Girls Camp 2014–Come Unto Christ

We met at the church at 7:30 on Tuesday morning and then caravanned to Camp Joseph in Rye, Colorado – the Church property about an hour and a half south. It was beautiful when we pulled into Camp Joseph. We knew that the weather was going to be horrible – rain, rain and more rain for the entire week so it seemed a real blessing that we were able to put the tents up with blue skies and a little sun.

We got everything set up, ate our sack lunches and then headed to the main pavilion for the welcome, first flag raising and then opening games. Right after instructions were given it began a heavy downpour. t was crazy and all the girls ran back under the shelter of the main pavilion. The girls line danced and had a great time. Our girls were so happy and excited to be there. I don’t know how many times Katie said, “Oh, I’m so excited for camp.” Wonderful things happen at camp… strengthened relationships, great memories, great people, meaningful ways to serve and strengthened testimonies. I love camp too!

My happy Beehives and a few that just turned 14… Katie and Brooklyn.

The girls were always playing camp games whenever they had a spare minute… Big Buddha, Froggie and Bunny Bunny!

We picked up our dinner from the camp kitchen and headed back to our ward camp to eat… pulled pork sandwiches, grapes, chips and chocolate cake.

Brother Ogden came up to give us a FHE lesson. First we played a fun game called ‘4 on the couch’ with everyone switching names. It was really fun. Then he spoke of VIRTUE and that Christ is the one who sees us the way we truly are and who we can become. Almost as soon as we said the closing prayer, it started to downpour again. After running to the bathrooms in the pouring rain we got the girls all tucked in and headed to bed.

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Wednesday it rained steadily ALL DAY LONG. After pancake breakfast we split up into years and did our hikes. I went with the first years and we hiked for 3 miles around Camp Joseph. Everyone was SOAKED when we got back and we encouraged everyone to change entirely so they would be warm and dry. Tents were leaking, clothes were soaked and people were cold – but we were happy to be together.

After lunch we practiced our skit and went to the main pavilion to perform them. I just loved watching the girls prepare. We have some fun kids and they were cracking me up. We had to do a skit based on the fairytale “Princess and the Pea” and the wrote the skit about 12 princes looking for their true loves. One found a princess who loved gossip, money, tattoos, bad music, immodesty etc. And the last prince who was looking for Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth etc. It turned out really funny and the girls loved putting it all together and practicing.

After the skits we stayed in the pavilion to stay dry and played Phase 10 for an hour or two until dinner. Wednesday night we had a Fireside with some special visitors – a guys choir and some guys and brethren who spoke. It was really good. Unfortunately I missed most of it sitting in the car and drying some of the girls jeans and sweatshirts with the heater. : )

Finalizing all the hair braiding and getting ready for hikes.

All the first year girls on our 3 mile hike.

Cordera girls eating lunch in the pavilion

Thursday we ate breakfast and headed for our assigned stations:

1. Archery and Rifle Range Stations

Katie – aka Katniss, with her hair braided and everything.

Golf Ball Team Building Exercise – our half of the Cordera girls came in first place of all the Stake. They’re awesome!

Swinging to the Island without falling off… Team Building Exercise. So funny!

After lunch we had ward free time and we spend a good portion of the time setting up huge tarps over the fire pit. It provided three areas where we could hang out without getting wet – which was really nice. A group of us played Phase 10 again and had fun talking. Lots of other games and hair braiding going on as well. It was fun to be there with the other leaders too – Leah Russell, Paula Leishman, Christina Abbott, Courtney Smith and Kera Hudson.

Several of us had the exact same pair of rain boots. Boy those things were a lifesaver. I never took them off the whole camp. The rain was constant but the MUD was a huge issue too.

Dinner at the pavilion was quite the event because of a little bear spray incident. Sister Smith, pulling on her backpack which got caught on something, accidently sprayed her bear spray. Within seconds the girls and leaders in our area started coughing, gaging and running from the pavilion. It must have been quite the site to the rest of the Stake but it spread quickly and soon all the girls were evacuating the building. It got in some of the girls eyes and then wouldn’t stop watering. For me it went straight into my lungs and I coughed and and coughed and coughed. Nothing like a little drama to make Girls Camp absolutely memorable. It’s funny that after Girls Camp was over the girls couldn’t stop talking about how awesome Girls Camp was because of the rain and the bear spray.

After dinner the rain stopped just long enough for us to have our Fireside and Solo Experience with a dry sky – a great blessing. It was a neat experience. Unfortunately we don’t give time to do that enough. Katie had letters written to her by Chris and I, and after her solo experience she came to find me to give me a hug. I know those letters meant a lot to her… especially her Dad’s. Around the campfire the girls bore their testimonies and shared experiences from their Solo Experience. Then we met with the Stake for Singing Trees before going to bed.

Our turn for Flag ceremony on Friday morning.

Friday morning at Breakfast the Stake leaders announced that we needed to pack up and head home on that day instead of Saturday. The unpaved roads leading up to the camp were mudding and people were sliding off the road. With a bit of clear sky that came on Friday morning and forecasts of another huge rainstorm that afternoon and evening they decided now was the time to get everyone out safely. Even with all of the rain and mud and cold, it was devastating news to all the girls. Immediately girls started crying and hugging each other. We had a few girls moving right after girls camp so it was especially hard on some of our beehives – but equally hard on some of the YCL’s who had put so much into planning the camp. We had learned how to survive and be happy in the rain. I was kind of bummed too.

We started to pack up and take down tents (filthy muddy tents inside and out) and then headed to the outdoor amphitheater for our last Fireside. It was a WALK WITH CHRIST and during the whole thing we were blindfolded and they placed things in our hands while we listened to a recording of music and words about the life of Christ. It was neat.

We ate lunch, watched the slideshow of camp, finished packing up and headed home.