New Calling

On Sunday, October 8th, I got called to serve as Young Women's President in our congregation.  

      Here is what I posted on FaceBook:  

Introducing the new Young Women's President in the Stanley Ward of the Sunderland Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints... for those not familiar with the church, that means that I was asked to lead and serve the 12-17 year old girls in our congregation. I'm excited for the opportunity to serve, but I haven't served in Young Women's for 17 years (and that was only for 9 months). Looking forward to helping teach Sunday lessons, Wednesday night activities, firesides, and other activities. I met some of the girls today, and they are amazing. I'm humbled thinking about the trust placed in me to lead these great girls. I'll do my best, hoping God will magnify my abilities and efforts. Pres. Uchtdorf said recently, "There may be many things about life that are beyond your control. But in the end, you have the power to choose both your destination and many of your experiences along the way. It is not so much your abilities but your choices that make the difference in life." I thought about that in regards to church positions and feeling lacking in certain abilities. I am trusting that my choice to serve, to be in the right place at the right time with the right attitude will make the difference. Showing up is half the battle! Hoping that in the process, my abilities will also be strengthened. Grateful for the opportunity to learn and grow!

And then just a few days later, we had our first Wednesday night activity.  I put together a get-to-know-you activity, which involved some personality tests.  Here is what I posted on FB about that: 

Successfully got through our first activity on Wednesday for Young Women's. We did a basic questionnaire (favorites, family info, etc), then we did a couple of personality tests and played a couple of fun get to know you games. What was interesting to me was the personality tests - I don't know if the girls liked them that much. One of them was an introvert-extrovert quiz and the other was a color personality test. Have you taken a color test? The one we did had red, yellow, green, and blue. I took the test - solid green (on 17/27 questions I identified as green). I got 2 red, 3 yellow, and 5 blue. I made Alex take the test too - he's more well rounded but also had the most green. He scored 7 red, 7 yellow, 2 blue, and 11 green. Jared and Nathan also took the test - they were also pretty even - both scoring with blue as their highest at 9. Nathan was 5 (R) 8(Y), 9 (B), and 5 (G). Jared was 7, 5, 9, and 6.

Here are the descriptions of the colors, according to this test - https://solvemymaths.files.wordpress.com/…/personality-test…

RED: task and result oriented, likes recognition, likes to be on the move, doesn’t like to be late, enjoys individual sports (golf, tennis, track, piano, individual dance, etc.) likes expensive showy things, generally honest, but their moral compass might deviate during a competitive showdown. Red personality types tend to make good leaders. They love leadership roles and enjoy “managing” people (sometime perceived as bossy or having big egos). In the classroom setting, their hands will fly up when they know the answer. Generally, 1 out of 5 students will be red (I found a higher ratio, however, in my GT classes). They like to leader of the pack. Car of choice: something flashy and expensive (e.g. sports car) If they were an adult and had to put a swing set together: would pay somebody to do it for them 

YELLOW: people oriented, expressive, friendly, loves to talk, extravagant, optimistic, enjoys team sports (volley ball, baseball, football, basketball, drill team, cheer team, etc.). Yellow personality types are the glue that holds groups together. They are generally outgoing and fun loving. They are your classroom talkers. Yellows are usually the principal color in most groups. They like to run in packs. Car of choice: one that’s big enough to hold their friends If they were an adult and had to put a swing set together: would invite their friends over to build and barbeque 

GREEN: detail oriented, precise, controlled, likes to do things right the first time, likes to complete jobs, tends to be thrifty as adults. Green personality types like order. They generally have neat lockers and organized notebooks. They are often perceived as “neat­ freaks”. They make wonderful treasurers, secretaries, or committee chairs in clubs. They will keep your group organized. Generally speaking, 1 out of every 7 students will be green (once again—more in GT population). Likes to keep the pack on the trail. Car of choice: hybrid vehicle (energy efficient) If they were an adult and had to put a swing set together: would pull out the directions, carefully count and arrange the parts, then systematically build the swing set 

BLUE: creative, freethinking, sincere, loyal, caring, perceptive, understanding, open‐minded, oftentimes enjoys nature, many like the arts. Blue personality types are often perceived as quiet, sometimes shy individuals. Oftentimes they may be loners or have one or two other “blue” friends. They are very innovative, idea people. They tend to be quiet in a group and should be called upon to share their ideas. Generally, 1 out of every 8 or 9 students will be blue. Blues don’t usually run with the pack. Car of choice: jeep, recreational vehicle, unusual car (off­road adventures) If they were an adult and had to put a swing set together: would design their own swing set

I liked their description of putting a swing set together, and I had to laugh at myself when the next day I showed my green color. I had ordered a cabinet for the bathroom. It arrived in the mail, but of course was not put together. But I knew I could put it together if I carefully followed the instructions. So I first laid out all the pieces according to their letter or number and made sure I had all the pieces. I lined up all the numbered bags with screws and such in number order. Then I tried to go step by step through the instructions. It turns out the pictures with arrows and little numbers were hard to understand! (And a couple of the pictures were actually incorrect! ) Not cool. Anyway, had a good start, but then got to a part where I couldn't figure out how the screws worked. I needed help! I needed my friend Amanda because I think she is more blue than me (she DID design and put together their swing set)! 😊 Nathan and Jared got home from school, and Jared was eager to help. We did pretty good together, nearly completing it. When Alex got home, we had about one thing left to do. Alex finished it off pretty quickly, barely looking at the instructions! 😀 Anyway, Alex and I were talking about the different color types, and although he scored more green, he doesn't seem to fit one color a lot more than the others (and I don't see one strong color trait in Nathan and Jared either). I think it might be a S family thing, because S are task oriented, honest, friendly, likes to do things right the first time and complete jobs, thrifty, loyal, and enjoy nature. They can be leaders when they have to and can hold their own in social settings, but don't really enjoy or thrive on social gatherings. As far as the swing set analogy, they probably most fit the green, in systematically building the swing set. But at least for Alex, he isn't very precise or detail oriented. And he doesn't really enjoy the work of putting something together - "too much work" might be a typical thought! Alex said he would probably buy the swing set and then leave it in the box for about 6 months... or question why they needed a swing set in the first place when you can take the kids to the park! 😄 I may never figure him out.

The good thing about me though 😊 is that I fit the green mold pretty well - detail oriented, precise, likes to do things right the first time, complete jobs, thrifty, likes order, and will keep the group organized. Probably makes me a good mom, as far as keeping the family organized and "on the trail".

That was the first of several activities planned for the year.  It was a great opportunity to serve, and my testimony was strengthened this year about the gospel of Jesus Christ and about coming unto Christ as the source of power in our lives.  I also grew in my leadership abilities.  I was really motivated right from the start to ponder and seek inspiration for the girls this year.  

Bishop (who receives inspiration and asks people to serve) shared with me the lead up to the calling.  They needed a new presidency, because they hadn't had one the whole summer.  But he felt like he should wait on calling someone.  At this point, he knew we were coming and that a couple of other people were coming towards the end of summer.  He shared that sometimes in making callings, things make sense logically and you receive confirmation that the call should be extended.  And other times you receive really clear inspiration that a certain person is to be called.  The latter was the case for me - he knew clearly that I should be called as the new YW president.  

Along with sharing that with my family, here is what I shared with them at the time:  "It makes me a little emotional thinking about it, but also gives me motivation to try my best to make a difference in the short time I have to serve."

With the year behind me now at this point, that did motivate me to ponder and pray about the lessons and activities with more purpose.  It was a short time to serve (9-10 months), but I know now that the main reason we were given the opportunity to go to England was so that I could serve as YW president.  I'll probably share some more thoughts and feelings in some later posts.