Young Women's Girl's Camp

I had the most amazing time on Tues. speaking to over 400 young women along with Karen Eddington. We were able to visit two girl camp sites in one evening, both in Heber Valley.

The first stake we spoke to was the Roy Stake at the Lucy Mack Smith campground, the second was West Haven Stake from Freemont at the Beertha Reeder campground.

Karen opened with her high energy, fun but powerful message of worth. The spirit was strong as she told the girls to internalize two principal:

1. I know who I am

2. I accept myself

Karen's presentation was full of life changing messages that were not only a blessing for the youth to hear but for me and the leaders as well. I was in awe of her public speaking skills and I could tell we shared a genuine love for these girls.

My times was spend sharing my personal struggle of finding my own worth, and the consequence of not having that self-esteem Karen spoke about. In my case it lead to an eating disorder which by all medical reasoning should have killed me. I was so excited that I could share the blessings and miracles that I received in order for me to make a full recovery.

When I speak at schools I have to leave that out and it is a huge part of my story. Definitely the power of the priesthood is the reason I am alive today and I loved sharing that with the youth.

I then turned the time over to the group for questions. This is probably my favorite part of my own presentation. I LOVE hearing the girl's feedback and questions of concern. Sometimes it is questions about what they can do for a friend who they think has an eating disorder and sometimes it is a simpler question about if I felt hungry. But I truly respect each question and want to answer it to the best of my ability.

I've always treasured the time when the speaking is over and the girls and leaders can come up to me and share their own input or personal questions, but Karen shed an even deeper light on this special time we are allowed to participate in. She said that is where the most powerful moments can occur and she told me some information about this time that I will always remember and use at the end of future presentations.

I enjoyed giving autographs to the Roy stake and the many hugs from the West Haven stake.

Both stakes were full of remarkable young women and leaders. I feel honored to be apart of their camps.I pray that a part of the messages they heard Tuesday night will make a lasting impression upon them.

I have to mention at the second stake we were only under a long pavilion and it was raining and cold the entire time. The girls and leaders were all bundled up.

Here is a picture of Karen doing her thing:

She incorporated fun props which helped the teens relate. And her energy alone drew the audience into her speech.

(I forgot to ask someone to take a picture of me up there... darn it! I'm also sad that I didn't get a picture of the two of us together. Oh well.)