Camp Williams....

So this past weekend my ward had youth conference...
I was dreading it.. I mean I really didn't have any close friends in my ward.. Plus it was the first weekend of school. I wanted to be with my friends this weekend..I mean it was the first weekend and everyone was going to party...
I was far from excited to go...But then I made a friend..
So Thursday night (we left Friday) I got a text from this boy in my ward.  (background on the boy: his name is Ben.  I had hung out with him a few times on groups, and we had texted a little bit... But I didn't know him well at all.) So Ben invited me to come watch a movie with him.  It sounded fun.. So I went. 
The random movie night ended up being so much fun. We talked and had fun, we stayed up late and didn't worry, we became friends and that will stay with us forever. 
So Friday after school I left my house and set off to youth conference.  When I showed up at the church to get a ride up, Ben was already there.  He came right over and started talking to me. We were laughing and having fun before it all started.
Our leaders were driving up there, so we all had to pick a car... Girls kinda went with girls and guys went with guys.. But Ben came with me. (and all the girls in my car)...No one was talking to us, so we just kinda jammed out to his i-pod in the back of the car.  Who knew that a car ride could be so fun..? I definitely did not!  But all fun things must come to an end (at least that small 20 minutes of fun).  So when we first got up there all of us girls threw dinner together (like I swear we were all moving at the speed of light)... anyways everyone ate our gourmet meal (chili and fritos) and then we set off for the ropes course.
So basically the ropes course is army exercises to bring you closer to your team, like crossing "battlegrounds" and "rivers" and stuff like that. My team was awesome.  I was with most of the kids my age, so we all related to each other, Ben was on my team, and my one girl Miranda was.  We all worked so well together..  It was hard but we all finished our tasks and only some of us got wet. (On some of the courses if you fell, you fell into water.)  It was awesome.. first my team was great and second I didn't fall in.. until the end at least!  On our final water course Ben was leaning over the edge.. so naturally I pushed him in.. it was pretty funny, he was so surprised.  But he's fast. He jumped out and picked me up before I could move, well he tried to throw me in (but I held on obviously).  I thought I was home free because I was not going to let go, but he just jumped in with me still attached.. (MY THOUGHT AT THAT MOMENT: Well played Ben, Well played... MY SECOND THOUGHT: Holy crap Ben.. you are buff). The challenge course ended up being such a good experience, I became so much closer to the people on my team. I think it was a great experience for each of us... We all had a chance to be a leader.. And whether we took it or not, we all became friends.  I think that the experiences we shared not only brought us closer together, but it gave us each an experience that we will each remember forever.
We stayed at the challenge course as long as we possibly could. (so until it got dark).  That night, we had a military man from our ward come and give a devotional.  He told us war stories from experiences he's had and experiences that his ancestors had.  His main focus was on the importance of searching out the stories of our ancestors. When he finished his devotional our leaders gave everyone the opportunity to socialize.  Me, Ben, and the rest of our team talked and laughed.  We told stories and made new memories.  Each of us headed off to bed around midnight.
First thing in the morning we had teamwork competitions.  It was a race against the clock and whichever team did it fastest won.  Ben, me and the rest of our team totally won (even though some of the other teams disagree...we won).  After the challenges were finished, we went swimming.  There was a pool on the military base and everyone was swimming.  It was so much fun! all of us acted like children, all of us had fun, all of us could've stayed longer.
Just like I said before.. all good things must come to an end.  Youth conference had concluded. But each of us took something with us. We each gained new friends, and memories that will never be forgotten...