I'm not an elder, but from my experience/ observations, you can muddle through for years. Show up at the meeting for service and then make "shepherding calls." It helps if you have a like-minded elder friend, like my father did when I was younger. I always got to go with him on these calls and basically spent the morning goofing off in the car with my friend.
Most elders are too busy, worn out, exhausted to worry about what you are doing. Unless you have some real zealot, you can get by doing what you're doing for a long time. The only issue may be giving your assigned parts, as most elders/ servants hate picking up the slack for that.