My ward is officially too big

About three weeks ago, the leaders of my church reorganized the Young Single Adult (YSA -- for people aged 18-30 years old) wards. As I understand it, the changes included the following:

• They removed the singles wards from the rest of the family stakes
• Created stakes comprised entirely of singles wards
• Each ward has about 150 active and inactive members within the boundaries
• Members are required to attend the ward in the boundaries where they are located
• Members older than 30 are required to either attend their local family ward or go to the mid-singles 

I currently attend a mid-singles ward, and for the most part, the YSA change doesn't affect me. For the most part.

Two weeks ago, I was early to church and sat near the front of the chapel. I heard there were several new people, but since only about two-thirds of the ward was familiar to me anyway, I didn't think much of it.

This week, I was fifteen minutes late. Our building has a tiny parking lot (in spite of being a Stake Center), so I was not surprised that it was full. I WAS surprised that the road was lined for two blocks, and it took me ten minutes to walk to the building -- so now I was almost twenty-five minutes late. When I opened the door to the Cultural Hall, I was shocked! The back row reached the middle of the room -- nearly as busy as a Stake Conference. Previously, we had about 300 members in our ward. Now, we have at least 500.

It's insane! If I were new in the ward, I would have been very intimidated by the sheer number of people.   As it was, I was a little intimidated anyway. I don't like rooms full of people I don't know!

After Sacrament Meeting, my one friend that I could find, her friend, and I made a beeline for our favorite Sunday School classroom. I'm glad we did, because it didn't take long for the room to fill up. I was late to Relief Society, and it was standing room only. Just ridiculous.

I really, really, really hope the General Authorities are planning to reorganize the mid-single adult wards next. There are only three in the Salt Lake valley, and as I understand it the others are more crowded then mine. How in the world are the Bishoprics supposed to handle so many people?

At the moment, I am seriously considering going to my family ward. I liked my ward the way it was, but I don't know if I can handle what it is now... it's too overwhelming.

I guess I'll wait awhile and see what happens.

In the meantime, I'll make more of an effort to be early so I can get a decent seat!

My best friends in my ward: Wendy and Sylinda. Thanks for keeping me grounded!