Our Maryland Ward

I don't have any pictures of church. But I do have one thing to brag about: the DC Temple is now OUR temple!! Not only that, but the temple really isn't in DC. Its in Maryland. Did I just get cooler or what?!


And now, some interesting tidbits about our new ward:

(1) Sacrament meeting is QUIET. If these people aren't busting up, they are dead silent. I swear. I never heard a peep out of the family with 10 kids, but my own two seemed incredibly unruly! Quiet also means that Seara's cheers and claps after hymns and musical numbers are a lot more apparent. And it allows the entire ward to hear Seara thank the deacons who pass her the sacrament. I'm not sure if I should have cracked up or died of embarrassment!

(2) We meet at 1pm - exactly when both Seara and Elijah nap. You can guess how well that went on Sunday. Sadly, this ward is also the only one in the stake that never changes schedules. We will always meet at 1pm. Blast!

(3) There is another Ricks family in the ward. WHAT?! I mean, until I met Sam I didn't even know Ricks was a last name. I always thought Ricks College was the college of some dude name Rick. You know, Rick's College. And now I actually have to share with someone?! They have two kids - one a year older than Seara, the other a year younger than Elijah. So they are young like us, too. Weird.

(4) Okay, you know how wards have personalities? Some wards are really serious and some are really talkative and some are really private, etc, etc. Well, our new ward here has a definite personality: they are hilarious. I mean, these people crack jokes right and left and are constantly busting up (except when they are spiritual - ie. Sacrament Meeting). Even in Relief Society!! Let me give you an example. We found this complex we're living in about six weeks ago and I emailed the local Bishop to ask some questions and get some info. When he wrote me back he answered all my questions, then added this as the end:


"I'll begin praying that you'll find a residence within our ward boundaries. We would be blessed to have your family with us for what ever amount of time it ends up. Your testimony and gospel strength resonate in your e.mail. What a loss to your current ward. One of the tender mercies of the gospel is that where ever we go we will find other faithful saints with open arms and smiles on their faces waiting to greet us. Regardless of where you end up out here, you'll be loved.

"In the meantime if you need us to burn a cow as a sacrifice to the real estate moguls in your behalf so that you'll end up in our ward...just let me know. We have a stable full of cows that we use just for this purpose.

"Looking forward to your arrival. Let me know if you need other information.

"Take care,
"Bishop Cooper
"Columbia 2nd Ward...so that you don't get confused by those who lie in wait to deceive. ;-)"


Well, I wrote back to thank him and tell him he had my go-ahead on the cow sacrifice. And he wrote back:


"Roger the cow sacrifice. Will do. Hopefully the smoke will be blowing in a favorable position.

"Keep me posted.

"Bishop."


Need I say more?!