Tuesday the departing missionaries went to the Temple in Manhattan. Their companions are paired together and I often get the opportunity to entertain some of them. Enjoyable having them in my home and getting to know them better.
Wednesday was trainer/trainee meeting. I had my handouts and training prepared by Tuesday evening so it wasn't the last minute scramble to get things put together that I often experience. I know I say this every single week, but I love being with the missionaries and feeling their spirits. The new missionaries are "green" and wanting to do their best and their trainers are hoping to help them learn to do their best.
I instruct them in using their missionary medical cards and the importance of exercise, sleep, stress reducing exercises, cleanliness, among other things, and a well-balanced diet which includes all of the food groups: Limited fats and oils, chocolate, fruits and vegetables, chocolate, dairy, chocolate, grains, chocolate, proteins, and of course chocolate. I know that each of you knows already about my essential food groups but a gentle reminder never hurts!!
Thursday I went shopping to get groceries and chicken. I cooked 12 pounds of chicken breasts for shredded chicken to put on salad for our Sisters' Conference on Friday. We had a salad bar. Sister Reynolds did the pulled pork so they could choose between chicken or pork or both. I chose both. I prefer the pork though-Café Rio style salad.
The theme of the conference was Choose Joy. The key-note speaker is a senior missionary sister who is a former mission president's wife in the Philippines. She gave a remarkable talk about always finding/looking for joy in every aspect of our lives. There were several musical numbers, some workshops, and up-lifting talks by President and Sister Reynolds. The day was a spiritual high for all of us.
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| Sister Reynolds (Mission President's wife) and Sister Dos Santos |
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| Sisters of the New York New York South Mission |
Battle of Long Island
The Battle of Long Island is also referred to as the Battle of Brooklyn Heights and took place on Tuesday, August 27, 1776 at Long Island, New York. The very day of the evacuation of British forces following the Siege of Boston on March 17, 1776, George Washington ordered 5 regiments of the Colonial Army to New York. The American troops were positioned on the outskirts of New York City on a series of hills in Brooklyn, he was intent on defending New York falling to the British, but knew he would not be able to withstand a siege. The new British commander-in-chief was General William Howe who had led in the field at the Battle of Bunker Hill. The British first sailed to Halifax and did not begin the campaign in New York until the end of August. The British force consisted of 400 warships, each ship was equipped with 16 cannon and carried 1000 troops ready to storm the beaches after landing. General William Howe landed his soldiers, bolstered by German Hessian mercenaries, on Long Island smashing the militia's camps with cannonball fire. He was able to divide the Continental Army in two and captured one part of it. This strategic success brought the British to the foot of Brooklyn Heights. On the top of Brooklyn Heights was a fort. Howe delayed attacking the fort which enabled Washington time to retreat and safely ferried the rest of the American army across to New York. When the British eventually marched to the attack, there was no one left in the fort on Brooklyn Heights. The British Army then stormed through the small city of New York, setting it ablaze.
American Snipers
The main groups of the Continental Army retreated from New York City but a small band of American Sharpshooters hid 30ft off of the main trail looking for the British as they marched after the American militia. The colonial snipers broke the rules of war and aimed not at the soldiers but fired on the officers on horseback. These tactics were highly successful as without the commands from their offices the British troops were thrown into confusion. The British troops retreated to the safety of New York City but had achieved victory in the Battle of Long Island, New York. The next major conflict between the two armies would be the Battle of White Plains. https://www.landofthebrave.info/battle-of-long-island.htm
The Culper Spy Day was advertised as "A collaboration of organizations that came together to create an event highlighting the amazing history behind George Washington's Culper Spy Ring. The Three Village area (The Three Village area consists of Setauket, Stony Brook, and the incorporated village of Old Field. It is nestled on Long Island's north shore in Suffolk County, NY. It is a community that takes great pride in its history and works very hard to preserve it.) is full of hidden intrigue and stories of how America's first spy ring came together secretly to provide General George Washington the information he needed to turn the tide of the American Revolution. Activities included tours, battle reenactments, colonial cooking demonstrations, crafts and more."
It was a hot day but enjoyable. We started out at the Long Island Museum where we bought our tickets and then on to the Carriage Museum. It was cool in the building and I wanted to stay for a LONG time but since there was much more to see, we went on about the area.
Also on the grounds of the Carriage House Museum were gardens, cemetery, and school house
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| Many trees around the area had colorful crochet around them |
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| White butterflies liked the lavender gardens |
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| Moveable art/ wind ornament |
The next place we stopped was the Caroline Church of Brookhaven. It is the second oldest active Episcopal Church in use in America. It is a beautiful building built as many churches were, in the form of an upside down ship. The stained glass window were magnificent.
We then had a lecture/story time by a man portraying farmer and spy Abraham Woodhull. He gave us the basics of The Culper Spy Ring. The following is what I gleaned from the net:
The Culper Spy RingAt the Setaucket Village Green we saw some cooking and shooting demonstrations.
British forces occupied New York in August 1776, and the city would remain a British stronghold and a major naval base for the duration of the Revolutionary War. Though getting information from New York on British troop movements and other plans was critical to General George Washington, commander of the Continental Army, there was simply no reliable intelligence network that existed on the Patriot side at that time. That changed in 1778, when a young cavalry officer named Benjamin Tallmadge established a small group of trustworthy men and women from his hometown of Setauket, Long Island. Known as the Culper Spy Ring, Tallmadge's homegrown network would become the most effective of any intelligence-gathering operation on either side during the Revolutionary War.
The Dangers of Spying
In mid-September 1776, the American officer Nathan Hale was hanged without trial in New York City. British authorities had caught Hale when he was on his way back to his regiment after having penetrated the British lines to gather information. Hale's death illustrated the grave dangers inherent in spying for the rebels during the Revolutionary War, especially in the British stronghold of New York. Meanwhile, Benjamin Tallmadge, a young cavalry officer from Setauket, had enlisted in the Continental Army when the American Revolution began in 1775 and was soon awarded the rank of major. In mid-1778, General George Washington appointed Tallmadge the head of the Continental Army's secret service; he was charged with establishing a permanent spy network that would operate behind enemy lines on Long Island.
In addition to serving as head of Washington's secret service, Major Benjamin Tallmadge participated in many major battles fought by the Continental Army in the northern states. Fellow spy Caleb Brewster served under Tallmadge in the capture of Fort St. George at Mastic, New York in November 1780.
Tallmadge recruited only those whom he could absolutely trust, beginning with his childhood friend, the farmer Abraham Woodhull, and Caleb Brewster, whose main task during the Revolution was commanding a fleet of whaleboats against British and Tory shipping on Long Island Sound. Brewster, one of the most daring of the group, was also the only member whom the British had definitely identified as a spy. Tallmadge went by the code name John Bolton, while Woodhull went by the name of Samuel Culper.
Workings of the Cupler Spy Ring
Woodhull, who began running the group's day-to-day operations on Long Island, also personally traveled back and forth to New York collecting information and observing naval maneuvers there. He would evaluate reports and determine what information would be taken to Washington. Dispatches would then be given to Brewster, who would carry them across the Sound to Fairfield, Connecticut, and Tallmadge would then pass them on to Washington. Woodhull lived in constant anxiety of being discovered, and by the summer of 1779 he had recruited another man, the well-connected New York merchant Robert Townsend, to serve as the ring's primary source in the city. Townsend wrote his reports as "Samuel Culper, Jr." and Woodhull went by "Samuel Culper, Sr."
Austin Roe, a tavern keeper in Setauket who acted as a courier for the Culper ring traveled to Manhattan with the excuse of buying supplies for his business. A local Setauket woman and Woodhull's neighbor, Anna Smith Strong, was also said to have aided in the spy ring's activities. Her husband, the local Patriot judge Selah Strong, had been confined on the British prison ship HMS Jersey in 1778, and Anna Strong lived alone for much of the war. She reportedly used the laundry on her clothesline to leave signals regarding Brewster's location for meetings with Woodhull.
Achievements of the Culper Spy Ring
Despite some strained relations within the group and constant pressure from Washington to send more information, the Culper Spy Ring achieved more than any other American or British intelligence network during the war. The information collected and passed on by the ring from 1778 to war's end in 1783 concerned key British troop movements, fortifications and plans in New York and the surrounding region. Perhaps the group's greatest achievement came in 1780, when it uncovered British plans to ambush the newly arrived French army in Rhode Island. Without the spy ring's warnings to Washington, the Franco-American alliance may well have been damaged or destroyed by this surprise attack.
The Culper Spy Ring has also been credited with uncovering information involving the treasonous correspondence between Benedict Arnold and John Andre, chief intelligence officer under General Henry Clinton, commander of the British forces in New York, who were conspiring to give the British control over the army fort at West Point. Major Andre was captured and hung as a spy in October 1780, on Washington's orders.
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| Bro. & Sis. Williams |
We next went on to Stony Brook for a walking tour and lunch. We didn't take the whole tour because we wimped out. It was just too hot! The car thermometer said it was 100 degrees. The eating establishment was warm but cooler than the outside temperature.
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| Stony Brook historic area has shops and stores set up to resemble
Colonial Williamsburg. You might guess what store drew my attention. |
The Thompson House and the Three Villages Historic Center were our last stops before we headed home.
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| Life-sized George Washington. He was 6' 2" tall. |
Sunday in Primary, we celebrated Pioneer Day. I don't think anyone had ever done that before as pioneers as I know them, are not too big in this area but I guess my Utah self kicked in. I had asked the Primary president a couple of weeks ago if we could do a special day to honor the pioneers. She agreed so I made a "camp fire" and with the lights turned out and a flashlight aimed at the ceiling as the moon, we sang songs about the pioneers and told stories as we sat on the floor around the campfire. I invited a sister to come with her guitar to accompany us.
One of the counselors took the children, all 6 of them, on a trek through several rooms where she had pictures and told a story in each room and then we ended out trek and "circled the wagons" around the camp fire for our closing song and prayer. I think the kids enjoyed it and learned about the hardships, faith and courage of the pioneer children who crossed the plains and how they could be modern day pioneers with courage and faith.
It's been a great week. Every day brings blessings. I feel especially blessed to have been able to attend the Sister's Conference and to learn and to be reminded that I am a daughter of God and that I am loved.
In a conference talk given by Elaine Cannon in April 1982, she reminds us that "Part of our precious legacy-to be remembered and renewed-is that though deepening trials throng our way, we know that our afflictions can be consecrated to our good.
Good can come from trouble. Trauma can enliven the heart and enrich the soul. Clouds do have silver linings, and the leaf will burst again on the dry branch. "Weeping may endure for [the] night," sang the psalmist, "but joy cometh in the morning." (Ps. 30:5.)
My dear sisters, the daily work of the Lord involves changing hopeless to hopeful-for all of us. And it is for us to find at last that in the midst of winter we have within us an invincible summer. … whatever life offers, it is to be lived, it is to be learned from. We need to get on with it-and reach for joy."
My prayer for you and for us all is that we will reach for joy. I find joy in my mission. I find joy in my family. I find joy in the Gospel.
I love you my family and friends.
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| Beautiful sunset with the lights of Manhattan just beginning to come on. |
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| As I was gathering wood along the railroad track fence to make my fake
campfire, (People gave me weird looks. An old lady out picking up dead branches is not a usual sight.) I saw this strange looking mushroom growing out of the tree. |
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