New Calling

I received a new calling today. Well they sustained and set me apart today. I am the new 2nd counselor in the young womens! I'm excited! We've only got 5 young women in the branch (4 of them being seniors in high school so they'll only be with us til probably next summer), but they are a great bunch of girls. Honestly I'm surprised I didn't get this calling sooner, seeing how I went to girls camp and everything with them back in June. I knew it was coming though. I usually have a pretty good idea about a calling before they actually talk to me about it. So I really wasn't surprised when the branch president's counselor asked to talk to me last week. The other two sisters in the yw's presidency are more than excited to have me in there too. They are such neat ladies, and even though we've already been friends for a while, it's going to be great to get to work with them and get to know them better. For the time being, I still have my primary calling too. I know it's like "her husband is gone, let's keep her busy." Seeing how we have a small branch and not many people to go around, it's understandable. So I teach my primary class 2nd hour, then go to young womens 3rd hour. The primary president, who has become one of my really good friends, is sad to lose me but sometimes that's the way it goes. I feel like they needed me in there to help get ready/present the primary program, and now that that is done I'm needed somewhere else. That's just how I feel though. I'm not sure if that's God's reason, but that's what it feels like. As I was being set apart after church, I got the feeling that I'm starting to understand why I'm here, in Japan. I've been struggling with trying to understand why I am in this foreign country so far from my family and friends while my husband is deployed. It's not easy living alone in a strange place, and I've asked on many occasions why didn't Ben deploy from the states where I could still be close to family and somewhere familiar. I think I'm starting to understand though. There's something I was supposed to teach these primary kids (whether I did or not is up for debate, but that's another story). There's something I'm supposed to help these young women with. I was meant to meet these wonderful ladies who have become such great friends and what feels like life savers at times. One of my visiting teachers has become like a second mom to me and some of my really good friends have become like sisters. If I'm having a rough day I know they'll be there to listen and let me cry. I've only been here 7 months and already they have done more for me than they will ever know. Ok so that doesn't exactly explain why I'm alone in Japan, but I think it explains why I'm in Japan. God has a plan for each of us. It may seem crazy and not make a whole lot of sense at times, but He knows what he's doing. All we have to do is put our trust in Him, and we'll get to where we need to be. Doesn't always mean it will be easy, but that is how we learn and grow.