Reunion: Seminary Council

At the end of my Junior year of high school I was called to be part of the seminary council for the upcoming year.

For those who don’t know, Seminary, in my church, is religious class offered throughout the school year to high school students.  Each year covers a different book a scripture.  In areas without many church members the class is usually taught early in the morning before school.  In such cases it’s usually taught at a church or a house.  In Utah, where I grew up, there are so many church members classes are offered throughout the day at a dedicated building near the school.  When students schedule their school classes they can include a period of “release time” during which they are released from school and can attend their religion class.

In places where seminary is offered throughout the day there is often, though not always, a seminary council.  They are usually Seniors, called through their stake authorities and are assigned specific specialties.  For example, I was over devotionals.  For any seminary meeting, program, or activity I was in charge of arranging the opening prayer, song, thought, and/or scripture, and, later, the closing song and prayer.  Some people are in charge of finding and coordinating service opportunities, some are over the audiovisual side of things, and the list goes on.  There were 17 people on the council with me (if I’m counting correctly – a big if) and we each had a specialized job but, in addition to that, our main goal as a council was to bring souls to Christ.  We encouraged seminary attendance, planned good activities students could go to, and, in general, tried to be good examples.

Our council had a meeting every week during which we discussed any needs we were aware of, planned activities, and were taught by an advisor.  I grew a lot during that year and was stretched to become a better person.  I formed lasting friendships with many other members of the council.  We worked together all the time and, though we had some minor ups and downs, they became some of my favorite people.  After graduation I would occasionally see a few of them here or there but over the years we’ve all moved around and drifted apart, only occasionally reconnecting through email or facebook.

Just a few days after my high school reunion was announced I got an email from our seminary council president and vice-president.  Since so many people would be around for the high school reunion they thought it would be the perfect time for a seminary council reunion as well.  It was set for lunchtime of the day of our high school reunion.

ODD was almost as excited as I was to go because he had been on the seminary council the year before and was friends with many of the people on my council.  A few people were out of state and couldn’t make it back but over half of our council was able to come.  We had fun meeting everyone’s spouse and family and played a couple of games.  One game was to help us find out what everyone had been doing in the last ten years.  The other game was sort of a jeopardy game to see what everyone could remember about our year on council.  We had a good laugh remembering some of the funny things we did and it was easy to remember why I loved these people so much.

Our advisor, Bro. (that’s what everyone called him), had recently moved back to the area and he brought his big, wonderful family.  Right after I graduated Bro. had moved to Virginia.  The May before ODD and I moved to California we went to visit him.  He had been both ODD’s and my advisor and we both knew him well.  Since he lived fairly close to Washington D.C. we saw a lot of great things on that trip as well as great people.  We happened to visit him just in time because a few months later, as we were moving to the San Francisco Bay Area, he was moving to California as well, just a few hours away from us.  Our first year in California we spent Thanksgiving with them.  Later the next year Bro. and his wife came to our apartment and we babysat their youngest son while they did a few temple sessions and stayed in the city for their anniversary.  Last year they moved back to Utah and are hopefully here to stay.  They are some of the best people I’ve ever known.  They live life the best they can, rely on the Lord for strength, and are always inspiring to talk to.  Near the end of our party Bro. shared some thoughts and his testimony with us and it was touching to hear him speak again.  I’ve missed his daily positive influence over the last decade.  He always reminds me I can be better and that Heavenly Father will help me.  I already know this but it’s nice to have a constant reminder.

Before the party broke up we took a group picture (one family left before we took it) and had a little scare with Wingnut who had wandered away to the other side of the house.  He was obliviously playing in the dirt while everyone ran around searching for him.  As soon as we realized he was missing everyone stopped what they were doing and began looking with us.  Though it was a scary moment, especially for ODD and me, it was nice to see how quickly everyone jumped in to help.  These wonderful friends of mine have always been like that and it was touching to see they hadn’t changed in that aspect.  Always ready to serve.

No Empty Seats!