28 August 2016

A couple of weeks ago, on our way back from Harlem and Diane's foot doctor appointment, we were impressed with how they move furniture in and out of the apartments several floors high.  This photo shows a worker who is standing near the larger opening where furniture can be moved into a building.  The elevator in the old buildings like the one we live in, built in the 1940s is so small that few things can be moved from floor to floor.  Note the size of the opening compared to the worker standing near it.

Ten days ago, or so, Elder and Sister Larsen notified us that they were working on getting an apartment in the tower next to the temple (Lincoln Square) for a move as new missionaries were coming in October to take our apartment in Inwood which is normally used for Employment Missionaries.  Elder and Sister Huntington invited us to dinner where we also met Elder and Sister Colton.  The Huntington's are CES Missionaries working with the Young Single Adults, and Elder and Sister Colton work with United Nations as part of Public Relations.  The apartment has a kitchen cubby that you walk into and back out of and the apartment is much smaller than where we are in Inwood.

Last week, one of the incredible set of experiences involved Qiong Shi, a member from China who was visiting her daughter here in New York City.  Elder Terrence Grimley and President Roberts, Second Counselor in the Temple Presidency brought her into the Center and asked us to help her prepare the Family Ordinance Card for her father to have his temple work done, and so that she could be sealed to her parents.  She said the temple work for her mother had been previously done in Salt Lake.

After several hours of trying to get into her FamilySearch Account, since she had two accounts that were "fighting" each other and FamilySearch worked with Sister Hanson and Diane for over five hours before hoping that the problem was repaired.

The following day, Sr. Shi [pronounced Shure] was able to have her father's baptism and confirmation completed.  But since she was going back to China after the weekend, the temple was trying to get the rest of his ordinances done that day, as well.  Caught in traffic, Sr. Shi was late in coming to the temple and President Roberts, Sister Hanson, and Elder & Sister Adams and others were trying to get everything taken care of.  Elder Grimley, working with her branch president in China and Salt Lake (he speaks Mandarin Chinese) were able to get her recommend for living ordinances to be sealed to her parents.

Elder Roberts was able to get into FamilySearch to verify that her mother's ordinances were completed,  and during this time, Sr. Shi's daughter said something about that she wanted a blessing.  Pres. Roberts was able to ascertain that it was her patriarchal blessing that she wanted, as there was a waiting list in China that would take months before she could get her blessing.

Long story short, Sr. Shi was able to be sealed to her parents; Elder Grimley, who has been set apart as a patriarch for the Mandarin Chinese community in New York (who also had to get permission from Church Headquarters, etc. to give the blessing) was able to give it and Sunday evening before the Temple Missionary trip to the Philadelphia Temple, he was able to get it typed and delivered to her before she left a day later to return to China!  Lots of prayers and faith were exhibited and Sr. Shi was very grateful for all who helped her receive these blessings.

To start this week off we had the opportunity of going to Philadelphia Pennsylvania to visit the new temple before dedication in October. It was about a 3 hour train ride one way but the train was very comfortable and quiet compared to the subways.

 There were 29 of the missionaries that went and it was a lot of fun getting to know them. Because of living in Inwood, we have had very little interaction with them, so it was a great experience.

Temple Missionaries, Presidency, and FHC Missionaries at NY-Penn Station

The temple was beautiful. It followed the patriotic theme with an original picture in the front foyer of the temple depicting the Signing of the Declaration of Independence. There isa set of quill pens with an ink dipping jar behind them carved into the woodwork in back of the front foyer. This temple is about double the size of the Manhattan temple with two endowment rooms and four sealing rooms.

Each time I go through a new temple, the Spirit is always strong.  It is very interesting to see those who come to the Open House who are not members and the amazement they show as they take the tour.  The explanations given at each point were extremely clear and uplifting so that anyone could understand the purpose of the temple.

This week, we also had several experiences working with patrons and members in Family History.  A couple of times, patrons with very difficult family circumstances involving "family secrets" that they were trying to discover because family did not share but kept things pretty hush-hush were able, with our help and being directed by the Spirit, discover facts that really helped them to understand and learn things that affected the family and its story!

We worked with the Spanish Elders in helping them use Family Tree to clear the name of a brother's mother.  Fred Williams is being reactivated and recently receive his temple recommend after years of inactivity and now can have his mother's temple work done.

Last Sunday, in consultant training, only one of the new consultants at Inwood showed up.  So we took the time to help George Mittag prepare family ordinance cards for family of great grandparents.  We postponed the last lesson on Finding resources to help them learn and help members for today.  It was really fun to see the expressions on the faces of the other consultants when this group of family ordinance cards was handed to George.  One could sense the hopeful thinking that this will happen to them!

Yesterday, while waiting in the subway in Harlem (125th Street) on our way from Diane's Podiatrist appointment to the Manhattan Family History Center, we sweltered in the heat and noticed this little guy savoring a morsel of tomato under the rail next to station landing for the A Train.

After meetings, we took a hike to the Cloisters, a museum near the Church and just enjoyed the beauty around us.  On a P-day we would like to visit the museum and experience the relics that have been restored as part of this NY Museum of Art site.

The Cloister Museum

Trail to the Cloisters

 Elder Adams

Sister Adams with Harlem River in Background - If our directions are off, then it would be the Hudson River :-)

Selfy of Sister and Elder Adams on the Cloister Trail - Alias Nana and Papa

21 August 2016

Change is always scary, exciting, and challenging, but always rewarding. I am learning that more and more each day as I serve this mission. Each time I go the the FHC I wonder if I am going to end up not being able to help someone. I am so lacking in the research and analytical part of family history. When patrons come in from places that I cannot even pronounce or have not heard of I have the hardest time trying to give them a positive experience.

Today we went to Harlem Days which is kind of like Salem Days only a lot bigger. The stake had set up a booth where we had about six or ten computers going and our job was to open an account for them and try and find a census or something to find their families. Trying to talk over the loud speakers and pounding music was quite the experience. 

I worked with one from Trinidad and could find nothing for him on either is mother or his fathers side so I encouraged him to write about his parents and what he remembered about his grandparents so that he could preserve the now and not lose what he had of his family He kind of got excited about doing it but I don't really know where it will go.

The next patron I worked had a family that was in the United States and we were able to find her grandparents and I think great grandparents in a Louisana census record. She was excited and it was good for her.

The next patron I could not get her into her account. There was something wrong with the system and it was not accepting the new accounts. I called Salt Lake but could not get through before they shut us down because of the impending rain storm. I guess Golden was having the same problems that I was having so there must of been something up in Salt Lake causing the problems. I took her name and information along with two others that came late and told them that I would give them a call and hopefully I can get them up and running.

At the family history center this last week, I was able to demonstrate how to use photos of original documents in FamilyTree. She and her sister had gathers some really good documents on her family that no one else has seen. When I showed her how to preserve them, she got really excited and wanted to come back in with her sister and have a lesson. I do enjoy teaching the photos part of FamilyTree. It has been a rewarding experience for me.

We were contacted by Elder and Sister Huntington who are the CES missionaries in our area. She does a lot of entertaining of the youth and a lot of cooking for them so she needs a little larger kitchen. They have an apartment on the 20th or 30th floor with a larger kitchen and have to be out of their apartment by the first of September. They were asking us if we wanted their apartment and invited us over to see it. It is a lot smaller than ours but has a lot more storage. The kitchen is walk in and back out and only has a half of a stove. I guess there is challenges in all experiences, but I really think that we will be moving into their apartment by the middle of September.

 

Other than the few things mentioned, it has been a rather quiet week. We are really enjoying working here in New York and have learned a great deal. We have just completed our first month of teaching in the Innwood 1st ward and in the next couple of weeks, they will start a new class and their consultants will be teaching it while we shadow them. I think it will be a good experience for everyone.

14 August 2016

Well, another week has passed and life gets more interesting. This week we worked with Eagle Eye, an Indian that comes in to find his family. He is interested in getting photos but he does not have enough information to make sure that what he finds is his. So you scroll and scroll until finally I told him that my job was to teach him how to do it himself so he could enjoy the experience anywhere he chose.

The next patrons were two ladies that have started a huge project with Italian records. The only problem is that FamilySearch pulled the records from online. I wrote a case and they have escalated it up to find out why the records were pulled.  The patrons were not happy about this as they will now have to order the films individually and there are many films at a great deal of cost if FamilySearch cannot get them back.

Our little deaf friend, Shirley came back in and she was wanting to do more research. I finally let Golden work with her because it was turning into a research project. He was able to finally get her out of the living people and into the deceased where they finally found names that could be taken to the temple. She lights up like a light bulb and rubs her arms because of the chills that she get and the joy she has in finding her family. I love watching Golden as he brings light into the lives of so many patrons. I am grateful that the Lord sent him to me. He has been such a great example.

On Saturday, one of our temple workers, Elder Terrence Grimley, brought in a sister from China that spoke English but easily misunderstood what we would say. She wanted to clear her father for temple work as he had been deceased for exactly one year. She said that she did not have an account so I started to put one in for her.

Everything went well until the end. I asked her if she had an email address or a phone number that we could use as FamilySearch would send her a verification code so she could activate the account. She did not know her phone number as it was a new phone, but she said that she could get to email right then so we had the code sent to her email. When I asked her to go into her email, she said that she could not access it from America. My head dropped. The verification code was where we could not get it and that starts a nightmare. About two hours later and being on the line with Salt Lake, we were finally able to get her account set up and she was able to get her father's work done in the temple.

Since she was a recent convert, the bishop of Chinatown Ward was going to see if she could make contact with her branch president in China to clear her to take out her own endowment while she was visiting Manhattan. I have not heard if that happened or not. This mission is always filled with surprises, and that is what makes it interesting.

Sunday night Golden and I were speakers at a Family History Fireside. We decided to present the program with four short videos talking about stories, FamilyTree, and promises given by doing family history. We took turns talking about the power of stories and memories and then shared some experiences that affect the lives of our family. The Spirit was strong and I think that those that came were well fed. I love sharing my testimony of my mission, and what a wonderful gift it has been to serve in New York City.

Golden's turn: On Tuesday, Diane worked with Alesa Harmon from New Jersey before she went into the temple.  This was the first day it was open after two week shutdown for maintenance.  So we had people waiting when we got to the FHC.  I worked with Kit Wa Tang, a young lady from the Chinatown Ward who printed ordinance cards for 54 of her ancestors in preparation for a baptismal session at 10:30 am.

Traffic (Taxis) 

A Jonathan and Isabella were brought into the Center by a temple worker and said we could teach them how to index while they waited for their sealing session.  They are from Italy and will be moving to Salt Lake City soon.  Carlos Ramirez, a temple ordinance worker from Peru came in and I helped him print the sealing card for his parents.  The Spirit was strong as he realized there was temple work for his family, and he couldn't hold back the tears.

This week I also worked for about three hours each of three days with Jonathan Shapiro who is trying to prepare an interview with his last remaining uncle who lives in Denver and is 94 years old.  He apparently had interviewed him previously when the uncle was living in New Jersey.  He is Jewish and is dyslexic, so it is difficult for him to keep his mind on track and he needcd help in preparing interview questions to clarify questions he would like to have answered before this uncle dies.

It appears that his branch of the family from his grandfather has been the "black sheep" and not well accepted by the other members of the family in that generation which has created quite a few psychological problems in the generations since.  He is trying to get answers as to what caused the chasm in the family.

One of the most interesting things he did was to show the places of residence on a Brooklyn, NY Google Map from the 1890s when his cousin's Shapiro grandfather came to New York, had various jobs, moved quite a bit in the same neighborhood, and met his future wife.  He plotted where she lived in proximity to where he lived, and where the rabbi lived who married them.  His question was why they were married so far away, as it would have been quite a walking distance.  He plotted mock synagogues and the official one (mock ones being in people's homes rather than its own structure).

On Thursday, we started our shift at the temple at 6 am, which means we leave our apartment in Inwood by 5 am to get to the temple in time to dress before we serve. After we got home, I went to get Chinese food from around the corner and while in the elevator, I was asked by one of the Domincan Republic tenants who was with his wife and son if we believed in the Holy Spirit.  I answered "Absolutely".  This started a conversation that he translated for his wife, starting in the elevator and continuing in the foyer for a few minutes.

I was able to explain how we are representatives of Jesus Christ and our message is that his Church was taken from the earth when His Apostles were killed, and restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith who saw the Father and Son.  That he was the translator of the Book of Mormon, a record of the Christ's dealings with the people on this continent and offered him a copy in his own language.

I contacted the missionaries and Elders Perez and Matheson and they brought a copy of the Book of Mormon in Spanish, but the family in F-1 was not home.

On Friday we were talking and missed our subway stop.  By the time we realized it, we were at 39th Street (Penn Station) instead of getting off at 66th Street.  So we were 20 minutes late in opening up the Center.

I worked with a Susan Campbell who had census indexes from Liz Hanson who worked with her the other day.  She wanted to find death information.  I was prompted to search the Find A Grave Collection in FamilySearch and we found the Caspary plot with Herman Caspray and Henrietta monuments with many of the family in Glendale, Queens, New York.  An amazing photo of the monuments with the stones putting the family headstones in their order.

On Saturday, after going to Harlem for Diane's podiatry appointment with Dr. Joshi, our shift started with working with Millicent Burke-Kaaland who wanted to prepare her son's baptism card so the Elders could do it today.

We finally got her into her account and added new informatoin including 3 of her 5 children, two deceased.  We were able to add her son, Richard Burke, born 1961 to her famly and print his card for ordinances.

This was a very emotional and moving time for her and she shed tears as she told me that in 2013 her son witnessed a robbery in Jamaica (where she was from). Those involved knew he could identify them so they shot him in the neck and after being in a coma for 3 days, he passed away.

She said that she has had the distinct prompting that Richard feels like he is "outside" [In Spirit Prison?]and has asked her the question, "What about me?"  Now  she can feel more at peace with his temple ordinances begun.

The rest of the shift, I worked with Kerry Harris, a non-member who had worked with Liz yesterday.  We were able to run the census to 1880 and he added three generations on his family from Alabama and Georgia and found the burial plot of his great-grandparents in Alabama through Find A Grave.  It is nothing short of miraculous to be able to find so much in so little time with the technologies available.  I think of the early years of my research before any indexes and just having to go microfilm by microfilm and page by page to even find census records.  And now what took months can be done in a couple of hours!

7 August 2016

The past few weeks, Suzie has been sending a weekly question for us to ponder and answer.  This week's question is "If you were to send aliens to any past decade, what decade would you send them to?"

As I (Diane) thought about this, it seemed to me that every decade had is good and bad so I decided to select when the heavens were open once again and the blessings of the gospel came forth. When I think of all the blessings that I have as a result of living gospel principles, I marvel at the wonders and promises of my Savior. This truly is work and what a privilege an alien would have to be able to meet Joseph Smith. 

I (Golden) thought about this and the decade I would send them to would be 30-40 A.D.  This was the time that the prophesies of all the prophets was fulfilled with the Atonement of our Savior.  The three days following his death in both the Old World and the Americas would have been fantastic to behold and the feelings of the Holy Ghost would surely help them to understand that this was also for them, as it is for all of the Creations of Jehovah and the opportunity for them to receive salvation and exaltation.

Yesterday I had a wonderful experience with a 75 year old lady that came in to do some research. When she first came in I asked her if she needed any help and she indicated that she would be fine alone so I did not do much. She has worked in family history for years but when she started working with Family Tree, the computer started to have her ask questions. I slowly introduced her to the features of Family Tree and until and I discovered that her research was in Norway. I asked her if she had ever used the Norway Digital Archives and then showed her out to get to it. She was so excited and that broke open a very comfortable  relationship that started out kind of aloof.

She told me that a few years ago she was desirous of serving a mission and went to her branch president to start the process. Before she could say anything the branch president asked her not to say anything until after he had spoken to her. He said: "I realize that you came to me for an interview to start a mission, but would like to ask you to withhold that request and accept a call to be our Relief Society President." He said, "I need an endowed sister that could encourage the sisters to get to the temple and she was the only one endowed and capable in their branch." 

Sister Jackson answered, "If that is where the Lord wants me, that is where I will go" and she gave up her opportunity for a full time mission. She served for three years as Relief Society President at the age of 70 or 71. When she was released, they called her to be Primary President at the age of 74. While holding these callings, she also served at the Manhattan Temple two days a week. This required her to travel over 1 1/2hours, each way.

I marveled at her attitude and she said, "I have been given so much from the Lord that I promised Him that when I retired, I would serve him with all my time." And that she is doing. She said that she could never match what He has given her, "But I can do all that I can do." I was amazed at her beautiful testimony.

After I explained to her the power and destiny of the data that was going into Family Tree, she could understand the importance of it and accepted the challenge of cleaning up her data so that it would be ready for the Savior when He comes. She never showed any hesitation in adding to her already busy schedule. I explained that if she needed help that she could call and I could go in as a helper with her in her home via computer and guide her through her problem. What an example she was to me. I hope that I can follow in her footsteps.

On Friday, we traded shifts with the Hansons so we went in from 2:00 - 6:00 and then we went out to dinner with the Hansons and then on to the Radio City Music Hall to see "The Rockettes". We have never seen anything quite so spectacular with the new lighting technology that could be used in the production.

The story line of the program was based on a family making a return trip to New York to relive their parents' marraige proposal on the top of the Empire State Building. The family was getting on the subway when the kids got into a disagreement that caused them to miss the subway and they ended up being split from their parents. They had the subway going across the stage and several stops identical to the actual subway locations. They had scenes of the Empire State Building, visiting the New York Public Library (with talking lions), Wall Street (with flying money through the air), Central Park (with greenery and a talking statue of Alice In Wonderland. People as bubbles were flying across the stag amidst trees and climbing vines  in Central Park turning into flowers that all covered the stage and the ceiling of the auditorium which was three tiers high. It was huge. All of these scenes were going on while the Rockettes performed their dancing routines. They are known for their precision dancing and the line dance and it was also something to behold. It was one of our best evenings spent with our friends.

Golden worked with a patron named Norma trying to resolve the spelling or information on her Polish grandparents. They settled in Massachusetts, and we found them in various census records.  She will be going to Massachusetts next week to visit her only living uncle to see if she could get information for him if he is lucid enough to give it.  Robert and Miriam Thompson from Queens and members of the Church, after finding that the temple was closed for maintenance, came in for help to print family ordinance cards. Since neither were computer literate, there was some clean-up on their trees.

On Saturday, the center was moderately slow. Some of the people that came in did not require one-on-one time, but two of them did. Golden took Sister Liz McMillan requiring research assistance and I took a gentleman that had not done research for years and wanted to get back into it. He had never worked on Family Tree so it was all new. I gave him the option of searching without creating an account or creating one. He opted for searching only the first half hour and then when we found some documents for his family, I explained how if he had a Tree he could begin documenting his ancestors. He got excited and created the account. I was able to help him upload the documents, take a picture of his picture, and put them both into the Tree. I then showed him how to label them and attach them to each individual. I also showed him how to take the document that he uploaded and attach it as a source with the image. He was excited and wanted more.

Liz was trying to find information on her grandmother and why there were so many hard feelings in the family. She married in early 1920s to a military man 25 years older than she and after having five or six children, died of tuberculosis at Tuberculosis Hospital in Washington D.C.  We were trying to find out what happened to the children, and if a family members may have raised them.  We found some of the children in two separate census records, each lodging (as teenagers) in the residences of public school teachers, but we did find the death certificate of the mother in 1929 which helped to dispel some of the family stories and verify other parts.  It is like reading a good mystery or detective novel with some of the problems we get at the Family History Center.  As we work with these African Americans, at least we don't have to try to struggle though a foreign language!

It is so fun to watch the light come into peoples' eyes and the excitement they feel when we help them connected with their ancestors and family. This is the work of the Lord and He is very involved in it.