Catch and Release

Our Relief Society presidency was released on Sunday and a new one was called. For the uninitiated, the Relief Society is the women's organization within the LDS church. Its mission involves bringing women and families to Christ, delivering casseroles during time of crisis, teaching you to pack shotguns in your food storage, and trying to convince you to stop beating yourselves up and comparing yourselves to everyone else around you--just before they start the Good News Minute where you get to listen to everyone brag about their marriage and procreation accomplishments, or those of their children. But anyway. A president is called every few years, and on Sunday we got a new one.

Without knowing it, during one of the classes I was actually sitting next to the woman who was soon to be announced as the new Relief Society president. And not only did she tell me that my blue scarf looked wonderful on me and that blue was really my color, but she was also wearing black fishnets with her shoes. So yeah, will be fully supporting and sustaining.

Then during sacrament meeting there was much talking by the departing and the incoming presidency about the blessings of serving in the Relief Society. Or, as it is known in parts of Utah and perhaps elsewhere, the "Releesociety."

I commented on the pronunciation, because I am a jerk like that, and GH told me that he grew up (in L****) thinking the name of the organization was, in fact, the "Release Society." It wasn't until high school that he saw the name in writing and realize what it actually was. He wanted to know how this came about.

Me: "It's linguistic laziness. After the long "e" the mouth is primed to make the "s" and so the labiodental fricative that is "f," which would require a completely different mouth movement, just gets skipped over. It's what happens when you try to talk too fast."

GH: "Huh. I thought it would have been cool if you were the Rescue Aid Society. Then you could all stand and sing like mice."

Clearly he has never been around for "As Sisters in Zion."

Posted in: being a Mormon