Manhattan 8th Singles Ward

Well after attending our home ward for over a year I have been accustomed to the way things run in a home ward. Going back to the singles ward brings back many memories. It is the one place in NYC that I can feel like I am in Utah again. I am now convinced that no matter your location on the globe, singles wards do not change one iota. During my time in NY I hadn't met anyone from Utah, until I went to the singles ward. I went to the singles ward, and everybody is from Utah, or had attended BYU. So naturally I felt at home. The singles ward is like I am at the Utah embassy of NYC.
The ward meets at the Manhattan Temple which was just dedicated last year. I had never been to this temple until my first day at the singles ward. I looked up the address and found my way there. I finally got to the address and still did not see it. I was expecting a temple with gates, fountains, grass, and a location apart from everything else. As you can see in the picture, it kind of blends right in with the rest of the city. (Also I came from the other side, which you can see would be more difficult to find) It wasn't until I was reading, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Lat..." hey that is our church!!! I looked up and sure enough there was angel Moroni holding that wonderful trumpet, and just like that I was back in Utah. As you know from my last posting, tourist always have there heads looking upward, joined with an opened mouth. This was the exact state I was in when I heard, "Is this your first day in the singles ward?" Sure enough, as we got to talking, she was from Utah. In fact she was even in our stake. She introduced me to a few others walking in, and one of the brothers asked me if I was planning on being in the ward permanantly. I thought the question quite interesting, you know, because it is a singles ward. My initial reaction was to pull out the fourth discussion and explain the plan of salvation, however I didn't have the discussion there at my convenience, so I just highlighted the important parts.
During the time at the singes ward, many people want to play the "hey do you know...game." Naturally, being LDS and from Utah, you can play that at any ward and be successful. I am not a big fan of the game because once you establish that you know the same person, one often wonders what are you supposed to do with that information. "Sweet, we both know Jack, let's hang out!" And when one connection is made, it seems like the other person wants to make 100 more. "Well if you know Jack then you must know Jill, you know the girl with whom he walked up the hill to fetch a pail of water" then you can chat about someone else's life. If no connection is made, one feels as though he/or she has to make some connection to justify his/her attempts. Which doesn't really matter because eventually, you have to end up back at just talking about yourselves anyway. I have to admit, it has been better than playing the game with people outside the singles ward. When people have no connection with Utah, the "hey do you know... game" gets really desperate.
"You are from Utah, oh do you know Jason Smith?"
"No, is he from Utah?"
"No, he is from Ohio, but I thought because both states start with a vowell and have four letters you might know him."

So I have to say, at least we make the connection in our Utah embassy in NYC.