President's Message
Mission Message. Sister Nelson and I are really pleased to begin our New York New York South Mission Blog. Sister Nelson will be gathering and putting together the information. Our purpose is to share our Mission events and snapshots (literally) of Mission life with the families and and friends of our missionaries. We are so very pleased to be here with your sons and daughters. We love them and are proud of them for the wonderful desires of their hearts and their commitments to magnifying their callings. They are so good. And they are fun to be with. They are the joy of our lives here. Over the one year period beginning November 1, 2009, as a Mission we are committed to baptize 800 people (so far, we have baptized 100 of them). This will be a significant task, requiring all of us to prepare in the same manner as the Sons of Mosiah (Alma 17) and to exercise great faith. We are excited and hope you will help us by including us in your prayers. In spite of characterizations of New Yorkers as harsh and gruff, we have found them to be kind and good. We really love serving them. Living around Brooklyn and Queens is like living in twenty other countries all at once. There are purportedly one hundred twenty languages spoken in Queens alone. It is reported to be the most diverse city in the country.
About the New York South Mission
*People. The New York South Mission serves over 8.5 million people.
*Boroughs. The Mission covers all of Long Island, which includes two of the five boroughs of New York--Queens and Brooklyn, and the borough of Staten Island. The other two boroughs--Manhattan and the Bronx--are across the East River in the New York North Mission. Bermuda is also a part of our mission.
*Missionaries. We have 175 missionaries and 8 senior couples. This number fluctuates every six weeks when new missionaries arrive from the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah and others depart for home.
*Six Languages Missions. There are six language missions in the New York South Mission--Spanish (our largest language), English, Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), Korean and American Sign Language.
*Oldest. The New York South Mission is the second oldest mission in the church. Only the British mission is older. In the 1800s, Parley P. Pratt actually served as one of our first presidents.
Metropolis TV New York
VPRO TV, a television station in the Netherlands, requested permission from the Church to include a segment on the life of Mormon missionaries in their TV series, Metropolis. Their purpose is to portray young, single adults from all over the world in their, "Singles Episode" --what they do, how they think, their interests, etc. The TV program has been airing in the Netherlands for over five years and covers many different topics and issues.
Filming. VPRO TV wanted to feature Mormon missionaries working in New York--specifically in Brooklyn. The filming took place in the Midwood "pad" (the mission terminology for apartment). The second location was in the streets showing missionaries interacting with the people. The filming took place on Monday, January 11, 2010. The filming lasted most of the day, but the footage will be condensed into a 3-5 minute segment.
Correspondents. Elder Teixera and Elder Pape (pronounced Pop) were selected by two people known as correspondents--people who do work for the network, but are not their full-time employees (they said that they have been working for the network for almost three years). President Nelson was interviewed, as well.
Topics. Some of the conversation topics that were covered were: (a) the Mormon mission--how it works, (b) the daily life of missionaries, (c) how making decisions with a companion prepares them for the future, (d) what they think of New York and (e) their plans for the future. The program will be aired sometime in the Spring. When it is completed, the mission will receive a copy.
About the Missionaries. Elder Teixiera was born in Portugal, but has lived in Germany, France, Switzerland and the United States. Elder Pape was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. P.S. The correspondents said that the Midwood apartment was the nicest single male adult apartment they had ever seen (thanks to the New York South Mission Clean-up/Rehabilitation Crew--Sister Hess and Sister Nelson).
More about Missionary Work:
Convert Quotes
Name Tag. Another investigator said that because of many disappointments and problems that occurred in her life, that she had chosen to reject God. Her father was Muslim and her mother was Christian. She said that lately, that something felt wrong with her heart--that something wasn't right. She saw a missionary with a name tag that contained the name of Jesus Christ, inquired about the church. She is currently investigating it.
Recent Convert. A new member told me that if it hadn't been for me that she never would have known about Jesus Christ. She wasn't allowed to mention His name in her home.
Jimmy. "We received a media referral for a man named Jimmy Anton. We taught him a powerful restoration lesson. He readily accepted our message, and committed for baptism. He told us that when he was 10, he heard the story of the first vision, and there haven't been many days since that he hasn't thought about it."
Name Tag. Another investigator said that because of many disappointments and problems that occurred in her life, that she had chosen to reject God. Her father was Muslim and her mother was Christian. She said that lately, that something felt wrong with her heart--that something wasn't right. She saw a missionary with a name tag that contained the name of Jesus Christ, inquired about the church. She is currently investigating it.
Recent Convert. A new member told me that if it hadn't been for me that she never would have known about Jesus Christ. She wasn't allowed to mention His name in her home.
Lennie. "I was specifically looking for 'the' true church (she and her husband were stopped by the missionaries as they were walking along the street--they were eventually baptized). It changed everything--the way I woke up in the morning and the way I went to bed. I now try to live my life like I'm going to meet Christ at the end of the day."
Mission Slide Show
Christmas Eve Mission Conference. On Christmas Eve, a Mission Conference was held for the entire mission at the Rego Park chapel in Queens. We had talks in the morning, and musical presentations in the afternoon. As a gift, all the missionaries will receive a 27 minute slide show, which will include 430 pictures of life in our mission and pictures of every missionary in the field. At the end of our Blog we will have a slide show containing some of these pictures. We are planning to post our Blog every 4-6 weeks. Please visit us--pass it along to your friends and family.
