This year was my first year I was able to attend Youth Camp. I'm 12 and I had one of the best experiences of my life. I was on a spiritual high and had so much fun with my close friends in Kansas! I left my parents for more than a week, but I think the time I spent away from them was worthwhile. I also missed a week of school, but that's no problem compared to my trip. Let's start from the beginning when I was really excited for Youth Camp and still in New Jersey.
The night before the day I left for Kansas, I was really nervous and excited. I didn't want to leave my family, but I still knew I would have the time of my life in Kansas and I was absolutely right! I stayed home with Mommy to pack for the trip while Nathan and Daddy went to Friday fellowship at big Nathan's house. I packed up clothes, gifts, my bible, and all my necessities. I loved my new bible that Mommy got me! It was green with a lamb on the front which is an important symbol in the bible. The notebook/journal I was going to use at Youth Camp was also really pretty. It was silver and it said the verse Mark 9:23. After I had packed everything except for the things I would need for tonight, I sat with Mommy in the kitchen. We sat there and had a peaceful mother daughter time together. I was sad because I knew that once I went there, it would be over in a snap. And when I got back, I would cry and be so sad. Though Mommy kept on telling me not to think about it and enjoy my time because she spent so much money for me on the flight to Kansas. We decided to wait for Daddy and Nathan to come back home from fellowship before sleeping so we could pray together. Once they got back we prayed and they set me off to sleep because I would have to wake up a little earlier than I was used to because I needed to pack any last minute things and catch my flight. When I woke up the next morning, I quickly packed everything, grabbed something to eat, and we all hopped into the car for the airport. We were going to an airport in La Guardia, New York. When we got there we searched for a way to get in and eventually found our way there after a while. Luckily we spared ourselves a couple extra hours before the flight left. When we got there, Daddy had to get a pass so he could escort me to the gate for my flight. I was a minor/under 16 years of age and I had to have special attention payed to me. When we got in line to pass security, I realized I didn't give Mommy a hug. So I texted her and she sent a heart. I knew she knew that I would miss her and I loved her. After going to the gate, going to the bathroom real quick, and talking to Daddy one last time it was time for me to board. I headed toward the plane as the lady scanned my ticket, but I stopped and quickly turned around to give Daddy one last hug. The security guards around me "aww"ed and Daddy kissed me one last time. I said good-bye and reminded myself I could text them. I went and picked a seat on the plane since I was on Southwest airlines. Then we took off and before I knew it, I was in Kansas.
When I got out of the plane and into the airport, I immediately saw a tiny head bobbing up and down through the window. I realized it was Gayla and followed her head to see May and her parents. I ran towards the exit and we burst into a hug. Their mom took a picture of us and I realized how different my clothes were compared to theirs. They were in shorts and tanks, while I was in a sweatshirt and jeans. New Jersey was a lot colder than it was in Kansas. I quickly went to go change into what i had in my backpack which was a pair of shorts. After, we went into their car and drove off to Lawrence. They decided to stop at Costco and the 3 of us played around and ate samples. We ate meatballs, applesauce, and some other things I can't remember. We had fun walking around looking for shaving cream because we were gonna play 'Pie Face'. They decided to play the game with me first even though they promised Lauren because they will always have Lauren with them in Lawrence, but not me. We were also hungry because I arrived at around lunch time, so we went to go buy churros. We each bought a churro and had fun talking and eating. I remember specifically Gayla spitting out her gum and putting it on the tin foil. I stared at it in disgust and May told her it was covered in cinnamon sugar from the churro. I ended up dumping more cinnamon sugar on her gum just for fun, and she still decided to eat it! It was really fun to talk with them again. After that, we went back on the car to head for Lawrence and we got to play with the slime Gayla made. She told me about how she made money by selling her slime and she made lots of slime for fun. Since I haven't been to 'Pet World' in such a long time, they took me there. We played there for about 1/2 an hour and we were done, but by then, their parents had just gotten home and they were pretty pissed. They couldn't stat mad in front of me, so we decided to do 'Pie Face' after we ate 韭菜盒子 for dinner. They were really delicious, but the whipped cream was even more delicious. Playing 'Pie Face' was really fun, but then I got whipped cream into my eye along with Gayla. Soon, my eyes started itching and we thought my allergies started kicking in. (I get allergies at their house probably because of the cat. Every single time I went there when I was still in Lawrence, I got allergies/itchy eyes and itchy face) We went outside and played on playbuzz for a while. After a while, I felt much better. We went back inside and played with Gayla's slime. They had guests at their house, so there were little kids watching Peppa Pig. We also colored a picture Gayla drew of pokémons. After that, we watched Grimm (a television series) until we decided to go to sleep. When I woke up that morning, I was super happy and excited I was in Kansas. I woke up very early though, so I just sat on the mattress playing with the slime Gayla made. After i made the slime crackle and pop, May woke up and we started looking on her Instagram. We were looking at horoscopes and after bursting out in laughter a couple of times, Gayla gave up on sleeping and woke up to look at her Instagram too. After a while, their parents woke up and we started eating breakfast. We had waffles and homemade mulberry muffins Gayla made and we topped them off with whipped cream. Their mom was also very nice and cooked some spicy Italian sausage from Sprouts. After just saying good-bye and Gayla giving me a container of galaxy slime she made, Lauren's mom came to pick me up for church.
She came very late, so when we arrived, it was almost the end of worship. As we got of Ava Joe's mom/Mandie was so surprised to see me and we hugged and I went downstairs. As I was heading down I saw the LCEC banner they made with pictures of the church and all the websites and info. The thing that caught my eye was a picture of me, Maggie, Grace, and Lily at the bottom. I quickly snapped a pic to show my mom. Lauren said, "It's gonna be a hug attack." or something like that. After we were done with worship, I got squeezed and hugged like crazy! Then it was time for youth to go upstairs to listen to the message or something like that. It was preached by Pastor Eddie/Edward Cheng who came all the way from California. It was a really good one, but I forgot what it was about... Something about how God never forgets us and who we are... It was a message that we heard again at Youth Camp. I was a little caught up in happiness and wasn't paying attention, but with the snippets I heard, it was really good. I listened, but just wasn't on the spot focused. When it was done, Pastor Li/Maggie's dad came over with the microphone and asked me if I wanted to say anything about me coming back. Because I was still feeling a little out of place I said, "No" and everyone laughed. After, I gave presents to people I had presents for and we packed our stuff into the car we'd be traveling in. Church was let out early and dismissed early because the youth had to eat quickly and leave. We ate domino's pizza for lunch and we all got a bag full of food we could eat during CWC Youth Camp. There were Cheetos, Gum, Gatorade, and lots of other spicy snacks that Aaron packed because he likes spicy stuff. Dingding also packed some stuff for me only since I couldn't bring to much stuff (due to the plane ride). In the end, we all gave our spicy snacks to Victor and criticized Aaron playfully. We went for last round bathroom trips, got our just in case throw up bags from Maggie's dad, and we left. This was the car seating arrangements. Only Car 1 is in the actual seating arrangement from front to back. The rest I don't know since I wasn't on the car. They may not be accurate.
Car 1 Car 2 (I think) Car 3 (I think)
Maggie's dad/Driver Emma Aaron's Dad Aaron Victor Di
Grace Sophie/Me Kiki Maggie Pastor Eddie Brenda
Dingding Lauren Lucy
So now we were off and we decided to stop at a midway point in Clinton. We stopped, went to the bathroom/relieved ourselves, got gas, and bought some snacks/socialized. At the mid-way point, Maggie switched to our car and the road got really hilly. A lot of us got motion sick, but we played BS and Never Have I Ever to pass the time. In the end, Grace threw up, but luckily we were almost there so she wouldn't have to hold the bag of throw-up for long.
We arrived pretty early. Around 4:30-ish PM, when we were supposed to arrive at 5:30-ish PM. The advantage of coming early was being able to pick your bed first, setting up your stuff before everyone else came, and knowing other information such as your cup number and getting your name tag/registering. And guess what? Grace and I got the same cabin! I chose the big bed at the bottom of the bunk and Grace chose the bed on top of mine. My cup number was 207 and my room number was 101. I didn't get my name tag until the day of the mission trip, but it was fine since we didn't really need our name tags. People just kept switching name tags with each other, so you never knew who was who. There really was no disadvantage to coming early. We played around and introduced Lauren (and I think Emma and Grace,) to the place since they've never been to the actual CWC camp grounds. When people finally started trickling in to the camp, the registration started to open. All you had to do was say you name, Auntie Jenny would check it off, and your name tag was given to you. Before you knew it, it was time for dinner. Only on the first day, you were allowed to just take your cup and grab a seat where ever you wished. On the rest of the days, they placed the cups randomly so you could socialize and meet other people. For the first day of dinner, we had spaghetti and a sause containing beef meat chunks and tomatoes. We sat next to this counselor named Jessica Lau who was just past college and I was the one who introduced all of us to her. She talked with us and we became her first friends at the camp. After dinner, we had a bunch of extra time since most of us only took 10 min. to eat. We decided to take Jessica and Lauren to the dock. We got heavily sprayed with bug spray and Jessica thought we said 'duck' instead of 'dockk. She later found out she was mistaken because she saw the geese and asked us, "Aren't those geese?" and we said "Yes". She got a little bit confused, but we got it cleared up in the end. We collected some goose feathers and went back. She said she had fun and would definitely see us around at camp often. The praise and worship begun followed by the first message preached by Pastor Eddie. During all the messages we sat in the middle row on the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th table which could fit the most people in a row so all of us LCEC girls could sit together. His message was a great message and most of it is explained in my notes and in the handout they gave us. The topic was "Who do you say that I am" Matthew 16:13-20. After, we prayed for the message and the arrival(basically the things for this specific day). The prayer session today was about 10 min. long. We basically just grouped up in a group and Jessica Wang joined our group that day, then we prayed until everyone had prayed st least once. Then they gave some announcements such as reviewing the camp ground rules and reminding us of some things. Afterwards, it was snack and we had something like snack mix or puppy chow. That also went by really fast, so some of us decided to wash really fast before cabin sharing and praying, but I didn't because I wanted to wash my hair. Our counselor's name was Meiyien and our helper's name was Brenda, which is one of the people who rode on one of the car with us to Youth Camp. We ended up having our cabin time in room 102. The 7th grade girls came from cabin 101, 102, and a couple from 103. The girls in my cabin were Abigail Chow, Grace Xie, and Brenda Guan/our helper. The girls in 102 were Danielle (Something I forgot), Grace Wang, Lauren Tao, and Meiyien/our counselor. The 2 girls from 103 were Emma Liu and Ingrid Li. Those were all the people in our group. In this session we just introduced ourselves and explained where we were from. We all prayed and we received the letters written to us. The tiring day was over and we got ready to wash-up and go to bed. We had fun talking before bed and cleared it up with out helper that 'showering/washing' was washing our hair, and 'rinsing' was not washing our hair. We showered in this order: Brenda, Abigail, Me, Grace. Brenda had a bunch of snacks that she brought with her and bought at Walmart when we were still in Kansas. She said we could take anything we wanted, but she made a big mistake in saying that... We went to go visit other people's rooms, but we couldn't visit Maggie's room because she was living in Motel A. Her group was bigger than the others. It was super fun that night, but not many of us slept since it was a new place and we weren't really tired out from that day, but they promised us we would sleep really well after the tiring rafting trip and once we got used to it. After everyone washed up and got ready for bed, we decided to talk for a little bit. Auntie Jenny came in to stop us, but luckily we didn't get dish washing duty because it was our first year here and they made some exceptions. I missed my parents a bit, but everyone said that I would feel at home in no time.
So, when it was morning, we all woke up very early. It was hard to sleep and the temperature was much colder than I assumed. Though I wasn't the only one. We all woke up stared at each other and started another whisper session. Brenda was still sleeping, so we had to be quiet. None of us had a watch to see what time it was, so we all just had to lay there or fall back asleep. When the bell finally rang, all the lights in the cabins turned on and we started to prep for the morning. We could start doing our personal devotions, but that day was the first morning so we let it pass. We took our time preparing and got ready to head up the group devotions. During the group devotions, we had to read a bible passage and we discussed about it with the other members of our group. It was a nice start to the week to listen to Meiyien talk about the topic for group devotion, but also give some other little introductions to the camp. We also didn't know that the week would just fly by so fast! After taking our time to discuss and Meiyien getting our names wrong a few times (such as me being Abigail), the bell rang and called us to breakfast. The breakfast we had was just like the regular CWC breakfasts and we had some things differ throughout the week such as french toast, sausage, waffles, pancakes, bacon, etc. But I can't remember the exact order. I think we had waffles the first morning. This was the first meal that our cups were shuffled up. It was cool to meet new people or sit close to the people we already knew. After breakfast, we still had a little bit of time, so we quickly went to go set out stuff down at our seats. We played some games, talked to some people etc. and then it was time to start or discipleship session. We realized that Abigail took Maggie's seat, so Maggie had to sit somewhere else. That was when I had a little bit of a harder time growing closer and liking Abigail. Same for the rest of the LCEC girls. She had no friends and we were nice, so we couldn't shoo her away, but we were a little annoyed she came to sit with us uninvited. We had a nice time listening to Sister Vivian preach. She was a little more serene and her voice was so calming that quite a few people fell asleep throughout the week during the sessions she talked in. I liked the one she preached this morning. We heard her talk about how Christ is All and filled in the section she left for us in the booklet/guide/handout thing they gave us. I took really neat and organized bulleted notes throughout the week with a pencil and several highlighters that I alternated colors with throughout out the messages. After that was over, we got about 10 min. to transition to our next place which was the auxiliary room for us middle schoolers, but the others stayed where they were. We had a little bit of time to talk and move around, but 10 min. isn't a lot, so we had to quickly get back to the scheduled place. The person talking to the middle schoolers was Sister Vivian. She talked about Reading our way to Greater Faith. You can see some other notes in my notebook, but not the booklet since there isn't anything in there written for the workshops. Then we headed our group's designated group space that we used for group devotions and group discussions. We discussed about how we felt after the first 3 messages. We shared the things we liked and the things that stood out to us. And right after we prayed the bell rang, so we went to get lunch. We went to the lunch area and as always we had extra time. We decided to go back to the cabins to get some stuff and we found out that Dingding, Danielle, Emma, Grace, and Brenda were all on their period. It was pretty weird and we got into this talk about that type of stuff... Anyway, we had to hurry back to do the organized activities and of course not everyone participated such as Lauren, Lucy, Aaron, Maggie, etc. The game was us trying to fold a piece of cloth/plastic sheet multiple times and trying to fit our team on it. It really hurt because people were using my hair as a rope, I was having nails dug into my skin, and people were stepping on my foot. Soon enough, my team gave up. Brenda's team won. We had Jessica Wang as our game leader this time. She was nice, but wasn't very patient with us. After that short activity session (which was not as long as the actual time set aside for it), it was free time. We had free time for about 45 min. We went back to the cabin and played dutch blitz. I also ate some of the snacks Dingding gave me. It was fun and I asked everyone/the girls who came downstairs if they wanted a Pringle. Some people rejected, and some people didn't, but at least I got to make a couple new friends at the camp that way! Free time flew by really fast, so we rushed to get back to attend the training future leaders session thing. Pastor Steve was the one talking this time about writing testimonies. We wrote down our testimonies during the session and gave them to our counselor. Our counselors would choose the best testimonies of the group and then they would choose 2 more of the best of the best. Those people would say their testimonies on the mission trip. The entire time we were basically just writing and right after we went to dinner. Dinner was fine, we had some chicken and some type of lettuce. It was also really quick, so this time we just hung out in the message area. I can't really remember many other things we did after dinner because this was 2 weeks ago, but I remember spending time with my friends and having so much fun. We continued onto
praise and worship which was done by the worship team. The
drums/percussionist was Chris (and Daniel was really good at it, but not
as good as him), the pianist was Jessica, the bassist/electric
guitarist was John, the guitarist was Brenda, and the singer was
Christina. The songs we sang throughout the week included, Amazing Grace
(My chains are gone), At the cross (Love Ran Red), Build your kingdom
here, By our love, Great are you Lord, Good good father, Lay me down, No
longer slaves, Set a fire, Scandal of Grace, What a beautiful name,
Yahweh, You make me brave, and Knowing You. Afterwards, we had Pastor
Eddie preach again about "Knowing Who You're Dealing With" Matthew
17:1-13. He told us to be aware of if we truly know who Jesus is and if
we're taking him for granted. It was a touching message because it
allowed a lot of us to realize if we were doing it too. We prayed in
groups once again and we all rushed off to snack immediately after. We
quickly grabbed a slice of cake and left. Again, Emma usually quickly
took a shower before cabin time since she lived in a room full of older
kids that took forever to shower. I'm pretty sure Lauren showered that
night too, but those 2 were the only ones that showered before cabin
time. Mostly Emma. Cabin Sharing was us playing Two truths and a Lie.
Everyone was so into the game, that they forgot to let me have a turn! I
didn't really need to have a turn though, so I didn't go. It was over
really fast and as usual, we all prayed and I always prayed last since
no one wanted to pray last. I was more mature and didn't fight for it.
Many of the girls didn't close their eyes especially Abigail. I
remembered doing it when I was younger since it helped me think, but now
I can truly pray with my eyes closed since it comes from the bottom of
my heart. Wash-up went fine, I didn't have to wash my hair, but I didn't
know I would regret it the next day. During the extra time we had, we
decided that we would meet up at the dock in the morning for personal
devotions. We could either do the work that Sister Vivian gave us at the
workshop, or impress Meiyien by doing the group devotion preparation.
We decided to discuss tomorrow, but the people coming were me, Brenda, Abigail, Grace Xie, Emma, and Lauren. We also did it another day besides Tuesday, but I forgot when. We were a little more tired today, so we went to bed, but then I realized I didn't brush my teeth. So I quickly brushed them without Auntie Jenny knowing. I was rushed and made Grace and Abigail laugh, but Brenda told me to quiet down since she was an older kid and would get some punishments if she talked/made noise. We all slowly dozed off and went to bed.
That morning, the 3 of us woke up very early. Brenda was still in bed, so we had to change and get ready quietly. Soon she woke up and we waited for her, but in the end everyone was waiting on me to brush my hair. We went down to the dock and had a nice discussion. We ended up doing the work Sister Vivian told us to do. It was optional, but we decided to do it while we still had the motivation. It was nice to talk with eachother and discuss, but after we went a little bit over the time we planned to leave, we quickly rushed to the place for group devotions. We were a little late and everyone was staring when we went in, but Meiyien didn't mind too much. Brenda was leading the group devotion and she didn't do any preparation, so she played it cool. She said "Let's read it again" twice so we got to listen to it twice and she told us on the way up that we had to participate. Emma was very loyal and she immediately said something. Lauren, who was Brenda's favorite because she talked about decorating pineapples, didn't say anything. Brenda nudged her, but nothing would come out of her mouth. It was another nice morning devotion, but Brenda was a little disappointed in Lauren since she didn't speak up. I congratulated her and told her she did a good job in running it smooth. She thanked me and we walked off to breakfast. Breakfast was fine. We had some kind of really delicious sausage and I also ate some of the leftover breakfast from yesterday. We basically had the same morning as yesterday. Nothing really special. We had lunch, did more mission project practice, etc. Then for organized activities, we did the toilet paper roll fashion show thing. It was the best material they could find at Walmart for less than 85 cents. We didn't win the challenge. To see the fashion show you can watch the CWC Youth Camp video. We continued with our free time. I think that day all we did was talk and eat stuff. I don't remember exactly, but I'm just trying to put down some of hte most memorable things I still remember. We attended all the classes, ate, sang, and talked. That night I took a long time showering because my hair had tons of dandruff and I didn't have my dandruff shampoo. So I took a longer time and everyone behind me had to go really fast. That night I also almost forgot to brush my teeth again! I brushed them, but Auntie Jenny caught me. When I turned on the lights, she had this look on her face that made me a little intimidated, so I quickly turned off the lights. She laughed at the face I made and told me to quickly turn the light back on so I could see. I realized Auntie Jenny was pretty nice and I stumbled back into bed.
This was my favorite day of the entire week. I woke up happy and ready to do rafting! We didn't go to the dock this time because we had to prepare and bring our stuff for the rafting trip. Everyone was so excited it was hard to focus that morning. The workshop that Pastor Eddie was doing really caught my attention. It was about saying bad words or saying a modified version. Whether or not we should say them, or opinions on them, and how we should be more thoughtful about the stuff that comes out of our mouths. After that we had about 10 min. to go change into our bathing suits. It ended up taking about 1/2 an hour. I found out the people on my boat were Samuel, Vincie, Nathan, Joseph/Auntie Jenny's son, and Sarah. Boys were the only people allowed to be raft leaders, so Aaron as one of the oldest kids at the camp had to be a leader. We were on the bus and Emma and Dingding saved a spot for me to sit next to them and Grace was going to sit with Maggie, but Lovie sat next to her, so Grace had to sit in the seat behind. I even let Grace choose where to sit! But she chose Maggie. It was a long bus ride. Amy, Grace, and Margret were singing songs in the back and it was just long and annoying. I let the others borrow my sunscreen and we ate lunch on the bus. They were sandwiches with tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, and some type of meat. Either roast beef or ham. They were really good, but Dingding didn't eat it because last year she ate it, she threw up. Finally we got to the rafting place, only to find that we needed to ride another bus to get to the actual rafting destination. It was hard to find all the members of our group. Samuel could only find me and Daniel only found Grace. Samuel and Daniel are twins. I rode there with Lauren, Grace, Aaron, and his friend Joseph. I sat next to Lauren and it was fun to sit behind Aaron and Joseph because Lauren kept on playing with his hair and he got mad. Then Lauren would say sorry and beg for forgiveness. Aaron would always look at me and I would shake my head and point at Lauren. It was just so funny. When we finally got there Samuel rushed us to the raft. He pushed us and we took off. Nathan and I didn't paddle. Nathan kicked in the back and I chanted "1,2...1,2..." on and on. I don't think Vincie liked me since she told me to stop since it was distracting. We were in 3rd, but Grace's team/Samuel's twin's team passed us. Samuel liked splashing others too. We got stuck a couple times and that made us slow down, but the funny part was when Daniel got out of his boat. He got out to take a bask in the sun, but by the time he decided to get up, his raft was so far ahead! So, as a nice loving twin brother, Samuel let him onto our raft. Daniel was topless the whole time, but Samuel wasn't the type of person to do that. We paddled and it was funny because the current made Daniel and Joseph/Auntie Jenny's son paddle harder. When we finally reached the mid-way point everyone was tired out. Grace and I were waiting for Aaron to 'scold' him for coming in last. It was funny when he did. His raft stopped really far from shore, so he had to push against the current. We splashed him and he got mad. I told him he was being such a big baby for saying how painful the rocks were, so he got mad at me. Then I just stole one of his paddles and we had fun splashing and playing. At that time, I finally felt him open up to me since the last time I saw him in Kansas before I left. When it was time to keep going, we were almost left behind. Luckily Vincie and Samuel pulled us in before they left without us. After taking off, the 2 of them decided to go for a little swim. But then after getting off, they couldn't get back on! So we just left them since there was no going back. We saw several boats stuck on the tree, but what we didn't know after we passed by was that one of the rafts popped. They eventually formed a long snakes of rafts which would've been cool, but we had more to worry about. Now we had Lauren, Kiki, and Sarah on the boat. Kiki was still holding Vincie's Apple Watch, so she couldn't paddle, but eventually she put it down to help us. There were snakes, which motivated Kiki to paddle a little bit faster. We ran on all girl power! It was so much fun because we didn't have a boy on our raft and we felt powerful. Lauren was complaining because she was tired. She said "I wish we had a man on our raft!", but when I told other people about it I said she said, "I wish I had a man!". It was so funny! We had so much fun working together and talking. At the end, we confirmed we had to write letters to eachother. We ended up getting #5 I think... We caught the last bus and headed toward the center which we parked at. Lauren bought and ice cream for me there and I washed up my feet and shoes in the bathroom. To be honest, I think Lauren just didn't want to share with me, but she said she already gave me one and it would be unfair to the others if she bought me another one. So, I just went to Brenda to ask for money since she said she would give us some if we wanted it. I eventually got 2 ice creams and ate a hotdog and 2 sandwiches due to my hungriness. Daniel also wanted the sandwich, but he was very nice and let me have it instead. When it was time to go back on the bus, Grace, Emma, and I sat together and we shared a slushie that Emma bought with her money. It was pretty delicious and everyone mostly slept on the way back. Amy, Grace, and Margret were still singing songs in the back and it got pretty annoying. The ride was very long since I didn't really want to sleep and I was just sitting there for an hour watching grass go by. I got a little bit motion sick, but in the end I was fine. We arrived back very late, so we would have a shortened evening message that night. We didn't have much time to get changed since we had to catch the message. I almost arrived late, but that was ok. Most of us smelled disgusting and of dead fish. Pastor Eddie talked a little bit about how we should act once we get back home from Youth Camp. He said to tell our parents all about it, and how we will have PMS/Post Mountain-top Syndrome. The main topic he was supposed to talk about was actually about how our life is a race, Jesus is the prize, and how we should fix our eyes on Jesus. It was a simpler evening message and we got snack again. This time snack was ice cream. We had to finish in the cafeteria because the spoons had to be returned. Grace, Dingding, and I talked to Samuel for a while, then we left. We had to quickly go back to the cabins to wash up since we all needed to wash our hair. Auntie Jenny understood our struggles, so she extended bedtime to about 11:30 to be able to allow everyone to have clean hair. Evenings were all the same. Talking, washing up, and almost forgetting to brush my teeth. During cabin time that day, we got our mission trip t-shirts to wear. They were deep royal blue with black and white letters. When I washed my hair that day, since we had extra time, Lauren decided to pamper me by blow drying my hair and brushing it like crazy. My hair was so soft and smooth. It was like being a princess for a day. You could obviously tell the other girls were jealous and Lauren was too, but Abigail was the only one that asked to be pampered like I did. We were all so tired that day, and once we fell asleep, we didn't wake up until the bell.
The next day, we all wore out matching t-shirts and we all looked great! We mainly did the pampering stuff again and trying to find a good hairstyle to do our hair in. I kept mine down since it felt more usual. We quickly went through our morning and everything was the same. They finally decided that we would practice more before we left for the mission trip. I was the only one (including Lauren,) that wasn't part of Serena's group. I was in Christina's group. Lauren was in someone else's. I was pretty bummed out at the time, but I didn't know how much fun I would actually have without them! We practiced and luckily my group left at the same time as Serena's group, so I felt just a smidge better. Their group left in some vans and my group was combined with Aaron's group, so I had to sit on the bus next to Aaron the entire time. The dust really got to us since we were on the bus. The kids in the back played 'Sweet or Sour' and they did the international sign for honk to see who would respond. There was one motorcycle dude that was they all really liked and they said that he would become their new best friend they would never see again. It was quite funny to see them do that. Caleb, Amy, and Margret also played Christina's ukulele in the back. Aaron said they were playing 3 chords for 1 song and they played that song for 3 hours, which showed that they played one chord per hour. The smell of the bus diesel was really disgusting, so I held my shirt over my nose. Aaron did the same. After a while, the smell sort of faded away, but I thought it still smelled quite a bit. I kept my shirt over my nose, and since Aaron got nicer over the years, he waved his hand over my face to see if I was ok. Aaron throws up easily, so he didn't look too good during the bus ride. He eventually noticed I was wearing Dingding's watch and we talked for a little bit about some stuff going on in Lawrence, and how my life is in NJ since his friend Joseph was asleep. Soon, he fell asleep, and their sleeping positions were quite hilarious. I tried to keep a mental picture so I could tell the other LCEC kids about it. Aaron's head was leaning onto the seat in front of him, and his head fell straight through his knees. Once he woke up I quickly turned away, so he wouldn't feel awkward or embarrassed. Then we arrived at our first destination. It smelled like rotten fish, but it was so great to talk to the elderly. Pastor Eddie was with us for the missions trip and Caleb shared his testimony. Once we got back on the bus they kept on playing the ukulele and Aaron and I just watched them. Joseph fell asleep again and we talked a bit more.
We decided to stop and have our lunch. I sat with Kiki, Sarah, and Sophia/Selena's sister. Lunch went by pretty fast, we played on the swings. The next nursing home we went to was the one where we my group did the body worship. I messed up quite a few times, but I was fine anyway. Kiki and I talked to this really nice lady named Joyce who had her husband with her. I also prayed for a woman and she didn't even say amen after the prayer. There were also some people who liked touching our faces.
We actually only went to those 2, but I think it was still pretty fun to go and talk to those elderly. By the end of the bus ride, we were surrounded by dust. Some of the other people from other worship team groups hopped onto the bus. The ride was good and since we came back to the camp so late, Auntie Jenny decided there would be no evening message. Instead we all just headed straight for snack and into cabin time. We spent most of the time writing letters to people and being sad that this would be our last few days at camp. They passed by so fast! I was already missing them and didn't want to go back to NJ.
We still had one day left, so I had to spend it wisely with all my friends. My suitcase was starting to look like a total disaster near the end of the week. At least I kept all my dirty underwear and socks in a plastic bag. I had to rewear some of my old socks since we weren't allowed to wear sandals or flip-flops. Abigail was still hinting at the fact that she wanted to be pampered like I was yesterday night, and she was sort of mad at me when she didn't. It wasn't really my fault Lauren wanted to play with my hair. That night I helped Lauren brush her hair and dry it since she did it for me the night before. Brenda went to go talk with her older friends while we just sat there and talked. It felt so nice to be with my friends and that's when it hit me that I missed my parents too. I had forgotten about them other than the times when relating to my family to the messages pastors preached. And luckily that night I remembered to brush my teeth before lights out.
Today was the last full day at Youth Camp this year and everyone seemed so sad about it, but tonight was the campfire and we were all excited about it too. We got to share stories or testimonies and make S'mores. Sarah already wrote down her testimony and had it ready so that she could read it at the campfire that night. Lots of people also asked us if we were gonna share that night. Breakfast was same as usual, I'm pretty sure we had french toast. The mornings were typical, that morning during devotion we read part of revelation, which gave us a glimpse of what our life in heaven will be like. Everything else felt the same as usual. Lunch was starting to become just a bunch of the leftovers throughout the week. That day we had a talent show thing that was very last minute. We only had about 15 minutes to think of an act. Most of them were pretty good, and when I asked what Pastor Eddie was doing, he said he was going to do mind reading. Of course the first thing that popped into my mind was the math trick and I said "Please don't tell me you're doing the math one." He blinked and said, "That's exactly what I'm doing". We both sighed and he thanked me for telling him so he could think of something else. He still ended up doing it and told everyone how I shattered his plan. Lucy's group won the talent show and they got a bunch of Pocky. The runner up got a pack of gummies. After that, we played some games, had some free time, and after a bunch of begging, Abigail finally got pampered by us. Maggie was rushing to get all her letters done as we all just sat around talking. That day just flew by really fast and before we knew it, it was campfire time. Selena warned us to wear a jacket because it would get a little chilly outside. Taking advice from a long time camper was smart, so we did. Grace, Lauren, Abigail, and I sat together, even though we really wanted to sit with Dingding, Emma, and Maggie. We were closer to the fire and got a better view of everything. They put these packets in the fire that made it change color to green. We sang worship songs by the fire and Daniel was on the cajón instead of Chris. Everything was great. We had popsicles and chips while people were sharing their testimonies or just sharing stories by the fire. One girl named Sophia was moving to Georgia and was really sad about it, and I could definitely relate to her situation. After several people went, we got ready to have S'mores. I was one of the first people to grab a marshmallow stick, so Kiki and I made marshmallows together. I ended up only eating one, while KiKi ate like 10. It was delicious, but afterwards everyone started crying and breaking down. I cried and Jessica, Dingding, Maggie, and Emma comforted me. Grace and Lauren eventually came over to too. Jessica ended up praying for me and I felt a little better. We sang more songs after about 1/2 the people left back to the cabins. Lights out was 12am that night since we stayed by the campfire pretty late. Hugs were going around and everything was so chaotic that night. I felt so sad to leave so quickly. The week flew past and I would have to wait another 7 months before I could see my friends in Lawrence again. Auntie Jenny let Lauren sleep with me that night since I was crying really hard. She also comforted me afterwards and I just felt so grateful to be surrounded in God's love. I slept soundly that night and kept telling myself that I would always see them again next year. Washing up flew by as everyone gathered around to say good-byes, give hugs, and wipe tears.
That morning was not a great morning. Everyone wasn't as lively, but rather sad. I barely remembered anything that morning besides me sitting to the left of Aaron for the 2nd time in a row. We listened to Pastor Eddie speak about how the message, the Gospel, and the gift of God was so close to us. The rest of our meals were leftovers and we packed up everything getting ready to leave. The rooms had to be cleaned and I was assigned the job to clean up our room. We got to take some pictures with people and waved good-bye to everyone since we were the last to leave. We did some last minute preparations like going to the bathroom and Aaron filling up his Gatorade bottle with coffee. I had to leave on Lucy's car in the end and didn't know leaving CWC campgrounds was gonna be the last time I would see them for the next 7 months. We did group hugs and waved good-bye. Lauren, Lucy, and Kiki were all in the car with me. We stopped at a gas station so we could have a bathroom break and they could buy some stuff. When we reached Lauren's house, we had dinner, played with Lauren's slime, and did a bunch of stuff we would've done if I was still in Lawrence. I found out that I wouldn't be going to church tomorrow and was devastated when I heard that we couldn't do anything about it and how it was too risky to miss my flight. The good part was going to Sylas and Maddie's to get ice cream. I didn't sleep very well that night and missed my family very much. It just felt so terrible to leave.
The next morning we left and Lauren's mom bought me a BLT from Subway. We quickly headed to the airport and made it early. I said a quick good-bye to Lauren's mom and I went into the plane. Since I was top priority as a flying minor, I got a good seat at the front of the plane. The man that sat next to me spilled coffee and didn't know what to do. I offered him my napkin, but that wasn't enough, so I just pushed the button overhead that called the flight attendant. He said it was a good idea and I was pretty proud of myself. The flight attendant got some paper towels and he cleaned up the mess. Some got on my shoe, but it was ok. When we were close to landing I was super happy. When I stepped off the plane I didn't see my dad anywhere, so I just called him and headed towards the exit place. He said he would meet me near the baggage pick up. Traffic was much heavier that expected. To pass the time I searched up the lyrics to some of the songs I sang at Youth Camp and sang them. Then Daddy texted me and I quickly looked up and saw him. He gave me a big hug and I was just so happy to see him again! I told him a little about my time there as he told me how things went when I wasn't home. Mommy missed me very much and cried during the week. It's really hard to express how excited, glad, and happy I was. My dad asked if I wanted something to eat. We decided there was nothing much to grab, so we quickly left. Traffic flow was still pretty slow, and since I was super tired, I went to sleep. When I woke up we were close to home. I couldn't wait to see Nathan and my mom again. When I opened the door me and my mom crashed into a huge hug. Nathan came running too. It felt so good to be back home and eat the delicious food my mom cooked. Even though I was pretty bummed that I didn't get to see my friends one last time, the happiness I had to see my family was just so much. I talked on and on about my adventure and decided to write it down. The notes I took during the messages and sermons were beautiful and now I am writing my whole trip and adventure. I will never forget this amazing part of my life. Of course I had to head back to school the next day so I quickly cleaned up and got some rest for the next day. This was a great experience and I definitely want to go next year!
Youth Camp 2017 video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPPNEHDoU2U&t=268s
Outfit for day #1- Pink floral layered shirt w/ gray capris
Outfit for day #2- White Hollister shirt w/ gray leggings
Outfit for day #3- Blue Kansas shirt w/ gray carpis
Outfit for day #4- Pink Jayhawk t-shirt w/ longer darker jean shorts (exception with shorts because it was rafting trip day
Outfit for day #5- Mission trip Youth Camp t-shirt w/ black capris with bottom lace cutout bottom
Outfit for day #6- Love little things shirt with cute lace attached cardigan
Outfit for day #7- Hello adventure gray sparkly shirt with jeans
