The following is excerpted from the Church News. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.

For 100 years, Brighton Girls Camp has served as a mountain refuge for young women — a place apart from the noise of the world where they could hear the Lord’s voice.

“If the walls and trails of Brighton Girls Camp could talk, what would they say?” asked Sister Michelle D. Craig, first counselor in the Young Women general presidency, during the camp’s centennial celebration fireside on Sunday evening, Aug. 21.

“Surely they have seen thousands of young women whose testimonies of Jesus Christ have been strengthened, counselors and adult leaders who have had testimony-strengthening experiences, and some perhaps who have felt the Holy Ghost for the first time,” she said.

Nestled at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon southeast of Salt Lake City, Brighton Girls Camp is believed to be one of the oldest youth camps in the Church. Church President Heber J. Grant presided over the official opening of the M.I.A. Girls’ Summer Home at Brighton on Aug. 18, 1922.

A three-day Brighton Girls Camp Centennial Celebration was held Aug. 19-21 to commemorate this event. Hundreds of former Brighton campers and staff members participated. Sister Craig spoke at the closing fireside, held at the Salt Lake Parleys Stake center.

Sister Craig centered her message on seeking the Lord in life’s mountains — intentionally setting aside quiet time to hear His voice amid the myriad voices in the world.

Climbing mountains

The purpose of each Young Women camp — including Brighton Girls Camp — is to strengthen testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ, Sister Craig said.

She read the following from the Young Women Camp Guide: “Young Women camp — whether it is in a forest, in a park, on a beach, or in a meetinghouse — can become beautiful to the eyes of all who gather there. … Young women need a place where they can gather together, separate from worldly influences, feel the Spirit of the Lord, grow in unity and love, and strengthen their faith and testimonies of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.”

To read the full article, CLICK HERE.