The New Ward

Moving into a new ward is always a little bit scary. Will the members be friendly? Will there be opportunities to serve? Will we get a good time block, or will we have to get up and go at 9:00? It's also exciting, though. It's like you get to start all over again with a brand new group of people. You don't know them; they don't know you. No one on either side has any history or preconceived ideas. It's the blank slate, ready to be written on with new and wonderful experiences, relationships, and testimonies.

When we moved to Montana and into the Metra Ward seven years ago, we were greeted like kings and queens. That struggling little ward needed us, and they weren't afraid to say so. I was in the Relief Society Presidency within two weeks, and our kids jumped head first into the youth and primary activities. It was as though we'd lived there all our lives. We fit in that well. Coming here to Utah, I expected something entirely different. My limited experience here was with Shulamith and Matt's former ward, which was so huge, no one even noticed you. It was like stake conference every week! They lived in the ward over a year and never had callings, never gave talks, and never made any friends. That is what I expected.

I was wrong.

We are now members of the Union Park 6th Ward, which includes some people who live in Sandy and some who live in Midvale. It's larger than the former Metra Ward for sure, but it's not nearly as big as Shulamith's old ward. It's really just a nice-sized ward with friendly, welcoming folks. The first person we met thought Shulamith and I were sisters, so of course I immediately fell in love with him (just kidding..well mostly kidding). The primary is small; there's only one other 11-year-old boy. That was a little disappointing for Seth, but he's hoping to make some friends when school starts next week. Gospel Doctrine class, on the other hand, is huge. We meet in the chapel in order to accommodate everyone. The teacher does a fantastic job trying to generate discussion, but it's difficult because people can't really hear each other. I think they need to divide the class in two, and I know a Gospel Doctrine teacher who is REALLY missing her calling and would be delighted to teach half of this group. :-) :-) :-)

So everything was going along just swimmingly in this new ward up until two nights ago when I attended an enrichment meeting (or whatever we're supposed to call it now days). Shulamith didn't go with me because it was her first day back at school. After sitting in meetings for eight hours, attending another one was about the last thing she wanted to do. So I was there alone, when the Relief Society President came over and sat down beside me. I thought she was just trying to be friendly, which she was, but she also had another agenda. She asked me if Shulamith and I would be willing to plan the entire Relief Society Christmas dinner and program this year. She said I'd have a modest budget to work with and that I could ask a couple other sisters to be on a committee to help us. Could she ask me to be a guest speaker at an upcoming Relief Society event? Could she ask me to substitute teach the lesson this Sunday? Could she ask me to do something I'm actually good at? No. She asked me to plan the Christmas party!

Help??????

Keep in mind that I don't throw parties. Well, I've hosted a few pity parties in my life, but other than that, no, this is not my thing. Five years ago when I was called to be Relief Society President, the very first thing I did, before I even moved from my seat in Bishop Hibbert's office, was ask Heavenly Father to send me a counselor who could plan the parties. The clear and perfect answer to that desperate prayer was Celeste. Celeste would be that counselor. And the result of that was the most fabulous enrichment counselor ever, and more importantly, the most fabulous friend. It was she who a year or so later introduced me to Lindsey when she invited her to one of our McDonald's nights. So really, without that inspired calling, I probably wouldn't have either one of my two closest friends today. Oh for heaven's sake, now I'm crying, right in the middle of this crazy digression.

Back to the story. I'm sitting there in this enrichment meeting, shocked by this sweet sister's sincere request, but nodding my head and smiling. "Yes, I can do that." Because that's what we do in our church. We say yes. We serve willingly where we are asked to serve. If everyone served where he or she wanted, I'm pretty sure there would be a ward full of Gospel Doctrine teachers but no one in the nursery, primary, or cub scouts. I then walked home thinking, "Oh, Celeste, I need you here right now to help Shulamith and me plan this event." At the same time, I had calming thoughts, as I began to cross some of the hurdles. We could use Shulamith's wedding decorations because they are black and silver, really perfect for Christmas if we just add some red. And we could ask our visiting teachers, coming the following evening, to be on our committee since we don't really know anyone else, and surely they'll want to know if there is anything they can do for us.

This Sunday will be especially wonderful. I can put an end to the question I've been asked at least once each week that we've been here, "Are you a single mom?" I'll have Gerald there to prove I'm married, even though he'll only be here that one week for now. And I'll have Eli with me, along with Isaiah and Shulamith and Seth, so most of our children. A lovely day for sure.

The new ward. I think it's going to be good.