Not Quite Tony's Grove

July 14th we visited First Ward Girls' Camp up Logan Canyon.  It was a beautiful spot--with lots of shady trees and a nearby creek.  The girls had a menagerie of animal adventures already--rattlesnakes on the trail of their hike, lost horses running through their campground, and Ethan--a one of a kind creature!

We enjoyed a fairly lazy afternoon in their camp while they finished up the GPS activity that the horses had interrupted then had a delicious pasta dinner with them.  The evening finished up with a rousing round of camp skits.  Holy Cow!! Are these girls funny!?!?  There were very creative and entertaining skits from all the groups--including a great Circus Skit fro the ward YW leaders.  But we especially appreciated the "Scenes from Camp" skit.  It helped us get a good feel for what they had experienced together.

The girls tell their tales to Sister Smithson.

It gets a littler harder to tell the leaders from the girls sometimes.  :)

Sister Atkinson tells of their adventures to Sister Lovell (l) and Sister Naugle (r)

Kathryn wows us with her sense of Duct Tape Style!  She looks good in anything!!

Don't you love it when the other groups take a turn to cook dinner?!

Caitlin all bundled up in the shade.

Must have been a GOOD story, right Kathryn?

Biking Adventures @ Fish Lake

We got to visit the 2nd ward Young Women at Fish Lake at the end of June.  They were "Reaching Their Happily Ever After".

As soon as we got there we heard about a terrible crash that one of their Young Women had had that morning, on the last leg of the bike trip.  Zabrina crashed hard coming down a steep hill and had been taken to the hospital by Bishop Lucas ans Brother Beckstrand.

At the initial reports we heard things like "concussion" and "skin grafts" and "stitches".  It was very scary.  We were told that Zabrina had crashed almost right at the Bishop's truck--so he was right there to immediately give her a blessing.  Throughout the afternoon and evening we were in camp with them, prayers were offered that included pleas for Zabrina's well being and healing.  The leaders and YW of the 2nd ward were extremely worried about her.

When I asked some of the girls about the accident--especially those who were on bikes behind her--several mentioned that when they saw her fish-tailing they thought about the months of preparation they had done together.  But not all the girls made it to all the practices.  They told me that they practiced and rehearsed what to do in emergency situations.  Zabrina missed that practice.  Several girls mentioned that maybe if she'd been with them for the practices the accident might not have been so bad.  Other girls mentioned that they were so glad they prayed for protection and safety throughout the week.  They knew prayers are answered.  These girls felt the protection of a loving Heavenly Father.  Even though a crash happened, they knew it could have been so much worse.

Before we left the camp for the night, Sister Beckstrand got cell service down the canyon a bit and spoke with Bishop Lucas.  He told her--and she relayed to all of us--that while Zabrina did have to have a couple of stitches above her eye, where the helmet impacted and cracked in half, and a couple more on her chin, she did NOT have a concussion; nor did she have broken bones.  The medical staff cleaned the gravel out of her knees and wrapped them--not to send her to Provo to the trauma unit--but for her to go home and rest with the advice to have her own local doctor look at her knees in a couple of days--but skin grafts weren't even mentioned again.  When that message was shared, many girls and leaders alike mentioned that this was a miracle wrought by a priesthood blessing.  Testimonies were strengthened of the incredible, eternal power that is available to us as we pray and are blessed in the Savior's name.

What a cute banner! And a very appropriate Girls' Camp theme!

We played the SNORT game between rain sprinkles and sunshine.

Our dessert of choice this year, Fruit Pizza, gets better each time we bring it up to a Girls' Camp to share!  This one was especially beautiful!  Love the colors!

Sister Marsh and Cassidy were getting crazy with those cucumbers for the salad!  Good work, ladies!

The trailer carried all the bikes!  Yikes!  That is a LOT of bikes!

Here you can see the oil lamps (on the tray) the girls made.  They were used in the devotional that night as we heard some of the [potential] personality traits of the 10 Virgins, from the parable in the New Testament.  It was a beautiful lesson, reminding us that we must collect our own oil--our spiritual preparedness--drop by drop by consistently doing the "little things" like scripture reading, prayers, fasting, taking the sacrament.  Sister Beckstrand's lesson was lovely and the Spirit was abundantly felt.

~~~~~~~~~

PS--After checking back with Sister Beckstrand today (July 5th) about Zabrina's condition, I was told she actually was taken to the UofU burn center by ambulance a few days after getting home, as her face had become infected.  She is scheduled to be returning home to recuperate and rest tonight after make miraculous progress as swelling subsided and other issues were monitored.  Her ward YW are planning on visiting with her tonight for their activity.  Her continued healing is a great addition to our prayers still, and we know that her family would appreciate the extra prayers for her recovery.

There's a party in the house tonight!

I have a few pics from the stake dance but I danced more than took pictures so you'll have to take my word when I saw it was awesome! I wish I had a picture of President Atkinson dancing to "Thunderstruck" or Sister DeBuck flitting around like a fairy or Hogan and Riley getting down to that Justin B. kid.
Thanks to Madi and her friend for getting the night started off with some swing steps and Joey and other, various youth for the music.

We Seek After THESE Things

Last week was our Stake Youth Conference. Three days of activities for youth ages 14-18 that ultimately were meant to draw the kids' hearts to Christ, strengthen their testimonies and develop a sense of unity between them.  There are MANY things that are good, and lovely, and delightful out there for these kinds of events.  We were seeking after all of them!

Thursday night we held a BBQ and pool party. You know what they say, "If you feed them, they will come." It is true.

Brothers Edwards and Cobbley fed the multitudes with burgers and dogs...and a unique item dubbed a "Ham-Dog". I happened to eat toward the end of the cooking and ended up with a triple Ham-Dog. Whoa.

Teenagers...hungry teenagers. You've gotta love them!

Fruit, potato salad and veg on the side. Yumm-OH!

We had an hour at the city pool to ourselves--or so we thought. There was a little group of three or four kids that I didn't recognize. I ask President Pam and other adult leaders if they knew these kids. No one did. Finally Pam asked them which ward they were from and they told us that they were there "for Austin's birthday". But none of them had seen this mysterious Austin. We had heard a rumor that a text was floating to the city's HS population that a pool party was open to the masses--when really, it wasn't! But they didn't seem too concerned that they cheated their way into a private party--which caused us to pay for each of them to play at the pool. Crazy, right?

Then we met again on Friday morning for more activities. Of course, we lived the "If you feed them, they will come" line, once again.

Our fearless cooking crew! They are awesome!

Some of our lovely young women, just waiting for breakfast.

The crowd beginning to fill in. 8 AM on a Friday in June is still early for some people, I guess.

We had 8 stations of activities. Two stations had a double rotation through them, as the game required two teams. All in all the kids rotated 10 times through these stations where they played and worked together and at every point heard a message of love and peace from the scriptures.

Sister Cobbley hosted a station where a game was played from the text of "The Living Christ".

Contestants sat, waiting to help their team, and take their turns.

Steal the Flag took two rotations--but once we moved it to the shade, it was a lot of fun!

Melanie and McKenzie show us their GPS findings at another station.

Bocce Ball in the Park! Go Madison! What a throw!

The Rock Wall gave many of our youth, like Amber, on the left, a real challenge. Not to mention the adult leaders--except Sister Barnes.  Look at her go!!  She could almost fly up that wall!!

A stop indoors was only a cooling off period for a second. Dodge Ball gets heated even in the best of circumstances!

Ah, Lunch! We had Big Sandwiches from WalMart along with some fruit, chips and juice.

Ladies first! What gentlemanly youth leaders we have!

We finished up the day with a few more rotations, so each group got to visit each station. Then we broke up for a bit and met back at the church, cleaned up in our Sunday clothes for a dinner and dance.

No photographic evidence remains from the evening's activities. But it was great! Trust me!

Then Day Three, Saturday, we held a morning side (with doughnuts) at the pavilion near the temple and from there each group left for a service project that lasted all morning. Several groups did clean up at local parks, the rodeo grounds, yard work for elderly neighbors and even laid some sod for a family that couldn't get enough help themselves. Because all these services were offered locally, the blessings were given (and received) by our neighbors and friends. Each group sounded like they had a wonderful experience and felt the Savior's love as they served in His name.

Then Saturday night, we held a closing devotional with messages from our Young Men's leader, President Atkinson, and from President Allred. Plus a special musical number by all the adult leaders of youth--an arrangement by Sister Amy of the Primary hymn, "I Know that My Savior Loves Me", as inspired by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It was beautiful and powerful and a joy to be a part of, all for our youth to hear.

Mia Maids ROCK!

One evening in June, the Mia Maids of the 1st and 6th wards met together at President Phillips' home.  The girls came prepared with a couple of games--the "I Have" game and also "Little Sally Walker" (for which there is NO photographic evidence...for good reasons.)

We met a band new Mia Maid in the 1st ward who recently moved from Arizona.  Abby is a terrific addition to their YW program!  We are SO happy to have her with us!



Jessica leads the game.

Uh-oh!  Everyone shift!

Sister Smithson is stuck in the middle.  Think FAST, Sister Smithson!

This game is DANGEROUS!

Good thing Megan and Shelby are good sports! 

Oh good.  President Chestnut made it in time to play!

Girls or Adults--the game works the same for both!  Move it, Sister Naugle!

Our wonderful Stake Presidency shared some thoughts and their testimonies with the YW before we closed. 

One of the thoughts that President Allred shared was "Become who you want to be by consistently being who you want to become."  That is a thought he emphasized to each group of YW that have met with the stake presidency.  We are so blessed to have loving priesthood leaders who want to know and share their concern for the Young Women in our stake!  And thanks to the wonderful Mia Maid leaders who came along for the fun!

"There's no place like home"

6th Ward YW and their leaders taught and learned about home--their eternal home--while camping at Heber Valley Camp.

The days and activities were themed around Wizard of Oz and the YW values such as one day was "Good Works & Choice and Accountability" and the character was Tin Man (get it? He wanted a heart).
The camp was well-fed by Brother Cobbley and his excellent chef skills. The last night was a special night and a thanksgiving dinner was prepared.

The YW were also spiritually fed and strengthened their testimonies of the Savior through prayer, activities focused on the values, devotionals and testimony meetings.

Thank you to all the leaders and priesthood who took the time to plan and lead and prepare for this camp!

Mustang Ridge @ Flaming Gorge

Gorgeous Gorge!

Good sports!

Fab-U-Lous 5th ward

A beautiful place with fantastic Young Women who know how to make their own fun?!  Must be GIRLS' CAMP!  We were lucky enough to visit the 5th ward on Wednesday June 8th.  They were staying at Mustang Ridge campground at Flaming Gorge.  They were a short jaunt from the (very chilly )lake and were surrounded by gorgeous scenery! 

When we got there they had just come up from the lake where a pontoon boat pulled them on tubes, and gave them a jumping off point if they were tough enough to brave the water.  Several girls were at the showers and the rest of us played a Duct-Tape Ball game.  Some Phase 10 was going on and a couple also took a little walk to show us the trail to the water.

The best example of all that these girls make their own fun was the colorful fingernails (and the Bishop's toes) on their good Bishopric!  All three of these great men were wearing painted nails!  Boy, talk about good sports!!

That night we enjoyed a delicious meal of spaghetti and curly pastas with meat sauce or Alfredo (or BOTH!) and a salad!  Yumm-OH!

The 5th ward girls still had a day of shooting and another day of river rafting on their schedules.  President Phillips was scheduled to come up for the shooting, so that would be a super fun time too.

Thanks to the marvelous YW leaders in the 5th ward who gave their Camp Committee the lead and let them run with it!  We loved coming up to visit and loved seeing the 5th ward Young Women having such a great time, in such a beautiful place. 

Thanks + Much Love--

The Stake YW Presidency