A New Ward

As I blogged before, last Sunday, Shay and I had to attend only 1 hour of church....well, it ended up being more like an hour and 20 minutes but I am not complaining. It was such a wonderful meeting!

At first, our meeting started out with one of my favorite Hymns, "I Stand All Amazed," and as the meeting progressed I found myself not feeling so wonderful and instead singing my own rendition of this hymn:

I sat all amazed at the things that were being told to me,
Confused at the news that so fully displaces me.
I trembled to know that for me this ward was ending.
That for me, and for Shay, no 9 am, no nursery.
Oh, this is awful, that we should have to go back to 1 PM!
Oh, this is awful, awful to me.

Side note: Shay and I knew, moving into this ward, that it was on the verge of splitting. When we were called to the nursery (the second day at church) we were told it would only be for a few months, until the ward was split. Well those few months changed into 9. I think we both forgot that it was suppose to be split. We were enjoying our time in nursery.

It was later on, during the meeting, when my feelings changed.

You see, when I moved into this ward in June, I wasn't given a visiting teaching assignment right away....and since Shay and I were put into the nursery---together-- with 1-12 kids (depending on the week)....getting to know others became a bit of a challenge. So in September, I finally asked if I could get a visiting teaching assignment.
I was so excited when I got my list of three ladies to visit teach, along with a companion. My companion, Adell, and I have become great friends. We laugh all the time.....the only problem is that none of the ladies we were assigned were active--or would answer the door. We would go during the week, on the weekends, you name it......we even switched up the times to make sure we were covering all of our bases. Nothing. Adell and I often laughed about how we were the "cursed companionship"....because our assignments would change but our ability to actually contact someone didn't....that is....until last month.
Last month, Adell and I were assigned to a lady my mother's age. We meet her and had a blast talking with her. She was very humble, but with enough questioning.....she did tell us of how her husband and her had been called as mission presidents when they were in their mid 30s (to Korea no less). She told us of how they were currently serving in the MTC and were in the process of finishing up their paper work to serve another mission there (they were asked if they would be willing to serves as the Seniors Coordinators at the MTC--huge calling to say the least). Well, Adell and I left in awe of this woman. Who won't.....but it wasn't until Sunday that my jaw really dropped. When the Stake President got up and announced that our ward would be split and that this dear sister's husband would be our new bishop, I quickly turned to Shay and said, "How is that possible? They are leaving on a mission."
Later in the meeting, this fine lady was asked to bear her testimony. She told of how they had received a phone call from the Stake President asking to meet with him. She shared how she really didn't think much about it except that she thought it was to finalize the last of the paper work they needed to be done so that they could officially start their mission. She told how shocked she was when they issued the call to her husband to be the bishop. She then went on to bear her strong witness of how much she knows the Lord is in charge of His work and that He knows who He wants where within His church. She thanked the Lord for being so merciful to her and her husband and how grateful they were that they could serve. I was so overwhelmed by her testimony and faith. I know how excited she was about serving at the MTC.... and now....not one bit of complaint. I was thoughtful at what she had said and realized I believed the same thing. The Lord is so aware of where we are and what He needs us to do, and when.
So, whether it IS to a new building, and back to crappy 1 PM church, I will go with a happy heart. I am so excited to have Bishop Hawkins as our bishop.

Life is always full of changes!