Life will still catch me by surprise . . .

So, several people along the way had commented that I couldn't be a missionary and an RS president but no one Did anything about it. Then I was moved from training into my Mission group which is connected to a Mission Team and my ML talked to the TL and Tuesday afternoon the TL called me. She said in the past they have had to release sisters as missionaries if they are called to be RS president. In my case I began the two callings concurrently as it were, and they are asking me to back off on mission hours, attend Team and Mission group mtgs to stay informed, but make RS president the priority until I either move out of the ward or I am released. I told the bishop my first reaction was that I would ask my bishop to pray about if I should still be RS pres.(I actually said that out loud to the TL on the phone) and he said they would, and I said I will too.

Since I will not be moving with Aunt Sandy and Uncle Larry in Apr/May as planned [Uncle Larry has no real complaints, the poor man would just like to be able to run naked thru his own home if he wants to and I, of  all people, absolutely understand!] it is a very real possibility that I will end up remaining in the ward. I would have to be released as RS president to be a fully functioning missionary again. I will have to get a job to have enough money to live any where else even as a room mate. I am looking into job opportunities but there is enough happening this month that serious job hunting will most likely happen after Le's wedding.

The TL also recommended that I take a leave of absence the last week of March and that I send in a new monthly schedule with scaled back hours. So I reduced my hours to 7 a week, 2 hours in mtgs, 5 on phones (one hour per day) and made it official that the least week of March I am unavailable.  So NOW you know what the cosmic disturbance you felt last Monday - Tuesday was, Well, Tuesday - Wednesday for Drox ;-}

After the initial disbelief and shock I realized that I have shorted the RS calling. When there was only a little bit of time and both callings needed taking care of, the mission usually won. I lamented all along that my attention couldn't be on either calling as much as was needed but didn't recognize it as neglect. I am repenting and getting out to visit the sisters. Wapato Park ward has 217 sisters on the roll: 17 widows, 41 married, 159 single. Lots of work to do.

I am ok now. I did not get released as a missionary, they are very happy with me as a missionary. The TL said she wanted to call my bishop and tell him to release me because I am an amazing missionary and they need me, but "they" won't let her do that. The Bishop has the final say in the matter.

I can see the conflict of interest now, it was like I was trying to serve two masters, "...or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other...." But I wasn't trying to serve God and mammon, lol, it was God and God. And I was 'resenting' more than actually 'despising' the other, but That is probably just semantics, eh?