Then, during the delicious meal, the comment was made as to why the numbers were so small. My response was to simply acknowledge that they were missing out on some really good waffles.
What I wanted to say, though, I chose not to say for fear of sounding snarky, and I certainly didn't want to offend people I love so much.
These, however, were a few thoughts.
First, okay, there are 70 single sisters in the Ward, a portion are widowed like myself. How many of them have to work on Saturdays and couldn't come?
Reason #2: With the Bishop there, some of the sisters would refuse to come as they would not be permitted to gossip about others in the Ward. Sad, yes, but true.
Reason #3: This is probably the big reason. There was no real compelling reason to be there.
What I mean by this was, what would the people showing up benefit from coming?
Take out the visiting, the message from the Bishop, the good food, there was no other reason to draw people in.
There were no classes on:
1. Surviving the grieving process and ways people can cope, taught by counsellors from LDS Family Services.
2. A primer on financial basics geared for single sisters, taught by our resident CPA.
3. Basics of job hunting and getting that resume ready, taught by someone from the LDS Employment Services.
4. Gardening and Food Storage basics.
5. Basics of using power tools for home maintenance.
I'm sure the list could go on, but this will give you an idea of what I mean. There used to be (I don't know if there still are) Singles Conferences every six months, and none of these topics were ever covered, yet for many women, particularly ones who just recently suffered a loss of spouse or divorce, this is exactly what they need. It's a way for people to grasp what they do have control over, in situations where they feel they have none.
I could be wrong, and there could have been other reasons, I don't know, but this was what was going through my mind.
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