It Takes 2 Weeks to Celebrate Thanksgiving

 Thanksgiving is upon us, which means that Christmas music will be played for about 5,286 more days. I like Christmas music for Christmas' sake. Some of the most beautiful and meaningful music was written for the day; as well as some of the most sophomoric, silly, and meaningless music. The latter seems to be the music most enthusiastically, and relentlessly played in stores and on the radio. I rant. Sorry.

We began celebrating Thanksgiving at home and in the mission this week. The mission held zone conferences, and being so close to Thanksgiving, they provided food for the missionaries from Boston Market: turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, candied yams, etc. They even included apple pie in a separate container that could be consumed there or at home, later (it was consumed there, extras were carried home). 

At the serving table waiting for the
missionaries prior to the end of
the zone meeting

The senior couples in the office made so beautiful
center pieces

Each missionary was invited to place
a grateful leaf on the tree. Ours was
the last zone conference, so it was 
quite full by the end.

In anticipation of the arrival of our first visitor, our grandson Dallin, Olivia baked a 15 lb. turkey (anything larger would not have fit into the oven). She baked it at 325° which means 450° in our newly repaired oven. I carved it and then we packaged the pieces so we would have it for Dallin's visit, Thanksgiving, possibly with the missionaries (we won't know until Wednesday if they have a place with a ward member), and for a visit by a sister from our mission in Sweden and her husband on the Friday after. More about these visits next week.

Despite having to prepare well in
advance, it was amazingly moist and
flavorful.

The mission did provide us with a nice
set of knives. There is magic in the
kitchen as evidenced by the strapless
apron

Along with the turkey, Olivia prepared Mama Stanberg's cranberry dressing (nobody's favorite, but mine), dressing, etc., etc. When we ate our early Thanksgiving meal with Dallin on Sunday, it was an amazing gastronomical feast. She is a kitchen wizard. 

Dallin's Visit

Dallin's visit was a lot of activity packed into a single day. He arrived late Friday night, so we needed to make Saturday count. We started with a trip to the World Trade Center from which we walked to the 911 Memorial Museum. Across the street is St. Paul's Church, where Washington attended services and prayed following his inauguration. We walked from there to the Fraunces Tavern, where Washington dined with his generals at the end of the war. We had lunch there and visited the museum upstairs. We caught the wrong subway (thanks to the less-than-expert advice of a subway expert) and finally made it to the American Museum of Natural History. We ended the day with a Broadway play, A Christmas Carol. The evening ended with the subway track where we would normally catch the E train being closed and the track where we were to catch it being blocked by the A train which could not move until a sick person several stops ahead was properly cared for. We got back too late for the bus, so we walked home from the Metro station.

We had a presentation and sacrament meeting Sunday morning, so Dallin's early Thanksgiving meal was a bit hurried. We walked to the Metro, again, as we missed the bus, but made the train and got him back to Penn Station in plenty of time to catch his Amtrak back to Baltimore. We had walked our feet to the knees and spent the day in a freezing wind, but what a wonderful time.

Typical of how we spent much of 
the day

In front of the World Trade Center

One of the exhibits inside the 911 Museum. The
videos, displays and memorabilia brought back so
many memories of that incredible day.

In front of one of the reflecting pools
where the names of the deceased are
inscribed in the marble slabs on top.

St. Paul's Chapel has ancient headstones,
and commemorative plaques of the 
centennial of Washington's visit

Inside the Oculus near the museum.

Walking to Fraunces Tavern we passed
the New York Stock Exchange on the
corner of Wall Street and New St.

From the old fashioned sign on the upper right you
can see that this is Fraunces Tavern. The icy wind is 
blowing Olivia's hair.

The Metro taking us many stops past
where we needed to get off. The A is
and express train. It would have been
nice to know before hand.

The American Museum of Natural History
is worth spending days there. We got lots
of pictures, but only saw a fraction.

Inside the Nederlander Theater I finally
felt warm enough to take off my coat,
but not my sweatshirt.

The playbill

A Christmas Carol is a one-person show.
Actor Jefferson Mays narrates, and portrays
every part. With the lighting, sound and special
effects, his acting was amazing. Olivia sneaked
a picture during the standing ovation, as he left
the stage.

Sunday, we got Dallin to his station,
but I was not about to waste what I
had not been able to finish before
our mad dash.

Missionary Work

Okay, we did manage to get missionary work in, as well. We enjoyed attending sacrament meeting in the Rego Park 2nd Ward. It is a Spanish-speaking ward, and no one offered to translate for us, so we listen hard and try, by using the few Spanish words we know, to figure out what is being said. Sunday was the annual Primary program, and the ward has a lot of Primary children. It was as if we had been home because the children were so childish. Some so confident, others who knew their parts, but preferred reading them to avoid looking at the audience, and a couple who just couldn't do it and sat back down, remaining silent. There was, however, no lack of confidence in the music. There was a lot of singing and it was done full throttle. 

Following sacrament meeting and the Sunday School class, we presented to the ward council. It was not well attended, but all the right people were there. The counselor to the bishop who is responsible for Self Reliance translated for us with the help of the YW president. It was so well received that they started planning how to get the message out more clearly to the entire ward in order to start classes in the first part of January. 

I prepared the slides in English. Our daughter-
in-law, Ruth translated them for this
presentation

Screen shot of the courses in Spanish

There was real excitement when we mentioned
that the Self Reliance courses are a great
tool in the retention efforts of the mission

I just thought this was a clever way to end...
but it didn't end. They all wanted to stay and
share ideas for bringing this important 
message to the entire ward.

Sunday evening we held our monthly coordinating council meeting with the specialists from each stake in the mission, and shared ideas for moving this work along in each area. Some of the stake leaders want to restrict the classes to a ward level, but it is hard to get adequate numbers for any course other than Emotional Resilience. We helped move the conversation to how to make this a stake project by using to new registration method.

In every presentation, and every meeting we are invited to join, we emphasize the value of the Self Reliance courses as retention tools. That message is starting to be heard, because it has become obvious that the missionary work is not going to stop  and it is not slowing down any time soon. 

Our final meeting of the day on Sunday was our weekly Zoom with all the missionaries and the mission leaders, President and Sister Holmes. As each zone reported on progress thus far, it is obvious that the mission will likely exceed its goal of 131 baptisms this month.

This is an exciting time to be in New York City. The missionaries post pictures of themselves and the newly baptized each week. Names like these are evidence that New York is taking the message to all the world: Andy (Anglicized from Mandarin), Hector, Debbie, Christopher, Javier, Kevin, Carlos, Yudelka, Rhaelle, Wilmer, Grace, Rafael, Anthony, Osvaldo, Alex (short for Alexandro), Nicole, Kaljoni, Sharon, Jaquil, Hayrettin, Daniel (Middle Eastern), Darwin, Luis, (a name in Mandarin characters), Marie, Francisco, Wilson, Andrew, James (Anglicized from Mandarin), Gina (Anglicized from Mandarin).

We wish you each a wonderful Thanksgiving and a happy week with family, friends and a grateful heart.