Halloween's Over, Evil has Passed

 Well, Halloween came and went. We didn't stay at home because we have only seen a couple of children in the apartment building. That also means we have no candy left over from bags that were never purchased. That ruse has worked in the past, but no longer.

Instead, we went to the home of the Long Island Great Pumpkin. 

Located in Old Bethpage Village, the Blaze takes place every year. It commemorates the history and some of the local interests. 

At the beginning of the trail

With the Packers at the end
of the trail

We were invited by Elder and Sister Packer, another senior missionary couple, to go with them. We enjoyed a meal at a restaurant near the event and then spent an evening appreciating some amazing sights and talents. 

Over 7,000 pumpkins are carved and on display

This is one of hundreds we thought worthy of a photo

There is a master carver who carves many and has
other carvers she oversees. The community is also
invited to contribute.

Various Celtic knots carved into pumpkins

Some of the more permanent displays are some type of resin that has been carved, probably using a Dremel or similar tool, but they are all pumpkin shaped, then stacked and distributed to create a scene.

116 individually carved Jack-O'lanterns
make up Lady Liberty.

The Doomsday Clock has works that
turn backwards

Large arachnids with bugs to catch and eat

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipNpHKpClTIeJ1c7wrbFQrbs8UFATqRr4ma7UDRD

If you can open this, it's a fun Headless Horseman display. 

 

Anyway, there are hundreds more that we'd be glad to share at some point. It was a fun, candy-free evening (except that I did sneak a bite-sized Hershey's Special Dark at the restaurant. Olivia took a couple of Twix, and let me have one).

We were pretty certain that at least one of the missionaries in our assigned district would be transferred out. In fact, there are two.

Elders Bedell and Tipps (Dist. Leader)

Elders Rosas and Christiansen

Elders Rosas and Bedell will be transferred
out and Elder Tipps will be training a new
missionary fresh from the MTC.

It has been an adventure meeting with these missionaries and we look forward to meeting the new ones.

We have been watching with some interest as the workmen next door erected scaffolding (right next to our bedroom window) to work on the face of the new apartments that are attached to our building. 

They are only partially finished 
in this photo. We now hear the
power tools and some type of
Chinese being shouted to each
other during the day.

Speaking of Chinese, we had our first experience of teaching a branch council this week with a Chinese interpreter. The couple we replaced, the Sturgills, had made the appointment and left us a good presentation that we were able to modify for the event.

The interpreter assured me that I had
chosen the correct language.

It made me wonder if our ancestors or
theirs were especially bad during the
Tower of Babel confusion. 

We have come to love our new friends, the missionaries, members, and leaders. Our weather is tropical, just now. 77° (F) at 3:00 PM. Kind of unusual, but nice for our daily walks.

Our love to all of you. We hope your week is wonderful. Ours will be quite eventful with transfers and stake conference in Brooklyn.