GIRL’S CAMP

Let me tell you that was quite a treat as compared to last year when we were in tents and it was close to 100 degrees everyday with sweat continuously dripping down our backs and under over and around our bras (you know what I mean), sleeping with 4 or five other women leaders on hard as rocks cots, bugs flying in your face and buzzing in your ears constantly, and feeling so claustrophobic that you wanted to scream! (oh how I just love to camp….NOT NOT NOT!!). The bug population (mosquitoes, ticks and chiggers) in Oklahoma were out in force this year but actually they were not quite as bad as last year. Once again we made sure to cover ourselves from head to toe in bug spray, wore some sort of hat or bandanna to protect our heads from the ticks dropping from the trees, lathered on the sunscreen and sweat like little pigs (question – does anyone know if pigs really sweat?) This combination made for odorific smells especially at the end of the day when we were all back in our cabins along with 12 other girls plus the many extra friends that would drop in to play games, giggle and laugh until all hours of the night! This year instead of claustrophobic tents and bug infestations like last year, we had to deal with a new hurddle to overcome…many of us ended up with gastrointestinal problems……in other words diarrhea. I guess when you have over 250 people at one camp site you are bound to have some sort of snafu so I am grateful that it was only diarrhea. All in all we had a really amazing time out there….the girls learned outdoor cooking skills by cooking in dutch ovens, they learned how to do archery…(I bagged a moose target with my bow and arrow…who knew I had Robin Hood’s blood in me), (This is a picture of one of girls that had good form doing archery), the Young Women learned about first aid, sterilizing water, what to do if you get lost in the woods, CPR, they also learned unity by learning how to work together as a team by going through a ropes course, the girls had fun playing sports like water baseball (the bases were small wading pools and home base was a slip and slide), and a unique volleyball game where there are four sections and four teams trying to not let the ball land on the ground. They also had the opportunity to do some quilting and make some crafts.The best part of camp is the spiritual devotionals where we have a speaker who speaks to the girls about the theme of camp. This years theme was “Rise up, Stand firm, Shine on”. We read from the Bible and The Book of Mormon, pondered and prayed about these things, shared our feelings and thoughts with one another and finally there was an opportunity to bear testimony of what we have found to be true. We, the leaders and the girls came away from this experience with new friends, a stronger commitment to stand strong, gained knowledge in many areas, and best of all fun sweet memories.