One time, I, who never asks anything from my VT, asked them to please come do my dishes. it sounds petty unless you know the whole story. Our dishwasher was broken and there was a pile on the counter. My husband and I had spent all day and 1/2 the night getting our son admitted to try to prevent suicide. It was just too much to see them there on top of the stress, and i knew i’d be spending much of the next days at the hospital. The husband of one of my VTs actually called the bishop about this request cause hey, i had a son and a husband who could help me. Then the bishop called us and reamed us out for not being self-reliant. i was in tears. i called back both vt’s and said they could not come under any circumstance and told the RS president to never give me VTs again. My friend found out and insisted on coming over that night (late) and did my dishes. And the rs pres became my vt after about 6 months.

I’m in Pullman, which is now being buried under the next layer of snow strata as I write this….

When I mentioned to our neighbor, who was a nurse, what had happened, she had her adult son come over with her lawn mower, and he mowed our lawn. It meant a lot to me that they would do that.

There were a lot of desperate, sad people in that neighborhood. And there were a lot of kind, generous ones, too.

I’ve lived in this ward for almost one whole year. I have no idea who my visiting teachers are, or if any have ever been assigned to me. I know I should just go ask for some, but it’s awkward for me to ask for help (I’m very independent, strong, one of the “faithful” ones). I think I might do it now, although when I needed VT the most was 6 months ago while I struggled agonizingly with PPD. And the RS knew about my struggles. Yet I never received a phone call or a visit. And asking for VT in the deep throws of PPD? Yeah, not easily done. Of course, now that I’m “better”, I feel confident in asking (it’s a vicious cycle).