Little Rascals! We happened upon this on our dog walk.
The City! People in hats, snapping and singing!
The words "Mormon" and "Jesus" in one small corner of Times Square--I'll take it!
Other goings on there.
They made this a play?! Yay!
The Temple! Notice the pretty tree windows. I've only just noticed that.
Sister Torgerson (long time no see!), me, and Sister Dorneles (from the Amazon state of Brazil! She lives in the Amazon!!).
Sister Marley and me at the Temple!
The Angel Moroni!
Tim, you're not the only one who looks like Will Smith!
Apparently this is one of the coolest plays, and super family friendly!
A fun day at the Oakland Something Day, comparable to Ogden Days--no, we didn't just go there--we were invited to join some members and attempted to teach them there, but the atmosphere was quite loud.
I'm embarrassed by how disheveled this is, but keep in mind--I'm sick. Also I really appreciated that package, so I just wanted to let you know.
Dearest Family!
Today I turned 22--agh! I'm feeling so strange in my old age! But what have you, that happens. As of Saturday I've had strep throat, so no breakfast in bed or anything, but I did enjoy opening the package Moimers sent me, and was so pleasantly surprised with everything! It was a great morning! In my excitement and wanting to eat the Blueberry Morning she put in there, I thought I'd eat a banana first to see if my throat would swallow that okay, and then I could have the cereal. Not so! Even mushed up, the banana was too spicy and hurt too much. So, I'll save the cereal for another exciting day! And then my companion sent me on a little scavenger hunt about the house, with some special prizes hidden round, including mini animals that you can squeeze and put on pencils and things! So the birthday has been tops and so has the rest of the week!
Ok, here we go!!
Monday: Bought Listerine.
Tuesday: Walked Sister Fantau's dog around the block because we asked if we could do anything for her, and that is what she needed help with. It was quite lovely! Also, we visited Sister Fessler, who's in a nursing home. We sang hymns and read a scripture and just visited with her. She's so cute, she doesn't say much, but she's sweet. As we were getting up to leave, she caught my hand, looked at me and Sister Marley and said, "You walk with God." I didn't know what to say, so I just gave her a big hug. She's such a neat lady.
Wednesday: The Activity Day's girls had to do a service project, so they decided they would make dinner for the missionaries. They made baked ziti (the Jersey equivalent of spaghetti--no one makes the latter, but everyone makes ziti), salad, breadsticks, and, wait for it...fudge! And then they set a long table on the stage all fancy and we sat down with them and ate the dinner and got to know each of them better. It was so awesome!
Thursday: We went to the Temple! Agh! We woke up early, got dressed up, drove to Union City and parked at that chapel. The rest of our zone met us there and we all walked together through town until we spotted a wahwah (a bus that only costs $2 and goes right to New York City. That is a crazy deal, considering it costs $12-$30 to get into the city by train or car). We got off the bus and walked to the Temple. The first time I came, we parked under the Temple. But this time, since the bus terminal is farther away, we walked for about 20 or 30 minutes and right through Times Square! It was pretty flashy and also neat to see what plays are happening and so forth. And so many people! Goodness, they were everywhere! But it was cool to be walking with 15 other missionaries, plowing through the crowd and the craziness on our way to the Temple. I just felt like a big force for good. And people recognized us--three different groups of members came up and high fived us and shook our hands and then went on their way. Then we got to the Temple where we saw another zone who'd come from West New Jersey via train. We all walked in together and immediately there was calm and peace. It's so nice to shut out the world and just feel the peace of Heavenly Father's House! All the missionaries went to the same session, which was made of almost all missionaries, except for maybe six other people. They had to bring in about ten extra chairs to fit us all in there, probably thirty missionaries in all. It was so cool! The session was great, and especially the peace in the Celestial room. When we were finished, we went back out into the hustle and bustle and walked back through Times Square to our wahwah station. We went to the Temple fasting, so we were all pretty hungry. Sister Marley and I went to a diner with Sisters Dicou and Dorneles. I got a grilled cheese (and no, it didn't compare to the one from the old hospital--those things were amazing!).
Friday: We had dinner with the Manchester family and at the end asked them if there was anyone they knew who would benefit from knowing the Gospel. It was quiet, as it usually is, no one wanted to say anything, and then Brother Manchester quietly said,"Well, maybe Kevin. I should just go over there and talk to him. I've known him for fifteen years and invited him to serve in the storehouse with me, but it never happened. He's by himself, his mom recently passed away. I should just go over there." And his son-in-law said, "Right now?" To which brother Manchester said, "Yeah, I guess so. Maybe the sisters could come with me." So the three of us walked across the street and knocked on his door. I was all sorts of excited thinking, "Oh my goodness, he's going to let us in, and we're going to teach him about the Gospel and he's gonna feel the Spirit, and he's gonna get baptized, and have all of these amazing blessings and he'll know Heavenly Father loves Him! Agh!" And then he wasn't home, but the fact that that member had the courage after fifteen years of wanting to, to actually go up and knock on his neighbor's door was amazing. We talked in the driveway after that for a bit and Brother Manchester said he had made the decision and knew he had to do it now and he was excited to. And he had more courage with the missionaries there, so hopefully he will talk to Kevin and Kevin will be receptive.
Saturday: Ellis Island! Lots of Polish people there. Or American people with Polish ancestors. It's funny how it goes in droves of one week, lots of Irish, the next Italian, the next Polish, the next something else.
Sunday: We went to a part-member family's Eagle Scout ceremony and dinner. We have been trying to see them for eight weeks now, and finally saw them! And then they invited us to their scout thing. It was neat. Tonight we're planning on teaching them about Family Home Evening.
So that's a not so typical week, but a really good one! I love you kids and I hope you had a good Father's Day! Love you too Pops, here's a wink and hug from this one! (and then a big bear hug and machine gun kiss from that one). Love ya!
Sister Mister
