Caida,
This last week I was lucky enough to go with you to young women's camp at Camp Ada in Spiceland, IN. We took our own car in case we needed to come back early, or for medical emergencies, and to be honest I wasn't totally sure what to expect. You BLEW ME AWAY and surpassed all expectations. Here were some of the highlights:
(1) The theme of camp was "got faith?" You seemed to understand faith a little more through the stories shared in devotionals, the scriptures we read together (a chapter a day!), and your prayers. Hearing you pray for your mom, for me, for Grandma Linda, and for Grandma Carri by name and then seeing your prayers answered was probably my favorite part. You are finally able to see how much the Lord loves you, and while we have a long way to go I know you felt the spirit. Your bore your testimony to the ward on Thursday and it was such a simple and sweet one...the best I've heard you say yet. You talked about friends and faith and keeping Christ in your heart, thinking of Paul and keeping him in your heart even when it's hard, and that you were glad to come to camp and read the Book of Mormon and pray to have faith. "I've got faith." So simple, but so powerful a statement and I know it's true!
(2) The hike!!! First years go on a 3 mile hike and honestly we almost didn't even try. When we did, I did it fully expecting to have to stop halfway through. Between your lesser endurance skills and your foot problems, and with how hot it was and me making you carry your own backpack, how little you hydrate, PLUS how you struggled with our 10 minute hike the day before, I was genuinely worried. BUT CAIDA, YOU DID THE WHOLE THING WITH A SMILE ON YOUR FACE! Watching you never give up, hardly complain, and just the beautiful things you saw and still remembered days afterwards, as well as the pure joy on your face as you walked through the tunnel of girls at the end...I don't think I've ever been so proud of you. I literally teared up at the feelings of accomplishment you shared after that. You kept saying, "I feel like a HIKER!" and "I'm the best hiker!" and "I'm didn't give up!" And now you tell everyone about your 3 mile accomplishment. :)
(3) The "pool slide"! It was a really tall inflatable waterslide with a ladder up one side and the slide part at the other, with a pool of water at the bottom. You were begging to go on it until it was actually time...then you said you had changed your mind and didn't want to go. I knew you were just nervous, and even dealing with a bit of disappointment at the time since you had tried archery but weren't strong enough to hold the bow upright, so I told you to try it once and if you didn't like it, that was okay. Well, you were brave and you LOVED it...and we spent then next hour and a half on the thing. :) I was so impressed by how you handled yourself...there was a time when you were so tired and slipped a little, and took a break, but you didn't even let that slow you down for long. You got right back up on it and it was AWESOME. You are such a rock star!
(4) Certifications! Aside from rope tying, which I had to help quite a bit with, you did everything else...building fire, wrapping a cravat bandage and doing the heimlich, using a compass (sort of), cooking over flames, doing service, learning about poisonous plants and sanitation, etc. You rocked it all! I love to watch you learn. It's not just the teacher in me, but the proud aunt!
(5) Your friends! You are one of the most energetic, outgoing, and loving little women I have ever known, and your kindness to others helped make a lot of their weeks more special. People love to serve you and to play with you, whether it was getting to know you games, cleaning together, playing putt putt, going on the slide...you just have a way of including everyone and wanting to be included yourself that is endearing to others. I hope you never lose that just because your mom, aunts, and grandma are not that way. I hope we keep you confident and happy for as long as you live!
There are more awesome things that happened, of course...fun camp songs, a stray kitten, seeing Katherine, making art and lip gloss and clay oil lamps, sleeping in a tent together, eating some of your favorite meals, doing our foot spa with the ward after our big hike and you letting me do your nails, and your many hugs, just to name a few. Your mom and I are going to put together a scrapbook so you can record and remember all the fun we had and look forward to doing it again. I'm so excited to do this all again next year with you and see how you grow even more between now and then!
I don't just love you, Caida. I admire you. Your faith and kindness and even repentance have inspired me to focus on the simple things that I can do so that I don't just endure life but enjoy it and call down the powers of heaven to hope for better things. Thank you so much for letting me share those 4 days with you. I learned and grew just by being with you.
Love always,
Aunt Celeste
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