Attending One's Own Ward
Bishop's authority limited to geographic boundaries. Exceptions generally come through first presidency.
Remember why we come to church.
Introduce yourself.
Serve.
Be prepared to participate.
Look for new faces.
Notes
I had heard from a friend who was a stake clerk the not even a stake president can authorize the transfer of a member's records to a ward they do not reside within the boundaries of. This has been verified by my stake president who said that in cases where such an action is deemed necessary, the stake clears it through the area presidency. Thus, the member speaks with his or her bishop, the bishop speaks with the stake president, and the stake president speaks with the area president. I'm not sure how the area presidency handles such a request, but it may go as high as the first presidency considering what Elder Packer had to say in the citation above.
There are a number of reasons why it is important to attend one's own ward. First, the Lord desires his people to be one. We need to learn to be a united, Zion people. This can only happen if we learn to put our differences aside and work together rather than dividing with our fellow saints over our differences, picking and choosing who we will work with. The geographic boundaries of the wards are part of the Lords plan to teach his people to overcome their differences and become more united. Second, since a bishop's authority is limited geographically, if we do not attend our own wards and serve within them, we make it more difficult for him to fulfill his stewardship; we make it more difficult for him to help us and we make it more difficult for the Lord to help us. In effect, by estranging ourselves from our proper ward, we cut off one of the means the Lord has to bless us and help us grow.