Tender Mercies

A few evenings ago, I was sitting in such a way that my body cast a shadow on the wall.  That image brought to mind something I haven't thought of in years.  When I was a child, I remember my mother entertaining me with shadow figures she made out of her hands.  She would hold her hands and fingers in ways that projected animals and people onto the wall - shadows.  I learned how to make cat and a dog shadows, Indian with feathers shadow, jack-o-lantern shadow, etc.  Why I thought of this I don't know but it makes me sad that no one does this kind of thing anymore.  I need to practice so I can entertain my grandchildren.  I wonder if they will only think I'm a weird old woman.  They'd be right!!

I'm sure you are weary of me saying this but every week is unique yet the same.  I interact with the missionaries and learn something new each time.  I recommend treatment for nausea, rashes, headaches, insomnia, anxiety, depression, sprained ankles, foot pain, etc and I love every minute.  The senior couples come on Monday nights for FHE.  They are truly the "salt of the earth."

 

Back: Elder and Sister Lilly
Next down: Sister and Elder Williams
Left to right: Sister Bramwell, Elder And Sister Johnson, Sister and Elder Palmer, Sister and Elder Shapiro

Elder and Sister Palmer will be going home at the end of this month so Monday night was their last FHE with us.  We went to the Peruvian Restaurant, Maca, to celebrate and to wish them well.  They will be gone before I return from my week at home which begins on the 23rd, next Tuesday. (I am looking forward to seeing the two new babies, Cade's baptism, and my dear family and friends.)

Sister Bramwell, Sister Palmer, Elder Bramwell

Monday night after FHE I went to Bushwick to take some sisters out to get frozen yogurt.  They are a trio of sisters who are great missionaries and yet they are full of fun and always make me laugh.  What a great way to end an evening!!

Sisters Monteiro, Krause, Dos Santos

Silliness personified Sisters Dos Santos and Krause

Tuesday morning I walked.  My knees are better so now I need to get back into the walking routine.  I only went once this week, so I must repent and get at it more dependably.  Later that morning, I went to Flushing for a mammogram.  Sorry if this is TMI.  It's been a few years so I thought the "big squeeze" a necessary evil.  I did manage to keep my car from going to The French Bakery Workshop.  Aren't you proud of me!!  At least I won't have to walk off the duke I didn't eat.

Good morning Big Apple.

There are squirrels all over. This guy is particularly cute!!

Its hot and humid but the flowers love it.

That evening the sister training leaders who live upstairs, Sisters Zambito and Mejia, had exchanges so I got to entertain them all for dinner.

Sisters Mejia, Bush, Maldonado, Zambito

Wednesday and Thursday I worked on getting some reports ready and preparing for the trainer/training meeting I will attend the day after I return from Utah.  I had an interview with President Reynolds on Thursday afternoon.  That is always a pleasant and learning experience.

Friday was zone training meeting.  I had 4 calls while in the meeting, so I spent more time out of the meeting than in.  After the meeting, the sisters in the zone, 7 of us, had a surprise birthday party for Sister Mejia.  I made lasagna, garlic bread, and brownies.  The others decorated a room in the chapel and then when Sister Mejia walked in, they sprayed her with some stringy, silly putty kind of stuff.  (It came right off and vacuumed up easily but I was a little concerned at first)

Sister Mejia

Sisters Allen, Zambito, Mejia, Bush, Thompson, Maldonado

At Zone Training

I had invited Sister Mejia to dinner after the meeting so she thought we were going to Olive Garden.  She was truly surprised.  So on Saturday, I took her to Kiddo for sushi for a day-after birthday dinner.

After my church on Sunday I went to Flushing.  Sisters Fitt and Yu invited me to attend the baptism of Michael, one of their investigators.  What a wonderful experience for me.  I don't speak Korean but Michael, although Korean, prefers English so most of the talks were in English.  The music was Korean as were the prayers and one talk. 

Sister Fitt told of how they met Michael.  They were "planting seeds" on the street.  Planting seeds means stopping people and asking them if they would like to know more about our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Sister Fitt says that most Koreans will not even speak to them or they are told to "get out of the way-leave me alone."  If one will talk to them, when the sisters ask for their phone numbers they say "oh, my phone is dead" and then they walk away.

On the evening they met Michael, they happened to turn down a street that they had not planned to go on and one which they had never been on before.  They stopped Michael and he seemed very interested.  He listened to their message and then he told them he was lost and he needed directions.  He had wandered onto this street looking for his way home.

They pointed him in the correct direction and then asked him for his phone number.  He told them his phone was dead but he took their card and number.  They wrote it off because he had given them the usual "my phone is dead" line.

Later that evening, it was a Saturday, they texted him and invited him to come to church.  To their amazement he responded,  told them he would come, and that he wanted the address.  Sunday morning he didn't show up to church.  The sisters were disappointed but again wrote it off.  Found out later that he was lost again and by the time he found the church, the meeting was over.  They gave him a lesson and talked to him.  Found out he was from Florida and had just come to NYC.  He and Sister Fitt had gone to the same high school and had mutual acquaintances.  Sister Fitt's family moved to Nashville but she still remembered their friends from high school.  They even skyped one of them, a member, in for a couple of lessons.

There is more to the story but basically, the Sisters were on an unusual street for them to be planting seeds and Michael would never have been there if he hadn't been lost. Coincidence?  We don't believe so.  It was a wonderful experience to feel the Spirit so strong.  I was grateful to have been invited to come.

President and Sister Reynolds and members of the Korean Branch

Sister Yu, Michael Hu, Sister Fitt

President and Sister Reynolds, Michael, Sisters Yu, Fitt, Hilliard

Elders Kim and Choi, Michael, Sisters Yu, Fitt, Hilliard

This week in my study of the Book of Mormon, I studied 1 Nephi chapter 1.  Lehi warned the people of Jerusalem and called them to repent from their preoccupation with sensuality, covetousness, and dishonesty.  They rejected him, rebuked and mocked him for all that he tried to warn them about.  The verse that caught my attention in this reading is verse 20:

1 Nephi 1:20 And when the Jews heard these things they were angry with him; yea, even as with the prophets of old, whom they had cast out, and stoned, and slain; and they also sought his life, that they might take it away. But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance.

In reading this verse, the words "will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all" stood out.  Tender mercies.  I read more about this phrase.  Elder David A. Bednar describes the "tender mercies of the Lord' as "very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindness, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ."  He goes on to say that "the tender mercies of the Lord are real and that they do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence."

I firmly believe this. I felt this today as I listened to the talks and the testimonies at the baptism.  I feel that the meeting of the sisters and Michael was a tender mercy for him.  He bore his testimony and told how he used to believe that there was a God but half way through high school he quit believing and through college he never thought of it. After he came to NYC, he decided he wanted to search for God again.  He went to a few other churches but in doing so he realized why he had quit believing in his youth.  When he attended his first meeting in the Korean Branch, he knew/felt the Spirit tell him that this was the true church.  He wanted to learn all he could about the Savior and what the sisters had to teach him.  He wants to continue to learn and to prepare to go to the temple.

I have felt the tender mercy of the Lord in my life numerous times.  The most vivid tender mercy came to me three years ago when my husband was most ill and suffering.  For three months my family had been at my side cooking all meals, tenderly watching over Kay and me so that I could be by Kay's side at all times.  They often would spend the night or take us for rides in the car as that seemed to calm and sooth Kay. 

On the day of Kay's death, because of other obligations, none of them were with us at the time.  I had stepped from the room to take a phone call and during that moment, Kay's spirit left his body.  When I returned to his side, he was at peace.  At that moment, I felt the sure knowledge that as eternal companions, our separation would be but a second in the Lord's time.  I knew and felt the comfort of the Spirit telling me that Kay was in a better place and that all would be well until we would embrace each other again.

As I knelt by his side and held his hand, I knew that he would be mine, with me, for all time and eternity.  What a tender mercy for me at that time of separation.

I know that each of us receives tender mercies.  I pray that you will recognize the hand of the Lord in your life and that as you go about your day to day activities, you will feel of the Savior's love for you.

I love you my family and friends.

Lightning bug on my wall. I tried to get a "glowing" picture but I couldn't manage it.

This spider web caught my attention. Kay always liked to study spider webs. They are in amazing and intriguing.
It had just rained and you can see the tiny droplets of water along with all of the litter caught in the web.