Helaman's Camp

It seems like forever ago, but on June 24th, 25th and 26th I was able to attend Helaman's Camp with 3 Priests (Kirby Hendry, Nat "is cool" Kreitzer and Abe Lambert) from the now retired Washington 2nd Ward. I haven't been able to post pics because I forgot to the memory card for my camera and so I had to wait until Pres. Koeven could get some to me.


For those that don't know, Helaman's Camp is a 3 day camp for priest age young men. The camp is intended to help these young men prepare for a full time mission. they pair off in to campanionships and also into zones. They wake early for personal and companion study and go to bed late after a full day of activities. Although the camp is intended for the young men, I believe that the leaders are able to learn just as much.



With events like this it's hard to convey in words the things that the spirit testifies to you individually, but let me try to describe some of the events that made the biggest impression on me.

Our Stake President, Pres. Whitney, spoke very openly and bluntly about moral cleanliness, after this workshop there is no way that any of those young men could be confused at what is and is not appropriate.

Bishop Kevin Lewis led a discussion about the Word of Wisdom that went in a direction that surprised most of us. The discussion focused most heavily on verse 4 of the Word of Wisdom (D&C 89).

"Behold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you: In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation"

The key part of that verse that we discussed was the idea of conspiring men. Bishop Lewis told us about a book called "The Marketing of Evil" that could easily decribe conspiring men in our time. The book breaks down how MTV and other companies are teaching an entire culture of people that it's cool to different from everyone else, but in order to be different they need to have and do all the things that the "conspiring men" tell them to. As an illustration he talked about how for a while in the 80's and early early 90's people wanted caffeine out of their soda because there was no reason for it to be there. Then a new product hit the market called JOLT COLA, it claimed to have twice the caffeine and sugar of any other soda. Today "energy" drinks are fighting to claim a bigger share of the market with their claims that they have the most. How did we as a society go from wanting to have caffeine taken out of our drinks to trying to buy a drink with the most caffeine in it? I ordered the book from amazon last week and once I've had a chance to read it, I'll post some more info about it. I can't wait.


On the final day of the camp we were gathered together and asked to refrain from speaking for the next activity. Each person had a 5 gallon bucket and we divided into our zones and one at a time began a climb up the mountain. Along the way we were stopped by leaders who discussed with us some of the sins that we can and do pick up along our journey here on earth. At each of these 8 posts we picked up and added stones to our bucket. By the time we had reached the end of the path some of our buckets were so heavy that leaders had to help the boys carry them. At the top we were asked to ponder on the sins that we each are carrying with us and received a reminder that Jesus Christ can and will take those sins from us. After pondering each of us took our bucket and emptied it into a giant hole in the ground, while looking at picture of our savior that was lying on the ground beside us. The most amazing part of this experience was that for almost 2 hours I never heard a word from the youth, and because of that I know that the spirit was able to touch each of their hearts. It was the perfect way to end the camp.

On the drive home I was able to discuss the different things that each of the young men enjoyed about the camp. It was so wonderful to see the growth and excitement that had occurred in each of the young men. That is probably why I was so overwhelmed when I was released from my calling later that very evening. When you work with the youth it can be difficult sometimes to reach them in a meaningful way, but when it does happen it is AWESOME! I am amazed at the strength and conviction that it takes to live the gospel as teenager, I'm not sure I could have done it with everything that is happening these days. As much as older generations like to complain about the decline of todays youth, I am grateful that I don't have to try and figure life out while living in todays world.

I was only able to share a few of the experiences we had, but let me just say that if you or your child has an opportunity to attend a camp like this, please go.

Here is a slide show of the pics from camp. I hope you enjoy them.