Big Changes Pt.1: Catch and Released

Wow, lots of goings-on here! First of all, I got released from my calling as Young Women's president! Huzzah, hurrah!! I feel badly saying that, but it is such a relief. It was such a difficult, difficult calling for me; I think it's mostly because I have so many other stresses on my mind with Ryan's job, living in Texas, but another huge part of it is our ward. We have a great ward, we love them, but the boundaries are drawn so that it is a very humble ward. There are a lot of blue-collar shift workers who can't hold regular callings because they never know their schedule. There are a lot of airline pilots who also have a difficult time with callings because their flight schedules constantly change and they might miss six months of Sundays at a time. There are lots of single mothers. There is a lot of poverty. Basically, people are tired and are just trying to get by in life. There is a real leadership vacuum (hello, why else would I have this calling in the first place?) because there just aren't very many active adults.

Youth callings are always hard, and I think mine was harder than normal because I didn't have much help. In the beginning, we only had a few girls so we didn't want many advisors. It was just my two counselors, me, and one advisor who taught the Beehive Sunday lessons. Most YW programs have lots of advisors who teach the lessons and plan the activities. I had to teach several times a month, plan the activities (or call and make sure my counselors had planned what was on the calendar). The ward boundaries are quite large and we regularly have four investigators at activities and on Sundays. I had to call everyone and make sure they had rides - usually me, which meant I had to leave almost an hour early to pick them up and get to the activity in time, then I'd get home a lot later, too. Plus, Ryan would usually come home early so that I could leave, so I'd hardly get to see him. The middle schools here don't get out until 4:00 pm!!! So, if I needed to visit any girls, they wouldn't be home until after 4:30 (riding the bus), so then I'd be visiting at the worst traffic time, worst toddler time, worst dinner-making time. Add on top of that, parents who are rarely happy and aren't afraid to complain to me about everything we're doing wrong (when it's their daughters who make the other girls not want to come to YW's anymore!). None of these things are huge, but they just wore me down - and I really didn't do them very well, either.

Still, I'd like to remember two really great instances with the Young Women that made me realize why some people love that calling so much. A few months ago we took the youth to see the BYU Folk Dancers. It was such a great performance, but we got home really late. It was so hilarious being in a car with a bunch of really hyper Beehives. They were cracking me up. Another time when we went to visit one of our new Beehives, we asked about hobbies or interests she had. Her answer was, "I absolutely, one hundred percent LOVE Taylor Swift!!!!" I just love Beehives and their enthusiasm.

Second, we had Young Women in Excellence a few weeks ago. Last year, we only had four girls in our program total. We combined with another ward for Young Women in Excellence and only had one girl show up! This year, our Mia Maids planned the entire thing. We had eleven girls attend and participate and we have a total of fifteen girls in the program now! It was such a great evening and it was so nice to see the program grow and have some energy. This past Sunday, I also saw one of my favorite girls sustained as Laurel president. She has had a hard life and this past year made a total 180 degree turn. Last Sunday she spoke in church and was set apart as Laurel president - two things that would never have happened a year ago. It was a good day for me to end on.