As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints we hold callings (responsibilities, positions of leadership) in the church, and this summer I was called as an advisor to the young women, ages 12-18. And if you know me, you probably know that I'm 19, so just a couple years older than most of the girls.
Having the responsibility to be an "advisor" to young women so close to my own age was a little bit intimidating. I was worried that they wouldn't take me seriously and forget that I was supposed to be a leader (granted I did already know most of them from just the year before when I was in Young Womens with them). And it turns out I was completely right. They didn't take me seriously most of the time and hardly ever treated me like an adult leader. However, this proved to be the best scenario since I rarely take my own self seriously. Getting to know all of them better over the past few months and just goofing around and having fun made me realize how important every second of a short summer is.
The experience taught me a great deal about true leadership. It's not about giving orders or trying to teach from your own life experiences through stories that begin with "Well when I was your age..." (that was pretty much yesterday for me anyway). It's about leading by example and not delegating anything that you wouldn't be willing to do yourself. It's about trying to lose yourself for a little while and show that you care for others. I learned that through service you come to really love people.
Being a Young Womens Advisor wasn't all lesson teaching, example setting, or reminding them to do this or that. Most of the time it was quirky moments and fun conversation.
Some of my favorite moments:
1. Accidentally starting a fire in our cabin at camp. Some of the campers were supposed to be learning ways to start a fire without matches because apparently most of the time when you go camping you forget matches...? I must say, the Perdido girls were champs at this and deserve a certificate for creativity. I still vividly remember the moment when I walked out into the hallway and smelled smoke and heard a sizzling noise. One of the girls (not naming names here) had hit a volleyball into the light and started an electrical fire. This resulted in the evacuation of the entire building (at least fifteen girls and their leaders). Whose volleyball was that and why were they hitting it around inside the building? As a leader I take full responsibility for the incident. How could I have seen that coming? My only consolation is that it made for a great story and all of the girls got a good laugh out of it.
2. Telling scary stories at camp. This is actually a sensitive subject because it really did freak some of them out. Over the years I have accumulated quite a few disturbing "ghost" stories (none include ghosts) from older brothers, my dad, and friends who all decided it was fun to give me nightmares. The stories don't scare me anymore, but I guess they are pretty horrific to 13-year-olds who have never heard them before... and who probably will never have a sleepover again after hearing them. Story telling, whether you're making somebody laugh or making them shudder, is really fun and satisfying. You're providing quality entertainment.
3. Water polo at the pool party. We set up two of those inflatable pool rings- one on each end of the pool. These would serve as the goals. Then we divided up the teams and played "water polo" with a volleyball. Our pool is on the smaller side and the deepest it goes is five feet. So there were about eight of us splashing around and violently grabbing for the volleyball. Sometimes the goals would float away so that's something to consider if you ever decide to set up your own game.
4. Playing the cup game. I don't know what this is actually called but basically you take a cup and there's a certain beat you make with it on a table. Everyone does it at once and then you pass your cup to the person next to you and do it again. Alright... that was probably the worst description ever. If you've ever done it you probably know what I'm talking about. So I taught the girls who had never done it before and we all got pretty good at it during camp. We were actually pretty obnoxious about it and had to swipe some extra plastic cups. We ended up hoarding them and I was the one carrying them around. Every time we sat down at our table in the dining hall.... "Do you have the cups?! Get the cups!!"
I still can't get over how this summer turned out. It was so much more fulfilling than I imagined it would be and that is due mostly to the Perdido Ward Young Women. They made up the little moments of my summer, the ones that are subtle but turn out to be the ones you remember and the ones you reflect back on the most. These little moments are what make up that one big moment that is a summer, full of fun, innocence, creativity, and love. It's like being a kid again, when we lived as if the summer wouldn't end but never sat still for a second because there simply wasn't time to waste.
Next up: Track 3!!!
- Caroline
