Hey.....You

One of the most exhausting parts of serving in the Young Women program is the weekly mutual activity.  I know, I know...the girls are supposed to plan them.  Maybe that works in a big ward.  Or maybe that works with a more competent leader or someone who doesn't have control issues. We only have ten active girls so a lot of weeks, we end up combining and it seems easier, in theory, for one person to plan a single activity than three of us planning three separate activities.  Suffice it to say that there are a lot of weeks where I spend a good deal of time and mental energy thinking of an appropriate, fun and purposeful activity for Wednesday night.  

This week, however, I have been drawing a blank.  I thought early on that we'd do some sort of valentine craft or activity that could be service related.  Unfortunately, most of the things I looked at online exceeded my crafting ability.  There were some great ideas but the instructions included words like, "cut out wood" or "modge podge" or "sewing felt."  Yikes!

Feeling rather lame, I decided that we would just make handcrafted valentines.  I have all those fancy scissors from my scrapbooking days and thought with some embellishments like ribbon, stickers and glitter, we'd have fun making some cards.  Then, I complained to my friend, Michelle, about my worry that this could end up being a pretty disappointing activity for the girls and she, like the wise 1st counselor she is, suggested calling a woman in our ward who does monthly classes doing this exact kind of thing.  With an almost desperate hope of not having to lead the girls doing something I would essentially be winging, I made the call.

It's not as if I don't know here.  I mean, we're not exactly friends, but I certainly know who she is.  Her daughter is in Young Womens, for goodness sake.  Their family is an established family in the ward.  There was no reason or explanation for what happened next.

I punched the numbers into my phone as I backed my car out of the garage to go pick up the boys from school.  As the phone rang, I realized I couldn't think of her first name.  No longer in front of my computer, where I found her phone number online, I had no way of getting her name back in my head once I realized it had left.  I panicked as the phone continued to ring and I realized I'd have to use a less friendly and much more stuffy form to address her.

She answered the phone and I asked, "Is this Sister _______?"  (in the LDS faith, we can address fellow church members with a "Brother" or "Sister" title.  It goes back to the early days of the church and is a title of respect.  It's not like we're sister wives or anything.  Plus, I did remember her last name).

"This is she."

We went on to converse, she graciously offering her help by coming to mutual tonight to teach the girls three different valentine crafts, and I thought I was in the clear until I found myself in mid-sentence, needing to use her first name again due to a story I chose to share.

My mind raced as I stuttered and rearranged my sentence structure to get out of my predicament, but my only clumsy solution was to refer her as her daughter's mother!  I was mortified.   I have no idea if she realized that I  never called her by her name and, of course, I remember her name now.

I plan on making a big show of knowing her name tonight.  Lots of eye contact and first name usage to redeem myself.  No more, "Hey....you" for me!