Sunday Buddy

This is a little girl is in our branch and she is a little sweetheart.  She is one of six children in her family, all about one year apart.  Once Sacrament meeting starts, she will generally find her way to us and sit between us.  She has such a happy spirit and is so sweet.

Our New Favorite Meal

This is definitely our favorite "go to" lunch.  Our favorite neighborhood pizza place just closed overnight.  We could not believe it, one day slices for sale and the next day everything was gone!

But, not to worry.  Naan bread, marinara sauce, provolone cheese, tomato, red peppers, and garlic powder.  All from Costco.

So easy to prepare:

Now, who could resist this....yum.

We get hooked on a particular meal and we eat it for weeks.

Examine the Day

We know that Sunday is a special day....the Sabbath, a day of worship, a day when we draw near to our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ.  We attend our meetings to receive inspiration, to learn the gospel, and to contemplate our lives and the eternities.

But, what about the other six days of the week?  Do we stop receiving inspiration?  Do we stop learning?   Do we stop striving to be like Jesus or stop following His teachings?

Prior to leaving on our mission, Elder Johnson and I thought that our senior mission would be a time of spiritual growth.

Then......

We began our primary assignment as housing coordinators for approximately 200 missionaries in the New York New York South Mission, which entails finding new apartments, inspecting missionary apartments for cleanliness and safety, closing apartments that are no longer needed, ordering and distributing cleaning and housing supplies, teaching missionaries how to clean and maintain their apartments, and dealing with all the kinds of problems that come from renting over 100 different apartments in varying conditions, including bugs of all kinds, plumbing problems, worn out and broken furnishings, vacuums, lost keys and window air conditioning units.

Before the next missionary transfer day on August 7, we were told three vacant apartments were to be "blinded in".  That means a vacant apartment would be assigned to a missionary companionship on transfer day.  As part of our assignment we make sure the apartments are ready for the missionaries to move into.

As we began our inspections, we found that each apartment needed repairs, supplies and a thorough cleaning.  None of the apartments had air conditioners that worked.  It was close to ninety degrees inside, and it was hot and humid! After a full days work in each apartment we were dripping wet and exhausted.

Was this what a senior mission looked like....where was the spirituality?

And then we thought of the Savior.  During His entire mortal ministry, He was humble and provided love through His service to others.  THIS IS WHAT WE WERE TO LEARN!  Our service to the missionaries, showing our love for them by serving them.

Lesson Learned:
Each day we are given choices, a work to do.  Do we just go about the "job" and not pay attention to what we need to learn?  Do we recognize the blessings that are there for us?  At the end of the day, can you say to yourself, "I did what was asked of me, I did my best"?

An Elder's Testimony

Elder Johnson and I were both touched by the following testimony of Elder Young. Elder Young has been an AP (assistant to the mission president) since we arrived in December.  He is an example of a righteous, dedicated, and consecrated missionary.  He knows who he is and what is important in life.  We have no doubt that we he will be successful in all he endeavors to achieve.  We will miss him.
This is a picture of Elder Johnson with the AP's.  Elder Young is on his left. Here is his last testimony before returning home:

"The last full week is here! This will be the last email to share as
next Monday will be too busy to send an email! I have come to cherish
New York City and all of the people here, I am eternally grateful for
the lessons I've learned and most importantly the foundation I've
developed in Jesus Christ and His gospel. The Atonement truly is the
only way.

I want to give a big THANK YOU to all of my family and friends back
home and the ones I've gained here that have provided so much love and
support. Thanks for all of the prayers, packages, letters, and emails.
Most important I am thankful for the relationships I have been able to
feel strengthen as I have been away.

I have had many experiences, life changing events, and witnesses in
which I know God saved me specifically for this time to come forth and
give Him my all here in the NYNYS Mission. In due time whatever else
He has in store for the future, I am here to serve. I love His perfect
gospel and know it is up to the individual with a sincere desire to
have an understanding that Jesus is the Christ and his authority is
real and on earth once again. I testify that Jesus Christ's gospel is
brilliant and through him our Heavenly Father instituted the most
omnipotent plan. I love my God and Savior Jesus Christ, I know they
are in the most finite details of our lives. When it gets too hard to
stand, always kneel. I know as we learn to turn outward rather than
inward, we are revealed the path God has created for us. God lives and
I know he wants us to involve him in our lives, he wants you to be
successful. This church is the only true church and was restored by
the most incredible man, Joseph Smith. I revere him whole heartedly
and know he was and is a prophet of God. The Book of Mormon is the
evidence of the Restored Gospel. The Book of Mormon was written by his
holy prophets and has built my testimony of Jesus Christ and his
doctrine. It was inspired of God. Progression and change are the
fruits of living His gospel. I testify of that and close in the name
of Jesus Christ, Amen.

These are just a few things I've learned as I am very excited to come
home next week and begin a new chapter upon these foundations. As my
mom would say, "I love you more." And to finish my last words from
Grandpa Young, "Remember Who You Are."
See you all on the 14th!
Love the Elder in NY -
Elder Parker Young"

We trust Elder Young's testimony will touch each of you.

Choose JOY

We just had our mission "Sister's Conference"....and it was wonderful and fed my spirit.  The theme of the conference was "Choose Joy."

Here is a story that I think illustrates how we can choose to be positive instead of negative in our thinking.

There was a certain cowboy who had a beautiful stallion.  One day he accidentally left the gate to the coral open and his prized stallion escaped.  His neighbors came and said, "Oh, this is terrible. This is a bad, bad thing that happened to you.  The cowboy replied, "Well, I don't know if it is good or bad."

The next morning his stallion came back....followed by five additional stallions. His neighbors saw this and came running.  With smiles on their faces, they said, "Well this is wonderful,   What a very good thing."  The cowboy looked at the six stallions and said, "Well, I don't know if this is a good or bad thing."

The next morning the cowboy's son decided he would ride one of the new stallions.  He chose a nice looking one, put the saddle on, and mounted the horse. The stallion began bucking and threw the cowboy's son to the ground.  His leg was broken..  The neighbors felt so sorry for the cowboy and his son and said, "This is a very bad thing that has happened to you."  The cowboy scratched his head and said, "Well, I don't know if it is a good or bad thing that has happened."

The next day the military came to the cowboy's home and said they were there to pick up his son, as he was being drafted into the military.  The cowboy told them that his son had broken his leg the day before.  The military men said his son was not eligible to be drafted into the military.  The cowboy's neighbor's were so happy to hear of his good fortune and said, "This is very good."  The cowboy replied, "Well, I don't know if this is a good or bad thing."

Change your paradigm.  Decide to find joy in all things.  Trials are not pleasant, but instead of becoming discouraged, find the positive.  In every circumstance, there is both good and bad.  Find the good and use that knowlege to change who you are to what you want to become.

Life is not perfect.  We are given trials throughout our lives.  A part of being successful in life depends on how we meet these difficult time.  Will our trials overwhelm us, or will we turn to our Heavenly Father???  Let's not forget why we are here....to be tried and tested.

Through the Savior's atonement we can be foregiven of our sins and transgressions after we follow the steps to repentence. The Savior suffered not only for our sins, but for all the pain and sorrow we will endure in our lives.  He understands.  The power of the atonement is in place to comfort us. When we turn to the Savior in righteousness, we are promised that He will comfort us.  He will not leave us!  He loves us.

Remember Ammon in the Book of Mormon.  He was a powerful missionary who encountered one trial after another.  Think of Joseph of the Old Testament?  His brothers tried to kill him, he served as a slave to the king.  Each time Joseph was releaved from his torment, another trial of his faith came.   Read about his life and how he overcame each trial by turning to the Lord.

I tknow for a certainty that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ knows each of us by name. We are important to them.  Heavenly Father desires that we return to Him. All things are made possible through Jesus Christ.

We Moved Up in Our Little World

As much as we loved apartment 204, the noise was too much.  We knew the comings and goings of the tenants as we lived above the garage door.  We knew what was going on in the "hood" as we could hear the street conversations. Friday an Saturday nights were lively.  One Saturday night at 2am I had to knock on our window to plead with two gentlemen to take their "convo" down the street.

Now, we live at apartment 403.  It's smaller, has less closet and cabinet space.....but it's relative quite by New York standards.  We purchased a shelving unit for the kitchen as we only have one cabinet which will hold our plates, bowls, and glasses.

On the upside, we have a balcony.  Maybe one day I'll buy some plants and flowers.  Wouldn't that be lovely.

Mama Cherry said, "Wash your hands!"

This last Sunday we were invited to dinner by Sister ?-Wilson.   Sister ?-Wilson aka, Mama Cherry, a nickname her father gave her as a child. So that's what I'll be calling her.  She is from Jamaica and has 21 sisters and 6 brothers; her father was married 3 times. Mama Cherry is faithful in her attendance of church each week and always sits near the front of the chapel.  We generally sit by her on the same pew. Actually, everyone in attendance could have their own row, as the attendance has been low these summer months.  If you happen to be talking to Mama Cherry at 1:00 she will "shush" you as the meeting is suppose to start at 1:00. The meeting usually doesn't begin until 5 or 10 minutes after the hour.

Mama Cherry is a convert to the church.  She lives about 5 miles from us in east New York, which is not a nice area to live in. We asked her how she learned of the church.   Here's her story.......
Her house is on a busy street with a bus stop in front.  Each day she would look out her window and see two "white boys" all dressed in white shirts and ties just standing around.  After a couple of day she went out and told them they were nice boys and they shouldn't be buying drugs.  Evidently, that was a hot spot for drug sellers.  They told her they were missionaries and were there to catch the bus.  Then they asked her if she would like to know more.  That started the first of many discussions until she was baptized.  Since that time, she cooks Sunday dinner for any missionary that is hungry.  And, what missionary is not hungry for a good home cooked meal???

We took the sister missionaries with us to dinner, Sister Barton and Sister Solamo. The first thing Mama Cherry said to us as we entered her home was, "wash your hands" which we all promptly did.  We all went into her kitchen, well, I should say, one at a time as the kitchen is very narrow, and helped her finish preparing the meal.  She was a gracious hostess.

She told us she had two sons.  One is deceased and other lives upstairs with his wife and son.  She said her daughter-in-law is evil.  Mama Cherry had a stroke in December and is sure her daughter-in-law tried to push her down.  Richard said maybe she just accidentally brushed against her.  Her reply was, "I'm not dumb. She pushed me!"  We changed the subject.

After dinner we wanted to help clean up, but she insisted that she wanted to serve us.  Her Sunday routine is attend church, make dinner for the missionaries, clean up, and then watch Colombo on TV.  She thinks he is very cleaver.

It is interesting to become acquainted with members of our branch who come from different counties and cultures.  We learn from each of them.  Mama Cherry reminded us of the value of loving, selfless service.  Not only is it a big expense in her budget, but is a lot of work to prepare a nice dinner each Sunday for the missionaries.    It was a nice evening and we are grateful for the faithful and kind members of our branch.