Girls Camp 2009

Zions Camp Here We Come!!!!

There were nine girls from the Gardner Ward going to camp this year. Laura D was a YCL so she went up a day early. Everyone else rode on the bus.

Maria, Rylee, Bentley, Sarah

Laura H, Megan, Amelia, Laura M

I was so fortunate to work with the 13 year old level two girls. Five of my own YW were in that group. We had a total of sixteen girls and four leaders. They were an amazing group of girls and I love every one of them as if they were my own Young Women.

The theme at Camp this year was "Be All You Can Be".

The theme was inspired by President Hinckley's nine "Be-Attitudes".

Be Grateful

Be True

Be Clean

Be Positive

Be Smart

Be Involved

Be Humble

Be Prayerful

Be Still

And as you will soon discover, the theme could not have been more perfect for camp!!

"Be Grateful"
There was so much to be grateful for at camp. I was truly grateful to my dear husband for watching the girls so I could go and serve as a leader. I learned so much and formed wonderful friendships with the girls and the other amazing leaders who attended camp. Thank you so much Gladys, Becky, Gene, Jana and others who inspired me to be the best leader I could be.

I was equally grateful that I am a very still sleeper!!

That top bunk was wobbly to say the least!


We were so Grateful for our

CABIN!!!

We had the largest cabin with a common area,

fridge and microwave.


All the girls had to sleep in tents last year so they really appreciated the cabin and didn't even grumble when we assigned them chores.

When it rained non stop for the first two days the girls were grateful for dry beds and clothes!!!

Laura & Laura

Sarah & Megan

Melanie

P.S. Smores in the microwave are almost as delicious as ones around a campfire.

We were so grateful for our amazing cooks.

The food was delicious.

No one grumbled about standing in line and after gorging ourselves at each meal we were very grateful that our cabin was up-hill from the dinning hall:)

"Be True"
Being at girls camp reminds us to always be true to ourselves and to our testimonies of Jesus Christ. No matter what your personality, likes, dislikes, habits, etc you are welcomed and loved unconditionally at camp. All of the girls found a friend and no one was left out. All the YW are striving to live righteously no matter where they live, go to school or what their individual circumstance may be. It was an amazing experience to be at camp with such amazing Young Women.

Camp Songs
No matter how silly, how loud, or how long, we just keep singing along!!!

I think the scouts would die laughing if they ever saw what we did at Girls Camp!!!

Amazing Young Women!!!

Rylee, Sarah, Alana, Bentley

Amelia with her fellow 3rd year girls

Katelyn, Lianne, Ali, Laura, Alieha, Marianna

Laura, Bentley, Alana

Could it be Prince Charming?

"Be Clean"

The girls learned why it is important to be clean both physically and spiritually from our nightly visitors the flying squirrels. The first night at camp we emphasized how important it was to keep our cabin free from any open food. We place everything in tight containers and hoped that the critters would stay out. By morning the containers were chewed through. The next night we put everything in the fridge but we forgot to take out the trash and the squirrels invaded. One of the girls finally got brave enough get out of bed and get rid of the trash. The third night we were meticulous about making sure every food item was under lock and key. The squirrels came and we followed them with flashlights until we found the few remnants we forgot that were drawing them into the cabin. They finally gave up and by the last night the cabin was critter free. The lesson was clear; we need remove ALL unclean things for our lives. Even one little piece of garbage will attract the wrong crowd!!

"Be Positive"
The first few Days at Camp it rained all the time. Our girls did a fantastic job of keeping positive. They braved the rain and chilly temperatures to have fun.

Marianna and Barbara after "polar bear"

swimming at 6:30 AM

Swim Certification in the Rain.

I braved the water too and earned Advanced Swimmer Status

The girls also learned how important it was to be positive when they got woken up at 7AM every morning by an overly enthusiastic leader singing "Good Morning" at the top of her lungs. It is rather fun to rouse 16 teenage girls from their beds after they spent the entire night giggling together hee hee hee.

"Be Smart"

In the morning the girls spent their time doing Camp Certification. We learned how to build fires, signal for help in the outdoors, identify cloud formations, sharpen and safely handle a knife, cook on a fire, and our two favorites....

Learn about nutrition by cooking a healthy meal

What could be more healthy then home made pizza!!!

and Learn first aide and receive CPR training

"Be Humble"

To complete certification the girls had to go on a four mile hike. It was smooth sailing for the most part and some of the girls were starting to get a little cocky about how easy it was and what great "hikers" they were. At the 31/4 mile mark the trail took a cut off and the girls faced a steep vertical climb that had them changing their tune. A true life lesson was learned and the best part....The girls helped each other so that everyone made it to the top!!!

"Be Involved"

There were lots of fantastic activities for the girls at camp. I was so proud of all our girls for being super involved and taking advantage of all the opportunities.

Here we are having tons of fun!!!!

Watch out Annie Oakley her comes Sister Johnson!!!!

How blessed we were to have the Sun Shinning on the last two days so the girls could enjoy the Lake in warm weather!!!!

One of the free time activites was making t-shirt dresses. These dresses are shipped all over the world by the Church so that everyone has a beatiful dress to wear to church on Sunday. All of our girls loved being involved in this service project. They felt the joy that comes from doing service.

"Be Prayerful"

Every year the YW have a dutch oven cook off. Each level takes the ingredients from the kitchen and comes up with a yummy meal. None of the other leades in our level had cooked with dutch ovens. We said a prayer as a level before we evan began cooking because we knew we were in trouble from the start. I have watched my Dad dutch oven for years but I have never actually tried it myself and it is a lot harder then it looks. We had over twenty peole we had to feed for dinner and the food was not cooking. We did not heat enough coals and the coals we had were not hot enough. I was praying with all my might to figure out a way to feed everyone. As everyone began putting their heads togeather we came up with a plan. We scooped the soup into pots and heated them on the cook stove until the vegtables were done. Then we built a huge fire in the fire pit and cooked our cake in the fire. We dumped the soup back into the dutch oven to serve and no one would have ever known!! Amazingly our chocolte cake turned out good and with a scoop of icream and cherreis on top no one was complaining about dinner:)

Prayers are answered!

"Be Still"

Zions Camp was an absolutely beautiful setting. We tried to follow President Hinckley's counsel to "Be Still" by not allowing any cell phones, ipods, music players etc. at camp. There was no television, no movies, and no outside media of any kind. We gathered togeather to read the scriptures, pray, sing, and bask in the beauty of Heavenly Father's Creations.

We felt the still, small whisperings of the

Spirit each and every day.

On the last night of camp we gathered at the waters front to share our testimonies. We truly felt the Spirit of the Lord as our dear YW bore testimony of the importance of knowing you are a daughter of God, praying continualy, sharing their love with othes and following the prophet. They are such a shinning example to me of how to be a true Disciple of Christ. I love them so dearly and felt so blessed to be able to spend five very memorable days with them at beautiful

Zions Camp.