Home Alone

This is the first of two blogs while my companion is gone home to Kent to help with grandchild #10, Kennedy Jo Martin.  She was delivered Friday, 6/9/17 by cesarean, so she is doing fine and mom is a little slower to recover! They are coming home from the hospital this afternoon (6/11).  Kennedy weighed 7lb 1oz, so she is 3lb more petit than her older brother, Austin, was!  She looks really cute and sweet from the pictures!  (They aren’t good for much else at that age…)  Diane is excited to hold her and take care of her and her mom.  I’m sure she will love it, and be totally exhausted and happy to come to NY and recover after two weeks. 

Meanwhile, the Kent stake had a big meeting today where the boundaries of all the wards were adjusted to even out the priesthood holders, youth and children.  Diane’s comment to me after the meeting was, “Wow, they (Kent stake) don’t know how good they have it, and how much strength of leadership they have!”  They talked about wards currently in the Kent stake with incomplete presidencies, and that is often the norm here. Few presidencies in the Lynbrook stake wards and branches seem to be full, and even our branch presidency went three months without a counselor recently. We only know what we experience, and we are so thankful to be experiencing so much here in NYC!!

Yesterday I went for a walk down to Forest Hills and back.  It was a beautiful day for it, and you notice so much more when you are walking!  However, I didn’t think to take any pictures until on the way home, at around 8PM, so they are a little dark.

Neighborhood a block or two off Queens Blvd. These 1700sf

homes are $600,000-900,000.

Looking west down Queens Blvd towards the Manhattan Skyline

at sunset

Still amazes me to walk by these buildings that could hold

as many people as Kent!

Tonight, as usual (only usually with my companion) I went to Sunday dinner at Sister Petersen’s house along with eight of the local missionaries.  It’s always fun to just listen to them relate to each other, and see what they talk about.  Unfortunately, tonight the topic ended up on zombie movies and TV shows, and everyone but Sister Petersen, Me and Elder Afoa (from Samoa) seemed to enjoy the conversation!  (Diane and I mention often, and I was again impressed with how different the elders and sisters are when they have their missionary mantles on, than when they have their teenager personalities going!  With the missionary mantles on, you can see so much easier how strong they can be and what they can become in the Lord’s kingdom!!) We sure love them!  (BTW, I’m doing well on my transition to becoming a hugger. I probably do the hug thing 70% of the time now.  Still working on it…)

I love my mission!  Thoughts of my Sunday School class, the people I home teach, and Jay are never far from my mind and are always in my prayers.  I want so much for them to be happy and do the things that lead to happiness in the eternities!!  All I can do is do my best to be a positive influence in their agencies, and I try.  Thoughts of Diane and my family are also always on my mind, and I know this is what my Heavenly Father expects—for me to learn to love and serve others more fully and more often. I know He lives and loves me!