Once again I served on the stake committee for girls' camp. I was still the food specialist, but had easier responsibilities this time around. I was, in fact, kinda a free agent. I didn't have a lot of stake responsibilities and I didn't have a lot of ward responsibilities, so I came and went as needed.
The theme built upon 2 years ago when it was Camp Smile (spiritually minded is life eternal). This time we did Camp Happiness with a reference to 2 Nephi 5 where we learn how Nephi and his people lived after the manner of happiness. We also used a blue bird as a "mascot" since in the depression era, there were many references and even songs to the blue bird of happiness. If you see pictures of early Disney princesses, they are often depicted with the blue bird.
I did make a handout for all ward camp leaders and food people to have as a reference for food ideas and food certification. I was in charge of a breakfast for our 24 YCL's and stake leaders back in January. I did baked berry french toast with whipped cream and fresh fruit. I also arranged for dessert for camp kick-off (lots of blue and white donuts for our blue theme). Tuesday night the stake provided dessert after the devotional and I was in charge of ordering and delivering 550 blue bird sugar cookies. Thank you, Ridley's. They are a nearby grocery store. I shopped around 2 years ago and they had the best deals, so we just went to them again. Everything turned out great.
So, this was my basic camp schedule:
Monday: Finish the semester at BYU. Go shopping for all needed food. I had to have all the ingredients for 3 cooking classes and I needed to purchase food for the stake leaders to have on hand near their camp in case they couldn't make it to their wards to eat.
Tuesday: Drive van of girls to camp. Help them get unloaded. Come back home. Get my stuff together to go back to camp and teach a cooking class. I taught a class everyday. We did cheesy bread and fruit salsa with cinnamon chips. Both dishes were a hit. Jennifer Stevenson, from our ward, helped me. I then went back to town to pick up the cookies and deliver them to the fireside. Allie came with me and helped me hand out cookies. It was nice to have her there. I went home and slept there.
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| Thank you, Trudy Barnes, for helping me get ready for camp. Thanks to you, I have my most important supplies. |
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| Blue teeth compliments of our cute cookies. Notice the blue bird on my sweatshirt. |
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| Aren't these cookies the cutest?! |
Wednesday: Got up at home. Went on a walk. Collected my thoughts. Made a poster with words for the stake leader song. We really needed a cheat sheet. Packed and went up to camp to teach again at 2:30 and to spend the night at camp with my ward. I didn't have to sleep with the stake this time. Not that I would have minded. I really made good friends 2 years ago when I slept with the stake leaders, but this time around I'm a laurel advisor in my ward, so I wanted to be with the YW in our ward. Anyway, taught cooking with Debra Ohrn as my assistant. Boy we were a well-oiled machine. Had dinner with our ward. Went to skit night with the stake. Each ward did a music video. We leaders did one, too. It turned out well, in spite of our busy schedules and not being able to practice much. Put finishing touches on a devotional I taught on their faith walk that night. They had 5 stations, each with a sister with a 4 minute thought. It was all in the dark, with just minimal light to walk from station to station. My assignment was to speak on "We are His hands." Below is basically what I shared. I felt really blessed to hear one story in sacrament meeting, then another at Mel's graduation. I also felt impressed to use both in my devotional, so that's what I did. I was asked to give each YW a little something to remember the devotional, so I made little life preservers out of washers that I painted white and put red stripes on them. That was because NO ONE sells tiny boats. NO ONE. They have planes and cars, but NO BOATS. In the end, I think a life preserver is better anyway.
Have you ever felt like you don’t know how to help or that what
you have to offer isn’t enough?
Tell us about it.
Moses felt that way. When the Lord called him to rescue the
children of Israel, he said “I am not eloquent…but I am slow of speech, and of
a slow tongue.” The Lord responded: “Who hath made man’s mouth?...have not I
the Lord? Now therefore, go, and I will be thy mouth, and teach thee what thou
shalt say.”
What do we learn from this?
I want to share two true stories that illustrate different
responses to someone in need for help. The first example was shared in
sacrament meeting recently by Presley. It really touched me.
Daniel was a fisherman. One day, while he and his crew were
fishing in the open sea, he received an urgent warning that a major storm was
rapidly approaching. Daniel and his crew immediately headed for port. The
engine of a nearby fishing boat had stopped working. Daniel’s crew hooked a
cable to the boat and began to tow it to safety. They radioed for help, knowing
that because of the coming storm, they would need assistance getting both boats
back safely.
Upon getting the request for help, representatives from the
coast guard, fishermen’s association, and the navy met to decide how to best
help. Some wanted to leave right away to help; others wanted to make a plan.
The storm worsened and a last desperate plea came for help. The storm had
broken the cable that tied the two boats together. By the time the rescue crew
finalized their plan and acted on it, both boats had sunk and all crew members
were gone.
Listen for a contrast in this next story that also speaks of
an emergency at sea. This story was shared at Melia’s recent graduation.
You were very young or not alive when the World Trade Center
was attacked on September 11, 2001. You’re probably aware of the story and have
heard of heroic acts of the first responders on the ground. Nearly 3,000 people
died in that attack. Did you know the numbers could have been much higher if it
weren’t for a group of heroes many of us don’t know anything about?
The World Trade Center was located in lower Manhattan. (show
map) Those people trapped south of the site couldn’t escape Manhattan island
without either swimming or being rescued by a boat.
All of the tunnels were closed.
All of the bridges were closed.
The subway trains were shut down.
A coast guard lieutenant, Michael Day, broadcast a request
for help. He said, in his own words: “There was a small boat at the lower tip
of Manhattan. I thought it was going to flip over because so many people were
trying to get on. And as I looked behind, the lines of people waiting to be
rescued were 10 deep. And that’s kind of what gave us the idea. So we decided
to make the call on the radio, ‘All available boats, this is the United States
Coast Guard aboard the pilot boat New York, anyone wanting to help with the
evacuation of Lower Manhattan, report to Governor’s Island.”
Hundreds of boats came. There were fishing boats, pleasure
boats, ferries, and tugs. One man said, “I’ve worked on the water for 28 years
and I’ve never seen that many boats come together at one time that fast based
on one radio call.”
Another boat owner said “If it floated and could get there,
it got there.”
All of these volunteer citizens came not knowing if the
attack was over. They didn’t know what would happen to them or to their boats.
They knew people needed help. The rescue lasted 9 hours and over 500,000 people
were rescued from Lower Manhattan as the towers burned and collapsed around
them. It was the largest sea rescue of all time.
What will we do when we see a need for rescue?
Will you help? He will help you help. Trust Him and go to
work.
Thursday: Metta came and taught a High Fitness class to me and 40 YW in the lodge. We had a blast. A lot of girls have since said it was one of their favorite things from camp. When she finished, I had a discussion with the girls about being grateful for our bodies and about taking good care of them with good food and physical activity that we love. I think it went well. 2:30 I taught cooking again with Lisa Clegg helping. By Thursday, the word was out that we had really good fruit salsa, so people were showing up at the end to try it. I was happy about that. This was another case of divine intervention. I was going to do crepes. That's what the stake YCL's wanted. But, when Keenan had a medical setback and I wasn't 100% sure I'd be at camp, I felt the need to simplify to the fruit salsa and the bread. These recipes still gave me the chance to teach knife use and knife skills. They were also simple enough that another sister could jump in and teach for me if needed. Each sister who helped me was on hand to do the whole thing if needed. Went home briefly to check on Keenan and the girls and work stuff. My students were in the middle of taking their final. Also went to see Makei, my boy, open his mission call to Omaha, Nebraska, Spanish speaking. He'll go to the MTC in Mexico. I'm so excited for that boy! On Thursday, while I was helping the stake set up for the evening fireside, I hear "mom!" It was my girls and they had brought me a cold can of diet Dr. Pepper. How sweet of them. I love those two and I love that they love each other.
Friday: Helped clean up around our camp, then helped clean the lodge and kitchen in the lodge. We got outta there by 10:30, which is much earlier than last time. Came home and took a 3-hour nap, then a shower. Then I unpacked a bit and cleaned up around the house. Nice to be home and it felt great to see the Lord help us pull off another stake camp. We had about 700 participants up at Mutual Dell, counting YW and leaders. Whew! And I was only the food resource person. Shelly Pitts, the stake camp director, really pulled off a fantastic camp.
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| My besties from camp (aka Stake Leaders): Me, Stephanie McAllister, Jeri Clemments, Shelly Pitts, Christie Hoopes, Michele Creer, Katie Ives, and Julie Major |
My favorites about camp:
1. Being able to spend time with my stake leader friends. Most of us came back from 2 years ago.
2. Chilling with ward leaders around camp.
3. Seeing how willing people are to help with camp. We not only had Metta come, but we also had sisters from our ward teaching a creative writing class and the art classes. We had a lot of brethren from our ward teaching the rock climbing and rappelling ALL day EVERYDAY. That's in addition to EVERY other person who came to help.
4. Seeing how the Lord helps us put things together. Things just got put in my path when I needed it.
