First Time in NYC!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

 

Well this was definitely the most fun week of my mission so far. There was so much stuff going on! Definitely a rough week for lessons because we had very little proselyting time, but it was a super fun week!

 

First of all, Carlos is doing great and progressing quickly. He is super excited to get baptized this Sunday. His two sons that he takes to church with him aren't ready for baptism yet because they aren't as enthusiastic about it as he is, but we know they will come around eventually if their dad continues to be a good example to them. 

 

Wednesday my zone went to a fun little Christmas activity called "Traditions with the Taggarts". We went to the mission home and President and Sister Taggart fed us a super good meal and then played Christmas games and sang Christmas songs and stuff like that. Each of the 12 zones in the mission got to go on a different day, which was nice because it was a smaller group each time.

 

Thursday was awesome!! In my mission we get to go to the Manhattan Temple twice a year, in June and December. Since I got into the mission field in August, this was my first temple trip since before I left on my mission back in June. So that was super exciting! I had missed the temple so much. What made it even more exciting was that it was my first time ever in New York City! First our zone met at the Union City chapel, then we took a bus through the Lincoln Tunnel (the entrance to the tunnel is in Union City) which goes under the Hudson River.

Once we arrived in NYC we got off the bus and went into the subway. The New York subways are a crazy place! So many people and it's so easy to get lost. Also it's kinda stressful when you're with a group of 20 missionaries and you all have to stay together. We actually did end up getting lost and waiting for the wrong train. But then, a miracle happened! Hermana Lara (the Dominican lady in our ward who fed us on Thanksgiving) just randomly showed up on the same subway platform as us on her way to work. She was able to show us which train we really had to get on. Without her, we definitely would have been late to our temple session. And how crazy is it that out of all the subway stations in New York City she was in the right place at the right time to help us out. Tender mercies!

 

 

 

Super happy in front of the Manhattan LDS Temple

 

 After we were done in the temple we had a little bit of time to walk around and buy food from street vendors. Then we had to walk from where the temple is (66th and Broadway) to 40th street where we could find a bus headed back to Jersey. We walked down Broadway and through Times Square!! Meanwhile I'm looking around in awe like a little kid at Disneyland. Sister Stone and I were taking pictures like crazy and but our zone leaders made us keep walking because they wanted all of us to stay together so nobody would get lost. So we would just run ahead of the group a little so we would have a couple seconds to stop and take a picture before everyone caught up to us. But hey, it was my first time in New York City, I deserved to take pictures!

Also, the He is the Gift initiative that the Church has been doing this Christmas is huge. They have it in Times Square! Three different posters for it in this one picture!

 

 

 

 

Friday was another awesome day! We had an all-mission Christmas "conference" but in reality it was mostly a big Christmas party with 250 people. There were a couple speakers and then we had an amazing lunch provided by the Relief Society of the ward there. They also set up the cultural center of the building to look like a beautiful winter wonderland. We ate and played games and there was a funny variety show with performances by President Taggart, the Assistants, and other missionaries. It was so fun! At the end they gave us our Christmas packages and letters from home <3

 Then later that same day, right after we got home from the all-mission conference, we went straight to the ward's Christmas party. It was supposed to start at 7 but the opening prayer wasn't even said until 8:30 because when you combine Mormon standard time with Hispanic standard time, parties always start at least an hour and a half late. When it was time to eat, the members had the 8 missionaries sit at a special table where everyone could see us and they served us our food like we were the guests of honor. Then they had us sing a Christmas song (without warning us beforehand) and the members were taking videos with their phones of it as if we were the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It was weird. And then the bishopric presented each of us with little Christmas presents and we had to go up and accept our gifts one at a time as they called our names and everyone clapped for us. Once again, people were taking pictures and videos of us. We're pretty much celebrities here. 

 

I hope everyone has a great Christmas! And remember that even though the parties and presents are fun, the real purpose is to remember our Savior.

 

<3 Hermana Harris