Elder and Sister Williams NY NY South Mission: 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.