Brewster Campout Pictures

Shay, she's a bit goofy
My Amber and Shay
Amber
Andy and Isaiah pointing.
Josh and Brandon, a bit odd.
Me playing volleyball.
The boys getting their shirts ready for the game.
Shay and Amber; they are weird.
Shay, me and Amber.
Some of the younger kids.

Volleyball.
Playing volleyball.
Shay and me playing volleyball; we look a bit silly.
More volleyball.
Chris.

Billy blowing up a balloon.

Thanking God

Life and Death

This week has been pretty hard at school, because on Friday Matt Zachary, who was a Senior died, I won't go into the details because I didn't really know him so it don't seem right. But I did see him around school a lot and from what I know of he was a really nice guy. It just seems so weird and sad to think that just last week he was walking though the halls and now he's gone. It reminds me a lot of when Sage died, I had babysat her just 3 days before she died and she was just fine. I held her all day and I remember imagining her being big enough to wear real clothes (she was so little that clothes were too big for her). Then she was gone. It really gets you thinking about how we're not promised tomorrow. And the whole time at school when I'm around everyone who is so sad about Matt, I can't stop thinking about how easily God could have taken Josh from us on Sunday night. I just keep thanking him over and over again for sparing his life. At the same time I'm so thankful that the Lord has helped me to be able to forgive Josh in the last month because I know that if he would have died and I hadn't forgiven him it would have killed me.

Changes

I was thinking today about how just 2 years ago at the Brewster camp out there were very, very few of the young kids who were in the faith and this year I looked around and probably other half of the young kids who were there were in the faith. I remember how wonderful it was at the Brownsville camp out 2 years ago when there were about 25 of us young kids and not one of us was baptized and how by that Wednesday 10 of us had came in the faith (I was one of them). And it seems like since then there have been so, so many of the young kids here in the northwest who have given their hand. It's such a wonderful feeling when you hear of one of your friends giving their hand and even better when you are able to be there to witness it. Along with this there seems to have been many changes in the way that we act, I remember how we used to always just go around playing our games and doing our own things that weren't of God, but now we're always singing together, we see so many of us get up and serve the Lord in church, I've seen the guys get up and make talks in church, I even sat and listened to some of the guys visit on the word on Friday and it was so helpful to be able to listen to people your own age talk about those things. We seem so much more closer now and much more like a family than ever before. I'm always praying that the Lord will help us young kids who are in the faith to be able to do what would be his will and help the ones who aren't that they would have that desire and be able to be baptized. I'm so thankful for all of my friends who have came into the faith and I can see how the Lord is working in many of the others life's.

The Brewster Campout

Okay, well even though I would like to I'm not gonna tell you about every single minute of the camp out because that would just take way too long, but I will tell you about some of the highlights of my weekend and some of the not so highlights also.

(Trying to decide where to start.lol)


For the first like hour or two we just kinda hung out and since my family was like one of the first ones there there wasn't a whole lot to do yet or people to hang out with. While we were setting up out camp, Tyrel was supposed to be getting some boys to help him move a table. Well he must not have been doing what he was told, because a few minutes later he came walking out of the mountains with Ruben and Ryan. My dad started yelling at him about why not helping (he didn't hardly help at all setting up camp and kept running off), then he was like, "Open your eyes", because his eyes were closed like he was rolling his eyes at dad or something, then they got closer and we realized that his eye was bleeding. My dad then went running over there yelling
"What did you do to yourself?!?!". Apparently they were throwing sticks and one got him in the eye.

The guys played football and they even let the girls who wanted to play play (like me) and I even got to run the ball once. It was a lot of fun.

Later all the young kids were around the camp fire and some adults and were all sang. We had a lot of singings around the camp fire, it seemed like anytime there were people at the fire someone was singing. I really liked this because even the young kids who don't usually sing like in church really seem to get into it and we get really loud and everything. What was really surprising to me was how these too guys, who came up with Colton and Zakk got so into the singings, I was like, "WOW!!!" lol.

The only problem with singing around the fire is that the smoke goes in your mouth and makes it hard to sing. So, that night when my throat started hurting I had noticed that Josh was sitting at one of the tables reading his bible, so I went and got mine to join. Well I came back he was gone, so Amber, Shay and I went to find him. It didn't take very long, he was in at a table in the kicten. So, we set down our things and went to get a quick drink, then when we came to set down some of the boys had came and then he left with them. I was thinking, "Well so much for that", but he left his bible so we knew that he would be back. Finally we got tired of waiting so we went to find him. He was at the Swezeys big tent making hot dogs (heard 'food' and went running lol). So, we ate some hot dogs too. Then after a minute we looked around and he was gone again, but he came back sooner this time. We were like, "Are you trying to avoid us or something?". He said that he wasn't and to just follow him next time, so we did and pretty soon we were back at the table in the kicten. Then Chris, Billy and Bro. Bill came. At sometime Amber and Shay left, I don't know when or where they went and I didn't go looking for them because I knew that if I wanted to be involved in those kind of spiritual moments, I had to put myself in them. So, I sat and listened to the guys talk and followed them in my bible and although I never really said anything I did get a lot out of it. It was really nice and even when Cayla came and said that they were playing capture the flag none of us left. We did leave before they were done playing capture the flag and then Josh and I were walking around and Laura came and tagged us and took us to the jail. She kept on telling us how we couldn't leave and never would believe that we hadn't been playing.

I don't really remember a lot of what we did during the day on Saturday, we mostly just hung out. I do remember that sometime between lunch and dinner I had just started playing catch with Kansada and Jesse and my mom yelled my name like I had just done something wrong. I went running (thinking that I was in trouble) and it turned out that she just wanted me to get my brothers and sisters so we could find out what size of shirts we wanted. Then I went back and played catch with Kansada and Shy shy. after a while Shy shy left and it was just Kansada and me ( just to let everyone know it was a football that we were playing catch with), and we played til I had to stop and take some food over to the kicten for my mom.

The guys formed a volleyball team and played against the older men and then the girls. They used the camp out shirts and called themselves the Cupcakes (last year they were the Pansies). So, we watched them play and rooted for them. During their first game Mackenzie came and said that mom was done making the tacos and that any of my friends who wanted could come and eat too. So, I got Jilleeanna, Malea and Tiffany (and maybe more), Amber and Shay said that they would come when that game was over. So when they finished playing the men I went with Amber and Shay to get their tacos and my mom asked me if Josh had ate. I knew that he hadn't (and that tacos are his favorite), so I went and asked him if he wanted me to make one and save it for him. He said, yes please and only wanted meat and cheese on it. When I got back in the kicten the were only the small taco shells and the very big ones left and the hamburger was gone. So, he got a very big taco with lots of chicken and cheese (which is good cause he said that it was the first thing he had ate all day, stupid boy). I had to hold it for him til they were done (that taco wasn't very warm when he finally got to eat it). It was kinda weird, I told Chantea that I felt like I was taking care of him more now that I did when we were dating. When he was eating it I said, "I'm sorry it's not spaghetti", because apparently he had been talking in his sleep the night before and had said, "Elise make me some spaghetti".

Later on a bunch of us were hanging out at the fire and Josh (who is the other Josh, one of Colton and Zakks friends) started looking for the hot dogs (cause there usually are some around the fire). When we didn't find any I saw my mom and I asked her if we had anymore. She was like "We just ate", and I said "But Josh is hungry". Seemed like the word that someone was hungry spread pretty fast cause me and my mom ran and got our hot dogs, buns and chips and Tammy got their sausage. I was thinking that this was a pretty weird day cause I kept on feeding boys (or Joshes anyhow lol).

Church was really really good on Sunday. There were lots of testimony's and it lasted about 5 hours. Even though the boys who were sitting by me (Zakk, Josh, Josh, Derek, and Brandon, man that's a lot of boys) weren't always paying attention I was pretty impressed with them (I've seen Zakk sleep in church before). They all put an effort to sing, when there was a song being sang, which wasn't often.

Later that afternoon we played freeze kick ball (it was called freeze because it was freezing cause it was raining pretty hard). Yes it rained off and on all weekend up there, so my pants were all fairly muddy. Then after that we played some card games.

That evening a bunch of us young kids were singing around the fire. We were having a lot of fun, the guys were all grouped together singing the guy part even and we were singing really loudly trying to get more people to come join us. Then in the middle of one of the songs Josh started coughing and choking and it was really scary. Chris was trying to stop his choking and then he prayed for him, I thought and felt like we should have all prayed for him, but I didn't say anything and then everyone went on singing and Josh went to go lay down. I had seen Amber when I happened, but then I looked around and I didn't see her anywhere, so I went to find her and Shay. I finally found Shay, it turned out that she had never left the fire and then we found Amber. We went in the cabin and were talking, well not really Amber was crying and Shay and I were trying to figure out what to do. Then Amber said something about how she couldn't bare to lose anyone else right now ( her uncle died in a car wreck last month and Josh is her cousin). Suddenly I lost it, it took everything I had inside of me not to start crying then. I don't let the thought that someone my age could die like that even enter my mind, so I hadn't thought of the fact that he could have died. I know that I couldn't bare to lose Josh, he means so much to me. Shay and me went to go pray for him, but he was in the church where they had had the elders and where having confessing of faults, so we didn't get to pray for him, but I was praying and praying for him the whole rest of the night. We all hugged a lot after that. Josh was doing a lot better, but I'm sure that I wasn't the only one who got scared every time he would cough. The funny thing was how after that he acted like he had never been better.

So, the camp out was pretty great, made saying good-bye so much harder and sadder.

I'll post the pictures when we get them loaded on to the computer.

I Need You Lord

1. This day I see,

Such terrible things.

The worlds gone wrong,

So I need you.

Chorus:

I come to you,

Each day in prayer.

Sing praise and love,

I need you so.

2. Time moves on

And I feel lost.

I search the word,

I need you now.

3. I've found you now,

As night fall comes.

Filled with thy spirit,

Still need you Lord.

This is a song that I wrote a few months ago, I hope you liked it.

A Good Talk

Okay, well this isn't really something that I would usually be sharing with everyone, but since my last post seemed like I was whining so much about the young kids, I thought I would go ahead.

So, last night Kansada spent the night and crazy enough we ended up staying up til like 4 a.m. (and didn't get up til 10:30). This may seem bad of me and I really don't like admitting this, but a lot of the time really talk to a whole lot her since we such different feelings on things. But strangely enough we talked most of the night about many of the things that I have been thinking on and that have been bothering me. I really hope that and pray that I was able to help her to understand things better. I know that she helped me to see how the rest of them seem to feel about thing.




It also helped me to understand kind of why it is that I have such different feelings about all of the things I have been talking about. I guess it could be because I have never really been all that wrapped up in the things of the world like some; I've never been involved in sports, I don't really try to make real friends with people from school (even when I was younger) and so I don't really seem to have the same kinds of distractions or temptations and there for I don't have the same opinions as other people. Some times I think that maybe other people feel like I think that I'm better than them, but that's not it at all and I would never think anything like that.

Us Young Kids

CHURCH

It's really been bothering me how every week I sit in church trying so hard to pay attention and praying that God will use me in meeting, when I have the girls on the right side of me talking, giggling and (worst of all) texting and then on the other side of me I have the boys with their heads bowed down really low (so not to be seen) whispering to each other. This all really bugs me. Like a lot. To me I don't see why they are even coming really if there not even going to be paying attention to the work of God going on (don't get me wrong I'm really glad that they come to church, but I just don't get it), half the time the girls aren't even singing (kinda odd that the boys sing more than the girls). I've spent a lot of time thinking about this and I feel that the reason we sit away from our parents is because we are old enough to behave ourselves without having to be told, which it seems that the young kids everywhere have proven this to be wrong because a lot of the young kids act worse than they did when they were younger and sat with there parents, because their parents aren't sitting there getting on to them about it anymore. I think that now that we are old enough to sit away from our parents then we are also old enough to pay attention and be seeking the Lord. Church is not a place to play, visit or be TEXTING (sometimes I really wish there wasn't a such thing as cell phones). I debate one whether or not I should sit somewhere else so that I'm not so distracted, I have done this before, back in the fall I sat on the bench in front of them for about a month.



MUSIC

On church dinner day, the boys were in the church listen in to music on Tyrels mp3 player. I said that I didn't really think that they should be listening to it in there (since their music isn't the greatest). They said well there's not anyone in here. I just pointed up as to said that God is. Then I got to thinking about it, I remembered that God is everywhere and hears everything too. A lot of the teenagers these days seem to be listening to music that isn't really the greatest to be listening to. So, I decided that while I can't make them all change there ways, but I can change mine, I'm gonna stop listening to music that may have the wrong kind of meaning to it (which won't be too hard since I usually don't listen to very much of it anyhow because I just don't like it).


VISITING
It seems to me that when the young kids are together they never really talk on the word or spiritual thing. I think that it would be good if we did talk with the people our age about these things because it could help us to have a better understanding of the word and it would be good for us spiritually. I have never had a conversation on the word with anyone my age and it seem that it would be helpful. So, I have been praying that the young kids cold have more spiritual visits.




(It would seem that I'm a very opinionated person.)

Chris and Cayla

My cousin Chris Mcmanus is gonna be getting married on July 26 (which we have known since last July) to Cayla James. They have been dating off and on for the last 3 or 4 years. Chris has became like my big brother (I have even told him before that he is my big brother) and Cayla is real nice.


Mom told me yesterday that they're going to fly to Portland and then ride up to the Brewster camp out with uncle Marchall and aunt Connie. Which makes me very happy. I had been kinda sad cause I thought that Chris wouldn't be able to come and it just wouldn't be a camp out without Chris.







This is the stamp that was on the envelope that their invitation was in. I thought it was pretty awesome and had to take a picture of it.