sorry that it's been a while readers, this past week has been a roller coaster. from last monday to saturday (august 21 - 26) i was up in the mountains with the girls that i teach in church at a "girls camp". it had it's ups and downs, as anyone who deals with youth should know.
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let me tell you a little story about what the girls (and i) learned up there last week -- it will be long.
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on wednesday we had a special guest speaker, and she talked about the parable of the 10 virgins, 5 were wise and 5 were foolish (you know, matthew 25:1-13 ... if you dont know go read it ... i'll wait ...
http://scriptures.lds.org/en/matt/25)
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you finished it? okay, then i'll continue ... she read a poem about 10 princesses, and made the parable come alive. the girls actually listened intently. towards the end she challenged the girls to write down their testimonies. she passed out papers to everyone to do it on. The heading on the paper read: "My Testimony - The oil in my lamp". And she told us that our testimonies were the oil that the scriptures were talking about, and that writing them would strengthen them. it was an amazing talk.
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the next day, thursday, we had another guest speaker. he basically did a review on what the first speaker talked about, he even re-challenged the girls to write their testimonies. he then past out little replicas of the lamps that they used during the days of Jesus. after his talk i just had this feeling that i really needed to get the girls in my cabin to write their testimonies down, and i could not stop thinking about it all day. after campfire the feeling was stronger. on our way back to our cabin i ran into one of the leaders up at camp, and she looked me straight in the eye and said "be prepared" i tried to ask her what she meant by that, and she would only keep repeating the phrase. the prompting was stronger, and i knew what she meant.
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when we got back to our cabin before my counselors started their devotional, i asked all the girls to take five minutes and write their testimonies. and none complained, they all did it right then and there. it was amazing. then my counselors talked about choosing the right. then i called my husband. when i was talking to my hubby the camp director walked into our cabin, i quickly got off the phone, as i wanted to hear what she had to say. she told us that they were moving flag from 8am to 9am. this was unprecidented, and in my 7 years of going to girls camp as a youth they had never done this. i then knew that something strange was going to happen tonight and they wanted to let us sleep a little more.
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well, we got ready for bed, and everyone went to sleep (except my counselors who were outside looking at the stars, talking and giggling). i was almost asleep when i felt someone tap me on my shoulder. i took off my eye mask, and pulled out my ear plugs (yup, i am the lightest sleeper in the world and i wear those every single night -- hmm... i wonder what will happen when baby pops out and wakes up in the night) anyways, back to the point, so i look at cassie and she looks totally freaked out. "something's going on, all of the priesthood are walking around with suits on and kicking everybody out of their cabins" i mean, she's acting like they are evacuating the camp or something.
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so like seconds later, a leader is in our cabin and calmly says, "the bridegroom is coming, the bridegroom is coming, get your oil and come with me" well, my girls were sleeping, and it took a few seconds to wake them up and register in their brains what in the world was going on. i told them to put some pants on (you know girls and sleeping in shorts) and to grab their testimonies that we wrote. the leader was trying to rush us, and i got kinda attitude-nal and said, "it's midnight and its cold, you can wait 30 seconds for my girls to put some pants on." she quietly waited the 30 seconds.
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when we got out of the cabin everyone else was out too, and they were ushering us up the hill. at the top of the hill the camp director was sending some girls down one path and some girls down another. we still basically didn't *really* know what was going on. when we got to the front she asked to see our oil. we showed her our testimonies and we took the path to the left. the pathway had christmas lights all along it and led to the craft cabin, inside all of the walls were covered with white tablecloths, pink streamers, flowers, etc. there were two tables, one had two huge cakes on it, while the other had a huge bowl of red punch. there were soft hymns playing. it was very peaceful and calm. there were already girls sitting down waiting, and we were the last group let in (besides the leaders).
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once everyone was seated, and it was confirmed that no one was coming, the speaker walked to the door and locked it. she then told us why we were there (obedience, etc.) and talked more about the parable of the 10 virgins, and congratulated us. then she asked what we were feeling. i was the first to speak, "i'm shocked! there isn't very many people in here" (there were only 20 people in that room -- out of 120 people at camp -- not counting the leaders) the girl sitting next to me spoke, "i'm sad that my sister isn't in here", and a girl down the row said, "that was the first thing i checked, that my sister WAS in here" etc. it was kinda bitter sweet though. because we were happy to be in there, but sad for the people that we loved who weren't.
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on the flip side (and i'm not telling this first hand because i was not there) everyone who didn't write their testimonies were sent to the lodge and got a similar but different talk. when they got to the lodge it was dark and there was no cake waiting for them.
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over all by the end of friday i think the girls got the message. that you never know what is going to happen and you should always be prepared. it took some longer to learn the lesson, but they all came around, and it was a positive experience.
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now, not to toot my own horn or anything. but, i was the only adult in that room who didn't have prior knowledge about what was happening (believe me, there were other adults, and they were not too happy that 1. they didn't know about it, 2. that they didn't go and 3. that they didn't get their girls to go -- alot of them felt like failures at first) and our cabin was the only cabin where the entire cabin was there. other cabins had one or two, or none, we had everybody. and i think that's something to be proud of.
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overall, i will never view that parable in the same light anymore. it is no longer just a story in the scriptures, it has now come alive and i will never forget that. i have the lamp replica sitting on my mantle to remind me to never forget and always be prepared.
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the other lesson that i learned very clearly is to never doubt those promptings that i have. i am soooo thankful that i listened when the spirit told me to have those girls write their testimonies. it was sooooo good for them to be in that room, i think that they really needed it. i'm so grateful that i listened and following the heedings and did what it told me to do.
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the other thing that kinda of stuck out to me, was the next day one of my girls, who was in another cabin came up to me and said, "how come you didn't warn me?" i could see in her eyes sadness. she wanted to be there, and i wanted her to be there too. how come i didn't warn her? why was i only thinking of my cabin, and not of any of the other girls up there whom i've grown to love so much? when i get to the other side i want them all there. i need to be better at preparing them for life, and after. i need to think more of others more often.
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there you go, hope it wasn't too long winded.
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