FEELING LOST

I HAVE BEEN FEELING LOST LATELY.

THIS LAST YEAR HAS BEEN HORRENDOUS!

THREE ULCERS ON MY FOOT, AN ALMOST BROKEN TOE,

STITCHES IN THUMB, SHOTS IN KNEE, AND PROBLEMS I WON'T MENTION.

I HAVEN'T BEEN SWIMMING FOR OVER A YEAR.

I SLEEP ALL THE TIME.

(POSSIBLY BECAUSE I'M UP EVERY 2 HOURS TO GO TO BATHROOM)

I FEEL UNPRODUCTIVE.

I USED TO DO 2 BIG PROJECTS A MONTH.

NOW?  NOTHING.  

I FEEL LUCKY TO GET MY LAUNDRY PACKED UPSTAIRS!
(FORGET GETTING IT DOWNSTAIRS)
I FOLLOW SEVERAL TEACHER BLOGS, AND WONDER
HOW THEY DO IT ALL!
FAMILIES, HOMES, THE CUTEST CLASSROOMS,
THEY READ 7 OR 8 BOOKS A MONTH,
AND HAVE THE CUTEST BLOGS!
MAYBE THEY DON'T CHECK PAPERS AS MUCH AS I DID!

ON JULY 15, I WENT TO KALLIN BAGLEY'S MISSION FAREWELL

AND LIZ FINLAYSON'S MISSION HOMECOMING.

THE NEXT SUNDAY, WE WERE SUPPOSED TO GO TO

CADEN SNELL'S HOMECOMING IN KAYSVILLE, BUT AUNT PAT

WASN'T THERE SO WE DIDN'T GO.  WE HAD COLE'S BIRTHDAY PARTY 
IN GENOLA AT 5:30. 
 IT WAS TOO MUCH TO DRIVE TO KAYSVILLE, THEN GENOLA.

ANYWAY, WE WENT TO OUR REGULAR WARD.

A MAN I HAD NEVER SEEN BEFORE, STOOD UP AT THE PULPIT TO

BEGIN SACRAMENT MEETING.

WHAT?????

WE HAD A NEW BISHOP!

WE HAD NEVER EVER SEEN HIM BEFORE!

APPARENTLY HE HAD LIVED IN HAYMAKER FOR OVER 5 YEARS!!!
HE WAS SUSTAINED THE WEEK BEFORE, WHEN I WASN'T THERE.
NO ONE TOLD US.

I FEEL OUT OF PLACE IN MY WARD.

I ALWAYS HAVE SINCE WE MOVED HERE ALMOST

12 YEARS AGO!
IT'S HARD NOT HAVING A CONNECTION WITH ANY
MEMBER OF THE BISHOPRIC.
(AT LEAST KNOW MY NAME!)

I KNOW VERY FEW PEOPLE.

WHEN I WAS IN THE STAKE RELIEF SOCIETY PRESIDENCY,

I KNEW MORE PEOPLE IN THE OTHER WARDS!

I FEEL LIKE I AM JUST GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS.

SACRAMENT MEETING, SUNDAY SCHOOL, RELIEF SOCIETY.

THE FORMAT OF RELIEF SOCIETY CHANGED THIS YEAR.

LESSONS ARE DIFFERENT.

YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO DISCUSS MORE.

EXCEPT, IN MY WARD, THE RELIEF SOCIETY MEETS

IN THE CHAPEL, BECAUSE WE HAVE OVER 300 SISTERS!

AND . . . EVERYONE WHO COMMENTS, WILL NOT WAIT

FOR THE MICROPHONE TO BE BROUGHT TO THEM.  
THEREFORE, YOU CANNOT HEAR!

THERE IS NO MORE VISITING TEACHING/HOME TEACHING.

EVEN THOUGH OUR ASSIGNED COUPLE WERE IN THEIR

LATE 80'S AND MID-90'S, AND THEY HAD TO RESCHEDULE

ABOUT HALF OF THE TIME BECAUSE THEY FORGOT,

I MISS THEM.  NOW, THEY ARE "MINISTERS."

BASICALLY, THEY NOW ASK ABOUT EVERY 3 MONTHS

HOW WE ARE DOING.

MY MOM AND I ARE NOT ASSIGNED TO ANYONE.

WE USED TO VISIT TEACH KATHLEEN ZONTS AND

JOLENE DIXON.

KATHLEEN MOVED.

JOLENE PASSED AWAY IN FEBRUARY.

WE WERE MOVED TO A NEW BUILDING IN JANUARY.

IT IS ON THE PROPERTY WHERE OUR STAKE

WELFARE FARM WAS WHEN I WAS GROWING UP,

AND UNTIL ABOUT 1990.

IT IS CLEAR DOWN BY THE DISTRICT

BUS GARAGE, CLOSE TO THE LAKE.

MY FIRST CHURCH CALLING WAS WHEN I WAS 12,

AND WAS THE BEEHIVE SECRETARY.

IN 9TH GRADE, I WAS SACRAMENT MEETING PIANIST.

I PLAYED WITH THE ORGANIST.
I WAS ALSO A PRIMARY TEACHER AT THE
DEVELOPMENTAL CENTER FOR 2 YEARS
WITH MARILYN SYKES.

AT DIXIE COLLEGE, I WAS SACRAMENT MEETING PIANIST

AND BRANCH MUSIC CHAIRMAN.

I ALSO WAS A VISITING TEACHER, AND ON THE
BRANCH COUNCIL.

AT BYU, I WAS CALLED AS WARD LIBRARIAN.

I WAS SUPPOSED TO SIT IN THESE SILVER BUILDINGS

WHERE THEY HAD THE SUPPLIES, IN CASE SOMEONE CAME.

AFTER ONE SEMESTER, MY MOM PICKED ME UP

ON FRIDAYS, AND RETURNED ME ON SUNDAY EVENINGS.
I JUST COULDN'T DO IT.

DURING MY TEACHING YEARS, I SERVED IN THE LDS CHURCH

IN THE FOLLOWING CALLINGS:

PRIMARY TEACHER

WARD YOUNG WOMEN SPORTS DIRECTOR

WARD YOUNG WOMEN CAMP DIRECTOR

STAKE YOUNG ADULT CHAIRMAN

PRIMARY PIANIST . . . 5 TIMES

PRIMARY SECRETARY . . . 2 TIMES

SACRAMENT MEETING CHORISTER

STAKE YOUNG WOMEN'S SPORTS DIRECTOR . . . 11 YEARS

RELIEF SOCIETY TEACHER AT DEVELOPMENTAL CENTER

RELIEF SOCIETY PIANIST

RELIEF SOCIETY LITERACY SPECIALIST

 ORDINANCE WORKER AT MT. TIMPANOGOS TEMPLE.

(RELEASED.  CALLED FOR 2 YEARS, SERVED 16.)
STAKE RELIEF SOCIETY SECRETARY.

I WAS RELEASED IN APRIL OF 2017 AS STAKE RELIEF SOCIETY

 SECRETARY.  I HAD 3 DIFFERENT STAKE CALLINGS FOR 20 YEARS.
I HAVE NOT HAD A CALLING SINCE.

MY POOR MOM HAS NEVER HAD A CALLING SINCE

WE MOVED HERE.

I USED TO GO TO THE TEMPLE MANY TIMES

A YEAR . . . DOING AS MANY AS 250 ORDINANCES A YEAR!

(SEALINGS AND INITIATORIES INCLUDE SEVERAL AT ONCE)

NOW, I GET TO THE TEMPLE ONLY ONCE OR TWICE A MONTH.

I GUESS I NEED TO WORK ON MYSELF, BEFORE I CAN

SERVE OTHERS.

I LOVED BEING PIANIST, BUT I FEEL MY

BEST WORK WAS DONE IN THE STAKE YOUNG WOMEN,

AS PRIMARY SECRETARY,

AND STAKE RELIEF SOCIETY SECRETARY.

WHEN I WAS RELEASED LAST APRIL, I SPENT

HOURS PREPARING TO PASS MY BOOK ALONG.

I THEN SPENT 5 DAYS WITH THE NEW SECRETARY,

3 HOURS EACH.  I FINALLY TOLD HER IT WAS

HER CALLING.

TWO WEEKS LATER, SHE SAID SHE SOLVED THE PROBLEM.

SHE DIVIDED EVERYTHING UP THAT I DID,  AMONG THE
 REST OF THE PRESIDENCY!

SHE JUST TAKES NOTES AT MEETINGS!

WELL . . . BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR.

I COULD BE A SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER, 

IN THE NURSERY, OR SINGLE ADULTS.

YIKES!!!

I KEEP TELLING MYSELF THAT MY CALLING

IS TO ATTEND THE TEMPLE.

I NEED TO DO MUCH BETTER WITH THAT!!!
I KNOW READING MY SCRIPTURES AND PRAYER
WILL ALSO HELP.
I NEED TO DO MUCH BETTER THAN THAT.
I NEED TO DO BETTER WITH EVERYTHING!

OR . . . IS MY PROBLEM IS THAT IN LESS THAN 100 DAYS, I WILL BE 60???
**GASP**
I REMEMBER THAT WHEN I STARTED JR HIGH, 
MY GRANDMA HOWARD WAS 60!!!
60 YEARS OLD.  NO HUSBAND.  NO CHILDREN.  NO GRANDCHILDREN.
COMPLETE OPPOSITE OF WHAT MY
PATRIARICHAL BLESSING PROMISED.

MAYBE THIS HAS ME SOOOO WORRIED THAT MY
LATTER DAYS WILL BE TERRIBLE, BECAUSE NO ONE
WILL FEEL OBLIGATED TO HELP ME, OR HELP ME
WITH MY LONELINESS.

I REALLY NEED TO GET ON THE BALL WITH MY
WEIGHT LOSS AND HEALTH.

(ON A GOOD NOTE, I'M LOVING THE
HALLMARK CHANNEL MOVIES!!!)

I THINK THE LAST DAYS ARE HERE . . . 

***SINCE WRITING THIS POST, I HAVE ATTENDED
THE TEMPLE ONCE.
MY MOM AN I WERE CALLED TO MINISTER (VISIT TEACH)
JEAN BONE.  HER FIRST HUSBAND WAS REID & LAUREL'S BISHOP.

RELEASED

I have been a member of my
LDS Stake Relief Society Presidency

since July 2013.

(I was called 2 months after I retired.)

The Relief Society is the women's

organization of the LDS Church.

I did a variety of assignments:

Attended 13 ward/branch conferences each year

Met after conferences to discuss successes, concerns, and goals

Follow up visits to see how goals were coming

Compile all of the ward's "ward conference" info, email to

the Stake President and Stake Relief Society President

Presidency Meetings
Take notes . . . lots of notes

Yearly meeting with Stake Presidency

Speak 2-3 times a year in different ward sacrament meetings

(fun times at the Spanish ward)
Played the piano for a month at the assisted living center
for their Relief Society

Schedules . . . lots of schedules

Newsletters

Multi Stake Single Adult emailing

Leadership

Attend "birthday parties"

One stake activity a year (Dance program, fireside, RS Birthday party,
"Ten Virgins" production)

Invitations

Posters for wards for the yearly activity

Programs
Print copies

Orient new presidencies

Take notes 
(I already said this . . . but, I filled TWO notebooks with notes)

Type up minutes

Fill out agendas

List of assignments for . . . everything imaginable

Monthly email to Stake RS President of what we did that month

Fed all of the missionaries at their leadership training

Attended regional meetings

Phone calls

Attend General Women's Meeting twice a year

Answer questions . . . lots of questions

Constantly change the list of presidencies in the stake . . . their

personal info and email

Create group emails

Change group emails

Email . . . lots of email
Pray for inspiration and guidance
Pray for the sisters in my stake

And, anything else I forgot
(this looks like a lot, but once I figured
it all out, got organized, and stayed
on top of things...like type minutes
right after presidency meeting, it was pretty easy)

The other member of the presidency were fabulous!

Pam Blackhurst, President

I worked with her at the temple.

Janice Davenport, 1st Counselor

I also worked with her at the temple.

Brigitte Morales, 2nd counselor for about 2 years.

I didn't know her before.  She was in the Spanish Branch.

Marty Hardy, 2nd counselor for about 2 years.

She's in my ward and we were once visiting teaching companions.

I was very excited when I learned recently that

one of my former students is the Relief Society President

of the 5th ward!
#ProudMissMitchellMoment

Tonight, we met with the Stake Presidency

and were given an honorable release.

I have LOVED this calling!

Besides visiting teaching, the only callings I had

in Relief Society were:

pianist and literacy specialist (In a ward that had no problems

with literacy. So, I created a monthly newsletter)
So, everything was pretty new to me!

The BEST part, has been getting to know and interact

with the sisters in the stake!

This is how I have appeared in the

LDS Tools for the past 4 years:

We will be released this Sunday to the stake in each
ward and branch . . . all 13!  The high councilman in each
ward will release us, and then we will know who the
new presidency will be.
My last 2 assignments are:
Email the stake president the successes, concerns,
and goals for the 9 out of13 wards we have met with.
Orient the new stake Relief Society secretary.

TEN VIRGINS

The Stake Relief Society 
needs to have at least one
activity per year for the
sisters in the stake.

On Sunday, February 26, the 

Stake Relief Society presented

"The Ten Virgins."

It was done as a musical

about the parable in the Bible.
(We were able to pay for
it through Deseret Book)

Each sister was PERFECT for her part!

This is the invitation and poster
I had made up.
Phil Chadwick took the words,
and attached this picture to it...and
sent it to the printer.
The poster hung in every Relief Society and
Young Women's room.

It was also sent out as an invitation
to every Relief Society President
three times . . . every other week.
They could forward it to all of
their sisters.
It was also in every ward bulletin
and announced in Relief Society
every week for 6 weeks.

Here is the program I made.

Beware . . . there are a TON

of pictures!

I put them all on here in case

any of the sisters involved

would like a copy.

Mariah Plitt . . . Director & Narrator

Colleen Hansen . . . Set Design
Marty Hardy . . . 2nd Counselor, coordinator
Peggy Nelson . . . Stage Manager