I thought we would have time last week to write another blog post or two, but there was no time. I realize, now that I will never have that kind of time, so I will very briefly try to pick out the important things and let future blogs be more descriptive of our activities.
I described our arrival in the last post. From that moment on, the Sturgills whose place we are now trying to fill, took us under their wing. They made sure to introduce us in person or over Zoom, to every leader in every stake who has responsibility for Welfare and Self Reliance. They took us to so many places in and around the City to help us get a feel for what sites we should visit and some we would not likely have chosen on our own. It was a whirlwind couple of weeks.
One highlight from our first week was a tour by Scott Irwin, a local member who is an amateur historian and Institute of Religion director. It was a Preparation day for the senior couples, so almost all of them were there. He took us to the street where the hotel Joseph Smith would have stayed in was once located. The area where Professor Anthon was given a transcript of the characters from the gold plates by Martin Harris. Those have long since been replaced.
Other places we passed by: The NY Federal Reserve Bank. Statue of Benjamin Franklin (Elder Sturgill in front).
A plaque of the ship Brooklyn that took a load of Saints around the Cape to San Francisco where Sam Brannon tried to convince Brigham Young to move the headquarters of the Church there. He apostatized, got rich from the Gold Rush, became totally corrupted and later died in poverty.
The Fraunces Tavern is where George Washington entertained his generals following the Revolutionary War. It is still a restaurant, so that is where the group had lunch.
Queen Elizabeth II paid for a memorial with a small garden to the memory of the victims of 9/11, so it was decorated and her portrait placed there as a tribute to her following her death.
We walked by Tiffany's, but we were too late for breakfast. ;o) We had to take pictures of the Trump Building.We also went to the Cloisters, where sculptures, paintings, and portions of ancient churches were brought from Europe, first financed by John D. Rockefeller, but added to over the years by other artists and philanthropists.
Everything in this collection is now part of the Metropolitan Museum. Everything is from the 12th and 13th Centuries, so it is very Catholic. We have lots more pictures, but I must press on.
We also visited the Cathedral of St. John, the Divine, an Episcopal cathedral that is the largest Anglican cathedral and the sixth largest in the world. There are some interesting displays, but it tries too hard to be a current advocate of unrelated causes...yawn.
The statue in front shows Satan being torn apart by an arch angel and a lobster, a lion with a lamb, and assorted other images. Surrounding the statue are depictions of animals done by upper-school children depicting Noah's ark.
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Turtle making its way to the Ark |
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The Ark and information about the exhibit |
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Followed by the goat |
The massive structure continues to be under construction from 1836 to the present. Doubtful it will ever be completed, though it has been dedicated.We went to a play, toured Central Park in a type of rikshaw and went on a food tour of Greenwich Village, among many other things. |
At the play |
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Teddy Roosevelt made a big impression in NY. This is a monument commemorating the sinking of the Maine in Cuba. |
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I did share this |
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The original Mamouns Falafel |
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Belgian French Fries |
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Famous rice balls |
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Great thin crust pizza |
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Supposed best in NY |
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The Georges came for the ice cream |
We attended church on 9/11 in the New Rochelle 1st Ward which is Spanish speaking. We heard a few words that we understood. Afterward we attended a YMYW combined meeting where the youth of the New Rochelle 2nd Ward (English) and the youth of the 1st Ward met together. Afterward, we went to lunch at the home of President and Sister Abreu. He is a counselor in the stake presidency. We passed by this high school where their son attends and saw this impressive display.This is Sister Ena Baxter with us and the Sturgills. She is another Eveready bunny with all the self reliance initiatives in her stake where she serves as Relief Society president. The Sturgills took her to lunch to thank her for her amazing service. We tried to pay for ourselves, but Elder Sturgill explained to the waiter that I was his father and he wanted to prove that he could make it on his own in life.
On our way to a Saturday stake conference in Plainview, near the Connecticut border, we stopped in Oyster Bay to see the Teddy Roosevelt house and farm. There is a wonderful museum as well as informative signs along the paths. We also stopped in town at his gravesite.
Roosevelt reported that he climbed up the windmill to make repairs, but neglected to secure the mill. When he got up top, the wind changed and brought the blades around, lopping off a piece of his scalp. Covered in blood, he climbed down and went into the house. On seeing him, his wife said, "Teddy, please do your bleeding in the bath. You are ruining the rugs."
The Friday before the Sturgills left we cleaned the building where three wards meet for church in the same building where the temple is located. We cleaned in anticipation of Elder Ronald A. Rasband's visit to New York. It was in dire need of cleaning as the members live a distance from the building and few drive, so cleaning assignments are rarely met.
I think Olivia thought she was having a bad hair day, so no pictures of her. What she did with the stage was amazing. Good thing, too, as it was certainly used the next Sunday.
It was the Sturgill's last Sunday and it was full. We attended the Rigo Park Ward, where they spoke in sacrament meeting, caught the bus and subway to Manhattan where we listened to Elder Rasband, and then went to the family history room to use the computer for a Zoom call to meet with the Self Reliance Coordinating Council as there was no time to travel back to the apartment.
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The best attempt at getting the whole mission in the photo. We are on the far left. |
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Sister and President Holmes with Elder and Sister Rasband. Sister Gerard is next to Elder Gerard (cut off) |
Elder Rasband was a missionary in New York as a young man, later served as a mission president here, and this was his first time back since then. He had lots of stories from his time here. It was clear he had a soft place in his heart for this mission. After the pictures and before he spoke, we were each able to shake hands with each of them. |
We chanced to meet Sister Mayo who used to babysit for Jordan and Ruth's family.
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Sturgills were scheduled to leave the next Tuesday, but they were not finished. Monday should have been a preparation day for them, but while they took the day to pack and clean, the evening was spent in Zoom meetings with the leaders from two more stakes. Early on Tuesday morning I went with Elder Sturgill to get our car that had been locked in the parking lot of the nearby church for two weeks. They were finally ready to pull out at about 6:00 AM. We have certainly grown to appreciate them and love them - we miss them already. They live in Eagle, ID, not that far from Middleton.
Much of the rest of the week was spent in combing the files, organizing what we need to do next, meeting online with lots of leaders from the stakes and region, and trying to be useful.
We attend a self reliance group on Zoom each Tuesday evening and another on Thursday evening. Wednesday we met with our newly assigned district Richmond Hill District. Good men, here. |
Elder Aguirre leaves for home this week, Elder Bedell, Elder Rosas and Elder Christiansen. The latter 2 helped us move in upon arrival here. |
We also meet with the Welfare Self Reliance Area Manager, Chris George each week. I neglected to mention that he made a special trip to meet and train us, spending two days away from his home in Connecticut to do so. He has been and continues to be a great support.
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Trying to see what Brother George sees on my computer. |
We finished out the week with a Preparedness Fair in the Lynbrook Stake where we were invited by Sister Baxter to introduce ourselves before the Red Cross took the remainder of the morning. We finally made our pilgrimage to Walmart where the traffic jam took place outside and inside the store.
Sunday we went to the Lynbrook Ward for their Fast Sunday sacrament meeting. After that we quickly went to the Freeport Branch (Spanish) where we met with a sister, Azucion who has agreed to teach a couple of English Connect Classes, presented her Ramos, with a special name plaque the Sturgills left for her, and helped with passing out manuals, so we got to meet some future students.
We also attended three Zoom meetings, one of which included a woman we knew as a young woman in Sparks, NV. Some of you will remember Ena Sinks, now Fowler. I remember at the special graduation party she told the group that her plan was to go to BYU Hawaii to "get a tan and a man." I guess she did. Now her daughter is applying for BYU HI.
Today is our P day, so I am doing this and Olivia is cleaning house and learning how to garden in New York City. Sister Sturgill left her some house plants and she repotted them out on our balcony.
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She just can't help herself. |
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Our humble abode. Living room and sliding door to the balcony |
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Kitchen and door to bedroom |
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Certain things we can't leave home without. |
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We visit with them and show them off to our visitors. |
I promise, this will be the longest one you will have to endure. We love and miss you and keep you each in our prayers.
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