July: Girls Camp. I'm the Young Women's President of the North Jordan Branch. Have I ever mentioned that? After getting back from Jerusalem I had 3 weeks to get camp put together. We had the camp reservations but that was it.
Girls Camp. NO Camp Director. NO Wal-Mart. NO car. FIRST Girls Camp EVER for the Jordan North Branch.
I prayed. I fasted. I cried. I studied. I organized. I felt so incredibly OVERWHELMED. I didn’t know how in the world we were going to make it
work: 3 Branches. 2 Languages. Etc. Etc. Etc. Girls Camp is where I first gained my testimony. Those memories are so precious to me and I wanted so badly to create an experience that would invite them to have spiritual experiences. And so I prayed some more. I planned. I prepared. And then I prayed some more.
Heavenly Father stepped in as He always does to
fill in all the holes and it was a miraculous thing to behold. Doctrine and Covenants 123:17 - "Let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed."
I know that as we do what we can (hopefully cheerfully) we can then wait expectantly, with the UTMOST assurance for His arm to be revealed. It is so often revealed in quiet, personal, simple ways. It was incredible and incredibly humbling to see see His arm revealed throughout Girls Camp.
We wrote letters to President Monson. I wrote one to tell him about camp and give a background to the notes and pictures from the girls. Here it is:
Dear President Monson,
A few weeks ago the Young Women of the North Branch in Jordan participated for the first time ever in its history in Girls Camp. It was a wonderful few days. We combined with the girls from the Amman 1st Branch (one Christian investigator) and the Amman 2nd Branch (two American members). It was the second girls camp that we know of for the Amman Branches.
We had a total of 5 girls come to camp from our little North Jordan Branch, only one of them was a member.
The others all come from Christian homes. Some of them have a close or distant relative
who is a Latter-day Saint. Some would
like to be baptized but are waiting for permission from their family. They have
so much going against them. They each
have deep and soul wrenching trials. All
of them are incredible girls, full of faith, fun and the light of Jesus Christ.
The theme for the camp was, “Young Women Who Know,” inspired
by Alma 5:45-46. We had lessons and activities focused on that theme.
Some of the titles of these lessons included:
I Know the Scriptures are True, I Know How to Communicate with My Heavenly
Father, I Know the Voice of the Holy Ghost, I Know that Jesus Christ is My
Redeemer, I Know the Gospel is True. And finally, I know that Thomas S. Monson is a True Prophet
of God. We learned about and discussed
what a prophet is and why we need one in our time. We then watched portions of your address
about being “Strong and of a Good Courage.”
We all need to be those things and in a predominantly Muslim country
these girls live it every day. Being
Christian means being a part of a tiny minority. Being LDS within that Christian minority (a
minority within a minority) can be even more difficult. And yet these young women go forth with
faith. It is a constant, uphill battle. But they are brave, they are “Strong and of a
Good Courage.” The girls wrote letters to you about the ways that they have
been strong and courageous here in Jordan.
I have included their letters along with some pictures in this
envelope.
We have already seen some of the “fruits” of Girl Camp after
only two weeks of participating. I went
to visit one of the investigator girls in her home a few days ago. Her father joined us. We were talking about camp. (He had at first refused to let his daughter
go. So this young girl and I
fasted and prayed together that his heart would be softened. I felt inspired to ask him to join us on an afternoon
trip to take a look at the area and the cabins that we would be staying
in. After doing so, he finally gave her permission to join us. It was a
great lesson for the both of us of the power of fasting.) As we were speaking together about our
experiences at camp he asked a question about the Book of Mormon (they are Catholic). What took place was one of the most beautiful
experiences I have ever had. She taught her father the First Lesson from Preach My Gospel. (While at camp another returned missionary
and I taught the girls that lesson.) She
taught it with power and authority without any prompts from me and the Spirit
filled the room. It was a sacred and
inspiring thing to behold. Her father committed
to reading the Book of Mormon.
Another fruit was the sweet testimonies and thoughts that
three of the girls shared in Sacrament Meeting yesterday. Only one of them is a member. The young girls father (who had committed to reading the Book of Mormon) and brothers even came to church
to listen to her speak. And yet another fruit was seen as I visited another young
woman’s home this week. Her whole
family joined us during our visit. They
are also nonmembers. It led to a
discussion about the importance of daily family prayer.
I love these girls more than I can say. I admire and look up to them. It such a special privilege to work with
them. They make the world a better
place.
We love you President Monson. Thank you for inspiring us to be “Strong and
of a Good courage.”
Love,
Lindsey
Dompier and the Young Women of the North Jordan Branch
Jessica
Birchenough and the Young Women of the Amman Branches
*Note: I took all the girls names out of the write up on this blog.
Brother and Sister Farley (Center Back) shuttled girls, food, priesthood leaders, food and fans back and forth all week long. We couldn't have done it without them! Jessica saved me with the food preparation. And the Hammonds (Back Left) offered great spiritual and emotional support!
One of the afternoons we took a trip to the Ajloun Castle to have our, "I Know How To Build A Standards Fortress," lesson. After our discussion we did some castle exploring...
I introduced the girls to S'mores! And they LOVED them... but what's not to love?
One of the nights I took the girls on a night hike. We had a little devotional and read a few scriptures from the Pearl of Great Price. We talked about the stars and His creations. We talked about how well He knows us and how much He loves us. I wish I could have recorded their reactions when I had them turn off their lights and look up. It was priceless.
After camp one of the men that was there that night bragged about how brave I was when I took those girls out in the dark. He said that I have the courage and heart of a man. I had to laugh and was very tempted to tell him about the time I screamed so loud that I scared a deer and made him fall on the ice because he scared me so bad.... and that is only one of countless stories of my wussiness. I just think it is very unusual here to see a girl lead a group into the dark woods. Don't worry, we were a stones throw away from the camp the whole time!!!
Girls camp fell on the HOTTEST week of the entire year. It was so hot that there were times I felt like I couldn't breathe. So thus began the worlds greatest waterfight! I watched the water steam off me and dry within a few minutes after we finished. It was insane!
Another highlight was teaching the girls spoons. They LOVED it and I think we played about 1,000 rounds.
The last morning Jessica and I woke up to banging on our cabin door, a water balloon chucked against our window, running feet and a trail of giggling. It made my heart happy. And then I opened our door to find this...
The whole experience is something I will treasure forever. A few night before camp I was so exhausted, drained, worried, overwhelmed.... I had a total melt down. I just love these girls so much and wanted it to be a good experience for them. They VERY rarely have opportunities like this. Testimony meeting on the last night was beautiful. The whole week was wonderful and fun and inspiring and just so incredibly good. Heavenly Father is so good to us. He loves us SO much. He will use us in ALL our weaknesses and imperfections. He knew what these girls needed. He knew what I needed.
I worry about these girls. I often wonder what the future holds for them. I wonder about their faith, their devotion, their conversion. I have had to learn to do what I can and then hand it over to God. There are no better hands to be in.
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