20 November 2016

I was talking about you this week, Suzie, to one of our patrons. She is Jewish and a professional ballerina but she is not the ballerina type. She is rather rough around the edges so she has tried to apply more of the upbeat music -- pop music to ballet. When I told her of your love of violin and that you were a fiddler, she got so excited. She wanted me to bring you out here to New York and let you play for her and her ballet team. She was hearing the music in her head and was dancing in the FHC. It was really fun to watch her doing the Irish jig.

This week I had to opportunity of working with the missionaries who brought their investigator in who was from Ecuador to find some family. He did not speak English, but the problem was that they did not have enough information for us to be able to find anything for him. We suggested that he go and talk with his siblings to see what they could remember and then to write stories of what he or his sibling could remember so that they could preserve the now and not lose any more history.

Early Morning View from our Apartment Living Room Window

My next challenge was working with a sister from Korea. They were trying to get the name of her husband's father so that they could do his sealing in the Manhattan temple. The problem was that they could not speak any English so to get them to understand any instructions was next to impossible. It took me over two hours to get into her account only to find out that we could not find him. I did not realize at the time that it was her husband's father so I finally just created him as a new person and gave her the temple card to go through. 

It did not make sense to me at the time, but after they left, I finally realized that we needed to be in her husband's account and not hers because her husband, who is living, is connected to his father which makes his father's record invisible to her in her account. 

They kept telling me that all the work had been done and all they wanted to do was the sealing, so I could not figure out why he was not in Family Tree. When I realized the living situation and the relationship, it was too late and they had left, missing all of the sessions they wanted to go to. 

I am not sure if I will ever get good at trying to explain family history to non-English speaking patrons. It is hard enough to explain it to members who understand most of it.

On Friday we had the opportunity to go to the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular.

It was amazing what they do with technology. They had ice skating, trolly cars driving through New York, drones flying in the air. At the end they had a camel come in with the wise men, sheep with the shepherds, and an angel flying in the sky over the manger. It was a beautiful nativity scene and the music topped it off.

Radio City Music Hall - Child's Christmas Dream (Toyland)

The Wise Men Following the STAR.

Lighting Effects across the dome of Radio City Music Hall - Trains, etc.

Dancing/Skating on Ice

The Rockettes 

The "Santa Phenomenon" - How he is Duplicated

The New York Rockettes Dancing Through the Tourist Bus

The traditional Nativity Scene was Spectacular!

Grandpa Adams after the Show

Elder Dransfield, Grandpa, and Nana Santa's new lead reindeer

Diane told of her week, and I wanted to share a bit.  On Friday, prior to our going to Radio City Music Hall to see the Rockettes, compliments of Mark and Susan Dransfield who have been working with the United Nations and representing the Church (they had just had a banquet and then invited the various Consulates to attend the Rockette's Christmas Spectacular) I had an amazing day at the Family History Center.  This is only one of the events of that day:

A couple who had just been to the temple came to the FHC with a question, as they had been told to ask how her son, who had passed away 7 December 2015, could have his temple work done after he had been deceased for one year.

I learned that this was a son of the sister's previous marriage and that his father was still living.  But this couple had been sealed together and they had children from this union.  I explained that we could update the information in the sister's FamilySearch account so it would be ready when that day came to print the Family Ordinance Card and have his temple work done.  He had already been baptized and confirmed.  He apparently died while attending school in Upstate New York.

I explained that he could be sealed to them.  This dear sister exclaimed, "You mean he can be sealed to me?" With my affirmative answer and this realization, she broke into tears as her husband wrapped his arms around her to console her. At this point, the Spirit was really strong.

I told her that she should schedule a time with the temple for the sealing and to get here early enough to have us print the Family Ordinance Card and get through Initiatory and Endowment session prior to Sealing on the year anniversary of the son's death.  As she left, she asked if she could give me a hug, which she did.

This was one of the best days of serving in the Family History Center here at Lincoln Square so far, and was one of three or four very spiritual experiences I had that day.