Life By Lindsey Rae

We went to a baptism tonight. I didn't know the person it was for, but since Jerrod is the branch mission leader at church, one of his responsibilities is to help out with all the baptisms in our branch, so I went with him. And, they also asked me to lead the music for the service. :)

It was a good baptism. Not that every one isn't good! I think that sometimes you forget how uplifting these things can be until get there and you feel the spirit that is there.

The guy who was baptized was in his 20's and had a pretty neat story of his conversion to the church and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I think everyone who was there felt like it was a really good experience. It's really a privilege to be able to participate in things like this and get the opportunity to have our testimonies reaffirmed about why we believe what we do and how great it can be when we make good choices in our lives.

This week we had a Relief Society (women's organization at church) activity with a "Christmas in July" theme. We signed up to do a craft thing ahead of time and I signed up for learning to do cake decorating (because it cost the least. Haha. So cheap.)

I did the poinsettias on these 4 cupcakes with an icing bag cut at the end, but no tip. It was pretty easy, I thought, but I was slow so I could get it looking good. Not too bad for a first try though, right?




I brought mine home and took a picture, but I don't really want to eat them, because I don't like that much icing. Jerrod said he would have one, but then he didn't. They've been in the fridge since Tuesday, so I don't know if they still will taste OK, but, the missionaries are coming over tomorrow and they'll usually eat anything...I always give the missionaries stuff I don't want! haha!

Speaking of Christmas in July, I am so irritated by seeing Christmas stuff already out in stores! I shop at Hobby Lobby a lot for scrapbooking stuff (and like to support them, because they close on Sunday's) but, it drives me crazy that they have had their Christmas stuff out for at least a month now...maybe even since June. It's ridiculous! I mean, it makes Christmas seem less special when it's around for more than half of the year! Who is really thinking about buying new ornaments and lights for their tree in the summer?!

Every Sunday when I get home from church I am just so tired. My calling is exhausting. I feel like all I do is chase kids around all morning. (Part of the problem is that it is in the morning....I don't do well with mornings.)
Usually after church you want dinner, but I don't even eat most times. I just have to come home and take a nap.

I just realized that the thing that makes it so hard is not that they are 3...but that they are 3 and that I have to attempt to keep them at least somewhat reverent for such an extended period of time. If we were just playing around it might not be so difficult, but we go to the 3rd hour of classes with the senior primary and I have to admit that if I were 3-years-old, I would probably not have any clue or interest in what is going on in there most of the time either.
And as difficult as it is for the class to sit through it....well, let's just say I guarantee it's at least as hard, if not more so for their teacher who must sit with them in all their difficulty.

I like to say that generally, when you have adult ADD, primary is a good place to be...I enjoy that it keeps my mind active and that I don't have an opportunity to fall asleep like I might if I were in an adult class. (This is especially good for me having excessive daytime sleepiness problems.)
But, hanging out with a bunch of 3-year-olds will wear a person out. (And cause additional excessive daytime sleepiness.)

Sometime last year, when Jerrod and I were in our other ward and teaching the 8-year-olds class at church, I remember we walked by a class of smaller kids, who I am now assuming must have been 3 or 4, and they were learning about how Heavenly Father gives us fish. The lesson was called, "I'm thankful for the fish."
At the time, I said to Jerrod, "I want to teach the lesson about the fish. That sounds like a fun class. haha."
Well, I guess I got my wish, because I am now the new teacher of the 3-year-olds in our branch.

Jerrod and I both got asked to do new things at church. Jerrod is now the branch missionary leader. It's going to be a little bit of a big job...mostly because he has to be to 7:30 am meetings on Sunday's, and we are, of course, not morning people. I'm feeling a little bad for him about that. The branch president stressed to him many times that he really feels that this is the most important calling in the branch. They just started this branch a year ago and they haven't seen the growth in our area like they had hoped because of the housing market being as slow as it is. So, we need to work on our missionary work a lot. Which, of course, every branch or ward does, but when a branch is new, we have to work extra hard to strengthen it.

As for me, I went in and sat with my new class this past Sunday and came to find out that they are quite the handful. A bit out of control. Our primary presidency told me that they didn't have the most structured time in nursery...I guess because they didn't always have a consistent teacher or schedule like needed to. (There is a shortage of people when you have a smaller/new branch, I guess.) So, apparently they are not used to having much routine at church.
I understand that they are 3, but I don't think this means that they are allowed to disobey when an adult tells them "no". I will have to see how it goes once we get going. I am hoping that once we get in a schedule and they come to expect that, they will start to calm down some.

Today we went to our new branch for the first time. (For anyone who might not know what a branch is, within our church, we divide up our congregations according to where we live. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is exactly the same everywhere around the world, but obviously with almost 13,000,000 members world wide, we can't all fit in one place. So, we are divided up where we attend church into smaller groups, according to where we live. Usually we go to something called a ward, but if there are not enough people in an area to make a ward, it's called a branch. Which means, it's pretty small group of people, comparatively speaking.) There is one ward in Mt. Juliet, which Jerrod used to go to before we were married, but now we are living in the area of the Hermitage Branch. The Hermitage Branch covers quite a large area, land wise, in fact, it almost looks bigger than the Mt. Juliet Ward area. But, there is just not enough members of the church living here yet, so it remains small in numbers. However, we have heard it will probably become a ward in the not too distant future as the Providence area (where our house is) grows.

Anyway, because Jerrod used to go to church in Mt. Juliet and some of the people from our branch also did, he knew some people there already. They announced us and since it was the first time many of them had seen him back there, they kept calling me Jerrod's "new wife," which I thought was funny, since we have been married 2.5 years. It made me feel like we were just going to church for the first time after being newly wed.