We don't care what people say . . .

Rockaway is here to stay!

October 29, 2012:
the Place of Sands meets Superstorm Sandy

Rockaway: Native American phrase meaning "Place of Sands" Sandy: National Hurricane Center Category 2 hurricane, second-costliest in US history

We met most of the other senior missionaries at a picnic in Forest Park today. There are about about ten couples. The companionship in Bermuda, understandably, stayed home. Most of these couples have office responsibilities and live in the Brooklyn-Queens area. We are the only CES missionaries, but several other couples teach institute classes. The mission couples meet socially each month and enjoy a variety of local activities. This gathering was in part a farewell to Elder and Sister Hawkes.  
President Calderwood was there with his family and shared some recent mission history, focusing upon Hurricane Sandy. He explained that it was a defining moment in the mission, a coming of age for all of the missionaries. Their aid to the storm victims lasted many weeks. He referred to this service as an echo of Zion's Camp, noting that much of the current mission leadership grew out of this maturing effort.



President Kevin Calderwood and other Helping Hands from "popular" YouTube video: "On Sunday, November 11th, thousands of Mormons cancelled their church services and arrived by air, bus and train from all across the country to help."

I remember when Sara Marshall used the YouTube documentary short in a Relief Society lesson on service earlier this year. Its popularity was also mentioned in a Church News article. We had already received our call to the NY-NY South area. I flippantly mentioned to Stefanie that we had, "dodged a bullet on that one." I don't know about bullet dodging, but I definitely missed the spiritual mark. Sandy service is a point of declination here. Post-hurricane missionaries will always feel a bit removed fron those that were there. A copy of the Church News cover commemorating the service was signed by the missionaries, and is prominently displayed in the mission office.

President Calderwood said that several months after the clean-up, the missionaries were invited to march in the Queens County St. Patrick's Day Parade. He described his amazement at the standing ovation that they received all along the route.

The Deseret News of March 20 reported, "The crowds in the Rockaways—a community still recovering from the disaster—went wild; their 'little yellow army of happiness' had returned to a hero’s welcome. Donning the yellow Mormon Helping Hands vests they wore in the weeks after the disaster, the missionaries marched along the parade route carrying a huge sign: 'We Love You Rockaways."

Crowds on the parade route hurriedly made their own signs: "We love the Mormon Helping Hands.”

President Calderwood concluded his story by explaining that several of the families helped by the New York members have since joined the Church and meet in the newly formed Belle Harbor Branch on the Rockaways Peninsula.



faux pas at Frankie's

It appears that our permanent residence is delayed, so our immediate arrangements are variable. We find ourselves wholly dependent upon mission largess and convenience. As mentioned, we will spend some time with the Kauffmans in Queens. Hopefully we will enjoy a few days with the President Calderwood and his family in the Port Washington mission home. Island distances, traffic and etiquette require significant driving times and patience.


The couple we are replacing, the Hawkes, are recommending a "pad" in a quieter location. Brother Haitsma has become our favorite Senior Elder since he is the one responsible for negotiating a new lease. It looks like we will eventually be living between the railroad station and Bethpage Park.

Elder and Sister Hawkes teaching Messages of the Prophets at Plainview

The Hawkes are an outstanding senior missionary couple and are much loved in the young adult ward. Our first meet with them was at "Frankie's Pizza" on Farmingdale's Main Street. We have been observing them at various meeting and teaching venues throughout our new area. They teach the youth about the Gospel, and then teach us how to eat pizza and bagels the New York Way. Yes, there is a specific method, and we have learned that things move along better when these local protocols are strictly followed. Both are eaten like a sandwich - not open faced, and never with a fork or knife. The first time I asked for honey on my bagel, the young clerk insisted that I had misspoke, and then spent five minutes in the back room trying to locate, "that honey bear we got around here somewhere." He squirted one side with the honey confection, smeared the other with margarine, and slapped both together for my culinary pleasure.

Long bridge into Long Island

We were so pleased with our successful Manhattan bypass into Queens today that we failed to notice the toll rates on the bridge into Long Island. The route was jointly preferred by both our in-car and Google GPS systems. Earlier readings about Verrazano bridge costs were forgotten in our joyous avoidance of Big Apple traffic. When later reviewing our Easy Pass bill I noted the $15 charge ($10 with the pass discount), for the Staten Island to Brooklyn passage. I dimly remembered reading that it is the most expensive bridge in the New York area.

It probably would not have mattered anyway. Flying up the New Jersey Turnpike at 5PM on a Wednesday is no time for out-of-towners to assess entry options and costs. Just pay the man. In fact, total toll costs for the trip from New York were over $50. Verrazano-Narrows Bridge? Chump change.

 

The bridge, named for the first European to enter New York Harbor, stole the longest suspension bridge honors from San Francisco's Golden Gate in 1964. It is still the longest bridge span in the Americas. According to Wikipedia, the curvature of the Earth's surface had to be included in the design. The towers are 1 5⁄8 inches farther apart at their tops than at their bases.

After the crossing we carefully edged up the west side of Brooklyn, gradually curving into the neighborhood of Elmhurst, Queens. An empty space was miraculously open right in front of President Kauffman's 4th floor "pad." Stan Kauffman is our CES director, and also a counselor to Mission President Kevin Calderwood. We moved our suitcases into the third bedroom that will be our home for the next week or so.

View toward Flushing

View of co-op from room

Tonight Stan and his wife Shirley drove us back to Brooklyn Heights. We visited and strolled along the East River, savoring what many believe to be the best view of the Manhattan skyline.
So far, we agree.

Photo by Andrew Mace http://www.flickr.com/photos/acmace/4477623867/  

Biding Biden

 We entered the District of Columbia at rush hour, navigating five point intersections and one-way streets in directional series. One missed turn required ten minutes of navigational recovery.
 


South Lawn from The Ellipse



 

Our path to the mall the next morning was blocked by the Vice President's White House arrival. We then negotiated numerous barricades and construction areas, noticing significant preparations for the July 4 celebration. Despite high temperatures and humidity we enjoyed many monuments and tours, including the Smithsonian Air and Space museum and the National Art Gallery.  

 

The final memorial visited was Arlington Cemetery - a sobering hike. Since leaving Utah, we wore our mission badges. Church members would approach us from time to time. This happened at the Tomb of The Unknowns. An LDS military veteran working on an airline flight crew explained the he often flew to Washington and that he always made the tomb his first stop. He insisted on this private act of respect prior to any other sight-seeing activities. It was interesting to watch public reactions to the formal ceremony. Many shared the veteran's reverence. Some acted as though they were attending a theme park attraction. I remembered my first view of the exchange during a conference trip ten years earlier. It was the dead of winter. No one else but the honor guard was present. The ceremony provoked solemn veneration.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YIchQaISms

 

 



Going to the Ohio

"Behold, verily, verily, I say unto thee, thou art not called to go into the eastern countries, but thou art called to go to the Ohio. And inasmuch as my people shall assemble themselves at the Ohio, I have kept in store a blessing such as is not known among the children of men, and it shall be poured forth upon their heads. And from thence men shall go forth into all nations."

Revelation given at Fayette, New York, January 5, 1831. D&C 39  



The Cables



After a long day of intermittent rain showers and construction delays, we crossed the Ohio River into my former mission field. Neglecting to mark another dateline shift, we arrived very late at the home of Gene and Dee Cable. They were one of the families I taught in my first mission area. Newark is a thickly wooded village in the hills east of Columbus at the southern tip of Amish country. The mission president left me among these great members for seven months. The sisters taught me to make rhubarb pie and country noodles. One member delivered fresh milk to our doorstep many mornings. Elder Wilcox and I taught many of the "new" flipchart missionary discussions in this area.

  

Over the years I lost contact with the Cables and have not returned to the Midwest any further than Chicago. So after receiving our call to Long Island I conducted an on-line search of the Church in the Newark area. I learned that the Newark building has grown into a phase 3 structure housing two wards. The Bishop of the Newark Ward had not heard of any Cable family in the area. It took a while to contact the bishop of the second ward, who, after a brief pause said the he knew the cables well as they were regular members of his ward. He promised to have them call me. It was touching to hear from them and to share our family and religious activities covering the last forty years. I have wondered about them often over that time, drawing upon the deep tenderness that a missionary feels for those he serves, and the humbling portion of Divine love that is shared within the penumbra of his efforts.  

We spent a couple of days with the Cable family. I especially enjoyed attending church services in the building where I matured as a young missionary. Time compressed. I am thankful for the patience and faith of those pioneering members in the Newark area. I marveled at the strength of their fellowship and their commitment to the Gospel.

Stefanie saw her first firefly. I have sometimes told her of the mystical impression that they held for me, but my verbal effort fell far short. She and the Cable's granddaughter chased the small creatures across the forested hillside behind their property. I could hear childlike barks of delight well into the dusk of evening.

 

Wee Granny lives

Stopped living out of suitcases this week - Slowly catching up on blog . . . 

 

Cousin Richard Murdoch

June 21. Stefanie met a cousin in the Nauvoo visitor's center: We were searching out information on deceased relations when a living one walked up and started talking with her. Noticing his missionary name tag, she mentioned that she also was a Murdoch, but that he was probably from a different ancestral line. She said that her Murdoch ancestors were from Heber. 

He said, "I'm from Heber." 

She noted that he probably didn't know Grandpa Grant Turner. 

He said, "I know Grant Turner." 

Not fully registering the information, Stef continued, "or Glady Turner", to which the senior missionary responded, "I know Gladys Turner." 

Stef took a moment to regroup and realized that she was talking to her cousin Richard. We spent the better part of an hour catching up on family and mission experiences. 

 

He later helped us get good seats for the BYU VocalPoint evening performance in the outdoor theater. 

 

Returning from the concert, I captured several nighttime images of the temple.

Chasing windmills

Through Medicine Bow and the Pawnee grasslands, following the North Platte.
Asphalt, dirt, construction detours, and endless rows of young corn stalks.
Wind farm blades tilling the air, and finally,
the City Beautiful . . .

We are staying in a bed and breakfast across from the Baxter vineyards. Coincidentally, it is adjacent to the Hawkes' home, the missionary couple we are replacing in Long Island.

_______________________
Friday 8 AM - Attended session in the Nauvoo Temple

View from west temple portico toward Mississippi River 

THANK YOU President Hinckley!