Girls Camp 2009 - A Hero Within

I've been thinking of this post for the past few days. How do I embody the feelings I've felt for Girls Camp this year into a single post? Let me start with....

I love that the sisters I met last year became even dearer friends. At one point at camp I had a meltdown and I needed to escape to the nearest private place and finish my crying. I walked straight from the lodge to the health cabin and I was so grateful for their kind words, concerned faces and the diet pepsi they offered me from the "secret stash". I truly felt like I had friends at camp.

I felt the Spirit stronger than I did last year. I'm not sure why this is. Was I more in tune spiritually this year? I'm not really sure. But I do feel that when you feel more connected to those around you, you feel more of what they are feeling when they speak to you.

I felt like it was "My Girls Camp". Last year, being my first year to this Stake's girls camp I couldn't help noticing things that were different than the girls camp I grew up with. Some were strange to me, some I liked. But this year I didn't do any of that. I knew what to expect and I felt ownership in it. I can now say, "In our Stake we do this...." and feel happy to be part of this Stake's Girls camp program.

Makenzie got her name. I'll never forget the first time I heard about this. Our babysitter was telling me how when you are a 4th year at camp you find out your "camp name." I didn't say so at the time but I thought that was the weirdest thing ever. Being there last year let me see the fun in it and what it means to these girls. It's a way to acknowledge each one of them individually at the end of their 4 years of camp. Since this was Makenzie's 4th year she got her name. Her camp name is Piano Forte and their sweatshirt color was kelly green. They call each girl up one by one, read a paragraph about them and at the end reveal their camp name. Then they are given a sweatshirt with that name on it. You can tell what year the YCL's are at camp by the color of their 4th year sweatshirts. Last year it was Royal Blue, year before that a greyish blue and before that black. Leaders get their names and sweatshirts after three years and the sweatshirts are always red. Now that I've had a daughter go through this I'm all on board with this tradition. The girls anticipate this and it's almost all they can talk about. Here is what they said about Makenzie:

When you first meet Makenzie she is soft spoken and shy but once you learn who the real Makezie is you'll find she is much different. Some of Makenzie's favorite past times are playing the piano and being with her friends. Sometimes she can be quiet and sometimes she can be loud. Makenzie has many different dynamics and a strong testimony. This is why we give her the name of ....Piano Forte.

She loves it.

Lastly, I love working with the youth. The 3rd year YCL's were just incredible. What a privilege I have to work with them.

Here is the slide show I made.