Settling

Sunday was our first day in the new ward.

To say we were welcomed with open arms would be an understatement. Our church is just around the corner, and on our walk there we met a neighbor and 3 of her 8 kids. The older kids were already there, she only had the younger ones with her. Before we made it into the chapel 2 or 3 more people introduced themselves and welcomed us to the ward. After finding a pew we ran into our neighbors who told us how glad they were to see us at church. Yet another person came up to introduce herself and already knew who we were. I've already forgotten most of their names, but not their faces and certainly not their kindness.

The only name I'm positive I know and will not forget is that of Maxwell. He's something of a celebrity from what I can tell, and we were sitting just 2 rows in front of him. The little boy in front of us was very excited to see him and "hi Maxwell"'d loudly until he was properly acknowledged. Someone across the chapel followed suit and the two drowned out the organist's prelude shouting their greetings. Later an adult walked by and waved and greeted many people as he passed - but stopped for an especially long time to say hi to Maxwell. Maxwell can't be more than 5 years old and is just about the cutest little boy I know (but nowhere near as cute as my own). It makes sense that the whole ward is in love with him, but it makes me giggle just a bit.

I wonder what it takes to get Maxwell to say "hi" back? This might be my new mission in life.