Lessons From Girls Camp

     I am home from our church's girls camp! It was a lot of fun, yet a lot of work! We were in a beautiful area of Arizona, with lakes, streams, tall pines, billions of stars and bumpy roads.  As you can see from the photos above, I loved being by the water.  There weren't too many days when I could just sit and dip my toes in the water, but I did it when I could.  We thought that there was going to be mostly cool temperatures up there, but a high pressure ridge over AZ made it very warm. We were thankful not to be in the 120 degree weather of Phoenix, though.  And, the rain that came a couple of times helped to cool things off.

     When you are working with a bunch of teenage girls and their leaders, there are bound to be some tears and frustrations to deal with.  The first day we were there, as my partner leader and I tried to get the girls busy doing their tasks, I found myself getting frustrated less with the girls and more with some of the other adult chaperones.  I knew that it was because I was tired from the long day of getting up there and the long weeks of preparation.  I hated feeling irritated like I did.  It was silly and I knew that I didn't want to ruin my entire week and possibly the week of everyone else by being a grouch.  I needed a positive attitude and fast! 

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
But, let him ask in faith, nothing wavering, For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed."  James 1:5-6

     That was the theme of camp this year.  I knew that I lacked wisdom.  I needed to know the best way to lead my girls.  I needed to know the best way to connect with the other leaders and how to be positive and humble and to have a good attitude.  So, that evening I poured my heart out in fervent prayer.  I knew that the only way to change how I felt was to change myself.  So, I prayed and then I got some sleep! The next morning, my perspective had changed and the fun of camp really started. I tried harder to talk to people one on one to understand them and share good times.  I especially tried to connect with people who I was feeling self conscious around and I learned that they are just real people, too and I didn't need to feel bad about myself at all.  I had nice conversations with the girls and listened to their ideas and feelings.  They often helped me to feel less worried or confused about our schedule and the way we needed to be organized.  One of my girls had given us a daily devotional idea that went as follows: "Compliment, don't compare.  Look for Christ in others."  I tried to implement that in my perspective.  I tried to find the good attributes in everyone.  My partner, Jazmin, also helped me in that area.  She noticed good qualities about people and pointed them out to me, too.  The answer to my prayers came quickly and life was so much better.
     

Here are some of the beautiful girls I was with. They were back from doing the service of picking up trash from around the lake! How could I have anything but fun with this group?

Here are some other great things about camp:

• My friend Neomi who was there did a remarkable service for me.  She contacted all 6 of my children, 5 of my grandchildren and talked to my husband and had them write me letters! She gave me some each day while we were at camp.  (In other words, she made me cry everyday!)  I will cherish those letters for the rest of my life!  
• We had some really awesome wilderness survival people at camp who taught so well that the girls were completely mesmerized at every class I witnessed.  We all learned new skills.
• The girls had no cell service or electronics.  They interacted with each other and with nature in a way that city girls ever get a chance to do! It was awesome.  There was a creek running through camp from which many crawdads were captured! 
• There were wonderful spiritual experiences throughout the week for everyone, besides my own personal answers to prayer. One of my favorite moments was listening to my group of girls leading the rest of the camp in hymns as we prepared for a spiritual trek through the forest.  They sounded beautiful and as we were the last group to leave on the trek, they told me about special memories that they have had with some of those hymns that we had sung. I felt honored to be with them at that moment. Then the trek itself was so great, as we trekked and stopped at sites where people portrayed characters from the scriptures and history who had faith in prayer and the answers they received.  I was amazed by it all and so touched by the Spirit.
• In our church, we address one another as "Sister".  So, as I served in this assignment over these 16-18 year old girls, I grew to love them so much and every time they needed something, they would call, "Sister Reynolds?"  And I just loved to hear them call me like that and know that they were trusting me to help them.  It made me remember two things.  1st: We come to love who we serve.  2nd:  Our Heavenly Father loves for us to call on him.  
• The food was really, really good.  There wasn't even a kitchen so our cooks had to use grills, camp stoves and all kinds of improvised ways of cooking and they did a fantastic job! What an act of service on their parts.

Down by the creek!

     Camp was such a great experience and although I started to feel my age as I walked over all of the bumpy ground and dealt with high altitudes, I am so glad I went and learned the things I learned.  Even old ladies like me have a lot to learn! What a blessing these girls have been to my life this summer! 
     Even if you don't have the opportunity to go to a church camp like I have, there are a lot of lessons to learn by being in the great outdoors and by turning our thoughts to our Heavenly Father who blessed us with the beauties of this earth.  I hope you can take the time to get out in it, turn off the electronics and just commune with the Spirit and with your loved ones and remember what is really important in life! 
     P.S.  The camp bags I made were a hit!