January 7, 2018

Wow, it is a new year!  Hard to believe in some ways.  Today I will share some highlights of the visit we enjoyed with Chad, Rachel and Scott.  They arrived on December 28th in the afternoon.  It was the BIG Christmas present for Rachel and Scott.  We have a hide-a-bed queen size couch, which Scott and Chad found to be A-OK and we had a twin bed mattress for Rachel, so everyone fit into the living room area.  We only have one bathroom, but that didn't even become a problem.  Of course, Spencer generally showers and shaves when he finishes exercising at the Y, so that decreased the need in the mornings. It was an easy flow in the apartment.

They packed more into the next week than I can even begin to describe.  I was so happy that we are currently working the day shift, because I was able to join them for four different shows in the evenings.  Spencer was happy to not be obligated to go to the shows.  :-)  So it was all good.  The shows I saw with them were: Elf, Anastasia, The Play That Goes Wrong, and Dear Even Hansen.  It was a great variety and mix of amazing music, slapstick humor, emotional renewal and everything in between.  They were very different and I loved all of them.  They saw a couple of others at matinee performances.

We visited Time Square on 12/31--but prior to the craziness of the ball drop.  Dikes went ice skating in Bryant Park.  Lucy (daughter of Jason and Chandra) had sent me "Flat Stanley" to take on adventures--so he joined us/them and is in lots of pictures.  On Monday, Chad wanted to choke Stanley (even after Stanley giving him a hug--see pictures below) because Scott was so great about taking pictures of him all the time.  But Stanley survived to enjoy another day!

Chad and kids didn't let the frigid weather slow them down.  They even walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and the Highline Park walkway.  Both are on my list for warm weather--way too exposed to the wind chill for me at this time of year.

I used a gift card from Crawfords to download "Ticket to Ride" on my iPad and we played that on New Year's Eve.  We enjoyed snacks at another missionary apartment and Scott thought it was the best party he had been to--just visiting, eating, laughing and fun--and no teenage insecurities! We went up to roof of the building at midnight and watched the fireworks that were in Central Park.  Our view was perfect!

On Tuesday, January 2nd they visited the temple.  Scott was the first priest EVER to be the baptizer in the Manhattan temple.  The new policy only came into effect on January 1st and the temple was closed that day.  He baptized both Chad and Rachel for a lot of Spencer's family file names.  It was such a sacred experience.  Spencer and I were both assigned to the baptistry, so we were able to be a part of this very special day.

Scott had a couple of other good experiences.  One night while we were out, he noticed this homeless guy on the sidewalk and he went over and took the hand warmers out of his own gloves and gave them to this very cold man.  The next morning on the subway going up to the Bronx to attend church, he got in a conversation with two men on the subway and gave them a Book of Mormon.  My heart was touched by both events.

 Sorry the picture placement is so random.  Does anyone know of a good tutorial on placing pictures on blogspot?  I've tried finding one...  but as you can see, my success is very sporadic.

 Chad's family had a real adventure trying to get home when all of the flights were cancelled out of NYC.  What would have been a six hour flight took them 19 hours of traveling by train, car and plane.  They traveled all night of the 4th and arrived home the afternoon of the 5th.  The only flight they could find flew out of Philadelphia.  They got to Trenton, NJ by train and then had to take Uber to the Philly airport.  That is their story to tell--and one well worth hearing.

We had a farewell dinner for the Mumfords in President and Sister Bench's apartment.  They will be sorely missed!  He was not only a temple missionary, but also a sealer in the temple.  They were in charge of arranging all of the activities for us as well.  It is taking three of us to assume the assignments they fulfilled so proficiently.

Our apartment seems empty right now, but our hearts are full.  We have been so very blessed.  Just a side note to my burn post.  When we did laundry yesterday, we discovered that my brown pants were scorched and the fabric came apart in the wash.  No wonder I continued feeling hot on my hip.  I still had on those pants throughout the evening.  But with brown leggings under them and the brown of the scorch mark, none of us realized they had been affected by my fire experience.  But once again--no marks of burns on my garments or skin.  Wow.  I feel very humbled.

Happy New Year to all of you.  We love you so much.  Keep the prayers coming our way!!
Jeanine

PS We just returned from church--the heat wasn't working and the chapel was freezing!  It was only 16 degrees outside.  The bishop even kept his beanie on his head.  I was leading the music and my nose started running from breathing the cold air.  I was sniffing to the music to keep it from dripping.  Such is life in the Bronx.
Dear Family and those who read our blog,
Everywhere we go we hear good wishes for a happy new year.  Let me bear my firm belief that our prospects for a happiness is dependent upon our choices.  Happiness only comes through our service to family, to church and to our fellowman.  It also comes through keeping our covenants, ie partaking of the sacrament, fulfilling moral responsibilities and preparing for and participating in the temple.  Those who cannot attend the temple can participate in FamilySearch and prepare names for the temple.  There is no work that can be as spiritually uplifting and refining as this great work.  This is how we can have a Happy New Year.

Our understanding of life and its trials will be brought into focus and we will feel impressions that will come from heaven including from our kindred dead.  Without our temple worship we can only know of them thru our limited reasoning.  Thru temple worship we come to feel of their reality.  We will experience the turning of the hearts of the children to their fathers and fathers to their children and that is happiness.  We have taken about 150 names to the temple and have seen all available ordinances completed.

Let us all commit to improving our lives in that area and be recipients of true happiness during this year.

Dad/Spencer