Lessons from YW Camp 2001

In 2001, I was serving as a high councilor in the Orem Canyon View stake. I had been assigned as the stake representative to the Young Women — a wonderful responsibility!  We prepared through the year for the annual Young Women Camp, and had been assigned to a week in August at Camp Mia Shalom, where we had attended many times.  During this year, however, the summer was hot and dry, and the water supply at Shalom ran low.  We would have to bring in water for all our needs — a challenging task. We looked for alternatives, and found one option: Camp Bennion, several miles up Spanish Fork canyon. It had water and some good options for activities and was closer to home. It was, however, a tent camp — no cabins — providing a different experience for the young women, and their leaders! But there was a lot of enthusiasm for the new setting.

As the high council representative, I had the privilege to spend the whole week at the camp with the young women and their leaders.  During the course of the week, there were some wonderful experiences, as always.  But three specific lessons that came to me personally have lingered in my mind in the years that have passed; in fact, they always come back to mind when I drive down Spanish Fork Canyon. I decided it was time to record them. I'll list them in the reverse order of when they occurred.

1. Driving intervention.

(Not an actual photo of the event, but similar vehicles)

Logistics of equipment for the week had been more complicated than normal, since we had to deal with quite a bit of equipment we weren't used to — tents, stoves, canopies, tables, etc.  At the end of the week, one of the ward leaders who had to leave early asked if I might bring back a trailer full of equipment.  I was driving a 1995 Jeep Cherokee, which was just right for me — flexible, mobile.  It had a trailer hitch, and I'd towed small loads previously.  Not knowing better, I agreed to bring the large, heavy trailer back to Orem.

As I started down the canyon, I was "blissfully ignorant" at first.  My speed was much faster than it should have been.  I reached a point on the gravelly, bumpy, downhill dirt road where a corner came suddenly and I quickly lost control.  The heavy trailer behind me was pushing the jeep sideways.  It was one of those moments of desperation — knowing nothing that I could do would be enough to make a difference as I started to slide off the road.

But then suddenly, I felt the jeep and trailer pushed back onto the road and straightened out.  It was as dramatic and unexpected, and unexplainable, as anything I've experienced.  I slowed as soon as I could, and proceeded the rest of the way, very cautiously, very slowly, and very gratefully.  Perhaps because I was "on the Lord's errand," or for other reasons I can't be sure of, a disaster was averted.  I will never forget the feeling of gratitude at having been preserved as if by angels unseen.

2. Spiritual communication

(Not the actual fire we experienced - but similar.)

The week we were there, as mentioned, was hot and dry.  As one point there was a forest fire further down the canyon from where we were. We saw the smoke and were given updates about the fire's progress, moving up the canyon towards us. Firefighters were being brought in, and we heard helicopters and planes flying over dropping chemicals and water as they tried to control the spread of the fire.

I don't recall if the fire had already started when we began the camp week, or if it started while we were there. But it was spreading and causing some concern. We appreciated the updates we would get from the police or forest rangers.

When the fire spread to the point that the canyon road was closed mid-week, the mood changed a bit. This was in the days before ubiquitous cell phones and pervasive cell coverage.  We were essentially cut off from the outer world.  While we still felt safe (based on the information we were being given), we weren't sure how aware the families back home were feeling, worrying about us.  I decided it would be helpful to try to get word out that all was well.  I drove out to the main road, which was eerily silent (normally highway 6 is a very busy throughway for that part of the state).  I drove down the canyon to where they had traffic stopped, at a gas station.  From there I was able to use a payphone and place a phone call to our stake president, Daniel Judd. It was so reassuring to hear his voice, to feel his gratitude for my service, and to know of the prayers being offered on our behalf.  We established a temporal communication via the telephone lines.  But I felt a wonderful calm as I recognized the spiritual element that was also present.

3. Divine protection

I always slept lightly in camp.  Part of my job was security, so I wanted to be awake if there were nighttime needs or issues.  At Camp Bennion, we were located just off a somewhat busy dirt road, one of the accesses to Scofield Reservoir.  There was always a little uneasiness about who might know there was a camp full of teenage girls here!

On one of the nights, I woke up very late at night.  I always thought that I might have awakened for a reason (or BEEN awakened), so it was my habit to get up and check on conditions.  It was quiet as I got up to make a pass around the camp.  But as I walked, I heard some noise down near the entrance, where we had a locked gate on a chain-link fence.  It was a pretty dark night, so I took my flashlight and went to explore.  As I approached the area, I switched off my light and just listened.  I could hear there was noise near a dumpster that was maybe 20 yards outside the fence; I wondered if someone was dumping garbage, or making some other mischief.

Not being able to make out anything in the darkness, I switched on the strong beam of my flashlight and pointed it towards the dumpster.  The noises stopped immediately, but I still could see no movement or signs of who was making the noise.  After a few seconds, I switched the light back off, and waited for about a minute; the noise resumed.  I turned on the light again — silence.  After the third time, it was quiet for a long while, and then as my eyes adjusted, I could make out a large shadow making its way slowly across the road in front of the camp.  I turned my light back on, pointing at the figure, which stopped and turned towards me.

Not the actual bear or dumpster, but similar!

It was a bear.  A large, heavy, adult black bear.  We stared at each other for several long moments, that seemed like hours to me.  I suspect he couldn't see me as well as I could see him, as he looked into the beam of light.  He was probably puzzled; I was terrified.  I had never seen a bear in the wild, so close; and was so startled because I was expecting teenage boys!

I suddenly felt very vulnerable.  I was protected by a flimsy chain link fence, maybe 4 feet high.  Within a few yards was a very large and very strong wild animal, with long sharp claws, powerful muscles, and crushing jaws.

But I quickly realized I was not worried about myself. Behind me, quietly sleeping in flimsy tents, were those I was there to protect — over 300 precious young women and leaders.  How could I defend them?  I had a flashlight and a pocket knife, feeble weapons against the perceived strength I was facing.  I was David against Goliath.

But I had more, as did David of old; I was there in the name of the Lord.  I knew I had a source of greater power than a bear.  My heart quickly reached upward as I prayed most earnestly on behalf of the camp behind me, yearning for guidance on what to do, and for help in resolving my concerns.  As I held up the light, pointed at the bear, and the bear stared back, motionless, I felt an infusion of peace.  The thought came vividly to my mind:  You have no need to worry.  They are in My keeping, and all will be well.  My concern and anxiety vanished.

Seconds later, the bear turned and slowly walked away, crossing the road and climbing up the hillside away from the camp.  I watched until I could see him no more.  Then I turned off my light, turned away from the fence to face the camp, and stood for a long time — feeling the peace of the Spirit, and feeling very grateful. I was not alone; there was nothing to fear.  All was well.  All was in His care and keeping.

It was a joy the next day to be able to share my experience with the assembled sisters, along with a reminder about camp cleanliness, and a testimony of the love of the Lord for them.  (The bear, incidentally, was soon trapped by Forest Service officials and removed to a more remote location.)

Whenever I hear the Young Women stand to recite their motto, "We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him...." — I feel my heart surge within; and often, I remember the feelings of that camp of 2001, when I knew it was true.