Girl's Camp

I went home Monday from Mom's house, stopping at Sam's Club to buy a TON of food and stuff (luckily it barely all fit in the van) and got home about 7:30.  I then unpacked all our van, repacked it for girls camp, washed some of my clothes to take, went grocery shopping for Lindsay (who was babysitting my kids for me while I was gone), put my kids to bed, juiced Nanking cherries, watered the lawn and all my plants, and finished getting the craft ready for girls camp.  I went to bed at 3 AM, but couldn't fall asleep till 4.  Then I got up at 6:30 to drive to Camp Batel.

Our girls camp theme was "Wonder Women".  So we made these awesome shirts beforehand with bleach.  My junior leaders and I also made Wonder Woman head bands and cuffs for all the girls.  And we got theme a cute little charm necklace with a shield and sword and plaque. This one actually.
 
  And a cute little Wonder Woman card.  I was very themey this year.

Each ward was assigned a value--ours was Divine Nature, which was perfect because we got a blue which went right into Wonder Woman colors, and plus, I just like blue.  We had to present on our own choice of a Wonder Woman--living, dead, scriptural, etc.  One ward chose Noelle Pikus Pace, one the woman with the issue of blood, another Malala Yousafzai.  You get the idea.  We chose Eve which I really liked and gave out a card with oodles of quotes mostly about her recognizing her divine calling to be a mother.

We have ward time for two hours and since I had two injured girls this year I decided to do a craft again.  So luckily I had been doing those labs with the kids, and got the idea to make "galaxy" paintings with the floating paint on starch, and then I had two quotes to pick from that I thought tied well into divine nature.  And then just dollar store frames.  I thought it went really well.


When we first got there (in fact a lot of the girls hadn't arrived back from their hikes yet) it downpoured!  We had hail and lightening and Laramie flooded, our pavilion was flooding.  So I started sweeping the water to the side to try to save all the stuff from getting wet.  This video only really caught the tail end when the water had slowed down a lot.  It was crazy. But the weather was
nice the rest of the time.






I'm sad that this is the only picture we have of the flag we made.  It was meant to look like a Greek statue--specifically the goddess Nike, and then she had an apple for Eve, and a breast plate and crown like Wonder Woman, and we made it all regal for divine nature.  So girls' camp went really well.  And I wish I could have stayed till the last day but Lindsay had to work Friday.  So I came home Thursday night.  :( It was just a great group of girls this year, and I had so much fun with them.  I really enjoyed being camp director.  Anyway, here's the quotes we had about Eve on our handout.  
This was the front.

D&C 138: 38 Among the great and mighty ones who were assembled in this vast congregation of the righteous were Father Adam, the Ancient of Days and father of all,

39 And our glorious Mother Eve, with many of her faithful daughters who had lived through the ages and worshiped the true and living God.

"We and all mankind are forever blessed because of Eve’s great courage and wisdom. By partaking of the fruit first, she did what needed to be done. Adam was wise enough to do likewise." --President Russell M. Nelson

When we understand the magnitude of motherhood, it becomes clear why prophets have been so protective of woman’s most sacred role... Of all the words they could have chosen to define her role and her essence, both God the Father and Adam called Eve “the mother of all living”3—and they did so before she ever bore a child. Like Eve, our motherhood began before we were born. Just as worthy men were foreordained to hold the priesthood in mortality, righteous women were endowed premortally with the privilege of motherhood. Motherhood is more than bearing children, though it is certainly that. It is the essence of who we are as women. It defines our very identity, our divine stature and nature, and the unique traits our Father gave us...Elder Matthew Cowley taught that “men have to have something given to them [in mortality] to make them saviors of men, but not mothers, not women. [They] are born with an inherent right, an inherent authority, to be the saviors of human souls … and the regenerating force in the lives of God’s children.” Motherhood is not what was left over after our Father blessed His sons with priesthood ordination. It was the most ennobling endowment He could give His daughters, a sacred trust that gave women an unparalleled role in helping His children keep their second estate. --Sheri L. Dew

"You have her example to follow. By revelation, Eve recognized the way home to God. She knew that the Atonement of Jesus Christ made eternal life possible in families. She was sure, as you can be, that as she kept her covenants with her Heavenly Father that the Redeemer and the Holy Ghost would see her and her family through whatever sorrows and disappointments would come. She knew she could trust in them... I know that Eve faced sorrows and disappointments, but I also know that she found joy in the knowledge that she and her family could return to God... I leave you my blessing, that like Eve, you may feel the same joy that she felt as you journey back home." --Henry B. Eyring

"You have her example to follow. By revelation, Eve recognized the way home to God. She knew that the Atonement of Jesus Christ made eternal life possible in families. She was sure, as you can be, that as she kept her covenants with her Heavenly Father that the Redeemer and the Holy Ghost would see her and her family through whatever sorrows and disappointments would come. She knew she could trust in them... I know that Eve faced sorrows and disappointments, but I also know that she found joy in the knowledge that she and her family could return to God... I leave you my blessing, that like Eve, you may feel the same joy that she felt as you journey back home." --Henry B. Eyring

“Eve was fulfilling her divine purpose when she partook of the tree of knowledge. From the foundations of the world she had been chosen and named as “the mother of all living” and she knew that in order to fulfill her mission, she must partake of the fruit and become like God. She also knew that she wouldn’t be able to fulfill her divine role without Adam’s help and so she got Adam to partake of the fruit. The scriptures don’t say she had to deceive or trick Adam into eating it, rather it seems that Adam “hearkened” unto his wife and agreed to the transgression so that Eve would be able to fulfill her divine calling.”    -James E. Faust 

“Her calling, which was given to her by God...made her the conduit through which life for the entire human family would begin.” -Bruce R. McConkie

Mothers literally make room in their bodies to nurture an unborn baby—and hopefully a place in their hearts as they raise them—but nurturing is not limited to bearing children. Eve was called a “mother” before she had children.4 I believe that “to mother” means “to give life.” Think of the many ways you give life. It could mean giving emotional life to the hopeless or spiritual life to the doubter. With the help of the Holy Ghost, we can create an emotionally healing place for the discriminated against, the rejected, and the stranger. In these tender yet powerful ways, we build the kingdom of God. Sisters, all of us came to earth with these life-giving, nurturing, maternal gifts because that is God’s plan. --Neill F. Marriott