Stay Tuned

The theme for Girls Camp for our geographical area in our church this year was Stay Tuned: Testify, Unite, Notice, and Encourage Daily. That was inspired. Our girls really did strengthen testimonies while noticing and encouraging each other to become unified. 

• Thanks to our amazing camp leaders, that's what really happened. We actually stayed at my parents' cabin this year, which was fun although a little stressful for me at times because I was hosting at a place that was not my own. Other than one mishap of a fire in the oven :) it was low stress. 
• I am so grateful for this calling in Young Women's. I honestly think it was the perfect way for me to meet amazing women in the ward who teach me so much. The picture on the right is of Jamie, my first fellow leader friend. I met her on the night of New Beginnings, the first night of my new calling, and she asked me to stir two of her pots of delicious cheese soup. Don't ask how it happened, but somehow I ended up burning one of the soup pots so there were little black flecks throughout the soup, which we threw away. She didn't skip a beat to tell me not to worry about it and that it would be fine. She was so sweet and forgiving immediately, and it made me stop to think if I would have been as quick to forgive if I had spent a long time making a delicious soup that was viciously burned by a stirrer. What great friends I have made!
• Speaking of friends, my sweet 5 laurels make some wonderful friends. They always welcome me, tell me secrets; we giggle, we sing and dance in the car, basically they are some of the funnest most amazing people I know. I love that some will stop by just to chat, and it was fun to spend some more bonding time with them at camp. Within a few weeks, for three of my laurels I went from Mrs. Browning, their English teacher at school, to the Laurels' advisor. Poor girls :) but I sure do love them!
• There were so many neat things going on through this girls camp. From TV-show based games with our theme "Stay Tuned" to Volleyball, to delicious food (the best food camp food ever), to finding a lost dog, to the KSL Studio 5 host coming to speak to us, to a beautiful fireside, to a wonderful testimony meeting, to devotionals, to firesides, to camp songs, to late night leader chats, it made a beautiful, wonderful, uplifting camp. Here's the rest of the photos that tell my camp story:

Me, Tasha, and Karlee (my Laurels)

Hannah and me

Fun Games with the Camp Directors and girls

Volleyball was one of the most unifying experiences for many of the girls

America's Got Talent audience. These girls are talented with their singing and dancing!

Early morning devotionals

Karlee at the talent show

Laurels and Wendy karaoke-ing to Disney Princess music!

Fear Factor!

The Wall of Fame of shout-outs to girls and their good-doings :)

Girls Camp was such a memory-building experience for me that strengthened my testimony. I hope these girls felt the same way. Eight years after attending my own girls camps, I loved looking back on it with a renewed perspective, and I hope the girls loved it as much as I did :)