Sister Williams with the packages from one of  Monday's three deliveries!

More!

Sister Williams is way too busy getting ready for the mission Christmas to do the blog, so she assigned me to do it! (Now she owes me.) It's been a wild week, with most of the stress on her shoulders. Monday, the senior missionaries got together for FHE and organized the 32 packages for elders and sisters without packages from home. (The hard part is that the quantity and sex is nothing more than a wild guess until the VERY last minute!!) Today, she, Sister Shapiro and the office elders have been calling every missionary to ask them if they have received their packages yet.  The mission Christmas devotional is Friday (the day after tomorrow), and I'm sure my companion won't return to normal until a day or two after that. She loves it, and is doing a GREAT job, but she lives in fear of missing someone!  I'm constantly amazed how hard she works and how much she loves the missionaries!!!!  We also have been amazed and gratified how generous parents and senior missionaries are in donating to help the missionaries who don't receive as much!  My mother made 20 necklaces for us, each of the senior couple donated generously, and parents (without us asking) have sent all kinds of money! (Today, we opened a letter from a parent with $150 in it.)  Plenty of $, but tomorrow (Thursday) will be BUSY scrambling to fill the gaps, shop and finish getting ready, and we know it will all work out! (Even though today it's a little scary...)

Meanwhile, my work goes on pretty much as usual. We delivered a new car to the Sisters in Terryville last Friday, and as usual, it was fun to get away from the office and see some new country. Not to mention enjoying that new car smell that will last just until the missionaries hang smelly things in the car (probably within the hour). We think it's funny that every single missionary car has trees or other smelly things hanging from the mirror, and sometimes fresheners in the vents, too. The younger generation seems to like "air fresheners"!!

Terryville Church

Last Saturday was our branch Christmas party, which was fun! We are getting accustomed to the later starts (7:30 posted start time, 8:15 actual meal start), and just enjoy watching everyone enjoy each other's company.  They had a brother in the ward who is a DJ do the tunes and after dinner almost everyone in the branch danced, mostly in one large group, for 90 minutes or so! We decided that we definitely need to brush up on our Latin dance steps (me a lot more than Diane!), so we can participate more. Sunday I asked my class of 12 teenagers what percentage of their friends are nonmembers, and I was amazed how LOW it was--mostly in the 5% range!  It helps me to understand why they (even the teens) love to come to any church activity and spend time together!!  Even seminary, which is Tuesday through Saturday at 7:00 PM in our stake. Life is different here. It's a wonderful opportunity for us to open our eyes and see thing differently. Diane and I often discuss how it helps us to see what is truly important, so we don't equate 'different' with 'wrong' or 'not as good'.  What we are used to is not necessarily better, even in church administration!

We still like it on a mission, and know we are doing the right thing for us!  We wish we could share every day with our friends and loved ones, but this will have to do for now!!!  We love you all!!

Flushing Building Dedication, Musings & Korean BBQ

We had another busy week that flew by!!  Transfers are next Tuesday, and the week prior is often more of a slow week, but this one wasn’t for me!  Two accidents, one new car pickup and delivery, the on-going shell game of getting missionaries into a loaner car so theirs can get body work done, new Flushing Building dedication yesterday, and prep for today’s SS lesson.

Transfers this week will be a tough one!  I think there are 28 going home (most of whom we know well, so it will be tearful!), another 24 coming (including one who will need to be trained and certified as a NYC driver that same day).  It’s always a busy day—it’s all carefully scheduled to get missionaries in and out at certain times, so they aren’t all at the church/office at the same time, but they love being together, and love saying hello and goodbye, so the schedule ends up as more of a ‘rough guideline’, and ~150 missionaries and their luggage end up all being there at the same time! It’s hard to imagine the bedlam.  Every time, I have elders and sisters who can’t find their cars (they park as far away as ¼ mile away to find parking, and sometimes both companions are changed).  In addition, last transfer, there were two sets of missionaries who came to me for cars, and I didn’t have any planned (!), through some miss-communication with the assistants! But, as always, things work out (that time with a complicated two-week shell game of loaner cars and swaps).  My goal is for nothing like that to happen ever again.  I know I sound like it’s all about the cars for me, but that’s just my assignment!  It’s really all about helping the Lord’s work move forward the best we can, in our human, error-prone ways!! We love transfer week, but we are also very glad when it’s over.

Elder Mingyun Ko and us. Elder Ko has been assistant to President Reynolds for the last 6 months, and goes home 12/14/16.

Yesterday for the Flushing Building dedication, Diane drove over at 9AM to help get things ready.  She had an assignment to stay in the primary room and explain the Primary program to English-speaking visitors, along with a Spanish sister and a Chinese sister and a Korean sister with the same assignments in their respective languages.

I stayed at home, did a driving test for another elder who has to drive starting Tuesday, worked on my SS lesson, took shirts to the laundry, and moved cars around to clear the parking lot for Sunday meetings.  (Church parking lots here have 12-20 spaces, and they generally are double and triple-parked on Sundays.)  Real estate here is just so valuable and hard to get!!!  Property value in Queens is roughly ten times that in Utah, in my estimation.  A 2500 sf house on ¼ acre is about $2+ million. (But I digress…) At about noon, I walked over and caught the subway to Flushing, then walked the mile from the end of the line to the chapel.  The entire journey of 6-7 miles took 75 minutes, and I loved it!!  Along the way I ran into two sisters and their recent convert in the subway, met and watched a lot of other interesting people, and saw MetLife stadium on one side and Arthur Ashe tennis stadium and the globe from the world’s fair ¼ mile away on the other side (the subway is on an elevated platform not underground in that part of the trip), then walked through the center NYC’s largest ‘Chinatown’ in Flushing.

After the dedication, we were invited over for dinner by the Shins, along with the Rapleys and another couple that are Chinese (can’t remember their name). We assumed ‘over for dinner’ would be to their house, but when we got directions, it was to a nice Korean Restaurant (BCD Tofu House, in Bayside). We got to see a very nice area of town that we hadn’t seen before, and get to know some people outside of church, which is always great!  Brother Shinn is a bank manager and a counselor in our stake presidency, Brother Rapley is our stake patriarch and CES administrator for the area, and the other brother works in customer service (and has a BS in Electrical Engineering).  It was fun to talk and hear conversion stories, not to mention be adventurous and eat everything in a wonderful Korean BBQ.  (I told Diane, “Don’t wonder what it is, just try everything and see what you like!”)  Luckily, when I asked they brought some wood chopsticks—MUCH easier to use than the chrome ones in the place settings. (I found when I went to Korea for business that my hand cramped up by the end of a meal with metal chopsticks…Not in shape for chopstick use.)  Although it was not comfort food for us, it was an adventure, the company was great, and we loved the experience!!  Our mission is much the same-- the experiences aren’t always comfortable, but we know we are doing the Lord’s work, we know he strengthens us every day, and we know that our love and our testimonies are stronger than they have ever been!!  We still love it!

Closing number at the Rockette's Christmas show.

Christmastime in New York

These have been a busy couple of weeks and time seems to be flying by.  Elder Williams and I have been doing some of the quintissential New York Christmas things.  There is so much to do here its hard to cram it all into our Saturdays.

Last Monday we went with some of the other Senior Couples to Grimaldi's for pizza in Brooklyn. This involved a lengthy subway ride across the East River to Manhattan and back across the river again to Brooklyn.  On the way home Marc was sitting across from me next to a 20-year-old.  They were thoroughly engaged in conversation all the way home and you'd have thought they were best friends.  They talked a great deal about the Church, along with music and sports.  Marc is a much better missionary than I am.

On Thursday night we went with Sisters Shapiro and Petersen to the Rockettes Christmas show. The area around Radio City and Rockerfeller Center where the tree is was packed with wall to wall people.  Everyone was in a cheerful festive mood so no one seemed to mind the crowds.

The show was amazing!  There was a 3-D part where we watched Santa's sleigh soaring over Manhattan, lots of very impressive music and dance numbers, and a beautiful nativity scene with live sheep and camels!  It even snowed white confetti into the audience.

We feel almost guilty having so much fun. However, we do  manage to do some work.  Monday I went to the doctor's office and when I came back I was greeted with a wall of packages and mail. One of my projects now is to keep track of who gets Christmas packages so we Senior Couples can make up some gift packages for those who don't get anything. It stresses me out a little to think I might miss someone.  Last year they did 30 packages.  I had the parents put smiley faces or Christmas stickers on their Christmas packages so I could tell the Christmas ones from the ordinary ones.  A few remembered.  I love it when there is a hole in a package so I can peek inside to see if there is wrapping paper.

I have been emailing parents.  I love them!  They are great.  I was having some trouble getting a group email list generated though, but two very computer savvy elders, Elder Smith & Elder Christie came along just in time, pressed a few keys and worked their magic.  I'm learning a lot from the missionaries.

Some days it gets a little stressful.  Not the bad kind of stress but the fun kind.  All sorts of things seem to come at you at once but they usually involve helping the missionaries with something, which we love.

We got to go with the office elders to deliver some new cars to the missionaries in Riverhead at the far end of the island.  I love trips to Riverhead.  This included lunch with the office elders.  Great fun.

We continue to be amazed at how readily blessings come to us as missionaries when we need them.  I am constantly reminded of my Heavenly Father's love for us and so appreciate His tender mercies that seem to shower down on us daily.

Thanksgiving and Honesty

Thanksgiving was an interesting and different day!  To start off with, it was just Diane and I alone in our small apartment all day (we didn’t eat our big meal until after 6PM), and I couldn’t enjoy football very much with her working away on cooking 5 or 6 feet away (guilt!).  (Not to mention that I didn’t care much who won any of the games…)  It was definitely different not having family kids running around and family adults to talk with!  We had the Macys parade playing in the morning, and we toyed with the idea of hopping on the subway and going downtown to see it live.  However, good sense won out, so we didn’t go.  (Maybe next year!?)  It is kind of amazing how many people there are here, and it’s mind-boggling the crowds that occur any time day or night when there is something interesting to see!!  One of the new senior missionary couples said, “We are used to rush hour traffic, but not all day every day!”  (They are new, so they don’t know yet that the traffic from 9:30-11:00 AM and from midnight to 3:30 AM is pretty light!)  As Diane has mentioned, we have gotten to where we enjoy the crowds and bustling of the city as long as we are not in a hurry or very tired. 

Anyway, back to Thanksgiving.  We ate at the church (next door to our apartment) with 3 senior couples (Us, Shapiros & Johnsons), Sister Peterson, and 12 missionaries.  Most of the missionaries were on their 2^nd or 3^rd meal, so they enjoyed the company more than the food.  We did hear a lot of comments, though, on how much they enjoyed the more traditional Turkey Day food.  (Mostly from the western American missionaries, whose previous meals that day were with Spanish or Asian groups or families.  Lots more rice, beans and mac and cheese in those meals.)  You can tell the missionaries really like being with each other and us, where they don’t have to be “on”.   It was fun, although the senior missionaries were ready to go home and relax by 8:00 PM, and the young elders and sisters were still going strong!

On another subject, we are impressed in general with the honesty of the people in our neighborhood!  Wednesday, after a busy day in the office, we were home unwinding when I got a call from Angie (our daughter in Utah), saying, “Did Mom lose her phone?  I just called, and got someone speaking Chinese!”  After panicking for a few minutes, since the phone was in her little purse with all her credit cards and (probably vast sums of) cash, I called her phone and had some fun trying to communicate with the person who answered.  He spoke more English than I did Chinese, but not much.  (I decided not to use the one phrase Dan Sellers taught me in college, since it translates as, “Eat shorts.”)  Anyway, he finally said, “Alex!”, which we recognized as our building super’s name, so I said “3C!”, which is our apartment number.  Then, once we thought we knew who he was, and he thought he knew who we were, we met at the apartment lobby to make the exchange.  When trying to talk, he kept talking about the mall, and we thought, “Oh No! Someone took it to the mall down the road and spent a bunch of money!!”  Later we decided he meant the store at the deli in the building, and was trying to tell us someone found the purse, took it to the deli and gave it to the store guy, who gave it to Alex (probably because he speaks such good English and the papers were in English).  Anyway, we got the purse back, and he refused a reward.  We have found that, unlike we felt the first week or two (when we thought everyone was going to mug us and steal our money), everyone here is just like everyone there—trying to do the best they can with what they are given to work with!!

We do miss home and family, and we do get a little jealous sometimes when we see friends on Facebook going to fun and interesting places, but we would not trade it!  At this time, for us, this is the right thing to be doing, and we feel that every day!!  We are so thankful for our testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and for this opportunity to serve Heavenly Father’s children!

Thanksgiving With Rego Park Missionaries

I’m weeks behind on the blog.  Sorry!  Lots to catch up on.  2 weeks ago we went and hiked the Brooklyn Bridge.  It was a beautiful day and the bridge was quite crowded.  But it was fun.  When we got to Brooklyn, we went about a block to Grimaldi’s for Pizza.  Best pizza ever!  I thought it might be a little hyped up but it was better than I expected.  The crust was amazing!  Then we took the subway to Williamsburg because Sister Petersen wanted to show us the Hasidic Jewish neighborhood.  It sounded interesting.  But when we got there the streets were empty.  That’s when we realized it was Saturday—the Jewish Sabbath.  They were all at home.  Fun day anyway.  We love going to new places and there are a lot of new places to see here.

The big news—we started church in our new Chapel last week.  It was packed, everybody wanting to see the new digs.  It has 2 stories and the Primary has its own wing and Marc has a whole hallway to himself and the pick of any classroom for Sunday School.  We are loving it.  The members were sad to leave the old church they had been in for so long and we all had our picture taken out front the week before with all the neighborhood watching as they walked by.

New Flushing Chapel

Speaking of Marc, he is a wonderful Sunday School teacher.  He has a difficult class but seems to be able to draw them out.  I can tell when I see him interact with them that they really like him and respect him.

Two observations from today. I realized I am developing a New Yorker attitude, which may or may not be the best thing for a missionary. It may be a defense mechanism.  Some guy yelled at me for blocking the sidewalk as I was perusing the fruit stand looking for tomatoes. 9 months ago it would have bothered me. I just gave him the New York shrug and double-sided sneer that says, "WHAT??!!!" Taught him a lesson he won't soon forget! Then on the other hand, Marc and I were wandering around by the mall tonight going for a bite to eat at McD's. People were everywhere of every possible nationality and ethnic group. Walking, eating, shopping, socializing. I realized I love New York and I really do love people!

One funny incident (and maybe a lesson in judging?):  We were at Dyker Heights (Brooklyn Chinatown) today for Zone Conferences. I was the go-fer. Marc took me to the fruit stand because we were short of tomatoes for lunch, (Hence the sidewalk yeller story). Marc had to do the thing where you drop your wife off then circle the block because there was no parking. He decided to get gas so I had to wait there on the corner. I was thinking how angry some New Yorkers seem to be, like the yeller, when some guy waiting at the light started honking his horn--loud and long. There was a guy in front of him who had left a space so he wouldn't be caught in the intersection. I thought it was pretty rude and ignorant of the second guy to be so impatient. He just kept honking away--as if that would make people move! I gave him my best New Yorker glare, shook my head and looked away in disgust--idiot!! More honking--I looked again. It was Marc, honking to get my attention. I had forgotten he was in a brown mission car instead of our blue car.

And one tender mercy to share.  The week before last was transfers and along with them all the heavy paperwork.  It is our busiest week.  I hadn’t had any time to plan for Activity Day which was Friday.  By Thursday I had it half planned but knew it wouldn’t be enough.  Friday morning I was sitting at the table not knowing what to do.  I said a fervent, tearful prayer for help.  I put my head down in my arms, feeling overwhelmed.  Immediately in my mind I could see the activity exactly the way it should go.  I know the Lord supports His missionaries and I feel so blessed to be a recipient of those blessings.

 

Sister Petersen and Sister Williams on Brooklyn Bridge

At Grimaldi's in Brooklyn.  Best pizza ever!

Normal Week

It was a fairly normal week this week, getting back into the swing of things after our trip, getting all our office work cleaned up for the month and getting ready for transfers on Tuesday, 11/1.  We did drive up to Yonkers on Wednesday to pick up four brand new 2017 Chevrolet Malibus for the mission!  I’m not sure why the church upgraded from Cruzes to Malibus.  I suspect it’s for the safety features, and I know the elders and sisters won’t mind!!  The Malibus are beautiful, plus a little bigger and have blind-spot warning, back-up collision warning, and even automatic braking collision avoidance!  Plus, they have full Bluetooth and wifi (just for 1^st few months) in them.  While we were driving one home, Diane kidded (I assume), “I think we need a new car!”  We laughed about it, but it is amazing how much things progress in two or three years!!

The mission has 12 vehicles now that need body work (9 minor accidents in last 6 weeks), so I plan to keep one ‘old’ (2013 with 51k miles) car in service as a loaner for a transfer or two, until we can get caught up.  Getting new cars will also keep me (more) busy trying to sell three more old cars (added to the two I haven’t sold yet from the last batch).  Well, we wanted to feel needed…

We had another elder go home early this week, which was/is heartbreaking!  He is one of our favorites, and a wonderful missionary.  As usual, it was sad to say goodbye to him, cry with him and see his companion (a new missionary) crying in the lobby.  We assume the early return was health-related, although we really never know. We do know, though, that the lessons and challenges of mortality are constant and unique for each of us, and there’s a good reason even the best of us, Jesus Christ, had to experience mortality in its fullness!  All we can do is pray for each other and love each other!!  The one time I went with Diane to education week, one of the teachers showed from the Book Of Mormon that our challenges spring from three different causes:  Our own miss-use of our agency (bonehead decisions, as Dad would say), Other’s miss-use of their agency, and just plain lessons of mortality!  (And they are all hard!)  We hate to see people we love suffer, but our testimony is strengthened with every experience that it’s so much easier to bear and learn from these experiences if we remain obedient to the principles of the gospel. 

Several of the senior missionary couples that were here when we got here are finishing their missions and being replaced by other couples.  It’s sad to see them go, but also fun to meet and get to know the new couples!  Every couple is unique, with their own strengths and challenges, and Diane and I often comment that it’s like working in the temple—it’s such a blessing associating with others who are at much the same place in life as you are, and are all trying to simply do what is right!!   Another brief glimpse of what heaven will be like!  WE STILL LOVE IT.

Dinner at the Duffys, 10-30-16. L to R: Marc, Sister Duffy, Diane, Brother Duffy, Kathy (Sis Duffy sister from CA), Elder Harris, Sister Harris

Conferences, Histories and a Little Bit about Pedestrians

This weekend we had a wonderful Stake Conference in Little Neck.  My companion has been sick for a couple of days so I had to attend by myself.  I stepped outside of my comfort zone and sat with Branch members rather than with other missionaries.  The talks were mostly on service and wonderful stories were told.  It is so nice to hear from people of varying backgrounds and parts of the world who have testimonies of the Gospel.  When they speak of how the Gospel helped them through difficult times or talk about their testimonies of the Atonement, I realize how alike we all are.

After the meeting on Saturday, 4 of the elders were looking for a ride home so, with the permission of President Reynolds, I drove them to their apartment in Flushing.  Then today, I gave the Flushing Sisters a ride to conference and back.  My second, third and fourth times driving in Flushing.  It is only becoming slightly less terrifying to drive there.  The most difficult part is the pedestrians who just boldly dart out in front of you.  But the more I drive here the more self-confident I become just in the fact that I am able to do something that terrifies me and am able to overcome those fears.

One of the things that used to annoy me, but that now I just find humorous in New Yorkers, is that they will walk out in front of cars and hold their hand up as if they were a traffic cop telling you to stop.  This week I was driving and a mother with her young son (about 4-yrs-old) walked out in front of me and the little boy held his hand up for me to stop. I really did laugh out loud.  She was teaching him young to be a true New Yorker.

Today Sister Petersen had a 92-yr-old Peruvian woman and her son over for dinner.  They were so fascinating to talk to. They had lived here since the 40s or so and related much of the history of the Church in this area.  It was so delightful to listen to them and I realized how the Church has changed and the progress that has been made.  It made me want to find a history of the Church here and find out more.

The Elders were asking me what I enjoy most about my mission and I gave them the same answer all the senior couples give—“the missionaries.”  When I am feeling like maybe I’m not doing anything important on my mission that is when some Elders or Sisters will walk into the office and need something.  (Or they will need a ride somewhere as happened this weekend.)  Then all is good in the world and I feel like I really am serving and making a difference.  We live to help the missionaries and love feeling needed.  

Home (but not home) for Darci and Jeremy's Wedding!

We spent the last week in Kent for our daughter Darci's wedding to Jeremy Black.  (He is a great guy! More later on that...)  It's a little strange being guests in our own home. Courtney & Tyler have kept it up well (I'm sure with a little scrambling at the last minute like all of us...).The first several days of our trip we spent some time with our friends, going out to lunch and spending time with the Smiths, Carlsons, and Balls.  (Others were tied up with other events, and I'm sure the Hortons would have been included if they had not moved to Minnesota.)  It was fun to reconnect, and share mission stories!!  It made me realize what a life-changing experience a mission is, even for senior couples!  So many experiences and so much learning are crammed into a short period of time!!  We miss our friends when we're gone!

The wedding and reception were great.  It was nice to spend a little time with Jeremy’s parents, Cindy and Don.  Don retired from Boeing this year, so we have a lot in common, and Cindy is a school principal.  We felt really comfortable with them, and I think we could become great friends if we get the chance! We are so proud and thankful that our kids are all such productive, good people!  It was rewarding to see them all working alongside each other at the reception.  Avery and Chris’ wedding present to Darci & Jeremy was Avery acting as wedding planner (she coordinates corporate events for her work), so she was in the middle of everything, and everyone (especially Chris, Angie (came from Utah without her kids) and Stephanie (after Jay took the kids home) worked for several hours getting the site disassembled and things organized and put away. Avery hasn’t had as much interaction with the family due to work and other conflicts, and I feel like the help of her sisters will really help bring us all closer! 

My mother was able to come from Utah for the wedding, along with my older brother, Randy, and it was wonderful to see them (although we didn’t see them as much as we would have liked) and feel their support!!  Although she hates to hear it, Mom continues to be an inspiration to all of us!  What a great example of doing everything possible to remain productive and enduring righteously to the end!!  My sister Sara and her husband Ken also came, and also their son Konrad, and his wife, Ashley and daughter Kimber.  It was also really fun to see Stephanie’s kids dance and have fun, too.  I left out Stephanie’s husband Jay-- All he did was perform the wedding, and do a fantastic job giving just the right mix of marital advice and teaching to a whole room of non-Mormons!

We heard many positive comments on Jay’s advice and comments, and also many comments from co-workers and other friends on how wonderful they think Darci is, and what an impact on their lives she has had!  (I told Darci that it felt a little bit like her funeral, hearing all those eulogies!) Jeremy is a really good guy, and we think they will be very happy together!!!  It was a wonderful week, and wonderful to see a bunch of the people we love!  It reminds you what’s really important in life!!

We are also excited to get back to the mission field!  Through the miracle of cell phones and email, I was able to limp along doing most of my mission functions while we were home, but we missed the interactions with the missionaries (both junior and senior). We also missed being in a mission meeting with Elder Holland, and we will be happy to get back to our normal routines!  Right now we are flying home—45 minutes from JFK airport.  Sister Peterson will pick us up, take us back to our little apartment and little (queen-sized) bed, and we will continue to love it!!  We love our family and friends, and love to be with them, but now is our time for full-time service to the Lord, and we love it!!!  It’s hard to imagine being happier!!!!!!!!!!! 

Bambi Wreck

This is the sisters' description of a wreck.  We thought it was cute!

We were driving about 40 mph down the road and out of the trees bounds baby Bambi right into the front right side of our car. We're fine, the car is a little bruised up, and the deer struggled for life for a little bit, and is now in a better place.  there are some scratches that we're not sure if they were there before the deer or because of the deer. also the front bumper that was previously loose became unattached on the left side. 

Challenges and Blessings

This has been a busy week.  We have been preparing for our trip home to Darci's wedding.  We are so looking forward to seeing family and friends. Preparing others to do our jobs makes us realize how much we actually do.  The new missionary training meeting is Wednesday.  That is one of our busiest days.  Sister Petersen is kind enough to fill in for both of us!  She's a trooper and the missionaries love her.  We will miss an all mission conference while we are in Seattle. There is a General Authority coming but I can't say who yet.  I was disappointed to miss it, especially when I found out who it is!

The diversity here in the mission is great!  Missionaries from all over the globe.  We had dinner with 6 sisters today at Sister Petersen's.  Three of them are Hispanic, one is a sweet little Philippino and one is caucasion and very blonde and very white compared to the others. We love seeing the other missionaries who meet in our building on Sunday.  Some Hispanic, some Caucasion, some Korean and some Chinese.  They are all wonderful.  I'm learning to love people from all cultures.

We have begun feeding the elders in our area.  For some reason the sisters get lots of dinner invitations from members but the elders don't.  We love having them in our home even if just for 45 minutes.

We just got through Mega Zone Conferences.  Once again, inspecting cars, feeding missionaries, giving training presentations (Marc).  We love anything where we get to see lots of missionaries.  We are fortunate to be in an assignment where we have lots of access to them.  The best is when they come into the office for interviews or something where they have to wait around.  We usually stop what we are doing and talk to them.  All our missionaries are quite loving and appreciative.  I realized it's because we are a port in the storm--like a safe harbor for them when the world is being cruel to them.  It's like we are the closest thing to home and for the few minutes they are with us everything is ok.  Plus I usually have fruit or candy out for them.

Speaking of storms, we got the edge of Hurricane Matthew today.  Lots of rain and wind.  Made us feel at home.

Sundays continue to be challenging but rewarding.  Generally alternating between the two.  Marc is feeling like he is making some progress with his Sunday School Class.  They have finally begun to open up and actually join in discussions.  Primary is fun most days.  We are getting ready for the Sacrament Meeting Program.  With only about 10 kids it makes the singing challenging.  I do love the kids though and feel like they have gotten used to me and may actually like me.

I am coming to believe it will be truly hard to leave this place when our time is up.

Activity Day. Book of Mormon Skit.  They kids loved their director. 

Samuel the Lamanite.  Love these kids. We are grateful for Dollar Store props.

Dinner at Sis. Petersen's.  L-R Sister Mejia, Sister Zambito, Sister Petersen
Sister Williams, Elder Williams.  Marc is usually outnumbered.

Sisters.  We love them SO MUCH!

Mega-Zone lunch.  The missionaries eat quite well.

More musings...

Not much to say this week (at least that I can think of up front). This last week was hectic, with four mega-zone conferences in a row Tuesday through Friday!  At each one I check all the cars and give a brief presentation (15-20 minutes) on vehicle-related information. The purpose is to emphasize safety and other timely information.  I’m always glad for the years of experience (church callings) in front of groups, so I can focus on the best way to get the information across, instead of on overcoming nervousness!  Elder Johnson (housing coordinator) and I were commiserating ahead of the first conference that it seems like we talk about the same things every time, and the thought came to me, “Do you think we will hear a lot of startlingly new information at General Conference this weekend?”  I guess we hear what we need to hear, and whatever we are prepared for sticks.  Our weather here is turning Autumn-like (mid-sixties, overcast, rain showers), and at the conference yesterday I got pretty wet checking out 22 cars!  I was wearing my Tilley hat, and every time I got into a car to check out the registration and insurance, the water ran off my hat onto my lap and the seats.  Made me feel pretty tough!!

Missionaries are like the rest of us—many different ideas of what taking care of and keeping a car means!  Most keep the readily-visible exterior pretty clean, but the less-visible interior is immaculate and organized in some cars, and others are dirty and disorganized.  (And they all think they do a pretty good job keeping their vehicle up…)  The church spends an average of $14,000 a month (of your tithing money) on the vehicles just in our mission.  I always try to emphasize to the missionaries that if they are like me, they may never drive a vehicle this new and nice for the next twenty years!  It kind of amazes me that that the mission cars we are selling (50000-54000 miles) are the same age as my brand new (in my mind) retirement car! 

My companion has been sick with flu-like symptoms the last three days, and it’s made me realize how blessed with health we have been since we came!  She has been able to work in the office every day, and handle three callings in the branch, with NO sick days until Thursday.  We are truly blessed!!  I told the missionaries in my zone conference introductions that of all the companions I’ve had in my two missions, she is by far the best, and they (led by the sisters) always say, “AWWWW…!” Then I tell them that the only unique thing is the dresses that show up on my credit card sometimes…  They don’t have that problem very often.

While I’m rambling, let me talk about being in the eastern time zone.  Everything is three hours later than Seattle, so conference sessions start at noon, 4PM and 8PM.  Kind of different going to a meeting that lasts from 8-10PM!  Sports events (not that I notice, since I’m on a mission) often start at 8PM and end after midnight!  The Seahawks are playing the Jets at MetLife stadium today, about 3 miles from our apartment (GO HAWKS!), during the Sunday morning session of conference.

We are looking forward to going home for a week for Darci and Jeremy’s wedding!  We’ll leave a week from Tuesday (10/11) and return a week later (10/18).  It will be fun, and a little strange, to see everyone after 8 months!!  Speaking of time zones, while I’m home I’ll be fielding calls from 5 or 6AM, when the auto shops open in NYC.  Will be a little strange! Hope there are no accidents! (Probably will be, but hopefully just a fender-bender or two…)

We love you all, and know we are doing the right thing (for us at this time) by being here on a mission!!  I tell people all the time that if Diane had her way, we’d put in mission papers for a second mission two or three months before we leave this mission.  I tell her, though, that I need six months to fix up the house and sell it (and actually be retired) before another mission…  We’ll see.  You never know what the Lord has planned for you in your mortal training program!!

More September Highlights

The highlight of this week was definitely our son Chris’s visit!  He came for a wedding/parent visit/friends visit/business trip, and it was great to see him!!  (Chris is 39, and we had a bit of a rude awakening this week, when Elder Opfar told us that his father is 42.  Sister Williams said, “We like to think of you missionaries as our kids, but I don’t think I want to think of you as our grandkids!”)  On Chris’ one week trip he hits Philadelphia (where he served his mission), NYC and Boston, and we caught him in the middle for a few hours.  Avery didn’t come because of a competing friend’s wedding in Seattle, and we missed seeing her!   Chris came to our apartment via bus for breakfast, and then after a little tour of the mission office, we drove over to Long Island City and caught the East River Ferry for a trip down East River to Governors Island, had lunch there, and then caught the ferry for the trip back up-river.  It was a beautiful 75 degree sunny day, and it was neat to see the New York skyline from many different angles!  This trip has been on our bucket list since we got here, and just like at home, we tend to do more things when we have visitors!  The best part, of course, was talking to Chris and see what’s going on in his life.  He and Avery just bought their first home a couple of weeks ago, so that will fill their lives (and rule their pocketbooks) for the foreseeable future.  We are excited to see it and Avery when we go to Seattle in October for Darci and Jeremy’s wedding!!  We are excited to have more family members visit us, so don’t hesitate to come!  We have lots of blow-up mattresses and bedding for visits!

Looking ahead, transfers and associated work will fill this week! New missionaries come in Monday afternoon, Tuesday everyone (new missionaries and the rest of the mission) gets their area assignments and meets their new companions, and Wednesday the departing missionaries leave for home. Then we spend the rest of the week getting all the systems and records updated with the new information.  Like we’ve said before, everything in the mission field cycles on the six-week transfer cycle, and transfer week is one of the busiest!

I still teach the 12-18 year-old YM & YW for Sunday School, and an awful lot of my spare thoughts seem to go towards finding the best ways to teach the 12 of them.  So often, what would work great for the 17/18 year olds wouldn’t work well for the 12/13 year old students, and I get a little frustrated having to water down the activities to work semi-well for both.  I have gotten to know the kids well enough that I can (with some serious work) get a pretty good discussion going with the older kids, but then the younger kids are a little left out.  I can only hope they will learn from watching and listening to the discussion!  It’s taken me 7 months to get to the beginning discussion point.  Previous teachers (and maybe some culture issues) had let them get so intellectually lazy that they just wanted (and often still do) to sit there and be talked at, so they can zone in and out.  I want to use the ‘Come, Follow Me’ discussion process to teach these wonderful young people, and it’s coming along slowly, but it is coming!  They still have a very difficult time pulling gospel principles out of stories and talks, and seeing how it applies in their lives.  Some of it is vocabulary—the general authorities and the scriptures have pretty advanced vocabularies for second language students… On the other hand, the standard desired for Come, Follow Me is very high (much like the standard in Preach My Gospel, for missionaries), and most adults in the church aren’t there fully either as students!  I love these kids, and will keep working with them until those who are willing catch the vision!  We love our mission!!

East River Ferry with Chris!

Chris and Diane waiting for the ferry

We passed under three bridges...Williamsburg, Manhattan and Brooklyn.

(Brooklyn Bridge in the background, Manhattan Bridge in foreground.)

The only picture I have with all three of us!

Waiting for lunch while Diane searched for a table. (Others
had the same idea of how to spend a beautiful Saturday
afternoon, including a number of bees and wasps.
They like picnic food here, too!)

Good Times and Good People

It has been a couple of weeks since we (meaning I) have written. We generally write Sunday nights but that is when we often come home and crash.  

Yesterday as we got to church I saw something that for some reason touched my heart. There on the steps was a young Chinese girl.  She looked about 10 but was probably more like 12 since she is not in our Activity Days group.  She was sitting there, amid all the chaos of people coming and going, with her marking pen in hand and scriptures open on her lap, intently immersed in them.  She was round-faced with glasses--not particularly attractive, but a beauty emanated from her that is difficult to describe.  I wish I had a picture to show.  Maybe it was the former seminary teacher in me that found it so touching.  

Our stake is trying to get cub scouts going in the wards and is having a difficult time. Guess who they want to lead cubs in our building!   We are having difficulty deciding when to say "enough!" Right now we each have 3 callings in the ward that are fairly time consuming.  Actually I would love to start up a cub scout den.  I enjoyed it the first time around (years ago) and I do love the boys in our Flushing Wards. We're just not sure we have that much time to give.  We think the Ward really doesn't have any idea what we actually do and that we have responsibilities outside the Ward.  We think they often turn to the missionaries to do things when it gets hard to find anyone else.  We would really like to help in an "advisory" capacity.  We'll see what happens.  The boys do deserve a good program.  We would love to see some of the parents become "scouters."

Ferris wheel built in early 1900s.  I tried not to think
about it.

We finally got to go to Coney Island last week with another senior couple, the Johnsons. The 90 minute subway ride each way was worth it.  We sure picked a good day.  Because of Hurricane Hermine that was headed our way (but which fizzled before it reached us) the weather was cool and pleasant but there were no crowds!  We had a blast and even rode the ferris wheel.  New York is proving to be much more fun a place than I had imagined.  So much to do and so few p-days.  We have a bucket list.

Sister Shapiro and I have started working on Christmas, emailing parents to remind them to mail early.  We will keep track of who receives packages as they come in so we will know who receives them and who doesn't.  It has surprised me how many missionaries we have who are here with no support from home or don't even have parents.  It makes me even more impressed with their dedication to serve.  We have had parents email us back offering to send extra gifts for those who have nothing (even though we hadn't mentioned it).  It melts my heart to know what good people there are in the world.

  

I have been missing my family today. (Maybe I shouldn’t have their pictures plastered all over my desktop screen.)  So I’m so excited that Chris will be coming to see us this weekend.  Can’t wait!

We love all our family and friends.  Our mission makes us realize how important they are to us and how supportive they all are.

The Robert F. Kennedy Bridge.  Lots of bridges here.

From the Ferris wheel at Coney Island.

Took a stroll through Astoria Park along the East River.

East River from Astoria Park.

Traffic Video

Traffic on our apartment block, Saturday at 1 PM (low traffic hour at home).  Pretty unbelievable!

This and That

Another exciting week has flown by, and it’s my turn to write the blog, so here goes!  My main task the last week and a half was getting four new cars prepared and into service, and bringing the four old cars into the office to get them prepped for sale, and then selling them (not done yet).  Monday we drove to Hampton Bays, about an hour and 45 minute drive each way, to deliver a new Corolla to Sisters Ashford and Johnston.  We arranged to meet them at the church (thinking it would be a nice church with lots of parking), but it turned out the be in a mall where a bank used to be (see pictures below).  Then, since we were just a few blocks from where the Martinos live (the senior couple that we see the least because of distances), we went over to their apartment to see them.  They were having a BBQ with the four elders and two sisters in the town (Monday is P-day) in celebration of Elder Hardy’s birthday, so we got invited to stay for lunch and got to spend an hour mingling and listening to everyone’s stories before we drove back to the office.  It’s always fun to get out of the office, see new areas and get to know missionaries better, and we love it!  The Martinos are from Texas and this is their second mission.  On their first, Elder Martino served as mission president in one of the missions in the Philippines.  Talking to them, their current mission is much like we thought ours would be—working with less-active people and providing any service needed in the community and church.  It sounds neat, but we wouldn’t trade them!!  Maybe next mission…

Hampton Bay Chapel

Sister Johnston & Sister Ashford with their new car

On Tuesday we had the opportunity to accompany another group of elders and sisters to the temple in Manhattan, and as usual it was great!  Sister Morales was on crutches and in a lot of pain with some kind of ankle tendonitis, but she said there was no way she was going to miss going to the temple, since they only get to go four times on their mission!  There is probably about a mile of walking to/between/from subways, so she was really hurting by the end of each trip, and it was great to see the other missionaries help her up and down the stairs, and slow down to wait for her.  By the last ¼ mile at the end of the day, she was exhausted and in tears, so a couple of the elders carried her.  It was a stifling hot day, and those were definitely some hot, sweaty elders by the time we got to the office.  (Probably, the elders didn’t mind that much, though…)  Diane took several pictures, but we decided it would be better not to publish them.  Another sister, Sister Fitt, impressed us so much with her absolute fearlessness on the subway!  Each time we got on a train, she would start working down one side of the car and then work her way back up the other side.  No beating around the bush with her!  She started every time with, “Hi, are you religious?  I’m a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and we have a message that can help people become closer to God.”  As soon as one person accepted a pass-along card and gave her their contact information, or refused, she moved to the next open seat or space at a pole, and talked to the next person.  It didn’t matter if they had headphones on (as most do), she just started talking until they took them off to hear her.  During the day, she gave out 62 pass-along cards, and came back with four referrals for Sister Williams to process!!!  The other young elders and sisters were amazed too, and we saw them asking her questions about her process!  What a great example she was to all of us!  (Sister Williams gave out a pass-along card, too, to a woman more our age!)

8/23/16 Temple Trip

(Sister Morales in black dress, Sister Fitt in red skirt)

Friday we drove to Staten Island to swap cars with some sisters, so we can get some accident damage repaired on their vehicle.  That was our second trip to that island, but the first time we saw the church there (picture below).  The power was out for construction work, and we had fun feeling around for the toilets in the bathrooms, but that’s a whole other story…!  Before coming back, we went to lunch at a diner called ‘Z-One Diner’, which was very good.  For some reason the diners seem to appeal more to people our age than young families, and we are generally impressed with their food and sandwiches.  We have especially been impressed with the French fries in NYC—very good at almost every place we’ve been!

Staten Island Chapel

Just a few more notes about what I do as the vehicle coordinator.  Most of my daily work is just fielding calls from elders and sisters and answering questions and giving advice.  It’s funny how a lifetime of experience driving and working on (mostly older in our case) cars can prepare you for a mission!!  I get questions like, “We can’t move our steering wheel or start the car. What should we do?” (Usually parked on a hill with the wheels turned sharply to one side.) Or, “We are hearing such and such a sound whenever we do such and such. What should we do?”  Or, “Our car was towed away!  We just left it for a minute! What should we do?” Or, "Such and such dash light came on. WSWD?” Or, “Someone smashed our window and stole our GPS! WSWD?” (Just happened this week.)  Or, “A lady swerved over and hit us, but she totally denies she did. WSWD?”  Or, “This is Roy/Bill/Alex from Pep Boys/Sears/Firestone.  We have a Corolla/Cruze/Legacy here that needs oil change/tires/inspections.  What is our authorization number?”  That’s my life most days and evenings!  I like it, and I generally know the answers.  Once a week or so I get surprised by something new, though, and it keeps things interesting!  Remember, we wanted to feel useful…

As Diane always says, we are loving our mission!!  I don’t say it as much as she does, but I do too!  The regular schedule of scripture study and good environment we work in is especially good for me, and I can feel myself becoming ever more receptive to the promptings of the Spirit.  We have a short devotional each morning in the office with the other senior couple, the Shapiros, and giving a scriptural thought from our studies every four days is good for us, too!  It helps us crystalize and verbalize our learnings from our study.  We are still much better at personal study than companion study, so we have lots of room for improvement there.  (Talking to the other senior couples, including the president, they all say the same thing.  All our lives, we’ve had to fit in our gospel study where we can, and it has not often been together at the same time.)  Now we have the time, but need to learn better companion study skills!  I hope all of you have this senior mission experience, in your own time and place.  You will love it!!