All the things I wanted to do and talk about at Ft. Irwin, I saved until the very end. Very typical of me. The most rewarding and by far my favorite thing about living there was our branch. It was small, but not really small. I am pretty sure it qualifies to be an actual ward but we don't have a church building to call our own. The church owns some property just outside the military property, about 20 minutes away, but apparently, and it hasn't been comfirmed or denied, but tortoises have more rights than people and so there has been lots of problems getting it finally built. Anyway, so the branch has made do with what is provided by the military installation. While it has its trials, it is one of the many things that made the branch so unique.
Come along with me as I guide you through an LDS Sunday service.
We first start out at the Blackhorse chapel. It is a non denominational chapel that has about 20 rows. This is where we hold our sacrament meeting services. The children in this room outnumber the adults by a lot. Just when I felt my children were by far the worst behaving children in the room, I would look around and think to myself "Its like WWF in here!" All the parents seemed to be wrestling their little ones! It was so much fun and I will always miss the buzz that could be heard in the middle of the meeting of so many children.
After sacrament meeting, everyone gets into their cars and drives to the Catholic chapel where primary is held. We do our best to make this large activity room look like an LDS primary room!
After sharing/music time, the children then walk next door to this building. It is called the Family Ministry building. It is designated for the teaching of children of any faith. The walls are always scattered with pictures from children who are there in the middle of the week that are learning bible stories and coloring pictures about Jesus, Noah's Ark, Moses, Easter, etc. This building is also where we would have enrichment meetings most of the time.
While the children are in primary, the adults go to this building where Sunday school is held. There are some small classrooms that are in the back of a small bank. Sunday school is usually crowded when the men and women are combined (like I really know, I have been in Primary for how long?) But then they split for priesthood and relief society lessons, those classrooms are just the right size.
And here are a couple of pictures of just a few of the people that we love and will miss so much there.
This is Corky and the rest of the branch presidency. I had to literally track down a couple of them before they went home so I could get this picture! They are all good sports! Left to right Ben C. (ward clerk), Mark A. (branch president), Corky (2nd counselor), Eric S. (1st counselor)
Come along with me as I guide you through an LDS Sunday service.
We first start out at the Blackhorse chapel. It is a non denominational chapel that has about 20 rows. This is where we hold our sacrament meeting services. The children in this room outnumber the adults by a lot. Just when I felt my children were by far the worst behaving children in the room, I would look around and think to myself "Its like WWF in here!" All the parents seemed to be wrestling their little ones! It was so much fun and I will always miss the buzz that could be heard in the middle of the meeting of so many children.
After sacrament meeting, everyone gets into their cars and drives to the Catholic chapel where primary is held. We do our best to make this large activity room look like an LDS primary room!
After sharing/music time, the children then walk next door to this building. It is called the Family Ministry building. It is designated for the teaching of children of any faith. The walls are always scattered with pictures from children who are there in the middle of the week that are learning bible stories and coloring pictures about Jesus, Noah's Ark, Moses, Easter, etc. This building is also where we would have enrichment meetings most of the time.
While the children are in primary, the adults go to this building where Sunday school is held. There are some small classrooms that are in the back of a small bank. Sunday school is usually crowded when the men and women are combined (like I really know, I have been in Primary for how long?) But then they split for priesthood and relief society lessons, those classrooms are just the right size.
And here are a couple of pictures of just a few of the people that we love and will miss so much there.
This is Corky and the rest of the branch presidency. I had to literally track down a couple of them before they went home so I could get this picture! They are all good sports! Left to right Ben C. (ward clerk), Mark A. (branch president), Corky (2nd counselor), Eric S. (1st counselor)
This is me with a couple of my friends that worked in the primary with me. From left to right. Alisa Y., Me, Lori C., Mindy L., Kelly S., Carey A.
This branch will forever hold a special place in my heart.
9 comments:
holy cow...you guys were scattered all over the place huh. i guess we have it pretty good here. i've never lived in a place that we didn't have a chapel of our own.
kinda made me sad for you to leave all that... But in a good way!
it was definitely bittersweet to leave it.
very smart of you to document and take pictures.
I bet the kids loved walking and driving outside to primary.
Bittersweet, yes. Sad to leave so many good friends and memories, but new ones will soon be made. I can't believe how much we take for granted our church building all of 5 minutes walking distance away. We are so blessed!!
Crazy you ugys had to be moving to another building every hour.
We lived in a branch for a while that would meet in the basement. There were only about 20 members so we didn't need much space. But the smells from the bakery on Fast Sunday were killer.. those were fun times but I must say I prefer being in a ward.
Seeing those pictures of the Irwin Branch brought back alot of memory's and feelings for me and Wes. We've been gone a year now but we still talk about what a great branch it is. There was just something special about it. It was fun to see those pictures!
I have heard about your church from you before, but it is weird to see pictures of all the buildings! What a great experience that you will always have to remember!
It makes me miss it to see those pictures-- it's cool that you captured all of that. Aren't you loving being in a "regular building"
Post a Comment