Halfway Through My 31st Year

In some ways today was a big day in my life. September 16th marks the halfway point between my birthdays -- my half-birthday, if you prefer. This half-birthday more significant that others because of one of the categories in which I am placed within my church. When I turned 18 I became categorized as a Young Single Adult at church. At that time I was living in Louisiana where the closest YSAWard (congregation) was the student ward at LSU which was at least a 40 minute drive if traffic was good (which it rarely was in Baton Rouge). The ward I grew up in had a pretty good YSA group so I decided to stay in that ward at that time. Two years later I moved to Monroe with my little brother to attend ULM making the distance to a YSA ward even greater -- I'm not even sure where the closest on was! So, I continued attending a traditional, aka family, ward. It wasn't until I moved to Colorado in the Summer of 2007 that I started attending a YSA ward (ah, Crowfoot!). I loved it there. The people were friendly. I had many additional opportunities to serve in that ward. I made some great friends during my time there. But things changed, they split the ward, and I became on of the first members of a newly formed YSA branch (smaller congregation). I was excited about the possibilities this new branch had to offer, but over time it proved to be more of a disappointment for me. I once again moved on and for a while I attended a YSA ward in Boulder, CO, that was quite pleasant and rather enjoyable. In many ways I miss that last ward more that the branch for which I had such high hopes.

But, I digress...

Present day finds me a member of a YSA ward in Bountiful, UT, that is also within a YSA stake (larger group for church governance) consisting of about 12 YSA wards all together. This is my first time being in a YSA stake and going to stake meetings where all you see are Young Single Adults -- it's definitely a Utah thing! I have been in this ward for about 9 months already, but I only have 6 months left at most. Thus we are at the significance of today. In my church, if you are not married by the time you turn 31 and you have been attending a YSA ward (especially in Utah) you are "aged out" of that ward (aka kicked out) and sent to a traditional ward or, if available, given the option to attend a Mid Single Adult Ward. Some church leaders are more lax in enforcing this rule, but I know my time as a YSA is coming to an end either way.

The thing is, I go to the YSA ward every Sunday and realize how different I am from everyone else there. There are a few people close to my age, but they have lived in this area all their lives and know everyone in the ward and in some cases are related to half the ward. I don't see myself continuing in a YSA ward past 6 months from now. I guess the real question is how much longer I can stand to go to the YSA ward knowing I will soon age out.