Harold and Roma NYC

OUR BABY HAD HER BABY!!!!!!!

The highlight of our week was the arrival of our ninth grand baby. Teri and Troy did a stupendous job. It was definitely a joint effort with Teri doing most of the work and Troy as the supportive and attentive coach. Check out the Brown's blog to see this beautiful little guy. He has dark hair and lots of it. We have never had a baby with hair. He is the cutest little guy.

It just about killed Sister Farnsworth and Teri not to have her mother there for this joyous occasion. I think that the biggest sacrifice that Senior missionaries make is missing significant family events. It did give a wonderful opportunity for her big sisters to try to take their mothers place in helping her get back on her feet. The Brown's, Troy's parents have a daughter, son in law and a grand child back here, so they have decided to bless the baby back here and that will give us the opportunity to get to know little Brodie for the first time.

Its hard to believe that we have been here in Scarsdale for 2 months. We enjoy the area that we live in and though the apartment is a bit worn, it is comfortable for the two of us. I think we have talked several times about not needing much more than this size of a living space. Well maybe a little larger, but it is comfortable and unique. We usually stop several times a week at the local bagel bakery to buy a couple of piping hot bagels for breakfast. There is a deli across the street were we can buy any kind of deli meats and cheeses. We have several more eateries of various kinds. I have mentioned them before, but food is what makes me tick. We don't get much involvement with actual missionary work. We help in running the mission. Getting them here and back home again and all the in between.
We do enjoy the interaction with the missionaries some of which come in almost every day. There are many wonderful missionaries in our mission, but there are a few that have some problems. The ones that have been raised to tackle adversity are the most successful, because they know that they will succeed if they only work at it and are obedient. Preparation mentally and physically are more important maybe than scriptural knowledge. They need to know how to work and work hard. Their schedules are such that they will pick up the scriptural part as they study each day. When you have a missionary who is emotionally strong and spiritually prepared then you have a great package and they are successful missionary.

Our closeness to the train let us go visit Central Park in NYC. It was a beautiful day and it seemed like most of the city was in the Park. You don't get an idea of the number of people who live here until you get to a place where you can see a part of the people who live here.
It is such a beautiful place and many people were out enjoying the day the day. It is so nice to be so close to all that the city has to offer.

I have to tell you about some of the funny experiences we have had. You may know that many of the chapels in the city are built in reconstructed buildings. They are just like a regular church on the inside, but they may not be in as wonderful on the outside and the neighborhoods may be in difficult areas. The church in Harlem has some interesting stories. Some missionaries came into the Harlem building and there was a very pungent order coming from the baptismal font. They investigated further and found a very dirty street person taking a bath in the baptismal font. Suds and soap every where and some towels nearby. The missionaries had notice a dirty ring around the the edges of the font. It seems that one of the street people had figured out a way to get in the church and use the the facilities to their best advantage when no one was around. It makes the phrase becoming clean after being baptism takes on a different meaning.

The other one was on our visits to the Woodstock area, we drove into what looked like a compound trying to find active members. So let me set the scene. Here comes this dark Chevy Tahoe with a man in a shirt and tie and well dressed woman coming into this fenced compound with several out buildings around what looked to be a main house. It was a classic made for the movies FBI raid on a old hippie farming area. Well there were people running out of the back of these builds into the woods to protect their crops. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but not too much.

We have some wonderful experiences with people and if they don't join now they will have another positive interaction with a member of the church and usually they will join the church at some point in time in their lives. People are looking for real joy and happiness in their lives and if they have seen that in other people they usually try to find it again. I don't know how the Seattle Mission works, but our missionaries try to get a baptismal date before their first teaching appointment. The New York New York North Mission is the top baptising mission on the east coast and we are pleased with the effort and results. I will send some of the promised pictures and sign off.

Love to all,