Girls camp with Ashlyn

“The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives. When the focus of our lives is on Jesus Christ and his gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening – or not happening – in our lives. He is the source of all joy." 

–President Russell M. Nelson

Ahhh summer is winding down and I'm not sure how I feel about it this year. Usually by this time I am SOOOOO ready for the kids to be back in school and back to some routines and schedules. But this year, I'm still craving those lazy kind of summer days.

Ashlyn got to go to girls camp with me. Or maybe  I should say I got to go with Ash to girls camp.

This is my 4th year and not sure what next summer will hold for us, for me. I am so grateful and so blessed to be able to spend these occasions with my kids.

Our theme was JOY which I immediately loved the moment it was announced. We are designed to be happy and this Ashes girl encapsulates joy to the fullest extent. Happiness just exudes from her and people can't help being drawn to her personality and good-naturedness.

She has a myriad of friends and continues to make new ones, the latest being a 14-year-old Chinese girl adopted by the McConnells. Ash, or Pikachu as this new friend calls her, became fast friends even though the language barrier is still quite prevalent. Love and the spirit know no boundaries.

Is it possible to have joy amid trials, setbacks, and disappointments? Of course it is.

Are there going to be days when joy seems elusive and tears just flow? Of course there are.

But “what messes us up the most in life is the picture in our head of how it is supposed to be” (Matt Townsend). I know of no one whose life has turned out exactly how they envisioned. And when we get stuck wishing for a different life, that can be a joy sucker. Social media contributes to this in a big way. We start to compare everyone's best to our worst and begin to wonder why our life is so hard. Start looking at what is going right instead of what isn't. Have gratitude for the blessings seen and unseen.

Right now, these girls are some of my greatest blessings. I love them. I love serving them. I love being a part of their lives. Nicole brought me joy at girls camp as she did not become upset when she was placed in the tent not of her choosing. Jenny brought me joy in the thoughtful notes she wrote to each girl at camp. This ginormous feat only took her four days. Nevaeh brought me joy as I watched her move seats to comfort a girl in another ward who was having a hard time.


What else brings me joy? Service. Every day I try to think of one person I might serve that day. This gets my mind and thoughts off myself and the struggles I have as I try to alleviate the burdens of someone else.

May the son always radiate the joy within us as we go about serving in his kingdom and in our small sphere of influence.

Divine signatures

This past week my boys were at scout camp fishing

and hiking

and earning their man cards and canoeing and rock climbing.

And meantime a young mom I visit teach was husbandless during those 4 days. Home alone with 4 young kids and I figured she would need a little reprieve. I offered to take her to lunch one day and she immediately latched on to that idea. My cute girls stayed home to babysit and we set out for a few hours. She and her husband had talked before he left about how she would get through the next couple of days and she told him how nice it would be if someone in the ward called and took her to lunch and gave her a couple of hours. She eyed me with suspicion as she asked whether I had talked to her husband before he left.

So many times we never know when we are about the Lord's work, but we just heed those promptings and feelings and go and do. Well, this week I got to actually hear the other side. That is such a confidence builder for me to know I was who someone needed at the moment.

Girls camp has come and gone.

It is such a indescribable experience. How can I explain the feelings and emotions that overcame me at our first flag raising ceremony when we got to the part of "one nation under God" in the pledge recitation. Or the incredible increase in love I get for all those girls. It's an experience I treasure every year as I get to step away from the worldly concerns and really focus on God's great eternal plan for all of us. Nature has a way of bringing me closer to my Maker than most things. Well, music too can do that.

My most treasured experience from this camp occurred a few hours after our testimony meeting. One of our Laurels was new to our group, having moved here recently. She has had some questions and quietly disappeared after our testimony campfire concluded. I gathered a few of my Laurels and we went in search of her much like the shepherd going after that one sheep. We found her sitting at a picnic table in the pavilion with her scriptures open and an open dialogue pursued. There were questions and answers and just all around great conversation full of love and the spirit. Several hours later we finally retired for the night. I hope that this girl knows she is loved immensely and that her Father in Heaven is very aware of her and her concerns.

A few weeks later I was reading the latest Ensign and came across an answer that was meant for her.

A prophet of God once offered me counsel that gives me peace. I was worried that the choices of others might make it impossible for our family to be together forever. He said, “You are worrying about the wrong problem. You just live worthy of the celestial kingdom, and the family arrangements will be more wonderful than you can imagine.”

I immediately texted it to her which made her entire day so much better. Again, like with my lunch friend, I love when those little divine signatures pop up in my life letting me know that God is real, that he is very aware of me and those within my circle of influence.

What's happening in my yard

Same thing happened to my tomatoes last year. It's from a lack of calcium and it seems to only occur with my romas. My cherry tomatoes don't seem to have this problem called Blossom End Rot. I bought some stuff to spray on the leaves which I think is just a temporary fix. I wonder if they just need a little extra water. When vegetables are fruiting they need about 1 1/2 inches of water a week. My fruit trees also need a little extra when they are fruiting. I also read about adding egg shells to your soil. Definitely some things to figure out here.

Good things
rich soil
zucchini :)
grandmas

Girls Camp

I can't believe I am already three months post-Girls Camp. There is so much preparation that goes into Girls Camp that I really think it takes awhile to digest it all. I'm in the midst of putting together a slide show for the whole year and have loved going through photos and reminiscing.

Several months prior, Aimee, our camp director, did our activity for us and talked to the girls about anchors and making our anchors strong, strong enough that they cannot break. And what makes strong anchors? The basics. Scripture study. Prayer. Fasting. Worship at church through the sacrament. The gospel isn't hard. It just takes work.

Our theme for camp this year came from our youth theme: "Oh ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind, and strength."

The camp theme: Anchored in Christ. What a powerful theme to center all our activities around. Most ideas had to do with an anchor at sea. I also saw it as an anchor in bedrock while rock climbing. One morning I shared Elder Lund's story about the rock climber (see here) during our breakfast devotional. Christ is our belayer. There is no one else who can rescue us from our spiritual fall, no one else who can make us better people by changing our natures.

My young women are wonderful, funny, strong. I love them and I love hanging out with them.

They are sensitive to the spirit.

They are helpful and are some of Mel's biggest cheerleaders.

We also had an amazing group of youth leaders . . . and quite a lot of them!

They are willing to try new things like sun oven pizza and cookies.

I've already got some preliminary plans for next year. What I did as soon as I got home was make a list of what worked and things to remember. 'Cause you know, you think you'll remember stuff, but you don't. Paper and pen are more trustworthy with the details than my brain.

GIRLS CAMP CHECKLIST

*If you are called as a camp director, I suggest coming to activities before camp to get to know the girls if you are not in Young Womens

*Plan on about 3 to 4 activities geared toward gamp

*Plan on attending 4, possibly 5 camp meetings

*Utilize the YW leaders; they are willing to help

Secret Sisters: they like to fill out an all about me form to give to their secret sister. We hand these out at our CAMP KICKOFF, about 2 months before.

Tent Assignments: get input at CAMP KICKOFF as to who they’d like in their tent, but we make the final decision. Jr. leaders stay with the stake.

Cooking: a camp chef really helps with all the meal prep, but is not necessary
                *start buying 1 month in advance, 2 weeks, and then 1 week
                *have a sheet with meals and who is helping clean and prepare
                *do you want to use mess kits?
                *Jr Leaders eat dinner with us
                *Thursday night we have stake leaders and bishopric members eat with us

4^th Year Hikers: will need a lunch provided by the ward when they return from their overnight hike on Tuesday (presidency has made these in the past). They will also need backpacking tents and stoves.

Crafts/Games: they really like downtime as a ward to just hang out

Permission slips: try to get these filled out ASAP/reward for getting it turned back in within the week. Hand out at CAMP KICKOFF.

Packing slips: hand out two weeks prior with a flyer stapled to the front with times for gear drop off and meeting times (Meeting times: always meet at the church; just easier than meeting at someone’s house plus you're loading stuff into the trailer.)
                *BRING A COAT! – it still gets chilly even in July
                *BRING AN EXTRA PAIR OF SHOES – you will get your feet wet with water fights
                *BRING WATER GUNS for water fights

Camp manuals: new girls will need camp manuals;  some wards gather all the manuals and store them

Certification: let YW leaders be in charge of each group to make sure it gets done

Camp Kickoff: a couple of months before, during a mutual night, introduce the theme and get them excited for camp

Devotionals: do we want to use some time for devotionals/maybe use our Junior Leaders for this

Rides: enough to get girls up there along with the camp gear and enough to get ward plus junior leaders and 4^th years home with all their stuff

Snipe Hunt: 4th year girls in charge

Food Specialist
Certification Specialist
Decoration Specialist
Skits Specialist
Devotional Specialist
Music Specialist

Letter of the law, or spirit of the law

The past two days have been emotionally and mentally exhausting as I've tried to make hard decisions as a president of a wonderful group of young women in our ward. Our annual girls camp is close to fruition just like the apples on my tree are close to picking.

These girls and their families have known for months about girls camp but yet it seems that all the little minutiae come forth in the last week to be hashed out and solved. This particular instance involves a girl who is a year ahead of where she should be in school relative to her peers but is in a different class at church.

Details were not communicated to me last year about what year each girl was supposedly certifying in. Because of that oversight I was left to my own judgment and placed the girls according to their age, not necessarily who they attended school with. Needless to say, I had a set of upset parents who wanted their girl to be with her peers from school, even though she had not completed the certification requirements and had only come to camp one out of the last three years.

It basically came down to whether I would follow the letter of the law, the age guidelines, that said she was technically a third year camper (and really that was even pushing it) OR would I let her simply go with the group she wanted, to be able to attend with her friends. 

I consulted many different people and ultimately decided to leave it up to the stake. They agreed to let her come as a 4th year and felt that being with friends was more important than camp certification. And they had room for her to still come with them.

I don't wholeheartedly agree with the decision but had decided before even contacting the stake that this was the best route to go if we were going to maintain harmony, thus allowing the spirit to be in our camp. The holy ghost confirmed this to me as I talked with our stake leaders.

Maintaining an environment where the spirit of God can dwell and thrive is essential to a home, to a family, to a marriage, to a community, to a neighborhood, and even girls camp.

_________________

Too much emphasis on the letter makes us Pharisaical, and too much emphasis on the spirit makes us disobedient (because we feel we aren't subject to the 'stricture' of all of those darn rules). Now, before you all jump on my last statement, we should go by the spirit. But the letter points the way to that spirit. When we are living by the spirit of the law, the letter is not a problem for us because we understand the need for it in training us. --sixpacktr, found on a discussion board

_________________

Good things
chocolate chip cookies
violins
early morning hours

Girls Camp, part 4

Fourth and final installment of girls camp.

Thursday: The theme this day was Whoooo's Waiting for Your Super Power. The weather was anything but predictable that week. We finally had some warm weather, which was good since this was our hike day. Our ward was scheduled to hike first and games second. As we our hiking up the mountain, I was being a SUPER leader and out ahead of all the girls. You know. Showing them how it's done. Well, we finally stop for a break and the other leader asked if all our girls were accounted for. Nope. We're missing some. So I head back down the mountain to find them and discover one of our girls never even made it to the parking lot because of some breathing issues and returned back to camp. So we had three girls who were wardless (because they had awesome leaders who were always aware of where they were at all times . . . NOT!) I joined them and we ended up doing a different hike . . . to a waterfall which was super cool.

Later that day, after the bishop had arrived, the girls decided it was time to commence their obligatory water fight and attempted to drag me into it. I calmly held out and pointed to my camera. Snowball fight one day and water fight another. Definitely a girls camp to remember. Can I also say we have a cool bishop. He calmly lets those girls take over.

And we have a cool stake president who happens to live in our ward. Those stake leaders pretty much get what they want. Gotta love the "Super Suit."

That night was the highlight of camp. As a stake we gathered at the amphitheater to watch the bishops' pie eating contest (which turned into a pie flying fiasco which our stake leaders did not anticipate)

and watch a video that the stake leaders had actually made for the junior leaders' FHE. Monday night they were unable to get it to work but by Thursday night had all the bugs worked out. I know we were all meant to see this video.

I don't have a copy of the video but here are some of the short videos that were shown. I had such a powerful witness that this is what I wanted for my family. I want us to be more service-oriented and look at how we can better serve those around us and make a difference in our little piece of the world.

Angels in Disguise
Unsung Hero
Basketball Player
Dayton's Legs

Each person was given a balloon and after the video and while we were singing several songs together, each of us were to release our balloons when we knew who was waiting for us and our super powers. I can't even describe the feelings I had when the spirit dictated to me who was waiting for me to enable my divine gifts that Heavenly Father has bestowed on me to help in furthering his work in the kingdom.

Afterwards we returned to our own camps and held testimony meeting on a ward level. I stood and told those girls that I didn't think it was possible to come to love them like I had in those three days. Earlier the bishop had asked me if I had ever worked with the youth before. I had to tell him no. I have served in Primary my entire adult life (except for a brief stint in Relief Society as an instructor). This was my first experience with the youth and I loved it! I also told them that one of my super powers is the gift of faith. In the scriptures it tells us that some are given the gift of faith and others are given the gift to believe on their words and that if they needed to they could lean on my faith and know that I knew this gospel was the same gospel that Jesus Christ himself taught.

It was truly a week of discovering, sharing, and coming to know what the Lord has in store for little ol' me.

(This was just some of our girls. Several had gone home the night before.)

I came home and put together this little slide show that I hope the girls get to see some time.

Girls Camp 2014

Girls Camp, part 3

WEDNESDAY: Our theme this day was Force Field Activate; Live in the World, Not of It. Lots of fun this day. We got to take part in an activity called bubble soccer. I'd never heard of it. And man was it tougher than it looked.

Later that day when we had everyone at camp including our junior leaders (they are staying with the stake), I gave them a short devotional on light and salt, a family home evening lesson my dad gave a year ago when we were down for spring break to help Ash prepare for her baptism. I thought the message went along so well with our theme that day.

LIGHT AND SALT

For his props he had a light bulb with two wires coming out, a glass jar with water, and some ordinary table salt.

So how old is salt and does the flavor change as it ages? He passed around a salt shaker that my great-grandpa used when he would go fishing. The idea was that salt can be very old but still taste the same.

Salt is essential. It purifies. It preserves. It heals. Salt is old and will never lose its savor through age if it remains pure. It is only lost through contamination and mixture.

Blood is salty. Our tears are salty. Body cells must have salt in order to live and function. We need salt to survive. 

D&C 101:39 "When men are called unto mine everlasting gospel, and covenant with an everlasting covenant, they are accounted as the salt of the earth and the savor of men."

The savor of men are those who have covenanted to take on his name through baptism to stand as a light to the world. After baptism we are given the Gift of the Holy Ghost who helps us be that light to the world.

[I added this quote when I gave it at girls camp: "We should not try to take ourselves or our children out of the world . . . He needs stalwart [Young Women] who live exemplary lives in the world and demonstrate that joy and fulfillment come not of the world but through the spirit and the doctrine of Jesus Christ." (Elder Ballard, Ensign, May 1989)]

Grandpa then put the two wires into the water and turned the light bulb on. Nothing happened. As he slowly added salt to the water, the light bulb got brighter and brighter.

In Matthew 5:13 "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?"
 

How does salt lose its savor? How does the light in the bulb dim? When more water was added, the salt became diluted and its ability to effectively carry an electrical current diminished causing the light the become weaker. 

[Another addition from girls camp: When we fail to let the true light, Jesus Christ, shine in us by allowing the worldly influences in, we lose our savor and the ability to be saviors to someone who may need our “super powers.”]

* * * * *

Here's some interesting things about salt:
 

The early saints were first called to settle in Kirtland, Ohio. Then they were forced to move to Missouri and eventually settled in Nauvoo, Illinois for a time. Ultimately they were forced again from their homes to finally settle in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake. Coincidence? I don't think so. 

The Romans appear to have esteemed salt highly. Its army, for a time, was even paid in salt. This is the origin of the word "salary" and the expressions "worth his salt" and "earning his salt." In fact, the Latin word sal became the French word solde, meaning "pay," and has come down to us in the word "soldier." The first of the great Roman roads was the Via Salaria, the Salt Road. The Romans used to salt their greens, which is the origin of the word "salad," salted.

Girls Camp, part 2

Summer is officially half over and I have failed to document so many things. Life at the moment is seriously crazy and fun. A lot like girls camp.

MONDAY: Monday morning of the week of camp, my little family and I woke up early and left our Leary family reunion in Idaho in order to make it back in time to get Kiersten to the stake center and off to the woods for her 4th year overnight hike. I got to spend the rest of the day getting packed and ready.

TUESDAY: Our theme for the day was Discovering Your Super Power. Every girl has been given certain gifts or "powers" that can help someone else. We may not touch every person all the time, but we can be someone's super hero. Leading up to camp I decided to pull out my patriarchal blessing and study it a little deeper. I looked for those special gifts and talents I've been blessed with. It certainly didn't come right out and say it, but through experiences I've had in my life, I know with certainty that I have been given the gift of faith. I've never been a doubter. Sure I've had questions. It's natural to question and wonder, but I also know that God is in charge and some day all my questions will get answers. And I'm okay with waiting. . . . Which is weird because I'm not a very patient person.

That afternoon is began to snow and snowed for several hours leaving a couple of inches of fresh, white powder -- perfect for a snowball fight and a snowman named Olaf.

That night our girls discovered that one of their super powers might very well be resiliency. I never heard one complain or want to go home. I'm sure they thought it and might have voiced it out loud to their tent mates but not a one grumbled about the weather that blew in on top of us.

The next morning I got up to make a fire and I just had to stand still for a moment and take in all the beauty surrounding me. Trees frosted with snow and the sun just peaking over the mountaintops. It was awe-striking and I decided that morning I would do it all over again just so I could witness the breathtaking beauty of that morning once more. Seriously, there are just no words to describe what I saw and felt as I got to be a witness to a small part of God's creation.

And ya know, life is kind of like that sometimes. It gets a little cold and stormy and is certainly nothing you'd wish for, but after passing through those hard experiences, most would look back and wouldn't trade it for a thing. The sun will always come up. All of us, regardless of what lemon life has passed on to you, has a choice. You can either choose to be miserable or you can choose to be happy. I personally like myself so much more when I'm happy.

Girls Camp, part 1

I've been thinking about girls camp and superheroes and super powers for the last couple of weeks. I even got asked to speak at the last minute in sacrament today about my experience (last minute being yesterday at 2pm).

But for some reason I have had the hardest time sitting down to try and convey my thoughts about those four days. It was one of the most spiritual experiences I've had in a long time and I guess it's just hard to transfer what was felt and heard and thought into words on paper. It's a hard thing to describe to someone who never quite grasps what the Holy Ghost feels like or what it's like to have the spirit touch your heart.

I do know that it is one of the most wonderful feelings that I always want to feel, and I just wanted to bottle them up and bring them home with me so that when I needed a little boost, I could dab some behind my ears or put a few drops in my bath water or throw a little in my family's dinner to share with them.

Well, for one, being in nature where there is little cell service, no ipods, no to-do-lists, no ringing phones or beeping text messages, no social media plays a big part in allowing the spirit closer to our hearts. The spirit is quiet and gentle and still. He won't shout like my mother used to do when we wouldn't listen. I realized one morning as I went for a run at 5:45 that that is a perfect time to be awake to be able to hear the voice of the Lord. It's quiet. It's still. It's rather uninterrupted. The spirit is real.

For a few weeks I've been thinking about what I can do to have the spirit stronger in my overall life and also in my day-to-day life.

Here goes the first of several girls camp posts . . .

In March I was asked to be the Assistant Camp Director for our ward. I was a little nervous. It'd been 20 years since I'd been and I knew things were different. WAY DIFFERENT! (I'm the one playing peek-a-boo)

  B. R. A. V. E.
Being Righteous Adventurous Virtuous Examples

with a little Superhero twist to it.

Our ward chose
Ironwomen: Guardians of Virtue

as our superhero

Here are some highlights:

--snowball fights and snowmen

--water fights

--painting the bishop's fingernails

--bubble soccer

--firesides

--morningsides

--flag ceremonies

--good food with homemade donuts

--secret sisters

--cold toes and fingers

--testimony meetings

--camp set up and take down

--junior leaders

--certification 

--guest speakers

--camp fires and roasted Starburst

--singing and dancing

--camp cheers

--a bishops pie eating contest and pie fight

--release of balloons

--awesome video

--camp crafts

--minute to win it games

--star gazing

--lots of pictures

--beautiful sunsets and sunrises

--waterfall hike

--snipe hunts

--camp awards

--fun stake leaders

--and LOTS of HOT CHOCOLATE!

March . . . In like a lamb and out like a lion

Oh man, where do I start. March for us came in more like a lamb and went out like a lion and I'm not talking about the weather either.

Alex's naps are getting fewer and farther between. Most days I lie down with him only to discover that I'm the one that needed the nap and he's off exploring the world.

I thought I was in need of a new mixer, but I think that's a post for another day.

We celebrated a couple of birthdays, one with a visit to The Leonardo to see the Dead Sea Scroll exhibit and the other with bowling.

I found The Dead Sea Scrolls quite fascinating. I'm sure my children were plenty excited to stop looking at vases and move on to something else. They wouldn't let us take photos of the actual scrolls, but this vase, similar to what the scrolls were found in, was something we could. It was very dark so the picture is quite grainy.

We did move on and found that The Leonardo had a fun area for the kids. They loved playing with the green screen at the weather forecasting station and seeing parts of themselves disappear. Has anyone seen Nate? He's been swallowed up by Monday.

There was stop motion animation with 2D and 3D objects.

There was a cool concave mirror.

There was digital coloring. Thankfully no one else was really there since we occupied the entire area for quite awhile.

And many other things we didn't get around to experimenting with.

Let's see. There was spring break to beautiful San Francisco. That warrants a blog post all by itself. Kiersten claims its the best vacation yet and is determined to move there one day.

I received an additional calling to be Assistant Young Women Camp Director. To steal a line from the musical "Into the Woods" I'm excited . . . and scared. We had our big kick off for camp this week. Our theme is B.R.A.V.E. (Being Righteous, Adventurous, Virtuous Examples) and has to do with superheroes, so I donned a purple wig, wore our red camp flag which is in the shape of a cape, put a crest on my red shirt, and pranced into the room singing the theme to The Greatest American Hero, a favorite superhero show I grew up with. Well, the older ladies knew what I was singing and the girls all got a a chuckle at my expense. But hey, I had their attention.

Erik surprised Kiersten and came to dance class, a ballroom-type class that is held on Saturday mornings. It's kind of a free-for-all and the instructors are just local college-age kids. Frankly, I'm surprised it keeps going. Erik thinks he doesn't want to go back, but we'll see. I think he's finally starting to take notice of the girls. He's begun to actually comb and style his hair with gel in the morning, and here they are on the deck checking out all the cute girls in the yearbook.

The weeding parties have begun. Weeds, like children, grow when you're sleeping. And I hate that both do it.

March Madness brackets are always a favorite in our house, especially when there are Oreo's riding on the line. I think Nate's favored to win this season.

We almost decided to recreate Ash's birthday from 7 years ago. That year we left on her birthday to travel with Tyler on a business trip to Reno. We stopped in Elko at the Arby's and had "birthday cake."

This year her birthday was the start of spring break and we were so tempted to leave for San Francisco, stopping in Elko for a repeat birthday cake. The decision was made instead to spend the weekend at home before heading out.

The movie Frozen was a big hit this past winter and we were the mean parents who didn't take our children to see it opening night. Or even the second night. Heck, we didn't even take them when it was at the dollar theater. But it did hit the mass market on DVD a few days before Ashlyn's birthday.

Do you think she liked her present?

When we watched it that night after bowling (and Did I mention that she was the last bowler in our group, we were on the last frame, and she had a split. This girl nailed it and knocked them down. Happy Birthday to her.) she quoted every line, sang every song. She pretty much memorized the entire movie watching short clips from YouTube. The girl liked her movie . . . and her DI roller blades. She is the roller queen around here. Sure makes her dad proud.

One day Alex overheard me and Tyler talking about going shopping and wanted to come with. I told him we were going on a date to which he replied, "I want to go on a date . . . but I am not 16." WHAT!?? I'm not sure where he's learning this stuff, because it doesn't get talked about at our house. He also told me one day after noticing some green apples in the produce section, "I want green apples and ham!" Guess he's been reading some Dr. Suess.