sydney says thank you: i finally found the words: the st. helena branch

i have been searching for years for words to describe the st. helena branch to my friends. i haven't been able to find them until today.

for those of you who don't understand the basic set up of the church of jesus christ of later-day saints, each meeting house where we attend church services is split up geographically. where i live in calistoga, my family and i happen to attend a "branch," or a very small meeting house for smaller groups of people. there are also wards, which are the larger groups that meet, with sometimes over 500 people. but a branch is where i grew up, going to church with about 50 or 60 people each sunday.

at byu, people are often shocked to hear that i didn't go to a ward. almost everyone here met in a ward growing up, and they always want to know what it was like to grow up in such a tiny branch.

many words come to mind:

intereseting
different
entertaining. highly entertaining.
small
cozy
family
love
home

and that's what i could think of. i could think of thousands of stories to tell people, some of them happy, some of them hilarious, some of them spiritual, some of them tear jerkers.

all of the stories are great, but even through those experiences, i have never quite been able to get across the point that the branch is the best place in the world. it really is. i've been in wards before, and don't get me wrong, they have all been fantastic (i really have loved my wards!), but the branch has a very special place in my heart.

today in my foundations of education class (with the crazy professor, remember? it's #4 if you feel so inclined to look at the post), we were privileged enough to hear the conversion stories of dr mayes and a girl in our class, jamie. ("conversion stories" is mormon lingo for the story of how a person was converted to the gospel of the lds church.)

while jamie was talking, she told us all about the branch she was a part of in upstate new york. she said something to the effect, "i think that the celestial kingdom will be like my branch."

it made me stop. it made me think. and then came the tears (tenderheart...). she is so right. my branch is exactly how i picture the celestial kingdom. not the hijinks and the entertaining moments (though i think that things will definitely still be funny in heaven...), but the close-knit nature of all of our relationships and the deep love that we have for one another.

let me explain a little bit. take a group of 50 people. they meet together every sunday for 20 years. they share their joys and their sorrows. they become your family. everyone in this family is vastly different, with a wide range of backgrounds, a variety of lifestyles, and many different senses of humor. but you love everyone for their differences, as well as the similarities - the main one being the shared love of the gospel and for our father in heaven and his son jesus christ. going to church on sunday feels like a family reunion. it's where all the people you love are. it's where you go to grow closer to your heavenly father and your savior, and to do that with your whole family? it's indescribable.

i think that we have this idea that only a certain type of person can get into the celestial kingdom. but why would we think that? we are all so different, and that's what's beautiful about us! god does not make mistakes - and he made us all different on purpose, so that we can learn from and grow with each other. i think that is what will make the celestial kingdom such an amazing place. we will have learned how to live with and appreciate and truly love each other's differences.

it is going to be one big patchwork quilt of humanity.

just like the branch. on a larger scale.

so now do you understand a little bit of just why i love the branch so much? i love it for the family and the home that it is. i love that i grew up there and that i was able to grow up with isabel, olivia, and cammie, that i had the chance to perform in the primary production of "goldilocks and the three bears," that i was able to be in the young women's program with my mom as my teacher and that we could heart attack people on valentine's day, that i had seminary in sister kenworthy's living room and painted scenes from the old and new testament every friday morning, that i was able to go to hoedowns at the garate's and pioneer day activities with donna morgan's biscuits and chili, that i was there for all of the baptisms of the little children, that i got to listen to brother malin give his famous "jumping mouse" talk, that i was able see the flowers that sister cross brought to church every sunday, that i was present for the telling of the "hoo hoo" story (michelle and sebastian :) ), and that i was a part of it all. i wasn't just someone sitting on the sidelines watching this big family. i was an active part of it.

i am so glad that i finally have the words to describe the st. helena branch. thank you, jamie, and thank you, dr mayes, for telling me your stories and helping me to say what i've been wanting to say for all these years.

this is me, sending all my love to my family back home at the branch.

love,
sydney