Callings

Mr W and I received a new calling in the ward
a couple of weeks ago.
It's to be ward missionaries.

Now, I have always thought I'd like to serve in that capacity,
for a few different reasons,
but the main one is simply that
I really really enjoy
sharing what I know,
sharing what has blessed my life.

It's like, when you have found the very best chocolate cake recipe
and you want give everyone you know the recipe too.
It's just that good.

So when we were asked to serve in this new capacity,
the answer was absolutely "yes!"...
but there was the matter of the calling we've been serving in
since last year--
that of Primary teachers for the Valiant 10B class,
which is the Caboose's class of 10-turning-11 year olds.

When you receive one calling,
you usually are released from the other.

But.

We didn't wanna be released.
We really didn't.
We even moved up with our class last year,
to be with them
because we love these crazy kids.

But that's going up stream, if you get me.
Two callings can be stressful.

We thought about it.
Alot.
Last Sunday, we told the Primary Presidency,
we'd stick around until they found permanent teachers,
so our class wouldn't have to have substitutes.
That made every one involved happy--
us
the kids
the leaders.

And then we got to teaching yesterday,
and towards the end of class,
we had the kids write in a note
"to the next teacher"
the things they liked about our class.
Some of them:

"1. I love the movie and popcorn at the end of the month. 
  2. I love playing hangman at the beginning of class.
  3. Sharing the best part of our week."  

"Food. Games. Movie."

"I love popcorn and how we review the things we learned that month. I LOVE how silly our class is. I love hangman and how smart our class is. And the best part of our week."

"Snacks and more snacks, movies, gum, No RED 40, popcorn, cheese-its, hangmans games, fun, cheesecake, supcakes, awesomeness, sausage/bacon cheese chili dogs, ham sandwiches, chicken nuggets, chips and salsa, water, walks outside, eating food outside."

Now, in case you're flabbergasted by the last one--he's just joshin'.  We've only ever shared popcorn and cheese-its on movie day.  I am not quite sure what he's hoping to achieve by writing a smorgasborg menu down.  And we've never had class outside. lol  Can you see why I love him though?

We watch the video series called "Book of Mormon Stories" which is divided up into chapters of the BoM, on the 4th Sunday of every month. We start from where we ended the previous month and review what we learned up until the current Sunday.  It's usually about 15 minutes worth, and I bring popcorn usually to eat during the movie.  The kids love this and obviously, it helps to see the stories we've been learning about.

As for "hangman" and "Best part of our week"--both of those are done at the beginning of class every Sunday.
As I am writing on the board and getting my lesson supplies out, the kids go around the room and share the best part of their week.  Kids love sharing something personal and it helps us all get familiar with each other.
"Hangman" is the word guessing game...and the word is the TOPIC of the lesson that day.

Simple things really, but it's what makes our class time awesome.

Thoughts of leaving this class before the year was up,
was enough to bring tears to my eyes.
I told the kids how much we love them,
how brilliant they all are,
how blessed we feel to have been their teachers,
and how I'm going to know them all their lives,
and they better ALWAYS smile at me in the hallways at church
or whenever we see one another.
And, I will probably tease them when they start dating.

It was hard to say goodbye after church yesterday.
It didn't feel right.

So, Mr W and I talked about it some more
on the way home from church
and once we got home,
we made a decision.
Mr W said, "Ask if we can stay."

I called the Primary President and asked if we could just stay in this calling
until the end of the year.
Her response was,
"Thank you so much. We haven't even submitted names yet, because we just couldn't think of anyone to replace you. The names just wouldn't come."

That's because Heavenly Father knew we wouldn't be going anywhere, yeah?

We have many opportunities to serve in many different callings in the Church--
I, myself, have served in everything from teaching primary, SS youth, Young Women, Relief Society a dozen times over, Stake and Ward callings, and now, a ward missionary.  It is remarkable that we all get the chance to try on new experiences with one another across the board.
If you asked me which calling was my favorite--it'd probably be the one I'm serving in at the time.

So, we're staying in Primary with these brilliant kids and we're trying out something new too as ward missionaries.  It's kinda like we hit the jackpot,
if you ask me.