Contributed by: Vicki c93v@juno.com

The things I am giving this year are:
Day 1: Bit O Honey candy bars with the saying: Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones." Proverbs 16:24   (I got this saying from a lady on this list!)
Day 2: A smiley face beach ball with the saying: S.M.I.L.E. --Spiritually Minded Is Life Eternal. 2 Nephi 9:39
Day 3: I am giving something patriotic. I don't know exactly what yet.  With a patriotic saying.
Day 4: I am giving Glow Stick necklaces with the saying: A candle loses nothing by sharing it's light with another. "One of the most important ways we nourish our testimonies is by sharing them with others. Sharing our testimonies not only builds others but brings greater "light" and further blessings into our own lives."
--Spencer W. Kimball

Contributed by: Jody Jarvis jodyjarvis@hotmail.com

My favorite patriotic topic is the promises to those who live in this great country and choose to follow God and serve him:

Ether 2:10
For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the fullness of iniquity among the children of the land, that they are swept off.

Ether 2:12
Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the things which we have written.

Ether 9:20
And thus the Lord did pour out his blessings upon this land, which was choice above all other lands; and he commanded that whoso should possess the land should possess it unto the Lord, or they should be destroyed when they were ripened in iniquity; for upon such, saith the Lord: I will pour out the fullness of my wrath.

Ether 13:2
For behold, they rejected all the words of Ether; for he truly told them of all things, from the beginning of man; and that after the waters had receded from off the face of this land it became a choice land above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord; wherefore the Lord would have that all men should serve him who dwell upon the face thereof;

In our stake we do give gifts and handouts each day. We usually try to give something that goes along with the theme. This year our theme is "2001 A Space Oddessy - A Spiritual Quest" We are giving Glow-in-the-dark necklaces with hearts on them. This is what we will use to string the camp beads on. We are also giving Wintergreen Lifesavers (Because they spark in the dark when you bite them) And Glow-in-the-dark bouncy balls and whistles. Each gift will have a saying attached to it. We also give out one or two paper handouts with inspirational poems or saying on them.

We have the girls make value colored bead necklaces the first day ..string them on skinny ribbon the color that was assigned to our ward. From there we hand out charms several times a day that go on the necklace. We give them out for doing good deeds during the day, in the morning when we have a short spiritual thought before we start the day, around the fireside for a devotional.....any time when we are trying to teach a concept to the girls. Hopefully when they look at their necklace at camp or at home, they will remember what was taught.

We have also put a little bag of goodies (or something pertaining to a story we have given) on their pillow along with a charm.

What are the charms???? Last year I spent a million hours tracing and coloring DJ Inker cut and copy ideas onto Shrink-it. They turned out darling but this year I have wised up and I'm using the computer to make graphics to go along with our camp theme and laminating them. Then cut them out ... punch a whole in them and Wha-laaa! Easy and cute! (email me if you have any questions)

Submitted by: Darlene in Gunnison, UT agren@gtelco.net

I have given them a little "devotional" every morning on their pillows......you see, they have to leave for morning roll-call at our flag ceremony and if they roll up their sleeping bags and place their pillow on them nice and neat, then when they return from the flag ceremony, they get a little "treat" on their pillows....... I've given:

• A Poem of their reflection and how they should reflect the Light of Christ that they have within them and used a little mirror to go with it..... or a pen-light with a poem about shining their Light........
• T-shirts and each girl had a different color of paint and they painted their hands and put a hand-print on the shirts and signed their names..... the leaders put their hand prints coming over the shoulders (much like you would when you put your hand on their shoulders for help..... cute) .......
• Pillow cases and let each of the girls sign them with permanent markers.... and they LOVE them and use them year after year........
• Take a gallon-sized buckets, decorated them with contact paper and then covered the top with a piece of foam and material and it makes a great little seat to use around the campfire and they can put their make-up in it and trinkets.... our girls called them their "kaboodles"..... whatever!!!!!!
• Little bandanas that are certain colors with the various themes that year and they love to tie them on to things......
• A  little bottle of that flavored punch "squeeze-it" and tied a handful of herseys kisses and hugs in a little net material and said, here's a big squeeze and kisses and hugs for being so great all week at camp!!!!!
• One of the best ones was, I left a little herseys kiss that was made into an angel (her body was a gold herseys kiss, with gold pipe cleaner arms and a tiny wooden-bead head and a tiny gold pipe cleaner halo) and a poem about them being an "angel" and literal daughter of God. They loved that one!!!!!!!
• I've also given them little "worry" dolls and a saying about not to worry.....
• A  poem about being a friend and used a cute little "friendship" ring to go around the paper in a scroll..........

Just a few ideas to pass along......

This is a hand-out I have from a camp year. It was typed on a 3x5 card with a small rock stuck to the top corner.  It reads:

As I hike I love to enjoy the beautiful world around me. This rock reminds me of you. The imperfections in it's color--the imperfection in all our lives that make us unique and become our strengths. A rock is hard--you must be "hard" to endure the trials of life.

Some rocks are large, some small--Heavenly Father made each of us in different packages, one is not better than another. The whiteness is your faith and purity. The "sparkle" is the light of Christ in your life.

If I take this rock and place it in a jeweler's tumbler it will become smooth and more brilliant as it is crushed against harder coarser stones and sand. Facing the problems and hardships of life will help you become even more "brilliant" and Christ-like as you make righteous choices.

Camp

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