Last year...we got snowed out of camp....Shalom had too much snow, so each of our wards had to make their own arrangements. It was kind of crazy, but a really neat year! Each ward had some great experiences that may not have happened on a Stake camp. So with that being said, we were so excited to get back up to Shalom and really have the special Shalom experience!
On the first night, I was in charge of our 4th year hike! This group of 4th years and YCL's was so so awesome! We had such a great time! We had to have two priesthood leaders with us, so Hans and Rick Maw joined us.
It was a beautiful day.....but see the white on the far left? That's distant billowing smoke from a forest fire.......
We set up camp, made our sweet MRE dinners.....I packed in some Sundance bars that were yummier than usual!
We played games, had a spiritual message from the YCLs and then headed to bed around 11. At 2:00 in the morning, I was woken up by my Stake President, telling me that we needed to come back to camp. The fires were worse and it was a strong possibility that Shalom was going to be evacuated. Not because we were in danger of fire, but because all roads in and out of Shalom were in danger of being closed. So we all went back to camp (they had cars for us), we put all the girls in an open cabin so they wouldn't disturb their wards. And went back to sleep waiting for word.
My counselor told me that all the leaders got together to say a prayer to know what to do, and as soon as they said amen, our Stake President said, we need to go get our girls.
At 6:00am, we were told we had 30 minutes to get our girls on the buses. We needed to get out before the roads closed. It was so stressful. We set up camp and took it down in less than 24 hours. We were so grateful that all the YCL's were so helpful, that we had a few extra priesthood leaders there and that were able to get everything packed and down the canyon. At one point, I was walking across the parking lot and I saw Hans. I burst into tears because I was so overwhelmed. Wow, I get teary thinking about it. With the Stake Presidency's direction, we advised each ward to go home and plan what ever kind of camp they felt they could. Some went straight to camping sites, some had sleep overs in their leaders back yard and some slept in their own beds but spent the days as a ward. We told them we would meet on Thursday at 4:00, for a speaker, stake dinner, skits and our GLOW activity. But by 3:00 that afternoon I was at the pool with Josie and the smoke had taken over the valley....I had ash all over me while I sat there and watched her swim!
As I was getting in bed at about 10 that night, I heard singing....it was our camp song...what? I looked out my window and this crazy group of young women and leaders were serenading me.... I just started to cry! They had gone on their hike to Macey's in their modest fashion show clothing to get ice cream cones! They decided to stop by my house for some fun! I love them so much! They were keeping camp alive and having a blast doing it!
And thanks to that awesome group....who apparently didn't get much sleep, I woke up to this sweetness! GLOW! I drove all the way to the church with them on so the whole stake could see! There was a trail of post its down the road!
We had our skits, a yummy dinner, listened to an amazing speaker and had our GLOW activity! It may have been a little more influential out in the forest, but in a gym with the lights off was a close second!
We were exhausted, but those young women apparently weren't, because I woke up the next morning to this! I love them!
An important part of the week that I have yet to mention is SUZY & MEGAN! Suzy is one of my dear friends from New Zealand. We met on semester abroad in London when I was 19 and have stayed in touch ever since! With her coming to visit, we were able to have Megan be a part of our camp experience...which was not quite what she had in mind, but she was a good sport and had a fun time with Chloe! So while Megan stayed with us, Suzy was visiting some other friends, but came down and stayed with us for a night and we had time to visit and reconnect! They are both darling! They spent a small fortune on cake decorating supplies (Megan's passion) and shoes....both right up our alley! Then we dropped them off at the BYU Museum of Art where they met up with some more friends! It was a special opportunity, and I'm so grateful it worked out! We love you Megan and Suzy!
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