Weekly Review September 18 '15

Remember last week I said I had to save some of our adventures for this week's post? Well, here is why. On Sunday I was released as RS President. I've known that was coming for about 3 weeks (the bishop told me last time I met with him, at the end of August) and even though someone in my ward stumbling across my blog and reading it is HIGHLY unlikely, I just think it's better not to say anything about church callings until after they are official. During the last few weeks I actually met with / talked on the phone with the incoming RS president a couple of times, but I couldn't mention that then. By the way, getting released came as a complete surprise to me. I just wasn't expecting it right now. I had to choose a new counselor and secretary in June so I figured if they were going to make a change they would have done it then. They didn't, so I assumed I was going to finish out the year at least. But it's okay...I was surprised, but not upset. Once I got used to the idea, it felt right to me.

When the bishop told me he was going to release me in a few weeks, he said something along the line of "usually when you get released from a calling like this, you would expect to get a calling that is really low key. I'm not sure I can do that for you." He did promise me I wouldn't be the president of anything though! So, I know I'm getting released but I don't know what's coming next but it sounds like it might be something kind of hefty still. That's not the best state to live in for 3 weeks. Then last Wednesday morning we get an email from the stake executive secretary asking if Frank and I can come in that evening to meet with the stake president. Uh oh! It actually wasn't a good night for us to go since it was the same night as our monthly RS meeting and Jared also had YM. But Jared agreed to stay with Seth and my 2nd counselor said she would be okay if I left the activity early and we really didn't want to wait an extra day or two to find out what the stake president wanted to meet with us for, so we got it all worked out and went. I was pretty much a basket case all day, thinking that this must be related to my next calling and worried about what on earth I was getting into this time. I knew it might be for Frank, but I couldn't think of a stake calling he would be getting. On the other hand, our stake conference is coming up (this weekend) and our stake RS presidency has been in for over 4 years. Frank was totally relaxed driving over to the appointment and I was trying not to be anxious and then we got there and they called Frank to be the Elders Quorum President in our ward!Oh my goodness, I totally forgot that Elders Quorum callings go through the stake presidency! We were both surprised but it was really kind of funny since we'd both been expecting a calling for me. Frank has felt a bit overwhelmed but he did accept the calling and I know he is going to be great! He is really good at reaching out to people who feel on the fringes of things and he's very observant and he cares about people.

So anyway, on Sunday I was released as RS president and Frank was sustained as EQ president. The former EQ president went out with a bang...he ended up having his appendix removed late Saturday night! (And when they went in to take it out, they discovered that it had already burst.) So I spent my last evening as RS president texting back and forth between the EQ president's wife and the bishop. I got to go out with a bang too, I guess. We had actually invited the EQ president and his family over for dinner (before we even knew about Frank's calling) for Sunday but needless to say, they didn't make it. However, he is going to be okay. He is home now and on the mend.

So how does it feel to not be the RS president anymore? It's kind of strange but I'm adjusting. I wouldn't say I've suddenly had all this free time. As a matter of fact, I spent several hours this week meeting with the new RS president to finish passing on all the information she needed to know but we got that done now. What I have noticed is that I am mentally more at rest. I don't have a bunch of things in the back of my head that I am worried about all the time. The weight of responsibility, worry, and of just knowing something big might come up at any moment is gone. I certainly don't miss that! I have also noticed something else missing, though...something I didn't really consciously notice until it was gone. And it's hard to explain, but the best way I can describe it is that an extra measure of the spirit, which came from being in a sort of partnership with the Lord in doing His work, is what I feel missing now. That's kind of sad for me in a way, but it's okay because I needed it then and I don't now.

I did get a new calling on Sunday and after the discussion I had with the bishop when he told me I was getting released, I was surprised by it, but very relieved. I'm the new Cub Master. Which is very, very undemanding and low key. (Not to mention it breaks my 7 year streak of serving in a presidency!) I'm wondering how long it will take them to figure out that they could probably give me a second calling along with that one. I'm also wondering how long I'll be lucky enough to have this calling because my record for callings like this (ie--not in a presidency) in the 15 plus years I've lived in this ward is 1 year. Most of them were less than that...9 months! However, I am not complaining and I plan to enjoy it as long as it lasts!

The new RS president was actually serving as Cub Master, so we switched places. Who got the better end of that deal? She is going to be wonderful, by the way...she was one of my counselors when I was Primary president and she was an absolute dream to serve with. Full of the spirit, dependable, capable, organized, great ideas, loving...pretty much perfect! She has five children and the youngest is only 9 months old but if anyone can handle being RS president under those circumstances, it would be her. As a matter of fact, a few months ago I was idly thinking that I would be released someday and I wondered who would be the next RS president when that happened and she is the person I thought of. Now I realize that wasn't just an idle thought.

A lot of people still don't know that Frank is the EQ president because of course that happens in Elders Quorum, not in Sacrament Meeting. They will probably announce that it happened at our next Sacrament Meeting, but since we have stake conference this weekend that won't be for another week. The word is slowly spreading around and the reaction most people have had when I've told them is to be pleased about it until they realize that means he'll be released as Gospel Doctrine teacher. He did a great job with that calling and a lot of people really enjoyed his lessons. On Sunday the members of the Ward Council have a meeting after our meeting block to briefly discuss ward members we didn't see at church to make sure someone follows up with them to make sure they're okay and to let them know we missed them. So on Sunday Frank went to that meeting and the new RS president went instead of me. I ran into the HP Group leader in the hallway after church and he asked if I was going to come to my last stand up meeting (the name of our after church meeting) and when I explained that Frank when going and I wasn't, he stopped and gave me a hug! (In a totally appropriate way, it was sweet!) He was really great to work with.

Okay, enough of all that!! There were other things that happened this week, believe it or not. Frank hasn't had much EQ stuff to do yet (he hasn't even been able to talk to the former EQ president since he's been recuperating) but he's still been insanely busy because he's had a lot of work to do for clients. Among other things, one client needed 8 laptops set up. So after putting in a full day of work, he went to that client on both Tuesday and Thursday and didn't get home until nearly 11:00 pm both of those nights.

On Monday the boys didn't have school (Jewish holiday) so Seth came with me to the new RS president's house and played with her son all morning (and into the afternoon) while we talked. Jared had his first in car driving lesson (and did well) that afternoon and had a play rehearsal that evening. He came home from the driving lesson excited because he was able to spend almost the entire 2 hours talking to the instructor about the church. He was really interested and wanted a Book of Mormon so Jared got his contact info and gave it to the missionaries. Pretty sweet!

I went to lunch with some friends on Tuesday. During the week I was able to get my visiting teaching "done" for the month by visiting with one sister, talking on the phone with another, and doing ironing for a third. (She's student teaching right now, besides working a bit, taking a few classes, being the Seminary teacher, and did I mention she's a single mom? So she really doesn't have time to be visited right now but she could use some help with household chores! I asked her best friend what would be a good thing to do to help her and she was the one who suggested the ironing. She even went to her friend's house and stole the pile of ironing off her ironing board and brought it to me. I got them ironed and returned before this sister got home from her student teaching that day. She was surprised and really appreciated it!) One of my visiting teachers came to see me too. I enjoyed the visit and besides she is the Cub Committee Chair so I was able to ask her some questions about my new calling.

Wednesday evening was a bit busy. Jared had a date with Jessie at 6:00 and then YM at 7:00. We were feeding the missionaries at 5:00 and Seth had a hike for Cub Scouts at 6:00 and I was asked to go with them to help out. Then I also had a scout committee meeting at 8:15. So it was a busy night. Frank got Jared to the places he needed to go while I went to the hike and the meeting. The hike was nice although it was mostly uphill and we were picking our way through tree roots and rocks and such. It was a pleasant evening to be out in the woods, though, and I enjoyed the boys and talking with the other leaders. (Our weather has remained nice all week. A little chilly in the mornings but sunny, warm and in the 80s during the days...perfectly beautiful!)

Yesterday Jared was feeling sick to his stomach and so he stayed home from Seminary and school. He missed a play rehearsal also. But today he is doing better and went to Seminary and school as usual. I wasn't feeling all that great myself...my stomach was fine but I had a headache and just felt tired. But I had a lot of things to do like grocery shopping, laundry, and vacuuming, so I got all those things done. I did relax a bit in the afternoon while I talked on the phone with the new RS president for a few hours. Today my headache is gone but my throat is sore and my nose has started running like crazy. I guess I have picked up a cold somehow (or else maybe it's allergies...always hard to tell).

I guess I forgot to talk about last Saturday. It rained all day and it was a pretty busy day. Jared had a youth activity and then he went to a party. He got home pretty late. We didn't stay up to watch the BYU game since it didn't start until after 10:00 pm here and I had 8:30 am Ward Council. I guess it would have been worth losing some sleep over, but at least I have been able to watch the highlights videos. Also that day we went to an ice cream social birthday open house for a lady in our ward.

Besides that the only other things worth mentioning this week is that I cleaned my stove (which badly needed it...I'm hoping I'll get more household chores done now that my schedule is less demanding) and I did quite a bit of reading. I've been making my way through Elephant Company (book chat book) and reading to Seth. We finished The Magician's Nephew and now we are reading The Horse and His Boy. It's been fun to read these books with him. I also watched the movie of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe on Friday evening with him. I think that's the first time I've sat down and watched a movie all the way through with one of the boys in years!

That's all I can think of, and that is quite enough!