Changes headed my way...

My 'Grils'-as Braden calls them

Yesterday I was released from my calling in the Young Women's Presidency as the secretary.  I served in that position for nearly a year and a half and I was beyond sad to be released. Before YW, I taught the 11-12 year old Primary Girl's class for over 4 years as well as leading the 10-11 year old Activity Day Girls program.  It was so much fun.  Most of the girls I started teaching in my Sunday school class are now the almost laurels.  It seemed crazy that I got to follow them through so much of their journey in the Gospel.  I got to see them go from awkward little ten year-olds to confident high schooler's. 

 I love them all so much.  I have funny funny memories of teaching them at an activity at my house once, when Braden was about 2 and running around my house like a crazy person.  I had a tendency, still do, to call him 'Kid' when he is irritating me.   I guess it happened a lot on activity days because I overheard one visiting girl ask another girl what the-tornado-that-is-my-son's name was.  To which she replied, "I'm not sure, she just calls him Kid."  I laughed about that for weeks.

Since I was not over any class in particular, I wasn't required to go to Mutual but I was always welcomed when I did.  We sure know who to have a good time on Wednesdays, I'll tell you that.  My favorite part of attending mutual was when I got to drive a group of girl's home and listen to what they gabbed about.  They made me laugh and they keep me young, for sure.  Best yet, they more often than not were examples to me.  I most definitely would not want to be a teenager in this day and age.  But from asking me to change the station, because a song that had come on wasn't appropriate (crud, I remembered thinking, I owned that CD)  or always showing up to church in the most stylish, and modest clothes out there.  They will be great leaders in the church one day.

They taught me that you can be an example to your friends and bring people who didn't follow our beliefs. And, not only that, you could bring them over and over again.  I still don't think I have ever invited someone to church, except my Australian Exchange student in HS.

But, by far the best part about my calling was the other  awesome leaders I served with.  I learned so much from them and love knowing those girls have them as shining examples for a while longer.  I loved our entire board of ladies. We had the rowdiest bunch of ladies and we knew how to laugh.  Our presidency meeting often lasted hours and hours, and none of us complained. 

Yesterday, after they announced my release from the pulpit I was asked 'Why?' several times.  The truth is, sometimes Heavenly Father knows us better than we think or better yet, he surrounds us with people who genuinely care about us.  The fact that our YW President is one of my dearest friends, who served right along side me through primary and activity days and when she called me to be her Secretary I knew it was the right fit.  And, because she is such a great friend, she knew that even though I loved my calling, my life was so crazy that I needed a break.  It's kinda like my plate was so full and yet I kept taking more and more and more, until I needed another plate.  I would never have asked to be released, (considering the calling itself is made for me and my personality-you know OCD???) and so Kelee was prompted (several times) to ask it for me.  I know it was a super hard decision for her, and the other presidency members, but in the end, whether we all liked it or not, it was what I needed.  My new calling will let me be in Relief Society (where I haven't been in about 6 years) and learn from the awesome teachers in there.  I hope I make it back into YW again because that calling is the where I feel I 'fit'.

So, after two weeks I decided enough tears already! Crying doesn't change the fact that you can't beg, cry, buy or pray your way back into a great calling, so I will just have to see where this season of my life is taking me.

 Kel, Mendy & Katy, you three are the best, from the bottom of my heart-Loves.

The slide show is from a YM/YW fundraiser for camp we did earlier in the year and up top is  the photo from this year's New Beginnings, our theme was Mission Possible. And the last photo is the little thing we gave each girl for her birthday.  The idea came from this great blog. We did a version with the large bars for the leaders too.  

(If you didn't get some of my vocab in this post, click here to see what the heck I was talking about.)