cleaning the church

[marsupial]

Not to mention, mothers who leave poopy diapers in the Mothers' Lounge, only to ripen during the week until the church is cleaned on Saturday...

There is not trash in our lounge. Only some plastic bags and a sign that says, "please put the diaper in a bag and deposit it in the hall trash which gets taken out each week."

[Art Vandelay]

There is not trash in our lounge. Only some plastic bags and a sign that says, "please put the diaper in a bag and deposit it in the hall trash which gets taken out each week."

We assign the Aaronic Priesthood to take out all the trash of every Sunday.

[Pheidippides]

We're the first ward to use the building on Sunday. There are four units in our building.

We have our first meeting - just five of us - at 6:00 a.m. The first 15 minutes or so (at least) for the past few months have been spent cleaning up the building because the people assigned to do it have flaked or done a poor job.

[dabrockster]

I held this calling in our Ward for two years..

I had to always ensure we had a reliable family with a flaky family. I would always take the Holiday weekends on my myself with their family..

[SuperGabers]

There is not trash in our lounge. Only some plastic bags and a sign that says, "please put the diaper in a bag and deposit it in the hall trash which gets taken out each week."

Perhaps getting rid of that trash can in the lounge would be a first step... But then it would be moving the problem to a different location...

[happyone]

Not to mention, mothers who leave poopy diapers in the Mothers' Lounge, only to ripen during the week until the church is cleaned on Saturday...

This is one of the reasons we have families assigned twice a week to clean the church, Mondays and Saturdays.

Mondays are normally a "light" cleaning. You make sure the trash is taken out, the restrooms checked, chapel gone through, that sort of stuff. The major cleaning takes place on Saturdays.

When "What about FHE" was brought up the stake presidency came out and said the Monday assignment is a good Family Home Evening activity.

We have three wards in the building and normally we get assigned about twice a year.

[Katy Lied]

I home teach the guy that is the building cleanup coordinator. Since we are the only ward in our building, we do it every week of the year.

This guy is active, but not entirely. He and his wife have expressed a disinterest in receiving HT visits (although he is faithful in cleaning the building...go figure). So basically, in lieu of traditional home teaching, for the past year or so, I go almost every Saturday morning for 40 minutes and help clean the building. Without fail, loser members of the ward flake out, so it is usually me, the coordinator, and one or so people that keep their commitment and show up.

I get to hang out with him once a week and we talk. I always ask if I will see him the next day in Church. He always laughs and says, "probably." Sometimes he shows up on Sunday, sometimes no. But he is always there on Saturday.

I live a few blocks away and I am up early anyway, so I don't mind. And it has really helped me get to know this guy (and his wife...she sometimes comes to help out, as well).

I think I have a little tear in my eye. Really.

It discourages me when I know the Bishop spends hours signing checks, only to see him and his two 5-year old kids cleaning the chapel because none of the check recipients showed up.

My parents got church assistance when they were newlyweds. My father worked it off by cleaning the chapel every Saturday morning for a year. 52 weeks.

[creekster]

It discourages me when I know the Bishop spends hours signing checks, only to see him and his two 5-year old kids cleaning the chapel because none of the check recipients showed up.

Hours? Man that guys needs to learn to forget about penmanship.

[TripletDaddy]

I think I have a little tear in my eye. Really.

KatyLied, I believe you. Don't worry, it may be a corneal scratch, not a tear.

We should ask ArtVandelay for some advice on this.

[Katy Lied]

Hours?

Lol.
Okay, 10 minutes to get the phone call, then 10 minutes to drive to the wardhouse to get the check, and 10 minutes to sign, then 15 minutes to call around for a countersign on a Thursday night at 10:45pm because someone absolutely has to have it by midnight but forgot to let the Bishop know about it until Thursday night at 10pm, then 15 minutes to drive the check to the countersign's house and get his signature, then 15 more minutes to drive the check to the recipient.

[KillerDog]

A family in my ward just approached a member of the bishopric and asked if the could do the entire building clean up for a few months. They need assistance because the father's hours at work got cut back. Rather than ask for the food order then be asked to clean the church they offered to clean the church so they could get food orders. I hear they recently received a decent size envelope of cash in their mailbox. There is something to be said for Mormons whether you like the religion or not.

[Moliere]

Lol.
Okay, 10 minutes to get the phone call, then 10 minutes to drive to the wardhouse to get the check, and 10 minutes to sign, then 15 minutes to call around for a countersign on a Thursday night at 10:45pm because someone absolutely has to have it by midnight but forgot to let the Bishop know about it until Thursday night at 10pm, then 15 minutes to drive the check to the countersign's house and get his signature, then 15 more minutes to drive the check to the recipient.

Your bishop needs to call a financial clerk. I've done this routine many, many times and while it is annoying, I'm happy to do it just so the bishop doesn't have to since he has plenty more on his plate.

[LA Ute]

Lol.
Okay, 10 minutes to get the phone call, then 10 minutes to drive to the wardhouse to get the check, and 10 minutes to sign, then 15 minutes to call around for a countersign on a Thursday night at 10:45pm because someone absolutely has to have it by midnight but forgot to let the Bishop know about it until Thursday night at 10pm, then 15 minutes to drive the check to the countersign's house and get his signature, then 15 more minutes to drive the check to the recipient.

My bishop would try handle that this way:

1. Call the intended recipient of the check (the person owed the money), say he's the bishop and the church is covering the expense, and he'll get a check cut and mailed tomorrow. The person would accept this arrangement 90% of the time.

2. Call his financial clerk (or a counselor) and ask him to get a check ready and signed by tomorrow evening. The bishop will drop by at [insert time] to sign if he's needed.

The whole deal still involves a lot of running around because somebody waited until the last minute, but it is another way to skin that cat.

I remember one time when a single mom in our ward (with small children) waited until the last hours of her tenancy to tell us she was being evicted. There was no appeasing the landlord, so we had to organize a big group of people to move her out, using a large panel truck one of the members owned. We put her belongings on the stage and put her up in a motel for a couple of night until she got things sorted out. It was a mess, but we kind of treated it like a big party. And all of it could have been completely avoided if that sister had come to someone sooner. People are amazing.

[scandell]

I have to agree with you Tick's Wife. I hate cleaning the church...and I think the church has plenty of money to spend on hiring the unemployed to clean it for me. Here in southern California...we are constantly being asked to contribute greater fast offerings....I would really like to donate my fast offerings to someone who would clean the church up nice. I win. They win. Since when does the church believe in hand outs anyway? I thought the Bishop's were supposed to encourage service to those that recieve fast offerings.

[Tick's wife]

that's why I don't do it anymore. I'll still get blessings even if I don't clean the church.