Terese and the rest of the group: I can be very difficult to feel like you belong. Alot of it has to do with one's attitude. Case in point: we have lived in our ward for a long time. Then, a couple of years ago a sister moved into our ward that was very catty and gossipy. She stirred up feelings between some sisters and for a little while I began to hold some minor resentments toward this particular sister. My neighbor became good friends with this sister and she no longer associated with me. I began to feel very sad inside, then over a short period of time, I began to let anger toward these two overtake my attitude. To make a long story short, my negative feelings began to make me feel isolated from others in the ward as well. It was terrible. After so many years of feeling a part of the ward and then in a few short months to feel isolated-it was not fun. I had a talk with my husband about how I was feeling. He is my best friend and laid it on the line: you can't feel welcome if you choose not to. He told me to pray about it and ask the Lord to help me change my attitude so that things would go better for me. It took longer to overcome the feelings of isolation and resentment than it had taken to gain them in the first place. One thing that really worked (besides prayer): set aside my fears of not being accepted and boldy approach others, especially those who are new in the ward or who I don't know. Now things are much better. It is too easy to fall into these traps of feelings. We must overcome them by knowing who we are and knowing what we can do not only for others, but for ourselves as well. Love to you all and hope this helps. -Sandy [Sew with 7]