The family I had growing up is all but a memory now. Children move away. We start our own families. But it's the trip we make home again that is so important. Family can be crazy and infuriating. But it's also what matters most. Sometimes it takes a lifetime to figure that out. John Grogan

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Girls Camp June 2009











We held Young Women's camp June 24th through 27th in Kolob at Blue Springs. We had 16 out of 18 Young Women attend.Our theme, “Find the treasure within...Song of My Heart” was based on Doctrine and Covenants 25:12. Our goals for camp were to focus on the new value of virtue, build stronger testimonies and a love for Emma and Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, build stronger bonds and an understanding of our ancestors, strengthen our testimony of Jesus Christ, have a desire to live righteously so the Holy Ghost can guide our lives and therefore fulfill our mission here on Earth, and build strong friendships of support for each other.We started with “A walk in the path of virtue”. Our path had warning signs along the way and snakes close by. At our destination (Lava Point Lookout), we talked to the young women about being virtuous using Sister Elaine S. Dalton's talk “Stay On The Path” as a basis for our information. That evening, we were visited by a few “Virtuous women of the past”, a grandmother, mother and daughter portraying their own ancestors. We also watched a documentary on Emma Smith put together by one of the authors of the “Joseph Smith Papers” documentary. We held a compass course the next day incorporating the values and knot tying as we made a macramé bracelet with value colored beads. We also did some fun activities that afternoon. We made ice cream in cans, decorated our bandannas, hand dipped candles and wrote a “Desires of My Heart” letter. That evening, we had a talent show with every girl participating.The next day was a busy one with workshops in the morning and a “soul survivor” challenge in the afternoon. Our workshops consisted of Diana Coonradt “The Voice of our Ancestors”, talking to the young women about the importance of knowing who our ancestors are and the connection we have with them; Nancy Brook “Seek For a Better”, talking to the young women about being prepared with the armor of God to be able to fulfill our missions on Earth; and Linda Clarke “Everybody's Life Is a Story”, talking to the young women about writing their personal history in a fun and personal way to share with their posterity.Our activity that afternoon was a series of six challenges with two teams competing with each other. They were to accomplish each challenge and in doing so obtain a puzzle piece. The puzzle was then put together after finishing all of the challenges. The puzzle was a picture of “Moroni and the brass plates”. After each team completed the challenge, we discussed Moroni's challenge to us and the importance of them accepting this challenge so that they could stand as a witness of Christ.That evening, the Bishopric cooked us dinner, and then we had some guests from the past visit us before our testimony meeting. Joseph Smith and Emma (Amber and Breck McArthur), Porter Rockwell (Kendall Hall), and Hyrum (Joel Warden) bore strong testimony of Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon and our Savior, Jesus Christ. As our young women bore their testimonies, we knew that our goals had been accomplished. The young women bore strong testimonies of Joseph Smith and their love for Emma, their love for the Book of Mormon and their love for each other. The spirit was very strong and our testimonies were strengthened.By Saturday morning, we were tired but we got up for our last event, our Sunrise Devotional, where Julia Barney wrapped things up for us speaking to the young women of the significants of what happened in the grove. I loved the new challenge of a ward level camp and thought it was a great opportunity for all of us to experience something different. We all think that the ward camp experience was a great success and would love to have a ward camp again!