Put your shoulder to the wheel

Listening to: Radiohead - Hail To The Thief

One thing you'll see here is my thoughts and feelings about my faith. It's a BIG part of my life, although that hasn't come through my MOG posts. I also never felt comfortable sharing that side of me in Multiply posts, mostly due to the OVERWHELMING anti-religious tone from a number of people, mostly contacts of contacts. Here, I feel no such burden. I'll understand if these posts don't get as many comments. But if you do read and don't understand something, please ask; I realize that we Mormons have our own vocabulary, so some things may not completely make sense.

When we moved from Colorado to Kansas almost four years ago, we knew full well that we would be asked to serve in church a lot. When Melissa's parents lived in Medicine Lodge, KS, we would visit them knowing that we would have to teach classes on Sunday, even though we didn't live there. There are so few members of the Church here that if you have a pulse and a testimony, you're called to serve.

That has proven true, more than I ever thought possible. Melissa currently serves as an early-morning seminary instructor. That means she gets up every morning at 5:00 AM (yes, there is a 5 AM), arrives at church, and teaches a lesson to high school kids for about 50 minutes. EVERY Monday through Friday. I would never have thought it possible, since she's such a night-owl, but she's doing great at it, and the kids love her. Of course, she comes home and goes back to sleep until noon, so it's not like she's not well-rested. She's also becoming quite the expert on the Old Testament, which is the course of study this year.

As for me, instead of one huge calling, I have four callings of various sizes. First, I've been our ward finance clerk for 2 1/2 years now, meaning that I'm responsible for all funds that come in or go out. I get audited every six months, and I've not had a problem yet. Second, I'm one of two stake technology specialists, meaning I go fix computers for the Lord as well as my employer. ;) Third, I teach twice a month in elders' quorum. Finally, I was recently called to teach our youth about becoming better missionaries, three times a month.

So, if you have noticed that I don't MOG much on Saturdays, it's not because I'm watching football on TV, although that is possibly true too. Likely, I'm studying for a lesson.