Today I was released as the Ward librarian. I held that calling for like 3 and 1/2 years. Long enough that everyone came up to me and commented on it and were asking me, "What's next?" Everyone was interested in how I felt about it, if I was happy or sad. I'm not sure really. (It depends on what's in store for me, cuz I know they have one in the works). In a way, I'm going to miss it. The library was my haven, my escape! And it was a cushy calling too! My key opened the building! I started out as the assistant and the lady I originally served under has had at least 2 or 3 callings since then. I went through about 3 assistants myself. Except for the time I was in the Nursery in a young married student ward (which was also over three years) that's the longest calling I have ever held.
So I was just curious how long or short others have ever held callings. Now I don't really count bishops or stake presidents (sorry Mahonri) they're designed to be kind of long term.
P.S. I still worked in the library today. My replacement wasn't there, so I still have the key!
Hometeacher: 33 years (with a full time mission interuption) SP: 8 years Priesthood Chorister: 6 years from age 12 to age 18 Bishop: 5 years 3mo. H.C.: 4 years 2mo.
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no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing... the truth of God will go forth till it has penetrated every website, sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done
For some reason I cycle through callings pretty fast... Hubby says it's cause I get comfortable too quick... Longest calling as 3 years... Shortest was 4 days... They called me on a Thur... I ended up in the hospital that night and they released me Sunday, because we didn't know how long I would be down... it was pretty serious... I wasn't even sustained... so perhaps you can't call that an actual calling...
Like Mahoni, I have been a VTer a long time... I have also been a FH enthusiast for more than 20 years... I consider that a kind of unofficial calling... to the family. (Hubby is a 1st generation member... still the only one in his family.)
My shortest callings are probably the college ward ones--8 month stints as program printer outer (twice), Enrichment Board member, and Primary teacher.
No wait...there were a couple shorter. I was Children's Class Coordinator for 3-4 months when I was called to be RS Secretary. I was that for 6 monthsish when the ward boundaries were realligned. Then I was the YW Secretary for about 3 months before we moved from an apartment to our current house.
Since moving in here, I was on the Enrichment Board for 3-4 years, concurrently with Nursery Leader 1 1/2 years, Primary Teacher 2 1/2 years, and now Primary Music Leader going on 6 months now.
I think that I am going on four years as Visiting Teaching Supervisor. And I have had this calling before. It is one of the few things that I can be comfortable doing as I have trouble going places.
Before I had my problems, it was actually my first calling after becoming LDS. It is interesting how in this calling I can experience growth. I remember how shy I was to call the sisters. I was painfully shy in those days in most settings and often overwhelmed at Church with holding even a simple discussion. Amazingly, I volunteered to be a Visiting Teacher when I saw my Visiting Teacher reading the lesson and deciding that I could do that. Getting out my comfort zone and making the calls helped me to become less shy. Later, I would develop a talent for calling people. I think it has a lot to do with my personality and being a generalist. However, if someone is really shy or hard to draw out or does not seem to want to connect, it is still hard. Plus, it is hard when people do not do their visiting teacher as I do not want to make them uncomfortable. I appreciate if they are willing to talk to me. I have met some friends through this calling that I have that I would probably not know otherwise with my limited level of activity at Church. It is kind of hard though that when I can have a good interaction that they may avoid me later as they do not want to talk if they have nothing good to report. I would like to be able to be their friend and not have them feel like I am checking up on them. I understand to some degree why numbers are taken. And I am grateful for a way to serve. I went a few years without any calling and did not attend Church at all in those few years.
Serving helps me be more forgiving of others too as I see where I fall short.
I was a ward missionary for 18 months in the University Ward, then I got married and by the third Sunday they had my husband and I teaching the youth Sunday School class, but now they've split it into two classes (although our max was 6 students) and I'm not sure if we are supposed to teach the younger group or the older group. They are all good kids though...and we're lucky we didn't have to do our newlywed stint as nursery leaders, as our ward has 2 nurseries (it's basically a newlywed/student ward with some older people too)
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Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.
— Oscar Wilde
I think the longest I've ever held a calling was 2 years. That was RS food coordinator. The irony of how easy that calling was is not lost on me. My shortest calling was the one I was just relaesed from: Assistant Den Leader. I had that for about 3 months.
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"The promptings of the Holy Ghost will always be sufficient for our needs if we keep to the covenant path. Our path is uphill most days, but the help we receive for the climb is literally divine." --Elaine S. Dalton
I don't remember what my longest calling was...maybe...er...no....uh....I dunno, 2 years max. Yeah, now that I think about it, I was SS teacher to 14-15-16 year olds for a couple of years (they moved me up with the class). I cycle through a lot of callings, too. I think that sometimes it's because I stink so bad that I get released pretty quickly. Otherwise, from what I have been told (so take it with a grain of salt), I am apparently fought over in ward councils because of my willingness to serve and a couple of talents God has given me, that might explain some turnover too.
I have noticed that the calling duration seems to be much longer outside the wasatch front than it seems to be in Utah/Idaho. From my time in Oklahoma, I would say that probably has a lot to do with number of people available to fill callings, ward turnover levels, and ward size consistency.
I do not remember my longest calling... aside from my full-time mission, it would probably have to be Sunbeam teacher years ago with Poncho or youth Sunday School in our current ward.
Shortest was probably Cubmaster (4 months) or "Greeter" in a student ward after my mission (easy thing to call all of us RM's to who were basically just social members of the ward for the fall anyway until going back to school).
Most made up calling? Family Home Evening Group Coordinator in my student ward at BYU after my mission and before Poncho and I got married. Okay, um, yeah... what am I supposed to do? Encourage the apartments assigned to each other to hold FHE... Uh, yeah, sure... No, you don't resolve any problems and you don't switch groups around or anything... just encourage the designated "Family Leader" to make sure the young adults in the apartments are staying around the apartment on Monday evening and reporting back to the EQ that FHE has been held...
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It seems to me the only thing you've learned is that Caesar is a "salad dressing dude."
I think my longest non-implied calling (like hometeacher) has been Cubmaster... I served off and on in that capacity for over 5-6 years, though in a singular stretch about 4 years...
--Ray
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I'm not slow; I'm special. (Don't take it personally, everyone finds me offensive. Yet somehow I manage to live with myself.)
I think that is why I got called to be scoutmaster... as 11 year old assistant scoutmaster, the old scoutmaster finally decided "you'll be great at it, and I'm sick of it" so they didn't find anyone else gullible enough... er not in a mission critical calling at the ward or stake level of the active men in my ward who liked the Scouting program, except for the man that was released as Exec Sec to become the Varsity coach.
As you know Hoss, I'm very opinionated, so maybe we would do fine working in Scouts together...
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It seems to me the only thing you've learned is that Caesar is a "salad dressing dude."
Oh, how I would love to have a scout committee chairman. I've almost forgotten what that was like.
And Cat, as long as your opinion isn't "it's okay to leave the entire troop alone without leaders to go fishing for two hours under the guise of finding a cellphone signal," we'll get along just peachily. (Don't worry, they were at a council camp, so there were other adults within screaming distance, but still).
I have learned by sad experience that the slackers in my troop almost can't be trusted without one on one adult to boy ratio (at Scout camp too, no less). We had anywhere from 4 to 6 men in camp for 18 boys the whole week, and the boys were still rotten enough to have caused the poor Stake President (whose own son was in the troop) to need to get away from camp for a couple hours to cool down.
Can you say we are definitely in a rebuilding period?
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It seems to me the only thing you've learned is that Caesar is a "salad dressing dude."
Longest calling as 3 years... Shortest was 4 days... They called me on a Thur... I ended up in the hospital that night and they released me Sunday, because we didn't know how long I would be down... it was pretty serious... I wasn't even sustained... so perhaps you can't call that an actual calling...
