I just returned from girl's camp and looooved it! I always love girl's camp. I loved it as a youth and I love it even more as an adult. I love the camaraderie and being in nature. I understand that some people think that I am too girly to enjoy the out-doors. Those of you who feel this way might be surprised to know that I love nature and I love camping. In our church, some of our Sunday school lessons teach of the importance of nature and the Earth. I always assumed that the lesson to be learned was to appreciate all that has been created for us. I realized this week, though, that part of what we are to learn is that when in nature, we are in a pure, undefiled piece of the world. When there, we can more easily feel the spirit and get answers to prayers. In the Bible, we read about Christ going into a mountain to pray, Joseph Smith went into a grove of woods to pray. I wonder if we, too, are not supposed to also step out into the outdoors as well more to seek guidance and find peace. I saw the impact of that on the young women. I have always been amazed at how testimony-building girl's camp is for those attending. I can't wait for my girls to experience that one day. I wish that I could always be there to see that. I know that most likely I won't be witness to their camp experiences, but I look forward to that for them. Our theme was Follow His Road with the Wizard of Oz as a cute way to visualize it. Just like Dorothy had to follow the yellow brick road to Oz and to ultimately returning home, we need to follow Christ's path that he established to get to the temple. It was adorable! I'll post pictures later as they are on one of my young women's cameras. I also earned quite a bit of honor bee hours from helping our ycls's prepare for their responsibilities at camp and from some things that I did while at camp with the girls. In reality, I earned well more than this, but I am only counting fifteen of those hours. These were quality mentoring experiences. My grand total now is 19.5!
