People often ask how we like our mission. Love it! Even though serving at Church headquarters is quite a bit different than the mission we had envisioned last winter, this is perfect for us. I’ll tell you what I am doing now and another time I will tell you about Dean’s work.
Most couples work together in an office cubicle. Not us! When they wanted Dean for work in the Natural Resources office he was immediately interested. It took about 10 minutes for me to decide I didn’t want to spend 18 months doing filing for those stuffy old engineers. I went over to Public Affairs and found my own job. Now before you think that being “just a receptionist” in the Church Public Affairs office is sort of a blah job, forget that!
Sure, I have a lot of routine calls. “Public Affairs. How may I direct your call? I’m sorry, he’s away from his desk at the moment. Would you like me to take you to his voice mail?”
Even with two of us at the front desk, sometimes that isn’t enough. Just when you least expect it all three lines on both phones light up. I have to think fast. Put some on hold. Help others. Transfer some. Take down a phone number and get back them. Always be gracious and professional. My job, thankfully, is not to answer doctrinal questions or to have opinions.
No two calls are ever alike. Once in a while I get yelled at: “You people . . . !” But not very often. Sometimes someone even calls to say thanks to the Church. Usually they need a question answered. If it is an off-the-wall question, we have a staff member who specializes in those: “I was just wondering how dinosaurs fit into the Creation.” I’m not touching that one!
White knuckle time is when an Apostle calls. If a member of the Quorum of the Twelve needs to speak with someone in our office, that takes priority. If he’s not at his desk, I go find him! Once I accidentally disconnected an Apostle. I really hope he believes in forgiveness.
It’s the beginning of a new week. I wonder what kinds of calls I’ll be taking this week . . . .
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