The Los Gatos Ward had it's annual New Member/Ward Council gathering last night. The invitations called it a "Luau" but I took the theme pretty loosely. I wasn't in charge of decorations but the party was at our house. And since no one was assigned to decorate my last minute attempts at Hawaiian decor weren't that impressive.
The new members, however, were an impressive bunch! Some fun young couples and families! And, technically speaking, some are new to Los Gatos (but long time church members) while some are new to the church (but long time Los Gatos residents). Either which way, they are new to the LG Ward.
The Ward Council is made up of all the organizational presidents and their spouses. In total the gathering had about 35-40 people including a few adorable babies. You can never have too many babies in the ward! Especially the cute babies!
The "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" premise totally comes into play at a church function like last night's party. Between missions or church schools or dating or Utah it only takes a few steps to find a common connection with another person. If I'm actively looking for the Six Degrees I'm amazed how quickly I find them.
Last night my strategy was more linking new people to the old by looking for shared interests. X plays tennis and so does Y. Or, Y's new husband speaks Portuguese and X served a mission in Brazil. X is looking for a job in nursing and Y is employed at the hospital.
Sometimes I forego the whole battery of questions and cut right to the chase. For instance if X has a cute baby and Y (okay, Y is me) likes cute babies, I can simply get right to the point: "Excuse me, you have a cute baby and I like cute babies: Can I hold your cute baby?"
