Well, Now I Have a Calling

Last Sunday, I accepted my first calling. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, all positions are assigned by revelation from the Lord, from the prophet and apostles down to Sunday School teachers and those who care for Church meetinghouses.

At church last week, my Bishop pulled me aside to extend to me a calling, to ask me to serve in our congregation. I had thought this was coming soon, but had no idea where I would be asked to serve. I was nervous, but having predicted a calling, I had prayed about it beforehand and decided that I would accept whatever the Bishop asked.

And then it came:

Primary teacher.

My jaw dropped to the floor. What a huge responsibility, I thought, shaping these little minds and possibly, depending on age, preparing them to make the decision to be baptized. Wow! I wrote in my journal, "I know that as I do my part to prepare, the Lord will magnify my efforts and make it enough. I'm not enough, but He is."

This week, I've had a bit of a struggle with my testimony. I continued to read the scriptures, though, especially the Book of Mormon and was daily reminded that I could not deny its truthfulness. I know that Book of Mormon is a true record, scripture sealed up to the Lord and delivered to us "in due time." The peace and understanding I experience when I read that cannot be replicated or explained any other way.

One afternoon, I opened the Church homepage. One of the stories near the top (here) was announcing the Primary theme for 2016, when I'll be teaching: "I Know the Scriptures are True." And I thought, wow. How amazing. That's the only thing I know right now, but I know it with all my heart. I can teach that.

By yesterday evening, my worries and concerns had resurfaced. I was unsure of my abilities, and thought that maybe I shouldn't have accepted the calling. I arrived to church early this morning to try to talk to a member of the bishopric about it before my calling would be presented to the congregation. I thought I might back out. I did not, and was sustained by the congregation during sacrament meeting. It was pretty scary.

I spent sacrament meeting trying to rapidly assemble my testimony and get back on my feet. A great friend, and one of my former missionaries, was a precious help to me, just like she was all those months ago. I wrote, "I'm keeping my anchor in the scriptures. I know the scriptures are true, without a doubt." I kept coming back to that, over and over. I knew that. I know that. She reminded me, "That's where it all starts. And I know that will lead to knowledge that the church is true. I don't know how or when, but I promise it will."

Because I only joined the church a year ago, I'd only ever been to Primary once. The bishop told me I could attend Primary before I began teaching to observe and learn how it works a little bit. So today, I attended Sharing Time, the hour with all the children combined, rather than in their separate classrooms. Since it's the last week of the month, the music leader did a fun countdown of the kids' favorite Primary songs. That was so, so wonderful. Leaving Primary, I was again confident that this would be a good thing.

After church, a member of the bishopric found me a gave me a special blessing to begin my calling. This, also, was a great relief and reminder to me. I felt confident in m abilities and God's trust in me to perform this service. This is the Lord's work, and I'm grateful that He trusts me to be a small part of it.

Well, here goes! Primary it is!

(source)