A Bright Side of Utah...

Back in this post here, I shared a little about my experience serving with the Young Women in Virginia.  It truly was a life-changing time for me and each of those young women still holds a special place in my heart.  

 I'll be honest, though that calling was time-consuming and stretched me waaaaaay outside of all my comfort zones, it was actually pretty rough when I finally got released.  For five years, I'd lived and breathed all things young women related and I missed it deeply when my time ended.  I tried to throw myself at other hobbies and callings, but, dang it all, making the programs for sacrament meeting just isn't quite as rewarding as having a posse of 30 young women to hang out with! 

Eventually I realized that though my role had changed, I could still love and support the young women in different ways.  I wrote them letters on their missions, attended their weddings, brought them birthday treats, and gave them hugs in the hallways.  Once again, I think those interactions have been as much for me as for any girl.   

Then we moved and it all got a little harder.   We were far away from anyone we knew, searching for new connections, and trying to figure out how to find engagement and meaning in our new place.   

Much to my happiness though, I ended up with YW callings in both my wards in Pennsylvania. I very much enjoyed being back in my element and trying to find creative ways to connect with the girls during a time we couldn't meet in person.    COVID meant that everything was done virtually or at arm's length, so it definitely wasn't quite the experience as it could have been, but I grew to love the girls in PA too and feel like I made a small difference at least.  

Then we moved again. 

We never wanted to live in Utah.  Ending up here was definitely part of a providential plan because a lot of pieces had to fall into place to get us here...and pieces we weren't trying to push.   We have felt confirmed to us many times over, that we are exactly where we are supposed to be right now, but, man, Utah is weird. 

After living on the East Coast for the last few decades, it was a bit of an odd experience moving into a new ward and having no one care.  No one was happy to see us; we were just "another new family." Ho hum.    Not one neighbor knocked on our door to welcome us.  Even the church organization seemed lukewarm on us.  We are just now, very much through our own effort of reaching out over the last 5 months, starting to form connections.  Just in time for them to reorganize our stake this past weekend and put us into another ward.   For anyone keeping track, that'll be our 4th new ward in 2-1/2 years.   

With all its flaws, though...Utah is definitely a gathering place among members of the church, which means that some of my former young women live close!   In a time when I've been struggling to form connections, it's been such a blessing to be able to take little treks down to Provo to say, "Hello" to my former young women.  Here's Anna...

Here is Ana.  It was just her birthday, so a perfect excuse to make a treat I've been craving and share it with her... 

Elena (on the right) was Emma's best friend for many years and it was fun to bring her a birthday treat a couple weeks ago too!  She's dating Harlan, another friend of Emma's, and is roommates with Ana (mentioned above), so it almost feels like a visit to Virginia when I go!    I'm excited for Emma to come home in a few weeks to join the fun.  

I can't even tell you how much these little visits mean to me....

And as we embark in yet ANOTHER fresh start (about 2 fresh starts more than we expected when we moved away from Virginia a couple years ago)...I'll take all the positivity and connections I can find.   

💗💗💗