Girls Camp 2012

It's a JUNGLE Out There

June 11 '12\\ The Circle of Life

Here we go again... I've been trying so hard to be optimistic about Camp. It's never been my favorite part of YW, that is until it starts, then it's pretty much amazing.. I seriously don't know why I still complain about doing things like this, they only help me grow. Camp came real fast this year. It's on a Ward level instead of Stake because of Trek, and I don't know how I feel about it because I'm in the dark on everything and I think the leaders are, too. I've been praying for my girls and for me like crazy this whole week. I have a great group of girls, I believe. Tessa Wade is my YCL partner, I just LOVE her! She is so sweet/funny and so kind and loving to everyone! She says she wants to be like me when she is older, but really, I want to be like her! I am SO blessed that she is my partner. We're the two in the ward who are on spiritual highs 24/7, we're unstoppable. She's definitely the one I'm supposed to serve with, if I were with any other girl I would have a completely different attitude and overall experience, so thank you to the ones who prayed and made this happen! My girls are Tisha Barlow, Ari Harris, Ryan Glad, Cara Boatwright, Paige Kimball, and Kaleah Wilson. I don't know all of them that well, but that's gonna change!! :)
We got to the Stake Center around 6:45, and we were the first ones there. They gave us our camp shirts (I looooove church shirts, I must have about 50), and we packed up and left! I was in Brother and Sister Kasper's car, along with Kayla Cluff and Mallory Sheppard and Tessa and Sister Nielson. I love our car! We talked about the funniest things! Like their love stories and such. Brother Kasper proposed to Sister Kasper in front of a gas station shortly after breaking up with her. It was the cutest thing ever! I would love for something totally random like that to happen to me, and it probably will because things like that happen to me all the time. Naturally. But I love it. It just makes everything more personal and unique, and I'm all for uniqueness! ;) All the other cars were dancing to Boyfriend by Justin Bieber, but we were having deep conversations! That is my element. We are all pretty much best friends now! I'm so glad that Sister Nielson was able to come with us, she is such a sweetheart! Same with Sister Kasper! They NEVER have a frown on their faces, and they are so full of life and happiness. I want to be like them.
About two hours later, we arrived to the Tonto Natural Bridge. I had no idea what to expect, but it exceeded them, whatever they were! It was real neat! We hiked down there and all took pictures and such. I'm the Assistant Camp Photographer, apparently. I'm thankful for it because it'll help me branch out more to other girls who I normally wouldn't talk to. And that is my main goal for camp this week. Haha I am also in charge of putting together the slideshow before Mutual next week. So this should be great! I'm glad it's me making it and not somebody else, because I am SUPER picky and meticulous about these kind of things. It's bad. But it's who I am so therefore it's good. ;) We had a devotional by Sister Faulkinbury about the Circle of Life and what set of circles we want to choose to follow, etc.
Another 2 hours later we arrived in Vernon, AZ which is about 50 miles away from New Mexico... haha I was confused for a while because anything in AZ east of Flagstaff, I have no idea of its whereabouts. I was expecting the cabin to be in the mountains with mountains around it. But it was not. The cabin itself was on a mountain, but it overlooked this flat land with bushes... it was a tad strange... and it was hot still. So I was a little sad because I was looking forward to my sweatshirt and trees. Oh well. The room situation got all messed up. They accidentally told the Laurels that we could have the two bedrooms in the back and that the leaders would sleep on the floor... it was supposed to be the other way around! So me, Tessa, and Alexa Petersen were gonna give up our room and sleep on the back porch, buuuut the other Laurels were not so hot on that idea and  apparently we all had to stick together, so the leaders did not get their rooms.. After getting everything set up, we watched 7 Brides for 7 Brothers!! Ahh that is like my all time favorite movie! I was sooo happy we watched it! I was surprised on how many girls have seen it. We were all singing along with the songs, and it was so funny with all their commentary. They all loved Gideon, but I like Benjamin. ;) haha!
We had our recap devotional later that night on The Circle of Life, and that was great. Tessa is such a great speaker, she just says what's on her mind and it comes so naturally to her! And the girls hang on to each of her words. She says I'm the best YCL ever. False. It's HER! :) After sending everyone to bed, us three roomies stayed up until 1 AM talking about life, religion, our girls, and everything else! It was such a neat experience! I love them! And our room isn't exactly a room... it's a hallway between the kitchen and garage with a bed in the corner.. so I'm pretty sure that everyone could hear us. Oops! Well, I hope they got inspirational tid bits from our wisdom. ;)
Oh, we also did a service project for 4 of our old YW leaders who just got released. We all wrote a note to each of them on a quilt square and we tied them. It's gonna be so great! I got a little emotional just hearing about it, I know they're gonna loooove them! And then around midnight, Alexia, Ryan, and Paige C got up and put maxi pads on some of the cars outside for a prank... haha weirdos.

June 12 '12\\ You Can't Pet a Rattlesnake

After talking with Alexa last night, I wished we would have been friends sooner! She and Tessa are going off to college in a few months, and it makes me sad! This usually happens to me. I make friends and then one of us moves away for some reason. And for some reason I know it's coming so I just keep to myself to avoid the hurt, but what hurts worse is not getting to know everyone in the long run I suppose. I say it every year, but I'm gonna change! :) Anyways, I could not get ANY sleep. I woke up around 4 this morning and watched the sunrise, then made myself go back to sleep for another few hours. We had breakfast, and I did some Yoga with Sister Faulkinbury, and it was intense!! We had a loooong day ahead of us. WE ARE GOING TO THE LAAAAAKE! Whoo! I haven't been to a lake in  f o r e v e r. We rented canoes, kayaks, and were going to set up a water trampoline, but Bro. Barlow forgot the plug at home.. and I was kinda sad about that, but the day was sooo much fun I forgot about it! I was in the canoes most of the day because we had to have someone older in them at all times. I am like Pocahontas when it comes to canoeing. I got the rest of my legs burned! Haha so I am really tan now. I've always wanted to be tan... turns out, I don't like it all that much!! Being brown is weird. I can't stop staring at my arms. Oh, we were at Fool Hollow Lake, by the way. I didn't take any pictures because last year at camp, I dropped in the dirt, and there was NO WAY I was gonna drop it in the water.... I don't know what I would do if that happened.. the water was so cold, but it was a bit warm outside. Tessa, Alexa, and Kayla talked me into jumping in the lake... and about five minutes of talking about it with each other, we locked hands and jumped in off the dock railing. It was SO MUCH FUN! Freezing, but fun! I love being young. :) That's what made me go in, because I would regret it if I didn't. Over the course of the day, I jumped in about 6 times. A few more than I wanted because Sister Curtis couldn't capture my idea for a photo where me, Tessa, and Alexa would jump in making "YCL" with our arms, I don't think she got it all the way, but it is gotta look pretty sweet! The lake was so pretty! It was pretty small, but we all had fun, there was no complaining, and no fighting. Cara pushed Bro Barlow into the lake, but she fell in too! ;) After lunch we had a series of races! 2 teams and we had to carry a leader across along with all our girls once and we had to take a canoe and a kayak across. It was so much fun! Our team won, and that really bonded us I think. What I love about Camp is that you can feel the love from everyone, we put aside the makeup, cute hair, and clean clothes, and just get closer through the dirt and tears! Until the next Sunday... haha ;) I feel like that is not gonna happen in this case. Why? Because I am going to do my best to make sure that doesn't happen for me.
When we got home, the YCLs got to take the first showers! Yeahyuh! Usually we're the last ones to do anything. The rest of the day we made adorable button rings and bobby pins and bracelets, we painted nails, got tinsel in our hair, and made bath stuff! It was fun to see everyone's creative sides, that's something that I really enjoy about people. I find that creativity keeps me sane, and sometimes I forget that other people are creative in other ways and it's not just me, so that was pretty cool.
After dinner, we split up into little groups and reacted some Mormonads that had to do with one of the YW Values. They were soooo cute and funny! My group had Virtue, and the ad Don't Fall for It. So we pretended to be at a party where there was drinking and a few of us fell into temptation, and each time one of us would "fall down" we knocked over a domino block, until the last one was standing with a girl who wouldn't give into temptation. It was pretty cool and really funny thanks to Paige! Everyone LOVED her after that, and I could tell that meant a lot to her. I've gotten to know her over the past few months since she's moved in and (most of our group are the ones who have just moved in in the past year or two).. anyways, I know she's been wanting to get more friends, and this helped her show off her crazy fun side that not a lot of people got to see, so I'm so glad that happened for her! <3 Maizey in her skit was a tad on the insane side... I'm not even gonna go into that! Haha!
Later, Ryan pulled her 2nd prank. Wes, Paige C's brother, has a gorilla suit which he uses in pretty much every situation (last week at their camp he brought it and scared hikers in Colorado with it) and so she dressed in it and totally FREAKED OUT some of the girls outside. It was SO funny!! We made homemade ice cream and it was delicious.
We recapped the devotional again on Don't Pet a Rattlesnake, and personally this was my favorite. It talked about resisting temptation in any form, even if it promises to not turn it's back on you kind of thing.

June 13 '12\\ Stand Firm in the Stampede

Sleep was a lot better, but there was a light on in the hallway and I was too tired to turn it off. I woke up SO sore and burned from all the activities yesterday. It was not the best I've ever felt in my life, I'll just leave it at that.. Today I was so excited for! We rode horses (mine was ginger and was so tired, and I felt bad that I had to whip it for it to go anywhere!!), shot clay pigeons (it was my first time shooting a gun, and I'm terrible at it. I kept aiming waaaay too high, and it took me 12 bullets to hit one...), mountain biked (my jeans got caught on the chain and ripped the leg... but it was fun! I put my body low and flew down the hill, and I've always wanted to do that, hehe), archery (this is what I am super good at, I was compared to Katniss a few times, it was fun! The bows weren't long enough for me, but even with that I was still getting the animal cut outs in killing places. I got swag.), made salt water taffy ( me and Tisha made raspberry coconut taffy, it was the only batch that turned out decently and it tasted sooo good! Everyone ate it all up in like two seconds.), and made picture frame stands (I wanted mine painted white so it would match my room, but they were out of white paint by the time I made mine, so I'll have to wait until I can actually take it home) and finished the quilts! It was a super fun day! I was loving every minute of it! For the first time I shot a gun, rode a horse, made taffy, and went mountain biking! It was fun! I'm surprised I did everything with a happy and confident attitude! I embrace myself more at camp. I'm getting a lot better at just doing things without thinking about it too much, but only in situations where total analyzing isn't required. ;) 

We also had our Bishop Walks today! I've been waiting over a year for this! If there is anything that is making me want to go back to Stake Camp next year, it is that blessing. It is one of the best things about camp. He blessed me with reassurance of my beautiful and pure countenance and overall goodness, told me to wait for my husband and that he is surely preparing himself for his mission and life right now and that he will be just what I need in an eternal companion, he blessed me with guidance, happiness, safety, and discernment in all situations. I just loooove Bishop Petersen! He is so in tune with the spirit, it is absolutely amazing. He thinks I'm the greatest girl ever, so does Sister Kasper. I'm just loved by everyone! ;) But seriously, I had NO CLUE on how many people look up to my family. I kept getting girls complimenting my family and saying how every Sunday they just study us and love our example and are just amazed by our strength. It was an eye opener for me, and put even more pressure on me to be good! But that's good, because I need that. 

After dinner we had our testimony meeting. BEST PART OF CAMP! Whoo! We sat in the dark outside in a circle. They each gave us a light up Nauvoo star and when we wanted to bear our testimony, we would light ours up and go for it. After a few girls, I was wanting to get up, I had mine in my hands, and it hit my hand or something, and lit up. Apparently, it was my turn. Haha! Total accident, but if that didn't go off, I don't know when I would have actually gone. Bearing my testimony doesn't scare me anymore. I got up, and even though it was completely different than what I was going to say, I cried, and cried, and cried some more, made everyone else cry, etc. It was very emotional. Apparently, I inspired some other girls to get up and bear theirs. It really didn't hit me until Camp that people DO look up to ME. And follow MY example. I just find that so weird because I'm not perfect... but it is the best feeling in the world to know that by action I am helping. I've always wanted to make a difference in at least one person's life, but little have I known that I make a difference in a lot of people's lives... it was an eye opener, that's for sure. A few of my girls got up an bore their testimonies, and that made me cry. My litter first years all got up! There is no way when I was a first year that I would have gotten up and bore mine!! They are so good. So little, but have it all figured out for themselves. They inspire ME! One of the girls, who I wasn't over but still looked after got up, and hers made me BAWL. She thanked the YCLs for helping her feel included and loved, and right with Ivy's words, I knew I had accomplished my job as a YCL. And I wasn't even hers! It still makes me choke up just thinking about it.. these girls in the ward really DO love each other, and they all testified of this. This testimony meeting was different. I don't know if it was because I was different, but I think things in the ward are gonna change. Sure, we haven't had hardly any problems, but I think that we'll all be closer from now on. And since I am one of the older Laurels, or will be in a few months, it's now my turn to be the one they all look up to even more now. 

I bore my testimony of my love for the gospel and how I KNOW everything about it is true, how much I've changed since living out in QC, and how much I love the girls and the ward, I testified of the greatness of our leaders for Camp, YWs, and the bishopric and priesthood. I didn't give advice or anything, but I think I do enough just by living my life in a way that people can tell that I know. I will make sure to work on that more, because I want to be like Tessa and Alexa. 

June 14 '12\\ Being Chaste While Being Chased

We were supposed to get up at 4:30 this morning to watch the sunrise and have a devotional on the top of a mountain, but since NO ONE got to bed until midnight or later, we cancelled that. I was kind of sad about that, but I already watched the sunrise, sunset and the stars. Another favorite of mine. We hurried and cleaned up, packed, read off our Secret Sisters, and had a last devotional on Being Chaste While Being Chased (that was such a cool theme for the day! I've never heard of it before!). I've been getting so many notes and handouts! I love it! I'm gonna run out of wall space at home pretty soon! ;) They all touched me inside! I've been feeling previously that I don't fit in exactly at church (which is fine by me) but these notes really pulled me in, and I appreciated each one of them! I was writing notes like crazy, too. I wrote one to all of our leaders and most of the girls. My hand was always hurting. But it was a good hurt. Anyways, we were out of the cabin by late morning (I had no idea what time it was, and it kind of drove me insane). And I felt that I was really helpful during camp, I hardly ever just stood around doing nothing, I was always looking for ways to serve the girls, and I think that really MADE camp for me this year. I had a far greater appreciation for every detail that went in and a greater love for all the leaders. I just felt so good at camp this year, it was by far the best Camp I've ever been to. I'm so thankful that I decided to go, and put forth the effort to make it what I needed it to be for me and for the girls who I served. I am so glad that I was one of those YCLs that the girls just adored and wanted to be just like them, I remember my first YCLs and I thought they were the greatest girls ever and I hope that I was able to be the same ones I saw for my first years and the other years. 

My recap last night was pretty great, it was on being prepared and I shared my missionary story of Nash! It was a great feeling letting these girls know that I know the truth of these things, and I had the experiences that they were going to have already. I hope they can learn from my examples and experiences and rise up to their full potentials. I love each one of my girls and I want them to get married in the Temple. I want them to live their lives in such a way that they can be in tune with the Spirit, and gain the greater advantage for all of the bumps in life. I want them to be happy with themselves and with life. I want them to go through hard things so that they will be able to rise above it and add a little more shine to their polishing. I want them to know for themselves the truthfulness of the gospel. I want them to have an eternal family that is sealed forever. I want the best for them, truthfully. 

We got home after 4 hours of chatting, stopping for pizza, and having a good time! I can once again say I LOVE CAMP, but this time, I am going to say it all year long and look forward to it's blessings next year.