The land of freedom

On Monday of this week we had the opportunity to take the ferry boat to liberty Island and Ellis Island. 

Ferry boats shuttle visitors all day long to these two important historical sites. We were able to go on a beautiful day.

Lady liberty is most impressive up close.  The pedestal holding the statue is 10 stories high itself.

The statue was donated to the United States as a gift from France. Construction was completed in 1886. Mr. Eiffel, who later designed the Eiffel Tower in Paris, also designed Lady liberty.

Ellis Island was also most impressive. From 1892 to 1924, it serves as the main gateway for immigrants coming to the United States from Europe.  The site is now used as a history Museum, which depicts the ways and times people came to this country. 

First class passengers were dropped off directly on Manhattan Island, but second-class and third class passengers had to go first to Ellis Island to be sorted out and then set for us to the new land.  The "sorting out" process occurred in this large room.

It was known as the registry room.

The famous poem, "give me your poor, your huddled masses. . . " was penned in honor of the Statue of Liberty.

It was truly a day to remember.

Mission leadership

The success of a mission is heavily dependent on its leadership. Here in the  New York New York South Mission we are blessed have a wonderful mission president. Pres. Kevin Calderwood and his wife, Sydnee, have led the mission for almost 2 years now. They hail from Virginia where President Calderwood was a successful business executive. In his business career he and his partners did the same work that Mitt Romney and his partners did. That is, they bought companies, fixed them up and sold them for a profit. We are sure he did very well in his work. 

In addition to being well organized and a great executive, President Calderwood has a great spiritual dimension in his life. It is clear that he loves the gospel and loves the Lord. Sister Calderwood is also a wonderful example for all the missionaries. Everyone loves her and their cute 11-year-old daughter who accompanied them to the mission field. 

There is great enthusiasm for the work here. At this week's transfer meeting the mission expanded from 10 zones to 12 zones to accommodate the growth. We are now receiving more sister missionaries than ever before. The short term goal is

to have two sets of elders and one set of sisters in every ward or branch in the mission. We are almost there.

It is a joy to be a part of such a marvelous work. 

The growth of a diverse church

Sunday, April 13 was a historic day in our 
New York New York South Mission. As mission historians we were able to attend a special stake conference held at Queens College in Queens, New York.  Over 1000 members were in attendance. 

Thr purpose of the conference was to create a new stake out of the last remaining district in the mission. The Lynbrook Stake was created taking The old Lynbrook District plus parts of the old Queens Stake and parts of the Plain View Stake. 

The Queens Stake was renamed the Woodside Stake to more accurately reflect its geographical location. 

The new Lynbrook stake

presidency, with names of De Rosa, Shin and Anderson, reflects the diversity of the area.  At least one stake presidency member speaks English, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, French, and Italian. They will need all of those languages and more to serve the needs of the stake members. 

The new state president reported that there are approximately 140 languages spoken in New York south area, with approximately 10 million residents.

A special choir at stake conference sang a hymn in English, Spanish, Korean, and Chinese. 

The church here is quite different than the white, Anglo-Saxon, English speaking church we find in the Rocky Mountain West. 

We enjoy the diversity. A lot of the growth of the church here is among people with a different race, culture and language then we bring. We like that. This is truly a worldwide church, and New York is a great melting pot. 

Teaching the youth

Our primary assignment on our mission is to teach institute classes. We presently teach three classes per week at three different chapels in the Brooklyn Stake. One of the classes is at Staten Island, a different island than the one on which we live. We actually live on Long Island, but the people here refer to Long Island as only the part of the island which is east of  Brooklyn and Queens, which are two of the five boroughs of New York City.  So, technically, according to the locals, we live in Brooklyn but not Long Island. 

Our largest institute class is the Park Slope class in Brooklyn near our apartment which is featured in this weeks picture. 

The young man with sister Tenney is a recent convert to the church. His name is Jouvanni. The missionaries knocked on his door at the right time and he was ready to listen to the message. It was fortunate that the missionaries could even knock on the doors in Jouvanni's apartment building, since generally the buildings are locked at the front door and missionaries are not able to enter the building without a specific invitation from a tenant. 

On that one day in January the missionaries were walking by the front door of the apartment building when they heard a loud buzz indicating that the front door was unlocked. They stopped and discussed it for a minute and then decided to enter the building and knock on every door. That is when they found Jouvanni. It was almost like the Holy Ghost was beckoning the missionaries to come in. Such is the nature and joy of missionary work!

Friends from the west

Well, we received our first visitors from the west. The Brignone family from Hooper, Utah. They live in the same ward as our daughter Cindy and her family.

We met at the temple where their children were able to do proxy baptisms.

We then toured Broadway and the theater district to take in a meal. It was a delightful evening. They're here for the weekend to take in the sites of

New York City.

Our apartment is small, but we can accommodate visitors. If you want to visit New York, please come see us sometime in the next 16 months. We would love that.

The zone conference

One of the great joys of being senior missionaries is the opportunity to work with young elders and sisters. On Friday of this week we had the opportunity of attending Zone 3 conference, which is the north Brooklyn area. Our mission president Calderwood and his two capable assistants were also in attendance. They, along with the two zone leaders, organized and conducted the conference. There are 26 missionaries in our zone. 

The spirit was great, the talks were wonderful and we thoroughly enjoyed the day. One of our assignments was provide lunch for the entire zone. But Sister Temney did her normally capable job, and everyone was well fed. One of my jobs was to go outside and feed the parking meter every hour so we would not get a parking ticket!

During the last hour every missionary stood and bore their testimony. We are impressed with the preparation and dedication of these fine young missionaries. 

We have connected well with all the missionaries in our zone. In some ways we feel like their substitute mom and dad, or more appropriately as their grandma and grandpa. 

This work is great and we love it. 

Going to the temple

Our weekly trek from Brooklyn to Manhattan to the temple is quite a sight. Two fair-skinned senior citizens all dressed up Sunday best with little suitcases going on the subway, speaking not within New York accent. We are quite different from most of the other subway riders. 

Rarely do people give up their seats on the subway, but they gave up seats for both of us because we look so different and so much in need! They must've wondered what we had in those little suitcases! It is quite comical. It takes about an hour to get to the Manhattan Temple, riding three different subway trains. So far we have not gotten lost, and it's kind of a fun challenge to get there. 

Periodically someone will ask for money. Sometimes we'll give them a small amount of money, but we always include a pass along card with the money. If they will follow up on the pass along card, that will change their lives much more significantly than

a few dollar bills.

Friday was our first day as temple ordinance workers. In one six-hour shift we were able to do many different functions, some that we've only done a few times in our entire lives, or never before. There is a great need for temple workers here in New York. Most of the temple ordinance workers are full-time missionaries. We feel privileged to be part of that team doing that great work.

The temple is located in midtown New York, just across the street from the Lincoln Center. It is a great place and a great view. Broadway runs diagonally through the temple intersection.  There is a great European deli next to the temple we can get a great sandwich or bowl of soup. It is so New York!

Fridays, we know, will be the highlight of our week. We are having a great time. Healthy and strong.  We do wish Spring would get here soon.  The weather changes significantly in a few hours, so We're not sure if we're still in winter or in spring.  We think spring will win then eventually!