New Calling

I have a new calling, and it's one of those EXTRA humbling ones.

For those unfamiliar with the LDS faith, our church has a lay clergy. Guided by the Spirit and our worldwide priesthood leaders, the members themselves are responsible for all of the worship services, fellowship, programs, and teaching that goes on at the local level. Each church member is prayerfully selected to fulfill a responsibility, or "calling" in the church. Since moving to Illinois, I've been a youth Sunday School teacher (ages 12-13), adult Sunday School teacher, youth summer camp director, children's Sunday School presidency member (ages 3-12), assistant Cub Scout den leader, and a member of the presidency of the women's organization. Not all at once, of course, but some of those responsibilities did overlap. Every new calling is a humbling experience because it always requires me to do something that I've never really done before. I've had to pray for a lot of help. This new calling is no exception.

I've been asked to direct the local Family History Center (FHC). The FHC is a local resource for members of the church and the general public to research their family history. People research their ancestors for all sorts of reasons (see Wikipedia article here) and need all sorts of resources to do that. This center is connected to the gi-hugemous Family History Library in Salt Lake City and therefore has access to all sorts of records a person might need to uncover their family tree. As director, I will not only need to manage the excellent and experienced staff, but I will need to learn all the tools and methods currently available to assist people in their research.

That is no small task. In fact, my husband has been called as a FHC consultant (someone who helps/teaches other people to begin their family history) for almost 2 years and even HE doesn't really know everything that's out there.

This calling is SO different from anything I've ever done or ever SEEN done in the church that it will take at least a couple months to train me. The good news is, I may get to stay in this calling for a few years, so eventually I might feel like I have a handle on it.

The bad news is, people who start to research their family history often get hooked on it. It's such an adventurous hunt with ups and downs that they just can't give it up...family vacations to libraries, cemeteries, and government record archives...emails and long-distance phone calls to perfect strangers they might share a common ancestor with...the eerie ability to distinguish between a second cousin and a first cousin twice removed...