Camp Joseph

MIssed me yet? I told ya we have been busy with no plans of slowing down any time soon. This past weekend we went camping at Camp Joseph, owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and located in VT. This camp is located adjacent to the Visitor's Center at the Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial.
This weekend was a retreat of sorts for members of the leadership of our stake. (A stake is the name used to describe a district or group of wards/congregations in a certain geographical location. A stake is similar to a diocese in the Catholic church or other similar group structures in other christian churches.) Most of the people I had never met before so it was fun to learn about different people and their families. In our family we often talk about the need to discern between people we need to follow and people we need to lead. This weekend provided a great opportunity to explain, once again, the need to recognize the roles people have in our lives. Bill explained to Erin that Mom and Dad want you to look around at the people at this camp and know that these are people who we believe we need to follow and learn from.
I know that our fellow campers are not perfect people with perfect families, but we don't need perfection. If perfection were a requirement for associating with this group then we wouldn't have been there in the first place because we are nowhere near perfection. I also know that not every person we need to learn from or who are examples to our family were camping in Vermont with us. Many of these great people are in our immediate and extended families, some in our ward, others in the workplace, and many are our friends. We are blessed to look around and know that others hold the line with us in our battle to live good lives with high morals, character, sound values, strong families, and lives devoted to Christ. I find great comfort and peace in knowing that I am surrounded by so many wonderful people to learn and grow with.
Being at the birthplace of Joseph Smith was wondrous. If you ever have the chance to visit don't pass on the opportunity to spend some time there. You won't regret it. It was amazing to have sacrament meeting, the most important meeting I attend each week, on the grounds of the memorial. Some experiences have such impact that words could never express the moment. I know that I shall never be the same. I feel inspired, renewed, recommitted, and peaceful.
Not all my time on this trip were spent pondering the life of Joseph Smith, the scriptures, the examples around me, my role as wife, mother, daughter, sister, and so on and so forth, all of which occupied my thoughts. We did make a trip to Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Factory in Waterbury, VT. Totally fun. Erin and Shannon ate double scoop cones of "Chocolate Therapy" and Bill had "Chunky Monkey," love the names of Ben and Jerry's ice cream flavors. Yummy. We also stopped at Quechee Gorge also in VT. Great weekend. Too bad it had to end!