MaeLyn's Musings

Yesterday was one of those days when I remember that I have four callings. Here is my day in a nut shell: 4:50 AM Woke up to a loud popping noise from outside. It was probably fireworks, but it might have been a gun shot. It was followed by two more loud pops, then another four. When I didn't hear any more, I tried to go back to sleep. 6:00 AM Gave up on trying to return to sleep, and got up to finalize my Relief Society lesson. I printed up slips with the sections from the lessons I wanted to read so I could hand them to people instead of trying to explain to them which paragraphs I was talking about. 7:00 AM Showered and dressed, gathered my visual aids (A wedding picture, my marriage license, a copy of "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" and pictures of Adam and Eve and Lehi and Sariah from the Gospel Art Kit, as well as a picture of the ten lepers) and what else I would need at church, read the comics in the newspaper, ate breakfast, sent the kids to get d...

Just noting for history's sake, yesterday I was sustained as a cub scout den leader. I will be helping the Bear Cubs in our pack. While I wasn't overjoyed at receiving a fourth calling, at least this one isn't on Sundays. Second Sundays are already crazy for me as I lead the music in Sacrament Meeting, play piano in Relief Society, and teach in Relief Society. As was mentioned in yesterday's Relief Society lesson, "If we fully appreciate the many blessings which are ours through the redemption made for us, there is nothing that the Lord could ask of us that we would not anxiously and willingly do." Whatever inconvenience I may experience serving in my ward is nothing when compared to Christ's suffering for my sins. So when the bishopric extends a calling, I accept it.

Every once in a while I have one of those days where it seems like God is trying to tell me something. Yesterday was one of those days. This past year, every Sunday before church, we have watched a General Conference talk. The talk that Josh selected for us to watch yesterday morning was entitled " Gifts ", given by President Thomas S. Monson in April of 1993. At the end of his talk, he mentioned something in closing that I had heard before, but that touched me more powerfully this time. They were the words of President Harold B. Lee: “Life is God’s gift to man. What we do with our life is our gift to God.” In Sacrament Meeting yesterday, the talks given were about obedience. One of the speakers quoted Elder Neal A. Maxwell : “The submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar. The many other things we ‘give,’ … are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us. However, when you and I finally submit ourselve...

The phone rang yesterday, about an hour before church was to start. I answered it. It was the executive secretary of the ward, asking if I could meet with the bishop briefly, fifteen minutes before church. I said, "yes" and hung up the phone. Immediately the thoughts came pouring through my mind. Is it a new calling? Are they going to release me from one (or all) of the three I already have? The Young Women presidency changed last week... does it have something to do with that? I am really enjoying my calling as a Relief Society teacher right now, and I didn't really want to be released from that yet, especially since I've only been doing it for a few months. I could deduce that it wasn't' something really big, because they only asked to see me, and not Steven too. But whatever it was, I knew I would do whatever I was called to do. We arrived at the church fifteen minutes or so before it was to start. The bishop was still in a meeting, so I put down my boo...

A little after 10am on a Tuesday morning, the house is quiet except the whir of the dryer, my typing on the keyboard and an occasional meow from one of the cats. Wow. Does anyone else feel the huge relief of Christmas holidays being over, decorations put away, normal routines recommenced? I realize the change might not be so great for single people, empty-nesters, those with preschoolers, or those who home school, etc. but for me, with all the kids back at school and Steven away at work, the peace is amazing. I can finally hear myself think again! We had a wonderful holiday. The kids played with Legos, watched movies, played games and had fun. New Years Eve was spent at a party thrown by ward members talking and playing games. Yesterday the weather was nice and warm (40s and sunny, anyway... It is amazing what this California girl now considers "warm"!) and we rode bikes to the park to play. Steven has been working at his contract job at Richmond Homes for over a week no...

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka the Mormon Church), the Primary is the organization designed for children aged 18 months through 11 years. According to the Church's Handbook of Instructions: The purposes of Primary are to help children: Feel Heavenly Father’s love for them. Learn and understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. Feel and recognize the influence of the Holy Ghost. Prepare to make and keep sacred covenants.  I have served as President of my ward (congregation) Primary for three years today. (Read here for the post I wrote the day I was sustained.) During that time I have seen a lot, learned a lot, and hopefully I have grown a lot. One thing that I have noticed - and I've been bothered by, is that many people seem to think of serving in the Primary, particularly as Primary Teacher as a "place holder" or "low class" calling. They seem to think the bishopric had nowhere else to put them and so threw them into the ...

Is it just life that as soon as you think you have a bit of a handle on something, you realize that you don't? Maybe it is just me. Primary on Sunday went really well. As I was going to bed last night I realized that I enjoy working with the kids in Primary. I have fun whether I am conducting, like I did yesterday, or teaching Sharing Time. I love the kids and I thoroughly enjoy that aspect of my calling. And then, just as I was ready to drift off to sleep, I realized that I had scheduled a presidency meeting at the same time as I have parent/teacher conferences this Tuesday. Oops! I laid awake for another hour after that thinking about how I was going to explain my blunder to the other members of my presidency - especially after I cancelled our meeting last week. (I cancelled because I wanted to enjoy Lindy's company last week.) I thought about Primary, about callings that need to be filled, about things we should talk about at our presidency meeting, all the while hearing son...

I have a lot on my mind this morning. Yesterday afternoon I had two girls over from the family up the street. I was watching them so their Grandma could get a chance to rest. They had a blast playing with my kids. Apparently their mother is still in the hospital, and their dad has bleeding ulcers. I wish there was more I could do for them. Our bishop also is in the hospital suffering from complications of the H1N1 virus. He has viral pneumonia, was having a lot of difficulty breathing, and is now in a drug induced coma for what could be a couple weeks or a month. We are praying for him and his family. As a result of all this, he was unable to participate in setting me and my counselors apart for our new callings last night; his counselors had to do that instead. While I was being set apart, one comment that was made in the blessing struck me particularly. I was told that the Lord has been preparing me for this calling for a long time. I guess that is why so many of my callings so f...

Today was our ward primary program. It went wonderfully well. Except that I almost skipped the fourth verse of the first song. Whoops. Oh well. Everything else went well. I even played the piano for "Baptism" without a hitch...up to tempo. John memorized his part this morning before church sometime and I didn't realize he had it memorized until he did it and he was outstanding. Hannah gave a short talk about her baptism, describing it in detail. Josh and Peter both gave their parts. The primary children sang loud and clear, especially the one seven year old boy who always sings loudly, and with lots of enthusiasm. The closing song was Families Can Be Together Forever. The primary sang the first verse, the congregation joined in on the second verse, and then there was a little interlude (which I wrote) and the primary sang the chorus from "The Family is of God". It was awesome, and I cried through the closing prayer. Earlier in the meeting, I was sustained as t...

The weekend is over. I really enjoyed having Kendra visit with us. She spent most of her time with her dad in Longmont, but we had time to chat and she entertained the kids with games on her phone and computer. It was good to see her again. While Kendra was here she asked what my kids would like for Christmas, so she could tell their paternal grandma. I'm just over birthday season, and I'm not really ready to think about Christmas yet, but here is what I've come up with: Hannah - craft supplies. [A knitting loom (like the kind you make hats on), yarn, fabric, tape, pinking shears, ribbons, crochet hooks] Books. [Horror, fantasy appropriate for a 10 year old advanced reader.] Clothes. [size 8. Long pants but NO jeans. Maybe twill or corduroy? long sleeve shirts] John - Books. [mystery, fantasy appropriate for an 8 year old advanced reader, he also has interest in electricity and magnetism, magic tricks and origami] Clothes. [size 6/7, pajamas, long sleeve shirts, jeans...

There are Mondays when I heave a sigh of relief that the weekend is over. There are other Mondays when I wish the weekend could have gone on a little longer. I'm not sure what I'm thinking today. I loved my weekend, but it left me deep in thought. Saturday evening was the General Relief Society Broadcast. It was emphasized that Relief Society is established after the pattern of the Priesthood. We were told that Relief Society helps us to reach our full potential. We were advised to "mind the gap" between what we believe and what we know and do. We were reminded about the legacy of Charity that was begun by the first Pioneer Relief Society sisters and has been passed down through the years. I left the meeting feeling that I wasn't doing everything that I should be doing, and wondering what I could add to my life to make it more fulfilling. Over the last few weeks, I've been cutting back on the games I've been playing on Facebook, feeling that they were a wa...