relief society.

for the sliver of my audience who's not mormon... or have never met a mormon... or heard a mormon myth... 

we've got this thing called relief society. it's the women's organization that meets together during the 3rd hour of church each sunday. inside of this relief society situation is a function we call visiting teaching.  women are paired together to visit one, two, three or so women.  it's purpose is to befriend, uplift, and teach one another... with a "rescue" undertone - to make sure we're all taken care of, looked after, spiritually and physically well, and no one's falling through the cracks. i may or may not have referenced this activity as my idea of personal hell in a previous post. 

the miss independent in me struggles being "assigned" a partner and someone to befriend. 

that's not to say i'm a cold hearted snake without the ability to devote my time, talents, resources, yada on someone else. 

if that is ever in question, ask bestie jen about the time we spent at the food pantry, collection tampons for the tampon drive, and the x,y, and z involved in the the space between 2008 and 2009. or ask bff holly's mom about the time she asked me to befriend a felon i had never met to help keep her out of jail and i agreed...  before learning she may use me for my identity and cash flow for more drugs.

the part of me that's not very gentle... who's compassion-o-meter is icy cold struggles with - and always will, it seems - is the assignment that gets passed around on a slip of paper that says so-and-so is the one i am to look after. and the monthly deadline to report my findings. or failure.

that's the really long way of saying - relief society has never been my favorite hour of church.

assign me a few chapters to read from the old testament and give me an hour to discuss it - bingo.

but then i relent... i soften up a bit and my mom reminds me "the errand of angels is given to women"... something i've learned as a grateful recipient of so many women's errands over the years.  how quickly i forget.  i volunteer to do the things that are so obviously relief society - like deliver meals to the sick... twice in a row... and even on a busy day, when i'm driving home from work at 815, dreaming about my pajamas, dinner, my dvr queue, and prep work for the upcoming baby shower... when i get a call from a friend who needs a "companion" to fufill her visiting teaching assignment, i accept the offer.... throwing the pajamas, dinner, the dvr, and crafting out the window entirely. 

and when i do it, i'm softened even more.

and that's the point of it all.