Girls Camp - Crafts, Archery, Workshops, and Skits

I got another 40 or so pictures coming at ya about more of our Girls Camp adventures. Camp was such a blast. It is so fun to go back and look through all these fun moments. Obviously, many of my pictures focus on my ward since my daughters were there, but sometimes you get spotlights from other wards. We have such great girls in our stake. 

The first and second day of camp, we had some rotations. Here are some of the things they participated in.

WORKSHOPS

There were quite a few workshops. We started in Basic First Aid. Sister Benson taught us about splinting broken bones and later about CPR. There is no longer camp certification, but it was fun to have some of the basics covered at camp. For many of these girls, it is their first year of real camp, even if they aren't 11 and 12. Covid messed things up for a while. 

Another workshop was about emotional resilience. Each of us drew an affirmation card as we came into the pavilion. Sister Braun said the card chooses the person. And then we had to write for 10 minutes about why we embodied that word. I pulled 'I am ready.' It felt like such a great word for me. It was fun to go around and see some of the other cards people had pulled. Ivory had inspired and Pearl and Daisy both had 'I am intentional.'

Sister Braun talked a lot about guilt vs. shame. It was a great lesson. I hope the girls listened well.

We also did a session on meditation (with Sister Braun's mother). I'm not very good at sitting still in the first place. I think meditation is wonderful, but it was hard to feel it there that day with all the bugs. Things kept flying into my face. I finally stood to let my back stretch a little.

One of my favorite workshops was self defense. Sister Price did such an excellent job. She talked about being aware and assertive and telling people to "STOP" when they get too close. She put her finger on her lip, like a creeper and came at one of the girls. And then she had them practice. There was lots of giggling, but learning too. 

She also taught the girls how to break someone's grip if they grab your wrist or neck. 

Sister Hartley taught the girls to make fires. She showed them the teepee, the log cabin, and how to start a fire with tinder and flint. Some of the girls took those skills straight back to their campsites for dinner.

One day it rained quite hard in the middle of workshops. Sister Benson took her kids under the large canopy in third ward to continue with CPR training. I simply put this picture in because of great memories. On a different day I happened to be eating lunch under this same canopy and it started to pour. We were playing Mafia and I was killing it. (Literally) I was Mafia twice in a row. It was an intense three games. The third game, I was the doctor and I saved Emma Mendenhall twice. Once with a bullet proof vest and once with a Narwhal proof vest. (Those are hard to find, but if you ever need one, you know who to call.) It was such a fun time. 

I think the only one I'm missing is the internet safety workshop. It was a good one, but I didn't include any pictures. But be smart about what you put online.

ARCHERY

Let's go to archery next. It used to be that you could bring your own stuff to Shalom, but now they have their own area for archery and their own supplies. It was very organized and super fun. And I believe there were only a few injuries, mostly just scrapes along the inside elbow where the guards didn't cover. I wasn't up there to watch my girls so I was happy that someone took pictures.

Daisy didn't shoot. She's not a huge fan, which may be because of the year we did family girls camp and Pearl ended up with a large welt on her arm. (But it clearly didn't slow Pearl down.) They tell you to cover the tips of your arrows as you walk back. Ivory has it down.

I got to shoot before I left. This is my grouping. Not too bad.

CRAFT

The craft was string art. Katie and Stephanie went dumpster diving and found a lot of free wood, so it was the perfect craft. They even bought some sanders to smooth down the wood and they let the girls use them. It's awesome to see girls use power tools. 

The girls had a lot of fun. There were templates, but lots of people did their own thing. 

I had an idea come to mind and I spent plenty of time in the craft area. The instructions were to use 30 or less nails so that there would be enough for everyone. I was close, but went a little over. I think I used around 140 nails. Oops. I guess my vision was a bit ambitious, but I liked the final product.

In the craft area, there was also a place to decorate bandanas in Emma Sell's honor. Emma is a sweet girl in our neighboring ward who was involved in a very serious car accident just a couple months ago. She is recovering, but it is still uncertain how much function she will eventually have. The outlook is optimistic, but there is still a long road in front of her. We put #Emma Strong on many of the bandanas and all the girls had one to wear to support her. It was awesome, because Emma got to come to camp one of the days. She went to workshops with her ward and ate dinner with them. It was so good to see her.

SKITS

Let's talk about skits. I can't put everyone's skit on here. Every ward did a great job this year. There was Hawaiian dancing, a sea theme, Harry Potter references, and a connect four game built out of humans. That was our ward's skit. It started with Lizzie and Ivory playing a game of connect four, but it became life sized with the girls having yellow or red handprints on their faces. It was cute and it all tied back into the theme.

Our Stake leader skit was really fun. I wrote the whole thing one day while I was sitting in church and then everyone helped me to make it a bit better. It had a great message and the girls seemed to really like it. The funniest part was putting together the costumes for the operators. "Celestial Services, how can I connect your call?" Alissa made us amazing head sets and Becky kept talking with a New York accent which made me struggle to keep a straight face. We practiced a few times and we still managed to mess things up the actual night, but who cares. The message came across just fine. And Nicole will probably forever have the phrase, 'Spontaneous Dance Party' connected to her. :) Oh, Jenni was a ribbon runner and Katie just happened to bring a sweat suit that fit her perfectly. It is now hers, which is nice since she looked fantastic in it.

One more event for this post. On Thursday after the hikes, we decided to take showers. We did quick showers in the biffy with a Camp shower that had been warming up in the sun. (Or trying to warm up with the sporadic rain.) But you aren't allowed to wash your hair in the biffy, so we washed it in camp. It was so glorious. Katie washed everyone's hair and then we washed hers. It started to rain during the process, and we looked hilarious holding umbrella's and washing hair, but it was so worth it. It felt amazing. And nothing connects you as friends like washing each other's hair.

That about wraps up this post. Still more adventures to come...

Connect Four Girls Camp 2022

My current calling in my church is Stake Young Women's Secretary. I love it so much. I love being with the youth and getting to know them better. I work with the best ladies ever. And I get to go to camp. It has been a while since I have been there. (Last year, I did get to attend to do a workshop, but I didn't go as a leader.) In previous years, camp has taken over my life. I don't get much done before camp and everything holds its breath until it's over. This time around, I have been much more balanced. I've been blogging and doing things with the kids and keeping a good balance. We actually took a break after camp and we haven't picked up the crazy summer schedule yet; everyone just needed a break to relax. But now it's time to document and get it all on here. When I go to camp, I get a bazillion pictures and I have so much to say. So I've already decided to break it into four posts with about 40 pictures each. That means things won't necessarily be in order, but that doesn't matter. Let's jump right in.

Although there were lots of pictures taken by everyone, we were actually not very good at getting group shots. The one we took before leaving was one of our better attempts, although we were missing Jacie (one of the SYCLs). We aren't even standing in actual lines, but I'll do the best I can. ("Back" row: Abbi, Ruth, Nicole. Main row: Abby, Hannah, Broguen, Kirsten, Julie, Stephanie, Becky, Amy, Jenni, Katie, Izzy. Front row: Alissa, Kara, Maleen)

As the stake leaders, we go up a day early to get things ready for camp. We didn't have a lot of decorations and fancy stuff. Mostly, we set up our camp and got things ready for the girls to come. The theme this year was Connect Four. The idea was that you connect with your Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost and others. I drew a little Mormonad when we were planning back in November and Alissa made it into a cute poster.

The girls were supposed to be making some connections before camp started. They were to write their experiences on paper slips and we made them into a connected chain. I'm not sure how many girls took this assignment seriously (I saw some scribbled ideas and many repeats) but I do know the girls connect in many ways that they don't realize. So the length of chain was accurate. Luckily, we had Brother Hartley (Alissa's husband) to help with reaching the high places.

We set up our tents and chairs and we got our cots and sleeping area set up. It was nice that this was the same sight we camped at back in 2017, so I was very familiar with where everything was.

We took time for lunch naturally. Oh, I should mention that I was worried about being sick. Last time, I got a migraine and threw up the first night. So I was drinking a lot of water and watching how I felt, but I was just fine. What a blessing.

Stephanie brought something fun I hadn't seen before. She put lights in the toilets. I loved it. The biffy is always pretty dark to begin with, so it was fun to jazz it up. We also had daily questions in the stalls. All the questions were different, so I made sure to try a different seat each time I visited.

Here is Kara with a lady bug. Lady bugs are good luck and I'm sure this was an omen of how well camp was going to go. 

The SYCLs were so awesome. I need to do a shout out for them. They stay with us in the Stake cabin, but they spend ward time with their own peeps. They lead the music and run flag and they make sure their ward knows where to go. They help in so many small and large ways. Our girls were so amazing and wonderful. 

The first day we did a pow wow to make sure we were all on the same page. And then we would meet each evening to go over the next day. Alissa was very organized and it helped everyone.

Let's talk about the food for a brief moment. The wards are always so kind and the stake leaders crash their meals for lunch and dinner. We all divide up and visit different wards. (Like for instance, there was the one night I walked by 5th ward and they threw me a hot potato wrapped in tin foil. It felt so good I tucked it in my hoodie pocket for later. I was eating with 2nd ward that night and when I arrived they were making baked potatoes. I pulled my potato out and said, "I brought my own. I thought it was BYOP.") But we eat breakfast on our own, just as stake leaders. Ruth and Julie were in charge of food and they didn't let us down. Every meal was great and they even had extra stuff. The first night we made banana boats and Nicole also brought the largest rice krispy treats I've ever seen. Breakfast was always a highlight.

Tuesday brought the girls and we were ready for them. There was only a few minutes for them to set up and then we had our first flag. It was so great to have everyone together.

I can't put on here everything we did at flag, but it is always a great time. There is roll call, flag raising or lowering, songs, skits, devotionals, and lots of other fun announcements and such. The stake sits in front, which is nice since I always have a front row view. A couple notable moments are as follows: On Wednesday night, we said goodbye to Brother Hartley. He only stayed for a few nights until President Carlson could come up. But he was so amazing while he was there. He did any task that was asked and he even saved our campsite by putting out a propane cord that was on fire. For that he received a purple heart award. We sure loved having him at camp.

The SYCLs ran the flag, but they would turn time over to the Stake for announcements. Somehow Becky got in charge of announcing cleaning duties and she was always channeling some character. One morning, I think she was Nicolas Cage?? But I was dying listening to her say, "Yeah" after each announcement. She is the best.

Also we cannot overlook how legend Sister McSweeney is. I don't even want to imagine a year where she won't be there singing the Chicken Song. "I went down to the river..." There were plenty of new girls that had never heard the song, but as usual, everyone was a fan by the time she was finished. 

The first day was busy. We jumped right in with archery, crafts, and workshops, but those will  be highlighted in a separate post. Instead, I wanted to talk about the Faith Walk. It was scheduled for the first evening because we like to start the week with a spiritual event. Obviously, with our theme being Connect Four, we focused our faith walk on our connections with each of the Godhead and the others around us. My station was connecting with Heavenly Father. I had some set up to do since I had "God" speaking to the girls from behind a curtain. But at 4 pm, when it was time for me to get my curtains in place, it started to rain. Not just rain, it poured. 

We really weren't sure what to do, so we prayed very hard for the skies to clear. We just couldn't create the same experience under the pavilion and I had Bro. Muench up to help me and he couldn't come up to Shalom again. So the prayers went out and the rain stopped. And I rushed out to set up all my curtains. And it started to rain again. Lots of rain. With Stephanie and Brother Hartley's help, we set up all the curtains...in the rain. Nicole also set up all her benches in the rain. That's faith for you.

It stopped raining after dinner and I told the ladies that we were going for it. Flag was in the pavilion since it was still wet and I missed all of it while I finished setting up my station, which now included wiping down benches and tables so girls could sit. 

But it was worth it. After flag, everyone divided up and the Faith walk began. It didn't matter where you started since all of the stations were connected in a way. My girls started at the Connect to Others station. It was a silent station where you read quotes and thought about your labels. President Nelson gave a great devotional about labels. He said, 

“Labels can be fun and indicate your support for any number of positive things. Many labels will change for you with the passage of time. And not all labels are of equal value. But if any label replaces your most important identifiers, the results can be spiritually suffocating. For example, if I were to rank in order of importance the designations that could be applied to me, I would say: First, I am a child of God—a son of God—then a son of the covenant, then a disciple of Jesus Christ and a devoted member of His restored Church. Next would come my honored titles as a husband and father, then Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. All other labels that have applied to me—such as a medical doctor, surgeon, researcher, professor, lieutenant, captain, PhD, American, and so forth—would fall somewhere down the list. Now, let us turn the question to you. Who are you? First and foremost, you are a child of God.”

The girls read some more scriptures and thought about how they can also be God's hands in helping his children here on earth. The girls traced their hands and wrote down ways they could connect with others. Later, we put the hands up as decorations you could look at as you entered the amphitheater. (Spoiler: We took them down later after it rained. Daily rain was a theme at camp.)

From that station, you went to the Holy Ghost station. Here, we planned to have the girls read scriptures and quotes about different ways you feel and connect with the Holy Ghost and ponder and write in their journal about promptings they've received and how they best hear him. However, I think Julie ended up sharing a spiritual story about her past. (I wasn't there, so I'm not sure.) I think the spirit was still there.

After leaving that camp site, the girls came down to my station where we would have some insight from Heavenly Father. (Thanks Jenni for the picture. You are my only proof of this station.) Here I told the girls: Heavenly Father is indeed our father. It is not just a title we give Him in reverence. It is a description of our relationship with Him. Because of the veil and this test here on earth, we don’t get to see Him. Our simplest form of communication with our Father is through prayer. We speak to Him and then we receive answers in many different ways. Sometimes we hear Him as we read our scriptures. Sometimes we hear Him through the spirit whispering to us. Tonight, we want to bring you a little closer connection. If your Heavenly Father could come speak to you, this is some of what we think He would want to say: 

And then a light went on behind the curtain and Heavenly Father spoke to the girls. It was a beautiful simple script and I hope the girls felt the spirit there. After the light went off again, I asked the girls some questions and they had time to think about their connection to Heavenly Father and ponder how they could strengthen it. It was neat to see the girls write in their journals.

The last station was our connection to the Savior. Here Nicole talked to the girls about the different roles the Savior plays in our lives. She had them take a gem and trace it in their journal and write down what things we can give to the Savior or give up for Jesus. They had a good discussion and at the end they could leave the gem at His feet or take it with them. I think it was really neat. 

It ended up being a lovely evening and the rain didn't come back. My faith was strengthened as the Lord let these girls have the experience we wanted to make for them. And of course it couldn't be done without a lot of people who love these young women. It was certainly a blessing.

It was so cool to focus on our connections. Here's a last cute picture for this post. Although I've seen girls do this almost every year at camp, it means so much more when we're talking about connecting with others. :)