The Moral of the Story: It's A Good Idea to Go to Church

No, this isn't another tale about the guy and his "life is a morality play" point of view. This is actually my own story.

After listing everything I am doing/supposed to be doing the other day, I realized how much is actually going on. Making a list of all the big projects does that. I started thinking about where I could ease up a bit and of course *calling* popped out in glowing neon letters because that's really a volunteer position after all and I'm sure there are 47 other people who could do it as well, if not better, than I do. I thought about setting up an appointment with the bishop to ask him if I could take a little break, or maybe get a companion in the grand tradition of the church (see also mission, visiting teaching, and home teaching).

What is my calling, you ask? I coordinate Sacrament Meetings. I'm sure I've mentioned this before. But what this means is I pick two topics, call two speakers to speak on those topics, get people to say the prayers, and coordinate music with the music director every single Sunday. All the Mormons are thinking, "Wait a second there, girlie, what about Fast Sunday?" OK, so 3 Sundays out of 4 I do this. Fast Sunday I just have to get the prayers and music done. As the bishop has told me on numerous occasions, this is usually the job of the bishopric.

The thing is, I love my calling. It is probably the most daunting calling I have ever received because the women who have done it before me always struck me as spiritual giants and so in tune. I feel like God took the qualifying criteria down a notch when he picked me. And since the bishop AND the woman who had the calling before me both came up with my name independently when they were contemplating who to pass the torch to, I feel like it really is what I’m supposed to be doing in the ward.

When I started, I had a couple of missteps, but I feel like I’ve figured out the best way to determine what the ward needs – by reading my scriptures. Over the last few months, all of my ideas have come straight from Sunday School class, which is based in the scriptures, or my own personal reading. I’ve heard that people have enjoyed the meetings so I think I’m doing a little something right - or, rather, I'm listening well. :)

And now I have been thinking about stopping, or at least telling the bishop I need a break. Today before Sacrament Meeting started I was sitting alone in a pew reading through some scriptures about the temple. Suddenly - it was like someone was talking to me - I thought “Well, the best thing to do would be to use my scripture study time to plan Sacrament Meetings.” Just like that. Like it was the most sensible idea ever. I am far from perfect with reading my scriptures and usually read 3-4 times a week. However, if I take that time to really search them for topics and to think about who the speakers should be, I feel like I will be using that time well.

I felt better after that – calmer.

Today was ward conference and the Stake Presidency spoke. The 1st Counselor ended his talk with a thought that I felt was directed right at me. He said for those of you who are feeling overwhelmed, the solution is to put things in order. When you are doing the most important things first, everything else will fall into place.

I have heard this idea many times, but it really struck me forcibly, considering the thoughts I had been having a half hour earlier. Especially since the Stake Presidency told us they had prepared talks for the meeting, but after meeting in Ward Council this morning, they felt they needed to go in a different direction and spoke off the cuff. It felt like a confirmation that I am heading down the right path.

Planning Sacrament Meetings and working in the temple matter. All the other things matter too, but in a different way, and they will work out because they always do when I’m doing things in the correct order. I’ve learned this lesson before, when I was a counselor in the Relief Society during undergrad, taking 5 classes, and working 25-30 hours a week. It all worked because every single Sunday for 8-10 hours I did Relief Society work and I planned Homemaking once a month and I went out to visit the sisters who didn’t get visit taught. Since I’ve learned this before, you’d think it would stick, wouldn’t you? Someone told me once that we are tested in the same ways over and over again, with the situation tweaked a little. I have my personal demons, you have your personal demons, and those demons come back again and again. The key is to remember the prior lessons. Yeah, I’m not the best at that.

On another note: our Easter concert is tonight and I hope it all comes together. Right now, I hope I get my voice back. I was having a really hard time hitting the higher notes today in practice, notes that shouldn’t be too hard for me with some good breath support. So I won’t be talking for the next two hours and we’ll see if that helps.