Dear Richard
Well, yesterday was the day that Andrew
was sustained in the stake presidency… It was certainly a hectic weekend!
Saturday morning at 10:00 Andrew went for an interview, like all the other
bishops and high councilors in our new stake did. Then at about 13:00 Pres
Holmes called Andrew to say a new stake president had been called, and we
needed to come up to the chapel. So at least we knew he wasn’t being called as
stake president… We get to the chapel, after organising for our kids to be
looked after, and Andrew and then I separately meet with Elders Renlund and
Giddey, one after the other, and then they called us both in together. And they
extended the call to Andrew to be the second counsellor in the new stake
presidency… It was quite something to hear their confidence in him. They said
while they were interviewing him earlier they had felt that he could really do
any calling that was given to him (yes!) and that many of the other brethren
who were interviewed spoke very highly of him (to which he was so shocked!)
Elder Giddey was the one who originally called Andrew as bishop, and he spoke
about how intimidated we had been as a young family of accepting that call, and
now he was part of extending this call. He was really happy for Andrew, to see
how he has grown and to see that he’s ready for this. It was really special to
have Elder Giddey involved in the reorganisation of the stakes, because he was
such an integral part of getting us to this point.
Saturday I then went to the adult session
of conference, while Andrew looked after the kids (the last time we can do
that…) but the whole time it all felt very unreal. And I hate the time between
when a big called is extended and when it’s made public. When Andrew was called
as bishop it was a few weeks, so at least this was less than 24 hours. It’s
really horrible carrying this around!
Sunday morning we had training with the 6
members of the new presidencies and their wives, which was conducted by Elders
Renlund and Elder Giddey again, with their wives as well. I can see how
important it is in any leadership situation, but especially in the church, for
the leaders to have come up through the ranks. Then when they say that this is
what it’s like, you can trust them that they actually know what they’re talking
about. And it was great to hear the wives’ experiences. I have lots to learn!
There’s a certain feeling of it still not being real… But Sis Betsie Kruger
said to me so many times that she’s so glad that I’m there with them now – it’s
nice to feel wanted for me, not just because I’m Andrew’s wife J
Like I mentioned in my email to you I
still had quite an anxious feeling right up until Andrew was actually set apart
after conference. It wasn’t a feeling of not thinking the call was right or
anything, I think it was really just anxiety about how we were going to manage
it. The kids really struggled through the conference session, and I spent most
of it outside, and a lot of it in tears – there were just so many emotions
going through me, and children who just refused to behave was just too much!
(I’ve also never seen as many adults crying, except for at a funeral, as at
that training – even the men were very emotional! But the spirit will do that
to you as well and the enormity of what we were all taking on…) But when Andrew
was set apart I then felt the spirit completely confirming to me that this is
right, and this is truly a call from God, and there was no hint of the anxiety
that had also been hanging around in the background up to then. So that doesn’t
mean I’m completely confident that we’re going to just sail through this – I
know that there are going to be challenges – but there’s a much more positive
feeling now. And seeing how many messages both Andrew and I have been getting,
and all of the excitement, has also helped to buoy me up. There are so many
people, not only in our ward, who really love Andrew. I think that he didn’t
realise at all until now. I’m happy that he’s getting to see that now! It’s
funny how people are talking about me as well, and I really don’t feel that I’m
doing anything that extraordinary. I’m trying to do the right things, but I
know that I’m so far from doing it right all the time. But I’ve also had quite
a few people, including Elder Giddey, who are being very positive about me. I
guess that also helps to lighten the burden J
Okay, so I think that’s enough of an essay
about all of that. We’ll be seeing in the next little while what this calling
really means. I’m really hoping that we get our new bishop soon, also just to
end the speculation that has already started in earnest!
I really liked a story that Elder Giddey
shared with us in the adult session. This is my version of his version of the story
he heard… J A building contractor was busy at the end
of the year, and he had work that was keeping him busy until the builders
holidays. A property developer approached him and asked if he could build one
extra house before the holiday. He reluctantly agreed, but because of the tight
timeframe he chose materials that were adequate, but not the best, and the
labour was also adequate, but not his best quality. When it was finished the
property developer invited the building contractor to his house for a dinner,
and handed the him a set of keys - the house that he had built was now his!
So when we are building our lives we don't
want to or have to take shortcuts, because we have access to the Master
Architect, and we are building our eternal homes!
At work I’ve been really busy with
teaching. Last week I had a very heavy teaching load, but at least the next few
weeks aren’t as bad J
We’ve moved the kids rooms around. We’ve
put all of the beds into the room next to ours, with Josh and Hannah on the
bunk beds and Caleb on the small toddler bed. And then the other room is now a
play room, with ALL of the toys in it! The bedroom only has the beds and
clothes, and the kids are really loving sleeping together! Caleb has even been
sleeping through more often since we did the move J And this was one of many things that fell
into place before Andrew’s calling which are all working towards making the
calling easier. It’ll be SO much easier doing bedtime with the kids all
together! One of the other things is that Andrew finally had an increase on his
salary, for the first time in 3 years! And the increase is coming through from
this month, as soon as he received the call. Heavenly Father certainly was
preparing the way, and to be honest it all had us wondering if there was a
change coming…
I handed in the Grade 1 application forms
for Josh this morning at Edgemead Primary. I included your name on the cover
letter I did – I’m hoping you did us proud, so that will strengthen the
application ;) It’s unbelievable to think that things are really coming
together for Josh to be going to school so soon!
So as you can tell, our thoughts are
rather dominated at the moment… Hopefully next week I’ll have more interesting
stuff to tell you ;)
Love you lots!
Shelly