7/23/2017
Hello everyone!

The best news of this week is that Elder Jacob Dike safely arrived in Arkansas to start his mission.  He is serving in Branson--now does it get any better than that?!  That is almost as good as Manhattan. :)

Last Monday night we had our monthly FHE with the other temple missionaries.  We are saying good-bye to the Grimleys.  They are wonderful missionaries,  They will be returning to Lehi, UT.  A while back he served as Mission President in Tai Pai, Taiwan.  Sister Grimley is of Japanese descent.  Brother Grimley says in Taiwan he has the perfect situation--an American house, Chinese food and a Japanese wife.  Sister Grimley made origami swans for all of the sisters.  It was a fun evening.  I made a HUGE Caesar salad for 24 people.  They licked the bowl clean.

This has been a busy week in the temple.  It was the last week before maintenance closure, so everyone rushed to get there.  Friday night our ward scheduled a session.  They requested Spencer and I as the officiator and follower.  So we stayed for a double shift.  It was great.  That day I was able to participate with three new endowment sisters, two English and one Hispanic.  What a special experience.

Some "unique" personalities are starting to surface among temple workers/missionaries.  Life is definitely a growth experience and we are all mortal with our many foibles (including us!).  But we are trying to do our best and not react negativity.  I share this, so that our four missionary grandchildren can take comfort when they face similar challenges--grandpa and grandma are going thru some of the same "stuff".  But we take comfort in knowing that our covenant is with the Lord, not other people.  We are here to serve him and do his work.  We continue to serve with joy in our hearts.

Tomorrow we spend half of the day cleaning in the temple before we are "turned loose".  Missionaries are scattering in all directions--UT, AZ, ID, Germany and locations on the east coast.  We are going to the priesthood restoration site, Philadelphia temple, Gettysburg, and then the BEST PART.  We will spend a few days with the family of Jon and Marjon Brown in Virginia and then with the little family of Cassie (Crawford) and John Kidd.  I'm not sure if we will blog next Sunday.

I have mentioned that I am attending the Manhattan 1st Ward prior to going to Concourse Ward with Spencer.  I really enjoy it.  Those who have visited NYC understand that most everyone uses mass transportation.  It is interesting to see tourists arrive with the carry on luggage in tow.  Today one little boy obviously forgot his Sunday pants.  He had on a white shirt, bow tie and suit coat with summer play shorts and tennis shoes.  Very cute.  People arrive wearing every standard of clothing you can possible imagine.  Well, back to transportation.  We don't have street parking or an affordable parking garage.  BUT, we have very wide hallways for the strollers.  Last week I counted 22 strollers--most of them double so that two or more children could be transported.  Here is glance at the hallway.  The stroller parking continues around the corner and down another hallway.

You wouldn't see that in the Bradshaw Ward in Prescott where we have almost no little children.

Some of you are old to remember the original movie Ghost Busters.  It was filmed using some buildings right next to Central Park.  Do you recognize these buildings?

Now I will close out my part of this blog post with two more pieces of Walter Rane's beautiful artwork.

I hope you have been able to recognize the scripture sources for this artwork.

Love,
Jeanine

Now, from Spencer:

I have just a few thoughts to share this afternoon.  One is—I love to be a part of this great work called temple work.  Even though the 7+ hour shifts and getting changed at the temple and at home makes the day long and fatiguing, there are rewards.  We shouldn’t talk too much about the workings of the temple, but there are a couple of things I feel that I can say.  There is a closeness we feel to the Lord and towards our kindred dead.  We will always have a closeness with our kindred on the other side of the veil.  Another point is we see people who come with great needs and they are so blessed by being here.   A sister came by the recommend desk.  I asked her how she was and she said “So-so” and started crying.  I responded by telling her she was in the right place.  I then facilitated getting a wheel chair to help her.

There are a couple of highlights for me lately.   I continue to run into Brother Mortenson who is Adam in the “B” film.  He looks a little older and has lost weight.  He always gives me eye contact and smiles when we pass.  Yesterday I caught a glimpse of his wife.  She still looks as young as ever.  Only now she appears to be pregnant. In our previous conversation, Brother Mortenson mentioned about being a father.  Also, I was privileged to officiate a session with our ward of mostly Dominicans.  There was lots of good affirmation afterwards.

The Dominicans that I know are mostly very dark black people.  They speak Spanish like anyone, but they are loud and dramatic and chop off words.  You have to be gifted to follow them.  There are two Dominican sealers in our temple on Saturdays.  They are so fun.  One man looks like he could play for the Saints football team.  He pronounces sealings with a roar.  When makes a check mark, he bounces the pencil on the table and starts again with authority.  One little sister went up to his desk and with her finger in front of her lips she tried to “shush” him.  He smiled and increased his volume!  Isn’t it wonderful that those people can be leaders like multi-generational people in the church?! 

Our lives here in mortality are short and time goes by fast.  I daily see the importance of our daily acts.

Spencer