Memoirs of a Teepee Mom

In April, our high councilman took Dave & I aside to chat after sacrament meeting. At that time, he extended an invitation for me to serve as a teepee mom for the Lynnwood Stake Girls' Camp. "Well", I thought, "I love our young women and I love camping and I loved Girls' Camp when I was in YW... so why not?".

I thought I knew what I was getting myself into, but I had no idea.

And so began my immersion into the wild, uncharted waters known as Girls' Camp.

As I walked into my first meeting, getting high fives down the hallway from all of the stake leaders, I started to wonder what I had gotten myself into. When the meeting was in full swing, with an odd vocabulary buzzing through the air that I had never heard, I stopped wondering. I turned to one of the other leaders and said, "I'm not perky enough to be here"... she just laughed and said I'd be fine.

And yes, I was fine. I endured to the end but it wasn't easy or what I had expected. The journey was a rocky trail of laughter & lots of tears, filled with moments when I wanted to tear my hair out and, others, when I swelled with joy & love for my girls. During camp, if you asked me if I was having fun, I don't know what I would have said; adopting nine teenage girls at once is a challenging way to become a "mother".

Much of the week, I spent my time fighting off cliques, gossip & "that's unfair"; enduring an onslaught of heavy rain, freezing temperatures & a constant layer of dirt on everything; providing lots of hugs, encouraging words & a shoulder to cry on. This was not the Girls' Camp I remember: it was an emotional rollercoaster where I felt that I was lacking in so many areas.

Yet, beautiful miracles abounded throughout camp. A girl in our ward had a terrible toothache; in fact, they thought she might need a root canal. Immediately following a blessing, she said that the pain was gone - and all the girls in her teepee celebrated the sweet blessings of the priesthood. During Alone Time (where every girl in camp went to an isolated space for 2 hours to pray, read and write) I wrote notes to each of the girls in our ward, letting them know how wonderful they are. It was one, of many times, that I was blessed with an abundance of the spirit - a feeling for which I was very grateful. During each ward scripture reading, I found several scriptures that helped get me through a particular hardship of that day. Those tender mercies overshadowed all the teenage angst, nasty weather and less-than-appetizing food I experienced.

One of my greatest blessings was having a Laurel from our ward serve as one of my YCLs (youth camp leader) in our teepee. In the months planning for camp, she worked hard and seemed excited, but she was a little quiet and I wasn't sure if her heart was in it. But, at camp I had the great privilege to work with her and see her confidence explode and her sweet personality shine; her love for the Savior was evident as she took the younger girls under her wing. As she & I drove home together, we chatted about camp and she said, "I think this has been my favorite year at camp!". That made me smile - perhaps it wasn't as bad as I thought.

In the end, it was an emotionally exhausting, yet spiritually uplifting week as I arrived home a few shades darker (thanks to all the dust). And yet, you ask - "So, will you do it again next year, Michelle?". Give me a few months & (if I'm asked) I might just say yes... crazier things have happened!

Camp Names

Each year, in preparation for camp, our stake YW leaders get together, discuss each teepee mom & youth camp leader, select their camp name, write a poem and make a personalized sweatshirt for each of us to wear at camp. My little poem, written by Julianne, was tucked inside a tan & aqua paper teepee (thanks to Kim) and said:

Michelle Goodwin

You're a woman of adventure, talent and love/Always remembering our Father above

Your friendship and compassion is important to many/And your strength and endurance is plenty

APEX is the name we chose for you/Scaling the summit is what you do

My sweet batch of 13-year-olds... and my great YCLs

Opening Ceremonies
Notice Brad Asay, from our bishopric, as the one with the blanket on his head, doing his wackiest impression of Rapunzel.

Going to Flag
I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE Linda's expression at bottom left - all of the girls loved her and I was so grateful to have her there, showing me how to become a teepee mom.

The girls conquering "The Wall"

Yes - we are climbing machines too!

The Bishop's Challenge
Build a shelter with twine, a tarp & anything you could find in nature - oh, and do not let the bishop get wet... or else!