Exciting changes!

Today the changes at church were revealed. We had a joint meeting with the Parkway, Klein, and Champions Wards. Before today we were in the Parkway Ward. It has been a great ward and it has been a great five years! Today, however, we became members of the newly formed Memorial Springs Ward. A brand new year and a brand new year.

It was a great meeting. There were some 870 (more or less) people in attendance. The room building was packed! Three tables of trays for the Sacrament. The hymns were carefully picked to deliver a message. I think each person in attendance took the message that was intended. Or at least, I hope each individual got the message that was intended for each of them.

The growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in this area is just astounding! To be able to form another new ward of members is always exciting to me. It amazes me to see the changes. I have grown up in the area and to compare the membership numbers then and now is just incredible.

I am looking forward to the changes and meeting the new members of the ward. Many of them were from Parkway Ward as well, but there will be some new faces on Sunday to meet and new friendships to form.

That being said, I will be sad to see the Parkway Ward members less. There are some great friendships in that ward. It just means that we’ll have to try harder to keep those friends alive and well. A few more “girls’ night out” outings, maybe. I did enjoy the occasional jaunt down to BJ’s to get pizzookies, or the mega table at Olive Garden. Remember that the friendships only fade if you let them.

By the way, the Black Friday shopping event is still on this year with my friend, Linn, even if she is in the other ward. Our friendship is much more than a line on the map. Oh and Mindy will still call me for technical support…what would I do if Mindy never called me again to answer her computer questions? So a new ward, but not out of touch.

Ben was set apart as the Ward Clerk today. Our new bishop was actually the bishop for my parents’ ward (Klein Ward). A full ward of callings is still to be announced. I can’t wait to find out what everyone will be doing. As of right now, I am officially calling-less. I am sure that won’t last long. The next couple of weeks should prove to be really interesting.

We attend as the Memorial Springs Ward next Sunday at the new building. Yes, a new year, a new ward, and a new building. This is already a good year. Stomach bug aside, this is a good year. A year of new things.