Let me just start out by stating that today was a great day! I've had the biggest smile on my face all day long and have made many friends this way.
I got to chat with President Cecil O Samuelson, current BYU president, after he spoke for my stake conference. He was here! In my stake center! After the meeting he had lunch in the room where I have YSA every Sunday!
He gave me some good advice and was very pleasant and approachable.
Cecil is my homeboy.
(Does anybody know where to find one of those t-shirts; I feel as though I've earned it after having met him for real!)
Because stake conference was at 9am and over by 11am, I actually got to have a lazy Sunday. It was absolutely fantastic.
I napped.
There were tons of people at YSA tonight and I made a friends with almost everyone. (This whole "smiling" thing is really working for me.) The best part was that I didn't have to lead the whole thing. People took charge and really started to own it. I'm way excited for next week when I teach everyone how to make Cafe Rio style pork salads.
Love on a plate!
I'm so excited! This is awesome!
The only drawback today was that people kept asking me why I wasn't attending the local single's ward. Permit me to use my personal blog time to illustrate a few of the reasons I choose to attend a home ward instead.
1.) I love the different age groups in home wards. Babies through elderly and everything in between.
2.) There is more diversity in church callings (volunteer jobs) in a home ward. I was once called to be the
Relief Society Enrichment Refreshment Specialist in a single's ward. While it was one of my very favorite callings ever, because I got to cook for a huge amount of people once a month, it still strikes me as quite rediculous and makes me giggle.
3.) I love the people in my home ward. I love that they are my neighbors. I love that I get to socialize with them and look forward to inviting them all to my someday-hypothetical wedding.
4.) I feel very comfortable in my home ward. Many of the people attending are those who I have known for half of my life. I've grown up with them. I've missed them when I went away to school. Coming back to those people is a big part of coming Home.
5.) Single's wards remind me of the stake dances I was forced to attend as a kid: hot, sweaty rooms crammed with nervous people expected to pair up. Blech.
6.) I think my brother put it perfectly when he pointed out that single's wards attract young people set on out-churching others in attempts to prove piety and thereby win a mate. I'd rather just be real.
7.) Because I have a strong personality and go-get-'em attitude, I'm almost always asked to do things that are difficult or that I would rather not do. I'm horrible and lazy, so I choose to stick with a situation that was pretty much hand-picked for me in my home ward and see it through until it takes off on it's own.
8.) I've been forced to listen to one too many rants about dating/not dating and choosing the right marriage partner. That's not a concern in a home ward where the majority of those in attendance are married or far too young to consider marriage. I just want a break from that for now. Let me figure out when the right time will be and don't try to force me.
9.) I hate being reminded that I've moved back home and haven't done enough with my life. Oddly enough, I feel that way at the single's ward but not in my home ward. Going to my home ward is like being wrapped up in a big, fuzzy, warm blanket and nuzzling in close. I happen to love it a lot.
10.) I will attend a single's ward again, someday. But that day is not today or tomorrow, or even next week.
I am very, very stubborn. I will not do something unless I can see why it would be beneficial. Then, even if I hate it, I will throw myself in full force -- even if I am doomed to fail.
It is what it is.
All things considered: I have never been more happy, more at peace with my life, or more content than with what I am currently doing. Life is good.
I intend to store up this sunny soul-weather for the inevitable storms of the future.
I got to chat with President Cecil O Samuelson, current BYU president, after he spoke for my stake conference. He was here! In my stake center! After the meeting he had lunch in the room where I have YSA every Sunday!
He gave me some good advice and was very pleasant and approachable.
Cecil is my homeboy.
(Does anybody know where to find one of those t-shirts; I feel as though I've earned it after having met him for real!)
(Oh, wait. I found it here.)
Because stake conference was at 9am and over by 11am, I actually got to have a lazy Sunday. It was absolutely fantastic.
I napped.
There were tons of people at YSA tonight and I made a friends with almost everyone. (This whole "smiling" thing is really working for me.) The best part was that I didn't have to lead the whole thing. People took charge and really started to own it. I'm way excited for next week when I teach everyone how to make Cafe Rio style pork salads.
Love on a plate!
I'm so excited! This is awesome!
The only drawback today was that people kept asking me why I wasn't attending the local single's ward. Permit me to use my personal blog time to illustrate a few of the reasons I choose to attend a home ward instead.
1.) I love the different age groups in home wards. Babies through elderly and everything in between.
2.) There is more diversity in church callings (volunteer jobs) in a home ward. I was once called to be the
Relief Society Enrichment Refreshment Specialist in a single's ward. While it was one of my very favorite callings ever, because I got to cook for a huge amount of people once a month, it still strikes me as quite rediculous and makes me giggle.
3.) I love the people in my home ward. I love that they are my neighbors. I love that I get to socialize with them and look forward to inviting them all to my someday-hypothetical wedding.
4.) I feel very comfortable in my home ward. Many of the people attending are those who I have known for half of my life. I've grown up with them. I've missed them when I went away to school. Coming back to those people is a big part of coming Home.
5.) Single's wards remind me of the stake dances I was forced to attend as a kid: hot, sweaty rooms crammed with nervous people expected to pair up. Blech.
6.) I think my brother put it perfectly when he pointed out that single's wards attract young people set on out-churching others in attempts to prove piety and thereby win a mate. I'd rather just be real.
7.) Because I have a strong personality and go-get-'em attitude, I'm almost always asked to do things that are difficult or that I would rather not do. I'm horrible and lazy, so I choose to stick with a situation that was pretty much hand-picked for me in my home ward and see it through until it takes off on it's own.
8.) I've been forced to listen to one too many rants about dating/not dating and choosing the right marriage partner. That's not a concern in a home ward where the majority of those in attendance are married or far too young to consider marriage. I just want a break from that for now. Let me figure out when the right time will be and don't try to force me.
9.) I hate being reminded that I've moved back home and haven't done enough with my life. Oddly enough, I feel that way at the single's ward but not in my home ward. Going to my home ward is like being wrapped up in a big, fuzzy, warm blanket and nuzzling in close. I happen to love it a lot.
10.) I will attend a single's ward again, someday. But that day is not today or tomorrow, or even next week.
I am very, very stubborn. I will not do something unless I can see why it would be beneficial. Then, even if I hate it, I will throw myself in full force -- even if I am doomed to fail.
It is what it is.
All things considered: I have never been more happy, more at peace with my life, or more content than with what I am currently doing. Life is good.
I intend to store up this sunny soul-weather for the inevitable storms of the future.
=) As long as your stake president and bishop are okay with it, more power to you! After all, Ryan and I chose a family ward over a married student ward.
ReplyDelete....not that it had anything to do with the family ward being about a block away...