At least at Girls Camp, they do. This is one of the first things I learned as a priesthood observer at our ward’s Girls Camp this week. Scout Camp: fun, not very organized. Girls Camp: organized and a lot more fun with some amazing spiritual moments.
I’d like to address one of those spiritual moments first. The young women’s leaders recreated Lehi’s “tree of life” dream in a very special way.
The young women were told they were going on a “night hike.” They were taken about a half-mile from camp. One by one, they were blindfolded. A leader took their hand and led them to a rope. This rope went into the woods for about 600 yards or so. They were told they had to hold onto the rope and keep on walking until the end.
Along the way, adult leaders walked beside them to make sure they didn’t trip. The older young women would try to “tempt” them to let go of the rope. One of the older young women feigned an injury. Another told them they should come with her and pull pranks on the other people in the group.
The adult leaders would gently remind the girls that if they held onto the rope and continued to move forward they would make it to the end. Meanwhile, the older young women would whisper in their ears that they should let go of the rope and go have fun.
At the end, they arrived at a pretty impressive “tree of life.” It was a Christmas-tree sized pine decorated with glowing decorations and candy. Behind the tree there was a beautiful nighttime view of a nearly full moon.
The good news is that most of the girls “held onto the rod” and kept on moving forward, even though they were blindfolded and walking through the woods along an uncertain path. There were a few who walked off into the “mists of darkness” but they eventually realized their error and got back to the rope.
The beauty of the final scene — and the intellectual process of trusting and following instructions from leaders versus the temptation of not following instructions — brought home a truly touching spiritual message for these girls. Unprompted, they spent hours discussing what was going through their minds and why they acted the way the did. They talked about the lessons they had learned by “following the commandments” rather than “having fun.” This object lesson did more than a year of Sunday School for many of the girls in bringing to life Lehi’s dream.
Two of my kids were at Girl’s Camp, and it was truly touching to watch them be tempted and make the decision not to accept the temptation. I felt like I was transported through time to observe their lives and feel proud for them making good decisions and avoid all of the potential pitfalls around them. It reminded me that a successful life is about making good decisions most of the time rather than succumbing to the many temptations to take the wrong path.
But my key impression of Girls Camp was: “wow, these women sure are organized.” The young women’s leaders kept the girls occupied with activities more than 14 hours and day, and the girls clearly loved it. I work with the young men, and by comparison there is a huge amount of “down time” at Scout Camp, time spent just sitting around doing nothing. No such thing at Girls Camp.
Girls Camp: I highly recommend it if you ever get the opportunity.