Arise and Shine Forth...

is the mutual theme this year which was incorporated along with Noah's Arc for girls camp this July. Each unit was an animal and we were encouraged to decorate our campsite with the unit theme. There were Geckos, Frogs, Giraffes, Lions, Peacocks, Elephants, Flamingos, Zebras, and Hippos. My unit was Elephants and my crafty hubby cut out some adorable elephants from steel and wood.

We headed up on Monday evening to set up camp before heading home for one last good nights rest before a week of camping. I had a great partner and fabulous girls in our unit. We had six girls all together from three different wards. They got along well and were so helpful when it came to cooking, cleaning, and writing our skit and daily jingles.

 Entering our campsite.

 Who you calling a monkey?

Well, if I had chosen we would have been, but we all adapted well

and had a bit of fun with the elephant namage.

 Our assignment and note board.

I always have an amazing time at girls camp. I come away with stronger relationships with the girls and other leaders and am always spiritually uplifted and filled. This year one of the Devotionals was on the Ten Virgins. I have always hated this parable, partly because I thought how unfair for those sisters to not share their oil with others but mostly because I identified with those who didn't have enough and feared I would be one of them. Those who helped put on this devotional did an amazing job. Not only did they retell the story but they then applied it to the lives of our youth today and helped it to make sense and show how we can liken this scripture unto ourselves. I walked away having a totally different view and wanting to strive to be better in my daily life so I, too, could have a full vessel of oil and then some.
We also had devotionals in our unit to go along with the daily themes. The devotional I gave was on knowledge and I used an article from the Friend magazine entitled Up-to-Date-Elephant. It is really good and quite interesting so go read it. It's short. I'll wait.
It was good, right?

On skit night ours involved Tarzan and Jane. Jane tried to teach Tarzan about some of our beliefs in the church but Tarzan kept misunderstanding what was being said. He mistook the 2011 theme to be "We believe in being honest, true, chased by an elephant, and in doing good to all man. At which point he called for his elephants and a herd of them chased Jane away. I was a tree; it was windy:)

 Margaret, my co-leader, was an elephant who interrupted our skit 

to tell us "Anything not related to elephants is IRRELEPHANT!"

At the end of our skit Jane was telling Tarzan about For the Strength of Youth, but he confused it with the strength of moose. Which of course brought forth his strong moose, isn't she adorable? It was a fun and simple skit, the girls did great!

Besides archery, crafts, napping (as if), and the confidence coarse, there is a pond to swim in. It is a disgusting pond infested with salamanders. I have never stepped foot in it and have always sworn to never enter it. Every year at 6am there is a polar dip that involves jumping into said pond, which I have never done and always scoffed at those who did. This year, Ally (my buddy) begged and cajoled me into jumping in with her. It took a couple of days (I had no swimsuit) but finally she convinced me. It was cold, dirty, and I swallowed some water (blech) but Ally was thrilled and I got a bead for it.

Here we are on Noah's Arc. We had a terrific time. I was sad to leave my girls but happy to come home to a hot shower and a comfy bed. I can't wait to go again next year!