Time of Transition

I went to my new ward yesterday.

I had a little trouble finding the meeting house.  I need to go back and look around, but I don't recall seeing a sign facing the street saying what kind of church it was.  Having not seen the building, I passed where my GPS said it should have been and had to turn around.  What stood out to me was that I noticed that a large satellite dish, which I then saw was attached to a church.  The parking lot was large and mostly empty.

Inside, the ward was definitely smaller than my last ward.  One thing I found odd: they never opened the curtain to the overflow.  They didn't need to, but I still found it surprising.  Apparently, my ward building is also the Stake Center, but my ward is the only one that meets there regularly, which I find odd.  Perhaps its the most centrally located building but there's not enough membership in the area to warrant another ward.

A good portion of Sacrament Meeting was taken up with reorganizing most of the ward leadership.  We got a brand new Elder's Quorum Presidency, a new Relief Society Presidency, a new Primary Presidency, new Ward Mission Leadership, and a few other auxiliary leaders.  I don't know anyone, but this seems like a good time for a new member like myself to move in, what with everything in flux.  I do wonder how long I'll have to wait before I get my first calling.

Not a lot of people introduced themselves to me.  I made a point to meet the Bishop and I got to chat with one of his counselors for a bit.  I didn't get his name, but when I mentioned that I was a technical writer, he commended me for doing a job that is so important (not the usual response I get) and he mentioned that he spent some time in Solana Beach and spoke highly of Oceanside when I said that was where I grew up.  The member of the Stake Presidency who was visiting also introduced himself, as did one of the counselors of the new Elder's Quorum Presidency, but that was it.  There were a few other people that welcomed me to the ward, but none of them told me their names or shook my hand.  Maybe they need to warm up to me a bit?  I don't know, but it does seem a bit strange.

Or perhaps with so much of the ward leadership in flux, one new guy was easy to get lost in the shuffle.  I'm hoping that next week things will be a bit friendlier.