I have lived in several different wards in my 33 years of life. Every ward has its hidden gems and every ward is far from perfect. But, loving your ward is hard to come by. I mean truly loving it.
I tell people all the time that the people in the church are not perfect, but the church is. It’s true. But, sometimes, it’s hard to swallow when the people that you go to church with every week are not who you expect them to be. Sometimes, this can lead to heartbreak, loss of friends, and in the worse case scenario, a loss of your own activity.
I saw on my mission many people who fell away from the church due to something someone said or did to them. So, they stopped going for a time. But, then, what may have originally meant to be a short period of time turned into years, or a lifetime of inactivity.
Currently, I am in a very small ward. We’ve been here two years now, and I’m starting to get that itch to move. This doesn’t necessarily have to do with my ward, but I’ve been thinking a lot about what kind of ward I want to “settle” into for the long haul. If we stay here, then my son will be the only sunbeam next year in his class. My daughter is currently in a class that has 5-8 year olds which is a big learning range. There are not many other LDS kids their ages in our neighborhood, and the ones that are not LDS seem to keep to themselves a bit. This is frustrating for me.
I could list a lot of things that I love and don’t love about my ward. But, I won’t. Instead, I will say that I want to raise my kids in a place where everyone views each other as a family. Where you lean on each other, have close friendships that last, and where you grow spiritually together. The strong ones lifting the weak ones up, and the weak become stronger every day. Ideally I want to be in a ward where people mean what they say and can work through difficulties with each other in a true and honest way. I want to live in a ward where even if you seem to have it all together, there are still friends you can lean on that don’t just assume you’re always OK.
The ward does not have to be huge, but it does need to be strong. But, I’ve also said that your ward is like family in a way no matter where you go. Sometimes you love them, sometimes they drive you crazy. But, the most important thing is to do your best to be Christ-like and serve the best you can in whatever capacity you are called. And, last, remember that no person, or ward, is perfect.