I love church girls camp! I loved it as a youth attending and I loved it as an adult leader just as much! Now my baby is going to camp and I don't get to go with her as a leader! Bummer :( But... yesterday the stake organized their girl's camp hike and invited all the women and especially the mothers to attend. Yeah! I got to go on the hike, which really is one of the BEST parts about camp anyway! So many memories of camp came back to me like singing, "There's a hole in the fruit loop, dear Cheri, dear Cheri" - and I am sure annoying all the other hikers singing it. Also going on a snipe hunt, having a frosting fight, toilet papering other wards, retiring an American flag, 4th year awesome 3 day hike (sleeping under the stars), toilet papering other wards, bras up the flag pole, lashing a jail and getting thrown in it because I wore shorts, toilet papering other wards, being a JC and coming to LOVE the girls I served, water ballooning our home ward in the middle of the night (with adult supervision of course), fantastic testimony meetings, toilet papering other wards, church in "the sacred grove", camp songs, skits, bishops night, toilet papering other wards, dropping my sleeping bag on Megan EVERY night because I wanted to sleep on the top bunk, fantastic leaders (both stake and ward), friendships with girls I never would have known any other way, and I could continue to go on and on (as if I didn't already go on and on)!
So back to the present, our General Young Women's Presidency asked the Young Women this year to return to Virtue. They made Virtue a new Young Women value along with Faith, Divine Nature, Good Works, Knowledge, Good Works and Integrity and asked all women of the church to join the Young Women in returning to Virtue. So, our stake leaders invited all the women to hike up the hill that overlooks our homes and wave a banner of virtue and promise to return to virtue. We met at the mouth of the canyon at 8 AM and all gathered about a mile up the mountain at about 9 AM. Our Stake President, Pres. Atkinson, talked to us about the choice that we have to be virtuous. He told us that at this moment, those willing to, were not only making a promise, but we were making a covenant with God that if we would return to virtue, He would bless us. Since it was a covenant, then the place we made it was holy ground. He asked us to remove our shoes and kneel down on the sacred ground overlooking our homes and pray to our Father asking for help to remain virtuous. Then he offered the most beautiful prayer in our behalf that if we would do this, the Lord would poor out abundant blessings on us for our efforts. Then we went to the edge of the cliff, waved our banners and shouted to all the world, Return to Virtue! It was beautiful and more beautiful to do with my daughter. (I forgot my camera, but when I get pictures taken by others, I will add them to the post.)
After that special moment, most of the women went home and most of the young women and their leaders continued up the mountain. I LOVE hiking. God has created such a beautiful place for us to live. I love being able to hike through it and appreciate it a little bit more. A few places in the hike were steep and a little exhausting, but I got to go with some great girls and help each other along the way. At one point, one of the girls was a little bit tired and Missy volunteered to wear her pack for her. She said she felt guilty for Missy carrying it for her and it was a prime opportunity to remind these girls of one of their baptismal covenants to "Bear one another's burdens". We are all in this life together to help each other and lift each other higher. At another point when we were all tired and the end seemed far away, I was reminded of what President Hinckley said about the second coming of Christ. Something like, it is closer now than it has ever been. The end of the hike was closer at that point than it had ever been. Little by little we are able to conquer insurmountable tasks. When we finally reached the top there was this beautiful spring. We took our shoes and socks off and put our feet in the FREEZING water! It felt so wonderful after that hike up the mountain.
When the last of the group arrived, President Paul told a few stories. The first one was about how the area we were in, is home to many cougars. Two women he knew were attacked by a cougar years before. It attacked the one and started dragging her off while the other lady grabbed hold of her friends legs and started playing tug-of-war with the cougar for her friend's life. Later other bikers came up the mountain and started throwing rocks at the cougar. Finally the cougar let up and help was called. The woman had suffered many face and neck wounds and it took over 200 stitches and multiple plastic surgeries to reconstruct the damage. (At this point I am wondering the wisdom in telling these 12-18 year old girls about cougars being in the area and how they attack at times. Some were just scared of the climb up the mountain.) Then he told his second story about a girl he met through work (as a policeman). He was thinking about her and decided he needed to call her up and check on her. Many years had passed, but he found her number and asked her to meet with him. She was hesitant to visit the chief of police, wondering if she would be arrested when she walked in his office, but agreed to go. He shared how she had the look of a meth addict, was pregnant with a child out of wedlock and was the mother of at least one more child. As they visited, he asked her where she saw herself in 5 years. Her response was, dead, and that she had no hope for the future. He reminded her that she was a daughter of God and it was never too late to turn your life around. He asked her if she knew who her bishop was and she mentioned that she had met him the other day and had set up a meeting with her that Sunday. President Paul encouraged her to keep that appointment because as much as he could share with her, her Bishop was the only person with the keys and authority to really help her. Then he asked the girls how many would play tug-of-war with a cougar to save their friend's life. We all would. Then he asked how many of us would play tug-of-war with satan to save the life of a friend like the second girl? At least the first woman was a God fearing Christian who could meet her Savior in peace, while the second girl had so many sins, not only would she die physically, but spiritually as well. He told us how important it was to be virtuous, but that was more than just being clean ourselves. Sister Dalton (YW General President) said, "Virtue “is a pattern of thought and behavior based on high moral standards.” It encompasses chastity and moral purity. Virtue begins in the heart and in the mind. It is nurtured in the home. It is the accumulation of thousands of small decisions and actions. Virtue is a word we don’t hear often in today’s society, but the Latin root word virtus means strength. Virtuous women and men possess a quiet dignity and inner strength. They are confident because they are worthy to receive and be guided by the Holy Ghost. President Monson has counseled: “You be the one to make a stand for right, even if you stand alone. Have the moral courage to be a light for others to follow. There is no friendship more valuable than your own clear conscience, your own moral cleanliness—and what a glorious feeling it is to know that you stand in your appointed place clean and with the confidence that you are worthy to do so.” President Paul taught that we need to be the ones to stand for virtue and help those around us fight satan. He reminded us that just like his friend who fought the cougar, she was physically strong, prepared for physical battles in her path. We need to be spiritually strong, prepared for the more deadly battles against satan.
What an awesome day... spend time with my daughter, hike in God's country, and rededicate myself to being a virtuous women and in helping others to come unto Christ.
