Unattended

Yesterday at Church the Primary Children did a Nativity Program for our ward. Since I am the Primary Secretary, I work with these children every Sunday and I was helping the Primary Presidency and Music Leader get set up for the Program. We have one ward that meets before ours and they were doing their program as well. There were a lot of children and adults running around right after our Sacrament Meeting. I went into the Primary Room and put my Program Handouts for the Teachers, my scarf, and my digital Camera in the box that Bryan and I had brought to Church with our White lights to decorate the stage. Then I went to each class room to get a head count so that I could tell the ladies setting up chairs on the stage how many we needed. After I was done with that I went back into the Primary Room to grab my stuff and the box of lights. The Primary President already had grabbed a few items out of the box and I noticed that my scarf and the handouts were neatly sitting next to the box of lights. But where was my camera! I looked in the box and all I found was the lights that Bryan and I had brought. No Camera. I went and asked the Primary President, Counselors, and Music Leader if they had seen my camera. None of them had. I then went back into the Primary Room to look again. This time there was a lady sitting on the floor across the room. Next to her was a purse (I thought it was hers). I have seen this lady at church all the time, and she seems to know alot of people. Her daughter is in the nursery (I think) so I thought it strange that she was in Primary and not in Relief Socity with all the ladies the 2nd hour of church. She asked me if the children were ready for the program, and I said Yes, I thought so. I was a bit upset that she was asking me questions while I was starting to panic because I could not find my camera. I left and went to find Bryan and Spencer, thinking maybe I had not taken the camera out of the diaper bag, or that maybe he had saw the camera unattended and took it to scare me. Bryan had just told me that morning to keep an eye on it. Know I thought to my self, "Bryan is going to kill me that I lost it." After peaking my head in the door of the Mens meeting and mouthing to Bryan "Do you have my Camera" 3 times, I got a very confused look and then he pointed to the Diaper Bag. He was across the room, and those guys must have been packed in that room like sardeens (sorry spelling- hope you get the just), I gave up. I went back into the stage area, and then one of the couselors came to me and said that the lady who I was talking to in the Primry room had taken the counselors purse and was looking through it! I had thought that it was her own purse, not someone elses. The couselor then said that she was sure that this lady could have taken my digital camera, and she was going to go find her. I felt weird accusing her of taking my camera when I didn't really know her, and didn't see her take it. The counselor then said that she does things like this all the time, and that the bishop knows about it. WOW!!!! I was shocked. The counselor then was off looking for this lady. She couldn't find her but kept looking and then she came to me in the gym near the stage and handed me the camera, asking me if this was mine. I said yes, and opened the bag, just to make sure, and noticed that my name sticker was ripped off. I guess the counselor found it in the women's bathroom tucked behind the sinks. I guess the lady was planning on going back for it when things cooled down, and the search for it was over. WOW!!!!

I was go greatful that it was found, and I will never leave my stuff at church unattended again!