We're probably not supposed to rank volunteer "callings" we have . . . but still, I wanted to remember what my different callings have been. So this list is more "reverse chronological" than "preferred," but it should bring up some fun memories . . .
1. Gospel Doctrine Teacher. My present calling, and I have it easier than most, because our ward in little Santa Clara, Utah is overloaded with awesome people and not enough callings to go around (opposite of some wards we've lived in, when Scott and I have each held 5 callings at the same time). Anyway, with eight Gospel Doctrine Teachers for two classes, we each teach once a month and get to listen and learn the other weeks. Teaching makes me read, think, research, and delve into questions and topics much more than I would on my own. And I used to teach English, so it's a little like old times.
2. Visiting Teacher. Had that one since turning 18, I suppose. I do like getting to know sisters one on one, and we've had fun lunches and other activities as well. It's not always easy to coordinate schedules, but it's worth it to go and visit with friends and hopefully uplift each other.
3. Relief Society Teacher. I've said for years that this is my favorite calling--involved, learning, and appreciative of the other teachers and lessons too :) I taught Relief Society for three years here and taught in St. Louis years ago. Also in Relief Society, I've served as Visiting Teaching Coordinator (harder than it sounds, with lots of sisters moving in and out), Education Counselor (now called First Counselor) and President for a short time in Philadelphia. That was an eye opener. I now APPRECIATE all of my Relief Society Presidents!
4. Nursery. Must list this one because it's my old stand-by. I've had this calling five times. Maybe I'll get it right some time. Let's see: lots of kids 18 months to 3 years old, treats, toys, rests, two-minute lessons, songs, coloring, building with Duplos or doing puzzles. I'm learning.
5. Young Women's. I enjoy the girls, fun atmosphere, and abundance of treats in Young Women's. I've served as 2nd Counselor, Secretary, and Laurel Advisor. Two years ago I was Camp Director, and sleeping outdoors (i.e., not sleeping) and going natural totally isn't my thing, but the girls and other leaders were great. Our stake had impressive evening programs. We concentrated on the Young Women Values, which was nice. And I led yoga every day :) But it also rained for two days straight.
6. Primary. I've served as President, 2nd Counselor, and Secretary. The kids rock (love their prayers and talks plus the clever/innocent/crazy things they say). The best part there is the Primary Songs.
7. Cub Scouts. With four sons, this one was bound to happen. I've been Wolf, Bear, and Webelo Leader (and taught Webelo Leaders at training for a couple of years). The way I see it, Scout activities are fun and get the boys out doing things. Too many rules and details to be too much fun though. BUT, our youngest son has an Eagle Court of Honor this month, which means I'm officially finishing with 4 for 4 Eagles. Booyah.
8. Temple Patron. This one my husband and I made up ourselves soon after we were married. We were in was a gigantic family ward in Provo, Utah, where we lived for a year without receiving any callings (not even visiting teacher, now that I think about it, so correct the error under #2. Don't think anyone ever visited us either; though we were living in a scary basement apartment :). So once a week we went to the temple, and that was definitely a good thing for me. I was able to get some temple experience and a bit of understanding. After that, for the next 9 years, we were far from temples in Philly and St. Louis, and it became much more difficult to attend.
9. Here's a different one: Special Secretary to the Bishop. In our Philadelphia ward, our Bishop was also an Institute Teacher and needed administrative assistance, so I helped type lists, letters, and whatever else he needed.
10. Sunbeam Teacher. Had to put this one separately because it was my first calling after graduating from high school. I had a little room of 11 active 3-year-olds, and years of babysitting came in handy. It was fun to see their excited faces and have some friendly lap sitters among them.
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Top 10's of Costa Rica
Ok, waaaayyy too long without writing anything to remember some big events in the Parry household, so I'm going back to last October and remembering our favorite moments of picking up our missionary Cody, who served in the LDS Costa Rica San Jose Mission :)
1. Ok, here's a toughie, not. It's seeing Cody for the 1st time in two years at a sketchy bus station in the middle of San Jose. He was in a small town and said the bus ride in would take "2 to 4 hours depending on mudslides and stuff." Luckily, delays were few and he made it into the city pretty quickly. My first impression was, tall and SKINNY! Eating a steady diet of rice and beans, then walking for many hours every day, took some weight off him. But his smile was the same, and we had an awesome reunion!
2. Firsts for Elder Cody. He was most excited to have his first hot shower in years and loved a comfortable hotel bed. And it was fun to hear him try to remember English again. He had only worked with one English-speaking companion during his two years there. "What do you say--when someone sneeze?" "How do you say . . . .?" It was a half-Spanish half-English combination spoken in a quiet, soft tone for a few days.
3. Going to Guacimo. We drove to a small town in northern Costa Rica where Cody served for 6 months. We were able to visit with many people he worked with and even baptized. Ok, the ride there wasn't a favorite moment. We got delayed by rainy mudslides in the mountain area. But once we made it, just like in the US, kids would come running! "Elder Parry!! Otinorinco!" (Parry the Platypus from Phineas and Ferb). They'd call their friends who would also come running, and it made for fun reunions. One teenage boy probably summed it up well when he said, "The missionaries since you leave not as fun." Cody and his companions had set up church soccer games and activities :) One lady asked him to give her reading assignments. We even saw and were able to thank his "other grandma" who took care of him when he had dengue fever. "He lay on this floor for over a week." Things I learned: people love missionaries who've connected with them. People love their tvs (most homes had them on and loud the entire time we all visited). Also, the pre-tech days are long gone. At the first humble home we visited, a young boy pulled out an ipad, asked our address, went on Google Earth, and showed us our home. He even practiced his English and said, "nice house."
4. Going to the Mission President's Home for a last meeting. 20 missionaries were being released the next day, and President and Sister Wilkinson graciously invited us to join them for a final meal and meeting together. We learned that they still have young children at home, all of whom were doing homework and then practicing music when we arrived, so we learned that Sister Wilkinson had her hands full with family things. She served an American feast, smiled a lot, and reminded me of Mrs. Santa Claus. President Wilkinson gave Cody one of the best compliments we have ever heard when he said Cody was "one of the most Christlike missionaries" he had ever met. He could trust him anywhere, anytime, and with anyone. Most of what else was said, including testimonies of all the finishing missionaries, was in espagnol, so I got a headache trying to understand, with my background in gringo English and some French.
5. Traveling with Brent and Brenda Mangus. They have been to Costa Rica over 40 times, mostly with US Olympic Development Program soccer teams, and they led us around like true pros! We knew that Cody wouldn't be released from his mission and be able to do water activities, etc., so before we picked him up, we went with Brent and Brenda on a fun rafting adventure (got stuck on a rock and had to each swim at one point).
6. Enjoying the Arenal volcano-warmed water park with pools of varying temperatures and some pitch black and crazy water slides, plus a nice buffet meal.
7. Hiking to a beautiful rainforest waterfall and really enjoying all the green, green, green vegetation.
8.Hiking with Cody in Manuel Antonio National Park--seeing beautiful rocky and white sand beaches plus all kinds of animals, ending with an active family of monkeys!
9. The Marriott Los Suenos resort. We enjoyed the nice pool, good restaurants, and workout room comparable to a hotel stay in Hawaii for a fraction of the cost.
10. The waterfalls, scenery, and animals in La Paz Nature Park near the top of the Poas volcano. Loved the jungle cats and colorful birds, didn't especially love the snakes :) The employees charged us for two people and said our "tour guide" was free because Cody was wearing his (now old) white shirt, tie, and missionary name tag. It was his last freebie as a missionary . . . before we flew home and loved the neighborhood greetings at our little airport late at night.
(The bottom ten list would definitely include driving in Costa Rica. Adventures in crazy car rental, mudslides, rain, mountains, curves, impossibly short exit and entrance ramps, and people walking along the freeways day and night).
1. Ok, here's a toughie, not. It's seeing Cody for the 1st time in two years at a sketchy bus station in the middle of San Jose. He was in a small town and said the bus ride in would take "2 to 4 hours depending on mudslides and stuff." Luckily, delays were few and he made it into the city pretty quickly. My first impression was, tall and SKINNY! Eating a steady diet of rice and beans, then walking for many hours every day, took some weight off him. But his smile was the same, and we had an awesome reunion!
2. Firsts for Elder Cody. He was most excited to have his first hot shower in years and loved a comfortable hotel bed. And it was fun to hear him try to remember English again. He had only worked with one English-speaking companion during his two years there. "What do you say--when someone sneeze?" "How do you say . . . .?" It was a half-Spanish half-English combination spoken in a quiet, soft tone for a few days.
3. Going to Guacimo. We drove to a small town in northern Costa Rica where Cody served for 6 months. We were able to visit with many people he worked with and even baptized. Ok, the ride there wasn't a favorite moment. We got delayed by rainy mudslides in the mountain area. But once we made it, just like in the US, kids would come running! "Elder Parry!! Otinorinco!" (Parry the Platypus from Phineas and Ferb). They'd call their friends who would also come running, and it made for fun reunions. One teenage boy probably summed it up well when he said, "The missionaries since you leave not as fun." Cody and his companions had set up church soccer games and activities :) One lady asked him to give her reading assignments. We even saw and were able to thank his "other grandma" who took care of him when he had dengue fever. "He lay on this floor for over a week." Things I learned: people love missionaries who've connected with them. People love their tvs (most homes had them on and loud the entire time we all visited). Also, the pre-tech days are long gone. At the first humble home we visited, a young boy pulled out an ipad, asked our address, went on Google Earth, and showed us our home. He even practiced his English and said, "nice house."
4. Going to the Mission President's Home for a last meeting. 20 missionaries were being released the next day, and President and Sister Wilkinson graciously invited us to join them for a final meal and meeting together. We learned that they still have young children at home, all of whom were doing homework and then practicing music when we arrived, so we learned that Sister Wilkinson had her hands full with family things. She served an American feast, smiled a lot, and reminded me of Mrs. Santa Claus. President Wilkinson gave Cody one of the best compliments we have ever heard when he said Cody was "one of the most Christlike missionaries" he had ever met. He could trust him anywhere, anytime, and with anyone. Most of what else was said, including testimonies of all the finishing missionaries, was in espagnol, so I got a headache trying to understand, with my background in gringo English and some French.
5. Traveling with Brent and Brenda Mangus. They have been to Costa Rica over 40 times, mostly with US Olympic Development Program soccer teams, and they led us around like true pros! We knew that Cody wouldn't be released from his mission and be able to do water activities, etc., so before we picked him up, we went with Brent and Brenda on a fun rafting adventure (got stuck on a rock and had to each swim at one point).
6. Enjoying the Arenal volcano-warmed water park with pools of varying temperatures and some pitch black and crazy water slides, plus a nice buffet meal.
7. Hiking to a beautiful rainforest waterfall and really enjoying all the green, green, green vegetation.
8.Hiking with Cody in Manuel Antonio National Park--seeing beautiful rocky and white sand beaches plus all kinds of animals, ending with an active family of monkeys!
9. The Marriott Los Suenos resort. We enjoyed the nice pool, good restaurants, and workout room comparable to a hotel stay in Hawaii for a fraction of the cost.
10. The waterfalls, scenery, and animals in La Paz Nature Park near the top of the Poas volcano. Loved the jungle cats and colorful birds, didn't especially love the snakes :) The employees charged us for two people and said our "tour guide" was free because Cody was wearing his (now old) white shirt, tie, and missionary name tag. It was his last freebie as a missionary . . . before we flew home and loved the neighborhood greetings at our little airport late at night.
(The bottom ten list would definitely include driving in Costa Rica. Adventures in crazy car rental, mudslides, rain, mountains, curves, impossibly short exit and entrance ramps, and people walking along the freeways day and night).
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