly Father Loves Me. We went star gazing with the girl's in my cabin. And they made us LAY ON THE MONA BRIDGE! Gah! I know it's fake, but it's terrified me since my 1st year... and girls were doing that that night. I didn't want people grabbing my ankles, sue me! So me and Kami just sat on the bridge with our legs intact. I saw my first two shooting stars that night! Yusss. Oh yeah, and we attacked the cabin next to us with glow sticks.. hehe :) It was a splendid day for photographs :) very beautiful up here!
JUNE 6TH- SEEK AND YE SHALL FIND
Started the day off with flag ceremony. Then, oh then, we learned more songs! Finally! I had 3 1/2 burritos for breakfast... haha. We talked about missionaries, about YW values, etc in our break-outs. I sat down while watching my girls go on the zip-line.. and the worst thing happened. I. Dropped. My. Camera. In. The. Dirt. D: I cried. But thank heavens that one of our cabin moms was a photographer for the camp!! She cleaned it off the best she could and told me where I could get it fixed... what a saint. <3 All I knew was that I HAD to have it before Nauvoo or else I might die. More free time. And I dropped my hamburger. Not a very coordinationally direct day for me.. It being a Monday, we had FHE which was probably the greatest thing ever. Amazing! Unbelievable! Indescribable! We had a little shin dig before hand, then were told to walk silently into complete darkness to the chapel from the ramada. It was pitch black and the leaders bore their testimonies and we listened to some songs. There was a clip of Thomas S. Monson's voice (brings me great comfort like no other), and he was talking about the Temple. On cue, these floodlights came on to our left, and there was THE TEMPLE. I know, right?! Someone had carved a HUGE model of the top of the SLC Temple.It had the steeples, and even a gold angel Moroni statue on it. Everyone gasped and started sobbing. I was one of them. It looked as if we were floating in the clouds right on top of it. The Spirit was SO STRONG. I have never cried so hard in my life. My testimony has grown SO much over the past few days and that moment was the "crowning jewel" of my testimony. I always knew, but at that moment it was clear to ME and it was for ME. It left no shadow of a doubt in my mind that the Gospel is true. They had us sing We Believe, our theme song, but it just made me cry even more. I stuck around the chapel for what felt like an hour. Girls kept leaving, and when I left I was one of the last ones there. I don't know why people wanted to leave. It was cold, but my heart and countenance was warm. I would sleep on those benches right next to the Temple if I could. I wish to keep those feelings and thoughts with me constantly. I cannot wait for Nauvoo. I feel that this Summer is going to be a life changing one. I just might become an addict. ;) haha
I'll add photos later.
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