administration in the Kingdom of God a.k.a. the closure of the Retford Branch

Today, during the Worksop branch conference, the Retford branch was formally closed, with west of the Trent becoming part of Worksop branch and everything else becoming part of Lincoln Ward. There were a few last minute expressions of dissatisfaction, but ultimately I think that everyone will get on well in the new units- all the active members have solid testimonies and huge amounts of gospel knowledge. Change is hard. We have only been in the branch for five years but still found it sad to say good bye to the friends that we had there- some of the members have been in the branch for twenty-plus years.

Being part of the eastern Trent-basin, the West family, as well as a further three active families, are now members of the Lincoln Ward, Nottingham Stake.

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Out of the branch, we are probably the least concerned about the change- nearly everyone else has only ever been in small branches and so have quite a bit of fear about what they will find. Being in a small branch means that you will always have a calling and will always be relied upon. It is a scary thing to suddenly be in a larger ward where you can go through long periods without callings and you need to move the comfort zone out to meet new people… That is the scary thing for me… apart from the long periods of time without the calling- that sounds fun!

Although, that said I have yet to serve in the Youth organisation- since leaving Young Men’s myself, I have served in primary, branch presidency, elders quorum, clerk, Sunday school and ward mission… as well as a couple of stake auxiliary presidencies and the usual mission positions. Youth or Primary would be awesome… or I could just be a Home Teacher for ages… while I live in hope, I fear that my Heavenly Father has other plans.