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Your
Response to Late-Running RS Meetings
By Joni Hilton
We had a huge response to the topic of Relief
Society meetings going overtime (maybe you wrote your letters while
waiting for class to end?)-- and those held late to watch Primary
kids also sounded off. Evidently this problem is epidemic.
But, luckily, many of you shared some clever solutions. Our
first letter is from a reader who shares this frustration:
I
hear this sister loud and clear. I am the first counselor in
our ward's RS Presidency and it has become a hallmark that Debbie
will make sure that the meeting starts exactly on time, whether
there are three sisters there or a full house. When I am conducting,
and the "magic time" has arrived, I will start talking
over everyone who is visiting.
Unfortunately, I can't manage to force whoever is teaching to END ON TIME.
I have spoken to the teachers individually, and have found most of them to
be understanding. There are times, though, when the teacher is on a roll, or
the class is really participating, and it seems that it doesn't get gracefully
stopped. I feel that I should try talking again to the teachers (as well as
the presidency--they are also guilty) and make it clear that it is important
that we end on time so that those who have to get their children can do so,
also in a timely manner.
Another problem we have is that announcements can go on and on and on. This
tends to cut into the time for music appreciation. Our music director, who
was just released. was very un-understanding, and, by gum, she was going to
have her 5 minutes (or, in many instances, 6 or 7 or 8 minutes).
A brother wrote in about having too many meetings
in general (something the Church has addressed recently), and
said his wife uses their 2-month-old infant as an excuse to leave
a late-running RS class. He also wonders if
“...
some people have nothing better to do and treat meetings as an
escape from unruly children or a spouse. When my wife was in
charge of a Family Enrichment meeting there was a lady who would
not leave the meeting at the conclusion. One of the sisters organizing
the meeting tried to get her to go but she kept saying she was
in no hurry to get home to her family. At 9:30 my exhausted wife
got home and related the story. Since then she has rarely gotten
involved in enrichment night because it is the same story every
week. Either the meeting goes on forever or sisters won't leave.
When
she was in the primary presidency one of her fellow councilors
was upset because she felt they did not have enough presidency
meetings. When my wife finally asked her what they needed to
go over at the meeting she had no clue. She just wanted to have
a meeting for the sake of having a meeting....We really love
the gospel, church callings, and our ward but the meetings issue
is just our pet peeve. Of course if you say anything to any of
the sisters they get offended which makes things even worse so
everyone just keeps their mouth shut for the sake of harmony. Jason Orton, Tired of Meetings
Dear Tired Jason, I do know a couple of women who
find a welcome escape in some of our meetings and activities.
Maybe it’s time for a family council in those homes, to work
out a better solution than running away to church! One friend
of mine (who home schools 7 kids) has come up with a neat idea--
she and her husband alternate having Thursday nights off, entirely
to themselves, sans kids and sans spouse. They might browse at
a bookstore, visit friends, take in a movie, Christmas shop,
whatever they choose. It’s just the break they need. Any overwhelmed
sisters out there? Maybe you could try the same idea.
Here’s a thought from a reader in Little Rock, Arkansas,
that echoes my advice to get everyone talking:
When
I was our Ward’s Primary president this was one of my biggest
problems. Our Stake had instructed us that we were to never just
let the kids loose but that they needed to be picked up. It was
impressed upon us as Primary leadership that this was vital to
the children’s safety and we felt strongly that we had to follow
this counsel. Some children became very upset and would cry when
their mother or father didn’t pick them up immediately after
the closing prayer, especially as their friends left.
We
tried everything. I brought it up at Ward Council how much trouble
we were having and was very discouraged when the Relief Society
President’s reply was, “We know you are tired of tending children
at the end of the block, but we are having a spiritual meeting
and it’s hard to tell the sisters to stop.” (We felt that we
had a spiritual meeting also and what we perceived as their refusal
to think of us as doing more than babysitting was, at the time,
disheartening.) We would play games, we had the “leftover” children
stack the chairs and we tried to use that time to just visit
one on one with children. Adding to our dilemma, some members
of the Primary Presidency also had small children and so it fell
to us that didn’t to stay until all were picked up. Our best
progress came by urging the Priesthood to come get their children,
and to talking with individual families that were the most frequent
offenders about getting an alternate person to get the child.
Mom
is not the only one who can find her way to the Primary room.
Some were late with good reason as they were teaching and cleaning
up for YW or both parents were heavily involved with assignments.
Getting an older YW or YM to be designated to pick up that child
helped. I found myself on the opposite side of the problem when
I was released from Primary and put in the Young Women’s Presidency.
Though we would end class on time there were lots of ends to
tie up and girls who needed us at the end of the block. The first
Sunday after the change, my son was the last, lone “leftover” child.
We soon trained Dad to come get him.
The
Primary President is the advocate for her Ward’s children in
Ward Council. I believe that it’s there that the Ward as a whole
can solve the problem and help those that work with Primary to
feel supported and not isolated. Emphasizing the “whys” of the
policy can go a long way to getting everyone on board and out
in a timely manner. I love the idea of attitude changing also.
We, as a western society and as LDS folks are often far too concerned
with our schedules and being “on time.” I think it’s these sort
of dilemmas that try us as a people and, if overcome with love,
make us better Saints.
Cathryn
Lane
Between the lines of your letter, I also see the
need to let everyone know that they are appreciated in the
callings they perform. After all, we all volunteer and sacrifice
to help others-- if we know we’re appreciated it helps the
whole group want to cooperate to solve problems that crop up.
Here’s some advice from a sister in Virginia:
Oooooh
What a Topic!!! Having been in an RS Presidency (Education Counselor),
I fiercely protected the times of my teachers!! Each had taken
time out of their week to prepare and provide a lesson only to
have 72 announcements and 5 verses of a practice hymn leave her
with 5-10 minutes to teach! I was then inundated with the whole "announcement
thing." My solution to that was as follows:
1.
A "General Announcement" list was generated every month;
this covered all auxiliaries and groups (Scouts, Singles, etc).
My info for this list came from the auxiliary secretaries or
the group representative. I then emailed this to all sisters
(along with the RS Journal). Those sisters who didn't have email,
I provided copies of both.
2.
I then "decreed" to the NEW RS President (deer in the
headlights look at all times) that only RS announcements would
be given in RS. These announcements are usually limited to Enrichment
(I know the new name, too long!) or sickness or birth. AND all
announcements had to go through me before they would be announced
from the podium. I followed the example set in Sacrament Meeting.
We don't have all kinds of people standing up making announcements
there!! Info goes into the bulletin and only special announcements
are made from the pulpit.
3.
When I was the Education counselor, I was also over the music.
So in my limited wisdom, I asked the "music gals" to
pick one practice hymn per month and work on a verse at a time
each meeting versus the multiple verse approach. We did sing
the entire song on the last Sunday and by the way, we did not
have a practice hymn on Fast Sundays.
So
that's how I tried to keep the meetings on time. However I found
after many years in various auxiliary presidencies, rarely do
the presidency meetings run on time. I think this is due in part
to a lack of a prepared agenda. The President has to be willing
to stick to the agenda unless moved otherwise. As the Secretary,
I stopped taking notes because the meeting often "rambled
on" and 3 (yes three) hours later, I'm not exactly sure
what we accomplished. I work outside of the home and my time
away from the job is limited and precious. I want to spend that
time in a quality manner; I love to serve and do so with a willing
heart, however time knows no limits when it comes to certain
church meetings.
Good advice-- it’s easy to let the announcements
take over, isn’t it? Read on for more tips:
About forty years ago, we had a wise Stake President who said, "Announced
times for meetings are when the Holy Ghost will be in attendance. Starting
late cheats us of time for the Spirit to be with us. Going over time means
that the Holy Ghost has left at the appointed time and the group is left without
the Spirit." I know that this is not DOCTRINE, but it does give a thought.
Teachers need to be made aware of the time and if there is no time for a hymn
(or perhaps just one short verse), it is all right. Getting released on time
is of the utmost importance for all of the members of the class. Taking extra
minutes steals hours from a group. Five extra minutes for twenty-five people
is 125 minutes or over two hours. Teachers, presidencies, music people ALL
need to be mindful of the appointed time and not cause undue stress.
It’s hard to picture the Holy Ghost on a time schedule,
but He certainly won’t be there if the meeting is so long that
everyone’s agitated and the spirit has been lost. The next
reader also points out that timely endings are also a matter
of safety:
I have very strong feelings about how important this issue is after my husband
and I noticed a very young child walking in the direction of home about
a block from the church one Sunday. We turned around, popped her back in
the car (she said she was going home - not likely since that was about
5 miles away).
There
had been a substitute in her Sunbeam class that morning who didn't
know she wasn't to let the children go until picked up by someone,
and when the girl's mother wasn't there, she just walked off
in a huff and headed for the door. We got the child back to the
church just as her frantic parents were about to call the police.
The
next Sunday, I just raised my hand and spoke up in RS meeting,
telling them what had happened and pointing out that we absolutely
had to end on time so that mothers could get to the Primary rooms
(at the opposite end of a long hall). It worked for a while,
but we have a hard time watching the clock and taking responsibility
to stop a lesson on time or whatever. When I taught SS, I wasn't
happy on Fast Sunday when a former bishop let the meeting go
on and on; I thought they should say something like: "We
will hear testimonies until the big hand is on the _____ and
the little hand is on the _____." Maybe people would get
it then.
Gail
Wasden
Petaluma, CA
Glad you brought up the possible dangers of kids
wandering around alone, especially in these crazy times. I once
had a stake president insist we keep watch over the little ones
for as long as it takes, for that very reason. Here’s some good
advice from a former RS President:
When
I was RS President a couple of years ago, I was ALWAYS dealing
with this problem. I found that the main reason we ran over time
was because a couple of my teachers didn't know how to finish
their lessons on time. Hard as I tried to organize the meetings
AND remind the teachers to finish on time, we still ran over.
The ward's teacher trainer also tried to teach the teachers how
to stay on schedule. But it seemed that for some teachers, the
idea of leaving out something they had prepared to teach was
just incomprehensible. Sometimes I could see the panic in their
eyes as a discussion about a particular part of the lesson ran
longer than they'd planned for. They would frantically scan their
lesson outline, then go right on with ALL of it, as if they had
all the time in the world. I would signal when they had, say,
5 minutes left, then again when their time was up, but sometimes
nothing would shake them until the brethren would start bursting
through the door to begin the Sunday School class (RS has always
been our FIRST meeting, not our last).
Solutions?
Well, I would suggest that the RS President makes sure that the "offending" party
(whether teacher or chorister or whoever) understands how important
it is to finish on time. Perhaps they don't have children in
Primary, or perhaps they don't understand that even a great lesson
grows cold when it goes on too long. Also, tell them at PRECISELY
what time they need to finish. No kidding, it seemed that telling
my teachers to finish "in 20 minutes" was not as effective
as saying "you need to be completely done when that clock
says 9:45." Tell them what "the signal" will be.
Mine was always to just tap on the face of my wristwatch.
There
may be a need to train the ward's teachers in how to manage their
lesson time - how to decide what to leave out, for example, if
a lesson begins to run long; how to summarize; how to manage
the class discussion; etc.
Also,
this may be an opportunity for the RS Presidency to discuss how
they will handle such things. Some leaders are just so afraid
of upsetting a teacher by cutting her off, but in the process
of sparing the one, they upset the many instead. The presidency
may have to learn how to be more assertive while remaining loving
and kind.
But
I also very much appreciate your suggestion in the article to
simply exercise a little patience when a meeting runs long. After
all, we are serving God, whether we're in the nursery or just
supporting a fellow RS member who is learning how to budget her
time. There's rarely a need to be rude. As the writer said, it
is a good opportunity to teach our children (and ourselves) that
a few extra minutes at church on Sunday never killed anyone.
Punctuality is very important, but so is not offending the least
of our brethren or sisters.
Thanks
for the interesting article.
Nancy
Phillips
Brooklyn, NY
Our next letter is from a sister who has seen both
sides of the coin, serving in Relief Society and in Primary:
When
you are RS president, and the lesson is spirit-filled, it is
very hard to close. We had problems at the beginning of my tenure
as education counselor, with 15+ minutes of announcements, 'spiritual
thought', missionary moment (5 minutes!!!) and other things at
the beginning of RS time, leaving 10-15 minutes (maybe) for the
lesson. It was apparent something had to give. Missionary moment
and spiritual thought are wonderful, but many lessons cover such
things, and usually give time to discuss such matters. Of course,
if the president feels strongly something must be brought out,
it's up to her, but not every week.
Announcements
were put on a marker board (we don't have a chalkboard) on the
side of the room. Those interested can read.
Before,
we were always running out of time for practice hymn and closing
hymn. All of a sudden we had those songs, and golly gee, the
spirit came even stronger than when we had all those spoken spiritual
thoughts. Teachers then knew they had plenty of time for their
lessons, didn't have to try to cram, and there was time for discussion.
Occasionally we were singing the closing hymn at the last bell,
and did not look meanly at those sisters who left to pick up
children. It got better though, and we got where we ended RS
at the same time church was over.
It
can be done, but the RS presidency has to want to make it happen
and look at where their time is going. There are always lessons
we wish we could sit and chat about all day, but if we are in
a place with multiple wards, or a ward with children, you just
can't do it.
Barbara
Ritter
Many of you have found it can be done, especially
if announcements are printed in some way, instead of spoken.
You also mention the importance of music, which leads to our
next letter:
I
have expressed concern with several RS Presidents and suggested
that a signal be given to let the instructor know that it is
time to bring the lesson to a close. Every time my suggestion
was shot down as being improper.
You
also struck a sour note in your reference to the chorister. I
have been a member of RS for over 40 years and served in music
callings for about 50 years. It seems that most people consider
the music as optional. Music callings are difficult in that the
accompanist is expected to play any hymn with no advance notice,
often music people are pressed into service at the last moment
and expected to select appropriate music in seconds. Those with
musical ability are some of the most abused members of the ward.
Should the meeting run longer than expected, one verse of a hymn
(which is a complete message if sung in entirety) or sing no
hymn at all is the norm. If anyone else were to prepare and be
in attendance week after week and be brushed aside as if the
calling were unimportant they would soon resign.
My
observation is that the biggest problem with late running meetings
is 1) failing to start on time because not enough sisters are
in attendance, 2) lack of planning as to how long the announcements
and special notifications will take and 3) when the lesson should
end. Most of us would never consider stealing money or material
things from our friends and fellow ward members. But isn't taking
more time than that allotted another form of stealing i.e. someone
else's time?
Jean
Sandy, Utah
I’m glad you sounded off, Jean-- music is extremely
important, and can often touch our hearts more than mere words
ever could. Also, we do need to appreciate the time and effort
that musicians provide-- it is a vast, frequently unacknowledged,
yet vital element of worship. Here’s a letter from another musical
sister:
I used to be a Primary Music Leader. We had a Primary President who liked to
pontificate long into my music time. One day she had the gall to complain
that the kids were not learning the program songs like they ought to. I
countered that in the last 4 weeks I had had a total of 25 minutes of music
time. I was frustrated enough to begin to keep track. She then informed
me that she "was more important than" I was and therefore could
take the time that she needed. Those are quotation marks you see! My jaw
dropped and I had no more to say. But
I did a lot of thinking (fuming, too, but that is beside the point). I
eventually invited the kids over to my house and held several mid-week
practices. I could see that I was not going to change her, but it was my
job to accept her as she is and love her as she is. I realized that when
I was assigned music time, I was the "Most Important" person.
The time is my stewardship and I am to use it wisely. When it is someone
else's time it is their stewardship and I have no right to infringe on
their stewardship given them from God through our local leaders.
I
must admit I am not perfect and occasionally go over time in
the calling I have, but this is reminding me that I need to repent
and take care of my own stewardship.
No
name, please
Bless you for rising above the offense, and thinking
of a way to still reach your goals, and still support your President.
Someday I’m going to compile a hilarious book of insults I’ve
heard at church, and we’ll all pat ourselves on the back for
putting up with them, staying active, and remembering the real
reason we come to church (and it isn’t social!) I once had a
sister ask me for forgiveness, and when I asked her what it was
about, she said it was because she hadn’t been loving me unconditionally.
And I, the Dolt for a Day, said, “Oh, of course I forgive
you,” and comforted her, only realizing, hours later, what she
had really been saying. Too funny. But anyway, back to our late-running
meetings:
When
I was called as the Primary President in our ward, I asked all
the teachers and music people if they would be willing to extend
their Primary calling by five minutes. We purposely ran five
minutes late in Primary to give the adults time to exit their
classes, make it down the hall and be ready to pick up their
children. Our Primary room is directly across the hall from the
Relief Society room and when Primary let out on time, the children
ran from the room and interrupted the closing prayer in Relief
Society every Sunday.
When
we began releasing the kids at five after the hour, we let the
Relief Society and Elders Quorum know that that was our plan.
They were able to finish their meetings on time and were ready
to pick up their children as soon as Primary was over. It worked
beautifully, no one had anymore interrupted prayers, children
weren't left unattended in the halls and everyone was able to
conclude their Sunday meetings with the spirit of the meeting
intact.
Gail
Mierins
Concord, New Hampshire
Brilliant, Gail! I love this idea. Five minutes is
such a small amount of time, really. And look at the aggravation
you saved so many! I love this next letter, too, from another
sister who has found the secret:
I
have been Primary President twice in this lifetime. How I love
that calling! My first time as Primary President, I was determined
to teach the Relief Society leaders and all those 'tardy' mothers
about picking their kids up ON TIME. Of course, I never taught
anyone anything in that frame of mind. I went home most weeks
from Primary frustrated and angry and very defensive of my Primary
staff. I talked on the phone with my Primary staff on Sunday
afternoons and during the week about the 'problem'. I noticed
that each week, the teacher's complaints became more strident
and voices more shrill. I became even more determined to get
the teachers out of that three-hour block on time. Of course,
I never succeeded.
Twenty
years later, I was called to be Primary President again. I am
now the mother/survivor of four children who put me through just
about every challenge this modern world can inflict on parents.
I only have one teenager left. (Thank you, Lord) And guess what?
My priorities have changed. There are so many really awful things
that can happen to our children and being picked up late from
a Primary class just isn't one of them. If parents were late
picking up their children, I just assumed that Relief Society
or Priesthood meeting was especially spiritual that day or more
honestly, just late as usual. Or, if I see, as you did, a mother
stopping to chat with everyone in the hallway, I try to remember
what it is like to be at home all week long with a houseful of
small children and that this may be her last chance at 'adult'
conversation for a few days.
Now
then, as a practical matter, I told Primary teachers to bring
the children of 'late parents' to me and I stayed with them until
they were claimed. I was never unhappy and never angry about
this solution because it is my solution based on prayer,
experience and a desire to send families of the children and
families of the Primary workers home happy. I enjoyed those informal
moments with the 'left over' children and my counselors knew
to do the same thing if I was away on Sunday. An interesting
thing happened. The teachers didn't seem to mind as much staying
with the children since they knew I was willing to take over
for them. And, it seemed that as the months went by there were
fewer 'late parents'.
And gee, when I arrived home from Primary, I didn't have to talk for hours
about those 'insensitive parents and relief society teachers and presidents'.
It is all very relaxing. This might not work for all Primary presidents and
teachers but it is so much more relaxing to be helpful than to be defensive
and contentious. And what is that line from one of our favorite hymns 'God
will force no man to heaven'. There isn't a Primary President in this Church
that will be successful in forcing parents to pick their children up ON TIME.
So RELAX.
Nancy
Aha-- thought you’d trick us with the old REALITY
ploy, eh? Good message, Nancy.
Dear Joni,
I am a R.S. President with precisely the problem of meetings running late.
I would like to ask the sister who would like to blame me and any other presidents
with the same problem not to be so quick to place the blame. She probably has
no idea what may be going on "behind the scenes". In my ward's case,
we have one teacher who goes into overtime whenever she teaches. We are not "oblivious".
We have talked to her many times about it and explained to her how hard it
is for mothers and primary teachers. She always agrees to end on time, but
can't seem to do it. We have tried all kinds of things. We even got desperate
enough to ask for her to be released but were told that she needs to keep the
calling for her own personal growth, which I believe is true. We have a couple
of mothers who get up and walk out, making sure everyone knows how upset they
are. Sadly, that seems to cause worse feelings and problems than the lateness
of the meeting. Those two women aren't perfect in every area of their lives
but they seem to expect perfection in everyone else.
I
also believe that it is not the responsibility of the R.S. president
(or the Bishop or the Stake President...) to make everyone do
everything right and make sure that every meeting runs perfectly
and that nothing ever goes wrong in any of the programs of the
Church. There are a lot of people involved in a meeting and in
a ward and there's a lot of agency. It isn't possible for one
person to control all of that. It is far better to try to lead
people along and help them learn and grow rather than to exercise
dictatorial control. It would be nice if we could all be a little
slower to be upset and quicker to forgive and maybe we all ought
to relax a little -- worse things have happened in the world!
By the way--our longwinded teacher is starting to get better
about ending on time. And being a teacher is helping her a lot
with the struggles she has.
I’m glad things are improving. But for others still
coping with a long-winded teacher, how about standing up when
her time is through, and with a hug and a smile, say, “I’m so
sorry to have to close the meeting, but they tell me I’m going
to be fired if I don’t end on time...” The phrase needs to fit
your own personality, but you can find something that ends the
meeting on time and still saves feelings.
The next letter is from a brother who addresses our
culture’s “Mormon Standard Time:”
It
seems to be acceptable in my ward for every auxiliary but the
Primary (the kids can tell time) to end after the hour at the
end of the block meeting. My wife is the Young Women's President.
I have given up on trying to get her to close her meetings on
time. I end up feeling like a jerk when I have walked in with
the hungry kids in tow past the hour and found a young woman
standing and sharing her testimony.
This is also prevalent in our early morning seminary program. It is bad enough
to have to be there at 6 am to drop the kids off but I also have to get myself
ready for work and get the kids to school so a few minutes late puts a lot
of tension in my morning schedule. However, I have intentionally established
the reputation that if the students are not let out on time I am coming in
to get them. Many times I have found the teachers telling (war) stories of
when they were in seminary. I ask my kids what they got out of the story and
they got something but couldn't figure out why an earlier discussion was a
part of the lesson.
In most talks (except from the high council) one of the most frequents
comments concerns the amount of time that has to be filled in with the
talk. The speaker wishes that the previous speaker had taken more time.
Generally we recognize that we can make a point and it doesn't have to
take a long time. As speakers and teachers we really don't want to try
to add filler while in the spotlight.
As a culture we joke about MST, Mormon Standard Time. I think that this
is a dangerous concept that it is acceptable to be late. >From a very
early stage we teach our children that Sacrament doesn't start on the hour.
It is OK to come in to the chapel while the Bishopric is beginning the
meeting. The lateness becomes ingrained and becomes part of normal activity.
I am a convert and before joining the Church I felt late to anything when
I wasn't present at least 10 minutes before the scheduled start time. Now
I am apathetic towards time. My children are the same way. However, for
my children's future their employers may not be so amenable, schedules
are intended to be met.
It’s also good to remember that investigators are
watching. What must they think when we dash in, bedraggled, ten
minutes late? Doesn’t the meeting mean more to us than that?
Another view comes from Kate McGrath, of Los Alamos,
New Mexico:
The
reference to being ‘Trapped in Meetings’ indicates to me a state
of mind. No one is trapped, as you suggested instead of looking
to blame, or find fault for one’s discomfort simply take care
of oneself and leave when there is a need. It is called free
agency.
As
a senior and a very independent one at that, I am saddened to
see the "liberation" of sisters in the church and in
the world seems to be an excuse for rudeness, aggressiveness.
and growing self-centeredness evident within our culture. Being
liberated in my mind is to be liberated from self-defeating behaviors,
which allows us the freedom to be honest, kind, responsible,
and trustworthy just to name a few. More Christ like!
Thanks, Kate. You have a kindred spirit in England:
Just
lately there have been a lot of complaining sisters writing in.
The Gospel's true isn't it? None of us are perfect, but striving
for perfection every day of our lives. So what if the lesson
runs over a little? If you have wonderful Relief Society teachers,
teaching with the Spirit and lighting your life on a Sunday,
why complain? Isn't complaining like the murmurings that caused
the downfall of so many Book of Mormon people? Besides, isn't
the easiest thing to do just to leave quietly and without feeling
any ire, to go and pick up the children from nursery and/or primary?
We've all been there, missing the end of lessons to collect children
from primary, or missed chunks of Sacrament meeting to take out
and quiet fractious children. They grow up and these "problems" no
longer exist. All this can be done with love and patience, qualities
that our Saviour always displays. I find that sisters who constantly
clock-watch are extremely off-putting for the teacher and the
class members. When I was a Counselor in Relief Society recently,
the President and I used hand signals for the teachers to warn
them that time was "far spent". This worked, but if
the lesson went over a few minutes, we didn't worry, we just
enjoyed the Spirit and the teachings. Closing hymns can always
be cut short to a verse or two. Support and sustain your sisters
in their callings, don't complain. One day it could be you with
the calling, and you will feel the need for support and sustenance
from your sisters. We're all in this together!
Joanna,
England.
Thanks, Joanna. You hit the nail on the head. So
many of our difficulties become manageable when we keep the Savior
in our thoughts, and use the truthfulness of the Gospel as our
measure.
And thanks to all who offered so many practical tips
as well.
-- Joni Hilton
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