A Walk In The Park

Needless to say, there are a a lot of people in New York.  Tall apartment buildings that house thousands of people; subways to move the people; pizza and bagel places on every corner; small markets to make shopping convenient.

But, what I am most impressed with is the parks.  They are beautiful and huge. Just a short block from our apartment is Forest Hills Park.  This park is amazing....a street for walking, running, or riding a bike; hiking trails in the forest (be aware of tics and poison ivy though); swings and slides for children, and ball fields.  Every day we see people heading to the park; they don't need a gym. With apartments being so confining, I am sure they appreciate nature more than people who are surrounded by large yards with trees and flowers.  I will add that most New York streets are lined with large, very old trees.  We can't wait until Spring to see the leaves on these bare trees.

We are going to Brooklyn today to assist with a companionship move.

But....

Sure am looking forward to getting home this afternoon and joining the rest of the hood for a walk in the park.....and then a slice of pizza.  Perfect day!!

One Banana Two Banana Three Banana Four

This coming Friday is our monthly Zone Conference.  I would love to make lunch for the missionaries before the conference, but alas we are not suppose to feed the missionaries at their meetings.

So.....I thought I could make banana bread for the missionaries to take as they leave the meeting.  I wanted to attach a scripture or thought.  I decided to go with Matthew 4:4.  You will have to look it up....it's always good to read the scriptures.

I have made 20 loaves so far and looks like I have enough bananas to make another 40 or 50 loaves.  Always good to have a loaf on hand to feed a hungry Elder or Sister.

This weekend was our Stake Conference.  Saturday night Priesthood session started at 6pm.  We offered a ride to the sister missionaries who live near us so they wouldn't have to take the subway.  They were very apprecitive, but said they had choir practive at 5.  So we left at 4:30.  Richard and I read while waiting for Priesthood session to began.  During Priesthood meeting the sister missionaries, both junior and senior, had a pizza party!  The adult meeting began at 7.  I think the majority of the people there were missionaries.  It was a wonderful meeting on Sunday, probably 1/3 of the talks were given in Spanish.  We all were given headphone so the entire conference was translated in either English or Spanish.

I Would Probably Be in Kindergarten if I Lived in China

Our missionaries are so amazing.  The other day we had the opportunity to visit sisters  Young, Johnson, and Lin (left to right).  They were having a serious problem with their range/oven.  Problem:  using a regular 2-wire extension cord (needed to be 3-wire) to plug in the range/oven into a wall outlet over their sink...oh, yes, that happens in Flushing. While Richard was fixing the problem, the sweet sister gave me a lesson on using chop sticks.  It was such fun laughing and giggling with the three of them.  I suggested that I should move in with them for awhile.

They also taught us how to write Elder and Sister Johnson in Chinese.  Only Sister Lin spoke Chinese prior to her mission.  Sister Young and Johnson mastered Chinese at the MTC and on their mission. They are blessed with gift of languages.  Elder Johnson and I are not so blessed in that area.  Hence, the reference to kindergarten, both language and chop sticks.  I ordered chop sticks from Amazon and have been practicing.

The sister missionaries are great missionaries, in fact, they had 8 baptisms in March!  In the picture, they are holding little jars they made for their investigators.  Inside the jar are different scripture references, one for each day to ponder.  I don't know how anyone could resist their innocent and sweet spirits.

I need to be fair and give equal time to the elders.  This picture is Elder Corozo and Nixon on a Friday night.  They are checking their ipads to coordinate their appointments for the evening.  It is very cold and windy outside, but that does not stop them. . .neither rain, nor sleet, or dark of night (mailman).  They both always have a smile of their faces.  Another plus, when we do apartment inspections, their apartment is immaculate...lucky future wives.

Last Saturday Richard and I had a few hours that weren't accounted for, so we decided to have a date.  Since we didn't have all day, we thought we would go someplace fairly close.  See if you can guess where we went.  Hints:  (1)  The World's Fair was held here in both 1939-40 and 1964-65; still need help?  (2) World Tennis Championships are often held here; OK, now the Jeopardy bell is going to buzz, (3) the Met's baseball team plays next door.

Flushing Meadows and Citi Field!  The above picture shows the huge globe, which was erected for the Fair.  You can see it for miles.  Flushing Meadows is where the world tennis championships are often held and the Met's baseball team plays at Citi Field.  Side note:  we purchased tickets for a Mets game in August...Arizona Diamondbacks vs the Mets.  Who do we cheer for?#@  Maybe just eat hot dogs and enjoy the game.

The park is beautiful with huge old trees, grass (which you don't see in NY), and flowers.  The Queen's Museum is also located there.  Queens because it is located in the Burrough of Queens.  It was simply a beautiful day to stroll along the walkways.  In the Spring, when the trees have their leaves and the flowers are blooming, it will be lovely.  There were two bridal parties taking pictures.
The exhibit we enjoyed most was the giant relief map of the five New York City burroughs, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island.  It showed all of the skyscrapers, bridges, parks, airports etc, and was housed in a room approximately 200 feet square.  You walk up to the second floor, which is open to the first floor, and gaze down on the miniture buildings, rivers, lakes and bridges.  We are getting so familiar with Long Island and Manhattan that we even found the area/street where we live.  It was too dark to take a picture.  You'll just have to believe me or see for yourself.