Monday

Monday is P-Day (Preparation Day) in the Missions all over the world...even in the New York Temple Mission; and we Temple Missionaries decided to take an excursion today.

Since our church is a worldwide church, we decided to visit a world-wide organization...the United Nations located on the East River in Manhattan. This UN was founded in 1945 and replaced the League of Nations, its predecessor which was formed after WWI.

Missionaries and some visiting family members outside the UN building. Flags from 193 nations participating circle the area.

The main Conference room in the UN....a chair, a microphone, translation devices and a chair for an assistant is offered to each country's representative.

It is an incredible sight! This is where countries get together to work for world peace and human rights for all the world's citizens.

If you look closely, you can see the chair of the Polish representative.

The meeting is in session....and the talks begin. Today they are discussing the need for clean water and better sanitation for developing countries.

Stan giving his 'two cents'....You can be sure that he is NOT suggesting that we drain Lake Powell to solve this problem!   The world is now a safer place.

After a full day at the UN, we were able to spend a wonderful FHE in Harlem at the home of a very talented artist....Walter Rane.

Walter Rane and President and Sister Bennion showing his painting of the building of the Kirkland Temple. Brother Rane's apartment doubles as his art studio.

Walter Rane and a painting he is currently working on....'Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests'.  It is beautiful!  He will present this to the Church in a few months.  It was a wonderful night as this good man told us how his faith has influenced his work. 

It was late, and it was time to get to our subway station....several blocks away. We looked up at a corner we were standing on and had to take this picture. Who would have thought that we would be walking in downtown Harlem at 9:00pm...

On the subway ride home, Stan struck up a conversation with this young man who was meeting his girlfriend at the airport...with gifts. We had a great discussion with him about families, gave him a pass along card and made a new friend!  His girlfriend works for Delta and they get to travel for free.  We invited him to SLC and take the Temple Square tour.  He and Sister Call really hit it off!  

A great night! We love serving a mission for the Lord!

Friday and the weather is changing- cold again.

Even though Spring has not yet sprung in New York City, the Annual Macy's Flower Show has!

Macy's has been wowing visitors with it's unique flower arrangements splattered all over it's flagship store at Herald Square in NYC for the past 41 years. This year was no different!

The main entrance to Macy's....EVERY flower is real and carefully placed! This show lasts for 2 weeks and during that time, Macy's is CROWDED!

Notice everyone in their 'winter' coats, however! But walking around the store made you feel as if Spring may show up one day!

Trying to help you get a feel for the beauty....but the smell of beautiful flowers every where cannot be captured!

Special tours were being conducted through the store; not only telling about the flowers but the story of the Macy's department store as well. Look close, do you see any one you know? The guy in the back of the group.  He is acting interested as the group is so excited to hear the tour guide.   I wanted to stay and here what the guide had to say!  But we moved on.....

One of my favorite things about this old Macy's store is an original wooden escalator. Built in 1902, Macy's was the 1st building in the world to have a modern day escalator. (Between floors 8 and 9)

The Flower Show continues in the store front windows of Macy's. My favorite....

Close to Macy's, we found something that interested Stan....Madison Square Garden. Someday....

We continued our trek to Lower Manhattan and found the NY Stock Exchange....the most famous financial institution in the world.

Across the street from it lies Federal Hall...with it's statue of George Washington. (More on this in posts to come)

And the Federal Reserve Bank....(again, more on this in posts to come!)

It was a great, but cold day to explore the Financial District in Lower Manhattan. I love this city!

Another great first for us in NYC

I worried about my order on Google Express.  This morning, exactly 14 hours later to be exact, the front desk notified us that...

...our order had arrived! What a great feeling to have to just carry these items (from Costco and Target) from the lobby of our apartment building, to the elevator, then to our front door. This is the only way to live in a big city with no car and crowded public transportation. I love you, Google Express! You are my new best friend!
I served as a coordinator for the evening shift tonight.  More and more we appreciate the ordinance workers and patrons in the Manhattan Temple.  We are having the time of our lives.  It is work, let no one think otherwise. We come home exhausted every night. It is a great feeling though. 
We love New York City and serving in the Temple.

Busy Tuesday Morning

We had a bunch of stuff to get done this morning before we serve starting at 3:00pm.  We headed east on 66th street towards Central Park.

 On the way we could see a movie crew on Central Park West just down from us.  Trucks were lined up all along the street. They must be shooting a movie somewhere in the area.

Continuing on with our walk, we passed this statue of Abraham Lincoln....one of my favorite presidents of the United States. This would make a great gift for my brother....who loves 'Honest Abe' even more than I do!

It's trying to become Spring.  It was still 32 degrees today but the snow is melting.  A beautiful day to walk along Broadway across from Lincoln Center!  The Angel Moroni looked so clean and wonderful today in the sunlight and clear sky.

A real find for me!  I came across Google Express.  This is a life changer!  Shopping in Manhattan can be a real chore sometimes. I'm not talking about shoes, purses, fun stuff....I'm talking about paper towel, big red cups, canned goods...  But I have found Google Express. A shopping service where you can order almost anything you want online and the delivery is  free.  I am going to try it and see what happens.  The grocery stores around the corner are great but pricey.  The Costco and Targets are great prices but far far away and a hassle.  I hope this free delivery and Google Express works!
We had another great evening serving in the Temple.  Every day is different and we enjoy the great experiences we are having.  The patrons are wonderful and come from near and far.  We certainly appreciate all who serve in the Temple and the many things that go on behind the scenes to make a Temple run smoothly and properly.
We love New York City and serving in the Temple.

Monday P-day...

We headed out to the American Museum of Natural History...one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world. It is located across the street from Central Park (on the west side) and is comprised of 27 interconnected buildings.

The Theodore Roosevelt Statue that welcomes into this magnificent Museum.This 26th President of the US a great love for nature and preserving it....an ongoing commitment of this Museum.

The Theodore Roosevelt Rotunda...grand entrance to  the Museum...with the ionic dinosaur exhibit in the center.

The African Mammal dioramas were fabulous....Standing in front of a herd of elephants!

In the Hall of Ocean Life.....Trying to get a picture of a 10-ton blue whale suspended over the exhibit.

In the exhibit, Nature's Fury, there is a station where you can add different components....

...to make your very own volcano!  This was fun to mess around with.

This giant Sequoia was cut down in 1891. It was grew in California ton 300 feet tall and is estimated to be 1400 years old. Today it is illegal to cut down giant sequoias.
We could have spent days in this great museum.....but we will be back. We had an appointment across town...

...at the Tenement Museum. At first the Museum looks like just one of the many brownstone buildings on this Lower East Side block....and that's the point! It was preserved to tell the story of the immigrants who once lived here.

97 Orchard Street....a 5 story tenement building that housed some 10,000 immigrants from 25 different countries between 1863-1935. (The fire escapes were all added later as fire codes came into effect.)

You cross over from Little Italy into part of Chinatown.  Part of the many areas of New York where cultures and nationalities change over time.

We found a new place to take Stan's white shirts to-  A Chinese Laundry.

We walked a lot today. Its Monday night and FHE around the world.  We are working on our transfer back to Las Vegas come mid-September and there's much to do.

For now, New York is a wonderful place to serve and we love being in the Temple every day.

Sunday out to Queens

Sunday morning we were up and going.  We leave our apartment at 7:45am and walk to Columbus Circle and catch the Yellow D train to 7th Ave and 53rd and there catch the Blue E to Jamaica Center.  This morning was a little different.

 This good fellow was trying to entertain the riders and earn a little money.

 If you look at someone they expect to be paid.  So everyone was continuing to talk or sleep and pay no attention to this guy.

He finished his show by dancing and swinging around on the hand rails and dancing upside down.  It was really pretty good.  I think he earned $4.  He asked Stan, "Hey I can make change for a twenty dollar bill."  Stan continued to stare out the window. (If I'd had some money, I would have given him some! I should have gotten his 'card' to see if we could have a 'return performance' when the grandkids come out. They would have loved him!)

All the way home we had entertainers.  When you take the subway from Manhattan to Queens, there are some long stretches where there are no stops- great for putting on a short show.  The entertainers always make sure there are no Metro Security guys around because it is illegal to do this.

Tonight we went to the Bronx and had dinner with Elder and Sister Duane Powell.  They are our dear friends from the Lakes Stake in Las Vegas.  They have been in the Bronx for 17 months and return home soon.  We will miss them.

After a wonderful dinner we went to a fireside where Brother Tom Hansen spoke.  He was the main superintendent for the Church on the Conference Center.  Its was a fabulous evening listening to all the marvelous events that were involved in this special building.  Some of the missionaries we met were E/S Garner (Area Medical Doctor in Europe that was there just before we arrived in Poland and great friends with President Ballard from Las Vegas) E/S Lotz (who serve as missionary relations at West Point), and others from Snowflake, AZ ( and know Sister Austin),

Elder and Sister Hansen now serve in the Family History Center next to the Temple.  Brother Hansen brings more names to the Temple than anyone we know.  Stan performed sealings last Friday evening and went straight for three hours without stopping.  The Temple said he most likely set a record for longest time and most names sealed in one evening and day in the Manhattan Temple.

We enjoyed Jamaica 1st Ward today.  Bishop Ramsey gave an inspiring talk on pride and gave great counsel to ward members.  They had an investigator there today that Stan answered questions for and got the missionaries directed to get to his home this week- for sure.   We are loving this ward more each week.

We love New York City and serving in the Temple.

Up early this morning...

It's a Friday morning, and we have a few things we want to see before our shift starts in the Temple.  As usual, there is always something going on below us on 66th Street.  All night long there are sirens and horn, but this morning was another New York moment...

At 5:00am the garbage truck pulls up by our building to pick up the mountain of trash. Since there is no place to park, the truck stops in the middle lane.  That in turn backs up the entire street, which in turn sets off a barrage of horn honking.  It's New York!

 Today we went to the Empire State Building.  It was really quite close.  We didn't pay the $52 to get to the top.  There has to be a cheaper way to get some tickets than having to pay full retail.  There will be other days.

 We walked down 5th Avenue and saw the New York City Library which was dedicated in 1911. The marble Lions which 'guard' the entrance of this magnificent structure are named "Patience" and "Fortitude" receiving their names in 1930 as the city was coming out of the Great Depression. These Library 'mascots' are known as NYC's most lovable public sculptures.

We met with one of our former great missionaries from Poland, Sister Pritchett, for lunch at one of the thousands of great Chinese restaurants in New York.  It was fun to visit and get caught up with all the great things that are going on in her life.

We walked the streets of this amazing city and just enjoyed the miracle of being on a mission... especially in this city.

We love New York City and serving in the Temple.

Thursday Morning at the Philharmonic

 This morning we attended the New York Philharmonic across the street at Lincoln Center.  We currently are serving on what is called the "Museum" shift at the Temple.  Which means we are serving the 3:00-10:30pm shift which enables us to go to all the museums, NYC sites, etc in the morning. June 1 we will go to what is called the "Show" shift. We will serve from 9:00am-4:00pm, and will be able to attend the plays, shows and other Broadway events since we will be free at night.

 At the Philharmonic this morning they were holding an 'Open Rehearsal' fine tuning for their live performance this evening.  The tickets for these Open Rehearsals are substantially lower. Stopping and starting for corrections the conductors wants to make happen occasionally happened.

 We had great seats, and it was really enjoyable.  We will be back many more times.

 It was fun to see what they actually do during a rehearsal and the interaction that goes on between the musicians.  The sound was incredible.  These are the best of the best for their instruments. 

We came outside, and it was snowing!  We walked across the street back to our apartment and got ready for another great day in the Temple.   We also met a family from Mesa. As usual, their kids attended Mountain View; and we knew a ton of the same families.  Spring is supposed to be in a day or two. We'll see. We love New York City and serving in the Temple.