girls camp a huge success!!

What a week! I'm not sure where to start and there is so much that I can't put into words.... you will have to ask me for more details in person.

We took the YCL's up to camp on Monday and had an amazing day with the girls. I had a lot of fears with this group because at our pre-camp activities there were a lot of cliques. But we were able to break them down. We spent the morning getting them organized and getting them trained. Then we had the most amazing activity. Our 3 youth camp directors (YCD's) planned this activity that we sort of helped them plan, but they implemented it all on their own. There is this company called "Challenge Day" and they go around to schools and try to break down racism and cliques in the high schools. Maybe you have seen them on Oprah.... but we did some research on what they did and then we made our own questions and things that applied to our YW. We had no idea how it would work and had no idea it would have been as successful as it was. You start out with them all in a long line and we had a rope on the ground and the YCD's would make a statement and if it applied to them they would cross the line and then go back and wait for the next question. The questions were as general as, have you ever gossiped? have you ever been gossiped about? have you ever felt alone? have you ever been picked on? Have you ever felt like the girls at church were nice to you because they have to? The list went on and on. About 35 questions. Not once did just one girl cross the line. Then the girls sat in a circle and discussed how that made them feel... comments were made about how they didn't realize that they were the only ones that have felt alone...they realized everyone has been hurt, they were not the only ones with problems. Then they asked the girls to share any stories about how they have been hurt by friends etc. It was pretty sad to hear some of their experiences. Then they went into the section call "if you really knew me, then you would know that...." We went around the circle and the girls answered that question. I expected answers like "my favorite color is red, etc." Not at all... the ycd's started with answers that were pretty deep and the girls followed their lead. It was VERY emotional for the girls... lots of tears. We eventually did this activity with all the girls at camp. We did it by level, 2 on on day and 2 on another day. Here are some of the responses we heard: If you really knew me you would know that... I have suffered from an eating disorder...My dad died when I was 4 and it's really hard for my mom to raise us alone.... you would know that every time I hear a lesson in church about eternal families it hurts so much because i am the only member....you would know that in 8th grade i often ate my lunch in the bathroom stall because i had no one to sit with at lunch..... you would know that I suffer from depression.... that I feel alone all the time... that I don't feel welcome at YW's.... that my brother committed suicide last year.... i could go on and on. By Thursday night after hearing 130 girls problems I was a mess. I don't know how Bishops and Stake Presidents do their calling. I couldn't stop hurting for them... I had no idea that they were dealing with so many issues. The next part of the activity was the "apology" section. The YCD's encouraged them to make some apology's. They could do a blanket apology or to someone specific... they could be there or not or they asked them to write a note later that day. Some of these were heart wrenching to. Some girls apologized in general, like: I'm sorry if I ever made any of you feel left out.... I'm sorry if I ever judged you.... then there were some that said things like "i am sorry for giving Mormons a bad name by some of the choices i make....a few girls apologized to each other and mended friendships that had been hurt for years. It was pretty cool. then the ycd's ended it with talking about the atonement and the Savior and how he never wants us to be alone. They talked about forgiveness and how we are Daughters of God. Then they had a big group hug and sang "Love one another". It was so amazing. The girls bonded so much after this! We had no contention at camp and I never saw a girl alone. It was so cool. Almost every girls talked about it at testimony meeting.

On Monday night we had the stake presidency wives come talk to the YCL's. It was wonderful! They are amazing ladies and they have such strong testimonies. The girls asked them a lot of questions, like how they met their husbands and things like that. Then they asked more deep questions like "have you ever found it hard to pray?" The answers were led by the Spirit and were exactly what the girls needed to hear. Thank You ladies!!!!

The rest of the week ran smooth! No major problems. The daily activities included the zip line, climbing wall, crafts, lip syncs, lots of singing, a service project, great food! We had a Fireside Wednesday night that the YCL's did and it was all on the theme that was " There is no place like home, you can't make it alone." It was great. Thursday night was hikes and Bishops night and then Friday night was testimony meeting. We decided to try one big testimony meeting instead of by level and it was great. A few goofy ones, but so many amazingly strong ones. So many girls were able to hear sisters bear testimonies and ward members and bishops were able to hear all of their girls. It was so nice. It was interesting to watch the first years. They didn't know how to control their emotions. They sobbed uncontrollably! I didn't know what to do! They finally settled down... cute girls. It's probably the first time they felt the Spirit that strong and they didn't know how to handle it.

We cleaned camp and were out of there and home by 10:30 and Saturday morning.

Here are a few camp pictures and a few from Angela's wedding.

Our 3 ycd's ready for our lip sync...

My presidency ready for lip sync...

The Westra family: my brothers and sisters and their families:

Ashley was a bridesmaid: