Pranks, Drama and Then a Thoughtful Message

I was not going to blog about this, because so much DRAMA came from the whole experience (and that is kind of putting it mild) but then I remembered the whole entire reasons for starting this blog : 1) I wanted me and my future children and their children to have something to look back and know that I lived and 2) to make sure my side of the story was being told. I did not care, and still do not care, if anyone else finds pleasure in reading it. It's nice if they do, but not necessary. I truly want my children to have something to look back on to see who their mother was (the good and the bad--I think I'm pretty even in sharing my flaws and my good traits) perhaps laugh a little, learn a little from my mistakes (I like to go back too and try to learn from those mistakes). But really I want them to remember me and I want to remember too.
So here I go again....
Let me preface this by saying that Lisanka and I have been Camp Leaders together for the past two years for our church Girls Camp that is held every year. It is for girls ages 12-18 and is usually held for 5 days. Girls come from parts of southwest AL and a couple of cities in MS. It is sooo much fun. I love Girls Camp and have since the first time I got to go about 12 years ago. I love the girls. They are so much fun. This year, I did not get to go because my current calling in the church is not working with the youth, but the primary children (11 and under).
However, like I said, Lisanka and I have been joint camp leader over the first and second year girls for the past few years and we have formed great bonds with these girls, especially Lisanka--that is one fun lady. When we see the girls aside from church, we are always greeted with hugs and talks of how great camp is. We love these girls! Neither of us were going to camp this year. We saw several of the girls months ago and they of course asked if we were coming to camp and when we both said no, they were like, "WHAT?" I don't think they believed us. When Lisanka dropped her daughter off at camp and left, the girls were like, "You can't go...."
We always have fun with them. The girls love to PRANK--especially us, and it has become a tradition of sorts to Prank them back. Again let me clarify---Pranks are not anything malicious, that will cause harm to a person or their property (and that is how I've always believed the camp rules to be that pranks were okay, as long as they did not fall under malicious etc. I guess I was WRONG!).
Last year was the best, because they came to prank us while they thought we were "sleeping", but we knew that they were going to prank us. So while they were pranking us, we had snuck out of our cabin and went to their campsite and pranked them by moving all of there beds out around the fire pit. Then, we went back and sat in the woods for about an hour watching them finish "pranking" us. We sat so long that I told Lisanka if they did not hurry up, I was going to go over to them and ask if they needed some help because I was getting tired and really wanted to go to bed. LOL. When they found out what we did, they were mad that we got them. They came back later that night and scared the you know what out of us. It was so much fun and I have so many great memories with those girls.
So this year, Lisanka and I did not want to break tradition. We decided we would go back and prank them again this year (unbeknown to us that the prank rule had changed). This year, we added an accomplice--Susan O. (her daughter was a first year camper and we thought it would be fun to have her come and help--which it was).
We left around midnight, but stopped at the Wal-Mart in Saraland to get some supplies and we spent A LOT of time at Wal-Mart searching for just the right things (we had some great ideas, but unfortunately were unable to put them all to use--keep reading and you'll see why). Anyway, we arrived at camp at about 2:30am using just the parking lights about 1/2 mile in. We parked with all the other cars, which in some ways was a bad idea because we were so close to everyone and a few times we thought we were going to be caught (everyone knows Lisanka's car), but in a way it was a good thing because we could see everything that was going on.
However, our plan was foiled because when we got there, so many girls were awake and walking around. We went this late because we thought they would all be asleep--the carnal rule of pranking is not getting caught. However, we saw girls going in the bathrooms, walking in the woods. If it had not been dark out, I would have thought we arrived in the middle of the day because of all the activity going on. We were shocked. I even said, "Wow there fire side must have lasted until after midnight for them to still be up.”
So we were like, "What now??" We decided to sit in Lisanka's car and wait. We for sure thought they would be getting in bed soon. I mean it was after 2:30am. 3AM rolled around and the girls were STILL up. We thought they were doing some sort of Morse code because we kept seeing bright lights flashing from across the camp ground. We were wondering what was going on, and we even began wondering why the leaders were not making the girls get in bed (remember we were sitting in the car waiting to do our thing which we could not do if they were awake!?! Don't want to get caught! Hello girls, go to bed! LOL).
When 3:30am rolled around and we saw there were still girls up and about we decided we needed to just go ahead and take our chances because it was getting close for us to have to leave (our other children were at home with dads who were going to have to leave for work soon). So we got up and quietly snuck into the bathrooms knowing we needed to work fast because we could get caught. Well, just as we started putting hair gel on the faucets, two girls come in. Lisanka runs to the closet and like a 5 year old playing hide and seek, I follow. HOWEVER, there is also a water heater in the closet---only room for one and I'm like "crap I'm going to get caught". So, I run into the bathroom stall and lock the door and just stand there. Then, I hear the girls say, "Who is in there?" I don't say a word and they're like, "Who is that?" I really thought they were going to peak under and Lisanka comes out of the "closet"---HA, HA! The two girls were like, "Hey!" So, I come out too. We were busted!
They thought it was funny and wanted to hang out and help, but we said, "NO. Why are ya'll still up?" They said, "We've been up all night. We haven't been to bed." We told them that they needed to go to their cabin and go to bed. Which they did, but not until watching us (they did not participate--we would not let them) put shaving cream on the toilet seats and Vaseline on the door handles, locked the bathroom stalls (well, we did leave one stall unlocked in case of emergency--see we are nice). We said goodnight to the girls, and left to go up to where the older girls were.
When we got to the older girls cabins (they were in the air conditioned cabins). We realized they were still awake too and they had their window blinds open! How can a person pull off a prank here! Don't they know they should be sleeping? I won't tell what we were going to do, but it would have been great! The girls would have been soo surprised. Okay, all I'll say is fishing line and bird seed. LOL. Are you going crazy trying to guess what we were going to do?
We realized our prank night had been messed up! So we went back to Lisanka's car to regroup. It was about 3:45am and we didn't have much time (we were not going to come back the next night because that being the last night of camp, we figured everyone would be up pranking and hello---have you seen the prices of gas?). Well, we did not want to come all that way for just shaving cream on the toilet seat, so we decided to just go and blow an air horn through out the camp site. (3 years ago, this was what the Camp leaders used to wake us up every morning and one night we stole it and blew it about every half hour---it was very funny).
This was a BIG MISTAKE TO DO! Had I realized how much DRAMA would have come from blowing a stinkin' little air horn, I would have NEVER done it! Hindsight is 20/20---remember my whole thing about, "The best laid plans of mice and men...." I'm tellin' ya--it fits ME to a T! Well, we drove through the campsite blowing the air horn (as we have in years past) saying, "Good Morning Girls! and shouting some of the girls name. President Emmertson got up and started squirting us with his water gun! We were laughing and then, one of the leaders came out and said, "That's NOT cool! We haven't slept all night! They've kept us up!" Lisanka said loudly again, we thought we were having fun, "Well, that's what camp is about!"
We drove over to where the older girls cabins were and jumped out blowing the air horn and since we knew the girls were awake, we banged on their doors and said, "Time to get up, come on girls, let's go, time for your hike (they hike every year, part of their certification)! Hustle, Hustle!" They were like, "yeah, right". Some of the older girls came out and said, "This is your prank. This is all you got this year. That's lame." We explained that we had more, but they were all up. Hard to prank when the persons you’re pranking can see you. The funny thing is one of the adult leaders got up and got dressed and started brushing her teeth. She really thought it was the wake up call until another leader said, "It's just Lisanka". LOL.
Well, that's when all heck broke loose. We had just started talking with the other leaders and girls when 2 of the leaders came in and were VERY upset. We were laughing, and one of them said sharply, "It's NOT funny!" I was like "Is she for real??” Apparently she was. I won't go into all that was said by the other person, because she is not here to defend herself. But let's just say, she was NOT a happy camper, nor was the other leader with her and apparently a few others who decided to stay in the cabin.
I have to admit, I did feel like a five year old again be punished by my mom. I hung my head, at first. All three of us apologized. We all said that had we of known we were going to offend them, we would NEVER have done it, and that is the truth. We do this every year with the girls, and we did not think we were causing any harm. The girls were even saying when we got there that they had been waiting for us to come and do something! Oh well... I really am sorry that they were upset, but I'm not really sorry that I did it. We left around 4am maybe a few minutes later. (Sidenote: I can't believe that I had stayed awake for over 24 hours, and when I got home, the girls only let me get about an hours sleep. I got a great nights sleep on Wednesday night. I fell asleep at 6:30pm and woke the next morning at 7am--haven't done that in a LONG time. I guess I'm not that old, if I can still function with that little sleep. LOL.).
Again in hindsight, I would not have done it had I realized that it would have caused so much drama. The next day, I realized we were being blamed for things we had not done. We were being blamed for the girls being tired (hello, they were up when we got there! Remember we were unable to do our real pranks). It was said we blew the air horn at 2:30am and at 4am--not true. Emails have been sent. Feelings have been hurt. Yada ,Yada, Yada.
I actually had put it behind me, and was thinking, "That is so yesterday. I've apologized, I offered to clean the bathroom (which I was told was unnecessary because the planned service project for the girls was to power wash the bathroom inside and out)." So I figured I've done all I can do. Again, sorry to anyone who was offended.
Anyway, I'm not bitter. Life is WAY to short, and now I'm thinking if people choose to hold onto it, that's their choice. Mike being the AWESOME husband he is reminded me of something. Can I just stop and say, "I love that man. He really is a super strength to me. I am the luckiest woman in the world to have him for a husband! I hope you all can say that about your husbands too. I would not change mine for anything! I LOVE HIM."
Anyway, at first, I was getting all caught up in the drama (and it's weird, because it seemed as though there were individuals who tried to keep the contention fueled). But Mike said, "Don't get caught up in that. It's not worth it." I kept saying, but I'm mad that all the truth isn't being heard. And he kept saying, "It doesn't matter. Remember the Savior. Just do nothing." And then my sweet husband sent me this message in an email:

Christ stood before Pilate and “answered nothing.” And he stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Art thou the king of the Jews?” And Jesus said unto him, “Thou sayest I am.” And when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, “Hearest thou not how many things thy witnesses lay against thee?” And he answered him not a word. As illustrated by the Savior’s example, sometimes the most powerful and courageous thing a person can do is to remain silent. I was attending a track meet, and there were about a dozen fellows who had qualified to represent their schools in the mile run at this invitational. As the gun was fired, those young men, who had trained hard for this vigorous race, took off. Four of them were running in a bunch so close together that it looked to us as if they might trip each other. Suddenly one fellow spiked the shoe of the boy running in front of him. As the spiked runner went to take his next step, his shoe flew off. I wondered what this boy who had been leading the race would do. He had several choices: He could have grabbed the boy who had spiked him and done something to get even. He could have run over to the coach and yelled, “So this is what you get. I’ve trained half my life for this, and now on the big day, look what happens!” He could have said to his mom and dad, “Look what that guy did to me!” Or he could have sat down and cried. But he didn’t do any of these things; he just kept running. This happened on the first lap, and I thought he would quit after that lap. But he kept running every step of the way. The cinders came up through his sock into his foot, but he said nothing. He just kept running. He finished the race, and I thought, “What a boy!” He said nothing. He simply finished the job he had to do.-----Elder Marvin J. Ashton of the Council of the Twelve

When Elder Marvin J. Ashton visited one mission, the elders asked him how they could best respond to some anti-Mormon publications in their area. He answered: “We do nothing. We have no time for contention. We only have time to be about our Father’s business.”

You see, I was reminded that there are always going to be people who are not going to be happy with you, or who try to trip you up in life--even when you are doing something good (no, I'm not saying that pranking is the Lord's work, but you know what I mean). You can't please everyone. You just can't. Again, it comes down to choices--Theirs and mine. I can’t do anything about what they choose to do. But for me, today, I choose to put that behind me and move forward. I admit, perhaps it was poor judgment to go to the camp, but I'm not sorry for the bond that I have with those girls and for wanting to keep it strong. If that is a sin, then I admit it.... I'm guilty. But I don't have time for contention. When I have contention, I'm sliding backward, not forward. And when I have contention, no good can come. So except for this blog entry, which is just my journal because I want to remember it, I am going to choose to remain silent. Thanks for the reminder Mike, I really do love you!