girls camp speakers

Just a few more pictures of the speakers at girls camp.

This is Andy and Matt as they got back from fly fishing

Monday night.  Andy is getting ready to speak

Andy Horton

Maddie Wilson singing

Tuesday evening... Matt is getting ready to speak

after his talk

Sister Marriott Thursday night

Sister Jean Stevens

Sister Carol Stephens

Elder Call

GIRLS CAMP !

Alaska Young Women Girls Camp 2014

This is our theme/logo

Getting ready for camp

This is Cisalee our faithful assistant who made these huge signs as the cars exited off the highway to the fairgrounds

She said she made this one in honor of me :)

Treats.... check

           

all packed up... check

forecast..... check

    Bonnie, Cisalee and I tented together.  Dad came early and set up our tent for us... and can you see the cots and the heater.... that's right I said heater.  It was toasty warm each morning and at night.

Everyone entered the fairgrounds to register at the green gate.

Opening Ceremony -  Bonnie is onstage welcoming everybody and having the girls all cheer when she calls out where they are from.  In preparation for this girls camp, the young women were asked to memorized the Living Christ.  This first afternoon, we said it aloud together.  Check out that sky... 

it was majestic.

First evening marshmallow

Speakers 

Here are some of our speakers.  Andy Horton and his wife Stephanie are on the far right.  Jeannine and her husband Mike are next, Matt and I and Sister Marriott on the far left.  Elder Call had not arrived yet.

Andy was our first  speaker Monday evening.  He was very funny and told joke after joke and then told in great detail how he and his wife met fell in love and became engaged.  He focused on how she had prepared herself spiritually for that day, and waited to give her answer until she had asked the Lord.

This is Jeannine Lasky she teaches songwriting at BYU and has been our friend since we knew she and Mike in Ridgecrest many years ago.  She spoke Tuesday Wednesday and Friday afternoons on  wise media choices.  She was fabulous and just darling with the girls.

(PS... I know my coat is tied awfully high on my waist... this is a no mocking zone :) )

This is Maddie Wilson... our entertainer on Monday evening after Andy spoke.  She is 17 years old and just knocked it out of the park with her country voice.  She wore that sparkly dress, but had her cowboy boots on too. 

Such a high light for dad and I.  Matt spoke Tuesday night.  He was outstanding.  He couldn't have been better.  He talked about choosing and staying on the right path.

The girls would line up afterwards and ask the speakers to sign their journal and have their picture taken with them

This is our stake young women's presidency below.  Each night most of the 7 stake yw presidencies dressed up silly and went around and gave treats to their stake young women and visited them.  These women are absolutely wonderful.  I love them all!

I asked 2 laurels to come up with a girls camp stomp.  A little attention getter that we could use to begin each of our evening devotionals with.  This doesn't sound that exciting.... I know...  This was me previewing what they had come up with the weekend we visited them before camp.  But with over 900 girls singing and stomping... and putting their own personality into it... it was a fun way to say... hey we're starting now.

I asked girls from all 7 stakes to help with the opening exercises.  Each day I would meet with them give them outlines of the evening program and prepped them to get up on stage in front of so many people and conduct, or help with music and prayers.  We also had fabulous special musical numbers each evening. 

When we were ready to begin, the 2 laurels would come onstage and call into the microphone.... GIRLS CAMP STOMP and then they would start to clap and stomp then sing the words.... it was fun.

Girls Camp cont.

Channel 2 came to check out our camp and interview some of our girls.  This is Jane Tidwell from Nome.  She was a darling representative of our young women and gave such a fabulous interview.

Sister Marriott was with us from Tuesday to Friday.  She did some adult YW training and also met with just the laurels, and was our main speaker Thursday evening.  She was outstanding!  So personable and fun with the girls.  Sister Jean Stevens and Sister Carol Stephens came for just Thursday afternoon for several hours.  Their messages were fabulous!  (I know I keep saying that word... ) At one point, Sis Marriott called them up with her and had them put their heads together and said, do you know what we are?  

A chocolate Oreo... and I'm the filling.  She was so fun.

On Thursday evening, Sister Marriott left her talk in her bag and held in her hand 8-10 questions the girls had written on slips of paper.  She read some of the sad and serious questions out loud, most of them were things like why do bad things happen to good people, why do my parents fight and argue all the time, why do I feel sad, how can I know God loves me, I'm trying to be good, but it's hard when all my friends make fun of me.

She took the story of Nephi... valiant, faithful Nephi tied up on the boat with his mean and evil brothers belittling him and threatening him and him having to watch his sorrowing parents and wife and children suffer and she likened Nephi to us today and told of how faithful and true Nephi was.... yet he was subject to awful things that tried him over and over again.  She told the girls Heavenly Father knows them and loves them and she just went on and on.  It was very very sweet.

During the closing song she was so moved.... she asked me if it would be too disruptive if she were to video the girls singing.  She said she wanted to capture and remember the feeling right then, and always remember them singing the closing song The Spirit of God.

I treasure this picture... oh I love her!

A map showing where the girls are from

Classes :    here are just a few of the  classes that were offered  

Water color painting

fly tying

metal necklaces 

making bracelets

basket weaving.  See Elder Call in the back ground

This is Charity Manwaring who chairmanned the service project to make pillow cases, back packs and quilts for the orphanage in Haiti.  

Here are those sweet stake yw ladies again delivering their goodies.
One of their treats was a tiny package of 4 salt water taffy's with a note that said STAY SALTY
(Matthew 5:13)... so darling!

This is a cute song these ward yw made up to sing each evening before dinner to thank their leaders for dinner.

Free time dancing... just for fun (it is almost midnight)

one evening just strolling along seeing the sights and sounds of girls camp late at night. :)

Tuesday night, after Matt spoke we had a brother in one of the stakes who had volunteered to take some of our guests in his private small plane and fly them over the Knik river and the Knik Glacier.  It was about 10:00 at night and the cloudy sky was just parting with a piece of blue sky that made for a spectacular view and experience for these sweethearts.
Matt, Brother Walther, President Chadwick our Stake President, Sister Marriott, Andy and Stephanie Horton.

I love this picture of Matt

This is just before Sister Marriott got in for the ride... she was a bit nervous, bless her heart.

This is an arial view of our camp