Turkey, Pie, DUMBO and Historic Long Island

 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 even more.

Sister Miller helping with some of the
clean up.

Elder Padilla making sure his "friend"
gets some of the wares.

Olivia made friends with this friend from Bangladesh

Recent converts who had just finished meeting
with the Barnes for after baptism lessons. The 
chalkboard has lists of things the people in the
room are thankful for. By the end of the evening,
there was no room for more items.

The mission leaders asked that the missionaries check with their RS presidents and others to see if there were members who would invite the missionaries to dinner. Our district is all Spanish speaking elders, and had no invitations, so we invited them to our apartment. Our friend Sydney Reynolds, had mistakenly made wrong arrangements for a flight home to Texas and had to stay in New York, so we were delighted to include her, as well. We crowded nine people into our apartment, which seemed a little tight, but we fully enjoyed ourselves. 

For posterity, we have Elders Pravia (Nicaragua), Mortenson (Ohio),
Kendrick (UT), Winters (AZ), Tejada (Texas), Aguilef, (Chile), Sydney

Olivia prepared a 17 lb. turkey (smallest in the store), green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, relish plate, mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing, pumpkin pie, apple pie, Mama Stanberg's cranberry sauce (Elder Pravia couldn't get enough), and I'm sure I have left something out. We ate buffet style because we had little room on the tables. I couldn't believe how little they ate before complaining that they were full. Usually, we have no need to wonder what to do with the leftovers. Not that I'm complaining...

The Friday following, we went with Sydney, Elder and Sister Taylor, and Elder and Sister Barnes on the E train to the World Trade Center, then followed Elder Barnes to the pedestrian path over the Brooklyn Bridge. The Taylors and Sydney had never visited the features on Ground Zero, so we took time to appreciate the pools, the One World Trade tower, and the Oculus before we walked the bridge. 

It was cold and windy before we got onto the bridge, so I brought out the stocking cap and zipped up everything I could. Once we were on the bridge and out of the tall buildings, it was sunny and no breeze. It couldn't have been and nicer day.

Sydney inside the Oculus.

Barnes and Taylors at one of the memorial pools.

Getting started. It is about a mile-long hike.

At approximately the middle. It is an
impressive structure, especially given
the time in which it was built.

We came off the bridge and took the 
path to DUMBO (down under
Manhattan Bridge Overpass)

The bottom floor of this large building houses a
very nice food court with cuisine from several
countries. We chose Philly cheese steak and sweet
potato tots.

     

Taylors 

Barnes

Classic pic with the Bridge

Manhattan Bridge is very close to Brooklyn Bridge.

The senior missionary activity for this month was on Saturday at Old Bethpage on Long Island. We had been to Old Bethpage for Halloween, but we didn't recognize any of it from that trip. It is a restoration of several buildings that were built in the early to middle 19th century. They have been moved to the 200+ acres that has walking paths and functions as a farm, as well. 

Inside the old Methodist Church building.

A very chubby cow. They have a working farm
just large enough for demonstrations.

Robertsons and Humphries. Once we got to the
village we disbursed because our group was too
large to fit into the homes. The hat worn by Elder
Robertson was actually made by the milliner below.

The barn and other outbuildings.

Inside the wool loom and spinning shop

Spinning wheel with dyed wool ready to spin.

Outside the milliner's shop

Inside the shop is the milliner who showed us
the process, using hats that were actually in
the process.

One of the rooms in a home that has been moved
to the property.

Several homes had women in the kitchens who
demonstrated cooking in the 19th century

One of the more modern (Civil War era) general
stores. 

A couple of places had some live music from
the period. Here we have banjo/percussion, 
fiddle, and dulcimer.

Oh yes, and before, after and in between all this, we actually did some missionary work!

On Sunday, we went to the Lynbrook Ward on Long Island. The bishop was not well and a counselor and the ward clerk were missing, so Brother Thompson, the First Counselor was flying solo and did an exemplary job. The speakers in sacrament meeting were excellent, but didn't take all the time, so he filled in with a talk that seemed prepared. The first speaker was a woman who has been a member just a few month. She spoke on gratitude quoting scriptures from the Old and New Testament, the Book of Mormon, and the prophet, Joseph Smith. The second speaker was one of the missionaries. We have had several opportunities to be with her, as she is also an ASL missionary. We attended Priesthood and Relief Society groups and found that there are a lot of new converts; most of them are Haitian and speak mostly Creole. They are excited to participate, but there are lots of needs. We are trying to encourage Brooklyn Stake to start a class for Creole speaking saints, as there are so many throughout the mission.

That evening, we had our usual mission devotional early because we had a general authority visitor. The mission exceeded its baptism goal, again thanks in large part to the Chinese Zone, which had set a goal of 55, but achieved 70 baptisms. The mission goal was 201, they achieved 204. They had a goal of 600 recent converts in church and achieved 595, which is a record, even if it didn't quite reach the goal.

The visitor was Elder Marcus B. Nash who was there with his wife Shelly. They both spoke and were very inspiring. She bore fervent testimony of the Book of Mormon and its power of conversion. He spoke about the intergenerational effects of missionary service. This effect is true of the missionary and of those who are converted and stay to build up the church in that area. He told several stories related to the topic, emphasizing the need for every missionary to go forth remembering the lessons learned as they served in this mission. He even took time for several to say, briefly, the lesson they never want to forget, that they learned on their missions.

Sister and Elder Nash. Stock photo -
nothing still so green and 
colorful here, this time of year.

The Holidays are officially upon us. We put our string of lights out on our railing around the little balcony. We gave our large nativity to the Barnes, because they will have only one Christmas here, and we had it last year. We have a miniature set for us. Olivia put a red ball-shaped bell and a wooden ribbon on our door, replacing the fall adornment. We already have assignments at various events celebrating Christmas, and the City is in the midst of its annual yuletide displays. We are ready for peace and goodwill. We are also amply aware of the needs and challenges that have to be addressed. We wish you peace, happiness and a deep appreciation of those things that only the Gospel of Christ can bring.