Go East to Westchester

 Weekends with stake conferences are always very busy. This weekend was no exception. I thought it ironic that Westchester is east of us. Olivia would tell you it's north, but it certainly seemed east as I drove. I noticed on Sunday as we traveled home, that going through some challenging, then smooth, then back to challenging traffic, my jaws are sore and my back teeth hurt from clenching them. I need to learn to relax in this crazy traffic. 

This stake has never called a Self Reliance Specialist, and it really needs one. They have 2 high councilors who are assigned to the area, one for English-speaking wards and one for Spanish. Neither is doing much to bring the work around, though the English-speaking HC attends our meetings each month. We were able to meet Sister Yuki Tano, the stake RS president, who is exceptionally anxious to see things progress in self reliance, so that was positive. She will now attend our monthly meetings as soon as she returns from being with her ailing mother in Japan.

We also met our first employment
candidate in person. Jamie French.

As part of his presentation in the Leadership
Session, President Mortenson pointed out that
not much progress is being made in retaining
the new converts and recommended some
solutions.

The conference was presided over by Elder David Kinard whom we had met in a previous stake conference last year. There were some great messages and opportunities to discuss our mission with several people, some  of whom could be influential. 

I ended last week with a short note about the Zoom call with the children and grandchildren for Mothers' Day. I should have included a cute, kind of profound incident. Micah II, our 2nd grader grandchild, asked during the conversation, "Who loves life?" We were all surprised by the question, but soon everyone raised their hands. He then declared, "I love life, because this woman is in it!" pointing at his mother. It is not only rare for a 2nd grader to think about loving life, but especially expressing gratitude for someone that most his age would take for granted. Out of the mouth of babes...

This turned out to be a training week. We had our monthly coordinating council meeting after the stake conference and found that there are several more facilitators needing training, which we will do this coming Sunday. 

During the week we got to be on the call with Chris George, our manager, while he trained a couple of people on the registration system. We are not authorized to get into the leaders' section of the registration website, so we can't really do the training. I hope we get a chance to have a debriefing when we end our mission, so we can raise issues such as this. Brother George is always willing, but it is something that missionaries could and should be doing. 

We also got to check four apartments of young missionaries. three from our district and the STLs from our zone. For the most part they were actually quite clean. The sisters have four missionaries living in the apartment and only one bathroom, so it is a challenge for them. Also, they had a lot of clothing and other items that were taking up space that they couldn't afford, so we hauled those things away. The same was true for the elders whose apartment is behind and walking distance from ours. Now our kitchen and living room are crowded with clothes, balls, and miscellaneous items that will go to some kind of thrift store.

Elders Fairchild and Huerta helping
us haul a load of extra stuff around
to our apartment.

It seems like we have seen some of
these chairs before. They don't get
replaced very often. The missionaries
don't seem to mind. Most of their day
is spent outside the apartment, anyway.

We took a morning to be with Elder and Sister Barnes whose son, Andy, had come for a visit. We had been curious about the National Lighthouse Museum on Staten Island, so we made another ferry ride and visited the museum. It is apparently being considered for the official designation as THE National Lighthouse Museum, which may add some funding to expand into the building right behind it, but for now, it is small, yet very interesting. It covers some of the history of lighthouses, especially in the US. At one time the facility provided parts and material for lighthouses all across the country. 

Sister Barnes, Andy, and Elder Barnes on the ferry.

By the front doors.

Various areas of interest inside. The 
caretaker was also a very good docent,
which made it more interesting.

The area is surrounded by old buildings that are
abandoned and boarded up. Enlarged, you can see
the date on this one - 1869. Obtaining the building
behind the museum to expand would only  be a part of
the expense. Restoration would be exceptionally
expensive.

The entry this week is short, not because we were out of things to do (believe me we are not), but because what we have been doing has been time consuming and nothing we could really take photos to illustrate. 

One interesting note, however. I was reminded on May 18th, 43 years ago, we moved from Washington state to Arizona. Olivia had a broken her right foot and it was in a cast, so she couldn't drive. My brother, Sterling, flew in to drive the car while I drove the Uhaul truck. As his plane got into the air over Washington, Mount St. Helens erupted and was spewing ash and lava. The pilot flew around the mountain one direction so everyone on that side of the plane could see it, then turned and flew around the other direction, so passengers on the other side could see. While that was exciting and memorable, more memorable for me was the selflessness of my youngest brother to make that sacrifice.

I know each of you have made sacrifices on behalf of many others, us included. The reinforcing feeling that comes with such an act is the most obvious expression of the witness of the Holy Ghost. Our hearts are filled with gratitude for people like each of you and for the incomparable gift of the Holy Ghost. We are deeply grateful to be part of the work of the Kingdom of God in this part of his kingdom.