Light Refreshments Served

In a bizarre twist of the kaleidoscope that is my life, I got called last Sunday to be our ward Young Women president.

I have served in the Young Women organization in our ward before. Beth, who was a Laurel at that time, has seven children now. So yeah, it’s been a while.

Do not get me wrong: I love young women. I was one, once. But yeah, it’s been a while. And you can almost see that in their eyes–this old lady is going to be our leader?

I’ve taught Gospel Doctrine for 6 years. I loved teaching Gospel Doctrine. I was comfortable teaching Gospel Doctrine. There is not one thing about working with the Young Women that I am comfortable with. For example, when I shop with my 18-year-old daughter, if I pull something off the rack to show her, she’ll invariably hate it (politely, of course), and conversely I will turn up my nose at just about anything she thinks is cute. I don’t know the styles. I don’t know the music. I barely speak the language. And not only can I not text, I don’t even have a cell phone from which TO text.

So I need help, and I need it now. What is the most fun or memorable YW activity you’ve participated in, either as a leader or as a young woman yourself? If you ever had an old lady as a Mutual leader, what did you appreciate most about her? Why am I here?

In my eighteen years of calling eligibility I have spent at least half of that time working with the Young Women, and have never once been a Primary teacher.  I was recently released as the Laurel adviser due to the upcoming move, but when things got pushed back for a few more weeks and the Primary lost one of their teachers for the summer, they asked if I’d substitute for a couple of months.  I’m about four weeks into it, and I’ve made a few observations in the differences between 16-year-old young women and 6-year-old boys and girls. 

For starters, the Primary kids never start a sentence with the word “Like”.  Second of all, when you ask the youth a simple question in class, they all know the answer but nobody raises their hand.  When you ask a question in Primary, nobody knows the answer but EVERYBODY raises their hand.  In YW the topic of being a peacemaker in the home invites a hearty discussion as we delve into family dynamics.  Primary is more like this:

Me:  “Hey guys, do you know what a ‘peacemaker’ is?”

Kid #1:  “Hey!  Did you know that my mom has a baby in her tummy?”

Me:  “Really?  That’s perfect because now you can practice being a peacemaker to your new brother or sister!”

Kid #2:  [shoes off, and tilting back in his chair]  “I hope he’s not like my brother, because he HATES me!”

Me:  “Uh-oh, do you really think that’s true?”

Kid #3:  “My brother has a BOOMERANG!”

Kid #4:  “My brother has a boomerang TOO!  And this one time?  We were outside?  And we throwed it SO far!  And nobody could find it.”

Kid #2:  “I threw a ball once on my roof!  And you know what?  My neighbor has a cat.  AND a dog.  And sometimes?  The dog barks really really really loud and I can hear it all the way in my house.  All the way to my bedroom even!  But my brother never hears it because he HATES me!  He has a Nintendo game.  Did you know I like Skittles?”

Me:  “Now Jesus…HE was a really good peacemaker.”

Kid #5:  “Did Jesus have boomerangs?”

Me:  “Let’s color!”

Kid #1:  “Teacher, did you bring a chart?”

Me:  “UUuhhhh…”

Kid #2:  “And our OTHER teacher brings stickers.  Do you have snacks?”

Suffice it to say I am TOTALLY out of my league.