Growth and Shrinkage

           The last ward we attended in Utah was called Granger 14^th.  Boundaries were exceptionally weird, but we did have enough activity that there were two adult Sunday Schools. I don’t recall anyone having multiple callings.  It was a good ward.

          We had only been here for a couple of years when we returned to Utah for my late daughter-in-law’s funeral.  We had been invited to stay for a linger longer at the Granger 14^th.  A lot of people had moved out of the ward in that two years time.  A LOT.  I asked someone if a lot of members were on vacation.  Looking around she claimed that most of the ward was in attendance.  The ward had shrunk.

          When Jaime and I had gone back for a visit last year we were told that the Granger 14^th had dissolved. That's too bad.  Understandable, but still sad.

          The other day I received a phone call from my sister updating me on the boundary changes that had taken place within their stake (first area where Richard and I had moved to).  She, for one, was grateful for the change as there has always been an overwhelming amount of members who were not active and so did not have callings.

          Our current ward has had a lot of inactivity as well.  I have never lived in a ward where I couldn’t walk from one end to the other.  I don’t know how many miles the ward boundary covers.  I know there are some who if they visited others would take over an hour just to arrive at one another’s houses. 

          We have had six or seven convert baptisms just this year.  Most are still active.  There is one who is slipping and two that have received the discussions but have not committed to baptism – rather have listened to those who are against having them baptized.

          There is growth – such as having only six wards in our stake after we moved in.  We now currently have seven. There is also shrinkage. 

Changing Boundaries

            When there are not enough active members attending church, wards may combine as others are done away with.  When there is growth in the church, new wards and stakes are created. I have lived in such areas that affected ward boundaries.

            I am too young to remember when my mom and neighbors were a part of the third ward.  I had always known us as the forth.  Just after or right before I had graduated high school, it was announced that our ward boundaries would be changing as our stake would include members on the west side of state street.  One and a half streets were made a part of the seventh ward.  I remember there wasn't much support in the "sustaining vote" - nevertheless, it was carried out.  

            It wasn't too many years later when I was out on my mission, mom wrote to tell me that another stake would be created and we would have our one and a half streets of members back in our ward.  I remember, sometime after returning home from my mission,  a brother giving a talk in sacrament meeting about a short-lived calling that he had accepted in the 7th ward.  He had been called as a counselor in the bishopric and served for one week before it was dissolved.  I remember him saying he had never been part of a ward that had been dissolved,  let alone had accepted and served such a short calling.  

            Even though the 7th ward had been "dissolved" - it was due to the growth of a new stake. It seemed to be an opposite problem when I lived in Kearns.

            We had a bishop who had compared our ward boundaries to a giant apartment building in which move-ins and moving out happened so constantly that it was sometimes difficult to keep track - especially as the church would continue mailing back church records as it was always the "last known address"  We would even get records of members with addresses that were not even a part of the ward boundaries.  

            The stake lost two wards during the time that we lived there.  I remember one member complaining that she had lived in eight different wards during her marriage and lived at the same address through all eight changes.  Thus when the stake announced that the boundaries would change again, I was prepared to live in another ward.  The change put my next-door neighbor in a different ward than I; she was not happy about the change after having lived in the same ward for over 30 years.

            Before we moved to Douglas County, Canyonville and Myrtle Creek had been two separate wards.  I don't know when the boundaries changed, but the wards were combined and the church building in Canyonville was sold. It takes 45 min to an hour for some of our ward members to get to the building in Myrtle Creek.

            When we moved to Douglas County there were six wards: Winston, South Umpqua, Sutherlin, Roseburg, Melrose and Newton Creek.  The last three all Roseburg wards but none go by those names anymore, but rather names of the dividing streets: Garden Valley, Harvard, North Umpqua, and Parkway.  Growth:  our stake now has seven wards.  South Umpqua, North Umpqua, and Sutherlin are the largest wards geographically. Each ward is geographically larger than the other four wards put together. May we continue to grow.

I'm Out Of A Job, But Hey, I've Got a Cool Shirt

After we arrived her over two years ago, we learned that Myrtle Creek has a celebration very close to the time when Salt Lake City celebrates Days of '47.  The ward in Myrtle Creek offers a service project the week prior to the community.

The first year we had gone to Riddle Cemetery and used power washers to clean the stones.  There were several who brought weed whackers to  spruce up the grounds.

Last year we went to the high school.  We brought weed whackers and power washers and paint brushes.  This year our service project was at the VWF.  We cleaned up the outside as well as the inside (at least some members did;  I was bothered by all the cleaning chemicals and chose to stay outside) This year we continued to build upon the equipment of weed whackers, power washers and paint brushes - carpentry was also added to the agenda.  So here are some pictures of what we did:

  

We returned home long enough to unload the car of the equipment we took and to run in and get a shopping list of needed supplies.  K-Marts have been closing throughout the country.  I remember my sister saying that about a K-Mart that was not far from where we had lived in West Valley.  We had also seen a K-Mart close before we left Kearns.  It is now time for the Roseburg K-Mart to fold.

Several workers have been hired to move merchandise and to serve the public for the next month and a half.  We took advantage of the clearance items to fill our cart.  I think it's sad seeing companies forced to fold - mostly because of the increased number of the unemployed - not that I believe retail is the greatest job - but it's something. 

We had left the house at 7:30 that morning and did not return home until 7:30 that night.  I was exhausted.  It has taken a couple of days for me to recuperate. Meanwhile I have only one class on my agenda right now.  For some odd reason I seem to prioritize my time better when I have two.  But I like having just one class in order to spend more time with Jenna.

Young Women's has been cancelled for tonight and she is quite bummed about it.

Feeding the Mormons

posted 12/10/2016

          Our ward did something different for the Christmas celebration this year.  Instead of the traditional dinner that is normally done, we had a Christmas breakfast.  And the Relief Society wasn’t in charge of fixing any of it.  It was catered!

          Last year, we had it in the Skyhawk room in Myrtle Creek – which seems to be a popular spot for annual events – and not just the cafeteria between the elementary and middle schools.  But this we had our breakfast at the Bible Christian Center in Riddle.  The inside of the facility definitely seems a lot bigger than the outside.  I was impressed.

         

          We had the option of scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage patties, muffins, fruit, and in addition to the drink choices of milk, cran-raspberry juice, orange juice or hot cider.  I used a thick raspberry syrup for my pancakes and it was delicious.

          After an hour, the adults sang 7 different Christmas hymns while the primary went into another room to prepare for the program that was to follow.  Ten, including Jenna (who is not really in primary anymore) returned, dressed as angels.  Hayden was the only boy dressed as an angel.  The other two were dressed to represent Nephi and Samuel, the Lamanite.  The other two girls in primary wore their Church clothes and acted as the narrators.

          Jenna and I both sat at chairs that had stickers beneath.  Our sticker entitled us to take home a star to hang on our tree.

Angel robe and halo

star ornament