It matters, Tammy, much more than you think

Greetings readers who still check out my blog. December has been a busy month so far, and I haven’t had time to write in here as I would’ve liked, but oh well.

I had an experience in the last week that I really wanted to share so here goes. I discovered shortly after receiving my calling as the Temple Co-chair for my ward last summer that it involved something else important I hadn’t been told about, that is Family History.

I haven’t been too sure what to do with this part of my calling but at ward council a couple months ago, they told me it was time to start teaching the family history class during Sunday School . . . in only two weeks!

Yeah, that kind of panicked me out, especially when I realized it was a week I wasn’t going to be in church.

Luckily, blessedly, it got pushed back a few weeks until after Thanksgiving, meaning I started teaching it a week ago. I was nervous to be teaching the class because it’s not a subject I consider myself to be well versed in. But, the manual is well organized and comes complete with DVD segments to supplement the lesson.

I carefully prepared that first week and rushed off to church a little early for tithing settlement, hoping all would be well with class. I was dismayed when I came to my room after Sacrament meeting and discovered the small classroom empty. One of the guys in my ward not only helped me bring the top-heavy TV into the room but also recruited some other class members to come.

So, it was me teaching a class of five men. Yeah, I know.

A very touching thing happened as I taught this lesson. One of the class members is very interested in family history and has been working on it since he was a teenager. He shared an experience during the lesson that brought tears to his eyes, and a strong spirit to the class. I could tell just how much it meant to him, and I hoped the rest of the class was as touched as I was.

As I’ve thought about this experience through the past week, I’ve realized why it struck me so much. It’s because this work matters. It matters more than most of the things I do. It matters more than the time I spend reading, texting, Facebooking, writing in my blog, running around, or even some of the many other activities I do. It matters because it’s one of the three-fold missions of the church. And I’ve been called to get my peers excited and prepared to do the work themselves, as well as myself.

So, this class I was so nervous to teach has become real to me, helping me to better understand exactly why this work is so important. All I am is the mouthpiece, but it helps when I have a strong belief in what it is I’m doing.