Stake YW Camp was quite the ride. The highest of highs and the lowest of lows. As stake young women's president I had no idea what to expect. I have never been to camp as an adult leader and I barely remember what stake young women's camp was like as a youth.
Last fall we reserved our stake property and we were part of the Lehi South Stake. Then our stake was split. We were put in the new stake, North Lake Stake and the reservation was under the old stake. It was hard deciding what to do. We talked about splitting the week with the South Stake but Monday through Wednesday wasn't much time for all of the work that goes into girls camp. It is only one full day. We asked the South Stake if they could reserve a different week but they couldn't find one that worked for them. It was a very tricky situation and ultimately I felt like they should have the reservation and we would find a new camp to reserve. Also, months leading up to reserving camp we wanted to go somewhere new and we asked to go somewhere else besides our stake property. So in a way we should have been excited for a chance to go somewhere else.
Find a camp to reserve was really hard. I spent many late nights looking. It was hard to find something big enough, with amenities, and shade. Eventually we chose Camp Earley Park. There were a lot of concerns of it being big enough but it all worked out and there was plenty of space.
The stake camp director and assistant camp directors, Jamie, Natalie and Stephanie were amazing! We met and knew we wanted a unifying camp. We wanted meals together and lots of stake time. We let the youth camp leaders (YCLs) plan the rest. There were committees of youth leaders to cover everything from devotionals, decorations, activities, songs and swag.
We had a head camp cook and seven assistant cooks. Sandy was phenomenal. She could run a successful restaurant because she ran an amazing kitchen at camp. We were well fed, she was on time and organized. She had never ending cookie jars and never ending coolers with fresh fruit and the best cookie dough dip. Also a cooler of fresh cut veggies and ranch dip.
The decoration committee made paper chains for days and they filled 18 garbage bags!
The stake leaders got to camp around 10:30 and started set up, decorating, and marking each ward camp site. Many hands make light work. It was amazing how fast we set up canopies, nine squares, tables, etc. When we first got to camp there was a little drama with our camp sites and the missionaries wanting us to change and be all together instead of split on the south end and north end. We had already assigned camp sites and made maps. I felt bad not going with what the camp missionaries wanted us to but we just had to keep things as planned. I wish they would have told us a week or two before and not when we got there. The missionaries were nice about it.
As wards rolled in we directed them to their camp site and then the girls decorated pillow cases. I had fun hanging out with Lynnlee and her friends.
The first night I sat with my presidency and the camp missionaries at dinner. It was fun to make connections with the camp missionaries. They were from Tremonton and so they knew one of my old roommates and the "Bear River Boys." They were a group of boys I spent a lot of time with my freshman year. These missionaries were amazing and so helpful.
That night before dinner we had a fun camp kickoff at the amphitheater. We went over the schedule and camp rules. Then after dinner we had a spiritual devotional with great talks from the YCLs. We also went over the theme. Jamie had an awesome talk and had each girl bring a small stick/twig. The theme was Shine On and we had the fire going. Each girl and leader put their stick on the fire and by the end the flame was very bright and strong.
The stake leaders stayed in Nicole's trailer. It was nice having a bed and not having to rough it in a tent. We had a couple of girls that needed priesthood blessings that night but otherwise it was an uneventful night.
I wasn't sure if I would run while at camp. I knew I wanted to but I wasn't sure if I would be getting enough sleep to wake up early. I woke up all on my own at 5:00 so I went for a 6 mile run. I needed that quiet time to ponder and reset for the day.
Wednesday started off with a yummy pancake breakfast. I sat by North Lake 1st ward. The girls and leaders were so nice and easy to talk to.
After breakfast the wards had their morning ward devotionals. That gave us stake leaders time to practice our dance for the variety show that night. It was so out of my comfort zone so it made me giggle.
We had rotations after that with each age group. This way girls could hang out with other girls their age in the stake. THhe rotations were craft, service project, games on the field and free time. During free time they could get a snow cone. The weather was so hot! The snow cones helped so much! The craft was beading some strings on the keychain that went on the cross body bag. Cross body bags were the swag item. It was the best because I always had my phone, keys, sharpie, pen and song book on me and my hands were free. The service project was writing missionaries and braiding lanyards from Paracord.
There was free time before dinner and some drama to take care of. We also took time to make a new plan for the light walk. It was just going to be too hot to have it on the path we were originally going to do it on. We were able to find a new spot with some shade and a leader was coming up to camp. I called Marshall and asked him to buy long wooden stakes to anchor the pictures and posters to. He bought them and took them to the leaders house and then she brought them to camp with her.
At 4:00 that afternoon the power went out. At first it didn't seem like that big of a deal. The missionaries called Rocky Mountain Power and they said it was a wide spread outage and they were working on it. They said it would hopefully be on by 8:00pm. As time went on things started to go down and get stressful. The cooks needed power for some things. We needed power for the water and toilets to work. So as time went on things were starting to escalate and concern was rising. We weren't at the type of place you could go in the bushes or trees to go to the bathroom. There were no bushes or trees there. We weren't prepared to be without water as well. We gathered for dinner and the camp director explained our predicament to everyone. She said we needed a miracle. She invited everyone to kneel down in prayer. She invited us to have prayers in our hearts as well as she prayed and asked Heavenly Father for a miracle. After that prayer we were all in tears. It was so stressful. Within ten to fifteen minutes the power turned on. This was around 6:30. Everyone cheered and then we knelt down and had a prayer of thanks. It was so powerful that everyone got to witness a miracle. We were all crying again and so relieved. It took awhile for the water pumps and everything to catch up but thankfully after the night devotional everything was working again.
Dinner was amazing and I sat by someone new each meal. I can't remember who I sat by though. We had a nice spiritual devotional that night provided by the YCLs. Their messages really hit me and I cried through them all. Two things that stood out were one- Liesel said "it's often said God doesn't give you more than you can handle but I disagree. God gives us more than we can handle but he helps us through it." Second, "think about all of the beautiful things on the earth and then know out of all of those places and things, we are God's greatest creations."
We had a ten minute break and then everyone got ready for the variety show. Lynnlee helped me pull up my hair high enough. Jamie helped rat it. Lynnlee did my make up. Jeanne-Marie made these awesome tutus, had light up scrunchies, and sweat bands. It was so fun! The variety show was so fun. Some wards danced, some had a skit, some sang songs, etc. The camp cooks even participated. As stake leaders we were the last to do and we danced to Girls Just Want To Have Fun. Then we danced to the pavilion for our glow stick dance party. It was so fun!
Thursday morning we had rotations with wards. We had three stations: decorating the bishop's t-shirt for the Olympics, activities on the ball field, and painting positive messages on rocks.
That afternoon was the Light Walk. It was a big event that was well planned by the YCLs. It was all about our relationships with Christ. There were quotes, pictures, and scripture on poster boards along a path. Each ward had assigned times. Each girl went on her own with a journal and scriptures. They took quote handouts as they went. At the end they met their young women president. Then they were given a letter from home, Light Walk sticker, and otter pop. Then they could find a quiet shady place to ponder, journal and read. We heard a lot of good things afterwards about positive experiences from the Light Walk.
Each day of camp had something hard and then an answer to prayer. Usually multiple things but definitely one big thing. Thursday afternoon Stephanie rolled her ankle and couldn't walk. Amazingly enough someone happened to have crutches and she was able to get by until the end of the night. Then she got a ride home with a bishopric and someone drove her car home for her.
Thursday night was Bishopric night. They came for dinner, Bishop Olympics and ward testimony meetings. My presidency was in charge of the Olympics so we were running around like crazy and it was a little stressful. We didn't get to enjoy dinner as much. We went to the amphitheater for the Olympics. It was a very fun activity. Each bishop had a flag. The stake president participated as well. We made a flag for him. Then each wore the t-shirt that was decorated for them. Jeanne-Marie had an awesome script that made it so much more official. We also played Olympic music and that made it fun too. We had them compete in five different minute to win-it games. The bishops all really got into it so it was so great! The girls loved it!
Our numbers dwindled that night. Stephanie went home due to her ankle. Jeanne-Marie had to head back for a family member being in a parade. Megan went home and so that left me and Nicole in my presidency to clean up. Jamie and Natalie helped clean up as well. We didn't have the help of the YCLs and it was an exhausting morning. I took down two nine squares, a tent, and loaded the trailer. I didn't go running that morning but I didn't need to because I got so many steps cleaning up and sweated the same amount.
We had breakfast and everyone headed out between 9:00-10:30. I was the last to leave with the camp directors. It was a great week and I was so happy for the success of the camp. It was very hot the whole time but we never had to send anyone home for heat related problems. We were very blessed the whole week.
There were problems with my ward leading up to camp and through camp but I'm not going to mention those here or focus on them. I will focus on the good, the positive, and happy times. It also needs to be remembered that six out of seven wards thanked me for an amazing week. Many leaders and girls voiced how grateful they were and how much they loved camp. I love working with the ward leaders and feel so grateful for all of the relationships I've formed.
