“He’s Our Bishop…”

Earlier this week the stake President asked to speak with us. We knew that there were some openings in the High Counsel and thought maybe Aaron was getting called back to fill one of those positions or maybe the Second Counselor position in our own bishopric. To say that we were surprised to have him be called as our new bishop would be an understatement. It think Aaron just get wondering why me? What do I have to offer? A loving heart and humble attitude for starters I think.  He is such a wonderful man who wants to serve the Lord. After the initial shock we both felt at such peace. We have had trials this last year that haven’t seemed to fit together and now suddenly without really knowing how they fit together there was this overwhelming sense of peace that somehow all was good.

It was hard to keep it from the kids until Sunday, and then to actually get to church on time so we wouldn’t miss the change=). Brianna was so excited because it was going to be her first Sunday in Young Women’s and her first Bishopric Youth Fireside that night. Imagine her surprise when they announced that her dad was the bishop. That night and the next day the kids practiced singing the Primary song “He’s our Bishop..” so they could sing it for Family Home Evening. Brianna organized it all so that each of the older kids sang a verse and then they all sang the chorus together. Even little Scott had his mini Children's Songbook and was singing along. At the end they changed the words to “He’s our bishop  daddy!

We had a lesson on what bishops do taken from a talk written years ago by one of the General Authorities, and then talked about each of our own callings to help daddy. They each got an envelope with a slip of paper in it with their own calling on it. It read:

Brianna: You have a special calling as the daughter of the bishop to:
Pray each day for him that he will have the Spirit to be with him and he will be able to listen to it.

Austin: You have a special calling as the son of the bishop to:
Remind him each day if he has thought about the Primary kids in the ward.

Brooke: You have a special calling as the daughter of the bishop to:
Ask him each day if he has read his Book of Mormon. Maybe he can tell you one thing each day he read about.

Erika: You have a special calling as the daughter of the bishop to:
Pray each day that he will be able to be strong and healthy and sleep good at night.

Abby:You have a special calling as the daughter of the bishop to:
Give him a hug each day and tell him you love him.

Scott: You have a special calling as the son of the bishop to:
Go to your nursery class. (Something he hasn’t wanted to do)

A few years ago when Aaron was the Elder’s Quorum president and it was stake conference, there was a special meeting before for the wives of bishops in our stake. Somehow, the announcement of it in a meeting caused some confusion  and Aaron thought it was for all the bishopric wives and Elder’s Quorum. We got there early and walked in to be happily greeted by our own bishop’s wife. I was quite embarrassed to learn that it was only for the bishops wives, and wanted to just wait in the foyer until the adult evening session began. Our bishop’s wife sweetly asked if I would stay and listen, maybe out of pity because we had gotten a babysitter and were already there, but I think more out of listening to the spirit. The Lord knew someday I would need all the gentle advice these sweet sisters were sharing with each other to make the time that their husbands were the bishop to be an uplifting and a time where the spirit would be poured out upon their families. Thank you Tami for listening to the spirit and loving reaching out to me. I look back and can remember specific advice that gave that will be helpful to our family.  What an exciting time this will be for our family to grow together and see how much the Lord loves all the people in our little ward.