Changing and growing

One of the good things about a mission is that you're always changing and growing. That is true for us as a senior couple as well as for the young missionaries.

We are continually being challenged to do more and to learn more. Each week we learn more about the wonderful resources the church has to help us teach the Gospel.  We love studying the Gospel together and teaching it to the young people out here.

We recently had another transfer meeting which always brings great excitement and many changes. Pres. and Sr. Calderwood are great inspirational leaders.

We are so blessed to have them as leaders.

We love working with the young missionaries in our district and zone as well as with the young single adults and institute classes.

We also love our temple work on Friday of each week. Last Friday we were able to enjoy a cold ice cream cone on a cold New York night. It makes a lot of sense doesn't it!

On a recent P day we were able to take in the Disney on ice performance called Frozen. 

The performance was held at the new Barcklays Center in Brooklyn. We greatly enjoyed the performance, but would have loved to have seen it with some of our grandchildren.

It was a great show.

We enjoyed our Brooklyn stake conference this past weekend. Our presiding officer was elder Anthony Perkins of the first quorum of 70. 

This stake is very racially and ethnically diverse. There are probably more Hispanic members than any other culture. We also have a large contingent of Chinese and African-Americans. Some conference talks were given in English and other talks were given in Spanish. we enjoyed them all.

Fall season in New York

We have had an enjoyable fall in New York. We have enjoyed the changing colors of the leaves.

On one of our recent preparation days we strolled through Central Park.

A Japanese man took our picture. Most of the people in the park are from some other country. This is truly an international place.

The colorful leaves were in full bloom.

It is remarkable how you can have nature in the middle of a large city. Central Park is truly a major gathering place.

After our walk in the park we of course developed an appetite.  We had to get something at this famous ice cream shop.

It looks like we were well fed doesn't it.

We saw more beautiful leaves on our trip to West Point with senior couples.

Our group had a special tour of the Academy given by Major Cook, a friend of the church. We got to see things that most visitors do not get to see.

The large mess hall which feeds 4400 soldiers at a time was truly amazing.

The cadets are taught a strict on a code which we should all follow.

West Point is a strategic location in the Hudson river which was very important in the Revolutionary war. We were able to prevent the British from taking over the river and thus dividing the colonies.

It was a great outing. We really enjoy the senior missionary opportunities. We have an active group of senior missionaries in our mission. We look forward to our monthly activities together.

A beautiful fall

We enjoyed a beautiful fall day last Saturday traveling to West Point, approximate 50 miles north of New York City.  The leaves were changing colors and they were beautiful.

We also enjoyed visiting the stately West Point military Academy.  These stone buildings are approximate 200 years old.

The view of the Hudson river valley was also gorgeous.

The Hudson river has been very strategic river in the history of the United States.

Control of the Hudson river was of vital importance to the colonists in the Revolutionary war.  The British wanted to control the Hudson river to divide the colonies in half. Efforts were made to prevent that, including placing a large chain across the river. The river makes a sharp turn at West Point thus making it the ideal spot to gain control of the river.

Halloween is in the air.

We always enjoy it when people take time to decorate their home or business for the holidays.

We also enjoyed a Halloween party and chili cookoff with the family ward which meets in our building. And it's good to be in church with little kids on occasion. We miss that interaction in our YSA branch.  Most of the members of the family ward are young professionals who have one child.

Sister Tenney took 2nd place in the chili cook off with her mean summer vegetarian chili. It was yummy!'

Happiness is sharing the mission experience with the one you love - your sweetheart. Being missionaries is great fun. And a great experience for both of us. 

More fun visitors and activities

No sooner had Amy and her friends left New York a little over a week ago when we were blessed by the visit of Harold And Kitty from Arizona. 

They arrived by bus from Washington DC.

We all enjoyed a session of the New York City temple in Manhattan. That is always a highlight for people who come to visit us in NYC.  We love the temple.

 

Kitty and Harpld enjoyed riding the subway with us. The subway system is always something unique about New York City.

We also enjoyed the Cinderella Broadway musical together. 

A sobering part of their visit was our visit to the 9/11 memorial site. We were able to observe the reflecting pools which marked the spots where the twin towers once stood.

They were also able to observe the newly constructed one World Trade Center building. 

Harold And Kitty also enjoyed the view from our "10E" apartment. We have a great view of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline. 

After we reluctantly said goodbye to Harold And Kitty on Saturday, we took part in another senior activity. The senior missionary couples traveled to the east end of Long Island to Montauk lighthouse.

It was a cold, blustery day, which reminded us that winter is soon on the way. 

We even got to see the Atlantic Ocean, which was pretty cool.

We topped off the week by viewing a special devotional fireside broadcast from the Lincoln Ctr., Chapel in Manhattan featuring Elder L Tom Perry. The occasion was the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Mormon pavilion at the New York City worlds fair in 1964. That pavilion marked the first effort of the church to use media to feature the church. The film "Man's search bfor happiness" was first shown at that world's fair.

In all, it was another busy and eventful week. We taught all of our institute classes during the week, and Harold and Kitty accompanied us for most of the classes. They were able to see the diverse students we work with.  Our students come from different races, countries, cultures, and church backgrounds.  We really enjoy sharing the gospel with all of them.

Senior missionaries and visitors

Senior missionaries and visitors. 

We have had a busy two weeks

One of the fun things we do as senior missionaries is get together each month with other senior missionaries to do a fun P Day activity. Sister Tenney and I hosted the activity in late September.

We first met at the mission office to have some sharing time. We each gave a brief overview of our mission and our lives. It was neat to get to know them better.

We then traveled by subway train to the 9/11 memorial site in Manhattan where we were able to enjoy the 911 memorial garden and a view of the one World Trade Center, which is the largest building in North America. We then spent a few hours in the 911 Memorial Museum, which was recently opened.

Pieces in the building collapse were displayed in the museum.

Keeping the buildings protected from the Hudson river nearby was a big engineering challenge.

We were blessed this past week with the visit of our daughter Amy and four of her friends from Arizona.

We spent a delightful week with us touring New York City. They had a busy and full week and we did our best to keep up with them.

Our cozy little apartment was their home for the week.

They especially enjoyed mastering the New York City subway system, which they did very quickly.

We did the subway rides as well.

We even learned how to do our own selfie photo. 

Linda and I got separated briefly at Central Park, so she found a new boyfriend!

But I quickly ran him off and reclaimed her for myself!

One fun activity during the week was to travel to Sleepy Hollow, New York, the site of the legend of Sleepy Hollow. This cute little town is just north of New York City.  We were also able to tour a Dutch reformed church building on the cemetery property, which was constructed in 1685.  We had a great time with these fine young ladies.

 

We reluctantly said goodbye to Amy and her friends on Saturday.

We really enjoyed Gen. conference weekend with members in two different branches as well as the missionaries.