Mia Shalom-July 7, 2009...

Morning-
Bad:
1. Truck breaking down on the way up the mountain
2. Sunscreen does not seem to be working-at all
3. Sister Baird is WAY edgy
4. No hot water-I seem to have forgotten since yesterday
5. Feeling so stupid at Flag Ceremony with the other SYCLs that I started crying

Good:
1. Two men stopping with trucks to help us when the truck broke down, and one of them pulling us up the mountain
2. Not sleeping in tents-yay for cabins!
3. Cute girls to watch and film for the Camp Video I’m going to help make
4. Not having to cook lunch-or dinner or breakfast-ever
5. All of the stuff in the trailers unpacked in less than ten minutes

The Suburban being hooked up to the truck after we'd broken down.

Everything was going smoothly-we (meaning the leaders and eight other YCLs [seven ward YCLs and one other SYCL, my friend Brittan]) left at about 5:45 am to reach Camp Shalom. With about twenty miles to go, Sister Baird’s suburban/truck decided it was too tired and grumpy to roll another step. It coughed, lurched, and died with a hiss of steam and the smell of something burning.

Overheated. Darn. We sat there, five girls and two leaders (the others were in separate vehicles), with the truck and trailer in the middle of the road. We couldn’t move left, right, forward, and we sure didn’t want to move backwards, so we just sat tight and waited for something to happen. We did what we could; lifted the hood to find that the oil was boiling too much to measure and the radiator so hot that if we added water it would crack like an egg. Seven women and not a one of use clued in as to how to fix our broken truck.

Until two men stopped, one going down the mountain and one coming up. Sound creepy, but it wasn’t. Down-man (I didn’t catch his name) knew how to attach tow ropes, and Up-man (who I later learned was Nathan) had an old F-350 with which he could pull us up the mountain. And he did. We moved all of the girls into Sister Robinson’s van and left Sister Baird and someone else with the truck. Phew. So grateful!

Afternoon-
Bad:
1. Absolute boredom
2. Girls stripping off into their underwear after a giant canoe water fight which I was luckily not a part of
3. Continually burning face with no hint of a sunburn at all-still glowing white
4. Hunger and no access to food
5. No Internet
6. No…haha. Yeah, I miss him

Good:
1. Soft pad to sleep on
2. Fun journal that I decorated down at the Stake pavilion
3. Always able to stay out of trouble with the leaders-just one of my talents I guess
4. SYCLs do pretty much nothing around their own ward camps
5. Bug repellant!
6. Swedish fish that Kim is sharing-yay

Sandra and Kim making journals at the Stake Pavilion.

I’ve finished all of my assignments and certification that I was in charge of today. Now there’s nothing to do. I’ve got a headache-I can’t be dehydrated, I’ve had four bottles of water all ready.

Keep thinking about him. Brittan thinks that I should tell him that I like him. Um, NO! He’d never speak to me again. Just friends. Sadly.

I miss him.

Evening-
Bad:
1. No red, white, and blue felt flowers left for journal decorating
2. Moth attacks-yikes!
3. Stinky feet-cough!
4. Flashlight batteries died
5. Getting no lunch or dinner today because of my SYCL jobs-sigh

Good:
1. Buff arms from canoeing ;)
2. Successful Flag Ceremony skit-so hilarious and way, way creative
3. No parents!
4. Making new friends
5. The bathrooms (aka BIFFY) cleaned right before it was my turn to go in
6. Making five journals and decorating my camp Book of Mormon
7. Jessie not getting burned when the camp stove almost fell on top of her

All of the crap, I mean, stuff people brought up.

The problem with being a SYCL is that you have almost zero opportunity to eat meals and still be on time for your assignments. I had ½ a sandwich for lunch and ½ a cup of soup for my meals today (the other half cup of soup dropped when I tripped walking down the road). Hungry!

The Flag Ceremony skit went well-I didn’t feel so scared anymore. I mostly helped by directing the other SYCLs to speak more clearly and louder, and then my part was just to “ride” in as a Dudley Do-righter and help save the day. Back in camp Sandra brought Fudge Jumbles to share; they are so amazing, so I’ll get the recipe soon and share it. Jessie almost died when the gas stove started to tip on her. It was so scary! She caught it by the legs though, so she wasn’t burned. So, so lucky!

The girls wanted me to read the story that I wrote three or four summers ago at camp. It’ll take about three nights to read, I think, due to my voice dying and lights out time. No singing though. Yay.

Never mind. Me and my big mouth.

YCLs in camp before the other girls arrived.
Left to right: Brittan, Emily, Shanae, Sandra, with Kim in the front row by herself.