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Mormon girls camp feeds young hearts
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Summer is upon us. Here in the Midwest, it's about time, too. I thought Winters were long here, but boy oh boy, this Spring has been hanging in there forever. Here it is, the first week in June, and it's still only in the 60's, maybe the 70's if we're lucky.
But Summer brings something much more exciting than just warm days and cool nights, water parks and mosquitos. It brings the season of Girls Camp! The memories of those chilly summer evenings in the mountains come flooding back whenever I sit near a campfire. Some of my biggest spiritual moments were all because of Girls Camp.
Most of our local girls are heading to camp this month. To be honest, I don't know where they're going or what they're doing. Mostly I just want to reminisce about my good times at camp.
Without fail, that first day was hectic. No matter how planned out the day was or organized the leaders were, there was always a crisis. Someone forgot their sleeping bag, or someone ends up throwing up in the car, or there's no firewood for the fire. By the time the tents were set up, it was dinner time. Dinner cooked over a fire, ah, there's nothing like it. Dutch oven chicken, cobbler, and orange peel muffins. Then came the songs. The silly, silly songs. I can still recite most of them word for word. Oh, the sweet memories.
After dinner always came the traditional testimony meeting around the fire. These are the moments I remember most. Something about that fire made saying the things the heart thinks seem less silly. There were a lot of tears, both for good feelings and bad memories. Either way, things came out around that campfire. We bonded with one another because of our common faith, and our need to be heard.
Here it's been 18 years since I attended Girls Camp, and I know that not much has changed. I know our Ward will send off the girls to their campsite knowing the crises will come, but knowing that the girls will return spiritually fed and bolstered for the year to come. Summer just wouldn't be the same without the girls heading off into the wilderness singing silly songs, and returning with a faith in the Lord renewed and unyielding.
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