I live two thousand miles away from my mom. But even from this far away I could see that something very, very special was happening in the Edgemont 11th ward. For the last three years my mom presided over what seemed to me the Camelot of Young Women’s programs.

I talk to my mom AT LEAST once a day (some times more depending on if I chance to meet handsome movie stars in the park). So I have been privy to almost every last detail of what has gone down with these fine young ladies and their lovely leaders.

Some of it was radical – for example tossing the manual out and teaching RIGHT FROM THE SCRIPTURES! Can you imagine?! I know, shocking!

Activities that were 100% run by the young women themselves. I went to one such activity and was blown away that the girls had organized every last detail. People, that is a big deal.

Love, love, and more love every where you turned.

Honesty, openness and at all costs, working her hardest to make sure it was NOT boring.

And NEVER going through the motions just for the sake of going through the motions.

I just wanted to jump in and be a part of it.

Once my mom, very kindly,  told  me that she thought of me as her unofficial 3rd counselor. Oh, if only I had been official! I would have loved to have been a part of the last three years. You girls shared some seriously GOOD TIMES!

Mom loves Robert Frost, and so when I heard of her release I couldn’t help but think of this very well known poem by dear old Bob,

Nature’s first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

Although it is true that these golden times may not stay forever, we can still let them shimmer on through remembering and celebrating them.

I have no doubt that the angels have been keeping careful notes these past three years. How I wish I could have a glimpse of what they’ve recorded about what you darling humans have been up to.

I have a sense that Heavenly Father is very pleased.

I wanted to create a little place for your golden time to SHINE ON. This post is for all of the young women and leaders of the Edgemont 11th ward YW’s, but especially for the lady who was blessed to be your president.

P.S. If you didn’t spell check your contribution, neither did I, SORRY! (I am not the world’s greatest editor, especially when small children are tugging on my sleeve).

P.P.S A special thanks goes to Michaela for providing the lion’s share of the photos.

P.P.S I just want each of you to know that I think you ROCK!

– if you didn’t get your contribution to me and wish that you had, just email it to me and I will tack it right on. As editor in chief I can accommodate such last minute additions. It is the beauty of a blog!

From Tanne:

During school one day, I got the funniest call from Sister Kelly. She told me that the Young Men were having fathers and sons in the Gully, right behind my house tonight, and that we had to attack them. We ended up not doing anything to extreme (we all had water balloons in mind) but she had in mind that we make them cookies. So we made them cookies, but brought grapes and raisins that we could throw at them. We got all decked out, put a line of black makeup under our eyes, and headed to the gully. It took us a while to find an entrance, but we thought we found one, so we went. We were standing next to a tree, when we heard some voices of some of the deacons. Sister Kelly loudly whispered, “DUCK! HIDE!” and so we all hid by a tree, but it was really hard being quiet after we all realized the situation that we were in, and that our Young Women’s president was encouraging us to hide and not be caught.  We ended up getting them pretty good, and on the way back, she turned to us and said, “PROMISE me you’ll call me next time you do this” you could tell that she just had the time of her life.

About 2 years ago, I had huge problems with reading and understanding the scriptures. I would literally read a verse over and over about 10 times and would not understand the language and what the heck it was talking about. At the Young Women’s general conference, President Hinckley asked us to read the book of John, and I felt prompted really strongly that I should. I started reading it, and I got nothing. I tried and tried and tried and I got so frustrated. I prayed saying, “if this is important for me to read and understand, please help me to know what this is saying.” Literally, the next day, Sister Kelly announced that she was doing a study group every morning on the book of John. I knew right away that this was an answered prayer. Then she said it would be at 7 am, and that usually would have stopped me, but for some reason, I had no problem with that. Eventually it ended up just being me and her. For the next week, we would study for an hour or so, and it was great. She taught me how to read, what to highlight, and she never got frustrated with me when I didn’t understand. Every morning, I would expect her to be like, “there’s no one here, maybe we should wait till tomorrow” but she never did. I could feel her love for me, and her want for me to understand.

From Bro. Cropper:

What can I say about Khaliel other than she is: The. Best. Ever.

I think the best testament to her may be that when she was released all the girls on the stand started crying… my daughter was sobbing. I can take away my daughter’s birthday (I know, I’ve tried) and she won’t cry. But Khaliel had such an impact in her life that she can hardly imagine the young women program without her. And one of the Young’s went up and sat by Khaliel and cried, too. I found it so moving that despite how manly I am… I started crying, too. I hope I can make half the difference in the young men’s lives that Khaliel has made in the lives of the young women in our ward.

From Michaela:

Everything was focused on our common goal of inspiring and instilling and strengthening testimony and at the same time there was a sense of fun and excitement. Being part of this little Camelot, as you call it, was thrilling and fun without ever losing sight of the responsibility and trust placed in us.

When I was first called to serve in Young Women’s I was the camp director who was also supposed to be in charge of personal progress.  I found this to be somewhat of a challenge.  I did not really have a place if I attended their meetings or weekly activities so how was I supposed to get to know the girls.  When I first spoke to Khaliel about this she said ” Oh, no worries you are one of us now.” Going from serving just a few months as camp director, and then a few months more as assistant laurel advisor, to the craziest calling of all as first counselor I have always felt like being in young women’s with Khaliel is where I should be.

I do not know that I have that many specific memories to share.  Serving in Young Women’s with Khaliel, Meg, Becky, Cindy, Michaela, Edie and many others we scared away was all such a marvelous experience. To explain our time together I could relate it to a roller coaster ride.  You can’t really describe just one special part, it’s the whole ride that leaves the memory.  Unfortunately like a roller coaster ride it to must come to an end.

The unorthodox presidency of the Edgemont 11th ward was a wonder to behold.  With Khaliel as our fearless leader we threw out the book and did our own thing.  (Usually with permission from the bishop.)
This was such a close and happy group of leaders.  There was NEVER an unkind word for each other and we all respected and loved each other. We all loved the youth (but not all of the boys) and it was our focus to be good examples and to teach them what they will need in this world they will go out into.  I hope we showed them that having a testimony not only helps you in your life but is downright fun too.

Sharing some words from their Patriarchal blessings was really meaningful.  The visit to the museum and seeing the internment camp building was humbling and thought provoking.  We all felt moved there.  But, playing at the “Rez” was a highlight that I know I will not soon forget it.  The sight of Khaliel and Kevin screaming like little girls was one highlight.  And spurred on by their example I rode the tube which was something that I vowed I would never do again.
(after a harrowing experience before)  But 2 sweet girls sandwiched me between so I would feel safer and off I went.  Now I have a great memory of a tube instead of my past one.

You know what I loved about this group of ladies?  We are at very different stages in our lives.  From a young mother with 6 kids and the youngest a baby, to the “old lady” with no children left at home and 3 grandchildren.  (It’s ok for me to say “old lady” because that person is me. )  I have friends that I never would have had without this calling and they are friends for life.  Thanks for the memories.

I have spent most of my almost forty years of Church service working with teenagers and young single adults.  In all those years, I have never met another adult leader who was more effective at conveying the essence of the Restored Gospel than Khaliel Kelly.  I don’t know all the sources of her strength, but there are two aspects of her service that move me in particular.  The first is obvious to all who know her.  She loves people.  She really does.  She practices the insight C. S. Lewis shared:  “Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.”  Second, she is rooted and grounded and immersed in the scriptures, and she shares that passion with those she teaches.  A personal experience captures a small part of my admiration for Khaliel.  Two years ago, she inspired my then twelve-year old daughter to rise early each morning and come to the Kelly home to study the Gospel of John.  How does a leader do that?  She loves her students and she inspires them.  What do you say to someone who has that type of influence on your children?  “Thank you” seems so inadequate.  I have great confidence in the inspired leadership of our bishop.  But on this change — releasing Sister Kelly from being my daughter’s leader — he better have been commanded to do this by an angel with a drawn sword.  🙂

From Mallory:

One of my favorite memories pertaining to Sister Kelly occurred on the night of Young Women’s in excellence. I walked into the church in hopes of finding our ward having forgotten where I meeting was located. I walked in to the primary room thinking it would be a logical place to hold such an event. Much to my dismay I saw girls in crowns and purple silk draped all over the tables along with several other things, though I only had a one second glance into this room I immediately thought “Oh no, that is not my ward, wrong room” and continued on my way. (No offense to the other ward, I’m sure they had a lovely evening) Sister Kelly taught us the gospel in its pure form and we all knew, because of her, that frilly, pointless things (though sometimes fun) are not the equivalent of a good spiritual experience and are definitely not necessary or meaningful. She taught us that the gospel is meaningful and that is what we need to rely on, we don’t need the ruffles the frills and the silk, we just need each other and the church. Well, that night we went on to have an absolutely fabulous young women’s in excellence. We learned about quilts and how lovely and diverse they are and meaningful experiences and drank from diverse teacups symbolic of different people and experiences in this life (if I remember correctly… Its natural to want the pretty teacup but the wonderful looking teacup and the simple one serve the same purpose and the appearance matters not.) Anyways, although our night did not consist of being princesses and wearing crowns and adorning our tables in purple silk, it was simply lovely. Everyone had a good time, and all were enlightened…and no one was in the least form jealous of the frills next door, because we had been taught better.  I love you Sister Kelly! Thank you for the lessons learned! 🙂 (I also want to add that though the frills are not a regular occurrence in our ward we do know when to be extravagant in our endeavors, our tea party, for example, was simply delightful! What a wonderful idea!)One other memory I have, just on a general note, was the wonderful books we were given to write our feelings in, about the lesson, about life, about anything. I know I am not alone in saying those books were very helpful, they answered questions and I know I was very anxious to see what Sister Kelly would have to say every week. It truly was a treat to hear from her. In lessons and in those books. Always enlightening, always spiritual, always needed.

From Meg:

How can anyone describe the “Khaliel” experience?  First off, I have to say that I am so grateful to have moved into this ward just for the sake of meeting and serving with Khaliel and the other YW leaders. The experience was remarkable! It was at one of our first meetings that I realized this new YW president would be different than any that I had served with. We were planning New Beginnings and I was saying, what song are we going to sing? and we need some refreshments, and what is our theme going to be? Khaliel finally had enough and said “Wait a minute, ladies, what are we doing? Who needs all that, we don’t need all that fluff, let’s plan a simple meeting, etc…” She seemed so disgusted. We then planned  a nice and simple New Beginnings, that paved the way for how future meetings would be planned. ( I do have to say that after that first meeting, I recieved a phone call from her asking me if I was alright and wanting me to know that she appreciated me.)
Khaliel is not about fluff. She is about practicality, bringing depth into the classroom, building testimonies, teaching from the scriptures, and teaching doctrine, and most important, love of the Lord and love for the girls.

What fun we had at camp! Both years! Remember the apples in the bras of the girls? Remember the hats we made for the Tea party? Dancing around the campfire? The girls chasing Bro. Tanner around at the pond? The Tye Dye Shirts and pants, and hats, and socks and whatever else we could tye dye. The “fun” night that ended up sort of crazy! (If you were there you know what I am talking about.) And what about the Youth conference that we did Baptisms at five Temples? And of course the most recent Youth Conference in Delta listening to Khaliel teach us at the Sand Dunes?

We were so blessed to have a diverse group of Women that loved the Lord and that grew to love each other. We loved being with each other, and we loved being with the girls. These girls are exceptional! They truly are some of the Lord’s finest YW on the earth. We will all be watching them as they continue to grow and walk in the ways of the Lord.  It was a privilege serving them and serving with Khaliel as our leader. A leader who brought all of us together and united us as  ‘One’.

P.S.

From Edie:

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Khaliel is a wonder.  She is honest, unconventional, and has high expectations for things to be fun, spiritual, not boring and at the same time, not impossibly hard.  At first I struggled with not always knowing what was up and wondering how the heck anything was going to come off without tons of planning, but she had it all in her pretty little head and it came off with fireworks!  When I was finally able to let go of the conventional planning bit I really caught the vision of Khaliel.  I loved not having the stress of “will my offering be good enough always running through my head?”   I usually fall short in my own eyes and so I was always  making a point of how I was not teaching well or not prepared enough etc, etc.   She pointed out to me that this self deprecation was more pride than humility and I have been grateful for that.  I feel that I can now give my offering (it is what it is) and move on, without seeking for approval.  (I really love it when everyone is happy with me)   I think my husband has been trying to teach me this lesson for years but Kahliel taught it to me in five minutes.  I’m pretty sure she was tired of hearing how horrible I did this or that and just mentioned that not measuring up to your own expectations was a kind of pride in and of itself.  At first I thought, “Well!!” (of all the nerve) but as I thought about it, truer words were never spoken and it has helped me to get over myself a little!  Not totally, but you know, no one is perfect!. I have loved working with Khaliel and getting to know her quirky, fun, creative, hilarious personality.  Who else shows old (and I mean old) movies on her basement wall for all the YW to see?  But actually it was such great fun and she is a wealth of information about films and what’s worth watching.  She had (has) a true love of the girls, and was willing to pull pranks with them, buoy them up, demand greatness from them and allow them to follow through with their own leadership skills and abilities and let it be alright.  Thanks for the memories Khaliel.  I am inspired to be more fun and less old and stodgy because of you!