So, I get called into the EQ Presidency

[MikeWaters]

Btw, anyone else besides me notice that Travis Henry was trying to find a clever way to brag about being in the EQP?

[jay santos]

I'm trying to build up enough guts to tell the bishop no to church callings, depending on the calling.

I said no to scout master, once, which I'm proud of.

Yes: callings that are Sunday only or involve my kids, i.e. yes to young men's if my son is in the quorum, no otherwise

No: stake calling, singles ward calling, young men's where I'm not with one of my kids

I have five kids and I only have so much energy to spend outside of work. I don't feel guilty in theory, one bit, about saying no to a calling that takes me away from my family, but I have to work up the guts to pull it off.

[YOhio]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Btw, anyone else besides me notice that Travis Henry was trying to find a clever way to brag about being in the EQP?

I was pretty impressed, both with his subtle boasting and the fact that he's in the Presidency.

[tooblue]

Originally Posted by Travis Henry

And a few people CONGRATULATED me. I don't understand congratulating people for getting a calling. Congratulating someone is in a much smaller sense, throwing a party for them to celebrate an achievement. Did Elder Cook's family throw a huge bash celebrating his call as an apostle?

About six or seven months ago they called two new counselors into the bishopric in my old ward. One of the guys got up and started giving the equivalent of an Oscar acceptance speech.

My wife works as an assistant to estate planning attorney, huge BYU fan and I believe completely active (I say this to infer that the guy doesn't have animosity towards the church). Somehow this guy has been able to duck big callings (bishopric, stake presidency, high council). I need to sit down with him and find out his secret before it's too late.

And good luck!

[MikeWaters]

I tell people congratulations, and I laugh at the same time.

[Travis Henry]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Btw, anyone else besides me notice that Travis Henry was trying to find a clever way to brag about being in the EQP?

At least 50% of all active Elders will at one time or other be in the EQP. I just prefer that I don't end up like my coworker who's ONE year older than me and got called into a bishopric (at the age of 31).

My reaction to hearing that the stake secretary was trying to get a meeting between me and the stake president (the EQP approached me after sacrament meeting a couple weeks ago) was "this sucks." I felt great about my former calling- teaching EQ once a month. It required a grand total of about 30 minutes to 1 hour of preparation. I already had meetings and visits for 2 hours on Sunday- my first week in the actual calling.

Outside of going inactive or sleeping around, I was hoping that I could figure out the key to being an EQ teacher or in the Sunday school presidency for the remainder of my days.

[JohnnyLingo]

Originally Posted by Jeff Lebowski

By the way Lingo, I like your new avatar.

Thanks! I thought you might. I must admit I was inspired by Tex, who is a smarter, funnier version of me.

Lingo knows that. He's vying for leadership callings.

No way. Leadership sucks. So far my strategy is working perfectly, so until it stops working, I'll use it.

[MikeWaters]

they key is to have an aura of incompetence and irresponsibility.

If you are an effective teacher, they will wonder, what else could he be effective at?

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by JohnnyLingo

No way. Leadership sucks. So far my strategy is working perfectly, so until it stops working, I'll use it.

Lingo, if wearing blue shirts gets you out of callings in your ward, it must be the mullah-ward of all mullah-wards.

[Travis Henry]

Originally Posted by YOhio

I was pretty impressed, both with his subtle boasting and the fact that he's in the Presidency.

but what's the big deal about being in the EQP?

Anyway, the point of my post was two-fold: 1) I'm perplexed by people thinking that they should congratulate someone about getting a calling; 2) What's the key to getting out of responsible callings in the future?

The only time in recent memory where I intentionally boasted on an internet message board was when several posters on CB were totally perplexed by my comment of "it would be really difficult for a girl to hide from her new husband that she was not a virgin." In reply to their confusion, I said "Come on, either you guys are clueless or I resemble Secretariat more than I could possibly imagine."