Leaving NYC and coming Home.

Monday morning. Well, the big day is here.  Ready or not we are coming home.  Not sure where we are going to live, but that's mission life.  President Roberts (1st Counselor in the Temple Presidency) drove us to JFK airport and dropped us off.  We drove through Central Park and down 5th Ave.  We said goodbye to all the great places we learned to love and appreciate.  The Temple is at the top of the list.  Standing in the airport was just like being in Poland again.  We started to get a feeling of deja vu...It felt a little like being in Poland...except we could understand everything!

Checking in our bags at the Delta Airlines courtesy counter.  We boarded the plane where we first flew to Atlanta, GA; had an hour wait; boarded another plane and landed in Las Vegas 6 hours later.

Riding down the escalator in the Las Vegas McCarren Airport...Again, deja vu!

...we were greeted by this wonderful crowd.  It's SO good to see them! Even in 7 months, they have all grown up a ton!  We left home in February and thought we would return 23 months later.  Our plans changed with a new calling beginning November 1, 2015.

We love this crowd and it's so good to see them again! This is why we serve missions. Not only do we love our Savior, Jesus Christ, and want to do all we can to thank Him for all He has blessed us with...But we firmly believe that when we serve the Lord, the Lord blesses our family!  (We missed not having our sons, Dane and Willis with his family there; but we knew they were there in spirit!)

So what do you do with this hungry crowd at 7:00pm?

You go to IN-N-OUT and get hamburgers, shakes and fries! And that's what we did! 

We were at Shake Shack in NYC yesterday and In N Out in Vegas tonight.

We are so grateful to have been able to serve in the Manhattan Temple for the past seven months. We learned SO much that will help us in our future calling. We loved our temple mission....but look forward to serving another 3 years in the Las Vegas Temple. Serving in the Manhattan Temple was truly a calling from the Lord.  It surely prepared us for our calling in the Las Vegas Temple.

The Church is true, and I love being a member of it! It has blessed my life immeasurably! 

Last Sunday in NYC

We knew this last trip on the subway to Queens would come one day, but we wished it could have been postponed awhile.
As was the case with every Sunday, we got up at 6:00am to get ready and leave our apartment by 7:00am to walk down to Columbus Circle where we catch the D train to 7th Ave and 53th St.  This morning it was hot and humid...like a sauna.  Not too many people were there this early on a Sunday morning. Those who were, always looked at our badges which we enjoyed wearing.

Here I am at our usual spot looking for the D train which never came at the same time.  It varied from week to week depending on weekend construction.  Catching the 'D' was critical in making our connection to the E train heading to Jamaica Center. This was always a little stressful!

Some of the members of the Aaronic Priesthood in the Jamaica 1st Ward.  The young man on the far left was baptized a couple of weeks ago and doing so well.  He is anxious to bless the sacrament.  The other two young men are terrific.  They know the gospel and really are examples to the rest of the world.  They will become great missionaries and are future leaders of the Church.  Stan had the blessing of teaching Aaronic Priesthood lessons and doing his Preach My Gospel lessons with these and other young men in the ward.  He feels that is why we were called to this ward.  I think he is correct but also for many other reasons which we both were able to be involved with.

We said goodbye to Brother Hack who is on the High Council in the Innsbrook Stake and a member of the Jamaica 1st Ward.  A great man and was so kind to us while we served in the wonderful ward.

 

Sister Hack was equally wonderful and nice to us.  She played the organ and we witnessed a miracle in how incredibly far she has progressed and improved in her playing.  The spirit and feeling in our sacrament meetings was so blessed by her diligence and practice.  It was a blessing to know this good woman.

Members of the Jamaica 1st Ward and the ward council.  What great people and members these are.  We love them and will always remember them. (LtoR): Standing: Elder Palmer (Executive Secretary), Elder's Quorum President, Bro. Richardson (1st Counselor-Bishopric), Bishop Ramsey, Sister Pridgeon (Primary President), Sister Pier (Seminary Teacher), Sister Missionary, Elder St. Rose (Full-time Missionary), Sister Jean-Louis (Relief Society 1st Counselor); Kneeling: Full-time Elder, Bro. Audain (2nd Counselor-Bishopric), Full-time Sister Missionary. We said good-bye to some dear friends who were working hard to build the church in their area.

More Good-byes! That night our dear friends and Temple Ordinance Missionaries sang to us in our lobby at 2 Lincoln Center.  They had been practicing a new song which they performed marvelously.  (L to R):  President Bench(2nd Counselor Temple Presidency), Elders Hawkins (Rexburg), Rogers (Las Vegas), Call ( Denver), Colton (Mesa), Fuller (Idaho), Buchanan (Highland Hills), Hosac (Boise), Sisters Rogers, Hosac, Colton, Hawkins, Fuller and Buchanan.  In the front is Sister Call and
Sister Bench on the piano. A very sweet Good-bye. We will miss these friends and co-workers!


This is our last night in New York City.  We walked over to the Lincoln Center and looked back at the beautiful Temple....the reason why we came here.  It was a blessing and privilege to serve here.  This is the view we saw and what we did the night of February 26, 2015 when we arrived.  Amazing how fast time has gone.  This night there was a live CES Broadcast going on in the chapel. We saw members departing out of the building. (The 3rd floor is the chapel where the broadcast originated and the satellite truck is to the lower left.  It was such a nice peaceful night.  We love this location and  everything associated with New York City and the Temple.

Twin Towers lights at night

Later that night (10:30 pm) after working in the temple all day, we went up on the roof of our building ... aka: 'Top of the Block'.

Not only did we want to see the great view of the city, but we had a very special reason to come up tonight on September 11th.

If you look carefully, you can see a beam of light rising to the sky. That is part of the Tribute in Light that shines through the night on September 11th.

 Another view of the Tribute in Light. A Las Vegas based company was chosen to build the light feature because of their vast knowledge of high intensity light displays. Testing of the light fixtures took place in the Las Vegas valley before bringing them to the World Trade Center Site.

 A view of the Tribute in Light from New Jersey. On a clear night, these beams can be seen from 60 miles away. One drawback:  The lights have caused confusion for thousands of migrating birds, trapping them I'm the beams. So they are switched off for 20-minute periods to allow the birds to escape.

Morning of September 11, 2015

Stan got up and rode his bike down the Hudson River walkway to the 911 Memorial before things got too busy and crowded this morning.  Since we live in New York City what a better thing to do on this memorable and historic day.  It was fourteen years ago this tragedy happened.  When Stan and I first arrived in Manhattan we visited the 911 Memorial Museum and became members with a pass for one year.  Since that first visit, we have been back a dozen times.  Learning and appreciating more and more with each visit.

As Stan was riding towards the 911 area, he was thinking about what was happening early this morning fourteen years ago.   This city is beginning to awake.

This morning was a cloudy and not like the clear brilliant morning of 9/11/2001.

In fact, the clouds were moving across the city as the wind was gently blowing.

At the base of the One Freedom Tower there was a lot activity getting ready for the tributes and program that was planned for.

There were many TV crews and news people all around doing live broadcasts and reports.  The Memorial was closed to the public and open to only family members who had lost loved ones.  Those members were being interviewed and had special badges.

 Stan got to this point with the Memorial Pools just beyond the trees, before the security guards asked him how he got that far and to leave.  He was on his bike and somehow got this far "undetected".

He walked his bike around to the other side where Police and Security were thick. There was a quiet, solemn feeling with not much noise.  To think about all that was about to happen and did happen at this very spot was quite humbling.

 This is the PATH (Port Authority Trans Hudson--a rapid transit railroad) entrance where 

many of the Twin Tower workers were traveling in to work on that horrific day.          

This interesting looking building is still under construction and will be the Subway Station for World Trade Center.  It will be easy access to all that is down here and will be wonderful. Also in the background is more of the construction of the World Trade Center towers. In total, there will be four.

More of the area.  In the tree area is where the twin reflection pools are where both Twin Towers once stood.  This is the area where the Towers collapsed and seven stories of demolition was piled up.  Unbelievable what happened at this spot.

This was a great visit this morning.  About this very moment fourteen years early, there were two passenger jetliners departing Boston soon to be hijacked and then rerouted to Manhattan and this sight.

This was an interesting sight of the new One Freedom Tower and to remember (as most of us can) that impression of the smoke coming from both Twin Towers after being struck by the aircraft and before coming down.
It was one of those memorable occasions for us in New York City.

Visiting the Flat Iron Building one last time.

We are in our last full week in New York City,;and as you can tell, we have been visiting some of our 'favorites'. Of course, it would HAVE to include my favorite New York skyscraper, the Flatiron Building! 

This unique building was built in 1902 by Chicago architect, Daniel Burnham. Above is a photo during the construction of this 22-story skyscraper....one of the first in NYC...and the most unique by far! You can see why crowds would gather and watch to see if this odd shaped building was going to blow over because of it's height and shape!

This  plaque is found on the west side of the building. In 1966, the Flatiron Building was named a NYC landmark. In 1989, it was designated as a national historic landmark!

Listen up Ladies...Due to an oversight in the original design, there were no bathrooms for ladies when the building first opened. This has been remedied! The men's and women's bathrooms are now on alternating floors.

The pointed end of the building is only 6.5 feet wide and opens up to an acute angle (use your geometry!) of roughly 25 degrees. AKA: not very wide!

In 2009, an Italian real estate investment firm bought a majority stake in the building (52%) with possible plans to turn the office building into a luxury hotel. We'll see!  Love this building! Look for it in many more movies to come!

Many visitors in New York!

Everyone seems to visit New York City at one time or another.  Here are a few of the people that passed through while we were there.....

Family. Of course, we had lots of family come by. Once they found out that our 23 month mission had been shortened to 7 months, their vacations were moved up. One of the things our boys loved to do is bike Manhattan with their Dad. Here is our oldest son getting ready to try to 'leave his dad in the dust' as they headed down along the Hudson River, around the island and across the Brooklyn Bridge....about 7 miles each way.

Faces from the Poland Warsaw Mission:  Visiting New York with her father, Sister Forsey stopped by to say 'hello'. It was great to see her and catch up on her life.

Faces from the old 'Fort Apache Ward':  Hillary Morris happened to be in the temple with her husband one day. We have known Hillary since she was a little girl. She has grown up to be a great wife and mother.

Faces from the 'Preach My Gospel'  DVDs???   I told you everyone seems to make it to New York City sometime in their life. This is Sister Payne...one of the sister missionaries who 'stars' in The District...a church produced teaching DVD that shows full-time missionaries all over the world how to effectively preach the gospel.

It was always fun to visit with the many friends, family and acquaintances that made their way to the New York Manhattan Temple. I was always impressed that even though they were on vacation in one of the most exciting cities in the world, they had a desire to visit the Lord's house. Good people.

Last visits and people

As we get ready to wrap some things up, before departing this tremendous place to live and precious place to serve (in the Manhattan Temple), we did a few last things-

One of go to one of my favorite places...Macy's.  Stan brought back a carved statue from Poland (Marcin) and I wanted to bring back this one.  (Hey, what's fair is fair, right?) But I couldn't find a price tag on it!

Another one of those things I would like to bring back for the grandchildren to have and enjoy.  Again, no price tag. (This seems to be Stan's lucky day!)

We had lunch with Stephanie, who is working for Macy's. (This is day #3!)  She was baptized a few years ago in the Palmyra Ward back in Las Vegas.  It was good to see her again. She is off to an amazing career in New York.  We also got her information so she can start meeting with the great YSA program in Manhattan.

Some of our dear friends from Las Vegas were also in Manhattan for the day.  Erv and Lisa Nelson were here for a conference and we took them by the Temple on their way to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  It was fun to visit with such great friends.

 

We also said goodbye to Rhonda.  We knew her in the Lakes Stake and have watched her grow and develop.  She lives in Connecticut and is the Relief Society President in her YSA ward.  It was fun to have lunch with her again.

And then there is Daniel.  This great friend is Autistic and attends the Temple every Tuesday with his father.  Daniel has been Stan's recorder when Stan performs sealings in the Temple.  Daniel makes sure the recordings are done correctly and accurately.  This young man has taught us lessons that will prepare us for the Las Vegas Temple and situations that arise in years to come.  

He was a blessing in our lives. 

Manhattan Cruise at night

Something that we have wanted to do for awhile was take the Circle Line Harbor Lights Cruise around Lower Manhattan.

It begins at sunset. A great view of the World One Trade Center and surrounding buildings.

Battery Park and Lower Manhattan.

 These geese have a great view of this ever-growing city as they are starting to fly South.

 The Staten Island Ferry (orange) is about to take off.

 As we move under the Brooklyn Bridge we are remember that this bridge took 14 years to complete (1883), cost $15 million dollars and is dubbed the 'eighth wonder of the world'.

This bridge opened with a massive celebration....cannons, fireworks, speeches and more than 150,000 people streamed across it over the first 24 hours of opening.

 We then sailed under the Manhattan Bridge...7 lanes of roadway, 4 tracks of subway, a walkway and a bikeway.  It was opened in 1909.

The Queensborough Bridge (in the distance) connecting Long Island City in Queens to Manhattan. This bridge also opened in 1909 having cost $18 million and 50 lives. Because of massive deterioration, an extensive renovation began in 1987 and was completed in 2012. Cost? A mere $300 million.

As we turn in the middle of the East River, we see the lights of the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building (far right).

We are not the only ones on the river taking this awesome night tour.

Heading out to view the Statue of Liberty, we turned and saw this view. Stunning!

A great view of a most recognizable skyline.

Lady Liberty looked great tonight in her new LED lighting system which went into effect on 

July 7, 2015. Not only does this new system clearly define the folds in her skirt, but it will also reduce energy consumption.

A beautiful night on a beautiful tour!