Scouts & Opportunities

I (Amy) have been in scouts for just about three years. At first, I hated scouts. I didn't like the politics of it. At the time, there was this decision made about homosexual men teaching scouts when board members of the church were unable to attend because of General Conference or something. I can't remember all of the details at the moment, but there had been talk about the LDS church possibly pulling out of the scouting program. At that time I was wishing they would have. President Thomas S Monson must have decided the scouting program was too important to walk away from because we (the LDS aka Mormon church) are still a part of scouting. I didn't consider myself "scout leader" material at all. I always thought the scout leader had to be someone much less girly than me. I mean, come on. I squirm when I see snakes, spiders, certain bugs and creepy crawlers.

I had asked to be released after having Silas. They told me it would be a few weeks. We then had a committee meeting one Sunday to discuss pack meeting and other things coming up. As I sat there, I got this distinct impression that "I was not done." It was almost as if someone was basically telling me that I needed to change my attitude toward scouting. Obviously, President Monson thought it was important enough to be a part of, so I should sustain him in that decision. If it was good enough for President Monson, it was good enough for me. Since then, I had tried to change my attitude with success. I grew to love it and the boys more and more. When I was first in scouts, I taught Wolves for about two years and had two different companions. I then was moved to Webelos (teaching my first group that I had as Wolves) when about a month after I was informed I would be getting a new companion. This was in late February, early March. It is now August, and I still don't have an official Assistant Den Leader. Not for a lack of trying. There was a lot going on that I won't go into because this blog is still public. It was okay though because my friend and scout liaison Camilla Frank was a big help and did as much as she could. I later recruited Brian and he was more than happy to help. He and I make a good team. We taught in Nursery years ago when Tali and Jairus were younger and it worked great! He's so good to work with and I feel that together, things go more smoothly. 

At our last committee meeting, we were discussing parental involvement and me needing a new, official companion and my frustrations. I mentioned how I felt we as scout leaders were being ignored. I talked about and bore my testimony of scouting before I even knew what I was saying, words were just flowing out of my mouth and I started getting a little emotional. After the meeting I leaned over to our Cub Master and said "Watch. I bet now that I'm feeling more comfortable with scouts, they'll (the bishopric) will release me." We both kind of chuckled at that. The funny thing is, I got this impression like someone was saying "okay, now you're done."

That afternoon, I went in and spoke with our bishop about my frustrations with still not having an official companion called. I told him I felt like we were being forgotten and that we were losing another leader (because they were moving) and I was concerned with what was going to happen. I told him I loved scouts, but I couldn't keep doing it on my own. My good bishop was understanding. He asked how long I had been in scouts and I told him about three years. I had learned a lot and proceeded to tell him of the changing experiences I had. He told me that my name had come up for other callings and asked how I would feel with a new calling. I had to kind of laugh because my thoughts went back to what our Cub Master and I had discussed earlier that day. I told him how much I really loved my scouts, but I will do whatever it was they needed me to do. So, I guess for now, I just wait. 

There were some other changes recently too. My visiting teaching route was changed. I'm okay with it though because now I have my friends Camilla, Leora, and a possible distant cousin. I'm actually kind of excited. I was also recently asked to help out with some humanitarian projects through our stake Relief Society for the General Women's Conference and broadcast coming up. I felt so grateful to be a part of this great project! I can't wait to get started! I feel as though this opportunity was just what I needed. I felt so strongly about helping out, so I'm very grateful to be involved this way.