NY NEW YORK SOUTH MISSION
July 2010
Message From The President
“These are days never to be forgotten.”
Oliver Cowdrey used almost that phrase to describe the times when he served as scribe for Joseph Smith as the Book of Mormon was being translated. Elder Ringwood used it to describe the NY New York South Mission, right now. He also quoted Doctrine and Covenants 58:16 (“Behold his mission is given unto him, and it shall not be given again.”). He made the point that this is our time, our only time as full-time missionaries serving the people here in New York. We will all look back on these months and years for the rest of our lives.
Sister Nelson and I are so grateful to be her, with all of you, involved in this process together. And it is a process . We have the opportunity to help in eternally blessing the lives of people whom the Lord has and will prepare. We can make these unforgettable days of unity and joy as we come together and help each other change mightily.
However, to succeed, we must really work to consecrate ourselves. We must help our companion to do the same. We must actually yield up our hearts to the Lord and humbly, passionately, and obediently serve Him. Let’s remember these times, eternally, as days when we came together in love and unity— days never to be forgotten.
One Year Anniversary
1-Year Anniversary. President and Sister Nelson arrived in New York at the beginning of July
after spending 3 days in the MTC in Provo. They have now completed a year in the “field.”
1,500 Missionaries. Sister Nelson prepared over 1,500 meals for arriving and departing
missionaries, zone conferences and various and sundry other missionary events during the
year (with a little help from her friends—the senior couples and others). Her forte is frozen
entres starting with Stoffers' frozen lasgna, etc.
1,400 Wonderful Interviews. President Nelson interviews each missionary once every 6 weeks.
With an average of 175 missionaries in the mission, that comes out to about 1,400 interviews
during the year.
64 Zone Conferences
200 Missionaries. Over 200 missionaries (“Arrivals” and “Departures”) slept over at the mission
home during the year. Actually, sleepovers in the mission home are very fun. We have 5 guest
bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 8 sets of bunk beds, numerous couches and a lot of floor space.
60 Carbon Monoxide Alarms installed in all the apartments in the mission.
2 Airport Closures. Had to close the airports down for a few days because of storms. Some
friends ended up 3 nights in the airport—they couldn’t get hold of us.
1 Tornado. “Only” one tornado. It mainly took out large trees, depositing a number on tops of
houses and across streets. They termed it eratic winds or a tornado—they couldn’t decide.
Most Snow recorded in 30 years (month of February). Hottest Month in the history of New York
(month of July).
1,036,800 Gallons of water pumped out of the Bulloch’s (one of our senior couples basement
after the floods. That’s about 17,000 gallons/day for 60 days. The rains had ceased, but the
water kept coming. The reason was the high water table.
19 Grandchildren. One grandchild born was born this year. That makes the count 19. Also, one
marriage (the “baby” of the family was married in December). All eight of our children are now
married. Two of the sons got jobs in New Jersey. So, by a stroke of luck, we actually have
had family near by.
Visitors. We’ve had various visitors from Salt Lake . Also, the Area Medical Advisor (Dr. McIff) and his wife came for a mission tour, but ended up extending their stay because they got snowed in. We’ve also had some of our children (actually adults) pass through. They love NY. We’ve especially loved the visits of Elder Pace and Elder Ringwood of the Seventy and Brothers Steve Allen and Jason Mitchell from the Missionary Department.
Health. Also had our share of missionary health problems. We have had sprains, breaks, cysts, lumps, bumps, bites, crutches, canes, rashes, rabies (as in treatments), warts, etc.--not to mention, holes in hearts. They discovered a hole in Pres. ’Nelson’s heart. After a few tries in NY and a trip to Salt Lake, they were able to diagnose it. Happily it was easily corrected—just plugged it up (out-patient surgery).
“Arrivals” (Arriving Missionaries)
The “Arrivals” from the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah came here on Monday, July 5 and spent the night at the Mission Home in Port Washington. On the morning of the 6th, the missionaries went to the Rego chapel in Queens (13 miles away) for a transfer meeting where they were assigned to their new companions and area.
Our new senior couple is Elder and Sister Brownell. They are from Oregon and will arrive in July. The “Arrivals” are as follows:
Sisters Language
Sister Emily Jewkes English
Sister Kathleen Reed Spanish
Sister Rebecca Roberts Spanish
Sister Meegan Robinson English
Sister Michelle Smith English
Sister Melinda Valverde Spanish
Elders
Elder Ethan Alridge English
Elder Eric Carnohan Spanish
Elder Justin Casper English
Elder Andrew Crawford Spanish
Elder Kevin Durr Spanish
Elder Jordan Egbert Cantonese
Elder Julius Ha Korean
Elder Michael Hatch Spanish
Elder Josiah Kinikini English
Elder Timothy Long Mandarin
Elder Michael Moulton English
Elder Tanner Spear English
Elder Jonathan Westover English
Couples
Sister Anna Brownell
Elder Lyle Brownell
Note. We now have missionaries serving in the New York South Mission from Argentina,
Brazil, Chile, China, Korea, Guatemala, Russia, and Taiwan.
!
Another Note. All the missionaries here in the mission will finish their mission serving
under us. The next arrivals will finish their mission serving under another president.
“Departures” (Departing Missionaries)
On Tuesday evening--July 6th, the Departing missionaries came to the Mission Home for dinner and a testimony meeting, and they spent the night. In the morning beginning at 5:30 they
began to leave for the airport for their return trip home (we will miss them!!). The “Departures” are as follows:
Sisters Language
Sister Heather Burton English
Sister Liz Carney Spanish
Sister Cathryn Isert English
Sister Kendra Johnson Spanish
Sister Tiffany Mullin Spanish
Sister Brittney Twitchell Spanish
Elders
Elder Grant Anderson English
Elder Harrison Douglass English
Elder Dongkoo Khang Korean
Elder Andrew Law Cantonese
Elder Eric McGuire Spanish
Elder Aaron Norris Spanish
Elder Chad Oliverson English
Elder Joseph Pape English
Elder Christopher Stewart English
Elder Skyler Thiot English
Elder Jacob Werner English
Elder Shun Yi Wan Cantonese
Couples
Sister Carol Williams
Elder Robert Williams
Kimberly Williams
“I have the Book of Mormon in front of my nose. I read it every day.” (A member who is unable to get to church--she is unable to walk).
A man who held a prestigious position in another religious was being taught by the missionaries. He received a testimony and knew that it was true. However, converting to Mormonism meant that he would lose position, his home and possibly his family who still resided in a foreign country. However, the thing that he wanted above all was the Priesthood. He recognized that it the was the authority of God here on the earth. Unfortunately, his number was disconnected and the missionaries lost track of him.
“Do you want to hear my testimony?” asked a recently-baptized 12-year old convert. “When I got baptized it felt so good that I wanted to do it again. However, I can’t. But I do know that when I take the sacrament it’s like being baptized over again.”
New Mission Program (Schedule)
New MTC Program The Church sent out a notification of a revised Zone Conference and
interview schedule.
Zone Conferences. Until now, Conferences were held once every six weeks. Now they will be
held once each quarter.
Interviews. Missionary interviews, instead of being held once every six weeks, will also be held
once a quarter.
This revised schedule will enable a mission president more opportunities to work individually with the missionaries-- accompanying elders in finding and teaching (Sister Nelson goes out with the sisters). It will also give him the opportunity to observe district meetings, personal planning and study, etc.
Teaching The Church has recently developed eight new curriculum lessons. Their purpose is to help the missionaries become more effective teachers— to teach people, not lessons. Much attention will be given to become better listeners and to teaching with the Spirit. Preach My Gospel doesn’t change. All the lessons will continue to be taken from this manual.
Some points of focus will be:
*More conversation,
*More effective use of the Book of Mormon,
*More interaction and conversation with the
investigators.
*More effective prayer.
*Stronger baptismal commits.
One Year. All the missions in the world are starting these lessons now. The Mission Training Center (MTC) will start them in a year. The reason Missions are beginning these new curriculum lessons now, is to have the missions “up and running” so that when new missionaries arrive in the field next year everything will be in place—so that they won’t be entering an alien environment.
What’s Happening?
Red Cross. The apartment building across the street from the Rego Park chapel in Queens caught fire. It completely gutted the sixth floor. All the people in the apartment complex were evacuated. The Red Cross set up their headquarters in the cultural hall of the church where everybody gathered for the day.
Chapels. The groundbreaking for a new chapel in Jamaica, Queens took place recently and things are starting to move. The members have looked forward to this event for a number of years. Plans are also in the making for building a new chapel in Flushing, Queens.Wedding. The sisters in Brooklyn (Midwood), were invited to attend a traditional Hasidic wedding last month and loved the experience.
Real Food for Imaginary Chefs
Concocted by:
The Young Women of Richmond Hill I Branch
It’s a great gift idea (not to mention a great deal! (Questions--call Elder and Sister Brady, 512-461-0510).
Think Outside The Box
New York is a unique place here on earth. There are many, many “pockets” of people living together of different nationalities—different languages. Many live in mixed communities, intermingled with others. Others live in contained communities and speak their own language. In some neighborhoods you need to be ”invited” in to live.
Missionaries have come up with many varied and creative ways of finding people to teach. They have many different ways of finding. Here are some of them:
Lists:
1. Area book (missionaries keep an on-going lists of their contacts over the years—a source of
people to check-in on over time).
2. Ward/branch membership lists
3. Media referrals (The NYS mission receives around 5,000 each year from TV clips.)
Referrals from:
4. Members
5. Part-member families
6. Less-actives
7. Investigators
8. Dinner Appointments (with members and investigators known as DAs
Activities:
9. “Fearlessing”— (a New York South Mission term for contacting people on the street.)
10. Pass-along cards (contain contact information)
11. Singing on the Buses and Trains
12. Soap Boxes
13. Street Sweeps (talking to everyone!)
14. Train Calls (talking to everyone)
15. Knocking Doors (A favorite—you never know who’s on the other side.)
16. Zebra Finding. Spanish and English missionaries pair up into twos and go knocking. No
matter who answers, they will be able to communicate with them—at least in English or
Spanish.
17. 2-2-5 Go to a specified address (investigator, part-member family, etc.) After knocking
their door, knock the 2 doors on each side and 5 doors across the street.
Free!!
18. Free Lemonade Stand (The missionaries display our “goods” and those who are
interested sign up.)
19. Free Hot Chocolate Stand
20. Free DVDs
21. Free Bibles
22. Free copies of the Book of Mormon
23. Free English classes
24. Free Piano lessons
25. Fliers (advertising!)
And More
26. Church activities (Organize it and “they” will come):
27. Cultural Night
28. Talent Show
29. Food Night (Taste of Nations)
30. Movie Night
31. Sports Night/Day (basketball, volleyball, soccer, etc.)
32. Service Projects
33. Firesides
34. Roadshows (The mission has a “traveling” musical program.)
35. Geneology (Offer the members a service. Help them fill out Family Group
sheets or Family Tree sheets.)
36. Let interested people approach you! (Works only on occasion.)
Note. In some parts of the country people might think that some of the above are rather
unusual or that a person may even be somewhat “off.” Not in NY—here anything goes!
Scripture of the Day
