You Lived A Miracle--Cub Scout Day Camp Redux

On Thursday, I was able to attend the rescheduled Cub Scout Day Camp for our stake.  This was the camp that was cancelled after evacuating at the end of day one due to the Black Forest Fire.  Our stake leaders were able to reschedule one condensed make-up day of camp for all the boys, up at a great park in Larkspur, and there will be one Webelos-only day this upcoming week at the stake center. 

The day was fantastic and the boys had so much fun.  The theme for this year's day camp was "Enlisted In This Great Cause."  The camp activities were military-esque, as the boys were enlisted as soldiers in God's Army.  Our stake always does such an amazing job of incorporating 100% boy fun into advancing in scouting and learning about their faith.  The boys checked off cub scout achievements, like lashing rope, learning outdoor skills, shooting BB rifles and practicing archery skills.  In the afternoon, they made shields and were given inflatable swords, then participated in activities that helped them learn about faith and battling against sin and temptation.  They had three stations where they played games based on a gospel principle: prayer, obedience and faith.  Toward the end each of those activities, an adult leader would yell, "Attack!" and the kids would shout, "Shields up!" while the leaders bombarded them with wet sponges, balls (hollow, soft plastic balls) and water sprayers.  After the attack, the kids would have reflection time to talk about how learning the principle during the game helped fight off the attack.  It was great!  The boys had a blast, and hopefully learned a little bit, too.

But my favorite part of the day was hearing Sister Shyrlene Brooks, our Stake Primary President, share her version of the events of June 11th, the day the camp was evacuated because of the fire.  Her story started with her statement, "You boys lived a miracle."  Her recounting of events started similar to what I shared in my post on the fire.  Camp leaders noticed the wisp of smoke drifting up mid-afternoon and called the fire department, just to be sure everything was OK.  At the time of that call, the fire department told them that they had trucks en route to check out the situation, they were aware the campers were there and would make sure to call if evacuation was necessary, but for the time being they could stay put because they felt the situation was in hand.  The stake leaders walked around, letting everyone know that they should keep doing what they were doing, but they needed to be alert for the long blasts from the blow horn that would indicate the camp needed to gather (a prearranged sign that was supposed to be used in case of lightning).  A few minutes after completing those rounds, Sister Brooks sent one of the day's speakers, a Colorado Springs police officer, off to see what was going on.  Shortly after sending him off, she felt a prompting to gather the camp.  The instant after she blasted the long blows on the horn to gather the boys and leaders, she got a call from the police officer she had sent to the fire scene.  He said that the fire fighters had asked him to stay to help direct evacuees and that the camp needed to be evacuated immediately.  The fire was growing rapidly and many homes were already being evacuated.  However, the boys were already gathering for evacuation because of the prompting Sister Brooks had received.

The theme, Enlisted In This Great Cause, centered upon the story of the Sons of Helaman.  It's a story from the Book of Mormon where 2,006 young men fight in a battle to protect their people and their lands, because the older generation had sworn to never raise their weapons of war again.  In the end, the Sons of Helaman are victorious and not a one is killed, protected by the Lord because of their great faith. Sister Brooks paralleled the boys' behavior during the evacuation with a scripture from that story found in Alma, Chapter 57, "Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them."  The boys were calm and collected, obeying with exactness, without even being reminded to do so, so the evacuation could be quick.  And it was.  Belongings that were not in hand were left behind, and destroyed by the fire soon after, but the boys and adults were safely away in 10 minutes. 

The last bit of the story pertained to the condition of the evacuation route.  The area of Cathedral Pines, where the boys were camping, had only one known exit route, and it was directly toward the fire.  It just so happened that one of the leaders that day was a man who lived in the area.  He knew of a back route out.  No one else at the camp that day would have known to go that route, but he was there.  Shortly before the evacuation, a boy had been picked up early by his mother for an appointment.  She later told Sister Brooks that the smoke was thick along Black Forest Road, the road the boys would have had to travel out on, making it hard to see more than 20 feet ahead, with embers and ashes blowing all over and hitting her car.  It was definitely not a safe situation, especially with so many cars trying to drive out at once.  The man who knew how to get out led the way, and the boys all arrived safely home.  Unfortunately, his house was one of the 502 destroyed in the fire, but he helped save the lives of over 150 boys that day.    

If any one of these conditions had been different: promptings had not been followed, boys or leaders had panicked, or people who were present had not been, things could have come out differently.  I know it's possible to believe that all of these things were a coincidence, luck, but I don't believe that.  I share the feeling of Sister Brooks as she concluded her story, repeating her message that our boys lived a miracle that day, a few, in fact.  She said that she knows they were saved for a reason.  One day, as they go through their lives, standing up for what they believe and living a higher standard, or as they serve their missions, part of God's Army of missionaries, they may feel discouraged, alone, homesick or upset, but that they must remember June 11th, 2013, when they lived a miracle and were saved for this very time to continue the fight. 

Sister Shyrlene Brooks, telling her story.  There were tears, I'll admit!

After my girls' camp BB fail, I got a bit of redemption at Cub Scout camp.  This is my plate.  Not too shabby!