Some people I love - and the happy memories that go with them

Jennifer M., Rachel W. me, Erin Mc, Ashley M., Tricia, Connie, Hannah, Katie, Emily, Chelsea J., Rachel's friend why can't I think of her name?, Andrea, Christina C., Mandy, Eliza

I am going to post this on Facebook, because a number of the people in this photo are on FB.  But I wanted to reflect a bit on the whole Girls' Camp experience I had for 15 years.

From the time Phoebe was almost 12 and was going to be allowed to go to camp, until Hannah's last year before college, I went along to Girls' Camp.  Once I was in charge of cooking - that was hard.  Many times I was in charge of crafts - once I got a system going, it was not a hard job.  You just had to monitor the girls and keep the brushes clean!!  (Thank you Magnusson girls for knowing this lesson so well!!)

Sometimes I was in the YW Presidency in my ward.  For 4 years I was the YW President.  A few times I was in the Stake YW Presidency.  Always I was someone's - Phoebe, Eliza, or Hannah - mom.  Often I went along as Aunt Barbara, because my nieces came along.  Always I was Sister Terrill.

We went to Cachuma Lake, we went to Catalina, we went to Big Bear.  We went to places I can't remember the names of - but one of them was near Valencia and it was awful - hot, bees, bears, conflicts with girls and women!!

Always it was a task to get ready - shopping, packing, loading up the car, driving to the location.  

Always it was a task to go home - packing, loading up the car, driving home - some years in terrible traffic that made you curse the fact that you'd ever heard of Girls' Camp!  (And why were there only traffic jams on the way home?)

I would not trade the memories and experiences of those 15 years for anything.  I really wish I'd kept a journal.  While sorting through photos, I've come across my girls' camp photos - but they don't reveal much.  (It would probably have helped if I'd labeled them immediately after getting them developed!)

Always I got to know the sisters there better - and it was a blessing.  Always I came to love the girls - even the difficult ones.  Always I enjoyed the lack of the 3 Ms - you know, make-up, mirrors and men!!  Always I wept at the testimony meeting and had hope that the spirit would linger longer for some girls.

The first year I didn't go, I was sure I'd feel a void or a lack of some kind.  But I didn't.  Camp has changed quite a bit from what I hear.  If the change had occurred incrementally while I was going, I probably would have handled it just fine.  Now I just say,  upon hearing what they don't do anymore, "Oh, that's too bad.  That was the best part of camp."

So if you have a YW age daughter, and they ask you to go to camp, be sure to say yes.  You'll be glad you did.

And if you read this, and want to share a camp memory, please do so - we need to keep the love alive!!

Daily Gratitude Journal

I am grateful for opportunities to serve in the church.

And good people to serve with!

A name from the past - with a photo to go along with it!

You have all probably heard me talk about my experience as a 14 year old babysitting for a recently widowed young mother of 8 children under 7 - because there was a set of twins. She moved into our ward from Idaho, where her husband had been killed in a farming accident.

It was difficult to babysit for her because there were so many children and the house was very chaotic, and so no one wanted to do it. My mother pretty much made me do it - and made me tell her she couldn't pay me because I needed service hours!! (She was taking classes to upgrade her nursing degree so that she could be a school nurse, so she needed babysitters two nights a week.)

I am so glad my mother made me have this experience. It taught me many things - chiefly that "when we are in the service of our fellow beings, we are only in the service of our God." But I also have used this experience over the years to remind myself that difficult service is often the most rewarding service of all. And I am grateful to have that understanding.

I came across this photo in a box of picture's at my mom's house - and I reflected on how sweet those children truly were. Their living situation was very difficult - but they were not. And there's a great lesson to be learned there.

Also, Sister Harris would visit with me when she got home - while we waited for my dad to pick me up - and she treated me not like a peer, but like what I had to say was really important to her. I came to feel valued by her, not just for babysitting, but for who I was. There's also a great lesson to be learned there.

Finally, looking at the photo took me back in time to a place where I might have acted very differently. And if I had acted very differently, maybe I would feel badly about that now. Another great lesson!