Utah: Days 5, 6 and 7

First we had to have breakfast and I gave the kids chocolate muffins and bananas with their milk. 

When Emily got their we put on our shoes and went for a walk. Amos and Fred rode their peddle bikes and we out Leona in the stroller and had Wyndemere on his leash. Amos got tired of walking pretty quickly but we got him to continue on with us and once we got to this dead end we took some pictures and then turned around to head back to the house.

It was a beautiful morning so Emily and I pulled out some camping chairs to sit in the front and watch the kids play with chalk. They have rocket stomper that they were playing with and ket making it fly higher and higher. After a while the sprinklers came on and the kids started playing in the sprinklers. I didn't mind them getting their clothes wet at least they were having fun. After a while they started t get cold so they laid in the warm sun to dry up.

After naps we watched a couple of shows, Leona cuddled with me and Fred was so cute laughing at what he was watching. Once we rested from our nap and quiet time we packed some snacks, got in the car and headed to go check out and explore Emilys new school.

They liked the chair Emily had in her classroom and all took turns sitting in it. Then it was off to explore the teachers lung which was pretty fancy with an ice machine, feet and back massagers and a cool cafe style kitchen. There was a swinging chair in the room that was fun for the kids as well.

The mascot for Emilys school is a Raptor and we enjoyed checking out the life-size Raptor they had on display. We played out on the playground for a bit and then headed home for dinner. 

The next morning I pulled out the little pool and filled it with warm water from the kitchen. The kids had a lot of fun playing in the water but once it cooled they got really cold and started shivering. We wrapped them in towels and then got them changed. Fred got really upset about something and threw a fit at Emily and when I came out after taking Leona and Amos in I was able to get him calmed down and we decided we all needed a break so we put on the Cars movie and let them chill for a little bit. Amos was stated to act up a little throughout the day and we knew that they were done and ready for their parents to get home.

Andrew was home this day so during nap time Emily, Isabelle and I went to check out where Isabelle was going to stay when she started college in the fall and then we went to Chick-fil-a for lunch and then Savors. I found some swimming suits and sandals for Rylee and then I sent a picture of the June b jones books I found so Rylee could tell me which ones I already had.

We decided to go out to eat at a place Fred and Amos had been wanting to go to, I can't remember the name but we met Emilys family there which was fun. While we were driving there it started raining and it got really stormy, it made it hard for me to see and I was a little scared driving though it. Once it was time to leave the restaurant I had Andrew drive home which felt much better.

That night Joshua and Mallory came home. I did all of the kids laundry and washed josh's bed sheets, packed up my stuff and moved out of their room. I slept in the office that night so when they got home at 2 in the morning they had a bed to sleep in. The next morning I visited with them for a bit and while we were doing that Dustin dropped of Isabelle and Audrey and a family friend dropped off Brielle all three needed rides to Meridian where they got picked up by Alison for Audrey and Isabelle and Brit who got Brielle.

Fred was super clingy to me and would not let me out of his sight. When I had to go to the bathroom he followed me in and any time I was sitting he was on my lap. At one point I went out to put something in the car and when I came back in he was crying and very upset. Mallory said he thought I had left already. When it was time for me to leave I gave hugs and kisses and we talked about us seeing each other soon at our Lutes family camping trip. The goodbyes were not too hard. I love those three kids and had ups and downs while watching them but mostly ups and I would watch them again in a heartbeat, all three have my heart 

I had bought a sonic lemonade the night before for the ride home and 20 minutes into the drive it slipped out of my hand and I got lemonade all over me, I was a sticky mess. I suffered through it until I found a rest stop where I changed my clothes and cleaned myself off. 

Elder Peterson Week 42

   I need a secretary to write these for me... I am getting lazier and lazier with them. I think it's because every week is pretty much the same. Yes, interesting things happen, sometimes there's zone conference or I get bitten by a squirrel, but that's really the only interesting stuff that happens. Plus, I guess, lessons we have. But even those usually go "We met with ____, they are (or aren't) progressing well! They finally (or still haven't) read some of the Book of Mormon!" etc. But whatever, Mom says ya'll like these letters, so I'll keep doing my best to make them exciting.

     This past week was a weird one. I don't really know how to explain why though... Just believe me when I say a bunch of little weird things kept happening. Only a couple of them were a little dangerous. No casualties though, so no worries. I also only recall one lesson from this past week. Technically there were two, but I missed the second because I was on an exchange. Probably a good thing though, if I was there I probably would have lost my cool a bit. Not really. I'll explain later. 

     The first one was with Carlos, this one was actually really cool. We talked about the Restoration of the Gospel and he really loved it. He hasn't read very much at all, but we just encouraged him to keep trying and to make sure he gives time everyday. He was asking fantastic questions and making thoughtful comments. He also kept expressing how he was feeling the spirit and was smiling the entire time. He's super excited to come to church and he said that he already feels like it's going to be an amazing experience. We shared our testimonies about the Book of Mormon and about church and really emphasized the importance of experimenting on our words. You cannot have questions answered unless they've been thought about and asked, that is the way God works. He's tries our faith and our desire to gain knowledge.

     That reminds me of my studies this past week. I've been diving deeper into the Book of Mormon and the New Testament (everything but the Come Follow Me, lol) and I've been learning some really interesting stuff. Specifically, I was diving deep into Alma 40 and 41 to learn more about the spirit world and the resurrection. It's brought me a lot of light and excitement to share what I learn with others. I was also finding some things I didn't completely understand and it's stuff I'm pretty sure we won't understand until a later time, but even the mystery is exciting! I love the fact that God continues to expound and reveal things to us, it makes life so much more interesting. It's kind of like watching a movie or reading a book. You can usually tell if a movie or book is going to have a happy ending, but that doesnt't take the excitement away. The fun part is going through the story and putting things together. You come to understand more about the plot and the characters as the story progresses, but you never know all of the specifics. With good stories, you have to go back and study it even after reaching the end. WE ARE LIVING THAT!! We aren't going to understand everything for a long time, even though we know how the story ends. Even after reaching heaven and mortality has passed, we still get to progress and study our experiences and the plot twists that didn't make much sense until after the fact. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are such good authors...

     Anyway! Elder Nelson and I did a lot of walking around this week since we can't get people to keep their commitments and meet with us. We didn't have much success with our walking and knocking either though. Oh well, that's missionary work. I must say though, I'm fairly unimpressed with the lack of bashers we encountered this week. Come on Texas, step it up, give me something interesting to write about. No more crazy animals though please. 

     

     On Friday Elder Bengtzen and I switched for an exchange. I was with Elder Morrow in their area. Unfortunatly we didn't have any lessons, but we had a good time street contacting. We met some stubborn people that believe we can live however we want and that Grace will save us in the end. JAMES 2:20 PEOPLE! The exchange was fun, but I missed a lesson with Marie. This is the one I'm kind of glad I missed. Apparently she started arguing about the Word of Wisdom and how she doesn't thing God cares if she drinks coffee and smokes. WRONG. I think the other Elders handled it well, but boy... I'm getting real sick and tired of these coffee and tea addicted Texans. "I can't go without my morning coffee..." THAT'S BAD!!! God's commandments usually make sense when you really think about it, and even when they don't at first, I have faith they eventually will. 

     I can't think of much more to write about, so I'll leave you with one of my new favorite scriptures: "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves" (James 1:22). Practice what you preach/believe! 

     Have a great week, email me if you have any questions!

-Elder Peterson

*that burger down there lasted me 4 meals. I'm not even kidding. The patty was 1lb

Utah: Day 4

Emily came over today! Yay! I was so happy to have her come and hang out with us. The boys were playing with their magnetic tiles and didn't like Leona getting in the way so I pulled out the bean box for her to play in.

Amos was invited to a swim birthday party so we went to Target to get a gift for the birthday girl. Fred was a little bummed about not going to the arty so we let him pick out a craft that he could paint when Amos was at the party. Fred loves crafting and had a lot of fun painting his craft as well as closing and using stickers. I took Amos to the party and when I picked him u he said it was fun and liked showing us his party favors. The snake he liked the My Little Pony mask he did not like.

The kids played in the backyard again and made a bigger mess with the sand and rocks in their hobbit house. We tried to clean it u the best we could.

Dinner was yummy and we had Isabelle and Emily eating with us which was fun.

After dinner we did bath time and it was crazy to me how much Leona liked dumping water on her head, in fact I washed all of their hair and none of them minding having water dumped on their heads. Good for them!

Once we got them all to bed Andrew let us girls go out for ice cream while he stayed with the kids.

We had so much fun on our night out, we got ice cream and went to target to wander around and when it was time to head back home we stopped to get ice cream for Andrew.

 

Utah: Days 2 and 3

On Saturday after the kids got up and we did the morning routine we headed to Spanish Fork to go visit Dustin's family. They had a new baby and I haven't seen him yet, I also had some gifts to give to them. On the way their I stopped at Blox to pick up some desserts I had ordered. I heard about their yummy treats but because they are in Utah I haven't been able to try them. 

At Dustins house the only picture I got was of Leona laying in their camping mat. Isabelle and Audrey just returned from Girls camp and were in the process of getting their stuff put away. The kids played outside on their trampoline and at one point I had to go out their and rescue Amos, he got his head stuck between the springs and was very panicked about it. I just pulled the springs apart so he could slip his head out, not a big deal. After a couple of hours we had to go and I stopped at McDonalds to get them some food since they were really hungry and it was lunch time.

After nap time they got to watch a couple of TV shows and Fred looked so cute watching his show. I had put the Blox box of treats in the room with my suitcase and put some clothes on top of t to get it out of the way and hide it from prying hands... forgot about the dog and his ability to sniff yummy treats out. I had eaten a little bit of the peanut butter cookie I got before putting it away and was looking forward to trying out the other yummy treats later. Later in the day after naps I went into Joshuas room to put something away and wondered why the carpet felt wet under my feet, it was right next to my suitcase and I noticed my clothes looked al little ruffled and then I sotted the blox box and it looked like someone sat on it. I opened it u to discover that half the treats had been eaten and the other half the toppings had been licked off! Wyndemere had sniffed out the box and devoured what he could and licked what he couldn't. I was not very happy and had to throw the entire box away.

The next morning was Sunday and I got myself ready and then once the kids were up got them ready for church. as we were coming out I saw that Wyndemere had left piles of diarrhea all over the carpet. I sent a text to Joshua asking him what to do and he called me and told me they had a carpet shampoo vacuum that I could use. I set the kids up at the counter with crayons and aper and turned on LDS color with me to keep them occupied while I cleaned up the mess. I first put on Joshuas cleaning gloves and using paper towels picked up what I Could, I was serious gagging and dry heaving the entire time, it was pretty bad. Then I got the carpet shampooer and shampooed the carpet. Once I was done you could not tell that anything had happened. I figured the dog got sick because of the treats he stole from me, first he ate my treats and then he stuck the knife in further by getting sick all over the carpet. Andrew had to work that weekend which is why he wasn't around to help me.

We made it to church and sacrament meeting went pretty good. The kids were able to keep themselves occupied and were fairly quiet. After the meeting I walked Leona to Nursery and she went in really well. I walked Fred and Amos to the primary room and Amos went and sat with his class but Fred got suer clingy, grabbed my hand and started crying saying he didn't want me to leave. I told him I would stay in the room with him and I sat behind his class. He did great and when it was time for them to leave to class I sat in my chair and let him go with his teacher. Shortly after they left the room he came running back in crying for me. I decided it wasn't a big deal to go to his class with him so I did. I think this was his way of showing he was not ok with his parents being gone. I sat in is primary class and when church was done we collected Amos and Leona and headed home.

 

Utah: First Day

Mallory and Joshua asked me back in January if I would be willing to come and stay at their house for a week or so in June or July and watch their kids while they went on an anniversary trip. I told them I absolutely would but I had a few things going on during those moths so it needed to work with my schedule. I sent them the dates I would be busy and eventually they let me know they were going to leave the night of June 23rd and come back the night of June 30th. That worked for me and the dates were set.

I drove down the morning of June 23rd so that I could be with Joshua and Mallory for at least half a day before they left and I could go over the schedule and days with them. Mallory made me a list of activities, meal ideas and their daily schedule on google sheets which I printed out and had with me to help me get through the days. Andrew lives with Joshua for now but he was working every day and Emily who lives close by was on a camping trip with her family until Sunday so it was just me and the three kid for a couple of days. I didn't mind, I have experience and knew we would be ok. 

I slept in Joshua and Mallorys room and Friday morning I woke up at about 6n so I could get myself ready before the kid got up. I made sure to be ready before they got up because I did not feel I could leave them alone at all to get my self ready, I needed to always be with them. If it were my own kids it would have been different but watching my brothers kids I felt I couldn't leave them alone.

I liked what I did with my hair that morning and so I took a picture of it. The bow scrunch is just so cute.

I thought Leona would have hard time with me coming in to get her when she woke up in the morning and after nap time but she never seemed bothered by it being me and not her parents and was always so chill. I forgot that I would have wyndemere as well as the kids and he was my couch buddy that morning sitting right by me.

Once the kids were up, they got their rooms cleaned up, got dressed and had breakfast and then I packed some snacks. loaded them p into the car and went to the park. We parked oh the side of the street and when I took the kids out I noticed the house we park by had flags in their yard and I had Amos, Fred and Leona all sit by their favorite color so I could keep them safe while I unloaded our stuff.

The park we went to had two different play structures and the kids mostly stayed at the smaller one which was helpful for me to keep an eye on them. Everyone once in a while Amos and/or Fred would go over to the bigger one to play on which made me nervous because I couldn't see them as well. For the most part they stayed by the smaller one so I didn't have to worry too much.

Amos found a bug and brought it over to show my and Leona, he was pretty pleased about it.

I tried to take pictures so I could send them to Joshua and Mallory every day. Leona ws looking so cute sitting next to me on the bench eating her snack. Leona was the easiest kid to take pictures of because she usually stayed close, Fred was the hardest because he is a whirlwind and was everywhere and on the move at all times.

Their were vendors setting up their things at the park and once the kids were done playing we walked around and looked at what they were selling. One person was selling ceramic items for painting and they were cheap enough that I let each kid pick one to paint later. Amos got a car, Fred got a dragonfly an Leona got a ladybug. A christian church booth was given ing away balloon animals and all three of the kids picked flower balloons in different colors. Once we were done we picked up some food from

 Chick-fil-a and then headed home for lunch and nap/quiet time.

After quiet time the kids and I went outside to hang out and play in the backyard. Joshua has a big pile of sand that the kids had fun playing in. Some of the sprinklers were going off and so the kids were soon taking handfuls of sand and getting them wet in the water. The sand was very fine almost sider like and the water would make it almost disappear. Basically the kids were making big messes but were having. lot of fun doing it. Andrew came home while we were out there and once we had our fill of playing we went inside to clean up and eat dinner. I had the kids strip down outside because I didn't want them to track the mess inside. 

After dinner they got into their pajamas and we read stories, watched 10 minutes of the Last Unicorn, brushed teeth and then I put the kids to bed. 

 

Swimming and Bunnies

 Our friends across the street, the Williams, built a pool in their backyard and they told us we could use it whenever we wanted. One night Avy and Rylee asked if they could go swimming and of course Katie said yes. They felt a little awkward and had me go with them. I at on the patio and chatted with Katie for a bit until she had to leave for a meeting then I just watched my girls enjoy swimming in their beautiful pool.

Avynlea used my phone to take some pictures of bonnie and some pictures of herself. 

Kenedy got to meet Nathaniel, Sara and Dustin's baby and the newest member of the Peterson Family. She fell in love and loved meeting the youngest to her oldest

Elder Peterson Week 41

 Not a lot really happened this week, everyone was canceling or rescheduling. We were able to have a lesson with David and then Eric this past week though. Thankfully they didn't fall through. We also had Zone conference, which was awesome. It's been a while since I've seen Elder Frogley and some other good friends. But I'll start with the lessons.

     David is an interesting situation I won't get into here. Suffice it to say he's aware that he's not on the right path towards heaven. But it's okay! Because he's willing to make changes. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and he really enjoyed it. He had some good questions about Heaven and he said he's willing to do the things necessary to receive a fullness of joy. Hopefully he stays that committed. We discussed the many blessings that come from following the Savior and we shared our testimonies which seemed to touch him.

     Eric is someone we've been trying to meet since I got to this area (about 2 months now?). He was in the process of marrying a member in the YSA ward. They finally got married and their busy lives have calmed down a bit, so we can meet with them more. He wants to be baptized so he can go through the temple with Jazmine (his wife). We think it's really cool that he isn't a member but he already knows that there's blessings that come from the Lord's church. We had dinner with them last night and then talked a little about the Priesthood and how it was restored. He's also pretty excited that he'll be able to give blessings to others and perform ordinances with the Priesthood.

     Those were the only lessons we had, but they were great. I'm glad we at least got to go to those two.

     We had Zone Conference on Thursday and like I said, I got to see Elder Frogley again! I also saw a lot of other good friends, it was the best Zone Conference I've gone to so far. In terms of catching up with other Missionaries. After ZC we stopped by Buc-ee's and I got a fourth of July shirt. After that the rest of the week was kind of boring. Except for when I broke my shoe and father's day.

     We went to a big park to try to talk to some people and ended up joining a game of soccer. I should've been more careful cause my shoe was already falling apart. But I played anyway and after about 10 minutes my shoe busted. I'll put a picture below, but man... I was pretty bummed. I've had the shoes for about 8 months and they were the only brown shoes I had. It was a good lesson of taking care of my belongings though. Things last longer when they're taken care of.

   

   For father's day we Elders sang with the primary during sacrament meeting. We sang A Child's Prayer. Apparently the children were horrendous, but everyone said we did good. Except for a couple youth that made fun of me 

I don't know why, but the Saldaña kids call me their favorite one minute and then call me a bad singer the next. I feel like the favorite missionary should be treated better...

Oh well.

     All in all, it was a slow week, but a good one. I'm excited for this next week, I'm hoping it'll be more eventful.

     I'll add this as a final story. Yesterday Elder Nelson and I were sitting in our car waiting for it to be time to go to Eric's apartment when this drunk woman stumbles by alongside the road. There was a ditch right in between her and us and I realized she was probably gonna fall into it. She got closer and guess what? She fell in. We were about to get out and help her, but she was okay and we decided it would probably be safer for us to stay away from a hysterical drunk woman. She got all muddy and a couple people gave her an interesting look as she stumbled on her way down the road. 

And people wonder why we don't drink.

     Anyway, I hope y'all have a good week!

-Elder Peterson 

La Porte's mascot is the bulldog, that's why we took pictures by the painting. And it's a cool painting.

Father's Day

 Happy Fathers Day to Kefford!

We love him and I love the Father that he is to our kids.

Girls Camp

Sometime towards the beginning of May Kefford came home from his church meetings to find Avynlea, Rylee and I eating around the dinner table. He came over and asked me if he could extend a calling to me right then. I was a little taken aback and said ok. He said I was not going to be released from my Sunday school callings that this would be in addition to it and he then asked if I would be the Ward Camp Director. I was immediately super excited and f course said yes, I love Girls Camp! They had a Camp Director already and she had done a lot of work leading up to this point but she was moving out of the ward in a couple of weeks and so they needed a new one and I was it! Hooray! Some great things about this calling was it was Stake Camp so that is already a bonus in that I did not have as much to do and the second benefit was Holly, the previous director, already had most of the stuff I did have to do done. I just had to finish some things up and go to camp, awesome!

On Wednesday June 1 the Young Women had planned a camp prep activity. I had met with the Youth Camp Leaders from our ward previously and we had planned what we were going to do at this Camp activity. Our camp theme is "Ohana" and each ward was given an island to represent and we had to come up with some sort of entertainment for one of the nights up at camp. Our island was Bora Bora and the YCL's decided they wanted to perform the Haka for their entertainment up at camp. While Kefford and I were in Mexico they met together with Laura Johnson the Young Womens President and learned the Haka so they could teach it to the girls at our Wednesday night activity. They also camp up with a ward chant to teach and we were giving them their secret sister assignments that night. It was going to be my night to introduce myself as their new Camp Director so I made a cute handout to give to them. I got ideas from Emily and Isabelle and then I designed the handout and bought the shark gummies from Win-Co.

At our YCL meeting we gave assignments to the girls and one of the things Avynlea volunteered to do was the camper awards. I talked to her about what she wanted it to be and how it should look and with her input this is what I created...

Wednesday night came and the YCL's talked to the girls about our theme and they taught them the Haka and out Camp cheer. About once a day at camp when the entire stake was gathered they will call out each ward and that ward gives their cheer. Our YCL's decided they wanted to do a call and response type cheer and came up with this...

YCL's: Bainbridge Ward Bora Bora...Chicka Chicka(with chicken wings flapping)

Bainbridge Ward Girls: Boom Boom(shake hip to the left with each boom)

It was pretty cute, creative and easy, I loved it

 Our YCL's; Allie Hansen, Avynlea, Kaitlyn Lindley, Avery Miller and Addie Bjorn

Our Young Women 

Tuesday June 14th the YCL's went up to camp with the Stake Leaders to get camp ready. They were originally supposed to go white water rafting with the Stake leaders but that got cancelled because the water level was too high. So instead they headed directly to camp and played games and made bracelets. I sent all of our decorations up with Avynlea so that they could get our cabins ready before we arrived. 

Addie, Avery, Avynlea and Kaitlyn

Allie had Soccer practices she couldn't miss and headed up later

Wednesday morning the rest of our girls and us leaders gathered at the church to head up to camp. 

Laura was super smart and divided up the girls between drivers the day before so we had it all figured out that morning. I had Rylee, Kinsey Bjorn and Leah Farris in my car. We had a lot of fun signing and telling each other stories, I also brought a tub of licorice along for snacking.

When we arrived at camp the YCL's welcomed us all and then announced who were in their groups and which cabins they were in. We had two cabins to split between the girls. Once they got themselves situated and ate their lunch the girls changed into their camp shirts and we headed over to the pavilion to practice the Haka a couple more times. We were going that night and were first on the lineup. The girls did amazing and my only critique was to look more mean. They are just too cute and had a hard time not  smiling and looking mean. 

My phone got stolen a lot while at camp and I found a lot of pictures I did not take on it.

Avynlea and Avery

Allie started comparing her hair to Avynlea's and could not stop laughing that a small section of her hair was equal to Avynlea's entire head of hair. Poor Avy, the lack of hair did not come from my gene pool.

We had the girls bring all black clothing to wear for the Haka and the YCL's put black paint on their faces to make them all look fierce. After dinner we headed back to the pavilion to practice a couple more times before everyone else arrived to watch.

I got a picture with my girls. The biggest reason I was so excited to be able to go to camp was that I got to be with Rylee and Avynlea. This is Avynlea's last year and I am so glad I got to be a part of her adventure.

Mikell's family was in our Stake at this time and it was fun to have Brooke up at camp with us. We pulled her in for a picture with us when we saw her ward arrive at the pavilion.

Once everyone gathered at the pavilion the YCL's went to the front to lead the Ward cheers and then lead some songs. After that our girls performed the Haka and did amazing! They were so good and so fierce!

The girls were divided up into two cabins and us Leaders had a tent that we were in. The Leaders up at camp other then me were Laura Johnson, Linda Edwards, and Jessica Lewis. I had told them and the girls that Ithis was the girls camp and if they wanted to stay up all night talking they could. My one rule was once it was time to be in cabins for the night they had to stay in their cabins, no running around and disturbing other campers. I didn't hear them at all that night, us leaders chatted bit once we were in our tent before drifting off and I heard nothing the entire night. It was really cold up their during the night, I went to bed wearing my sweatpants, a sweatshirt, a jacket, socks and a beanie in a sleeping bag with my sherpa blanket and I was still cold, not terribly cold but it was cold. brrr

The next morning I had to wake our girls up at 7 because the stake had planned an early morning hike, they wanted to hike when it was cooler to avoid the heat because despite the freezing night temperatures it did get pretty hot during the day. I told the girls the night before the plan so nobody really complained when I went in to wake them up. I had a few girls that I had to really prod to get out of bed but everyone was up and ready by breakfast.

The Stake had divided everyone up by numbering them off and then they got assigned to a YCL to hike with but some of our girls ignored the numbering and just grouped themselves together.

top pic: Addie, Kinsey, Brynn, Taylee, Leah, Claire, Avery, Casha, Avynlea and Rylee

bottom pic: Sophie, Alexa, Avynlea and Kate 

I hiked up with Jessica and Laura, mostly Laura. I had a good time talking with both ladies and getting to know them more. There were different check points along the hike and Linda and her Husband Dale were at the last check point. She made sure we were doing good and then she said to watch out for the Angel Moroni around the next bend. How fun to see a tree that did indeed look like it could be an angel Moroni.

Up at the top of the mountain I got a picture with my girls and then we took a ward picture and then my phone got hijacked once agin

Elizabeth, Rylee and Avynlea

Back row: Delany, Kaitlyn, Addi, Saylor, Brynn, Rylee, Avynlea, Kinsey, Avery, Addie, Jessica, Elizabeth and Piper

middle cluster standing: Claire, Sophie, Casha

Middle cluster sitting: Alexa, Adele, Leah, Laura

Front row: Alana, Klaire, Isabelle, Jill, Avery, Kate and Natalie

Avery, Saylor, Brynn, Leah, Rylee, Elizabeth

Avynlea

Avynlea and Avery, Rylee and Leah, Rylee and Brynn

Avynlea

Brynn, Kinsey

Leah and Avery

Avynlea thinks with a hat on she can pass for a boy and her she is doing her boy poses

Rylee and Avynlea

                                  We also made sure to grab Brooke and get a picture with her

Once the hike was over with the Stake had planned water games for the afternoon. That was fun for all of the girls to be able to cool off and play some fun games. One of the games they did was a group of girls laid on their backs in a circle and held a bucket of water up with their feet. The longer they held it the harder it got to hold until it splashed down. I watcher Avynlea, Rylee, Leah, Brynn, Claire and Allie do it. They were doing pretty good and then the bucket started to tilt towards Leah who was like no way and she pushed it with her feet so it dumped right on Avynlea. It was hilarious and I got it all on video!

Leah, Brynn, Rylee, Allie and Avynlea

The stake had a snow cone machine and Leah, Avery, Rylee, Avynlea and Kinsey got ahold of one of their leftover pieces of ice and had me take a picture of them all taking a bite out of it.

As we were sitting by our cabins relaxing kris Gwilliam came by to chat for a minute. I got a picture of her and Avynlea in conversation because for a long time Avy had a pretty serious crush on her son Max. We still like to tease her about it and it was funny watching her talk with Kris. Kris knows about her crush and we were laughing about Avynlea having the hots for her boy and Kris said #motherinlaw. Meaning she could be Avynlea's future mother in law, hahaha probably not but it was pretty funny in the moment.

That evening we headed again back over to the pavilion for a devotional and singing and more skits. I got a picture with Avy and Rylee and then while we were sitting and waiting I got picture of our girls. Then my phone got into the hands of Leah who took some pictures of her own.

top: Brynn, Allie, Lola, Kaitlyn, Avynlea, Avery, Rylee and Elizabeth

bottom row: Claire, Casha, Melody, Addie, Klaire, Isabelle, Jill, Kinsey, Delany and Alana

One of the wards tp'd our cabin but I wanted to make sure to get pictures of our cute decorations. WE had all of the girls names in each cabin written on flowers. The YCL's did a great job of making our area look cute and on theme.

Friday night more of our youth leaders came up for the Bishops dinner which was a Luau. Kefford came up along with Bishop Eberhard. WE did a service project that day and in our area we were told to clean up the weeds and our girls did a great job. I know the camp caretakers were happy with what we accomplished.

Later at our Luau the Bishops performed a special dance for everyone and then they had the YCL's come up and all the camp directors to give us special recognition for all of our hard work. I got to lead out ward in a camp cheer with the YCL's and then all of the youth performed the hukilau a Hawaiian dance we have been practicing for the past couple of days. Paige Winter taught it to us and it was fun to learn, she was so cute teaching it and had the funnest smile on her face and was super fun to watch. I performed it on stage with the YCL's, the Directors were told we could and since I was already up there I stayed and performed. I was probably the only director up there but I don't care I had fun and really did my best to make all of camp fun for these girls.

Rylee, Avynlea, Brynn and Allie 

Brooke with her piña colada

Our ward Young Women and leaders

back row: Piper, Isabelle, Kim, Lola, Kaitlyn, Klaire, Jill, Laura, Rylee, Brynn, Addie, Delany, Claire, Lori, Madison, Kefford, Lauryn, Nicole, Dale and Linda

middle row: Allie, Casha, Kinsey, Claire, Avynlea, Addi, Jessica, Brittney, Makayla, Alivia and Lisa

bottom row: Alexa, Sophie, Alana, Eliza, Melody, Adele, Kate, Elizabeth, Avery, and Natalie

lying down: Addie and Leah

Laura, Lisa, Kim and Elizabeth

We all got served Piña Coladas and I thought they were way too sweet. I drank a little bit of mine but threw most of it away. 

Megan is my friend from way back in the Linder Ward. I was so happy that she was at camp as a leader and I had fun spending time with her. She just makes things that much better. 

After the Luau we did ward testimony meeting and most of our girls bore their testimonies. It is always super sweet to gather at the end of girls camp and feel the sweet spirit that these girls have. After that we gathered round the field and with all of the lights off each ward would turn their flashlights on and sing a song. The song we sang was Peace in Christ and then once the last ward was done all together we sang the armies of Helaman and Sisters in Zion medley. It was beautiful and one of the best parts of camp. seeing only the flashlights of each ward when they were singing and hearing their beautiful voices it felt and looked like we were being sung to by angels. The spirit was so strong and coming off such a fun spirit filled week with all of these beautiful girls it was the perfect capping point. 

After the singing we gathered back together and did our awards. The YCL's did the camper awards with a little help from us leaders, us Leaders did the awards for the YCL's and the YCL's did awards for us leaders. Avynlea got Most likely to become a Gwilliam #daughterinlaw, Rylee got Most likely to be eating off of other peoples plates and I got Most likely to act drunk. The awards were funny things that happened that week while at camp and you can see by mine that I behaved exactly how one would expect me to behave while at Girls camp. 

I had such a great time and I really tried hard to make it a great time for everyone, even if it was giving them someone to laugh at. I would act the fool and the girls would love it and then I would see Avynlea and Rylee giving me the cut it sign. Hahaha, little did they realize that the more embarrassed they got the harder I tried to keep them embarrassed. 

Later that night while we were in our Adult tent Linda gave me the sweetest compliment by telling me how much fun I made camp and that I was the perfect person for the job and exactly who the girls needed to have with them. She said it worked out exactly the way it needed to with me being the one to fill in at the last moment. 

Camp was amazing and I love the bonds I built with the girls and with the leaders, send me back every year please