Young Women's Camp

Tennie, Adele and I went to Young Women's Camp last week.  Our original location was cancelled a few weeks ago due to The Rainbow Family, some kind of raucous nudist group that was travelling past our site during the month of July.  We ended up at a beautiful camp up the canyon from Oakley.

The first night Sister Bonnie Oscarson, the General Young Women's President who is in our stake, spoke and set the tone for a great spirit.  The girls loved her.  We made delicious tinfoil dinners.

That night one tent tried to Saran Wrap another tent.  A young woman in the victim tent was cutting through the plastic with her pocket knife when somehow she cut her thumb right down the middle, through the nail.  It was gnarly.  She was sent by a local Urgent Care to Primary Children's in Salt Lake.  She got her nail ripped off and five stitches.  A counselor in the Stake Young Women's presidency is a nurse in that ER and was on duty.  Nice to have a friendly face!

The second day we went on an amazing 5-mile hike.

The Stake Camp Director (and 2nd counselor in the Stake YW Presidency...she stepped in!)

 We had Secret Sister pouches where leaders and girls could leave little surprises.

After the hike it began to hail, and then it began to rain...hard.  It didn't stop until we were ready for bed.  We hung up tarps, we adjusted our dinner plans, the girls spent hours in the tents playing Mafia and singing camp songs along with a guitar, and we discovered that some of our tents need to be replaced due to leaks and occasional collapsing...  We were soggy.

The next morning we went canoeing.  Right when we got back to camp it began to rain, no pour.  It didn't stop until after we all went to bed (and for the young women that was usually around 2:00AM!)  Do you want to hear my survival tactic?  I slept in our van.  Ahhh, it was warm and dry in there.

Bathing in the lake

 Before it rained the young women did some team-building games.

Despite the rain, and everything being damp, I didn't hear a single complaint.  The girls made the most of it.  They bonded in those hours of tent confinement.  We didn't do any skill-building or certification but we did strengthen friendships and testimonies that even when life is stormy we can not only survive, we can thrive!