One of my favorite parts about our camp was the Personal Progress challenge that we put together. I had been looking through the Camp Manual and came across the section that encouraged leaders to incorporate Personal Progress. I started thinking about it and realized the boys go to scout camp and come back with a bunch of merit badges, why shouldn't the girls be able to pass of Personal Progress goals while at camp. I began praying and going through the Camp Manual and Personal Progress books. I also enlisted the help of one of the Young Women leaders. I explained to her what I was trying to do and asked her if she thought we could make charm bracelets with a charm that represented each value. As they accomplished a goal, they would receive the charm. The theme for Girl's Camp was Eternal Treasures so I thought jewelry would be a fitting keepsake for camp. This Young Women's leader volunteered to do the bracelets for me-- that was a huge help. I put together a booklet with a goal from each value that could be accomplished at camp and coincided with what we were doing. I gave the girls an outline a couple of weeks before so they could set the goals in their books beforehand. While at camp, they had opportunities to reach the goal if they chose too. Once one of the girls started earning the charms for her bracelet, they all got on board because they wanted the cute bracelets. It turned out to be a really good experience. The most rewarding part for me was when one of the girls bore her testimony and related an experience she had had while working on one of the goals. That made it all worth it.
I was also proud of the girls because they all certified. This is the first year all of the girls have certified. They usually get some of the things done that are offered by the stake but none had completed their certification. We had an awesome Priesthood leader who would step in and help me teach the girls what they needed to know. He was great to work with them. I wouldn't be surprised if we are the only ward that can claim to have all the girls certify. I discovered certification hasn't been a big priority in this stake.
It may sound like we were busy doing all of these projects, but there was plenty of free time and the favorite thing for the girls to do was float the river. We had tubes and were able to go down the river together. The leaders even got to get in on the action. The girls actually enjoyed going with the leaders because they thought it was hilarious when we would flip over or get stuck in the trees. My assistant camp director was nicknamed "Pinball" because she would go from one tree to the next and bounce off and flip over. She was a good sport and kept going down numerous times. Thank goodness we had life jackets because I think she would have drowned for sure.
Lindsey told me she had fun her first year at camp. I didn't get to spend a lot of time with her because there was so much to do. I don't think she had much desire to hang out with me though. She had friends up there and was busy running back and forth to visit and enjoying the river. I got to have some priceless "mother moments" as I watched her interact with the other Young Women, especially being sensitive to those that may be left out. One of the highlight moments was getting to hear her bear her testimony and see how much she is growing. That was the greatest blessing of all.
