Three days after returning from our Tennessee reunion, it was off to Girl's Camp for Abby and me. They called me last October to be the ward camp director. I was really excited at the time because I thought it would be fun to go with Abby for her first year and hopefully help to make it a better experience than I had when I was a young woman. Of course then in March we found out we were expecting another baby but I thought I would still be okay since I would be 17 weeks during Girl's Camp, putting me well past the yucky 1st trimester but before I start getting too large and uncomfortable.
I started to get pretty anxious about going to Girl's Camp as the time grew nearer though. I'm not really a camper and I knew that since we were camping as levels this year and I was with all the first-years, it was going to be quite the experience. But finally I just decided that worrying about it wasn't going to make a lick of difference and that I could do hard things.
There were some definite "hard things" about camp including the lack of sleep, screaming 12-year-olds at all hours of the night, sleeping on a cot, using smelly latrines, and the fact that it rained everyday that we were at camp. But I had some pretty amazing experiences with these girls that strengthened my faith and testimony of my Savior.
I mean how could you not have fun with a bunch of crazy girls like these ones?!?!?
My first-years were terrified of all the bugs and spiders they kept finding in their tents at night. Then one morning we spotted this snake outside the showers. What fun!!
I loved all the time built into the camp schedule for personal study and meditation!
The girls seemed to bond really well, and while there was some homesickness going on by day 3, for the most part they all did exceptionally well!
On Wednesday evening, all the Young Women ward leaders came up to camp and our ward put on a "spa night" for us. Here is Abby with her mud mask on...
We also got a foot soak with some scrub to go with it which felt great on our tired feet!
Some nail polish definitely happened that night too!!
Such an amazing group of girls and leaders!! Our theme for camp was "Be Not Moved" and we really focused all of our lessons and devotionals on standing in holy places and on being firm and steadfast with sticking to those things we know are right.
Here were my first year campers from the Hagerstown Ward...Jessica, Abby, and Hanna.
The first years were assigned to the Whispering Oaks campsite which had tents instead of cabins. Some of the girls were sad about this, but I think the tents stayed cooler and at least they kept us all dry despite all the rain.
Skit night on Thursday was definitely a favorite!
One of my favorite parts of camp was the five-mile hike and day at the lake afterwards. Another chance for the girls to see that they can do hard things!!
I am happy to report that we all survived this camp experience and even came out better on the other side. But I can't say that I have any desire to go camping again anytime soon!!
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