Happy Anniversary to the Turgeons!

Today was Mr & Mrs Turgeon's 20th anniversary. How time flies!

At breakfast they received a rousing congratulations from all the campers. The kitchen staff prepared a "wall card" for everyone to sign. At dinner there were two cakes which Mr Turgeon generously agreed to share with everyone!

Many happy returns to the Turgeons, we appreciate all your hard work and dedication to God's church and the youth.

Full day

When I was coming into to work Sean Welsh was just getting off his shift.

The day started with a compliment to the campers. One group went rock climbing yesterday and Mr Turgeon received feedback that they had never had such well-behaved teenagers and they were eager for the rest of the group to arrive (today). Nice!

There is this thing that Mr Burns does with the campers sometimes before they eat lunch. A bit like Simple Simon I guess...

Beryl and I sat in on an excellent Womanwood Class (there are four classes the campers get).  Mrs Turgeon explained the proper dress code and went into details about what is appropriate. It was made clear with photos good and bad examples of tops, skirts and dresses. She referred to some articles including one that was in the Philadelphia News Feb 2009 "Upholding God's standard in dress and appearance".

Mr Turgeon spoke about the "Homemaker - no higher calling" and gave 9 qualities of a homemaker based on Pro 31 - (1) She puts God first above all else (2) Is a loving and supportive wife. Learn to understand your role as the wife, (3) Devotes quality time into teaching children (4) She does her job well beyond the call of duty (5) Is a g good manager of time and values , (6) Adds feminine touches to her homemaking, (7) Adds warmth to her household (8) Takes pride in her role and in the home. (9) Is happy and fulfilled in her role. 

As I was leaving to meet Marcela for a ride home, I happened to be passing when dorm 2B came back from their campus tour so I was able to snap them horsing around. 

Mr Cecil Burkes had to fix a radiator leak in one of the vans. I met him for the first time on the Sabbath. He's funny - likes to catch you a play on words.

After getting some supplies from Walmart, Marcela and I stopped for icecream at the famous Braums. I had one (small) scoop of Key Lime Pie and one of Strawberry cheesecake. Very tasty. 

Marcella enjoys her pineapple pecan ice-cream

Morning walk

It was cool this morning. Took the opportunity to take a walk and found a serene spot near the lake with a great view of God's House and Admin building. Good meditation.

Nutrition Class, Rainfall

I had the opportunity to tag along with Mr & Mrs Krueger this morning as they gave a nutrtiion class to two girl dorms. Mr Kreuger gave a very inspiring and encouraging lecture letting the young ladies to know the value of their role and he gave outlined five feminine characteristics they should work to cultivate: 1) Responsiveness and service 2) Tenderness and (inner) Beauty 3) Intelligence and Understanding 4) Christian Virtue 5) Faith, hope and courage.

Mrs Kreuger handed out a packet of information about various areas of nutrition. Her overall theme was for the ladies to know what they were putting into their bodies and get in the habit of reading labels. The information was made more real by Mrs Krueger sharing her personal experiences. In the packet they received information on Acid/Alkaline food chart and excerpts from the Royal Vision series "You are what you eat". Afterwards Mrs Krueger answered a number of questions from the campers before time ran out.

My afternoon in the kitchen was spent browning a few hundred fresh chicken tenders in preparation for dinner.While I was sweating over the stove, outside storm clouds gathered and it darkened and a welcome rainfall cooled the temperature for the campers.

After seeing all that chicken I opted to have a change of pace for my evening meal and headed out to Ted's Mexican restaurant with a some kitchen colleagues and other ladies in the congregation. Afterwards we enjoyed a movie.

Visit to Mr Flurry's house - it doesn't get better than this!

Tonight I had the privilege of joining Dorms 1G, 1B, 2B and 2G for the first dorm visit to Mr Flurry's house along with Abby Estebat who also helps in the kitchen.  As a kitchen workers we arrived around 6.30pm to assist with setting up the snacks for campers arrival at 7.00pm.

When the campers arrived Mr Flurry opened the door and greeted them individually, welcoming them into his home which as you will see from the pictures, is very warm and tastefully decorated and easy to feel comfortable in.

Since there were four dorms, Mr Flurry invited the 1B and 1G upstairs into his study and suggested that they "talk a while"!  From his study, Mr Flurry has a wonderful view of the House for God and the lake with the foreground full of lush trees and foliage. Ideal for receiving inspiration.

Meanwhile, the other two dorms enjoyed their snacks and socializing downstairs. Mr Flurry encouraged the campers to ask questions and they certainly did not hold back. I was very impressed by the quality of questions even from first time campers.

There was a good range of questions asked such as interest in his upcoming visit to Jerusalem and the dig, what got Mr Flurry first interested in the church, if he has had contact with Laodicean ministers, what did he think was the impact of Harold Camping's false prediction on on the PCG. Mr Flurry asked for a show of hands of how many campers attended public school and inquired about the number of young people in their church areas.

Mr Flurry's emphasis to the campers throughout his answers, the importance of sticking with God's way and that it was the only way to true happiness and success. His concern and passion for the youth of the church was evident in his mentioning that we might need to have more than one PYC session in maybe 2013 to accommodate more campers.

After about 45 minutes of discussion the campers went downstairs to continue fellowship amongst themselves while the other two dorms spent time with Mr Flurry. It was lovely to see the campers enjoying each other's company and acting very relaxed in Mr Flurry's home. The whole house buzzed with laughter and chatter.

This was truly a wonderful occasion for me to be present to see God's Apostle interacting so freely with the church youth and their desire to interact with him and to share relaxed fellowship with Mr Flurry.  This is certainly a highlight of my PYC experience.

Fun meal times and pics

Geeta happily doing her morning custodial work

 At lunch, Mr Burns had a projector and screen set up to show highlights of the recent USA vs Brazil women's world cup where USA knocked out Brazil in overtime.

At dinner, Mr Turgeon took the opportunity to have the campers congratulate Mr & Mrs Kreuger on their 33rd wedding anniversary which was July 8th. Mr & Mrs gave a few words on their secret to marriage longevity.

Meet the Kitchen Staff - Part 1

We have a great group of people working in the kitchen, a nice mix of youth and adults. Allow me to introduce them to you. 

Deaconess Gorgia Latham from Texas is going strong at 82 years old and has been in the church for 48 years.  She comes in way before her shift to help with any tasks needed in the kitchen

Alyssa Seda hails from Manhattan, NY (I’ve known her since she was little when we also lived in NY).  She has a sister attending camp this year.

Stephanie Greaser is employed full-time assisting in the kitchen. When Mrs Krueger is not available we go to Mrs Greaser! Mrs Greaser has a grandson at camp.

Abby Estebat is from California and has a brother and sister currently attending HWAC.  This is Abby's first year as a worker and like me she grabbed at the opportunity to improve her culinary skills!

Deacon and Deaconess Randy and Toni Woemmel hail from Owensville, MS and have been in the PCG 14 years. Mrs Woemmel does double duty as the camp First Aid contact (she is a nurse).

Brooke Davis is the daughter of Mr & Mr Brian Davis. It's a unique experience for her serving the campers as she is young enough to be one! Her sister and brother are campers.

Perfect Sabbath!

It was so nice to have a leisurely morning since services start at 1pm and we live 2 mins away. Marcela made a tasty unusual brunch of: boiled egg on cheese-on-toast, smoked turkey with apple slices, olives & peppers and grilled tomatoes topped with cheese.

Union Jack napkins to make me feel at home!

At Sabbath services we heard a sermonette from Mr Krueger encouraging the young people to have Josiah's attitude towards God's law. Mr Gerald Flurry gave a stirring message which you will no doubt hear in a couple of weeks. He did announce that himself and some other ministers will be heading over to Jerusalem at the end of July/beginning August.

I continue to be impressed by the friendliness of the campers coming up to me to chat even first-timers. Now the challenge is to remember all their names.

After services coffee and cookies are served in the upstairs foyer. I had some great fellowship with Cally Amos, Cecil Burks and was able to find out more about how God's House gets known in the community through our publicity agents from Shane Granger. Mr Stephen Flurry  and I discussed how the Trumpet Daily is coming along very well. The program on Monday will be geared towards the Laodiceans like the Trumpet article The United Church of God and the Evils of 300-man Rule so be sure to watch.

David and Chelsey Weeks

Information Table

The Guillaume's are visiting too

Fellowship continued after services at the Zen Thai restaurant at the invitation of Mr & Mrs Hiliker snr - more great food and fellowship with Marg and Judy - also kitchen workers.