Bittersweet

For the last three and a half years it has been my honor and pleasure to serve as Young Women’s president in the Central Falls Ward. For my non-Mormon friends, that just means that my “job” in my church congregation is to work with the young women ages 12-18 who live in the same area as I do, to teach them gospel principles and life skills and also have all kinds of fun with them. I was very nervous when my bishop called me to do this, since I didn’t know the area, the girls, or even very many people in the ward, since I had been working in the Primary  (3-11 year-olds) since moving into the ward. . My bishop is an inspired guy, though, and knew what he was doing, because the young women are possibly the coolest people IN the ward.
I have to admit that sometimes the responsibility was a lot to handle and sometimes when I was supposed to be running the weekly activity for the girls I really wanted to be grading papers or prepping lesson plans or taking care of one of the other thousand responsibilities in my life.  I mean, that’s life, right? Add to that that these girls are living in a world that is the polar opposite of the world I was raised in, so what on earth could I possibly have to offer them? But the kicker is that I was always so happy after those activities, and somehow all the papers got graded and lessons planned (and don’t forget music memorized!) regardless.
A couple of weeks ago we had an activity at my house where the girls came over and learned to make cake. It had been a long day, a long week, a long month. (More about that in another post) I was tired and discouraged and not really looking forward to it. At 7:30pm there was a knock on my door, and seven lively, giggling young girls swept into my house and their optimism and their cheerfulness blew in with them. It was a really fun night, and as usual, I was so glad that I hadn’t let anything take priority over them. The girls gave me my weekly lesson on what the latest lingo is around school, and hey, there was cake. How could it not be fun?
In the beginning I looked at this as a calling in which I was supposed to be serving and working for these girls, but the truth is that they have blessed and brought as much to my life as anything I was able to do for them, and very possibly more.

Of course there is a lot that probably wouldn’t have gotten done without my awesome counselors Becky and Kelly. They love these girls so much and it shows in everything they do. Kelly is taking over in Central Falls now and in my opinion there is no one better for the job. The girls are so lucky to get her and Becky.
I’ve been asked to work with the stake Young Women’s presidency, which is sort of doing the same job,  but on a more regional level, working with young women from all over Rhode Island and Connecticut. Again, I am a bit daunted, but I have already worked with some of those girls at Girls’ Camp, so it won’t be a total unknown. My life is teenagers, what can I say?
I will miss my Central Falls girls so much; even though I will still be seeing them, I won’t be working with them regularly. So, to Flora, Agatha, Myra, Cassandra, Victoria, Loriana, Lucia and Lucilia, thank you for being the most awesome girls ever and for bringing me so many smiles. Remember how special you are and how much I have loved working with you.