Second Chance

My first Sunday in my new ward wasn't as nice an experience as I was hoping for.  How was my second visit?

Well, Sacrament Meeting was ... distracting.  Look, I'm just going to say it: two cute girls that are home from college were the main speakers.  With my divorce (hopefully) imminent, I need to be aware of who's around me.  Nothing happened -- I didn't even introduce myself -- I just noticed, that's all.

Once Sacrament Meeting ended, a brother came up to me and introduced himself.  It was nice to have someone come up and be friendly and we chatted for a few minutes.  As we were talking, one of the Bishop's counselors (not the one I spoke to last week) told me that the Bishop wanted to meet with me when I had time.  Since I didn't have any obligations, I excused myself to see if the Bishop had time right then.  On my way to his office, I bumped into the other counselor, who said that he and his wife wanted to invite me over for dinner.  I said that sounded great and that he should let me know when they'd like to make arrangements (I haven't heard back from him yet, but my records still haven't been transferred, so he probably doesn't have my contact information).

I was able to catch the Bishop as he was headed towards his office and he said that if I waited about ten minutes, he'd be able to meet with me.  I readily agreed and sat down.  Soon after I sat down, another brother sat down next to me and we chatted while we waited for the Bishop to be available.  After about fifteen minutes, I was called in.  The Bishop simply wanted a chance to talk with me a little and get to know me a bit.  I suspect that I'll be getting a calling as soon as my records arrive, though he did make sure to give me his contact information so I can get in touch with him before I have access to the ward directory.

The rest of the day finished out pretty uneventfully, though yet another brother introduced himself before Priesthood started.

I think I was unfair about people not being terribly friendly on my first Sunday.  I was expecting more people to introduce themselves to me, but I was the new guy who stood up and said his name in Sunday School and Elder's Quorum: the introduction was done by me, so they didn't need make an effort.  How many times have I made the effort when I've seen someone I didn't recognize?  Not often enough for me to be disappointed.  Plus, last time nearly all of the ward leadership was reorganized, so it was easy to get lost in the shuffle.

I know that the Lord has directed me to live in this ward and one of the reasons why is to meet the next Mrs. Larsen.  I was excited to be there, so I wonder if any greeting would have felt satisfying.  Whatever caused me to be overly judgmental, I'm glad that I got over it by my second visit.