Kia ora, for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Erana Wihongi. I have been chosen to speak today about my experiences in girls camp, and about the Young Womens camp theme that has been chosen this year.
The first day of camp was just like a Young Womens activity. At the start, I was paired with my group, aka “The Teenage Girls”, and then we played some crazy games after. Like ‘how many more goldfish can you suck up with a straw before the other person can’. On the same day but later on, we had our night in white. The night in white was dressing up in white as if you were going to the temple, and having dinner and talking about spiritual things like why we wear white. When I first entered the building it was fun and loud and kind of crazy, but when we all entered the gym the setting or mood changed so fast because everything was calm, quiet, and peaceful. Maybe it was because of the lights or something but I definitely felt the spirit and I bet others felt it too.
The next two days were camp. My favorite experiences were riding the horses, boating, archery, dinner time, the night sky, and the testimony circle. First off though, girls camp had crazy weather where sudden rain storms would flicker off and on like a toddler flipping the light switch to the bathroom repeatedly, but not so annoying. I’m pretty sure it was the first night that had a big thunderstorm, because I very clearly remember laying in my sleeping bag thinking about that one storm scene in the movie Bambi while also watching the light show that was happening outside my tent.
Anyways, I really enjoyed horseback riding even though the hike up to the stables was tiring and wet because it was raining. But when I was on the horse I liked the feeling of having a higher point of view and it was nice to rest my feet. I liked boating and archery because I acted like a pirate and messed around with everyone in the lake and it was my first time shooting an arrow and I wasn’t that bad. I really like to see the stars in the sky at night and there was a lot at Ried Ranch. Dinner time was always fun because we got to have ice cream so some of the girsl went crazy and started to make the perfect swirls on the cones or the tallest ice cream swirl on your cone. I made a pretty tall ice cream cone once but it fell on the table, so half of my ice cream was placed inside my cup of pink lemonade out of panic. I bore my testimony when we had our testimony circle after a lot of people because I had this thought or feeling to stand up and bare my testimony, but I would argue with that feeling that I don’t know what I should say. While listening to all of the testimonies, I couldn’t stop myself from crying or wanting to bare my testimony, so I stood up and bore my first ever testimony that wasn’t in front of my family or class after I gave the lesson. I bore what I believed, sometimes repeating somethings someone else said, but that doesn’t matter because I also believed that.
The theme of Girls camp was “I can go the distance”. The distance is from here to our Heavenly Father. The scriptures talk about this as “Enduring to the end.” This means to live our whole life in the way the Savior has taught us to, not part of our life and then give up. There are great promises given to those who will endure to the end. One is found in 3 Nephi 15:9, it says “Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life.”
Life will have many challenges where we experience hardships, temptations, pain, sorrow, and guilt. So how do we endure to the end? We are reminded of 3 ways every Sunday when we hear the Sacrament prayers.
First we always remember the Savior. This means we remember his promises of forgiveness, peace, comfort, wisdom and love when we turn to him in faith. We can endure any trial we face when we receive His strength, mercy and grace. We also remember His attributes of kindness, patience, forgiveness and love and try to emulate them.
Second, we take upon us His name. This means that we, like full-time missionaries that carry His name on their badges, are also His representatives, His agents , His servants and His hands. We find ways to serve and love others to make their burdens light and to bring them closer to Christ. We shine His light.
Third, we keep the commandments which is self-explanatory. We can avoid self-inflicted wounds by keeping the commandments.
As we do these things we are promised that we will have his spirit. Having the spirit is so important in our efforts to endure to the end. The guidance and comfort of the spirit helps us stay on the right path back to Heavenly Father.
I know that I can go the distance if I do these things. I know God lives and loves us. I know Jesus atoned for our sins and died and rose again. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
