Happy New Year!

It's transfer time again!  My how the time flies!!

The mission president and leadership gets really busy at transfer time.  There are interviews of departing missionaries (14 of them) plus other interviews and then the domino game begins assigning new missionaries (8 of them) and re-assigning to fill vacant spots and to balance things out. I saw the light on in the president's office into the late hours several nights this week.

I'm just glad it is not I who does all of this juggling. I'm never complaining again about having to do reports.  Piece of cake compared to the work the mission leadership has to accomplish in just a short time.

The departing missionaries get to go to the temple
with President and Sister Reynolds the week before they leave.

This past few weeks, it seems that the missionaries are either taking care of themselves or they are not getting sick.  I have had comparatively few calls.  I manage to stay busy doing follow up and taking the new calls.  I am trying to create "handouts" to fit the needs of the missionaries that I can send to them via email. (My biggest problem is that probably 85% of the time I forget the attachment.  I must be getting old. No.  Couldn't be that!)

For example:  If a missionary calls with an infected ingrown hair and he/she thinks it is skin cancer because it hurts so bad, I make a handout describing the symptoms with pictures from the net of the sores that can develop and the things that they need to do for home care.  I list the signs or symptoms that might occur in which they need to call me to schedule a doctor visit.

It seems to be helpful to the missionaries to have the course of action or the care listed so that they can refer to it.  It saves me a lot of time in that I don't have to write out instructions each time.  I now have instructions and information on several health problems.

I am most grateful for the technology that we have today.  I can have pictures sent to me of swollen fingers or ankles, rashes, sores, cuts, other wounds, etc.  That way I can see what the problem is and know what to tell the missionary to do for their care or whether they need to see a doctor.

There haven't been any zone meetings for me to attend but I have had the opportunity to go to a couple of new areas this week for various purposes.  To one area I took some sisters to drop them off at an investigators home in South Ozone Park.  Ozone Park is an area of Queens bordering Brooklyn.  I have driven through Ozone a few times on the expressway but this time my curiosity was peaked. The name of the area caught my attention and I couldn't help but get to Google as quickly as possible when I got home.

"Ozone Park is a middle class neighborhood located in the southwestern section of the borough of Queens, in New York City.  It is the home of the Aqueduct Racetrack, a popular spot for Thoroughbred racing. The neighborhood is known for its large Italian-American population.

During the 1870s, an economic depression caused residents of New York City to look for better housing opportunities in the suburbs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, where housing would be cheaper. Two partners, Benjamin W. Hitchcock and Charles C. Denton, first began carving farmland into building lots. They were able to do this because of their wealth and substantial capital. Housing was first developed in the area after the Long Island Rail Road began service through the area in 1880 as part of its route from Long Island City to Howard Beach. Ozone Park was created and settled in 1882.

The name "Ozone Park" was chosen for the development to "lure buyers with the idea of refreshing breezes blowing in from the Atlantic Ocean to a park-like community," with "ozone" meaning not the alternate form of oxygen, but "fresh healthy air, especially from the sea."

Before the turn of the 20th century, there was an attempt to develop up to nine neighborhoods with the "park" title. Ozone Park was the only one of these neighborhoods that continues to exist, mostly because of the daily service at the now-defunct Ozone Park station on the Long Island Rail Road. The name persisted because of the many commuters who passed through the Ozone Park station and referred to it as an important landmark. The railroad station was also responsible for the increasing development of the neighborhood because the access to the railroad allowed people to get into the city easily, increasing its popularity among families looking to move into a suburb.

Extensive housing construction occurred in the 1920s. The houses featured enclosed front porches, open back porches and stained-glass windows in the living rooms. Most of the houses were detached or semi-detached (very close to the neighboring house, but not sharing a common wall) built to roughly the same plan, with the living room, dining room and kitchen all in line and three bedrooms and a bath upstairs. The stairs were usually in the dining room.

Houses in Ozone Park.

Park in Ozone Park.

South Ozone Park is home to a more diverse population of about 45,498, with many Indians, Pakistani, Guyanese, and Blacks living in the area, in addition to the area's longtime Italian-American population; Italian-Americans are most prevalent in the southern and western areas in the neighborhood near the Conduit. There has been a recent surge of development in South Ozone Park that rivals many of the surrounding communities in terms of home value.  Rockaway Boulevard is South Ozone Park's main business strip. There is also a high concentration of small businesses along Liberty Avenue in nearby Richmond Hill. In 2000, the population was 7.8% white, 45.7% Asian Indian, 12.7% Hispanic, 12.8% non-Indian Asian, and 25.6% black. The Median income is $80,000, and the ZIP code is 11420."

Now you have had your geography lesson for the week.  Man!  I love to Google!!

On New Year's Eve, the missionaries had to be in their apartments by 6:00 P.M.  The sisters who live upstairs had asked me to spend the evening with them so we made homemade pizzas and played the game Monopoly Deal.  When I asked them if they wanted to play the game, I saw them exchange glances.  They didn't want to hurt my feelings so they agreed to play even though I could tell they didn't want to play.  They both emphatically told me they didn't like playing Monopoly.  I told them we would play one game and if they didn't want to play anymore it wouldn't hurt my feelings and we would find something else to do. 

After the first game they decided that now they understood better how to play they wanted to play again.  I created two Monopoly Deal monsters!!  We played five games before they had to go to their apartment.  One of them, Sister Maddox, is leaving on Tuesday.  She asked where she could get a game for herself at home.  I brought two sets so I gave her one.  It is a fun game and nothing like the board game, which is boring BTW.

New Years Eve, 2015

My chicken with white sauce and balsamic reduction pizza.

Sister Jenkins Hawaiian pizza.

Sister Maddox pizza.

Roses and ornaments. Happy New Year!!

I was able to FaceTime my family and be with them long distance to watch the end of the year video that Deanne creates every year.  Thank you family for including me.  I love my family!

I think of my family all of the time and love the support and care that I get from them. But I think because of the holidays and my absence from them, I have spent much time reflecting on the importance of family.  We lift one another.  We are each other's friends. We listen to and share ideas.  We laugh together and cry together.  Sometimes we even have differences of opinion but we are ALWAYS there for each other through thick or thin.  It doesn't matter that I am 2000 miles from them, I know that they are there for me and I am here for them.  I can't imagine my life without even one of my children or my grandchildren.

I am blessed to have been sealed to Kay in the temple and to know that, without a doubt, we will be together for the eternities.  Our children and grandchildren and our ancestors can all be together with us.  What an amazing thought that is for me!  I want to be with all of my family forever.

What a glorious gift the Lord has given us with His atonement.  We can repent of our errors and learn to live a Christ-like life so that we may achieve this eternal family togetherness. 

I love you my family and friends.

A very dear friend in my ward at home sent a box of lovingly made scarves for me and for
the sister missionaries. I wanted a picture to send her of one of the scarves I chose for myself.
The elders complained that they didn't get scarves so we had a group picture taken.
I'm surrounded by characters!

Lovely scarves. Lovely sisters.

This sister put scarf in her hair. I believe it will end up on her neck.

Dinner with Sisters Christensen and Loertscher. Our waiter looking over my shoulder.
I was talking instead of smiling.

Every time I see the sun reflected on Windows I reminded of a story I heard.
Wish I could remember the details but briefly it was about a boy who looked across the valley
at the golden buildings and wanted to live in the "golden city" because his home was poor and shabby.
He traveled miles and miles across the valley to the beautiful city only to find that it wasn't made of gold.
He was lonely and cold and he missed the warmth and love of his family and home.
Moral: all that glitters is not gold.

I left Sister Prince at her home and walked a bit by myself.
This little guy was my companion for a way.