It's Up to Us, New York, New York

 This week was the last of Elder and Sister Packer's service here. They gave the spiritual portion of the devotional on Tuesday, conducted the Zoom devotional of the NE area where missionaries, volunteers, and professionals from all over the NE area join in. Sunday night they gave their farewell testimonies to the missionaries. They have poured their hearts into this mission, including extending for 5 months, and they will be sorely missed by everyone. One of many outings with the Packers. They have become mentors and great friends. We worked with several employment candidates, all with stories that tug at the heartstrings; some more than others. They vary from lack of confidence to not really sure why they should be tied down to a job, to practically homeless. Almost all in desperate situations. We do what we can to give them the tools to succeed at finding an appropriate situation. A woman from Sri Lanka came in as we were leaving the Union Square Employment Center on Thursday an...

 In answer to the title, we generally work six days a week, especially on Sunday. Last week, we tried to tie up all we could and set appointments to avoid this week, knowing that our son, Jordan, was bringing Ruth, his wife and sons Jacob and Ezra for a visit. You will want to know there are lots of pictures this week. We did leave our housework and laundry on Monday, and cleaned up as early as we could, so we could attend a piano concert with David Glen Hatch and his top students. It was a very thrilling concert. It was mostly quite athletic piano pieces: solos, duets and eight hands. There was also a soprano who performed a few pieces accompanied by David Hatch. His students were apparently the top of their class, because they were all flawless, as far as we could tell. They were certainly Carnegie Hall quality. We made it to Carnegie Hall. We were not sure we would ever have the chance to go there. Some of the other senior missionaries. Many more came when the time got closer. U...