Today I survived my first funeral luncheon as Relief Society president.
For anyone reading this who isn't LDS, the Relief Society is an organization of women in the church whose purpose is to teach the gospel and provide relief and support to the women in the church. Each congregation, known as wards, has its own Relief Society with leaders and teachers from the ward. They are all volunteers.
Last Sunday, I was called to be the president of my ward's congregation. I have mixed feelings about it, but I believe that it will be an excellent experience with a lot of hard work. I have two counselors who have specific duties as well as overall helping the ladies in the ward. After choosing my two counselors, I had to pick a Compassionate Service Coordinator. Her job is to organize help (most often meals) for sick families, women who just had a baby, and people who just had a death in the family. The gal I chose accepted the position on Tuesday, the same night I found out about a death in the ward.
Well, actually, the lady who died isn't in my ward but her daughter and ex daughter-in-law are and they requested help with the funeral. I called JaNae, the Compassionate Service Coordinator, thanked her for accepting the position and told her about the funeral. Technically, she doesn't start until being "sustained", or approved, by the congregation on Sunday, but she jumped in without worrying about it and was such a huge help.
JaNae called several women in the ward and all agreed to provide rolls, salads, baked potatoes, and desserts for the funeral and I cooked a couple hams. Everything went well and we had a lot of help before, during, and after the funeral. It was kind of stressful but was a complete success. The family and friends were so appreciative and it felt good to serve them in their hour of sadness.
I had kind of hoped to not have a funeral for a bit so I could get used to this new position, but now that it's come and gone, I'm okay that it happened my first week. Baptism by fire.
Julie :)
4 comments:
That's cool that you're the president. I know you'll do a great job. I think funerals are really hard to arrange, so good job with that!
Yay! Awesome! (not awesome for the grieving family) I hope you continue to post your experiences you have in your calling, when appropriate. I enjoy reading your blog. I'm excited for you. I just got a new calling, too - Sunbeam teacher!
I was the RS pres here for a few years, and I was so freaked out that someone in our ward was going to die! There are several people who are at that point, if you know what I mean. One time I guess someone did ask our church to help with a funeral, but a ward lady in town basically called and told me that she was bringing stuff for our branch, as I lived to far away at the time. I was grateful and slightly annoyed at not being consulted at the same time. Soooo glad I don't have that calling right now. I suck at compassionate service, and we don't have enough members to call someone else to that position.Now I'm the Primary Pres...sooo much better. I'm sure you'll do great!
So I haven't checked your blog for awhile, but I love ready what's going on in your life! I think you will be a great RS president! It's definitely a calling that is a lot of work. I've been in a RS presidency before. Currently I am the Primary President! I was just called and set apart on Jan 3., so I kinda know how you feel with baptism by fire. We have had a few things that needed to get planned and done in Jan. Sometimes I feel SO crazy busy with work, home, calling etc, it gets to me sometime and I have a little meltdown and start anew. We SO need to get together, with our busy schedules and all!
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