34 Miles - Round Trip

Last November I started attending a Singles Branch. I felt like I needed to mix things up a little bit and attending a singles ward seemed like a great adventure. I know I needed to be there. I love my home ward but I wanted to s-t-r-e-t-c-h so I put my trust in the feelings that I needed to be there and moved my records to the singles ward.

I wish I could adequately explain how large my "branch" is. Typically there are 750-900 people at church every Sunday. They used to meet in Fort Union but due to the large amount of people attending they needed enough parking, so we meet up at the U of U. Yes, you heard me right at the U. Branch boundaries are from 6200 So to the Utah county line, from the mountains on the East to the mountains West. There are six relief societies, three elders quorums... be jealous.

Sacrament meeting looks like Stake Conference. The chapel and and gym stage are completely packed. There are people sitting in chairs on the stage and people sitting on the stage with their legs dangling -it's crazy! You have to be on time to get a seat. To top it off, the ward used to meet at 9:00 am. 800 people at church first thing in the morning... it was amazing. It's really easy to get lost in such a large ward because there are just so many people. You meet a new friend and it could be weeks/months before you see them again.

I have really struggled with my desire to drive 34 miles (round trip) to be at a singles ward where I don't know many people. Driving past at least 50 different wards on my way to church makes you wonder why I am driving to the other side of the valley to go to church. Yesterday was no exception. I got into the car and said a simple, pleading prayer while I was driving up to the U. The essence of the prayer was "help me get to church and know why I need to be in this ward."

Guess what the main sacrament meeting talk was about? Trusting the Lord. The guy who spoke shared  a really personal experience where he lost faith, trust and being angry with Heavenly Father. He said he had to make a conscience decision to put his trust in Heavenly Father. It was awesome, like he was speaking directly to me.I know I'm up at the U for a reason. I just need to stop grumbling about the 34 mile round trip and trust that Heavenly Father knows what he is doing.