During our seven years in Billings, we were part of two wards. The Metra Ward was truly like no other. What it lacked in numbers it made up for in spirit, in friendship, and in love. We were welcomed in with wide open arms and began to serve almost immediately. I was in the relief society presidency within three weeks of our arrival, and Gerald started teaching gospel doctrine a few months after that. You hear the term "ward family," often in our church. This. This Metra Ward was the definition of a ward family.
That said, we struggled for sure with membership and activity; many people had two or even three callings just to keep the ward functioning. I wonder if that struggle is what made us all so close? What do you think, former Metra Ward members? We never missed a ward activity; even if we were tired, we'd think to ourselves, "What if no one else comes? That would suck for the people who planned this. We need to go!" Eventually, a major stake reorganization obliterated our little Metra Ward. We were all sad. Some were scattered to and fro to different wards in the stake, and then a few of us joined some others to create a new ward, the Skyview Ward. This change was hard for me, because I had to leave my super fun calling as Relief Society President and become the Primary Chorister. Yikes, that one stretched my abilities to the max, but in the end, I mostly enjoyed it.
In 2011, as we prepared to move to Utah, I remember telling Seth how big our new ward would surely be. "You will have so many kids in your primary class!" I assured him. I couldn't have been more wrong. We moved to Sandy/Midvale and into the Union Park 6th Ward. Yes, it was stronger in terms of membership than the Metra Ward in Billings, but not by that much. Seth's primary class included three little girls and just one other boy.
Again, we felt so welcome and needed. Gerald began teaching gospel doctrine, and I taught gospel essentials, until I was called into Young Women's, my most favorite organization. I was so happy to be there, but then (just like in Montana), massive stake reorganization cancelled out the 6th Ward. This time the change was even harder, because almost everyone from the former 6th ward moved to the 4th ward; just a small handful of families, including ours, were placed in the 3rd ward. I remember Emily texting me before we even left the stake center that day: "I think you and I are still together!" Of course she and Trent proceeded to move out of the stake almost immediately. Blah! Soon, though, Gerald and I were called to teach gospel doctrine, and that was way fun for a little over a year until COVID hit and everything shut down. But one very cool thing happened in the short time we were in the 3rd ward; a few fun girls invited Emily and me to join their book group, and that was awesome. I shall remain in that group with those lovely ladies; Sandy isn't that far away.
In November, we moved here, and suddenly, I understood what everyone was talking about. I now know what it's like to be in a "big fat Utah ward." Haha! It's so different. You can easily get lost among the people. It feels like stake conference every week! I'm not sure exactly how many members are in our ward, but I've heard the number 900 float around! That isn't surprising because every week, they read in 20 - 30 new names, it seems like. And everywhere around us and far into the wilderness, new homes are sprouting up from the dirt. We've been in the ward seven months, and I still feel like a visitor. We haven't gotten to speak yet (guys, you know how sad this makes me, when I'm used to speaking 4 or 5 times a year), and we don't have callings.
This is no one's fault. Our kind bishop is doing everything humanly possible to make people feel welcome, but let's face it; the guy has to be overwhelmed! Same with our sweet relief society president. When I was RS president, I could barely keep up with all the sisters in our tiny Metra Ward; this lady has at least five times as many. And then there's the primary president, herding like 5,000 kids (only slight hyperbole) into the right classes and finding teachers to teach them. Oh my! I did do one fun thing here about a month ago. The first Sunday we got to return to in-person, 2nd-hour classes, the gospel doctrine teacher posted on Facebook that he needed a sub. Say what??? I waited one hour, giving time for people already established in the ward to volunteer, but no one did. "I can sub!" I posted. And they let me! Woo, it was so, so much fun. It was a giant class, and the people were wonderful. I hadn't realized how much I missed teaching gospel doctrine.
While it's kinda cool to experience a "big fat Utah ward," firsthand, after a while it's not so fun anymore. This time, when they reorganize the stake and split up our ward, I won't be sad. I've heard rumors that's gonna happen here pretty soon, and I hope those rumors are true. Excited to see how that all shakes out and what opportunities lie head.
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