This past week has been a little depressing with saying goodbye to our ward this past Sunday and then again at the ward Christmas party Thursday night. We've been in our ward for five years and in a married student ward for seven so it's a little bittersweet to switch to a family ward. We've had a lot of good friends come and go over the years and it's been hard to always be the ones watching everyone else leave and move on with their lives and never us. Not that we wanted to be done with a student ward, but it would be nice to be in a career and done with school like everyone else.
I've had a lot of good experiences in our ward that has changed me for the better. It's actually funny because Nick was the one that wanted to join a student ward and I didn't and in the end he was the one that wanted to leave and I wanted to stay. But we had to leave because we've simply outgrown the ward. Shasta starts Sunbeams in January and although our ward would be willing to accommodate her by pulling her out of nursery for a ten minute sunbeam lesson, she would still go back to nursery afterwards and I didn't want that. She's ready for Primary. I felt like she was ready a year ago. I want her to have that structure and I know she'll love every minute of it. I really debated staying for one more semester since I graduate in May. That way we wouldn't have to start new callings and possibly switch wards again during the Summer if Nick finds a job that takes us out of Logan. But in the end we decided it was most important for Shasta to be in primary.
One thing I'll always be grateful for is how much I've grown from being in a student ward. A year ago I realized we only had a year left before we would need to start going to the family ward and it was then that I decided I wanted to get over my fear of public speaking. I don't want my girls to grow up thinking public speaking is something to be afraid of and I know part of that will come from how I treat it myself so it was time to change that. I started accepting any call to speak in sacrament meeting (something I always dreaded before and looked for any excuse to get out of it) and I volunteered to be a sub in Relief Society. I made a goal to stand and share my testimony at least six times during the year and although I lost track, I know I met that goal and then some! Plus I helped Shasta bare her testimony two or three times so that counts as me getting up there too! I was called to lead the music in sacrament meeting which was something I dreaded in the beginning because I'm not very musically inclined, but I gained a lot of confidence doing it. I lead the music almost every Sunday in Relief Society too because nobody served in that calling. My calling as the bulletin board specialist made it so I had to make some announcements in Sunday School which probably doesn't sound like a big deal, but I dreaded any moment that meant I had to stand up in front of people so it was a big deal to me. And being the visiting teaching coordinator put me in positions where I conducted a meeting once a month with the relief society presidency and the other supervisors and I had to give spiritual thoughts in relief society regularly. All of these things helped me gain more confidence in my ability to get up in front of people and give any kind of presentation. And to my surprise, it has now become something I enjoy doing!
I'm sure I wouldn't have held three church callings simultaneously in a family ward, so I owe most of my new found confidence to being in the student ward and having the opportunity to serve in so many positions. I also discovered that I have a somewhat creepy talent at remembering people; names and random facts about them. I say creepy because Nick always thinks it's weird when we're trying to remember someone and I can bust out some random fact about them like their birthday or something personal about their family. Keep in mind that we've been in our ward for the last five years and it's a completely different congregation now than it was when we first started coming, including the bishop and high councilman. There is literally only one other couple that was there from the beginning. Everyone else has come and gone and new people have taken their places. To bring it a little more to life, this past month the relief society president and I were arranging visiting teaching assignments and we had four new move-ins to add in and seven families moving out that needed to be removed. Granted, the school semester is over so it's a high turnover month, but it's not uncommon to have a new family move in and a family move out every single month. My point is it's hard to know everyone in the ward, but I can honestly say I knew who every family was and something about them. I probably wouldn't have recognized that I have that talent if it wasn't for being in a student ward.
Although it's hard to say goodbye to this phase of our lives, we attended our new ward yesterday and I have to say, we are where we're supposed to be. I'm so excited for Shasta to start Sunbeams! I'm excited to have a primary in our ward and young men/young women. I'm excited for all the new opportunities it opens up to serve in church callings. Sitting in Relief Society, it was nice to look around and see women of all ages and especially not feel like I was among the oldest! And what I think I loved the most was the hum of angelic little primary voices singing faintly in the background during our Relief Society lesson. I'm sure it won't be long before I take those things for granted, but after seven years of not having it, it's the little things that make a family ward so great!
I'm sad to be done with the married student ward knowing that we'll never be in one again, but I'm excited to be in a family ward again. And more than that, I'm thankful to be in a good place in my life where I feel confident in myself and ready to serve in whatever calling comes my way. There was a time when i would feel so nervous to be called into the Bishop's office knowing he was going to give me a calling because there were certain callings I prayed I would never have (ie. Relief society teacher, Sunday school teacher, any kind of teacher, any kind of calling that put me up in front of people), but now I would feel good serving in any calling... as long as it isn't teaching Gospel Doctrine! Haha! Of course I may change my tune once we actually receive callings in the ward. I guess that will be a post for another day.
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