Open Your Heart

The VT workshop is over. It's 11:31 pm and I have to get up at 5:30 and be out the door by 6:45 am for our flight to Melbourne. Ouch. I couldn't go to sleep without writing about tonight and how it went.

I arrived at my RS President's house about 6:40, ready to set up and get this thing going. I was feeling good about it b/c I knew that I had given it all I could. I had prayed, fasted, read, organized, purchased, prepared, etc. I knew that I had done my part and had to give just leave it at that.

Well the first thing my RSP tells me is that 4 people told her today that they won't be coming. When she asked them why? they said they were tired. Hmmm. Not a great way to start it off but that's ok. People started trickling in. We gathered slippers at the door in a basket to play a game later. We all chatted and it felt like it was going to be a nice evening. People seemed open. I was a bit sad that it was the same people who always come to everything, but hey, at least they were there. By 7:15 we had about 10-12 people. By the end of the night we had about 20+. Very good in my opinion. Anyway, we all sat down and got ready for the game. I had asked a sister to be in charge of games so that I didn't have to talk all night. Well she ended up being really funny about it (I don't know her that well). What was supposed to be really light and easy turned into an overly-organized, almost stressful game! All we planned to do was guess whose slippers were whose (by vote or whatever). Well she got a pen and paper. Started asking for nominations, had to line up the slippers in a certain order, etc. Ok. 20 minutes later we ended the game. It was fun anyway. We gave prizes for the "most loved" and "most fashionable" slippers. Then we played 2 lies and 1 truth which I always enjoy b/c you learn things about people. We learned that one woman, an engineer, once had to make toilet paper for her job. We also learned that one woman broke her pallet (sp?) in a car crash. I didn't know you could break your pallet (except when the orthodontist does it on purpose).

We ate soup, then had some skits about "What NOT to do when VT". It was pretty funny b/c I told the ladies I had preassigned to just say whatever they wanted in the skits and I played the person being visited. For example, I told them that my husband and I were fighting and things weren't going well and they totally blew me off and started talking about a shoe sale and how they didn't have much time to visit. When I said we might get divorced they said, "Oh, he was a loser anyway". The other was someone who lost a baby and the sister said "Oh, good for you, now you won't have to breastfeed and get sore nipples. Believe me, I have four kids and you don't know what you're getting into!" Things like that. The last one was inactive and they said, "Why don't you come to church anyway? And pulling at my shirt, "Do you wear your garments?" Pretty funny. I was glad to see everyone laughing and enjoying themselves. There was a fun atmosphere. In each situation we talked about what they SHOULD have done and how they could be more effective visiting teachers.

Next, the RS Pres took a turn. It was good but I wish it wasn't twice as long as it should have been. She talked about Mosiah 18 and what it means to "comfort those who need comfort" and how this is our responsibility, etc. When she was done it was my turn and already past the time we were supposed to end! I felt like those people who have like 5 minutes to give a talk at church and they have to quickly summarize the main idea and try to get the point across. Oh well. I read a couple of quotes and one or two good stories from "A Heart like His" book. I had written the 3 points of the Open Heart Experiment on a poster board, so I went over that. I read my quote from Elaine Jack about how in RS we can be the Balm of Gilead for others and then I passed out the little travel size containers with the 'balm' in it. Everyone seemed to like those. I hope that what I said made sense b/c I really hate not having a good handle on what I am saying- I like it to be organized and follow the flow, the way I planned it. The way I wrote it. I felt flustered b/c I didn't have enough time but hopefully it came out right. A number of people thanked me afterward and said it was good but I don't know if they were just saying that. Ah well, it's done!

So I will be walking out the door in 7 hours. I hope that I can get going in the morning. I should have bought myself a diet coke in anticipation of the fatigue. Which brings me to an interesting point since I am not a frequent diet coke drinker (only for medicinal purposes, as I like to say. Caffeine that is) Lori has noticed that they don't have caffeine free drinks here. I had never noticed. Strange. Is that a US thing or a Utah thing? Not sure.

If I don't blog until next Tuesday it's b/c we couldn't do it at Lauren's. I am sure we will though. Wish me HAPPY SHOPPING!