THIS IS THE PLACE!

Welcome to our row house! We live on the main level or second apartment. Zeina who is Greek lives downstairs and Eric and Michael from Israel live upstairs. We have a small backyard with a little patio and an Italian clothesline! We have the driveway where we park our mission Malibu sporting Idaho plates. We have a washing machine, so rare and wonderful, in our small isle kitchen. Our dining room window is above the garage and the living room window is next to it. We have two bedrooms and one bathroom. This is prime real estate in Astoria and we pay double for our rent than we ever paid for our homes in Idaho! Our new Bishop, Jason Howell and President Bennion get all the credit for finding our place.

HOW'S THIS FOR A MISSIONARY PAD?

Our apartment is spacious and clean compared to most according to the ward members that have come to visit. Yes, we do feel very at home in every meeting house lobby when we see our chairs in burgundy or blue. The sofa, dining table and coffee table are all leftovers from a Manhattan Temple apartment. My batik art quilt that Mom helped me create makes it feel like our home. We are very comfortable and grateful for our little place!

Time to Dine!

This picture of our little dining area is from our living room. We have seated 6 around this table and can add a large leaf to seat 10. I love all the light from the big window which looks out on Steinway Street. It is an amazingly busy street with a nonstop parade of dog walkers, commuters heading for trains and buses, trucks, screaming ambulances and fire trucks and taxis honking! We enjoy quiet in the back bedrooms.

Astoria Meat Market!

Each day we drive down Steinway and pass this Greek Meat Wholesale Shop with all the poor baby pigs, lambs, and goats, hanging by their hoofs. We wonder if this summer we will see our neighbors roasting them in the front yard like in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". Since January meat has not been nearly as appealing to this old goat.

Farewell Sister Buss and Sister Olson.

We are so glad we had the chance to serve with these two wonderful "Senior Sisters"! They are retired school teachers who are completing their fourth individual and third missions together this week. They have shared timely tips and made our transition into the mission field much smoother than it would have been without their help. Some of you may remember Preston Buss, a former folk dancer who traveled with us to Germany. Sister Buss is his aunt! We send them back to Utah with our love and best wishes. (left to right) The Wests, Sister Buss and Sister Olson

If you FEED them, they will come!

Each month we invite the Young Single Adults (18-30) and Single Adults (31+) to a Sunday evening meal before the CES Firesides or "To Break the Fast" dinners. They have been very successful. It's a great way to socialize and feed them spiritually as well. More are attending each month and we hope as friendships grow and Chas is teaching them to dance on Friday nights, at the monthly dances, we can "waltz them to the temple!"

Welcome to the Astoria Ward Brother William Bradley

On a cold January Sabbath day we celebrated the baptism of William (Bill) Bradley. Elder Johnson and Elder Chung taught him the Gospel and Brother Hirst baptized him. We were so happy to be present and enjoy the warm, welcome Bill received from our new ward. Bill is a very humble, kind individual. Last week he was ordained as a new Priest. We are just glad to serve with all the fine missionaries serving here. Through small and simple things great things are happening here in The New York South Mission.

Our New First Presidency

Shortly after we arrived in New York, January 27, 2008, President Gordon B. Hinckley passed away. He served as our beloved prophet who was such an example to us. He was "constant as the North Star that shines for you and me, anchored in the gospel with pure integrity." We loved his wonderful sense of humor and were honored to receive our mission call from him. We will miss him. We watched his funeral at the Woodside Building with a large group from our ward. We were so touched by his life of service and the tributes that were paid by his family and Church Leaders. We support and sustain President Monson, President Eyring and President Uchtdorf. The Lord has a wonderful way of keeping His Church moving forward. How thankful we are to share our testimony of this with many others.

President and Sister Bennion welcome us to LaGuardia Airport and the New York South Mission!

We were a little blurry-eyed after getting up at 4:00 am, heading to the SLC Airport and flying all day to NYC. How delighted we were to see the Bennions! We shared a fun dinner and learned more about our mission assignment and all that is going on in this incredible mission. As we have observed the Bennions in action, our respect and admiration for them has grown. President Bennion was born to be a Mission President and Sister Bennion runs a tight ship! They are working so hard and fast. How we love and appreciate them.

Elder and Sister Mills, Sri Lanka Colombo Mission

Elder Mills was our District Leader in the MTC. We really enjoyed getting to know this sweet couple. The Mills shared wonderful stories with us about life, their conversion and we will always remember listening to him read the soulful scriptures. We pray for them in Sri Lanka.