How many hours per week do the various callings require? Also how much additional money did you spend in gas money and incidentals for callings?

Ill take a shot.

I am the leader of the priests and if I did everything I was suppose to then it would be around

3 hours for mutual
3 hours for church
1 hour to prepare a lesson (back when I was TBM I would teach the priest almost weekly.
Probably about 5 dollars a week in gas. times 5 by the 52 weeks in the year. About 250 dollars just in gas. Money isn't the issue for me, its the time you spend doing something thats false!

Thanks jwood!

What is mutual? I have been considering writing an article on the morg and I am gathering information.

This post is asking my memory to go back a half century, but I think this is correct.

I remember Mutual as being a Tuesday night meeting from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and it was for the "youth" of the Church, ages 12 to about 18. There was the YMMIA and the YWMIA.

For boys that was the Boy Scouts and the Explorer Scouts.

For girls the YWMIA had multiple classes according to age. Can't remember the names of those classes.

My adult TBM mother was always active in the YMMIA as a leader/teacher. She took that calling very seriously.

I went to the Boy Scouts for about a year but I didn't get along with my peers so I quit.

I asked my ex-bish how much time he put into his calling as Bishop. He said 24-30 hours a week. And that's on top of his regular job. And he commutes 50 miles each way.

It's a wonder we don't see more of them here on RfM.

...being called to a leadership position is their wildest fantasy come true. It's like verification to them that God knows them and loves them and approves of them. It's secretly what all of them want but dare not say. It makes them feel like they're holier than the rank-and-file membership.

Then they pay for that fantasy, caught on the hook for the next five years as they lose their free time, privacy, and their relationships with their children. They really think they're getting something, but it comes at a rather high price. I've known a lot of bishops, and they are honored by the calling but they're also run ragged and they'll be the first to admit it.

I'm speaking generally, of course. There are a lot of douchebags too, but they usually rise to become stake presidents and mission presidents.

Makurosu Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Then they pay for that fantasy, caught on the hook
> for the next five years as they lose their free
> time, privacy, and their relationships with their
> children. They really think they're getting
> something, but it comes at a rather high price.

he was always gone doing church stuff, so my friend couldnt take it any more and has filed for divorce. he has since then also resigned as bishop. pretty $hitty what the church can do to families sometimes.

i saw the same thing happening to myself a year ago when i had 2-3 callings in our ward in sandvika:
* home teacher
* morning seminary teacher
* webmaster for the church's norwegian website jesukristikirke.no

i was so stressed and was getting angry at everyone so i just sent an email to the first counselor and quit all my callings.

That is a nightmare calling. Good for you for bailing from that job.

in addition to preparation time.
If I was teaching a class, I would spend a couple of hours in preparation. If I was participating in a class, I'd also read the manual to be prepared. Scripture reading was usually daily for a few minutes to maybe half an hour.

I often served in music and theater productions so that would require several hours of preparation, plus several hours a week of rehearsal time, especially for Roadshows which I helped write and produce and direct. The same was true for those in the casts. I did a lot of performing which required at home preparation often several hours a week.

In years past, in the 60's and 70's in particular, we made items for the Relief Society Bazaar, the youth rehearsed for dance festivals, other events.

A typical week would include: Three hours of Sunday meetings, plus preparation and travel time which could equal two hours. Also usually once a month, we attended a Fireside for a couple of hours in someone's home.

Weekly meetings for presidency meetings for the auxiliariry I was serving in: Relief Society--in the 60's I was a RS Secretary Treasurer -- took notes, read them back in the meetings each week, collected dues, or MIA (Mutual Improvement Association), etc.

Before the consolidated meeting schedule, we had a.m. and afternoon Sunday meetings, Relief Society was held on another day, as well as MIA and Primary which was held after school.

I nearly always rehearsed with the accompanist/organist/pianist when I was conducting music in Sacrament meeting, Sunday School, etc. We'd spend a couple of hours coordinating the introductions, and going over the tempo for the music for several months at a time.

Compassionate service could include preparing meals or driving someone to appointments or for some, serving in the local "soup kitchen."

If a member had several "callings" they could be involved in church work of some sort, or preparation almost every day of the week.

spent living Mormonism. We went to the temple, once a month, as often as possible. That took about eight hours including travel time (four hours or more) and getting a meal. Sometimes it was less as we lived closer to a temple.

If you feed the missionaries once a month (which is on par for many in our ward) that's another hour/month.

If you go on "team-ups" with the missionaries (drive them around and proselyte with them), which i did about once a month, there's another 2 hours/month.

Thanks for the info.

How many positions are required to run a ward and how many hours are required for each position?

How many positions required to run a ward?

3 in bishopric + secretary + clerk
3 in relief society presidency and a secretary
3 in high priest group presidency, maybe a secretary
3 in elders quorum presidency, maybe a secretary
3 in young mens presidency/3 in young women's + secretary for each
In young men and young women there may be 3 additional callings for each group to teach classes on Sunday (for a total of 6 more callings, but in a smaller ward/branch, the presidency may teach the classes)
3 in Primary Presidency and a secretary + sharing time leader + piano player
9 (?) teachers for nursery and primary classes (2 nursery leaders minimum, and I think seven primary classes for kids up to age 12)
4 teachers for Sunday School classes (adults, older teens, younger teens)
1 ward mission leader
1 gospel doctrines teacher (might be fulfilled by ward mission leader)
1 pianist
1 music conductor person
A president for each Aaroinc priesthood quorum (plus their counselors and secretaries) and leader for each young women's class (with counselors and secretaries) = 24 total possible in ward with lots of youth
3 in Sunday School presidency (nearly forgot this one)

I think that covers the necessities for a ward. I'm sure I've forgotten some. Also, each adult member is a home teacher or visiting teacher. And every member a missionary! Some wards will have activities committees (though I've heard that's being discontinued), singles reps, young singles rep, elders quorum teacher, relief society teacher, high council member, etc, etc, etc.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/2010 12:55AM by seymour.

Thanks seymour! I am going to show this to my sister who is a Presbyterian minister and ask her what staff would be involved with a comparably sized Presbyterian church and how many would be paid staff.

The morg sure rings blood out of stones. What they do SHOULD be criminal.

Can anyone provide the number of hours per week that these jobs require?

This will vary on the calling, the size of the ward, how much the member is willing to "magnify" their calling.

Some ideas:

Elders Quorum President

3 hours/week on Sunday for sacrament and classes
1 hour/week for PEC meeting
1-2 hours/week for EQ presidency meeting
1 hour/month private meeting with bishop
1 hour/month for ward welfare
1 hour/month for correlation

A member of the EQ is supposed to be present for weekly missionary meeting with ward mission leader = 1 hour/week

Also, member of the EQ presidency should be present for monthly meeting of singles, young men or scouts, and young singles. So another 1 to 3 hours/month

Time home teaching his own assigned families - estimated 4 to 6 hours a month

Time home teaching other families/fellow shipping/finding "lost sheep" - estimated 4 to 6 hours a month

EQ president is supposed to delegate duties to counselors and secretary, which may include making monthly (in my ward, weekly) calls to gather home teaching stats, calls to make assignments like cleaning the temple or cleaning the church building, calls to organize service projects - altogether, the EQ president might spend 2 to 3 hours a month calling and co-coordinating such activities.

Participating in service (moving members, cleaning members' homes, re-roofing members' homes, cleaning church building) may average to an additional 3 to 6 hours a month.

What is PEC?

No wonder most Mormons don't think --they don't have the time. Which is exactly how the powers that be want it. I just see it as a terrible abuse of trust to use people up like a replaceable commodity. Considering that everyone has children this just gives families the short end of the stick. No wonder there are so many stories of the bishops children with behavioral problems.

PEC = Priesthood Executive Committee meeting

Most members view this time spent as charitable and humble service to the Lord, so the TBM rarely recognizes this as abuse, but rather sees a calling as a privilege and validation of their spiritual-ness (if that's a word!)

As you can see, lots of meetings. What is so incomprehensible, though, is how utterly useless and unproductive these meetings are. And even the TBMs are mildly aware of this. We go over home teaching stats, activity rates, new member progress, gossip about who is inactive and why (without ever formulating a real plan to reactivate - of course, this shouldn't need to be planned, but should be a natural outreach of love on behalf of our "brothers and sisters"), and then the same thing is discussed in the next meeting.

The result of "magnifying" my callings (this is a phrase taken from the Doctrine and Covenants to encourage spending all energy possible on your calling): I'm tired, depressed, overweight. I barely had time to schedule my college classes, and now realize I should have had an internship or co-op during my education like my fellow students. So, having no experience in my field, I am unemployed. I have not developed any hobbies or talents (though I do like to read!) For all my volunteer service, I have little to show for it in my community. I've never helped build a home for the homeless, never visited the sick outside the church membership (and then only to give empty priesthood blessings), never fed the hungry. Are Mormons Christians? I don't feel like one.

A counselor in the Young Mens Presidency (the President will put in more time, since he has more meetings and responsibility):

Obligatory 3 hours/week on Sundays for sacrament and meetings
1.5 to 2 hours/week attending YM regularly scheduled activity
1 hour/month for YM presidency meeting
1 hour/month for Aaronic Priesthood Pres. meeting and BYC (Bishop Youth Council?)
30 minutes to 1 hour/month in council with particular quorum you're assigned to
1.5 hour/month for fireside and refreshments
.5 hours/week estimate for driving young men to activities
2 hours/month driving young men to collect fast offerings

Estimate for leading 2 combined activities each year = 6 to 12 hours/year of planning and preparation (which is highly unappreciated, haha)

Estimate chaperoning 3 to 4 dances each year, at 4 hours each + travel time of 30 minutes = let's say 16 hours each year (even less appreciated!)

Spend at least 1 night at a youth conference = 24 hours a year

Whatever scouting activities you get coerced into (camping, serive, etc): rough personal estimate for 1 year = 36 to 48 hours/year

I think a member of the YM presidency is supposed to be present for the monthly scout's council meeting, so a possible 1 hour/month

Time spent calling members of quorum to remind them of activities and responsibilities = 30 minutes/month

If you don't have a teacher for the quorum, add 4 hours/month preparing lessons.

1 hour/month preparing Duty to God activities

And remember, this person is also a home teacher, so maybe 4 hours/month for that.

And whatever service activities EQ president can coax out of this person.

I think it takes about 100 people to run a Ward. Maybe a little less. Generally, the active members with TR's (about 20% of a Ward) do 100% of the work. They want everyone to be a Home Teacher or Visiting Teacher, then there is the volunteer choir. Many members have three to five or more callings. A Bishop's main job is basically a manager.
Then there are Stake callings that duplicate most of the Ward auxiliary callings.
The general thinking is that if the member has a calling, they will be more apt to attend/participate.

Thanks for the answer SQ. Let me ask you and Seymour this-- how many jobs could be eliminated -ones that have no benefits to the members? Also with 100 people running the Ward how many people are there total?

Seymour your list makes me exhausted just reading it. Since you post here you obviously are not a true believer. Can you extract yourself from the abuse of your time? Are you stuck in a role due to kids and wife? I never realized how precious is the ability to self determine ones time.

Ministers in christian churches would love to have the resources and money that the morg have to create programs to benefit the members and the community. In the town where I grew up the Presbyterian church is the biggest church and they have a coffee house for the youth and took over the YMCAs swimming pool so they offer lots of activities. The morg preaches at their youth non stop and never allows them to just BE. The morg is such a waste of people's time and money.

When you believe that all your time is being devoted to the Lord's true church 1) you don't feel abused, and 2) you tell yourself you will have the eternities to spend with your loved ones, enjoying the fruits of your labor.

Growing up in the church, I thought managing a balanced life would not be too difficult. Then came the mission. Of course, that is all-time-consuming, but you think that is just an exception. Then come callings as soon as you get home, like in the singles groups; then truly time consuming callings, like ward missionaries (which I think have been discontinued). And then callings into the various presidencies.

It was about 5 or 6 years after my mission that I realized I was pleased with so much of my life (wife, school, music, etc) but I wasn't doing a lot of things I had an interest in (like a lot less sports, no hobbies, going to a lot fewer concerts); but worse, something awful was gnawing at me: I wasn't happy doing all this church stuff. I had two "un-conversions," one spiritual and one rational. This realization that my time was being consumed by the church with no benefit was just a part of my spiritual breakdown.

But to (vaguely) answer your question, I no longer believe. It's been about 2 years since I've been mentally and emotionally detached. Due to concerns my family couldn't handle me leaving the church right now keeps me in. Put briefly, the family has experienced some tough blows in the last few years, and for me to leave the church would mean I will not be with my family in the afterlife (as they believe). Emotionally, some family members could not handle this perceived loss right now. Also, I believe I could effectively persuade some family to leave the church, but without a new foundation, they would be floating without direction. We're all pretty fragile right now, but I think a lot of the family looks up to me for support. I'll play the role for now, but I'm about done. It takes quite a mental toll to be so enmeshed in something you don't believe.

Sorry for the long post. Anyway, I am still attending, and currently serve in a calling. However, I am intentionally under-performing at the moment. I do just enough to "get by." Hope this answers your questions, but will be glad to post more if you want.

quoth the raven "nevermo" Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks for the answer SQ. Let me ask you and
> Seymour this-- how many jobs could be eliminated
> -ones that have no benefits to the members? Also
> with 100 people running the Ward how many people
> are there total?


There are usually three or four hundred members in a Ward, but a good percent are inactive and do not attend or hold any callings.So that is where the statement that 10% to 20% of the members do 100% of the work!:-)
That is the same % that have temple recommends also.

The idea is to give everyone a calling that will accept one.
The idea is not to turn down callings, but members do it all the time.
We often said callings were more Desperation then Inspiration! :-)


At one time, I worked for the church and had seven callings and assignments. It was ridiculous! I did something they don't like and said I couldn't do: I began giving my last date of service to each auxiliary head right before I went on a two week vacation! :-) You can't do that, I was told. Watch me, I said with a big smile then recounted the number of callings and assignments and said it was humanly impossible, even though the bishop kept telling me I would be blessed.
Hog wash!

This is tough, depending on the size of the ward.

I think most wards have 300 - 500 members with about 1/3 to 1/2 being active. Wards are created according to the number of members attending sacrament meeting on Sunday and the number of active, tithe-paying Melchizedic priestshood members (these are your males who have held "higher" callings, like in the bishopric, high priests group, high councilor). I don't know what the attendace requirements are, but I'm going to guess about 120 per sacrament meeting are needed and maybe 10 to 15 of those being Melchizedek priesthood members.

Our ward has about 350 members, with probably about 150 active. About 100 of them likely have full time callings (this means other than home teaching or visiting teaching assignments), which constitutes most the active adults and some of the youth.

As SusieQ pointed out, there are additional callings, such as stake callings, to those I listed previously. Also, since the church attempts to give callings to all members, there are some callings you'll see in some wards but not in others (assistant scout master, ward materials leader, librarian, etc.)

How many are "needed"? I don't know. Let's say a bishopric of 3 and a clerk to keep records. About 6 good youth leaders to work together with all the youth. Combine classes in primary and cut out sharing time, you could manage maybe 2 - 3 teachers and a primary president. They could also work together on a few sparse, but well-planned activities throughout the year for the children. Sunday School is useless since no one prepares for class or listens much. Elders Quorum and High Priests have no need to be separated, so maybe a mens' group leader and have members take turns teaching; same with women. Cut out the Gospel Doctrine class for new members. Have missionaries report to the bishopric instead of a ward mission leader. Have piano players rotate throughout the year, along with the chorister. Disassociate scouting with church, and you spare a lot of the favortism to young mens activities over the young womens, avoid conflicts with scheduling YM vs scouting activities, and cut out a scout master or scouting council. (This would allow anyone so inclined to be a scout master to get involved with members and non-member boys alike, and become a little more immersed in the community. And this would avoid the limitations imposed on fund-raisers by the church. Likewise, encourage young women to join girl scouts as strongly as boys are encouraged to join boy scouts.)

Maybe 15 to 20 callings, if that many, could run a ward. There could be a once a week night of hanging out time that is completely non-compulsory and not divided into genders or age groups, allowing families to hang out with other families. This is good for the families, and avoids the attitude that may develop that youth leaders called by inspiration are at least as responsible for the raising of children as the parents are. And not every activity needs to be "spiritually" focused. Things like sports or games, potlucks or roadshows. These could be planned by volunteer committees who just feel like getting together and doing stuff.

Really though, we're not talking about a ward anymore once all these callings are trimmed out. This would be more like a church that exists to serve the members instead of the other way around.

P.S. - add to the EQ President's duties meeting with families seeking financial aid. This may be 3 to 4 hours/month.

depends on when you took the sample... I guess at it's height I was spending around 10 hours per week directly on 'church'

4 hours sunday

2 - 3 hours per week HT

2 hours per week (average over a month) ward meetings

2 hours missionary splits.

I lived 12 miles form the ward house, so 24 miles each way + meetings + HT + missionary splits

I guess I averaged about 90 - 100 miles per week for church

Your second to last paragraph says it all--without all the busy work it would be a church that serves its members. It is a crime how the morg abuses its members. With all that money and workers they could actually do a lot of good.

I understand your dilemma with an unstable family situation. So many people (more so women it seems) take the eternal family thing so seriously and truly grieve for lost family. My reaction to the eternal family thing is why would anyone think that God would be so petty as to separate families? To an outsider it is incomprehensible.

Thanks for taking the time to explain the structure and callings. As a non morg the number of volunteers required to run a so called religious organization is just staggering compared to main stream Protestant churches.

You can certainly influence your family members in a non threatening way if you are still part of the flock as opposed to leaving church and being labeled an apostate. Is your wife on the same page or at least questioning the morg? Do you have children who are old enough to be believers?

You seem to have a stepped exit strategy in progress. It must be burdensome to still give your time to something in which you no longer believe. Do you still have religious beliefs and do you plan on seeking out another church when you leave?

My wife is a convert (going on 10 years in the church), so she is not completely indoctrinated. She also tends to trust her rational thinking over emotions, so I am pretty confident that when I sit down to discuss my faith issues, she will take a week or two to process it and then be ready to move on. Additionally, none of her family has joined, so there's a good support group for her; we both have homosexual friends, so that is a significant doctrinal issue we're embarrassed by; she misses some of the perks of being a heathen (tea and coffee); she hates her calling as a primary teacher; we are both weirded out by the temple; and she got me hooked to South Park! She should be able to grasp what life would look like outside the church, and see that it's not all bad.

My dilemma is, as mentioned, that I have family that I'm not ready to come clean to. Assuming my wife will be as eager to leave the church as I anticipate she will, I won't be able to keep this from the rest of my family much longer.

The kids aren't old enough to get any of this yet, thankfully. So, hopefully the worst of our transitions will be made before they get much older.

My wife will probably want to casually attend a more liberal leaning church from time to time. She likes the thought of our kids dressed in their Sunday best and learning how be good and all that.

I don't have much desire to attend a church, and don't see any reason to believe in a god's existence. (Except it's a convenient answer to how we got here). I've given 30+ years to God with the best of intentions. I would hope if He were out there, He would have guided me to a better path by now, rather than letting me serve a false church for so long and wasting the precious time He's given me.

I hope I don't sound bitter. I'm not really. Just disappointed in many ways. I still have loving friends and family, and a lot of years left to live and give and figure things out.

Regarding the potential of the church to do good, you're probably aware of the amount of money the church brings in. And, as noted above, the ability they have to mobilize so many members to a cause. What if, instead of callings, the ward recommended four or five local charitable organizations for members to join, and then promised to give X amount of money in support. Or, what if the church spent time training members to recognize signs of depression and suicide; training in first aid; training in foreign languages or tech skills; or developing farm land that members could work on in rotating shifts and then donate the harvest to needy people in the community.

There are some members that understand the missed potential in the church. We had a great Institute teacher (college level gospel teacher) who once invited a good friend of his to speak to us. His friend was the minister of another church, and he listed 4 awesome volunteer efforts he and his congregation participated in. I thought it all sounded pretty exciting. But let's face it, after going to work or school full-time and then fulfilling your church callings, you really just want to go home and spend some time with the family . . or just spend some time being alone!

Too bad more members don't demand more in the way of meaningful service.

P.S. - I'm sure you've addressed this elsewhere, but where does your interest in the LDS church stem from?

In fact, those in music (usually music conducting) kept me in the church because I was a musician and took music very seriously. I also liked teaching and writing. I was a private music teacher for about 25 years also. I loved the drama/theater productions also, even though it was like pulling hens teeth to get the youth to rehearse! They didn't mind winning contests though! :-)

My participation in the LDS Church was part of why I enjoyed most of my time as a member. There were times I wanted to throw in the towel, wore out, was overworked, and backed out. I did that more than once before I finally quit all together because we were no longer allowed to "magnify your calling" use any creativity, unless it fit what the bishop or someone else decided you were to do. We were stuck with manuals and hymnals with no other resources permitted.

Over the last few years in the LDS Church in the 80's to 90's in particular, the micromanaging and additional controls, and interference became outrageous. It was no longer the church I loved and enjoyed. Bishops interfered in your callings, and your private lives like I had never experienced before.

I was thrilled to eventually find out the whole thing was just another God Myth based on supernatural claims with not an ounce of verifiable evidence. Boy, was I done then! :-)

At least you both had music to give you some pleasure in morg duties.

Seymour- I have a cousin who married a BIC girl in the late 70s early 80s. He was a convert. They are now divorced with two teenaged girls who live with their mother. I imagine they are being raised as missionary treats for hormonal RMs.

I had a post college apartment mate who was raised Catholic and who got involved with the morg. She was trying to back away from the morg and was love bombed. We used to tell the morgbots that she was not home when they called or visited. They got her and she married a BIC in the temple. Of course her mother had to wait with the unworthy. The reception was in the meeting hall. She did the temple in the morning and went through when she would have slit her throat. At the reception they had a DJ as they both loved to dance. I remember she had a frantic quality about her When she was dancing. Now I understand why after the freaky temple experience. I last saw her about 20 years ago at a non morg wedding. The only diet soda at the reception was diet coke and she got a glass. Her husband must have said something because I heard her say in an aggravated tone of voice --one coke isn't going to kill me. They had two boys and think That was the extent of the kids.

In about 1996 I read A Gathering of Saints about the mark hoffmann killings. That was my first exposure to morg info and I could not believe all the weird stuff like dead Dunking And the Magic underwear. ++ Please excuse the weird caps in my writing I am using a smart phone and it defaults to odd things. ++ I found RFM in 2002 and started reading the stories. I somehow missed the boards but did a lot of reading in the personal stories. I have always been fascinated by the bizarre and the morg is nothing if not bizarre. I also am interested in totalitarianism having read a lot about the KGB and
Nazi Germany. The mind control aspect of the morg interests me and as a feminist I am appalled by the diminishment of women. The morgs fear of sexuality and their antiquated view of sex is just ridiculous in the 21st century. Since my sister is a Presbyterian minister I have her as resource when I want to compare morg theology to mainstream Protestant. I think the morg is horribly manipulative and detrimental to emotional maturity. The train wreck of Joe causing polygamy makes Joe one of the worst offenders in leading to the current slavery of young women and the emotional destruction and abandonment of young men by the crazies who practice polygamy. Joe should have been shot long before he was.

I am sure I will be dead dunked by my cousins children when I die. My aunt told my cousin she would haunt him if she was dead dunked. She is still alive and her son has left the morg but her granddaughters will surely dead dunk her and my branch of the family. That is my why the morg interests me story!

Thanks for your reply.

My wife went through the temple the morning we got married. (My biggest regret of my membership is the thought of her parents waiting with the heathen room while their only daughter was getting married). She went through after the spooky bits were removed from the ceremony, but still the first thing she said on our way to the reception was, "That was strange." I laughed kind of nervously and agreed it is kind of strange. We both mentioned how much we hated her "new name" and how it didn't fit her at all. Since then, the only discussion we've had about the temple is how frustrating it is to keep up with getting the different parts of the temple costume tied and untied throughout the ceremony. (Lots of taking robes, sashes, and shoes on and off!)

I also have an interest in institutions of power. Probably the biggest influence on thinking my way out of Mormonism was reading "1984" just after high school. While I went into it thinking it was primarily a study of socialism or communism gone amok, I quickly started seeing the LDS church throughout. This was very disturbing at the time, but I didn't wish to explore its implications since I was about to leave on my mission. Since that time, however, I've never been able to separate the methods of the church from what I had read. This Orwellian filter, combined with my study of psychology in college, didn't leave much room in my mind for a testimony of the church.

Sites like this recovery board must be an endless source of entertainment for you! I can't imagine being on the outside of something like this looking in. I think of my many nice, normal friends I've had outside the church, and wonder how often they've parted ways with me only to shake their heads in pity or amazement at my funny little LDS ways.

Sorry to hear the outcomes of both your cousin and your roommate. I hope you're able to have some influence for normalcy on your nieces.

I'd say a monthly total...

4x5=20 hours (standard church services)
Temple trips 12 hours (3 hours there and back, and 3 hours for doing all the dead dunking and crap).

fire sides once every few weeks or so 2 hours (so roughly 4 hours?).