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!!