Shanghai Girls Camp
I'm going to start off topic. My friend Kim lived in China a year before I came here, and her China blog was one of the things that inspired me to come. Now, she is married, and she and her husband are working in China together. She has a new blog and is an amazing writer. I'm not good about writing about daily life in China, so if you really want to get a taste of that, head here. She also shares more about how the LDS church runs here in China for international and local members. Some interesting information!
Back to the topic. I was asked to go to girls camp this week. Girls camp usually happens in the summer for a week for LDS young women in the USA. Here, they camp in September during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Our branch has four young women, and they were joining other young women (about 30 total) in the Shanghai area for a 3-day camp. I was asked to go with them as a leader because the Young Women president couldn't make it. AND I love girls camp, so a winning situation for me!
"Camp" was held at the home of one of the members in Shanghai, and due to heavy rains the girls slept inside at night and did most of their activities inside as well.
There were lots of great devotionals, and conversations, but I'm here to share about Ginger. Ginger was one of the other leaders at camp and she is a single woman, probably in her late 30s or early 40s I would guess? And she is so awesome. And she does FHE on her own! She told me that years ago, one of her bishops told her that even though she isn't married or have any children, she can still have family home evening. So, she listened to his counsel and started spending Monday evenings with friends. These friends were not LDS, but she explained to them the concept of FHE. They called their FHE "Monday Funday." I love that. She inspired me so much by how she lives her life with joy and blesses the lives of children and youth through teaching and serving. I want to be more like Ginger.
One last thing. One of the girls at camp, who I also want to be more like, is 12 years old and is the only young woman (LDS and international) in her city. WOW. She is many people's first contact with the Gospel. She asked one night "what does it mean to be a Mormon?" What does that mean? Well, it doesn't mean I'm perfect. It doesn't mean I'm always happy. It doesn't mean I'm fit for God's kingdom. What it does mean is that I'm a disciple of Christ. I've taken His name upon me. I want to act as he does and serve as he does and repent when I fall apart. And in the end, if I've tried my best to serve others, to be His disciple, then He can make me fit for the kingdom.
Back to the topic. I was asked to go to girls camp this week. Girls camp usually happens in the summer for a week for LDS young women in the USA. Here, they camp in September during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Our branch has four young women, and they were joining other young women (about 30 total) in the Shanghai area for a 3-day camp. I was asked to go with them as a leader because the Young Women president couldn't make it. AND I love girls camp, so a winning situation for me!
"Camp" was held at the home of one of the members in Shanghai, and due to heavy rains the girls slept inside at night and did most of their activities inside as well.
There were lots of great devotionals, and conversations, but I'm here to share about Ginger. Ginger was one of the other leaders at camp and she is a single woman, probably in her late 30s or early 40s I would guess? And she is so awesome. And she does FHE on her own! She told me that years ago, one of her bishops told her that even though she isn't married or have any children, she can still have family home evening. So, she listened to his counsel and started spending Monday evenings with friends. These friends were not LDS, but she explained to them the concept of FHE. They called their FHE "Monday Funday." I love that. She inspired me so much by how she lives her life with joy and blesses the lives of children and youth through teaching and serving. I want to be more like Ginger.
One last thing. One of the girls at camp, who I also want to be more like, is 12 years old and is the only young woman (LDS and international) in her city. WOW. She is many people's first contact with the Gospel. She asked one night "what does it mean to be a Mormon?" What does that mean? Well, it doesn't mean I'm perfect. It doesn't mean I'm always happy. It doesn't mean I'm fit for God's kingdom. What it does mean is that I'm a disciple of Christ. I've taken His name upon me. I want to act as he does and serve as he does and repent when I fall apart. And in the end, if I've tried my best to serve others, to be His disciple, then He can make me fit for the kingdom.
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