Camp Helaman

I was asked to speak in church today about Camp Helaman.  Camp Helaman is a weeklong camp for boys ages 16-20ish. During camp they learn about Christ and His mission.  They also take part in exercises to deepen their testimonies of Christ and learn about sharing the message. This is what I spoke about:

I believe that most everything that is important in this life takes work. Relationships, marriage, testimonies…and not just the work it takes to start, but the ongoing learning and pressing forward that makes these things better than they were the previous minute. I don’t believe in “get rich quick” schemes, and I don’t believe most infomercials that promise results for $19.95…oh, and call in the next five minutes and you get one FREE!

So considering that, when people would tell me that “Camp Helaman” could change lives, while I believed it could be a good thing to do, I was wary of believing in the effect that it really could have. Sending your kid to spend a week with other boys eating enormous amount s of Hostess products – how could that really do anything?

I am happy to report that I was wrong. I saw concrete changes in not only my son, but in all the boys I saw that day when we went to pick him up. We parked our car and then began walking towards where we thought we were supposed to be. We stopped to ask someone if we were going in the right direction and he said to “follow the thunder”….not sure what he meant, we kept going and began to hear the most wonderous sound…..the sound of young men singing hymns. The sound filled the air and as we reached our destination we saw it was not unlike this chapel. The parents were seated at the back and the boys were seated down below facing away from us at a lower level – so in this room the parents would be standing at the back of the room and the boys would be seated in the chapel facing the front where the music leader stood.

Their voices were so powerful – you could feel the spirit of God strongly. The second to last song was Army of Helaman – the primary song. Before they sang, they all turned to face their parents and then sung with strong emotion the song We’ll Bring the World His Truth – or as I call it “The Army of Helaman Song” the chorus was felt by every parent that was in that meeting

We are as the army of Helaman.
We have been taught in our youth.
And we will be the Lord’s missionaries
To bring the world his truth

You could see the light of Christ in every boy’s eyes – and you could feel the light in your whole being.

After the song, one by one they lined up to bear their testimonies….and while it didn’t seem possible that the spirit could be even stronger, it grew. At the end of the meeting we stood and looked for our son. He hurried towards us and hugged us all in turn. The light of Christ was bright in his eyes and you could tell that Camp Helaman had a profound effect on him.

Camp Helaman was a great experience for our whole family….for our son, who was able to internalize the importance of Christ’s message, for the rest of us that saw how powerful a group of young men, holding the priesthood of God, can be for good. How proud I was that day to be my sons mother and how thankful I am that we are linked forever as an eternal family.