From Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale

People disappear when they die. Their voices, their laughter, the warmth of their breath. Their flesh. Eventually their bones. All living mempry of them ceases. This is both dreadful and natural. Yet for some there is an exception to this annihilation. For in the books they write they continut to exist. We can rediscover them. Their humour, their tone of voice, their moods. Through the written word they can anger you or make you happy. They can comfort you. They can perplex you. They can alter you. All this, even though they are dead. Like flies in amber, like corpses frozen in ice, that which according to the laws of nature should pass away is, by the miracle of ink on paper, preserved. It is a kind of magic.

--Diane Setterfield



Wednesday, June 8, 2011

I had forgotten

I just got off the phone with a sweet girl from church, I'll be working with and under her in one of my callings* and I had forgotten how much I like her. Thank you Charity for being so amazing and sweet and positive and peppy. I can't wait to get to work with you!

* The topic of my callings and church in general are fodder for many blog posts. Sufficeth to say: We are asked to serve in different capacities at church. They are not paid positions but they are labors of love. In Seattle I taught the Music to the Primary aged kids (3-11). I loved it and was disappointed to find out that our neighbor, Able, has that calling here. He won't give it up :) It's an amazing way to spend your Sunday. Singing songs about God with kids. So I was content to take whatever else. One of the teachers in the Relief Society ~ was amazing and I thought I'd be happy to just sit around each Sunday while I listened to her teach. Then I was asked to substitute for a Primary teacher who left for a month to go to a wedding in Turkey!~~ It's been fun to get to know+ the 6 four year olds in my class.  Then I was given a calling to be a co-leader for the Activity Days^^. Activity Days in this ward is split up by age (there are tons of kids in our Primary) and I'm working with the younger set. I can't wait to meet my co-leader++. I remember the Activity Day program from when I was that age. I had AMAZING leaders and still vividly remember some of the activities we had and the lessons they taught+++. I'm excited to be a part of teaching the girls in my group and doing fun activities. Yea! Enter Charity who is in the Primary Presidency and over Activity Days. I'll be working with her to plan the bi-weekly meetings with the girls until Margaret gets back in town. She is so amazing^.

~ The women's group that meets for the last hour of church.

~~ Um, that's amazing!

+ I feel like I have been blessed of the Lord because since forever learning the names of people has been so hard for me. When I was called as a Nursery worker I learned all the kid's names in a matter of a week or two. (Amazingly fast for me) and Since then I have been able to learn and remember the names of the kids under my stewardship / calling. All the primary kids in Seattle, the kids in my Primary class and even some of their siblings.

++ I hear she's amazing and we've been wanting to get to know her and her husband before the calling was offered. They left for vacation before I was called and are not back yet. Oh, the anticipation!

+++ I remember a grooming lesson and activity. We learned the proper way to apply nail polish and trim your nails and why it's important to brush your teeth and hair and stuff. I remember having a formal dinner once with three forks and three spoons and multiple cups and learning proper manners. I remember the recognition activity where we all got tiny blue and white porceline boxes with a CTR necklace in it. I still have the box and let Jaedyn wear the necklace. These kinds of activities mack such impressions.

^ The first week we were in Austin, she and her husband invited us over for dinner! They are so nice. Then I left for a cruise and the week I got back they left for a family reunion in Brazil or Ecuador. Wherever he's from... Then when they got back Charity got sick and has been out for the count for like two weeks.  I was so happy when I called her today and she was completely better. Yea!

^^ Activity Days is a program for the kids ages 8-11. It's a precursor to the Young Men and Young Women Programs they join when they are 12. I'll be working with the girls 8 and 9 ears old. When they turn ten they move up the the older group. We meet twice a month and have activities centering around a lesson or theme like service, health and fitness, scripture reading or prayer. It is fun!