A Welcome Break in My Busyness

by Marsha Ward

I thought I was busy before, but this week has been horrendous. Because of my trip to the WWA convention, I wasn't able to get together with my new visiting teaching companion earlier in the month. The Saturday we chose to go was the Relief Society's Super Saturday, so that bombed out. VT got left to this week.

Now, I don't have your typical neighborhood route for visiting teaching. A week into June, I received a new route and new companion. I get to travel 17 miles into a small nearby town and pick up my companion, then visit our ladies. My companion works out of town, so not every day is available. We squeezed it into this week, between my getting personal effects out of a mobile home I hope to sell this weekend, melodrama rehearsals, and four performances (thank goodness I'm only the piano player this year!), along with several other crucial tasks, including writing a magazine article on a deadline and mailing off a packet of labels for a newsletter.

One of the ladies we visit teach on this new route was planning to have a painting lesson tonight, so we asked her teacher if it was okay if we came over to give the VT lesson (she's in our branch, too). We got permission. I picked up my comp at a Circle K convenience store so I wouldn't get lost trying to find her remote home. She was just returning from her job in the Phoenix area and still had her name badge around her neck. She's busy, too.

We arrived at our destination to find that the painting teacher was missing and our lady was waiting in her car outside the home. We drove to a nearby playground and gave her the lesson while sitting at a small table in the shade. It was actually very nice. Then we visited with another lady who lives about eight miles from our first stop. That was good, too. She home-schools her five terrific children, but because she follows the public school calendar, they are having their summer break. We had a good visit, then I returned my companion to her car and drove the 17 miles home.

Even though the rest of my week is full of stress, taking the time to do my visiting teaching was a nice break, and helped me relax and think on eternal things. I needed that.