Summer break with family

For the past two weeks we have taken a break from institute classes as we completed the summer term. The fall term starts next week.

We were delighted to have the visit of our daughter Juliann, her husband, Berrett Doman, and their four wonderful children.

With the mission presidents approval, we were able to take a short tour for a few days out of our mission area.

We met the Domans in Boston on August 1.

We were able to visit Faneuil Hall and take the walking history tour of old Boston. The first public meetings protesting British heavy handedness occurred in this hall.

National park rangers served as our capable guides.

After Boston, we invited the Doman's to stay with us in New York City for a few days.  They especially enjoyed learning how to ride the subway trains.

We were able to see the Broadway play "Newsies", which will end by the end of August. Being old "paperboys" we really enjoyed this musical.

After our few days in New York City we went to Pennsylvania. We enjoyed visiting Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

It was really neat to be in the same room where the Declaration of Independence was signed and the Constitutional convention was held. The founding fathers were great men, reserved to come forward at a special time to do a special work.

Our guide reminded us of Benjamin Franklin's important words about the Constitutional convention. He wondered if he was viewing a rising sun or a setting sun. With our 225 year history under the Constitution, we now know it has been a rising Sun.

After Philadelphia we went to Gettysburg.  We had a special three hour tour by a guide in our own automobile. He showed us the major battle sites for the battle of Gettysburg. It was sobering to remember that there were more than 50,000 casualties in the three day battle. 

There are many monuments for both the Union and Confederate forces.

After Gettysburg, we said goodbye to the Domans, who went west.

It was sad to see them go, but we had such a good time with them. Remember, you're all invited to visit us in New York!

After Gettysburg we headed southeast to visit our nephew Darren and Becky Timothy and their four wonderful children.

We had a great time with them in the DC area.

Darren served as our special tour guide on Saturday as we went into DC to visit The air and space Museum and the American history Museum. We could have spent days there.

On Monday we were able to visit Mt. Vernon, the home of George and Martha Washington.

That was one of our favorite places on the trip. In addition to being a great military men and great president, George Washington was a great farmer. We were surprised to learn that he grew more than 100 varieties of crops.

After about 10 wonderful days of vacation, we returned to New York City in a great rainstorm but made it safely to our "pad". 

We are now back into the groove of missionary work, which we love.

Sister Missionaries

Sister missionaries are the best! They're making a tremendous difference in missionary work.

Our mission held a special conference for lady missionaries this week. Over 100 of them filled the chapel.

They are beautiful, don't you think? They now comprise 35% to 40% of our missionary force, up from about just 10% just 3 years ago. The recent missionary "surge" in the church is mostly a great increase in sister missionaries.

We husbands got to serve them lunch.

That was fun duty.

The sisters really seem to enjoy the salad bar. Do you recognize anyone at the bar?

We really enjoyed working with sister missionaries. They have a sweet spirit and are here because They really want to serve the Lord. Our district Sisters Franklin and Vasquez are on the right.

The subway train rides are a big part of our work. We New Yorkers found this cartoon amusing.

Getting around New York City is always an interesting challenge. Bicycles are a big part of the transportation picture. If we lived here permanently, I would buy one.

We enjoy our periodic walks around Brooklyn, exploring this beautiful city. Our institute classes are going well, and we're happy to be serving the Lord here. 

Remembering the hot shots

Sorry about two posts in one day. We forgot to include a mention of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. You may remember that the city of Prescott lost 19 firefighters in a tragic wildfire June 30, 2013. At the time there was a national outpouring of sympathy. Firefighters from across the country came to the funeral. Some even came from New York City. 

The other day and the grocery store we spotted three New York City firefighters. 

One was wearing a T-shirt with the wording on the back "Granite Mountain hotshots 19 Prescott Arizona". We spoke to them and thanked them for their service. We were able to get a picture of their T-shirts with their permission. 

The firemen in the middle has the number 19 on the back of his T-shirt. Also the words "Granite Mountain hotshots and Prescott Arizona". 

We are truly connected in this small world. 

Forever changing

Our Mission motto is "forever changed", indicating that both missionaries and members are forever changed through their service.

Every six weeks we have transfers in the mission. We have new missionaries in our district every time. 

Sister Vasquez and Sister Franklin are currently serving as sister missionaries here. Sr. Vasquez has been our district for two weeks now. 

We have a trio of Elders serving together as one is preparing to go home in a couple of weeks. Elder Duncan, St. Rose, Loftis.

Our weekly subway ride to the temple is always interesting.

Sometimes we are jammed into the subway and on the subway platform.

At Times Square subway station we always see New York's finest at their posts.

We always enjoy our senior missionary activities, which occur monthly.

We enjoyed our lunch in Central Park.

We ate next to a beautiful small lake in the park.

Our objective was to visit the large metropolitan museum on the east side of the park.

There are lots of statues and ancient paintings and figures. You need more than one day to see all of the museum.

It was a beautiful day, but we still needed some refreshment at the end.

Sister Tenney makes a good-looking missionary, don't you agree?

There were many street vendors selling their wares so we had plenty of food choices.

We are coming to the end of our summer term for institute classes. We are enjoying the students a lot. We have lots of variety on a mission, which we like. 

Music on a mission

Being able to play the piano and lead music really helps a missionary.

Now that a musically talented sister missionary has been transferred out of our district, Sister Tenney has now assumed that responsibility to play hymns for our institute classes.  We are relearning the important lesson that being able to play the piano is a great asset for a missionary. Those of you planning missions please keep that in mind.

We are enjoying our summer in New York. The weather has really not been too bad. It's a bit humid but we're getting used to that. The weather changes very frequently here, and that is the surprising thing for us Arizona kids.

Our summer institute classes are going well. As you might expect, there is a lot of turnover in young adults during the summertime. Our big challenge is to try to keep up with them.

We know almost all of them by name now and we are friends. Is challenging for young adults to navigate around the big city of New York. It is very easy to get lost if you wish to do so. We're trying to identify and connect with as many as we can. This work of the Lord is challenging but enjoyable.

The Brooklyn Bridge

On one of our recent P Days, we had the opportunity to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.

We rode the subway train from Brooklyn into Manhattan and begin our walk at City Hall. The walk was actually shorter than we thought it would be. 

East River, which separates the two islands, has always been a busy area of commerce and tourism. The New York Harbor is one of the best harbors and in America. 

This area was settled by the Dutch in 1625. 40 years later New Amsterdam was sold to the British for a small price and the area became known as New York. Otherwise, we would be speaking Dutch!

The view of the Manhattan skyline is pretty impressive from the bridge. 

We look like typical tourists, don't we!

We finished our walking tour seeing some impressive churches and other buildings in the Brooklyn Heights area. 

There are lots of great things to see and do in New York City. But, honestly, we are on a mission, not a vacation!

English and Spanish

We believe the New York mission is ideal for us. We get to use both Spanish (which I like) and English (which Sister Tenney likes) in the same city! We are noticing other branches in the stake when we can encourage attendance at institute classes.

We even got to look inside one ornate Catholic Church.

This past Sunday we attended the Spanish ward on Staten Island. They have a nice new chapel. 

Good attendance at church services. We picked up five new institute students after our visit. That was great. I also had the opportunity to give a fireside in Spanish at the Dyker Heights branch. That was fun.

For our preparation day activities this past week we walked the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood. Brooklyn Heights is near the East River. It was a historically significant area in the battle for New York in the Revolutionary war.

There is an excellent view of the Manhattan skyline from the promenade in Brooklyn.

There are many fine churches in Brooklyn Heights. Most we're built after the Civil War.

We even got to look inside one Catholic Church.

A highlight of our week was the opportunity to take 18 missionaries to the Manhattan Temple. 

Sister Tenney looks like a good tourist don't you think? There sure is a lot to see and do here in Brooklyn.