Blessings through service

For two years, I've been serving in the Relief Society Presidency in my ward (for my non-LDS friends, that's the leadership portion of the women's organization). I've had the opportunity to serve the women of our congregation by being part of an amazing team of women.

As is the way with our organization, however, people come and go and church "jobs" get reassigned. Because our fearless President, Holly, is headed for Paris (yes, the one in France) while her husband is on a long-term assignment there, our presidency (i.e., leadership group) has been "released." This is a very normal part of the culture in the LDS church and it's not any indication of a job poorly done. However, though serving in these types of callings where you work very closely with other people, it can be difficult to say goodbye and leave the regular contacts behind.

I hope that our friendships will persist past this release (and who knows, we may be called to serve with the new President). Regardless, I feel very blessed to have had this opportunity to serve, learn, and grow in my calling and to work with such amazing women who serve the Lord and their sisters without hesitation and through illnesses, stress, holidays, work, and other setbacks.

Columbus Day was a holiday in our area, so we met for breakfast to just relax and chat (something we try to avoid too much of during official meetings) before saying goodbye to Holly and "disbanding."  I will miss these ladies!

"In the service of the Lord, it is not where you serve but how. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one takes the place to which one is duly called, which place one neither seeks nor declines. I pledge... [my] full loyal devoted service to the tasks that may come to me to the full measure of my strength and my abilities and so far as they will enable me to perform them, however inadequate I may be."
--President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., in Conference Report, 9 April 1951, p. 151