We did some training with the FHC Director, Lyn Wilcox, and the Assistant FHC Director, Nobuko Takabori, helping them to start to fill in some of the assignments we have been doing in the Family History Center (since we will be leaving the mission soon). We also prepared "Helping Others Love Family History" experiences for Dillon and Alex Ramey, Temple and Family History Consultants from the Manhattan 1st Ward, Since it was our preparation day, we also did the laundry and house cleaning. Golden had the idea of inviting Ryan Wood, Inwood 1st Ward Elders Quorum President to have a demo experience in their Elder's Quorum before we leave our mission. He agreed for after General Conference.
[Diane]: On the 12th of September, I went into the temple foyer for a break from the FHC and to go the the restroom. Brother Brown asked me to come over to the desk as he needed some help. Valeria was on a break from her classes and had three choices on where to go, but for some reason, she was drawn to this building but did not know why. She didn't even know what was in the building and the feeling was very strong. She kept touching her heart and trying to figure out what she was feeling. Brother Brown was at the recommend desk and needed some missionary contacts for her in the New York New York South Mission. I ran over to the FHC and got the number and brought it back.
When I gave her the number, I asked her if she had seen the pictures in the other side of the building and she had not. I asked her if she knew about the Book of Mormon and she had not, so I had her follow me and I gave her the Book of Mormon. I began the picture tour of the Book of Mormon and when I got the the picture of the Savior's birth with Mary and Joseph, I explained to her that Nephi was able to have a vision and was given the opportunity to see the birth of the Savior. She immediately started to ask if that was the same Jesus in the Bible. I said yes and then she said she needed to find him and I reassured her that she would. She had come to the right place.
When I got to the elevator, when the doors opened Sister Coffee and her companion were there. I asked them if they would continue to tour with her and they were really excited. After spending a lot of time with her, the missionaries came down and they stopped at the FHC. I told Valeria to remember that she was a daughter of God and He wanted her back home and that was what brought her there. She left in tears wanting to be baptized. It was a wonderful experience.
[Golden]: While Diane was at Occupation Therapy, I organized a lesson plan for Ryan Wood, outlining his great grandmother (end of line), finding her parents and sister in Nebraska) in preparation for an upcoming Elders Quorum demonstration.
[Diane]" On the 13th of September it was quite slow in the FHC so when Zadia and Aurea (our Spanish volunteers - nonmembers of the Church) came in to relieve us, they wanted me to teach them how to do photos and stories. I spent the next two hours teaching them and they were loving it and getting really excited about what they could do.
[Golden]: Over the past few days, I worked with Devin Barnett, a member from Miami, Florida who was spending time at the Family History Center and Manhattan Temple while he was off work. As a Amtrak employee, he spends five days on and five days off the train between Miami and New York City. Due to Hurricane Irma, trains were not running so he was making use of his time. He and his wife were recently called as Temple and Family History Consultants in their ward, and he was trying to learn as much as he could about FamilySearch.org. I also worked again with Ruth Braithwaite who is becoming somewhat of a regular patron, helping her prepare for a cousins reunion.
[Diane]: On the 14th of September, Sister Roslyn Pratt came in and had some pictures that she wanted help with in FamilyTree. I took pictures of them with my camera and told her that we would have to wait until the next day when I could get the pictures from the cloud and download them. Sister Pratt is very scary when it comes to having anything of hers on the web,but I reassured her that I would remove them as soon as I got them downloaded and into FamilyTree.
The next day she was there first thing. I showed her the pictures and she was amazed at what was happening. We went through and fixed some of them up so there were in good shape and then I had her upload the pictures into her gallery and showed her how to attach them. We were able to attach documents that she had that proved baptism and death information. When they were attached to her family member, she was overjoyed because she knew that they would not be changing the data anymore.
The next day she brought me several more pictures that she wanted me to help her with. This was so unusual for Sister Pratt because she was so fearful of the Internet. She won't even own a cell phone. She started opening up and tell me stories of her father and mother in South Africa and it was such a joy to work with her. When I first came to New York, she walked out of the center because I did not do the job she expected. It was not a good start, so to have her really enjoying herself with me was a wonderful experience.
On September 15th, we had another busy day at the FHC with all eight computers busy. I had two new individuals that were new to family history, so I could not work with both of them. The gentleman that came in insisted that his family name was from Bethlehem. When I asked him if it was the Bethlehem near Jerusalem, he would say "NO", I am from Bethlehem. This was the first visitor that I had been with from the east so I thought that Golden would be much better with him than me and I went back to the sister that I was working with.
After about three hours nonstop, I needed a break so went out into the hallway and ran into another investigator. She said that she was looking for some sisters. I asked her if she wanted missionaires, and she said yes. I said, "Okay, lets go look upstairs;" as I thought that I saw a couple of them go up. As I walked the hallway, it was really quiet and I began to get concerned that I would not be able to find her missionaries. As I approached the last room, there were two missionaries. I opened the door and asked if there were any missionaries that could help me. They got up with enthusiasm and then I told them that I had an investigator that wanted to meet with them. They really got excited and I introduced them to her and left.
When the missionaries came down, I asked how it went, and they said that she was a strong investigator and wanted baptism. I thought to myself,"two in one week". That was pretty good. When we see the light of Christ come into their eyes, it is such a joy to watch them change when they finally begin to recognize what they are feeling. There are days that I really love this work.
[Golden]: While Diane was working with Sr. Pratt, I was able to help Sister Sheyla Amador, a member from Olmsted Ward in the Bronx, provide a way to have her grandmother's temple work reserved and a family ordinance card printed. She was from Dominican Republic and had given birth to her mother who was fathered by a man who was already married. She knew she had three grandfather's growing up but she didn't realize why. When she learned that her mother could be sealed to her biological parents, although they didn't marry, she was overwhelmed to tears as well as angry that her mother had been put through so much anguish!
I was also able to help Barbara Sweetie who came in from the street (seeing our sandwich sign) seeking where her mother came from. Using the 1940 census, we found that she was listed as an adopted daughter to her mother who was listed as a widow as early as 1920 census. She went away happy and much more knowledgeable than when she came in.
Since a transfer occurred in the NYNY North Mission recently, we did an apartment inspection of the Elders on 125th Street, Harlem. Elder Small met us and reported that his companion, Elder Mafi, we resting with a headache and wasn't feeling well. After the inspection, we left our message and it touched Elder Small's heart. Diane picked up on his anxiety and depression and after a short discussion, she asked if he wanted a priesthood blessing. He accepted and I was able to grant his desire.
Saturday, Sept 16, we visited the Elders on 128th Street near Lenox Avenue for apartment check. Elders Aurich & Hatfield (zone leaders and Spanish-speaking missionaries) and Elders Geppelt and Myers (Harlem English-speaking) were all home since we did the inspection at 8:30 am.
On Sunday, training at Manhattan 1st ward involved Preston and Rachel Blair. Preston is a leader in the Lincoln Square YSA Ward and Rachel is a Temple and Family History Consultant. We explained the new "Find, Take, Teach" responsibilities for consultants and invited them to let us train via their personal Family History experiences. They will have theirs after LDS General Conference. I completed the lesson plan for Ryan Wood's demonstration later in October at Inwood 1st Ward Elders Quorum.
Monday involved apartment inspection of the Sisters' apartment on St. Nicholas Avenue in Harlem. Sisters Leavitt, Moore, Hess and Israelson were happy to meet us.
The Manhattan Temple Missionaries invited us to participate with them in attending a baseball game at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. We really enjoyed attending the game between the NY Yankees and the Minnesota Twins, as well as a large ice cream (we decided to trade that for the hotdogs we had talked about) and peanuts and cracker jacks. It is always more fun when the home team wins the game. That is what happened --Yankees 2, Twins 1.
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| Back L-R: Beans, Heidemans, DeBrys, Elder Adams, Bro. Brown, Bro. Gray; Front L-R: Sr. Nabors, Mumfords, Tans, Sr. Adams, Schoenbergers, Sr Gray in the entrance to Yankee Stadium. Elder Mumford holds the Yankee cap we received as a free gift when we came into the stadium. |
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| NY Yankees warm-up before playing the Minnesota Twins. |
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| Elder Adams, Elder Mumford, Sister Nabors, Sister Mumford |
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| Elder & Sister Adams at Yankee Stadium sporting gift of NY Yankee caps |
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| "Taken out to the Ball Game" |
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| Although high in the air, we had a great view of the ball field |
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| Bro. and Sr. Tan, Manhattan Temple Missionaries |
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| Sr. Mumford, Heidemans, Beans, Tans |
Thursday evening, we attended the Broadway production of "Aladdin". It seemed like magic and the genie really was amazing. Of course, it doesn't compare to "Lion King", but we had a wonderful time.
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| The Adams' by the subway station and in front of the marquee. |
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| The Aladdin marquee at Amsterday Theatre |
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| Interior of the Amsterdam Theater from our seats |
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| Close-up of the "box seats" for Aladdin |
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| Equipment and microfilm cabinets in the FHC Microfilm room |
I then spent time with other members of the stake that I had been working with either in the various wards or in the FHC. I actually really enjoyed being there. I get so nervous when I don't know anyone very well. Women's conference was wonderful. The 2nd counselor, Sharon L. Eubank, in the General Relief Society spoke about a message from President Kimball in September 1979 given my his wife, Camille Ering Kimball. This was only the second time that the women of the church had met together in a general meeting worldwide. He stated "much of the major growth that is coming into the Church in the last days will come because many of the good women of the world will be drawn to the church in large number. This will happen to the degree that the women of the church reflect righteousness and articulateness in their lives to the degree that the women of the church will be seen as distinct and different in happy ways from the women of the world." Women should be righteous rather than Selfish; Desire integrity which is more valuable than visibility; and true humility; Clearly express how you feel about something and why.
1. Be Righteous - Develop an interconnection with God;
2. Be Articulate: Clearly express how you feel about the gospel and the savior and why;
3. Be different in a good way; Innovation and creation are spiritual gifts;
4. Be distinct; Be recognizably well defined. practice living the gospel so that you are strong when you need it;
5. Do the first four attributes and be happy doing it. Look with optimism, work with faith, and something good will always happen. Let our light shine with happiness through what we say and what we do.
Sister Neill F. Merritt, Second Counselor of the General Young Women spoke about deepening our knowledge of and our obedience to Heavenly Father. We are born to develop relationships rather than things. The Savior invites us to abide in him and walk with him. Do we trust him. Our trust will come through our covenants with him. We need to learn all that we can about our Savior so that we can know him, not just know of him. When we know the Savior, we develop power to face all challenges and can be strengthened rather than defeated. Changes selfishness into service and develop love and know the plan of salvation.
Joy D. Jones, Primary General President spoke when you find the gospel, we find ourselves and our eternal value through the Holy Ghost. The gospel teaches that we are children of God and we are of value. Don't ever think that you are nothing. President Thomas S. Monson stated "The worth of the soul is the capacity to become as God."
President Uchtdorf talked about the three kinds of people, (1) ones that are sad, (2) ones that are mad, and (3) ones that are glad.
1. Sad Sister: Acted as though she was a victim. This caused her to lose control of her emotions. Remember who you are; a daughter of God, you have the the spiritual DNA of God and are full of capabilities that you can choose from to make like rewarding. You are in God's hands and he cares about you. There are many reasons not to be sad.
2 Mad Sister: She felt that the problems in her life were caused by someone else and lashed out at everyone. She only saw herself as perfect. Each side saw themsevles driven by love rather than hate. Once you degrade a group of people with anger, hurt or attempt to silence them, we are not doing so in righteousness. We are responsible for our own discipleship. Love our enemies and those that despitefully use you is the counsel of our Heavenly Father.
3. Happy Sister: She trusted God in spite of all situations. Se was joyful because of her relationship with our Heavenly Father. Hold to the iron rod and stand steadfast in following the Savior. Stay on the path and never let go of the rod of iron (the word of God).
There is so much to learn from our leaders. I love hearing them and being encouraged to try harder. Following our Savior brings peace and happiness in a crazy world that we are living in.
[Golden] Today, we spent an amazing 45 minutes with Dallin and Alex Ramey in the FHC, giving them the experiences we had prepared for them. Dallin's goal was to find out where his ancestors came from. Diane had found that an end of line couple were from Ireland. This was a surprise to Dallin as most of his ancestry is from Norway. Alex had questions on whether a child belonged in one of her ancestral families since only a gender was shown. From sources already attached, we determined that from what was given in the 1900 and 1910 census records, that child was not accounted for in the number of children born to the mother and living at the time of census.
Alex's maiden name is Olpin and her family has had the Olpin Mortuary in Pleasant Grove, Utah for some generations. Her maternal grandmother served as a temple worker and was quite active in the Church prior to her death, but was never sealed to her parents. We were able to discuss this and help Alexa understand that it should be done and was probably an oversight on the part of her grandmother. She was excited that when her parents visit NYC for Thanksgiving, they can do a temple session and also have her grandmother sealed to her parents with her parents and her being her proxy. There was a great feeling throughout the experiences. We love to share these experiences, and the blessings that they bring of conversion.
Elder M. Russel Ballard made a statement in a recent pageant with the British Saints that applies in conversion equally well to these family history experiences as immigration to Zion. "Conversion always begins with what people feel, and you can't tell the story . . . without feeling the power of heaven. It causes people to pack up their bag and go get on a ship in Liverpool and not know where they're going except they're going to Zion [or to continue their journey finding relatives, taking them to the temple, and teaching others to do the same]. They're going to be obedient and do what the Spirit has prompted them to do. And so it is with us today."
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