Girl Time

I went straight from the family reunion to girls camp! Old traditions die hard, so I wasn't ready to give up one of my favorite parts of camp when I was a girl -- pillow treats. I always thought it was so fun to come back to the tent after a long day and find a cute little something waiting for me. Our ward's theme was Search, Ponder, and Pray, so I tried to tie the theme into the pillow treats. 

And we were off! We ended up having seven girls come which was a great turnout for our ward!

We were there for three nights and four days, so we spent one day focusing on search, one on ponder, one on pray, and we ended with how all three of those things help us gain a testimony. 

We were in tents! Our 10-man tent comes in handy for situations like these!

This is my secretary, Katherine. She's a trooper and is always there when I need her! It was just me and her at camp this year and I was grateful for her camping expertise and her can-do attitude!

We did a service project pulling weeds around our campsite. 

Canoeing on the lake was a favorite activity for all.

They did a movie night of "Once I was a Beehive." I had never seen the movie before and I died laughing the entire time because of the eerie resemblance between me and the YW President in the movie. Also it's just hilarious to watch a movie about girls camp while you're at girls camp because it is all so very fresh and relatable when you're right there in it. 

We had a high adventure morning on Friday. The girls did ziplining, the flying squirrel, and shooting. 

The bishopric informed me the night before we left for camp that they would like the young women to report on girls camp the next Sunday. Like...the Sunday the day after we get home. So that was fun news to keep my mind churning all week about what I would talk about, and to even begin writing through the week since I would have about 12 hours to put everything together after returning home. 

Well thankfully this lady at the shooting station gave a brief, 3-ish minute thought that spoke to me and inspired my talk. Thank you, ma'am!

As I have been inclined to do recently, I will once again share my talk because it's all written out anyway, so why not?!

During a lesson at camp, we were reminded of a scripture story found in Nephi, Chapter 17. Since returning home from camp, I have gone back to read the chapter and I was startled by the similarities of Nephi’s story to ours from last week:

9) And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord commanded Lehi that he should journey into the wilderness. 

Now, I’m not trying to call myself Lehi, but I too was commanded to head into the wilderness. And in case you didn’t know, I don’t love venturing into the wild, so my command to camp was met with some hesitation...and perhaps even a little murmuring. But before you try calling me Laman and Lemuel, let’s keep the story going.

10) And it came to pass that as my father arose in the morning, to his great astonishment he beheld upon the ground a round ball of curious workmanship that pointed the way whither they should go into the wilderness.

Once I discovered murmuring wasn’t going to keep me out of the woods, I got thinking about how we should prepare for camp. During a presidency meeting, each member of the presidency discussed a topic we felt like the girls would most benefit from learning about this year at camp. One of us suggested searching the scriptures, another mentioned learning more about how the Spirit works in our lives, another mentioned praying, and we wanted the whole week to highlight how to strengthen your testimony. 

After this meeting, I spent the rest of the day trying to come up with a short, easy to remember theme for our ward to focus on that tied all of our ideas together. I went to bed restless, but woke up early the next morning with the words Search, Ponder, and Pray running through my mind. I was instantly so excited because it felt right right away and I knew it was what we were supposed to spend the week focusing on. 

11) And it came to pass that we did gather together whatsoever things we should carry into the wilderness, and we did take seed of every kind that we might carry into the wilderness.

Like Lehi’s family, we had some things to gather. Cots, sleeping bags, fingernail polish. And we had seeds of every kind to collect: Pretzels, Rice Krispie Treats, Takis...

12) And it came to pass that we did take our tents and depart into the wilderness.

13) And it came to pass that we traveled for the space of four days.

We traveled for about four hours and camped for about four days, so close enough. 

16) We did follow the directions of the ball.

Not only did we try our best to follow the directions of the Spirit, but we also followed the directions of GoogleMaps which got us straight to camp. 

17) We rested and obtained food.

We got camp set up and were greeted by an amazing cooking team who made our food very easy to obtain.

14) We did take our bows and arrows and went forth into the wilderness.

Once we were settled, somewhat rested, and fed, we were ready to go forth into the wilderness. The stake put together classes for the YW, arts and crafts, a movie night, high adventure activities, a lake day, firesides, and endless activities. There were lessons to be learned through all of camp, but one of the more memorable lessons for me was a quick thought given before we were taught how to shoot a bow and arrow at the archery station. 

Before we shot the bow and arrows, we were reminded of a burden Nephi faced while he was in the wilderness and what he did to overcome his burden, which we can read about in verse 18:

18) And it came to pass that as I, Nephi, went forth to slay food, behold, I did break my bow; and after I did break my bow, behold, my brethren were angry with me because of the loss of my bow, for we did obtain no food.

19) And it came to pass that we did return without food to our families, and being much fatigued, because of their journeying, they did suffer much for the want of food.

Thankfully no bows were broken at our camp, and no one went without food. However, our camp was not without burdens. The stake put on a special fireside where they had everyone at camp write down burdens or challenges either they are experiencing or someone they know is experiencing. We then went on a silent hike where we picked up water bottles along the way that had different burdens people struggle with written on each one. 

For me, it was a good chance to reflect on what I am struggling with in my life, and what things I am holding on to or carrying that may be weighing me down. As I walked and looked around, I was moved by the visual representation of everyone being handed difficulties, reminding me that under all the surface-level things we often try to present to each other, we are all carrying some kind of burden that is challenging us or weighing us down. 

The hike ended with a picture of the Savior, where we were all invited to leave our burdens at his feet. The visual of every person having the same opportunity to drop their burdens at the Savior’s feet, and feel the relief of a lighter load was impactful. 

I noticed a visible change in myself and in the girls with each day we were at camp, but especially after this reminder to turn to our Savior with our troubles to find the peace and answers we are looking for. 

Like Nephi’s broken bow, we can find answers and solutions to our problems as we turn to Christ. But how do we find answers and solutions to our problems? How does the peace come? Let’s continue our story with Nephi to see what he did:

23) And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did make out of wood a bow and out of a straight stick, an arrow; wherefore, I did arm myself with a bow and arrow, with a sling and stones. I said unto my father: Whither shall I go to obtain food?

Nephi is searching and praying for food, nourishment. This reminds me of not only being physically fed, but spiritually fed. We may find ourselves hungering spiritually and searching for where we should go to obtain answers and enlightenment. Maybe we feel like what we’re doing now isn’t working, and maybe we feel a little broken, but don’t know how to fix the problem. Let’s see what Nephi does.

26) The voice of the Lord said unto him: Look upon the ball, and behold the things which are written. 28) The ball works according to faith and diligence and heed which we give unto them.

As we pray with these questions, we can be like Nephi and ponder, work through our questions in our mind, and listen to the Spirit as it guides us to what is right. 

29) By small means the Lord can bring about great things.

Nephi followed the pattern of search, ponder, and pray to lighten his burden. As we are weighed down with the difficulties of life, as we have questions, and as we desire guidance for anything in our lives, we can follow Nephi’s example by searching for guidance, pondering the impressions of The Holy Ghost, and praying to invite Jesus Christ’s influence into our lives to strengthen us and mend our broken bows or burdened hearts. 

I loved being reminded of this story at archery and seeing how well it tied into our ward’s focus. My favorite part of the story, and something I hadn’t noticed before, that was pointed out during our lesson was found in verse 30:

30) And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did go forth to the top of the mountain according to the directions which were given upon the ball. 

It was pointed out that the food wasn’t just across a field, or lovingly prepared by Nephi’s camp chef. Nephi had to follow the directions of the ball, which instructed him to climb up a mountain to get what he was looking for. 

Search, ponder, and pray is a simple formula, but it is a process that requires work. It requires following through on what the Spirit directs you to do. It takes effort to study out your questions and hunt for answers. It takes heartfelt prayer to align your efforts with Heavenly Father and to allow Jesus Christ’s Atonement to heal your broken bow. 

The last night I put together an escape room in a bag for the girls to do. I threw the bag at the girls and said, “Sister Excell has lost her testimony. Help her find it!” 

The girls dove into their bags, searching for what they could use, pondering how things fit together, desperately asking me to give them a hint. They’d slowly put things together which opened up more things for them to look at and think about. They would find something that went with another thing they had already found that now made sense. When they were really stuck, I’d give them just enough of a clue to get them going again. Like Nephi climbing a mountain to get his nourishment, the girls really had to work to unlock the whole bag. But they eventually made it all the way through and unlocked my testimony. 

Searching, pondering, and praying is the key to unlocking your testimony. Moroni has promised us that as we put the work in, as we climb the mountain on our hunt for spiritual nourishment, we will find what we’re looking for:

Moroni 10:3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

Before our testimony meeting, I had the girls complete the escape-room-in-a-bags that I had made. They were so fun! I just wish we would have had a bit more time because I kind of had to rush them along, but it was so fun! The girls really seemed to enjoy the activity and it made for a great object lesson. 

Girls camp was a success! Here are some other fun activities we have done. We went on a hike up Mt. Charleston. This is me, Katherine, and Rachel, my counselor. I'm so grateful for them and that they go along with some of my crazier ideas. 

Covid kind of put a kink in our focus on the temple. We realized a lot of the youth hadn't had much experience with the temple, so we wanted to have an activity to focus on the temple and review temple recommend interview questions and what they mean. 

Well...I thought and thought about if there was a way to make that idea fun and I had the thought to do Temple PREP-ardy...or Preopardy...I couldn't decide which spelling I liked better, but you get the idea! The kids really enjoyed it and we were able to sprinkle in little testimonies on each of the topics throughout the game which made it fun, meaningful, and informational. 

We had a service project at Gilcrease Orchard helping set up the corn maze. Let me just say...it's difficult to efficiently get work done when that work gets you wound up in a maze that's trying to confuse you, but hey, free corn maze!

And finally, we had a firearms instructor from our ward take us out shooting. 

We've done some fun things this year! The girls are great at coming up with ideas and it's been fun to pursue some of their interests!