Spring 2021

Central Park looks like a George Seurat painting coming to life-April 2021

Spring in the City is so gorgeous! It is especially delightful this year as we are cautiously emerging from the year+ Covid-19 Pandemic. It feels like everything in the city is coming back to life. Our family all got our Covid-19 vaccines and we feel so grateful for the way God works his miracles. It reminds me of one of my favorite miracle stories that also “sits at the intersection of faith and medicine” (a quote from the article referenced below). This miracle came as an answer to faith and prayers but through the preparation of a brilliant heart surgeon named Russell M. Nelson. I won’t tell the full story here but you can read all the details in an article called, “Discovering a Surgical First: Russell M Nelson and Tricuspid Valve Annuloplasty.” by Austin A. Robinson and Curtis T. Hunter.

Click to access RobinsonDiscovering.pdf

We know the pandemic isn’t over, and even if it was, we don’t want to entirely go back to “normal” from before; especially not in regards to the way we do missionary work. It was a long and sometimes hard road, but we feel so blessed for the opportunity to be “online missionary pioneers” in figuring out new and improved ways of sharing and teaching the gospel for our current day and time. These missionaries are so creative and more importantly they are faithful. Through hard work, obedience and lots of love they have tuned their hearts so they can really hear the spirit guiding them in their work. They are frequently inspired to try new things, and as importantly, they have the faith and the courage to try them! We have set some big goals for the mission and our attitude is “Why Not?” Why not reach for the stars and stretch yourself and put your trust and faith in God, that he can help you reach farther than you ever could on your own. We are only part way through our 6 month goals but so far God has helped us reach them and we have no doubt that he will continue to provide opportunities for us to be instruments in His hands as he orchestrates this work!

REACHING FOR THE STARS

BY EVA TIMOTHY

We were so grateful to have Eva Timothy join us for a devotional! Eva has an incredible conversion story, having searched for light from a young age she found the missionaries as a teenager in her native country of Bulgaria. She is a shining example of someone who lets God prevail in their life. If you don’t know her you should look her up on social media and feel of her contagious enthusiasm for the gospel. She is a fine art photographer and artist who actually served as a young missionary here in NYC!

We are lighting up the city and people’s lives with the gospel of Jesus Christ! Thanks to the creative efforts of Elder & Sister Clifford, we have our own mini cityscape where each window represents a friend who made covenants with God through baptism in the last few months. I wish I could share all their stories. There are so many amazing ones and it is evident every day that God is answering prayers and helping people find the hope and peace they are longing for in their lives. So many of them saw a post online or got a friend request from a missionary and when you ask why they responded to the request or commented on the post they say, something like, “I just felt like I should say “yes.” Or, “I knew the message was an answer to my prayers.” Lots of people respond to offers to pray with or for them, or to get help learning English or for Bible studies. One woman remembered the missionaries coming by her home when she was a young child. Her parents weren’t interested and sent them away. All these years later, she remembered how she had felt as a child and how she had wanted them to stay because she felt that they were teaching the truth so she walked into the church and found the missionaries and now she is baptized. The sisters taught a man who they call a “modern day Job.” 5 weeks ago he lost his house, 4 weeks ago he lost his brother, 3 weeks ago he got in a devastating car crash but this week he said he wasn’t going to let the enemy win and he chose to make covenants with Christ! Below are some but not all of those lights from above.

Volunteering

In addition to their regular missionary work, many of the missionaries volunteer at community food banks, parks, or other non-profits in their neighborhoods.

Fort Washington Armory Covid-19 Vaccination Center-Manhattan

Salvation Army-Harlem

Interfaith Community Services-Manhattan

Woodside Neighborhood Association-Queens

Morningside Park-Manhattan

Pakistani American Youth Organization-Brooklyn

TRANSFERS

February 16, 2021

March 30, 2021

It was a beautiful day for transfers in Woodside with crisp air and lots of sunshine! There is always a lot of energy and excitement and it is fun to see so many of the missionaries as they come throughout the day. Instead of having everyone come at the same time like we used to do, we schedule 3 or 4 mini transfers throughout the day so we don’t have big crowds gathering. The assistants are really good at coordinating it all so that each group for the most part is in and out with their new companions in less than an hour, which is remarkable give the varied locations and modes of transportation they use. I will forever be grateful Uber and all the drivers that got us through several transfers during the height of the pandemic when we couldn’t use public transit, but it was a huge headache logistically and it is just better over all to be outside and to see each other if only for a few minutes. We still give Uber plenty of business though as many of the re-assigned missionaries who joined us last summer are returning to their originally assigned missions over-seas or are flying to and from consulate appointments in other states in order to get the proper Visas for travel. We’d love to take them all to the airport to say goodbye and get photos with them, but we still haven’t figured out a way to be in multiple places at once so I’m once again grateful for Uber and cab drivers!

DEPARTURES

February 2021

Sisters Randall, Halverson, Bradley and Elders Manning, Garcia, Bargeron

March 2021

ARRIVALS

FEBRUARY 2021

APRIL 2021

Happy Birthday 🥳

It was so fun to have a surprise Happy Birthday Zoom call for President Teuscher with some of our missionaries who are home now. It made us extra happy to see some of the missionaries who had to leave at the beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic and either finish their mission early or finish serving in their home country. We loved hearing everyone’s stories and memories–some funny, some tender–all of them made us super grateful that we have had the privilege to serve with each and every one of these remarkable young men and women! We are so sad that our mission will be ending in a few months, but at the same time we are really excited for President and Sister Holmes because they get to serve with and love all these missionaries too!

Leadership Council

So many screen shots! It’s been a while since I posted any photos from MLC or Mission Leadership Meetings. Screen shots aren’t nearly as good as in person, but here are some from one of our recent leadership meetings. We usually have a big Zoom call for the first part of the leadership meeting where we have trainings and spiritually uplifting messages, then we break out into zones and the Zone Leaders, Sister Training Leaders and District Leaders make their goals and plans for the transfer.

For our most recent MLC we had a group discussion about what we can learn from following Christ’s leadership style. We read one of the best talks ever by Spencer W. Kimball called “Jesus: The Perfect Leader.” He gave it in 1977 to the Young Presidents organization in Sun Valley Idaho. It is still such a classic because it is straight truth! Go read it if you never have and read it again if it’s been a while. I wish you all could have been in the discussion with us listening to the depth of understanding and insights these 20 year old disciples of Christ have. It fills me with hope to think that these are some of the future leaders of homes, classrooms, businesses, churches and civic organizations. Elder Parker Bingham gave a masterful training: “The Answer is the Doctrine,” based on a talk given by Elder Bednar. The doctrines of the gospel are always the foundation and the “why.” The principles are “what” and the application is “how.” True doctrine understood changes attitudes and behavior. I have seen this over and over again in my own life and in the lives of the people who are learning and coming to understand for themselves the true doctrines of the restored gospel. When understood and applied it changes our lives for the better. We have more peace, more light, more goodness, and more desire to share all those things with others. When we struggle to accept or live a principle of the gospel we can ask, “what doctrine do I not understand yet,” and then embark on a study of that doctrine. This approach has helped me so many times and I always come away asking myself: “How did I not know that, or how did I not understand that until now!” And then I think, “Wow! What else don’t I know or understand?” and while definitely humbling, it makes me grateful for a loving, patient God and for the opportunity to start on my next quest to learn more!

Speaking of always more to learn and discover…that is how I feel every time I get the chance to wander through the city a little. See below for some of the amazingness that I found on recent preparation day walks

OUT & ABOUT NYC

The High Line, Chelsea, Roosevelt Island, Central Park West, Central Park, Windows of the remodeled LaGuardia Airport. There is so much to see and love here ❤️🗽