Girls Camp 2016: Have Hope

"You will have many challenges in your lives, but if you will always center your life in Jesus Christ and NEVER lose hope, you will have peace. Remember that darkness has no power against light"(Dawn J. Young). This is the message that we "hope" will stay with all who attended girls camp this year. Our camp theme "A Perfect Brightness of Hope", taught us to never give up on our Savior. For the rest of our lives, we must be rooted to God our Father and His Son Jesus Christ. We spend such a short time at camp, but the camp theme and it's message, will stay with us much longer that 4 days we spent at camp.

Now the question is how do we maintain all the things we learned at camp? It is easy to feel the Spirit when we are up at camp with people who love us and share our faith; away from worldly music, media, and standards. But what do we do when the tent comes down and we return back to a world of hate and declining standards? The answer is simple. We have hope.

What does it mean to have hope? We can hope that our favorite sports team will win the game, or we can hope that that cute boy likes us back. But when it comes to Heavenly Father hope is much more than an empty desire. Hope is faith in the Lord and His plan for us. Heavenly Father promised us that if we remain faithful we will someday be able to live with Him and become like Him. When we keep that promise in our hearts when we are going through hard times, we can remember what we are really here for. Hard things that are going on in our lives now will someday be a faint memory because God will keep His promise to us that everything will work out. Whether you are a 12 year old beehive or a fun Grandma leader, it is crucial to have hope. To have hope for the future. To have hope and faith in The Lord. We must have the courage and hope to look forward to things to come when we live a Christ centered life.

Our solo time booklets asked us to think of 4 ways to gain hope. There are so many ways that can help us strengthen our hope! Here are a few ideas to get you thinking about how to gain more hope.

1. Build a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Our ward has already given us a head start on this one! As we "Give Him 5" everyday by reading our scriptures we are building our relationship with Christ. As we come to know Our Savior, we can understand His Atonement and the impact it has on our future. We learn that everything that was broken will become fixed and we can become clean so we can live in the presence of our Heavenly Father.
2. Live the standards of the gospel. When you first think about the standards of the church, they might not seem like something that would give us hope. But when you think about it more, you will come to see that the standards can bring hope. When we live a life that matches what God asked us to, we get power. We have the Spirit with us which gives us the ability to do so much more than we could do alone. By living the gospel standards we can get the strength to overcome challenges and we can have the strength to move on to the future. 
3. Constantly communicate with the Lord. A lot of times it is east to fall into a spiritual rut. We say the same prayers, we go to church, but we don't really pay attention. Don't let that happen to you! When it does happen, get out as fast as you can. When we are actively communicating with God through prayer, scripture study, and church meetings, we can hear promptings that will tell us what we need to be doing. This can give us hope to accomplish the things we were put here on earth to do. 
4. Keep an eternal perspective. Look past things that are going on right now. Remember that there is more to come, and that our main goal is to live faithful so we can return to out Father. Our Heavenly Father promised us that He will make everything OK. He has a plan fur us and our lives. It is east to get caught up in little things in life like school, friends, and family. But in the end all we need to worry about is our devotion and faith in God. School, friends, and family are all good things, but when they are getting in the way of our spiritual progression, it is important to look at the eternal perspective. 

So while you may be sad that camp is over (especially if it was your last year of camp), in reality camp isn't over. It never really gets over. The things we learned, the friends we made, the Spirit we felt, and the testimonies that were built and strengthened will be with us forever. Something about our lives will never be the same. Our hearts will be capable of loving more than they were before. Our friendship bonds will be stronger than they were before. We will have more hope than we had before. Our testimonies will burn brighter and stronger than before. All because of the 4 days we spent together at girls camp.

Jesus Christ is A Miracle

Have I ever witnessed any miracles? Where do miracles take place in my everyday life? Can I experience miracles even though the savior isn't here on earth today? How would one even define miracle? When many people think of a miracle, they think of Jesus Christ who lived a life of miracles. He turned water into wine. He healed people who were sick. Even the simple act of touching the robe of Jesus was enough to heal a woman who had been sick for 12 years! Jesus Christ lived a life that is truly amazing. Now, it is extremely rare to see someone raised from the dead, and water pretty much always stays as water. So then how do we experience miracles on the earth today? The answer to this question is simple. Faith. Faith is the magic. Faith is what gives us the ability to see miracles on earth even though Christ isn't physically here. Noah had faith when he built a boat when the weather forecast was sunny. Joseph Smith had the faith to kneel down in the Sacred Grove when he didn't know exactly what was going to happen. I have faith to call on Jesus Christ when I know I can't make it on my own anymore. I have the faith to say, "Heavenly Father, I know you are there. Please help me because I can't do this on my own." I have the faith to rely on a miracle that I can't see or hear, but a miracle that I feel in my heart and I know is true.

Easter Sunday

Jesus Christ is a man of miracles. He fed thousands of people using 7 loafs of bread and 5 fishes. He healed those who were sick and raised people from the dead. Christ atoned for our sins, and our heartache; He felt our deepest darkest feelings of bitterness and grief. It was during this very week more than 2,000 years ago, that Christ experienced the most horrifying painful event in history. In the days leading up to the atonement and resurrection, Christ was betrayed and denied by people He loved and trusted. In fact, The disciple Peter denied Christ three times. One might ask how Peter was able to deny the living Savior of the world after all the miracles he had witnessed. The answer can be found in Mark 14:38, "The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak." Peter was brought down by his inner natural man. Peter had the knowledge of the gospel, but still he denied Christ 3 times. What can we learn from this example of Peter? We learn the the atonement of Christ is infinite. Christ made it possible for us to come back from the depths of most every darkness. After His resurrection Christ teaches Peter that he needs to "Follow me thou,"(John 21:22). If we follow Christ, our sins will be washed away. "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow: though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool," (Isaiah 1:18). Christ suffered so that we can be made whole. We have the opportunity to call upon the Savior despite our wrong doings and sins. Christ suffered and died is darkness, but then He came back as a symbol of light and hope. Jesus Christ rose up from the black ashes of death and heartache, so we can also rise up from adversity. Through Him, all things are possible. Sins can be forgiven. Wrong's can be made right. Everything single feeling of hopelessness and despair can be taken away. Because He lives! HE LIVES!! And because He lives, we can live as well. Wishing everyone a happy and peaceful Easter.

Alyson Cundiff