Girls Camp.. A Blessing

Well we made it! Being a YCL for the 4th year trip this year was a truly humbling experience. The "little sisters" that were assigned to me were a true blessing from God. Their names are Jessica Helm, Mericia Bashein, and Kayla Rydalch. They never failed to express their love towards me and the other girls. Each of their testimonies were amazing and I am so grateful to have had them. The camp leaders told me that they were assigned to me because they felt that there was a special need there; they felt that these specific girls needed to have me as their leader at this specific time. But throughout this whole trip, I have felt as if they were assigned to me because I was the one that needed THEM at this time. Along with my "little sisters", the other YCLs at camp were a great blessing to me. These girls all possess such strong testimonies, that there was no way I could have walked out of there without a testimony 10x as strong as it was before. They have all had their hardships.. some that should not have to be dealt with at this age.. but these hardships have been overcome, and have been a constant source of strength for them to continue on in this world of deceit, sin, and hardships. Their love for the gospel and for me as been such a great example for me, and I have such a deep love for them.

I don't know about other girls camps.. but at our girls camp we have a tradition that our parents write us a letter, and on the last full day of camp we spread out all over and read these letters. This year I received two letters; one from my mom and one from my dad. For those of you who don't know me that well.. it has not been an easy year. Heartbreak, sorrow, poor decision making, and loss of a few lives have been impacting factors. And at some points it seems hopeless and lonely. I read those letters and felt the spirit so strong it almost hurt, and any feeling of hopelessness or loneliness was immediately dispersed. The amount of love expressed in the letters from my parents gave me the ultimate feeling of love and reassured me of the Lord's plan for each and every one us. We are given trials and tribulations because He loves us, and wants us to return to him. He will never give us more than we can handle. And He will never leave us alone.

I wish my camera hadn't stopped working right before camp because there were so many times when I would want to take a picture, thinking about how all of you would get a kick out of whatever it was. But an upside to this is that if I had my camera on this trip, you would have all fallen asleep reading the captions under all the pictures; with the inside jokes and funny happenings.

I'm so very thankful for the opportunity I have had to participate on this truly strengthening trip. Now all I have to do is see if I can convince my mom and dad to let me skip a few days of our family reunion to attend Youth Conference in July. :)

Love, Hunter Bug