Happily Hannah: Girls Camp 2k13

S.T.A.N.D.

Stand Tall And Never Despair

OH where to begin?! Girls Camp was AMAZING! It was one of the best times of my life. For those of you who don't know, Girls Camp is a camp put on by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It's for girls who are twelve and up (Young Women), where they can break out of their comfort zone and have a fun time in the wilderness, trying new things. Amanda invited me to go with her back in April and I am SO happy I did. There was instant connection with the girls and women. I had such a wonderful time helping plan the camp and taking part.

The first day, we went to Chatfield Reservoir for a 'beach' day. I was in charge of the Second Years and I taught them first aid. I had two cute girls with very different personalities! Makenna was sweet, soft spoken, and polite. Mikayla was bold, loud, and blunt. The two of them made for a fun time. The whole group of us swam in the gross water, talked and talked, and boated until our bodies hurt. Madi, Jordan, Amanda, and I were the YCLs (youth camp leaders) and we had a grand time helping our girls come up with skits and preparing them for what as to come. We had two hours to quickly rinse off, and then we went to the Stake Center for dinner and skits. Watching what the girls come up with was hilarious! They are all so creative and made us all laugh. The girls split into two groups to spend the night at, and us YCLs went over to Amanda's. We had deep conversation that left us all in goosebumps. We went to have a devotional with our girls and tuck them in. Because Amanda and I both love Mindy Gledhill, we listened to a Mindy song every night with our girls. We went back to Mandy's for more spiritual conversations and watched Pitch Perfect before we called it a night.

The next morning, we met at the church and started our journey to the mountains. We got to a bike trail in Bailey and started off camp with a bike ride. It was no easy ride that's for sure. Let's just say we were supposed to ride 6 miles but only ended up riding 3. It was still a good ride! We had the most delicious chicken salad sandwiches for lunch before continuing on to camp. On the way into camp, the amazing Candi (aka Candida) introduced us to our new favorite song. It's so weird but we were all addicted to it by the time camp was over. Once we got to camp, we set up our tent and decorated that place so it was the cutest place you've ever seen! Afterwards, Amanda and I took some of the girls on a hike to a waterfall that was seriously three minutes away. When we got back, we wrote some letters to girls and had dinner. We relaxed for the rest of the evening and got the girls ready for the high adventure camp we were going to in the morning. But before we could get the girls in their tents for bed, we wen snipe hunting. If you have never been snipe hunting before, then hit me up because I will take you. It is probably the most fun you will ever have! After we found some snipes, the girls got ready for bed and we had a devotional with them. Us YCLs had some spiritual conversation and then went to bed.

On Friday, we set out early for Camp Firewalker, a high adventure camp. There, we did a zipline (nobody broke anything!), a cat walk, the leap of a faith, and a high ropes course. The leap of faith was amazing. It was an old tree that was easily 15 feet tall that had little knobs of the branches left. We climbed to the top and stood on the stump that was only about one foot in diameter. It gave me such a rush of adrenaline! We had lunch, and then came the high ropes course. I've done high ropes before but this was absolutely the most difficult course I have encountered. I was the first person to go and there were definitely hard parts. But gosh! The rush after I was done! Totally worth it! I was able to help all the other girls navigate the hard parts and it was so fulfilling. By the time we went back to camp, I was literally covered in dirt. We went to the waterfall to wash off in and that was a wonderful feeling! For half an hour, we had quiet time, where we went out in nature and read letters from home and wrote in our journals. I had such revelation during that time, it was truly amazing. Then had testimony meeting. Gosh, words can't even describe how much I loved that. It was so emotional and true. I felt the spirit so strongly and will never be able to get into words the feeling afterwards. After dessert, it started pouring rain. I finally made use of my raincoat I bought for Europe! We had a devotional with our girls and listened to some Mindy to distract from the wild weather. Amanda and I had to run back to our tents, where we had spiritual conversation and stayed up late talking.

The next morning we cleaned up camp and went home. It was such a wonderful few days. I am so grateful to Amanda for inviting me. She is my soul sister and the best friend a girl could ask for. She truly understands me and I understand her. Love that girl.