If you were an LDS young woman within the ages of 12 and 18, chances are you went to girls camp. You slept in a tent for four or five nights, sang camp songs, roasted marshmallows, performed skits and played pranks.

I speak from experience. I was one of those young women.

Some of us loved it, and some of us hated it. However, the irony of it all is that for some reason, it seems that in that one short week during the summer, many of us figured out who we really were.

Without makeup on our faces, we were able to look in the mirror and really see ourselves. But possibly even more important, we were able to see the girls around us for who they really were, daughters of God.

On Aug. 14, the producers of "The Saratov Approach" will release a movie — "Once I Was a Beehive" — all about the phenomenon that is girls camp. According to the film's producers, it is "based on thousands of true stories."

But what are the true stories of girls camp? What are the things that stick with you after all of the ashes of the campfire have settled? Here are nine moments you likely remember if you were lucky enough to go to camp.

1. The moment you could finally go

Let's be honest, every 11-year-old Mormon girl is just biding her time until she finally makes it out of Primary. You were one of these little girls, just waiting in anticipation for your first year as a Beehive. And the part you were most excited about? Girls camp.

You spent years watching your sisters or friends go to camp and come home with stories and pictures. They taught you how to sing camp songs and told you what they learned in their classes. You thought your turn would never come but then it finally came.

2. When you weren't sure what all the hype was about

The first day of any camp is always the worst. You don't know anyone. You're uncomfortable. You have to spend the entire day setting up camp and there is nothing fun about pitching a tent. In the first 24 hours of girls camp, you likely wondered why everyone gave it such glowing reviews.

You probably talked your leader into letting you call your mom and then asked her to come pick you up. She responded by telling you to stop thinking so much about yourself, look for people that are also not loving their camp experience and try to help them have fun. She promised you that you would enjoy it more if you looked outside yourself.

At that point, you realized you were stuck and might as well make an effort to enjoy yourself.

3. The moment you got it

Maybe you listened to your mom's advice, or maybe you didn't, but somewhere between the second and third days of camp you began to understand why people love girls camp. Maybe it was when you made your first new friend or when you tried your first campfire treat, but at some point, you started to have fun. And from there, it just kept getting better.

By the end of the week, you were already planning for the next year.

4. When it finally stopped raining and you realized that you were better for it

If you went to girls camp at least two times, you probably remember a little bit of rain. It was the worst when the rain came while you were asleep and you woke up to damp clothes, bedding, food, etc. If you hadn't already called your mom and begged her to come pick you up, you did then.

Thank goodness she didn't let you because you would've missed out on trash-bag ponchos and muddy soccer games.

Perhaps more importantly, you would've missed out on the life lesson that sometimes the best part comes just after the rain.

5. The skit that made you completely step outside of your comfort zone

There is a tradition at girls camp of skit night. Sometimes you are assigned a theme, other times you are given a bag of props you have to use and sometimes you just have to be creative with little to no direction.

No matter the skit directions, remembering these five-minute performances of years long past can probably still make you laugh out loud. The shy girls often surprised you with dynamic performances, and you probably did something in front of everyone that you never would've done in any other setting. But it felt good and you subconsciously recognized that maybe being cool wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Maybe it was just better to be yourself.

6. The night someone twice your age became one of your best friends

For some reason, it is typically not until after high school that it seems socially acceptable to be friends with someone who is a lot older than you. However, it was likely at girls camp talking late at night to the mother of four lying next to you, that you realized there was no reason someone twice your age couldn't also be one of your best friends.

You found in those late night chats that they were a lot like you, but they also had a lot of wisdom to share from extra years of life experience.

It wasn't until years later that you recognized how much was sacrificed by your Young Women leaders to be there. They took vacation time from work to sleep on the ground and deal with your teenage attitude. Some were assigned to be cooks, and they always seemed so happy to see you in the morning despite the fact that they hardly slept.

To this day, some of these Young Women leaders are your best friends. They send you packages on your mission and drive for hours to be there for your wedding. And you never forget that it all started at girls camp.

7. When you realized the spirit was actually a tangible feeling

You had always heard that the spirit was something you could actually feel, but it may not have been until you went to girls camp that you finally felt it. Maybe it is because for just one week each summer you were actually able to get away from the world. For whatever reason, out in the woods you felt it.

You felt it while you sang hymns during flag ceremony in the morning, you felt it during a service project making blankets for someone you would never meet and you felt it at testimony meeting.

It was thick and it was all around you. And for maybe the first time, you knew it was real.

8. When your enemies became your best friends at girls camp

You know those girls, the ones you didn't like during basketball season, or those girls who got asked to dance every slow song at church dances? Those very same girls somehow became your best friends at girls camp.

In the light of the campfire, singing cheesy songs about a crazy moose and Mother Gooney Bird, those girls didn't seem so bad. As the week went on and you shared spiritual experiences together, you came to love them.

You went back to the real world at the end of the week and you probably didn't hang out with those people on the weekends, but you still loved them. Even now looking back at pictures, you feel that love for them and the week you spent together.

9. When you realized that you really did believe it

When you were 12 you were still trying to decide what foods you liked. You didn't know whether you preferred 'N Sync or Backstreet Boys and your clothes didn't match half the time. But somehow at girls camp, you came to know what you believed about heaven and your relationship to God.

Maybe it was an activity where you held onto an iron rod in the woods that helped you have a renewed desire to hold onto your values and standards in real life, or maybe it was while listening to the testimony of someone you looked up to. But in between reapplying bug spray and having your hair braided, your life began to make more sense.

It is this clarity that drives you back to the woods to help where you can each summer when girls camp rolls around. You're now the one using vacation time and you're the one that wants to make sure each girl has a good experience.

You sacrifice sleep and calories to be there because you know the difference it makes. You may not acknowledge it enough, but as time goes on you remember these moments and you're grateful that once you were a Beehive. The good news is that on Aug. 14, as the movie captures and makes you feel the emotion of all the moments mentioned above, you can grab some popcorn and relive the magic. For showtimes and tickets, click here.

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