Do you need to be somewhere else ?

This post will be a great way for me to personally remember some of the great times I have had as a scout leader for our 11-year patrol:

the Firehawks !



I stole this from
Dave's Facebook
page.  He hated
the other picture
I had of him
on a campout.  :)


I've had that calling** in the Oakwood Ward for probably about 18 months ... and I have enjoyed almost every minute of it!  This has as much to do with the activities as it does with the people I have been able to spend time with, especially the boys (my oldest son included) and the other adult leader I've worked most closely with: Dave Tusler.

The blog post title is an inside joke that he and I share from a Court of Honor meeting we attended several months ago.  The backstory is simply that the meeting was going on and on and on.  So I sent him a text message (we were not sitting near each other) and asked him "Do you need to be somewhere else?"  His reply was priceless and I actually had to excuse myself from the meeting because I could not contain my laughter.  He simply texted back "It's not that I need to be somewhere else.  I just want to be somewhere else."  We were both just having fun with the length of the meeting because truth be told we were, in fact, having fun.  But it was experiences like that which made us fast friends and that makes scouting (especially campouts) much more enjoyable for the adult leaders!

I have enjoyed working with over a dozen different young men, many of whom are now deacons and very accomplished scouts to boot.  In my new "calling" I will once again be working with some of those boys, my son included since he just moved up to that patrol.  It is great to see these squirrely little boys grow into young men of the Priesthood.  As their stature grows, so does their wisdom and maturity (albeit not in great leaps and bounds so it's not a "fast" miracle).

Thanks to all the boys, parents, and fellow scout leaders for all the fun times in this past year and a half.  I am looking forward to continued support of the Boy Scout program and hopefully can work with some of these boys until they have achieved their Eagle Scout rank!

**For my non-Mormon readers, a "calling" is the assignment(s) an adult member of the church receives as a means to support the ward (congregation).  These callings are all volunteer positions as our church does not have paid clergy.  If you'd like to know more I'd be happy to answer any questions you have or you can search www.mormon.org for more info.
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