Three Down, Seven To Go!

In some ways, I can hardly believe week three at Oakcrest has come and gone! In other ways, I feel like I've been working at camp my entire life. I won't lie, when I think about the fact that I have seven more weeks I get a little overwhelmed. But I'm taking it a day at a time and learning to make the most out of each and every day! I am loving every day I am at camp, truly making best friends forever. *Insert the Oakcrest staff with their arms around each other chanting "BEST FRIENDS FOREVER" repeatedly*. 

Week 2 was my floater week, and it was definitely needed! The days blurred together into one. Aside from feeling like a creep while doing shower duty, it was a stupendous week! Partying with the specialists, kitchen staff, and directorship was so great. I could listen to Spud all day, every day. The party went wonderfully! The theme was game shows. We had staff saran wrapped together, people eating onion jello, and girls balancing Oreos on their faces. The highlight of my week definitely had to be our Tree Hut table cheer, where we stood up and yelled, "WE LOVE JUSTIN BIEBER" just to see how the girls would react. I think every girl in the lodge had a miniature heartache just at the mentioning of his name. Coming in close second was getting my braces off :) Okay, that's a lie. Getting braces off = BEST DAY EVER!!!

Week 3 was definitely harder than week 1. I had some super tough girls that made my life a little difficult. Between pranks being pulled, a complete lack of unity, girls who refused to sit on anything but a bench, laughing during Unity Prayers, 30 minutes to get out the door every time, and a never-ending amount of girls wandering off on their own, I was completely exhausted. Some of them seemed so hard headed that I thought I would never get through to them. And I don't think I did, but the Spirit definitely did. Even though testimony meeting was an hour and a half, and nearly half the girls bore their testimonies more than three times, it was still one of the greatest I've had. I was able to see a change of heart in so many of them. They certainly made my week one of the hardest of my life. But I realized how grateful I am for the Oakcrest staff. They were more than willing to take my girls for me, talk about how things were going, and give a hug. Despite the difficulties, there were still highlights:

• Peter Breinholt concert! (And my girls didn't even have to go to the bathroom during it!)
• Flour fight
• Telling my girls to go to bed, convincing them I had gone back into my room, and catching them talking again :)
• Twinnie's surprise mission call!!!
• Watching Triscuit kill her first spider
• During lunch on the hike: "Look, the Draper temple! I can see my house from here!!"-Calle "That's not Draper dear..."-Me "Oh, then what temple is that?"-Calle "That's a barn...."-Me

• Having my girls do my hair and nails
• Receiving a note from Tiffany that melted my heart. She was my hardest girl and proved to me that I was actually making a difference in their lives
• Making rock buddies with my girls
• Convincing the girls that Dandelion and I are sisters. Still kind of feeling guilty about that one...
• "Why don't we duct tape the top of our shirts to ourselves so we don't get ticks down them?"
• Comment during dating discussion while going over For the Strength of Youth: "My brother studied this pamphlet five times before his mission. He said he was going to get married right after he got home. He's been home for two years now, and still isn't married."
• FINALLY getting a few missionary letters out.
• Having a girl tell me that day was the longest of the year. I thought she was trying to insult me...apparently it was literally the longest day of the year. 
• New roommates! Chewy and Guhnat. CAN'T WAIT!

Despite many tears and prayers, lack of patience and motivation, I still was able to learn so much from these girls. It amazes me how little we know the difference we're making in someone until they flat out tell us. It's those little notes the girls leave at the end that make the whole week of hardship worth it. Am I nervous for this next week? Most certainly! But I know that no matter what comes, I'll make it through somehow. I'm doing the Lord's work. I know He is aware of me.