June 8, 2014
On Thursday morning just as the young women and I
were preparing to come home, I was asked to speak in church for today’s
sacrament meeting about our experiences at camp. There were five young women, and our stake
assistant camp director that spoke before me.
I kind of thought that I wouldn’t have any time left to speak by the
time it got to me, but the young women were all brief like they had been asked,
so I had over 10 minutes. I was glad
that I prepared enough material to fill the time. Anyway, my talk will be at the end of this letter. I don’t know that I’ll write much else as I
had a lot of meetings today. I will say
that camp was fun and surprisingly relaxing for me as the stake did most all of
the preparations and I just helped girls get to where they were supposed to be
and then sat and watched them in their activities. I’m glad that my Mom and Brenda, Chad’s mom,
where able to watch my kids during the day while I was gone so Chad could go to
work. I’m sure lucky that my kids have
such wonderful grandmothers. We are
enjoying summer so far, me more so now that camp is over and there aren’t any
more big YW’s activities for a while. I
love having my children home from school.
Oh, I can’t forget to mention that today is also
the 6th anniversary of my Dad’s death. I thought about it earlier this month, but
had actually forgotten about it today until I read my Mom’s letter. That is probably for the best because it
might have made it harder for me to get through my talk if I had remembered. Doug sent me the draft of my Dad’s life history
he’s been working on and it is amazing.
It was nice to read about him and honor him today. I’m sad that it has been a hard day for my Momma
though.
Love,
Mindy
Girls Camp
Experiences
June 8,
2014
I’ve been asked and am happy to report about to some
of the experiences that the Young Women and I were able to have at Girls Camp
this past week. We had some fun,
wonderful, and spiritually uplifting experiences. I was able to
witness the girls have spiritual experiences and I also had some personal
spiritual experiences that have changed my life. We really had a good time. We have exceptional young women in our ward.
·
Overall camp theme – Act Well Thy Part
·
Every Ward got assigned a “sub theme” from one
of the sculptures in the Nauvoo Monument to Women.
Talk
about the Monument time permits.
“In an age of heightened interest in the
role of women, the Nauvoo garden of sculptures is dedicated to women of the
past, present, and future. The statues, which were dedicated in 1978, identify
some of the significant dimensions of a woman’s life.
The memorial consists of a heroic central
sculpture of a woman, enhanced by twelve life-sized figures expressing the
widely varied nature of women’s vital roles in society. The display may well be
the largest commissioned display of sculpture in the world dedicated to women.
The circular flow of the pathways is
symbolic of the Latter-day Saint view of the encompassing, never-ending reality
of life on earth and in the hereafter. Each statue is given a title and an
inscription” (http://www.historicnauvoo.net/2010/01/monument-to-women/).
·
Our Ward was assigned the theme Following in
Her Mother’s Footsteps and our assigned statue depicts “a mother, holding her small son, with his head facing backward over
her left shoulder. Her head is turned towards the baby, while she holds him in
both arms. Just behind the mother is her daughter, following in her footsteps,
looking up at her little brother, holding her hands behind her back” (http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMFAAE_In_Her_Mothers_Footsteps_Nauvoo_IL).
·
While we were at camp the young women broke into
their respective age groups and had activities scheduled throughout each day. The young women passed off camp certification
requirements from the church’s YW camp manual like: cooking using a camp stove,
hiking, fires, service, skits, knives, scriptures, protecting the environment,
teaching a song or game, fulfilling a need, plus a few other requirements. They also had some spiritual activities where
they were taught about women and their divine roles. Sis. Sedillo, our stake camp director, and
Sis. Sedig, our stake Young Women’s president, taught about our camp theme “Act
Well Thy Part”. They explained that it
came from Sis. Dalton’s conference talk in April 2013 “We
Are Daughters of Our Heavenly Father”.
In that talk she shared an
experience when she came across a plaque that said, “What-e’er thou art, act
well thy part.” Sis. Sedillo and Sis.
Sedig explained the part and roles that women play. It was a great lesson. Each age group went on a hike led by
President Trendler. At the mid-point in
the hike, Pres. Trendler taught us and challenged each girl to pray and ask if
they truly were a daughter of God. There
was also another activity and devotional that related our part on earth to a
puzzle piece and how each piece is necessary to complete the puzzle.
·
Each evening we gathered all our girls and had
an activity together. Monday night each
ward put on their own individual activities.
Since our ward was assigned the theme Following in Her Mother’s
Footsteps the Young Women leaders and I taught our young women about the
different hats that women and mother’s wear.
o
I brought my college graduation cap and shared
about my decision to go back to school and get a degree shortly after my son Bryant
was born. I shared a quote from
President Hinckley about the importance of women getting an education and I let
the girls know that a college education is not wasted in the home.
o
Sis. Lines brought her ASU cap and shared about
the importance of setting and achieving goals as she told about when she was a
young girl how she set a goal to go to ASU to become a teacher and how she
teaches her children every day.
o
Sis. Randall brought a sweat band and shared
that when you come to the end of a long day and you feel like you don’t have
anything left to give you can turn to the Lord and he strengthens you to be
able to finish out your day and to wake up the next day with the joy and energy
to fulfil your responsibilities.
o
Sis. Robinson shared how she enjoys many aspects
of motherhood, crafting and doing hair and makeup with her girls, going on
dates with her boys, cooking, and just spending time with her children.
o
Sis. Wicox brought her umbrella hat and talked
about finding joy in the journey.
o
Sis. Sorenson brought a chef hat and talked
about how wonderful and sometimes hard it is to cook for your children every
day.
After each leader finished sharing we gave
each of the girls a happy camper hat to wear at camp and to remind them of what
they learned.
·
On Tuesday afternoon when we were gathered
around our cabins during some down time, Sis. Rebecca Hall taught about the
importance of gratitude. She walked
around and asked each girl if they would like some m&m’s. Then she gave each girl only one m&m and
paid attention to which girls said thank you and which girls said, “uh only
one?” (She said about 90% of the girls said thank you and the others ones
either didn’t want one or they didn’t really say anything about only getting
one m&m.) After she went to every
girl she got everyone’s attention and shared D&C 78:19, “And he who receiveth all things with
thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be
added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more.” Then she gave all the girls a container of
mini m&m’s.
·
Tuesday night the stake planned an amazing
evening. They had us walk in silence
through the woods and stop at different stations that identified dimensions of
a woman’s life through word, music and video.
Each station represented a sculpture from the Nauvoo Monument to Women
and exemplified the divinely appointed and significant part in God’s plan that
women fill. This was done with the hope
that the girls would feel that their role as a daughter of God, and a woman is
vital and necessary. At several of the
stations we were asked to ponder a question and then after the walk we met with
our ward to discuss the questions. These
are the sculptures that were represented and questions that were asked:
o
Woman in Prayer – Why is praying for someone
else’s well-being important, and how can it help them?
o
Woman Learning – How can I use my knowledge of
the gospel to help others?
o
Compassionate Woman – What can I do to love and
serve others?
o
Woman and her Talents – How can I use my talents
and gifts to bless others lives?
o
Courtship for Eternity – What am I doing to
prepare myself to be the kind of woman a worthy young man will want to marry?
o
In The Family Circle – What am I doing or what
can I do to prepare myself for my role as a nurturer and a teacher within my
family circle?
o
In Her Mother’s Footsteps – What is something I
have learned from my own mother or a woman close to me, that has helped me or
will help me in my life?
o
Joyful Moment – How has being a young woman with
all the attributes of feminity that Heavenly Father has given us brought me
joy?
o
Fulfillment – What can I do to remember how
important I am to Heavenly Father’s plan and that I have a significant role to
play? (Click HERE
to see pictures of each of the original sculptures)
The walk was wonderful and helped us feel a
witness from the Holy Ghost of our divine nature. Sis. Wilcox led our ward discussion after the
walk was over and she helped the girls recognize that the feelings they felt on
the walk were the Holy Ghost bearing witness of the truth that they are daughters
of our Heavenly Father.
·
Wednesday night was our final night at
camp. That evening we had a testimony
meeting. I loved this meeting. It gave each of us the opportunity to give
voice to, share, and bear witness of the feelings and experiences they had at
camp. It strengthened our own
testimonies and helped us internalize what we’d learned. It also strengthened the testimonies of those
who were listening. We have amazing
young women who are full of faith and who love God and who desire to serve.
·
One fun thing our stake does is to give out paper
plate awards. Some are silly and funny
others are more serious. Our ward got
the Biggest Heart Award for always helping everyone in need and even attacking
their YCL’s with love notes!
·
4th Years back packed to fossil
springs and camped overnight.
·
Cooks
·
Bear Testimony
o
I love being a woman, and a wife, and a mother. I thank Heavenly Father every night and every
morning for the opportunity I have to be a wife and a mother. It is what I have always wanted to be and it
is more fulfilling that I ever thought it would be. I love working side by side with Chad in our
family. I have never felt like my role
as a mother was second to his role as a father.
o
I love being a woman in this church. I love being a member of the relief
society. I love the young women’s and
primary programs of the church as well.
I know they are divine institutions.
o
I love working side by side with the Priesthood
leaders in our ward. As I have sat in
different councils in our ward and in the stake I have always felt like my
opinion was welcome, sought after, and respected.
o
I know I am a daughter of God. I know he loves me. I also know he loves the young women in our
ward. I hope they know of their divine
nature and of their worth. I have had
some special experiences over the last few weeks where Heavenly Father helped
me feel the love he has for his young women.
They were more powerful than most anything I’ve ever felt before.
o
I know Heavenly Father hears and answers our
prayers. At camp I had a special
experience where I asked for guidance to help a young woman and he prompted me
of changes that I could make in the way that I teach and lead. Heavenly Father loves his young women!
o
I know Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that
he atoned for our sins so we can be made holy.
o
I know Joseph Smith restored the Gospel of Jesus
Christ.
o
I know we have a prophet and apostles on the
earth today. I know if we listen to,
study, and heed their words we will be blessed.
I know this because I have tried it and it has blessed my life more than
I could have imagined.
o
I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I love it!
I read it every day.
In
the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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