Batman's Gotham City = Rachel's Sports Camps

Last month I said a sad sayonara to something I love with my whole heart: BYU Sports Camps. Those who spend time with me are no doubt praising the heavens, because apparently that is the only thing I know how to talk about. Not only was it sufficient to tell my roommates a hilarious story from camp, but then I'd also have to tell my parents. Then my neighbors. And then I'd tell my roommates a second time, because if they didn't laugh as hard as me they must not have heard it.

There are a few things that made this summer of Sports Camps particularly wonderful:

1. One of the best parts of my job was ensuring the pizza was delivered to 7 Peaks before the campers arrived. Every week, it was just me and 100 pizzas, hanging out. I was in heaven.

2. The day that our boss decided to dump orange jello down Derek's shirt. Also the day that he decided to light the ends of Derek's hair on fire.

 

 

3.  The campers who thought it would be a great idea to catch seagulls by covering a camper with a beach towel, and then placing pizza on the beach towel. What the next step of their plan was, I will never know.  

 

 

4. The time that a game of 'Red Light Green Light' turned into the campers tackling their innocent counselor.

     

 

 

5. Deciding who had to do lunch duty by determining who was worse at Super Smash Brothers.

 

 

 

6. The time when our catered lunch was delivered to the wrong place and the NFL's Chad Lewis and all the 8 year olds started a riot.      

 

 

7. Spending time with campers that I was a counselor over the previous year.

 

 

8. Coming up with excuses to go out onto the football field. Rumor has it that Bronco Mendenhall would like to recruit me, but I can neither deny or confirm that statement.

 

9. Finding Derek asleep under our table after a long day.

 

 

10. Making some of my best friends ever

 

 

11. People finally calling me by my correct name.

 

 

12. Being able to work in one of the prettiest places ever

 

 

 

 

Obviously it was a summer that I loved. One of the things that I loved most, however, was how needed I felt. This may seem strange, but Sports Camps was able to happen this summer because it was something that the people in our office had been preparing for almost an entire year. Sports Camps needed Derek and me because we hired all the counselors. The counselors needed us because we helped assign them campers and made sure they got paid every week. The campers needed us because we were planning activities and making sure they were being taken care of. I decided that just like Batman looks over Gotham City, I would look over Helaman Halls. Gotham needed Batman, Sports Camps needed Rachel Hardy.

 

However, that's not exactly true. Anyone could have done exactly what I did for Sports Camps. In fact, tons of people could have done a much better job than me. Luckily, though, Heavenly Father is mindful of each one of us. He wants us to grow and become more like him. Sometimes we grow through trials we are asked to face, but sometimes there are simply experiences, not trials, that He gives us to grow. Sports Camps was that for me. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father saw the areas I needed to grow in and let me do that through Sports Camps. Because of the experiences I had, and people I was able to associate with, I became more humble. I learned how to work hard, and be more selfless. I was able to grow closer to my Heavenly Father as I asked him for help to be a better person every single morning, and every single night. I was able to feel his love more fully in my life.

 

No, Sports Camps didn't need me. I needed Sports Camps.

As the summer was coming to a close, I felt the lonely feeling of not being needed anymore. No one would be calling me in the middle of the night for medicine anymore, and gone were the days of frantic parents who were worried about their child. I loved the feeling of being to help others whenever I could. It took me a little while to realize that I still WAS needed. Heavenly Father still needed me, and he needs each one of us. The reason I loved Sports Camps so much is because I was able to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ by word and example every single day. I was able to testify of my Savior Jesus Christ and influence the lives of others, and Heavenly Father still needed me.

In one of my favorite General Conference talks, Jeffrey R. Holland speaks about the time after Jesus Christ was Resurrected and visited the apostles still on the earth. The apostles had gone back to their fishing, as they were fisherman before the Savior had come to minister. The Savior asks the apostle Peter if he loves him. Peter answers, "Lord,...thou knowest I love thee." (John 21:16)

Elder Holland continues the story, "To which Jesus responded (and here again I acknowledge my nonscriptural elaboration), perhaps saying something like: “Then Peter, why are you here? Why are we back on this same shore, by these same nets, having this same conversation? Wasn’t it obvious then and isn’t it obvious now that if I want fish, I can get fish? What I need, Peter, are disciples—and I need them forever. I need someone to feed my sheep and save my lambs. I need someone to preach my gospel and defend my faith. I need someone who loves me, truly, truly loves me, and loves what our Father in Heaven has commissioned me to do. Ours is not a feeble message. It is not a fleeting task. It is not hapless; it is not hopeless; it is not to be consigned to the ash heap of history. It is the work of Almighty God, and it is to change the world. So, Peter, for the second and presumably the last time, I am asking you to leave all this and to go teach and testify, labor and serve loyally until the day in which they will do to you exactly what they did to me.”"

 

 

Our Heavenly Father needs me, and our Heavenly Father needs you. He needs us to love Him and live like it. He needs us to be better disciples and to be better friends. Just like he needs us, we need Him.

 

I am so grateful for the experiences I've had over the past year that have increased my testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. And even though it's over, every night I still quitely pray, "Heavenly Father, thank you for letting me be part of Sports Camps."