November 12, 2017

Recently I read something in the Church News that touched my heart.  At the training for the new temple presidents, President Russell Nelson said, "... you will come to realize that temple service is the crown jewel of all of our work in the Church."  He had another great quote, "The temple is the object of every activity and every advancement in the Church."

It makes me feel very grateful for the opportunity of serving in the temple five days a week.  I may get tired and discouraged at times--but it is truly an amazing privilege.  I feel the blessings of the Lord and know He is pleased with our offering.

But this service does come with sacrifice.  Yesterday I would have liked to have been in the temple in St. George, UT instead of NYC, NY.  Quinn and Niki were married there.  Here is a beautiful picture I "stole" from Rachelle's Facebook account.

Tonight we had our Temple Workers' Devotional.  It was beautiful.  The music was touching and the thoughts shared were inspiring.  We could truly feel our Savior's love.  I wish I could send the spirit of the meeting to you thru the digital world.  Undoubtedly, you have had similar experiences.

Cold weather has arrived in Manhattan!  Yesterday we had a record low for that date.  It was only 24 degrees.  But on Friday the wind was howling and the chill factor must have been much lower.  I had to walk 12 blocks to an appointment and my nose and ears were frozen--even after wrapping a scarf around my head.  I must admit it is a decorative scarf--I will be buying a winter scarf at my first opportunity.  Spencer also needs a scarf and he now realizes that he didn't put gloves in the box of winter stuff we shipped out ahead of our departure.  So we will be buying gloves for him as well.

I have been fighting a head cold--it just keeps coming back since I have allergies that compromise my immune system and the cold air triggers the coughing and sneezing.  But hey, I'm not sleeping outside, like this poor homeless man I saw in Central Park in the middle of the day on Friday.  I wonder if he walks at night to keep from freezing and sleeps during the day.

Spencer is still facing challenges with vertigo and energy level.  But he is continuing to loose weight and looks great.  He has an MRI tomorrow.  But he doesn't see the doctor to get the results until December.  Hopefully, that means they aren't expecting it to show anything terrible.

Central Park is still my favorite place to walk.  The "erector set" buildings are all down now that were set up for the marathon.  It was amazing to see them go up and taking them down is just as fascinating.  Last week the weather was perfect for the marathon--in the 60's and slight rain.  Today it is in the 20's and bitter cold breezes.

When we came home from church last week we could hardly get thru the crowds--it was shoulder to shoulder and not moving until we got north of Columbus Circle.  That is because we live so close to the finish line of the marathon.

It looks like they even put up a temporary statute at the finish line.  Does anyone know who Fred Lebow is?  I wonder if he has some history with marathons.

I took another picture in Central Park.  I wanted to see glorious leaves.  But the color change has been minimal.  Then the trees in front of our building just lost all of their leaves overnight.  The green leaves are on the sidewalk and in the gutter and they are turning immediately brown.  My guess is the frost did it.  I guess I won't see the color changes after all.

This is snap shot is across the platforms in the subway.  We were waiting for our train to go to church.  It is pretty typical.

I came home after Sacrament Mtg today because of my cold.  It was insane on the subway.  Shoulder to shoulder and hardly a hand hold to reach.  I got on before it was so bad and had the corner seat in the area for elderly and handicapped people.  A lady got on with two canes.  The three other people sitting in my area were all about 50 years younger than me.  They just kept their eyes on their phones and did nothing.  So I stood up and offered my seat to the lady.  She was very appreciative.  I think it "guilted" the young woman next to me because she then got up and moved away--without saying anything--not even "excuse me" when she stepped on some man.  He wasn't too happy with her.  Sometimes people are so polite.  But if they are focused on their phones, all human decency seems to vanish.  I'm glad that from everything I've observed, our grandchildren and children are more conscious of other people--even the shy ones are polite.

We love you and miss you all!
Jeanine