By Natalie Kilgore
I love to hear Sister Sheri L. Dew, the 2nd counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, speak.
I enjoy her non-Utahan intonation and pronunciation of words, as well as the messages she shares.
All in all, I think she''s a great lady and I get excited every time I have the opportunity to hear her speak.
Well, imagine my surprise on a Sunday two weeks ago when my bishop came up to me before the beginning of Relief Society and told me that Sheri L. Dew herself was upstairs and that she had just taught another ward''s Relief Society lesson.
He encouraged me, my roommate, Hilary and our friend, Megan, to run upstairs and see if we could convince her to come to our Relief Society.
Now, I''m not a person who gets intimidated easily or is scared to speak to people, but the idea of simply marching up to Sister Dew and asking her to come and teach our Relief Society lesson was absolutely frightening.
I imagine it would be something akin to the feeling one would have asking President Bateman to teach their Sunday School class.
I knew Sister Dew probably had more important things to do than come and teach the BYU 191st ward''s Relief Society lesson, but I figured I''d follow the adage, 'nothing ventured, nothing gained.'
We headed up the stairs of the Clyde Building and almost immediately we noticed a herd of people milling around one person.
We knew we had found the place.
There she was, the woman I had seen in speak in countless Conferences, Relief Society broadcasts, Devotionals and firesides.
There she was, shaking hands, giving hugs and offering positive words left and right.
I was somewhat flustered, not knowing how to work my way through the throng of people.
It was then that I noticed she was starting for the door. We all knew we had to act fast if we were to actually talk to her.
So, Hilary, Megan and I hurried out the back door and around to the door where she would be coming out.
And as we made our way to the doorway, Sister Dew came walking out. We all knew it was now or never.
And this folks, is when I truly faltered.
There I was standing before an amazing lady and I was completely speechless.
All I could do was grin.
And I''m sure Sister Dew was impressed with that.
That''s where Hilary came in. In the blink of an eye she was extending to her an invitation to come and teach our Relief Society.
Sister Dew replied that she would love to, but she was on her way to attend a sacrament meeting.
For a brief second I''m sure disappointment registered on all of our faces.
Sister Dew must have noticed because she then offered to come and teach some other time and even proceeded to give us her secretary''s phone number.
She then suggested the very next week as a time that would work for her, since she was leaving for Brazil after that.
Of course. Brazil. Why not? It''s not like she can hang out in Salt Lake all the time.
We gladly agreed to it. I''m sure we would have agreed to anything at that point. 'You want us come clean your house? Sure, we''d love to!'
We went back to Relief Society and I must admit, I was psyched. I mean, how many people can claim Sister Sheri L. Dew has taught their Relief Society lesson? That can''t happen every Sunday.
I''m sure now I''ll get about 20 emails from women telling me about when Sister Dew came to THEIR Relief Society.
Anyway, I was excited. And since I was conducting Relief Society that day, I had the extreme pleasure of announcing that we would be having a special guest teacher next week and that it would be none other than Sister Sheri L. Dew herself.
Well, Sister Dew, Sunday has come and gone. It was great and she really is amazing. It was definitely a journal worthy moment.
BYU is such a cool place. I''m from outside of Atlanta and I guarantee no matter how diligent my home ward''s Relief Society President is, the chances of her getting Sister Dew to come and speak there are slim to none.
Where else in the world could a situation as cool as what I''ve described have happened?
As I embark on my last year here at the Y, I am grateful for all the special and memorable experiences I''ve been privy to.
I have lots of cool experiences that I can''t wait to share with people.
One being that Sister Dew really did teach my Relief Society.