Stake Conferences, Visitors, and Inspections

We had two stake conferences on the same weekend, so we had to choose which one to attend on which day. We went to Lynbrook Stake on Saturday and to Fairfield (Connecticut) Stake on Sunday. We wanted to attend Lynbrook on Saturday because we hoped to talk with a couple of people about the 5th Sunday video devotional. It turned out that we met with members of the Stake Presidency, the High Councilor, the Stake Relief Society President and the sister who is recording the Mandarin version of the video. It was a productive time.

President De La Hoz is the counselor
in the stake presidency who is the Lead
for Welfare and Self Reliance.

We went to Connecticut, but the GPS was way off and we ended up being quite late for the Sunday session. We were able to see one of the missionaries who had served in our district and the companion he is training. We also talked with some of the local members.

They have not met as a stake until now. The stake
is two years old. This time they were able to meet
in the New Canaan High School.

There are a lot of young families in
this stake.

I wanted to share some experiences that were included in a few of the talks in the stake conferences, so far. One man talked about being in a family that was abusive. He went to bed with an insult and often violence, and woke up to the same type of abuse. In school, it seemed that he was a target, as well. As a young man, he felt he couldn't take it any longer, so he went out on a balcony and stepped off. Suddenly, he stopped in midair. He was confused, but when he opened his eyes, he found that he was holding a rail on a balcony on the second floor. He knew that God didn't want him to end life this way. 

Not much changed at home or in school, but he went on to college and found that he did not have that burden every day, any longer. One day after work, he went to a parking lot for lunch and listened to an audio broadcast about forgiveness, hoping to be able to forgive his father. The speaker talked about bringing Jesus into your life for real forgiveness. He decided to pray to God to know more and to find the path that would help him. When he lifted his head there was a sister missionary who knocked on his car's window. He saw the badge with the name of Christ and was amazed. She asked him if he would like to attend church on Sunday. He said a little manly pride caused him to say, "No, thanks. I'm fine." She followed up with, "How is your relationship with Jesus Christ." 

That was it. He gave up the pride and asked for help. What a sweet testimony he gave in conference that day.

There are other stories, but I will share them from time to time, so this doesn't get to be so lengthy.

The past several days have been celebrated by our Jewish neighbors. It is Sukkot, the Feast of the Tabernacles. It lasts for eight days, during which time the families live in a walled-in temporary structure. The first two days and the last day are considered to be like the Sabbath, when no labor is allowed. Yesterday was the end of the celebration, so I was able to keep my appointment with my Jewish dentist.

This is the front of one of the houses.
Obviously, people used to a comfortable
lifestyle.

This is the temporary dwelling (sukkah) where they
live during Sukkot.

Another house with a sukkah in the front of the 
house.

We were assigned seven apartments to inspect this month and they had to be done before this Friday. Olivia set five of them for one day, because our time has been so tight this transfer period. We started at 8:00am, hoping to arrive by 8:30, but there was an accident on the parkway, so we ended up being quite late to the first appointment, but by the end we were very close to our time. Happily, the apartments were in great shape.

Elders Hall and Andersen had rescued these chairs
when they were taken from the church. 

Sisters Ristine and Hoskins are in front
of the door to a very clean apartment.

Olivia pointing out to the senior couple
responsible for housing that a kitchen
table is possible for this apartment, if
it is placed just right.

We were able to join many of the other senior missionaries at Lyndhurst Mansion for our October activity. It was owned by three families in succession, the last being Jay Gould. Gould was one of the hated "Robber Barons" who had enough personal wealth that he could (and often did) manipulate the stock market. Apparently, however, he had a great love for his family and not only provided for them, but taught them principles of faith and success. They attended church without fail, and deeply loved one another.

Elder and Sister Hunsaker are both
distantly related to Olivia and have
become great friends. They came with
the latest style in t-shirts.

They are decorating the mansion for
Halloween, and put up this picture
because this matron seems scary.

One of many marble fireplaces, this
one draped for Halloween.    

Many of the ceilings are painted by
famous artists of the day in the manner
of the European castles.

Many of the windows sport Tiffany glass, as do
many of the lampshades.

The table could be expanded with several leaves.
12 course meals were featured here for formal
dining.

All of the rooms had expensive paintings, but this
one had them covering every wall. Beautiful.

Sister Dittman, the Engstroms and Barnes are able
to sit for a while, as the very knowledgeable docent
explains what we will see next. 

Outside of the mansion.

The rain poured in buckets. It was a nice day for
ducks and geese. The road into the home and
grounds, here.

We took a quick trip to Sleepy Hollow
which is quite close.

We went into the cemetery where many dignitaries
from this area are buried, including Washington
Irving, who wrote The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
The road to that part of the cemetery was closed,
so we didn't see that grave. 

This town loves Halloween.

We had some really delightful visitors to top off the week. Jessica is a niece; the daughter of Olivia's sister, Jennifer. She came in December with her mother. This time she brought Sydney Reynolds who has been her friend since childhood. We met Sydney in Sweden, when we served our mission there. She is a faithful, delightful woman. She has been teaching in Germany for the last seven years, but has accepted a position as a teacher in a German school in White Plains, NY. She will be in our mission. We were so happy to see them both again.

Sydney and Jessica came to our home for their
visit and dinner. They had just come from a tour
of Sleepy Hollow, and got to see so much more of
the cemetery, including the dignitaries buried there.

Now some random pictures:

The leaves are just starting to turn on
the road to Connecticut.

An old, low bridge on the highway. Trucks are not
allowed for obvious reasons.

We stopped at a grocery store in 
Flushing to get a snack. The cashier was 
little annoyed that we only spoke English

Olivia takes random pictures as we take public
transportation. This is on the bus going from the
subway to our apartment.

Sisters Hoskins and Ristine are Sister Trainer 
Leaders. Here they are giving instruction to our
district.

Our English Connect students at the El Salvador
Consulate are pouring over their worksheets.

The bell pepper plant set fruit one more time.
The Spotted Lanternfly liked it too. It is an invasive
bug that the city is trying to get rid of, but they are
pretty harmless.

The Lord's hand is very much on display in everything we do on this mission. We are constantly in awe of the young missionaries' work ethic and faith. Miracles are reported daily and experienced by us in ways small and great. We love this work, even though we miss our friends and family. More senior missionaries are needed in practically every mission and every aspect of the work. Have a wonderful week!