18 Months in the Big Apple: Young Leaders With Big Ideas

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Young Leaders With Big Ideas

Meet our terrific Astoria Ward Bishopric, 2nd Counselor, Brother Matthew Lambert, Bishop Jason Glass, and Don Macbean, 1st Counselor. We appreciate their hard work, commitment to the members of the ward, and the ward goals they have set for 2009:

Proclaim the Gospel

Full-time missionaries teach 20 lessons per week to members and non-members
20 baptisms
20 reactivation
Prepare our young men and young women to go on missions through mentoring and ward mission donations

Perfect the Saints

Read the Book of Mormon as a ward
Sacrament Meeting Attendance=120 people
100% of Home and Visiting Teaching companionships visit at least one family and contact all families assigned each month
Pay full-tithing and generous fast offerings

Redeem the Dead

Temple Trips:
Ward - Once per month
Youth - Once per quarter

As we have discussed the Astoria Ward Goals with the Young Single Adults and others in the ward, we agree we have all been challenged by these awesome goals. It's a blessing to live in a ward that is trying to achieve 20 baptisms, 20 activations this year, and we are impressed that they are preparing young men and young women to serve missions! In addition to our ward goals, President Bennion has challenged each of the senior missionary couples in our mission to find a family to teach and baptize. We have just under four and a half months to find a new family who will join the Astoria Ward. Please pray for us, that we will be successful in our efforts. We like our bishopric, have a great desire to see the Astoria Ward grow and be strengthened in 2009.

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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.