I wandered a bit in the large room full of round tables and chairs until I found an open spot. I sat next to a friendly young lady who talked to me, which was nice, since others at the table made no effort to do so. After she left, two chairs opened to my right, so two young ladies sat there and a guy sat to my left. The young lady to my right introduced herself and we ended up having a good conversation for about 20 minutes. I also talked to the guy to my left a bit. I was attracted to her and found her initiative to sit next to me and start talking openly very charming. The brunch was coming to an end and I had to drive back home in time for home teaching, so I said my goodbyes to her and her friend. She said that she would be there in a month when I return. I remember joking about how we should book a date for the weekend after my return in order to give me some incentive to come by. She had a shy look on her face as she blushed, so I didn't push it to not embarrass her. Unfortunately, I don't remember her name (d'oh!) and thought that I could find her on the Facebook group by her picture, but I did not see her on the member list. I did find a picture of her in one that she was tagged in, but when I showed it to another sister, she didn't know who she was. Hopefully I will run into her again soon.
Here are some of the items that were mentioned during the bishop's talk:
- Don’t sit with your best friend at church every Sunday; sit with someone new—hopefully someone of the opposite sex.
- Be proactive: Don’t limit yourself to the Ward members.
- Reach back to past relationships and see if something can be rekindled.
- Go on line at put yourself out there a bit—of course watch out for the nut jobs.
- Go to Institute. We have had several marriages that got their start at the Institute. Don’t run out after the lesson—stay around and talk with people. We have a social gathering following each Institute class—use the gathering to your benefit.
- Attend the Singles Conference coming up this Fall, we have people arrive from all over the U.S. that attend the Conference
- Go ahead and go to Duck Beach, but with a purpose in mind and again, consider my warning about meeting totally new strangers--trust but verify.
- Who is single from your mission? Contact them.
- Who is single from your home ward? Contact them.
- Who is single from your BYU or other college ward? Contact them
- Who does your best friend know, have them make an introduction for you.
- Attend all of the Ward Potlucks and dinners. Now this may surprise some people, but we are not holding a potluck just to feed you. You can do that at Wendy’s. Use the Potlucks to sit with someone new. Hang around and talk. Use the potlucks to your advantage.
- What non member friends do you know that you could bring to church? We have all kinds of examples of people inviting their non-member friend to come to church which turns to dating, which turns to marriage, which turns into a wonderful life.
- If you're spending endless hours at your job while your social life is suffering, then consider your job to be your spouse. Really, we need to keep everything in its proper perspective.
- Women of the Ward, you are authorized to ask any man out on a date. That may not be the normal way we do this in the LDS culture, but we have to think differently if we are going to find success. I am not talking about chasing men, I'm just saying if you find someone interesting, just be proactive and let him know you are interested.
- You may need to change where you are living if you can, particularly if you have become too comfortable in your apartment and with your roommates to the point that there is no need for dating. Maybe it is time to break away from cheap rent and get your own place where you can host your own friends and finally acknowledge that this is where your career is and it is time to put down some roots. Once you get your own place, you will be ready to invite someone to move in permanently—if you know what I mean.
- Think out of the box—be creative.
