Can you decorate for Halloween when it's not Fall?

     It is so interesting to see the people of Arizona get excited for Fall.  It started when the temperature dropped below 100 degrees the first of October.  People are in the mood for a change of season.  I personally just got used to enjoying my summer, but everyone here has been hot for 3 months.    I think it is beautiful here with a desert landscape and I am enjoying no yard work.  However, people around me are putting out their fall decorations regardless of the fact that there are no autumn leaves and the sky is bright blue.

This was the start of my haunted house collection.  A great friend door-bell-ditched it for me one Halloween!

     I decided to jump on in and at least put up my Halloween decorations.  I really like them and it has been fun having a grandchild around that is excited about each new thing.  Because she is two we don't talk about scary, creepy or spooky.  We have nice witches, happy ghosts and friendly spiders.  (she still keeps her distance ha, ha)

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Teaching Relief Society

     I just got called to be a RS teacher and it is interesting to me what people say when they hear about it.  Obviously I like the "oh, you'll be so good"  remarks  but often, people say "Oh I could never do that", or "that would scare me to death".   When I first got to teach adult women after being forever in Young Women,  I admit, I was a bit intimidated.  I soon realized that I was assuming that the women would judge me like I judge a teacher, when you get 40 minutes to watch and listen to them.
     For example,  I would definitely look at what they had on and form an opinion of how well she was all put together. Admittedly, I enjoy looking at someone who is well dressed and appropriate for the occasion.  The second the teacher starts teaching I can feel their spirit and preparation and I make a subconscious decision on how interested I am in what she is teaching. I like a teacher to be personable, to interact with the class, add their own experiences and have a testimony of the subject.  So given that,  no wonder people feel scared of  the task of being in front of women and teaching.   But that is only how my brain works,  we could also add a host of things that other people value from a teacher.
     With that said, I want to share why I am excited about this calling and why I love to teach.   Of course one of the biggest perks is that the teacher always learns the most and I love the preparation.  I like having my mind on a subject.  Second,  It's fun to interact with the class and actually see in their faces that they are relating to you or getting the point that you are making.  Third, once I figured out that I am really just one of the class and that they all have the same weaknesses (some even worse than me...did I say that out loud) as I do  I started being myself when I taught.  I would acknowledge what was hard for me or that I had a run in my nylons or my true feelings about something and the class would relax and want to hear what I had to say. Myself was good enough.

leaving for church prepared to teach (notice the candy)

     Now I love to teach and I really try to live up to my expectations of what I like in a teacher but the best thing that I have learned is the secret of a good class.  The secret is to have the spirit with you guiding what you say so the class is actually taught by the spirit, not you.  We talk about it but to actually do it is so awesome and brings me so much joy.  I admit that I don't always succeed with this but I always try.  So because of all these things and most importantly my personal experience of feeling the outpouring of the spirit I love to teach!