Campbell River’s Hannah Taylor was one of the fortunate few who got the opportunity to attend the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saint’s Camp Barnard.
Repelling, snorkelling, dancing were just some of the many activities available at the Young Women’s Encampment which was held recently in Sooke.
A total of 450 girls aged 12 to 18 from around the province spent five days at the camp which is set on a beautiful 250 acre site with a small lake.
Taylor was one of the participants at the camp, which featured physical, aquatic, creative and spiritual activities.
“Two of my favourite activities were learning to arm knit and learning to dance,” Taylor said.
“The camp was a lot of fun. I made new friends and got to reconnect with people I had met before.”
An exciting part of the camp was the special guests who came both from within the province and from the U.S. Elder Paul Christensen, a general authority for the Church, stayed the full week, helping in all aspects as well as being a guest speaker and leading a question and answer session.
Elaine Dalton, former Young Women general president, was another of the guest speakers.
Kenneth Cope and Calee Reed, both LDS musicians, also visited to present entertainment in the evenings.
They each shared not only their music, but also inspiring messages and stories.
“I got to meet Calee,” said Taylor, “and I liked her singing so much that she is now one of my favourite singers.”
Lucy Rizo, former model and current precision car driver, travelled up from Los Angeles to present workshops on maintaining personal values.
“The camp has been fabulous,” said chairperson Brenda Molnar, “we have tried to provide multiple opportunities so there is something for everyone. Our goal was for each young woman to have an experience where she would discover what she needed to do to come unto Christ. A highlight for me has been watching the girls journal and see how they are having great experiences and can’t wait to write them down. I’ve also enjoyed watching their new friendships develop and see how they take care of each other and support each other.”
This is the first time the Church has held a camp of this size and nature in B.C.
