Changes At Church

One thing I left out of yesterday's post...

On Saturday evening, a member of my bishopric called me and asked me if he could meet with me about 20 minutes before church started.  We met for a few minutes and he asked me to fulfill a different responsibility at church.

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints take an active part at church.  We are given a "calling," which is basically an invitation to accept an office or responsibility in the Church.

For the past five or six years, I have worked with the Young Men organization of the church.  I first served as the secretary to the Young Men Presidency, which helps with the spiritual and temporal nurturing of all young men ages 12-17 in the Ward.  A little more than three years ago, I was called to be the Second Counselor in the Young Men Presidency and Scoutmaster.

I was, at first, quite surprised--stunned even.  I had a terrible experience as a young man in the LDS Church back in Billings, Montana.  My experience as a boy scout, for the most part, is something I would rather forget.  The other young men in my ward treated me like crap, and I didn't want anything to do with any of them.

Yet my experience as a scoutmaster over the last three years was a very VERY good one.  I received all of the training.  I understood the scouting program, and through Wood Badge training, I saw the ideal scouting program and I did my best to make the scouting program in my Ward meet this ideal.

Yesterday morning, I was "released" from this calling and now I will be a "Primary Worker."  I will be teaching a class of younger children in the Ward.

I'm going to miss scouting and the young men that I worked with.  I'm going to miss that a lot.  I'm not yet sure how I feel about teaching Primary children.  Initially, I'm not too excited about it, but hopefully, like my experience with scouting, this, too, will be something that I grow to love.

If nothing else, I'll get to flirt with the pianist.