Helaman Camp...

Jacob was asked to go to a Stake Helaman camp as an adult leader this year.  He was so thrilled!!!!!  It was an experience he loved his senior year as a youth and wanted to go back again so badly.  He was willing in February to put off applying for his mission until after camp in case he could go... but we encouraged him to continue with his mission plans and if he was meant to be there, the Lord would help make it happen.  As it turns out it was the very most perfect timing for him to go attend this camp just prior to leaving for his mission.  The Lord truly does know him and love him!

 He brought back some amazing photos, I will probably keep most of them to myself for a while... but I am not worried anymore about him taking a camera to South American and me not ever getting to see anything he experiences.  When he came home and shared them I could not believe how beautiful and what an awesome story he had to share through the lens of his camera.  He IS my boy!!

 He was in charge of the physical activities, and who wouldn't have a blast with a bunch of boys playing tug of war across the water?

Well other than the losers :)

 Today in our sacrament meeting 4 of the boys who had attended camp, including Jacob, were asked to share their testimonies.

It was so beautiful, you knew from their sweet messages that they felt the spirit of the Lord attend them all week at camp!  They were protected from snares of the adversary.  What a wonderful blessing.
Jacob came home with a journal filled with experiences and messages he had learned from the other boys and leaders at camp.  It is priceless memories, and we were filled and uplifted just sitting and listening to him for hours after he got home.  He cried and we cried with him all over again, like we were there.  It was awesome!! 

It is a camp that is structured as if they were on missions.

They wear white shirts and ties (with their jeans) for the time they study and learn about the Gospel.   They had an opportunity to talk to a panel of missionaries serving nearby in Sun Valley... and guess who, but the missionary we met from Paraguay came.

Jacob said it was a very sweet reunion to see him and give him a big hug!!  He experienced some very tender moments as he was able to exercise the priesthood at camp and at the Twin Falls Temple afterwards.  We heard that he was blessed to do work for those who had passed on and they were all Spanish names.   Which was very special to him.  He shared that he already feels a very special connection to the Spanish speaking people and has long before he received his call to a Spanish speaking mission.

 He set up his tent.... all by itself...

 Because he told me this was the view from his tent door!

See he really is my kid, I am telling you.

Most people look for the soft spot... I would be looking for the view I see every morning as I wake up :)
Just like this.

But I guess he does have a little of his Dad in him too, he was beyond thrilled to show us this photo of an old motor they found at camp.  He was showing the boys how it used to run and what he did to work on them for his job this past year.

He was so uplifted this past week, so filled with love and compassion for all of the boys that attended camp.  He couldn't wait to write to his friend he made the year before at this camp who is on his mission to tell him how awesome it was again.  That's when you really know how good something is, when you want to share it with those you love.

It was a little tiny taste of not having him at home this week.  But I think like his mission, I would not want him anywhere else, and I wouldn't want him to miss these experiences for anything, even being at home with me.  They are with out a doubt something he will remember for the rest of his lifetime!