I've been spoiled the past six months, having him home to help with the kids on Sunday mornings and sitting with the bench with us most of the time.
We knew our stake was splitting soon, and "special" Stake Conference was scheduled for September 21st. Matt had been serving in the stake Young Men's presidency, but the president was put in as a bishop so we knew that some change would be made in his calling. I assumed Stake Young Men's president, he guess high council. Then we got the phone call from the stake executive secretary asking both of us to meet with the Stake President THAT NIGHT. We were interviewed separately, then brought in together. And that's when they dropped the bombshell, asking him to serve as the new bishop of our ward. I think we were both in shock!! Our current bishop had only been serving for 3ish years so this was a complete surprise. The Stake President read from and showed us the letter, signed by Thomas S. Monson, the prophet of our church, authorizing Matt to be called as bishop. That was powerful! Matt accepted the call and I answered that I was willing to sustain him in this new calling. I think we walked out of the building still in awe of what was happening. We immediately drove to Matt's parents, where his dad gave him a blessing. Of course, the feelings of self-doubt and "why me?" flooded in. We were reminded, "Remember that this work is no yours and mine alone. It is the Lord's work, and when we are on the Lord's errand, we are entitled to the Lord's help. Remember that whom the Lord call, the Lord qualifies." (Thomas S. Monson, Duty Calls- April 1996) The Lord knows our divine potential, He has a hand in our lives.
I don't think I've ever seen Matt on his knees more, than in the days to follow.
That Sunday, it was announced that our current bishopric would be released and instantly, everyone started speculating. I don't know how so many people "KNEW" that it would be Matt, but it was kinda stressful deflecting those comments for a whole week!! I just wanted to climb in a hole and stay there til today!!
We met with the new 1st and 2nd counselors and their wives for the first time Thursday evening. Matt asked Brandt Madsen to be his first counselor (he replaced Matt as 2nd counselor in the bishopric) and Bryant Owen as his second counselor. The Owen family is pretty new to the ward, they have four cute boys pretty much the same age as our kids! It was a wonderful experience to sit down together as a bishopric + wives and talk about the roles and responsibilities we each play. The Spirit was strong as both Bro. Madsen & Bro. Owen shared their experiences and voiced 100% support for Matt. We immediately felt united and again, it was reconfirmed to me that this calling was from God and exactly what was supposed to be happening right now.
During sacrament meeting, I had to fight really hard to control my emotions. President Gary Smith read D&C 88:63- "Draw near to me and I will draw near unto you..." We have to make the effort to draw near to Christ, He is always there, waiting for us. I realized that as we spent a lot of time in prayer, I felt the Lord close by my side. The closing song was "Have I Done Any Good?" and this particular line stood out to me- "Has anyone's burden been lighter today because I was willing to share?" I'm now "sharing" my husband with the whole ward. I'm not sure whether this calling is for him(us) or someone else, and that hit me really hard. There is a reason he was called to be bishop at this time.
My mind goes immediately to how hard it will be to have him gone more often, but I've felt an overwhelming sense of peace and comfort as we've spent a lot of time in prayer together over the past week. Matt and I both felt as if we have been prepared for this over the past few years.
The Lord has promised that when we serve willingly, we are blessed, and I know that without a doubt. So, SO thankful to all our family and friends that love and support us. We wouldn't be able to do it without you! I'm grateful to Matt and the wonderful example he is of selfless sacrifice. I'm thankful that he's a worthy Priesthood holder and is dedicated to serve the Lord, no matter what capacity. I love him so much!
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