Reflections- I Can Do Hard Things

     An important part of every service project is the "Reflection" process.  At camp we try to tie all thing to the spirit.  I am the one who gets to do this.  
     At the end of the hour, we gather the girls together and thank them for their service.  We often talk about paying service forward- for instance- the girls have enjoyed camp fires with wood they didn't split. Now they have split wood for the next group.
     I then ask a question such as what was hard about the project?  I then play off of their answers to begin a short discussion that leads to a gospel concept. Quite often we talk about teamwork and who in our lives are trusted members of our team as we deal with hard things.
   

One of my favorite reflections was with this cute group of girls.  They would each pick a huge log and then hold it while waiting for their turn at the log splitter.  The logs were really heavy.  As we reflected, I asked them what was hard.  One girl said it was holding the logs- so I asked her why she held it instead of setting it down while she waited.  She looked at me kind of funny and then you saw the light bulb turn on.  This led to a discussion about the heavy things we carry in our lives that we could choose to put down. Then we talked about how we can handle the hard things that we can't put down.  This ultimately led to the atonement and how Christ helps us carry our heavy burdens.  It was pretty cool.

When we split wood, one of my favorite reflections is talking about the "Core" that sometimes comes out of the wood whole.  The girls watch it pop out.  Our discussion centers around what makes a tree strong- the core. What can make a core weak?- bugs, desease, etc.  What happens to a tree when the core is weak?- it fails, falls over, dies. What is the core in our lives? What can we do to make it strong?  How can we repair our core if it cracks or is shattered because of life's trials?    

Reflection with the girls is one of the highlights of this mission.  Sometimes the spirit is so strong.  It is a great feeling when you see by the light in their eyes that they "get" the concept and it is something they will take home with them.