Girls Camp!

Okay. Now that I've finally recuperated from Girls Camp, I can finally blog about it. Of coarse, I brought a camera to camp that didn't have a battery working. Thanks to my friend Nicole (the blond - aka reeses pieces) I have some pictures from camp. Thanks Nicole! This year I must admit, camp almost killed me. It ended up being a lot more work than I had ever anticipated. This year we lost two of our most loved Stake Staffers (Alayna Weiss & Mary Berry) but gained two other wonderful women- Lori Anderson & Vickie Mecham. We had a lot of hurdles this year that were very unexpected. BUT, thanks to the wonderful women I have the privilege to work with, and the help of my dearest friend Heather Biggs who gave me lots of great ideas from her many years of experience, it all worked out extremely well. I loved having fun with my friend Tiffany Sandridge who did a lot of work with me in getting the YCLs to lead the activities. They all did a great job! I was so proud of them. I loved staying up late talking to my dear friend Kriss Norris, our stake camp director, who I just love more and more with each day that I get to spend with her. I could feel Heavenly Father's presence with me in every activity I was in charge of every step of the way. It was AMAZING!!! Every night we had a good fun activity followed by a spiritual one, which was wonderful. We had a great service project making lots of kits that were needed at the Target House that houses families with children getting care at St. Jude's hospital. I was very grateful to have Alayna there encouraging & helping me along since I did her job that she had last year. Then, when my wonderful friend Mary Berry got there, it just made my week. Mary has the amazing capability of being a wonderful helper and is funny as heck. She just keeps us rolling with laughter, which is just what we need when dealing with camp! Thanks to Sis. Cerveny and the kitchen staff, we were all spoiled with wonderful food. She even slipped me extra brownies! Our priesthood leaders, Pres. Goodale & Bro. Cerveny were fun and patient as always. When one of our tiki torches caught fire late at night and we thought the tree was on fire too, they stayed calm and collected. They are the best! The picture above is Pres. Goodale, Nicole Rees & me while listening to Mary Berry's wonderful mini class. The one with the teal poster board is some of us stake staffers doing our very famous synchronize swimming skit! It was a HUGE success! The man in the pink shirt is our faithful Bro. Cerveny. Doesn't he keep his eyes on us well? The other with the girls in yellow is a picture of me after leading the five mile hike with my friends Nicole & Sheryl Varnadoe. I love my friendship with them! One of the best nights at camp was the night of our silent hike. We had a bunch of questions stapled to different wooden stakes posted along a trail that made a big circle around the camp. Each question asked the girls different things about the progress they're making in life as well as their relationships with family members, friends, and their Heavenly Father. If the girls answered, yes, they were doing a good job in that particular area, there was a bag full of popcorn kernels that they could get to fill their lanterns they had with them that they had made during craft time. It was to symbolize filling their lanterns with oil like the ten virgins. It was completely silent,personal, very sacred and a special night for the girls. I think it was a wonderful way for all of us to see if we were doing our part to prepare for the Bridegroom. They ended the hike with each lantern lit with a little candle inside as we sang hymns and had a short devotional. The spirit was amazingly strong. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for friends who help me along my path in life, for His help in all I do, and for the blessing of being a part of girls camp. It was a wonderful experience that blessed my life! Maybe I can do it all again next year!