Ward Conference in Wandsworth (Day 32)

Today in another epic tale of traveling to Church, we actually made it without any major delays, caught an earlier train that normal out of Victoria Station and made it to Wandsworth way earlier than normal. Happiest of days.

Today was Ward Conference, so there was a combined Relief Society/Priesthood/Sunday School meeting during the first half of church. The Bishop asked me to play the piano for that meeting, so I wasn't in Primary today, which was sad because my time with those kids (especially my little Sunbeam) is so limited.

It was quite a different experience from any conference I have ever been in before. The Stake President spoke most of the time, and about half of his "talk" or lesson I suppose, was talking about real legit statistics, the kind that you don't normally hear about. Things like how many more sealed couples there are in the ward compared to the number with a current Temple recommend and specific numbers about how many come on average to Sacrament meeting and classes and whatnot. It was kind of almost chastising and saying that other units are doing better and low numbers should not be an excuse. It really just even more solidified in my mind that the Stake Presidency has lots of concerns about the Wandsworth Common ward. And I have this opportunity still, for two more weeks at least, to have an impact and help and do something for the people of the ward. So I should take this chance to do something.

After the first block we had Sacrament meeting (as per usual). To be honest, I kind of secretly love playing the organ (although I guess if I wanted to keep that secret I probably shouldn't be posting about it on my blog). Today the Stake President actually called me out over the pulpit and said how great it is to have an organist top lay during the meeting...so that was pretty cool.

Once Sacrament was over, the ward had a Mix and Mingle kind of event which they invited us to stay for... so of course we did. First of all: the food. It was a full delicious meal pretty much. Also, Rachel and I talked to an older lad in the ward who told us about how great it is to have us there, and also how much time we still have to live our lives and experience more of the world. It was really sweet and a nice moment for us to have.