All Aboard the Calling Carousel

It's been about two years since I was called to be the choir accompanist in my ward, which made the 5th ward in a row where I held that calling. At the time, I estimated that I had accompanied 2,229 songs at church meetings over the years, which is a very conservative guess.

Well, for the first time in nearly a decade, I was released from playing for the choir without moving out of the ward. (I think they forgot to actually release me. But they called someone else, and that's what really counts.) Within a week or two of that release, I was also released from my other calling as EQ secretary.

Obviously, it was time to hit me up with some new callings. First, I was called to be the choir director. We'd been without one for a few months after the last one moved away. I wasn't thrilled. I'm still not thrilled. We finally had our first choir practice last week, and let me tell you, I was nervous. I would rather do nearly anything than lead the choir. I would rather speak in church every single week. I would rather teach any class. I would rather sit on the stand and conduct sacrament meeting. (The three hours at church as the bishop wouldn't be all that scary. The other 165 hours of the week as bishop are another matter entirely.)

A week or so later, I was called to teach the 12 and 13-year-old Sunday School class, which I think would be a lot of fun. What with General and Stake conferences, it was going to be a few weeks before I got to actually teach the class, but I was already looking up who was in the class and mulling over upcoming lessons.

Oh wait! Never mind! I got released from that calling last week. Yup, released from teaching a class that I never even got to teach. They offered me the customary "vote of thanks" on Sunday, though I'm not sure what anyone could be thanking me for. I never even got around to getting set apart for the calling.

And so, after a break that technically only lasted a couple of weeks, I'm back to twiddling my fingers at church, now as the Primary Pianist. So, that accompaniment total isn't going to stop going up any time soon. I'm reasonably excited for the calling. Primary can leave you feeling a little bit isolated from the ward, and I'm mostly hiding behind the piano (*ahem* electric device that looks like a real piano but most certainly isn't). But the kids (even my own) seem excited to have me there, perhaps based on me subbing as the primary chorister two times a few months back.

So, that's the story of getting 3 callings over the course of about 5 Sundays. Maybe I'll report back in a few weeks to let you know if they've moved me around again.