Is Quiet Always Reverent?

 We went to the American Sign Language Ward for church yesterday. I was so touched by the testimonies of the speakers and the songs (yes, songs!) that I found myself wiping my eyes during much of the meeting. It was interesting, though (and thus the title of this post) we saw people talking (signing) to each other across the chapel during the sacrament. It seemed reverent because it was quiet, but at the same time, not in keeping with the purpose of the ordinance. It did not spoil the atmosphere for us and we were able to talk to a number of the members who are hearing or partially hearing after the meeting. Again, we heard, "Self Reliance? That's exactly what this ward needs." We had been scheduled to meet with the branch council several weeks back, but a conflict arose and we had to cancel. We met the wife of a counselor who is hearing, but was traveling. She asked us to text her husband and he will see that we are able to reschedule the meeting.

We were also able to see the ASL sister missionaries and the senior couple who serve there. Sister Gale goes home this week, and we will miss her. The sisters come to the Union Square building to study, as it is quieter and more comfortable than their apartment. We see them every Thursday when we are there, so they have become friends.

The ever cheerful Sister and Elder Engstrom. She
is partially hearing; he is deaf. They never let those 
problems distract them from their work. An amazing
couple.

Sister Gale and Sister Burns with a
deaf and blind ward member who will
miss Sister Gale.

Sister Burns, us, and Sister Gale with
a book to remember New York,
given to her by another Sister
Anderson who is a ward member.

                                                                                        

        I don't know if this will play for you. It is Sister Burns

        speaking with one of the ward members in ASL.
 

 

Well, I got a little ahead of myself. I have more to say about our Sunday adventures, but I'll go back a little, first. 

We attended our district council meeting with our two sets of elders on Tuesday. Two of them were quite sure they are going to move to a new assignment, this week. It turns out that they were right. Elder Harris, whose Spanish is marginal, but whose faith and diligence are phenomenal, is finally going to a solely Spanish district in the Inwood area. He will be great. Elder Young who has been a superb district leader will move to the Brentwood Zone to be a zone leader - no surprise.

Elders Young and Moser baptized on
Sunday.

Elders Summers, Harris, Young and Moser

 

Elder Rosas, right, met, and
helped us move into our apartment,
 and stayed in our district for a
couple of transfers. He is
returning home this week.

Tuesday evening, as we do every Tuesday, we spent at the Employment Center in Woodside with the other senior missionaries who assist there. I was assigned the spiritual thought, and Sister Hunsaker prepared the meal; she is an excellent cook. She thought she made enough to share with the young missionaries who came to teach their friends in the chapel there. She didn't know how much I liked her food. The sisters did get some, however. We spent much of the rest of the evening with Elder Packer who showed us some insights into the new Employment Services computer program.

Olivia got a new prescription and ordered a new pair of glasses. Her current ones just seemed off. She put her old ones on and her nasty headaches went away. The problem with those is that she can't see well with them. The current ones are close to the right prescription, but it seems the progressive lenses are configured improperly, so we hope the new ones are better.

Can't wait to see how they
look on her!

We had kind of a funny incident in the Union Square Employment Center. I noted in my journal that anytime we need to take public transportation into Manhattan, we have to plan on it taking us most of the day to travel there, work until 4:00 +/-, get back to the subway in order to be back in time to make dinner and settle in for the night. While at the Center, a handsome, well dressed, articulate young man came in to update his resume. He just wanted to use a computer. Elder Packer met with him and gave him some very professional counseling and helped with his resume, for which he was very grateful. When he left, Elder Packer remarked that the young man had just returned from California because he missed the pace of New York City. California was too laid back. "What pace?" I wondered. It takes an hour to travel 8 miles, and it is expensive. I think New Yorkers miss the harried existence, because the pace is glacial. A nanosecond is illustrated by the amount of time it takes from when the stop light turns green and the car behind yours honks.

Hopefully, she has practiced her
interviewing skills.

We do have a space in which to meet candidates.

Olivia brought her computer this time
and set up in a more open place.

 

We are constantly forgetting to get pictures with
the candidates. The Packers have been working 
with this young man and he has a job offer.
He agreed to the photo.

We took care of some personal things on Friday and Saturday - finished tax return, met the Barnes' daughter and granddaughter who used to live a short distance from the Manhattan Temple, took care of some employment matters and grimaced through another daylight saving night.

Forsythia being fooled into believing March is a
Spring month.

Daffodils reluctantly agreeing.

Back to Sunday. We also attended the Union Square Single Adult Ward after the ASL Ward. We enjoyed hearing from the young elders and a ward member who had just been released as a counselor in the bishopric, because he is getting married in less than two weeks. The talks were excellent. We had a chance to meet some people we needed to talk to afterward. Ned Gardner is an English Connect teacher and works for Henry Street Settlement, as I pointed out last week. He was attending the ward, so as soon as the meeting ended he quickly made his way to our pew and that allowed us to set an appointment with him in his office. An employment candidate was there, so we sat with him and talked with him a good deal before and after the meeting. We were especially happy to talk to a member of the Stake Presidency and the Stake Clerk, as well. President Bond is very interested in getting Self Reliance courses started in the stake, but they are swamped at the moment with the requirement to release married men from bishoprics and high council, and call their replacements. He was happy to see us and to eventually accept our invitation to help with training and support. Brother Waldir Alatriste is the former HC responsible for Self Reliance, but is now the Stake Clerk. He is in an ideal place to keep the need for SR before the presidency.

One of our employment candidates, Soul Evans,
 who attended church in the same ward as we. He is
a fairly new member of the Church, who recently
moved to New York City.

We look forward to the coming weeks as stake conference season is upon us. We have three in March, two in April, two in May and one in June. These give us great opportunities to meet with more of the leaders and to hear first hand of some of the things the leaders feel are the most pressing challenges of their units.

We wish you the best all this week and will report back at the end. We will end with our best wishes to our granddaughter, Norah who turned 14 last week. She made her own cake. Enlarge to appreciate the artistry.