What keeps you from doing service?

[Rain]

5 hours ago, Tacenda said:

Was it you that talked about JustServe.org before on this board? I think I read somewhere on this board about it. From there I found several places to serve. So far just serving once a week at a hospital. I tried the humane society in my town to see if I could walk the animals but they weren't taking any new people at the moment. There is so much out there I'm amazed. I need to do way more, and not make any excuses since I'm sure I have a lot more time than most. Thanks for the thread to help remind me. 

Yes, I am a Just Serve Specialist.  I'm glad you used it to try and find some places to serve.    

One of my thoughts with all of this was trying to figure out how to get people to use it.  Not my main thought, but one of them.

It's been interesting to me as to the different types of projects that go up.  In my area there are a ton of donation drives.  However, we are looking to sell my FIL's house and get rid of some of the things in it so I looked at Just Serve there and found only one donation drive in 75 miles.  

2 hours ago, Duncan said:

one thing people can do is feed the missionaries!!!! they'll eat pretty much anything! even dandelions, shredded carrots and spam salad or money, they take money

I've had Elders who wanted seconds of things.  Usually meat or dessert or bread etc.  I had one elder that asked for seconds of our veggies.  and then thirds!  I loved it. 

Edited October 17, 2017 by Rain

[bsjkki]

I am afraid of more time commitments. I once volunteered in my kids school library once a week for two hours. I hated it...shelving books for two hours drove me crazy! I also had 5 young kids at the time and someone would get sick, or I had an emergency and I hated the volunteer commitment that I felt guilty about when I missed it. This thread seems to only be talking about serving outside of church and home but is that really fair? I spend a lot of time serving at church...and serving my visiting teachers and visiting my home bound friend. Most of my time is still spent helping my family and serving in my calling. Saturday, we spent our morning cleaning the church. A few weeks before that we were involved in planning the ward activity that took a whole Saturday. There is a lot of service built into being Mormon and sometimes, it is hard to expand that outward. I know many who do but honestly, their capacity seems higher than mine. I am much better at the one time service rescues such as dinner for a sick ward member, cooking for a funeral, raking leaves for the injured neighbor. If I have too many outside the home standing commitments, my home seems to fall apart. 

[Jeanne]

19 minutes ago, bsjkki said:

I am afraid of more time commitments. I once volunteered in my kids school library once a week for two hours. I hated it...shelving books for two hours drove me crazy! I also had 5 young kids at the time and someone would get sick, or I had an emergency and I hated the volunteer commitment that I felt guilty about when I missed it. This thread seems to only be talking about serving outside of church and home but is that really fair? I spend a lot of time serving at church...and serving my visiting teachers and visiting my home bound friend. Most of my time is still spent helping my family and serving in my calling. Saturday, we spent our morning cleaning the church. A few weeks before that we were involved in planning the ward activity that took a whole Saturday. There is a lot of service built into being Mormon and sometimes, it is hard to expand that outward. I know many who do but honestly, their capacity seems higher than mine. I am much better at the one time service rescues such as dinner for a sick ward member, cooking for a funeral, raking leaves for the injured neighbor. If I have too many outside the home standing commitments, my home seems to fall apart. 

I hear you.  When my kids were little...I had just enough time to breathe..and move on.  I think you are amazing..in and out of the home!!

[Duncan]

1 hour ago, Rain said:

Yes, I am a Just Serve Specialist.  I'm glad you used it to try and find some places to serve.    

One of my thoughts with all of this was trying to figure out how to get people to use it.  Not my main thought, but one of them.

It's been interesting to me as to the different types of projects that go up.  In my area there are a ton of donation drives.  However, we are looking to sell my FIL's house and get rid of some of the things in it so I looked at Just Serve there and found only one donation drive in 75 miles.  

I've had Elders who wan't seconds of things.  Usually meat or dessert or bread etc.  I had one elder that asked for seconds of our veggies.  and then thirds!  I loved it. 

We just fed the spanish elders and the english speaking sisters, usually they stay an hour but we talked so much they stayed for 2 and it was super fun and I think healthy for them to talk about other thing other than gospel things

[Rain]

1 hour ago, bsjkki said:

I am afraid of more time commitments. I once volunteered in my kids school library once a week for two hours. I hated it...shelving books for two hours drove me crazy! I also had 5 young kids at the time and someone would get sick, or I had an emergency and I hated the volunteer commitment that I felt guilty about when I missed it. This thread seems to only be talking about serving outside of church and home but is that really fair? I spend a lot of time serving at church...and serving my visiting teachers and visiting my home bound friend. Most of my time is still spent helping my family and serving in my calling. Saturday, we spent our morning cleaning the church. A few weeks before that we were involved in planning the ward activity that took a whole Saturday. There is a lot of service built into being Mormon and sometimes, it is hard to expand that outward. I know many who do but honestly, their capacity seems higher than mine. I am much better at the one time service rescues such as dinner for a sick ward member, cooking for a funeral, raking leaves for the injured neighbor. If I have too many outside the home standing commitments, my home seems to fall apart. 

This thread isn't meant to be an accusation or judgement.  It is to help me understand why people don't serve outside of family or church.  The time thing I have figured out.  When Elder Oaks talked about good, better, best we really took that to heart and sometimes the best thing to be doing is focusing only or mostly on family. Right now my husband works long hours, is getting his masters degree and is the YM first counselor and he travels for work a lot. Right now his extra focus needs to be on the family.

I totally get not wanting standing commitments.  I DO have lots of time, but find standing commitments stress me, much to my VT partner's grief. 

I'm also not narrowing it to only service outside of family or church.  I'd just like to know about service done outside of a responsibility at church.  For example if someone is moving in the ward, what is stopping someone from helping to clean or move?  What stops someone from taking someone they don't VT to the doctor's office?  What stops someone from dropping by a widow's house and listening to them talk?  

So my question is what, besides time, stops you from serving wherever that may be?        

Edited October 17, 2017 by Rain

[Jane_Doe]

11 hours ago, Rain said:

What keeps you from doing service? 

Please don't tell me time. We all have the same amount of time, but some make service a priority and some don't. I'm not saying that work and family are not good prorities. I actually think they are very important priorities.

I also think there are times in our lives when we should have priorities for some things and not for others. So I'm not asking what keeps you from doing service right now, I'm asking what keeps you from it in general.

 

I have a young family, a 60 hour week job, a calling, and trying to nurture myself.  Hence a lot of my service time goes to my husband or my daughter.  Some I can manage to do a 2-for-1 and serve while playing with daughter, but that's not always possible.  And at this point in my life it is important that serving my family comes first.  We also serve frequently in my calling (I teach Achievement Days), and like every 4th activity is a service activity.  But again logistic can make serving outside the church building more difficult-- it's actually really difficult to find a place I can show up with 10 girls, work for 45 minutes, and then leave.

Edited October 17, 2017 by Jane_Doe