Lang May Yer Lum Reek (and wi' yer ain coal)!

 For the first time in I don't know how many years, January 25th came and went without our hosting a Burns' Supper. For the uninitiated, Robert Burns, the poet laureate of Scotland, was born January 25, 1759. He is celebrated anywhere a group of Scots can gather, but especially in Scotland. It is a day-long celebration now, and ends with a Burns' Supper where Scottish fare is served, toasts to the laddies and lassies, and a recitation of Burns' poem "Address to a Haggis" is mandatory prior to consuming the meal. I have quoted it enough over the past 45+ years to have it down by heart. No such celebration this year.

Except that, we told the elders in our district about it, so Olivia made trifle and we took it with us to our district council meeting. We arrived a little early, so they could enjoy it as dessert for their lunch. I wore my Harris Tweed jacket and Anderson tartan tie and, with a kitchen knife, cut it as if it were the haggis, while reciting the famous poem. "Ye powers wha mak mankind yer care and dish them out their bill o' fare, auld Scotland wants nay skinkin' ware...gie 'er a haggis!"

Oh yes, and Olivia wore a shirt with a
plaid that is close to the Gordon tartan.
The T-shirt came in the mail just in time.
It was a gift from the Jones family who
are likely still chuckling about it. It says
"I'm Sexy (covered by her badge 'Sister
Anderson') and a Poet

The elders paying rapt attention to a poem they 
can't understand. They're used to it; they are called
to speak Spanish.

Enjoying real trifle. Life get no better - until you
find someone interested enough to agree to
receive a lesson.

The title of this post is most appropriate. It means "Long may your chimney smoke." It is a New Year's greeting meaning may you always have the means to afford coal to stay comfortable in your home. I said it to a man in Scotland who replied, "Aye wi' ither folks' coal!" Not any more. That's why we are practicing and preaching self reliance. So we say, "and wi' yer ain coal."

This district council meeting was the last one for a couple of our district members who will be transferred out this week and we will get to know two more elders. We will also get a new zone leader and a new sister trainer leader (Sister Anderson, how cool is that?). So we took pictures of them working on where their finding/teaching approaches needed fine tuning and just a good group photo.

They outlined their approach and then received 
input from the others about areas that could be
improved. Very effective because they are very
dedicated.

Elder Truman and Elder Christiansen on the left
are being transferred. Elder Harris and Elder
Young will remain.

Olivia saw how I winced when she gave the left-over trifle to the young missionaries. They were as excited as if it were Christmas - for good reason! Anyway, she had some left-over cake and jello, so she made a special trifle again just for us.

Start with a layer of cake soaked in
jello.

A layer of this and a layer of that and
over again. 

Does that look delicious? The trifle
was good, too.

It took a couple of days, but we 
managed to have some real dessert.

We got to inspect a couple more apartments this week. We forgot to take photos while we were in the apartments so we improvised. The Sisters Putnam and Blood are currently the STLs and have been living with a broken toilet seat for who knows how long, so we get to replace it. The elders apartment was in good shape, other than needing some items for their "go bag" which they are supposed to buy.

Elder Clayton and Elder Bybee with their new
convert who was baptized on Sunday with
over 40 others in the mission.

Sister Putnam and Sister Blood sent us a selfie

We have been quite busy this past week, but we did have a little down time on Thursday afternoon, so we went to the Queens Museum. It is an imposing sight along the Grand Central Parkway, so we decided to go in. The Sturgills made sure we got a library card before they went home, and it gets us into some pretty interesting places, including this museum. The museum and sports complex next to it are the locations for the 1936 and 1964 World's Fairs. Most of the museum deals with what was on display in those fairs. Of course, one of the purposes of the fair is to display products that are new or soon to become part of our lives, so that was interesting. The displays were quite sparse, to tell the truth. There is a lot of wasted space that displays some modern art and sculpture, much of it dedicated to white supremacy and social justice. They didn't get much of our attention.

A couple of displays did get our attention, however. One was a gigantic diorama of New York City with its boroughs, bridges, buildings and parks. It is to scale for the most part, so it takes time to walk around it, listening to the description of the various areas on our phones. 

We stood several feet above. Here is Ellis Island
and the Statue of Liberty.

This gives you an idea of the size of the diorama.
Here is the depiction of Central Park.

Manhattan and Brooklyn with the Brooklyn Bridge
in front.

 The other display was an entire room dedicated to the making of Tiffany Lamps. There were lamps in various stages of construction, videos of how the glass is made and how it is shaped into the lamp shades. Louis (lou-ee) Tiffany was the son of the founder of Tiffany & Company, who had the time, means and talent to create interior design and art. He formed firms in Manhattan and Queens with talented artisans to create his visions. 

Some of the lamps created by his firms
that are still producing them today.

A partially created lamp on a mold with
one of the videos in the background
showing how the glass 
is cut and soldered into place.

Sunday we were invited to speak in Sacrament Meeting in the Brooklyn 3d Ward and we stayed for the 2nd hour to participate in the 5th Sunday activity that the bishopric organized. Our talks were cut short because the counselor who was supposed to conduct came 10 minutes late, so they started 15 minutes after the hour. We managed to make our talks shorter, but still got the message across, I think. The Brooklyn Stake is the poster child for the Self Reliance initiative. They are holding 4 courses; a 5th will start in 12 weeks when the sister who will facilitate finishes the course she wanted to take. Hers will be in Haitian Creole. 

During our talks we both had noticed a young man who seemed to pay close attention to all we were saying. He was sitting by one of the sister missionaries, so we assumed he was not yet a member. We were right. He has agreed to baptism on February 11. His name is Roman (as far as the sisters could understand - they don't even know his last name). He informed us that he is from Russia from which he recently fled. He was in the Russian Army and was about to be deployed. He has a mother and a sister in Ukraine, and was told that he had no case for an exemption. He managed to get out of the country, flew from Turkey to Mexico and crossed the border into Arizona. He was held in detention there while his situation was considered, then sent to New York by bus. He has an asylum hearing this week. His ultimate goal is to join the US Army. He will be quite an asset.

Roman with Olivia. Something I don't understand
is why the Border Patrol confisticates all belongings
other than what the person is wearing when they
send them here. We have heard this so many times
we have no reason to doubt it.

The young woman with the long dark hair is a 
daughter of one of the leaders. The seated woman
was baptized last Sunday and welcomed into the 
ward this week. She bore a sweet testimony to us as we talked to her. Behind are circles learning about
the many apps available through the Church.

This young man was confirmed in Sacrament
meeting, so we got a chance to meet him, as well.

Driving through Brooklyn is always an 
adventure, but we see some interesting sights. 
Here is a long stretch of Brooklyn's China Town.

And a huge section of Jewish neighborhoods.

 

I have to share another "take the gospel to all the earth" baptism.  This man was baptized by our zone leaders. We haven't had a chance to talk to them, but the caption to the photo says he read the Book of Mormon and came to America from Turkey for religious freedom. 

A local member baptized
Batuhan, here with Elders
Erickson and Moss

Sunday was the end of the month, so we got to see how close the missionaries got to their goals. Because there was a push to complete as much as possible in 2022, there was not a lot of backlog preparing for January, so 132 was considered a stretch. The previous two months finished with over 150.

This month finished with 167 baptisms. The goals for members in lessons, new converts in church, and friends attending church were all exceeded significantly. 

Today is a true P day. Washing clothes and shopping at Home Depot for the sisters' toilet seat and shower curtain, meeting on Zoom with a young man who is just finishing his MBA at NYU and wanting a job, etc., etc. So it's late finishing the blog post. We hope you enjoy these little adventures. 

Olivia liked the shine I put on my 
shoes, so she brought in two pairs of
hers.