New Youth Website Celebrates 100 years of Young Women Camp
Contributed By By Lok Yi Chan, Church News and Events
The Young Women general presidency has issued an invitation to young women worldwide, calling them to participate in meaningful activities that contribute to the legacy of Young Women camp, which marks its 100th anniversary this year.
Article Highlights
- Young Women camp will celebrate its 100th anniversary this year.
- The Young Women general presidency has issued an invitation to young women worldwide, calling them to participate in meaningful activities that contribute to the legacy of Young Women camp.
- Youth.ChurchofJesusChrist.org has created a new section featuring a variety of topics related to Young Women camp.
“[As you participate in camp], we know you will learn and do things that will help you be prepared for the grand future that is yours, and you will desire to always be worthy to be in the temples and receive the blessings that are waiting for you.”—Elaine S. Dalton, Young Women general president
For Clarissa Johnson, a young woman in the Liberty Stake in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, camp was an exciting new adventure. She cooked, hiked, and swam during this weeklong activity. At the end of the camp, she wrote in her journal: “[And the girls went home] in the twilight sad and happy, sad to leave the camp and swimming, glad to be at home with loved ones, filled with joy and blissful memories, looking forward to the next year.”
The entry sounds like what any young woman today might say about camp, but Clarissa wrote her journal entry in 1912. Although much about Young Women camp has changed over the last 100 years, the same spirit Clarissa felt a century ago is still being felt by young women all over the world today.
As part of the 100th anniversary of Young Women camp, the Young Women general presidency has issued an invitation to young women worldwide, calling them to participate in meaningful activities that will remind other young women—perhaps generations from now—about what they did to contribute to the legacy of camp.
In addition, Youth.ChurchofJesusChrist.org has created a new section—Young Women Camp: 100 Years and Counting!—featuring a variety of topics related to Young Women camp. They include:
- Celebrating 100 Years of Young Women Camp: Elaine S. Dalton, Young Women general president, talks about the importance of Young Women camp and suggests activities young women can participate in to celebrate its 100th anniversary.
- Liberty Glen: The First Young Women Camp: This section tells the details of the first recorded Young Women camp in Church history—which Clarissa Johnson attended—and includes photographs.
- Camp Celebration: What is camp without cooking, journaling, learning outdoors skills, and singing? The new page includes sections on all of these activities, including suggestions for young women today and examples of how young women in earlier times participated in such activities.
- First Young Women Camp in Mongolia: Mary N. Cook, first counselor in the Young Women general presidency, shares her experience organizing the first Young Women camp in Mongolia.
- Let’s Give Them S’mores: Sister Dalton shares her insights on how Young Women leaders can give young women s’mores (“some more”)— s’more love, s’more temple experiences, s’more opportunities to serve and lead, and s’more opportunities to feel the Spirit and bear their testimonies.
Sister Dalton said that she hopes as young women prepare to go to camp this year, they will remember that everything they experience is to help them grow in faith and testimony. “[As you participate in camp], we know you will learn and do things that will help you be prepared for the grand future that is yours, and you will desire to always be worthy to be in the temples and receive the blessings that are waiting for you,” she wrote.
Church News and Events invites you to share with us your camp experiences. Please send experiences and photos from your 100th anniversary camp activities to newsandevents@ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
