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

 We are technically assigned to every ward and branch in the mission, which effectively means we belong to none of them. We were happy when Elder and Sister Barnes invited us to go to their ward (Brooklyn 5th Ward) for their pre-Thanksgiving pie night. It gave us an opportunity to visit with people we have come to know and meet with new people. There were 63 attendees, which is a good turnout for the ward. Of those, 24 were recent converts, 16 established members, 7 friends (investigators), and 16 missionaries. We mostly helped in the kitchen and kept pie and other items on the table. The young missionaries got some pie, but spent most of the time on the phone confirming appointments, making appointments, teaching, and inviting members to assist in their teaching. They are full-purpose missionaries. You may notice at the back is a podium. This room is the chapel on Sundays. Bishop Miller finally gets to sample the pies. He ordered a lot of pies from Costco and Sister Barnes made ev...

 On Monday, we drove to our dermatologist in Flushing to finally have the stitches removed from Olivia's minor surgery. The lab report was positive: all the cancer was removed. Her face is back to normal and has only a hairline scar which will eventually go away. I wish we had taken pictures of the entrances (yes, plural) to her office. You enter a kind of hole in the wall where you are greeted by a locked door. There are instructions as to how to enter, based on the purpose of your visit. We had to push a set of letters, an up arrow four times, and a * which apparently sent a signal to the office. They push a button that unlocks the door. From there you follow signs down a narrow set of stairs to a hallway in a basement past other office doors almost to the end of the hallway where there is an exit covered with caution flagging and a warning not to exit there. Entering her office was like coming into any modern medical office you may have entered elsewhere. Kind of fun, actually. ...