[danimal]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

The Relief Society asked my wife to head up a new "culinary interest group."

Yesterday she prepared a number of dishes and ingredients in preparation for their first meeting that night.

One person showed up.

It was somewhat poorly promoted, yes, but still, that's kind of disappointing. And this seems to be par for the course in this ward. Not much camaraderie, nor socialization. When we moved to the 'burbs, we expected a ward with a lot of kids, a lot of teenagers in the youth programs. Instead we got a ward where my daughter is the ONLY sunbeam, and the primary and YM and YW programs are much smaller (2 priests, 1 deacon). The ward is composed of two primary groups--a very large group of empty nesters and retirees, and a smaller group of apartment-dwelling younger families and couples that are moving in and out. Not much in the way of young families in their first or second home.

So in other words, by moving to this ward in the burbs, we have moved into a ward that is in many ways more strapped for human resources and less vibrant and less close.

Of course, when you live in a place as big as this, what is the burbs is very different from place to place. The concentration of young families is further north, in the further away suburbs where the homes are newer and cheaper. We are wholly at the mercy of our demographics.

My fantasy of moving into a ward where there are so many adult male priesthood holders, that I could "disappear", well that is gone. Big time.

Would be a great role for her if people actually showed up. I'd show up for her cooking.

My ward growing up was frequently raided by BYU to fill positions and stll had dozens of able leaders. Couldn't find jobs for all the qualified people. I expected your 'burb ward to be more like a utah one.