18 Months in the Big Apple: Fabulous Family, Todd and Blake Arrive in NY

Friday, September 26, 2008

Fabulous Family, Todd and Blake Arrive in NY

Thursday, September 18th, we were joined by our nephew Blake Rossell from Gilbert, AZ. My youngest brother, Todd was "in town" for Macmillan meetings too. We always have a great time with Blake. He's just so easy and wanted to come to NY and do some missionary work. What he experienced was that people see missionaries with name tags and ask for help. As we were entering a subway a young mother asked for our help. Her baby had fallen asleep and she needed help carrying her stroller up the stairs. Blake jumped right in happy to get the job done! Also, we met Nate and Cari, friends of Krista's who live in Manhattan. They have made several trips to Utah and know a little about our church. Blake will be 18 in October and when Nate asked him what his plans are, Blake was quick to answer that he was looking forward to serving a mission for the church in another year. In need of sustenance, we made our way to The Shake Shack again where Chas and Blake had some "NY dogs and concrete." That afternoon we explored the American Museum of Natural History, and were fascinated by the dinosaurs, and artifacts of ancient people and cultures. After 4 floors, Blake had us start at the top and work our way down, we were ready for a break. We took the train to Harlem and met Todd and Will at Sylvia's for soul food. Mom and Dad used to frequent Sylvia's in '92-'93 and took me there. The food was not what I remembered...only so so, but the company was fantastic! We had a wonderful visit and train ride together at they headed down to South Park Hotel and we made our way back to Steinway Street. What a special day for us to be with Todd, Blake, Krista and Will. We are excited for Blake as he is attending seminary and preparing to serve. Who we are really happy for is the man who will be able to serve as his mission president. He's going to be a great missionary!

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“Service is the virtue that has distinguished the great of all times and which they will be remembered by. It places a mark of nobility upon its disciples. It is the dividing line which separates the two great groups of the world–those who lift and those who lean, those who contribute and those who only consume. How much better it is to give than to receive. Service in any form is comely and beautiful. To give encouragement, to impart sympathy, to show interest, to banish fear, to build self-confidence and awaken hope in the heart of others, in short–to love them and to show it –is to render the most precious service.”

Bryant S. Hinckley

January 10, 2008 we arrived in Queens, New York. We are currently serving as full-time missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We were called to serve in the New York, New York South Mission. It is a special and unique assignment. Serving here is like teaching all nations, with missionaries who teach in English, Spanish, Korean, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Russian and American Sign Language. Nearly 10 million people live within our mission, representing 112 nationalities. We are blessed to be serving along side the most incredible missionaries in the world! We love President and Sister Bennion who have been cherished friends since he was the president of Ricks College. We are happy to be serving the Lord and living on Steinway Street in Astoria.
Thank you for visiting our blog! Please feel free to leave comments or questions. It makes our day:-)

History of the New York, New York South Mission

Long before our mission was organized, Elder Parley P. Pratt was the first missionary in this dispensation to preach the Gospel in New York City and Long Island.
This mission has significant historic roots. It is the heart of the former Eastern States Mission which was established in 1839.
That mission, headquartered in Brooklyn, enjoys the distinction of being the second oldest mission of the Church, behind the British Mission.
The Eastern States Mission consisted of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and West Virginia in 1948. Since that time, many changes have been made in the boundries of the mission.
The name of the mission was changed from the Eastern States Mission to the New York New York Mission in 1974. At that time the mission included the following areas: New York State as far as Poughkeepsie, the entire state of Connecticut, a small part of Massachusetts, as well as part of New Jersey and the island of Bermuda. The mission boundaries were once again changed in 1976 excluding Massachusetts and all of the state of Connecticut, with the exception of Fairfield County.
In 1987, after another boundary change was made, the New York New York Mission consisted of the five boroughs of New York City (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and Staten Island), Long Island, New York State north to Poughkeepsie, a portion of Connecticut and the island of Bermuda.
The mission was divided once again in 1993. The New York New York South Mission encompasses the New York City boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island, as well as the New York counties of Nassau and Suffolk on Long Island. It also includes the small British Island of Bermuda in the Atlantic.