Sunday, February 14, 2010

A Valentine to My Ward (and One from My Niece)

Hey! It's Valentine's (aka Singles-Awareness) Day.

I just wanted to get that out of the way.

The people in my ward are truly amazing. Many of them are among my closest friends and associates. They never cease to amaze me, to entertain me (just visit one of our fast and testimony meetings, and you will quickly see what I mean), and to inspire me to be a better person.

Last night, I attended our stake's annual Valentine's dance along with a few dozen of my fellow Millstreamers. It's the fourth year in a row that I have been to the dance, and it is always an enjoyable evening.

Every year, the people in my ward by far represent the largest portion of those in attendance. When it comes to doing the "Electric Slide," no ward is better represented (or has better moves!) on the dance floor. Add to that the fact that once the dance ended, I would have to say that easily two-thirds of those who stayed to help clean up were Millstreamers.

In addition to this, one other note: My parents were recently called to be in charge of the stake's volunteer tutoring program at Hannah Holbrook (my alma mater) and Meadowbrook elementary schools, and they have been enlisting the aid of people in the stake to help out. Today, I glanced at the list of all those who have signed up to assist, and of the 48 names collected from the stake, 21 were from the Millstream Ward alone. That's 21 names just from my ward, and 27 names from the eight other wards.

These are the kind of people I associate with on a weekly and basis, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

By the way, since that Valentine's word came up earlier, I should state for the record that I did receive a Valentine today, and it came in a great package.

I was sitting at home when a tiny pair of six-year-old arms threw themselves around the back of my neck and kissed me on the cheek.

I turned around to see my niece McKenna standing there, along with a Valentine's card and a package of Sweettarts.

All in all, I'd say today was a great day. Happy S.A.D. to all, and to all a good night.

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