New Beginnings

Sunday night I received a call from the Hibbard 5th Ward YW President. That will be the ward we are in when we move. She was inviting Erika and I to go to New Beginnings tonight. I must say I had a little Jr. High moment wondering 'will they like me? who will I sit by?'. Yeah, I know, grow up already.

Then today I got a phone call from the mom who will be our next door neighbor. She just wanted to introduce herself, ask how I was feeling and when the baby was due and she didn't even know we were invited for tonight. So after talking with her I got to meet her. It will be a little easier to go to a new ward having already met a few people and I'm a little comforted knowing that when I move in I will have a friend next door that maybe I can take my baby to while I help unpack stuff. She also has 6 kids (all girls) and seemed like an immediate friend. Our phone conversation was so comfortable.

So, Erika and I went to the church out in Hibbard and we were immediately lost. There were 4 wards meeting for mutual, more youth than we sometimes see at stake activities here in Rexburg, and there were 6 hallways that we could get lost in. Finally, Erika saw someone she knew and we were led to the gym for the Wizard of Oz. We were immediately welcomed and so many people came to say Hi. The program was awesome. The theme seemed kind of odd at first and I wondered if it would be just a silly program but they tied it together so well with the end of the yellow brick road being the temple and they had this huge temple with a silver Moroni on top. The program, songs, everything led to the temple and was centered around the theme 'steadfast and immovable'. It was awesome!

The bishop gave some remarks afterward and it was . . . interesting. Not a typical Idaho bishop I must say. At times I felt like if I looked away I would be listening to Joel Ostene (some of you know who that is - a preacher on TV) and it was a wonderful message, put across by the spirit but with much gusto. He was emphasizing that when we are miserable it can usually be traced back to selfishness. I will elaborate more on this in my own copy but for the post I will just say that it was cool to hear him talk about focusing on the needs of others and the examples that he gave directly related to the girls and actual situations that they would be in. It was great, and even when we got home Erika applied it directly to me. I hope it continues and it was also a good reminder for me.

Afterward and during refreshments we met even more people. There were several that when we said we were building a home in SageHill they were excited because they live in SageHill also. One that Kara would know is Brother Huff (I worked for him at the Foreign Language Department on campus 17 years ago). I was a little worried (and this is a very judgemental comment) but I was a little worried that the people in our subdivision would be a little snobby. If you see some of the houses they are BIG and brand new and I didn't want to fall into the 'people on the hill' category. I will say, these people were so welcoming, down to earth, and sincere. It felt great. I felt that throughout the program and from everyone we met. Whew! I just really don't want to live in an area that tries to keep up with the Jones's - we are not good at that!

The only 'off' thing is that we are in an older church. I love that because the new churches all seem the same to me and I like the character of the old buildings. Unfortunately, in our area an older church means it probably went thru the flood. As soon as we walked in the building I caught that musty flood smell. However, it wasn't as strong as the building we meet in now so that should be ok too.

Afterward, Erika and I were starving because neither one of us had had dinner because of all the Tuesday stuff that goes on so we went to Hogi Yogi for rice bowls. Now I am stuffed and ready for bed.