Girls Camp 2021

I was called as a girls camp leader!  I was so excited.  I wanted to be able to go and hang out at camp with the girls, especially since Kylee is there.  I didn't really want the job of planning the whole dang thing, though.  Luckily I was able to quickly hand off the food planning to a very capable leader so that just left everything else.  Jen was called as my co-leader so that was easy.  I assigned her high-adventure planning and she spent many hours figuring out how to make that day perfect.  So getting the food and high-adventure taken care of, I just had to figure out everything else.  But the planning ended up working out and we finally got to the week of camp and I was so excited!

We hiked at Grand Targhee Resort.  This is a short three miles up the mountain, though it is quite steep a lot of the time.  I have done this before but I guess I don't realize how bad it is when I'm chatting with my friends.  I remember it was too steep to run up, but fun to run down.  Jen took her usual spot as the butt (this is an ongoing joke with my friends.  Jen, who is arguably the most capable and quick hiker of us all, insists on bringing up the rear and never leaving anyone behind).  She had us bring walkie-talkies so we could stay in touch.  I ended up at the front trying to keep the quick girls in my sight at all times and occasionally asking them to take a break to let some people catch up.  We had wanted to stay together the whole time but Jen was with a few girls that were struggling, one with asthma.  She told me to go ahead so we did.  Once at the top, we sat and ate and Gina gave us a message.  Then the girls rode the lift back down.  There were a few of us that decided to run back down.  Two young women, and three leaders.  It was fun, and I think they only waited for us for 15-20 minutes at the bottom.

Setting up camp was tough!  It was sooooo hot.  We had just finished hiking.  We were probably a bit dehydrated.  And the tents were not easy to set up!  I was walking around giving instruction to all the girls setting up tents.  This is the time when I'm happy I do hard things.  I was hot and tired but I could've gone all day because I train for hard things.  

West Piney.  Camp was great.  The theme was unity and the girls seemed to really take it to heart.  They were good to each other, they looked out for each other.  The girls that may have had some not-nice remarks to make, kept them to themselves.  We had our two neighbors who are not LDS come and we were a bit nervous about how they would fit with everyone.  But they were fully embraced and they opened up and they had a great time.  There was another girl who struggles with anxiety and depression (one of those really outgoing girls that you would never know if you didn't know) and she wanted her dad to be there to chaperone the whole time.  I had a conversation with her mom before we went and assured her that we would take care of her and make sure she had fun.  Her dad was there for the first two days, but then left so some other priesthood leaders could come and enjoy it too.  And it turned out great for her.  With the help of other leaders and the spirit, we included her in our car, in our games, and at the end she admitted how she had been nervous but she felt very loved.  This is just one example that I was aware of, but all the girls said the same thing.  I was told this camp was a "unicorn" of sorts.  Because there was no cattiness, no gossiping that needed to be shut down, everyone just got along and everyone had fun.  I don't know any difference because I haven't been to camp since I was a young woman myself, but that is something that I remember about girls camp- hanging out with some younger girls that I normally wouldn't get to know very well.  

I absolutely love being in the mountains.  It is magical.  I don't love sleeping in a tent. But I love being unplugged and seeing what happens when you put a bunch of young women together and give them some spiritual messages.  I loved every minute.  I didn't realize until later that it was odd to have such peace among the girls.  I had a few people praise me for it, but it was not my doing.  It was a group effort that started with the theme of unity, and giving girls responsibilities to each other.  I also LOVED the time I spent with the other leaders.  They are great women and I got along with them well.  It was uplifting and recharging to be around them all week.

The missionaries came up and brought a couple other non-member girls for the night.  I don't know these girls as well and it was out of my comfort zone, but I jumped right in to help make sure they had a good time.  I think we succeeded.  The spiritual message that night was powerful too.

High Adventure Day!  Kylee was not thrilled about the horseback riding.  Or about her long legs in these bus seats, lol.

But I really enjoyed the horses in the mountains!  I mean, it's not something I would want to do all the time, but it was a cool experience.  

After horses we had a little bus ride to see the elk farm.  They ate from the girls' hands.  We were laughing at the ones with twine caught in their antlers.

After elk we had lunch and got ice cream in Driggs.  Then we headed to float the river.  The only problem was the day was not exactly warm.  It wasn't horrible, but not warm.  And there was a storm rolling in too.  I was nervous.  I would have bailed on the float all together, but we had paid a lot of money to get the boards here, and some men had driven to Rexburg to get them and bring them to us, so it would not have been very nice to cancel.  We were also starting way later than we had planned, because the horseback riding took so long.  And it took a long time to blow up all the boards.  But the girls were up for adventure.  

The girls took off before any leaders were ready to go with them, which made me really nervous.  But it all worked out.  I tried to paddle hard to get towards the front, but a kayak is much faster than a paddleboard.  Of course Jen took her spot at the back, no man left behind.  It was all fun and games, even though it wasn't that warm.  Until the clouds rolled in and it started raining and everyone got a little nervous.  Nothing to do but keep going!  This ended up being the most mentioned event at testimony meeting.  Some of the girls were really nervous, but we all made it and were safe.

I had a blast and I really hope they keep me in this calling for another year or two.  Sadie will be in young women's next year so both my girls will be there!