Monday, July 28, 2008

That's right Girls Camp 2008! Two weeks before girls camp I received a calling in our new ward. I can't tell you how excited I was when they asked if I would be the secretary of the Young Womens. I honestly jumped for joy. I have always wanted to be with the youth and especially the young women. The first question I asked when I received this calling was... "Can I go to Girls Camp?'' The bishopric just laughed at me. Well sure enough the next day I got that Thursday off so that I could spend the whole 3 days with the girls. This was the best opportunity for me get to know the girls and for them to get to know the "real" me! Not only was it fun with tye-dying shirts, hiking, cooking, playing spoons (not to mention me jumping across the table looking for the last spoon), watermelon eating contest & laughing hysterically with eachothers skits... but it was also very spiritual when it came to the last night. One of my favorite girls bore her testimony and started by saying, "Well first off I have to say that when I first met Sister Dea... umm or Chri..umm... can I just call you Sister Dee. Well, anyway I thought you were going to be boring... but now I have changed my mind and you are a lot more fun and I really like you!" That is just one of those warm fuzzies that makes you feel so good. Here and there I also heard other comments like, "Sister Dee, you are one of my favorite leaders." I don't want this to seem like I am boasting. But these girls have such open hearts and minds at this age and the smallest things can mean so much to them. I love them so much and can't tell you how much fun I had at girls camp. I totally know that this calling was inspired. Oh, one more thing. I don't know if you can tell in these pictures? But I also got braces on June 18. Everyone thinks that I am crazy but when you work at a dentist office you notice the small things. So I decided to get braces on the top and correct a few things. I will have them for 3 months at the most? So I guess we will see?



Well as you can all see, I am a terrible blogger! I don't know how anyone can possibly update their blog everyday. Oh well, maybe I will make it to that point? Anyway, I thought I would give you the monthly updateS.
I will start it off with the first week in May. It was a pretty cool experience! A really close swedish member from my mission has been living in Utah going to BYU. Well, she fell in love with an American and got married and invited my companion and I to go to the wedding. We were in her area for 6 months together and gained a really close relationship with her and her family. The friendship with her father was pretty special too. He was not and still isn't a member. But during those 6 months we met him on a weekly basis to teach him about the gospel and the importance of having it in your daily lifes. It was one of those stories where the whole family are members except the dad. He does everything a member does but just hasn't made those special promises. Anyway, to make a long story short.... he wasn't able to go in the temple with the rest of the family but it was such an excitement to see him outside the temple. I always hoped to see him again, but thought it would be in Sweden. Anyway, this is one of my favorite companions from Hawaii and Juan Vasquez. This family is originally from Chile. The next picture shows Ann Marie (the bride) with her mother Gina at the bridal shower. These are those special experiences that make you savour every hard minute on your mission.