The Book of Mormon is given to us

My niece posted this on FB and I borrowed it because it made me giggle.  My week has been busy but not really rough.  Still fighting colds and the stomach virus.  We had a little lull last week but we made up for it this week.  And as always the usual ailments and injuries that come along with 200 or so people:  ankle sprains, toothaches, cuts, bruises, headaches, anxiety/depression, etc.

It has also been a delightful week of gustatory experiences. You know how I love to tell you all about my eating forays. (I really do work here even if it seems I don’t.)  Monday evening at FHE Sister Lilly brought meatballs over rice with cheesecake for dessert.

Tuesday I had dinner with the sister training leaders and the sisters they exchanged with.  We always laugh a lot.  I totally enjoy these sisters.  Made Olive Garden Copycat pasta e fagioli soup.

Sisters Bush, Dawson, Yu, Steninger

On Wednesday afternoon, two sisters stopped in unexpectedly to see me.  I made them eat the left over soup from Tuesday’s dinner.  After they left, I took a blood pressure cuff to a missionary in Brooklyn so while I was there I took the opportunity to get to know a new sister in our mission and her trainer.  I asked them to pick a place to eat and they introduced me to Peaches, a classic American restaurant with a nod to the South.  From their website:  “Nestled in Stuyvesant Heights, an historic brownstone neighborhood in Brooklyn, Peaches features a contemporary Southern menu in a setting as comfortable as your grandmother’s dining room”.

Sister Williams found my leis

Dinner at Peaches with Sisters Felsted and Bingham

Salmon and desserts

Lunch guests Sisters Williams, Panoussi, and Wuthrich

One can order grits, collards, Southern fried chicken, and many other delicious foods.  I had blackened salmon on spinach with artichoke hearts and Greek olives.  For dessert we shared a French toast peach melba and a caramel pecan cheesecake.

Thursday I went to dinner with a couple of great elders.  We went to the Cheesecake Factory.

Elders Williams and Mullen

We shared a tuxedo cheesecake.

Friday I went to Manhattan with a missionary.  While there we picked up some chicken/lamb and rice from a street cart and brought it back to my apartment to eat.  

Saturday I went to Flushing and took the Korean sister missionaries to a late lunch-early dinner.  They chose BCD Tofu House.  I have tried tofu before and didn’t care for it but I put on an enthusiastic face and found to my wonder, the food was awesome as was the company.  I always learn a lot about the Korean culture when I spend time with these sisters.   They claim I am Korean because I like kimchi.

Before the food is brought, we were served raw eggs, pickled, broccoli with sesame seeds, potato salad,
I don't know what the dark dish is called but it was some kind of vegetable, the small red pile was spicy
cooked octopus ( I liked it), kimchi, and a breaded fish I was leery of the fish but it was good too.

Sisters Hilliard and Kim

My soup was kimchi soon tofu with pork. It is served boiling hot in a stone bowl. You break the egg
into the soup and stir it until It is cooked. Only takes a minute or less.

My main course hot stone bibimbap combo. HOT!!! Also cooks the egg.

My companions had kimchi BBQ pork and fried tofu triangles with sweet mustard.

Nurungji

Sunday I introduced the missionaries to creamed cabbage.  I had told them that my family likes creamed cabbage and we eat it often.  They were skeptical but are now converts.  We had roast chicken, mashed potatoes, creamed cabbage, corn, cranberry sauce and fruit salad.  Brownies for dessert. 

Now you have had a total rundown of my eating adventures. 

I have talked to my family members at home and received pictures of my littles.  They are growing so fast.  I’m sure they will be up and running before I get home in August.  I enjoy keeping in contact with friends and family on Face Book and appreciate your notes and comments.

Just want you to know that I really do missionary things here along with the eating.  This week one day as I studied Alma 30, the study guide gave me some insight that I never really thought about in such depth before.

There had been a great war in the land but after the people of Ammon had settled in the land of Jershon and the Lamanites were driven out, they buried the dead.  The numbers of Lamanites and Nephites that had been slain and buried were too numerous to count.  For the next almost two years they lived in righteousness and peace.

The study guide asks:  What kind of peace does obedience always bring?  It goes on to answer:  “Whenever a people live the gospel, whenever they live in harmony with the statutes and ordinances God has given them, whenever they follow the light of their consciences and subscribe to the rules and standards established for those of the household of faith, they come to know the peace of the Spirit.  Keeping the commandments brings the quiet assurance that one’s course in life is pleasing in the sight of God, a consciousness of victory over self which we know as spirituality.  “learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me’ (D&C 19:23)”  McConkie and Millet, Doctinal Commentary

Near the end of the second year of peace, in Alma 30:6, “there came a man into the land of Zarahemla, and he was Anit-Christ, for he began to preach unto the people against the prophecies which had been spoken by the prophets, concerning the coming of Christ.”  An antichrist is an opponent of Christ; he is one who is in opposition to the true gospel, the true Church, and the true plan of salvation.

I love this chapter in the Book of Mormon for the story and insight it brings to our day. .  The Anti-Christ was named Korihor.  He offered salvation to men on some other terms than those laid down by Christ.  

Korihor was clever. He has his modern counterparts, especially in today’s settings in which so many people are especially free to choose for themselves.  In his time (as in ours) there was no law against a man’s belief because it was strictly contrary to the commands of God.  All men were on equal grounds. (Alma 30:7-9)  

The study guide asks:  What do Korihor’s teachings have in common with false teachings of our day?  Gospel scholar Chauncey Riddle once explored how three of Korihor’s arguments seduce people today:  “The first is that it is possible to know all truth through the senses—by experience and observation.  The second is a humanist position that the solutions to our problems lie in sharp thinking and realistic approaches to life and success is defined in terms of wealth, social status, political power, and the glutting of the senses.  A third argument is relativist: since so-called commandments and laws are but social conveniences to give power to priests, the only important thing in life is to do what you want to do—if you can get away with it.”  (Rust, Feasting on the Word)

Korihor was offering the people freedom.  He attempted to convince people that they were in bondage and that he could be their liberator or redeemer and set them free. His was a liberation movement.  He was going to free them from the burden of commandments and gospel commitments.  The gospel declares that the knowledge of revealed truths brings freedom, but Korihor contended that freedom really meant being without the constraints of righteousness.

I like what President Eyring says about this:  “Korihor was arguing, as men and women have falsely argued from the beginning of time, that to take counsel from the servants of God is to surrender God-given rights of independence.  But the argument is false because it misrepresents reality.  When we reject the counsel which comes from God, we do not choose to be independent of outside influence.  We choose another influence.”  (Eyring, Finding Safety in Counsel)

I have gone on long enough, but please read the 30thchapter in Alma. The story continues as Korihor seeks a sign to prove to him that there is a God.  He is struck dumb and eventually suffers a horrible death.  

The conclusion of the study of this chapter in the study guide poses a question:  Why were the story, teachings, and fate of Korihor recorded in the Book of Mormon?  Read Alma 30:60.

The Book of Mormon was written for our day.  Later in his own book, Mormon says, “I speak unto you [latter-day readers] as if ye were present.” (Mormon 8:35).  “We did not borrow the Book of Mormon from the ancients; they wrote it to us.  We are the audience Mormon and Moroni addressed as they chose what was to be included in this scriptural record.  They told us the story of Korihor because they knew that we would have our Korihors.  The Korihor of the Book of Mormon story is but the prototype of our modern anti-Christs.”  (McConkie and Millet, Sustaining and Defending the Faith)

I know that the Book of Mormon is given to us to show us the way we may follow to become Christ-like in our thoughts and actions and to provide teaching for us to know the things we must do to return to our Father in Heaven. 

I love you my family and friends.

Wednesday when I went to Brooklyn my GPS routed me through the  Queens Midtown Tunnel
and along the FDR Drive which runs beside the East River. I've never used the tunnel before.
I've always crossed one of the bridges. 

This building or buildings caught my attention in Manhattan.

Sunset and the Manhattan Bridge from FDR Drive

Harbor Freight in Brooklyn -Kay's favorite toy store.

We Can Overcome

In December the senior couples were asked to bring funeral potatoes to the mission Christmas dinner.  I bought one too many bags of hash browns.  My fridge/freezer is apartment size so space is a premium, especially in the freezer section.  I decided I would make potato soup for dinner on Sunday.  Since the missionaries will eat almost anything, I wanted to try making a soup based on a soup I used to make at home.  It was a hit!  I had seen recipes for loaded baked potato soup and that sounded good so that is the direction I went.  I'm including my recipe in case you want to feed a herd of hungry missionaries or just your family.

Sister Talaboc, Elders Walker and Cahan, Sisters Steninger, Bush and Panoussi

I didn't want to waste the potato skins.  That is my favorite part of the baked potato so I looked at recipes for baked potato skins and used what I had and adapted.  Potato skins were also a hit.  Recipe included.

Loaded baked potato soup and skins

Crispy Baked Potato Skins

Ingredients:

6 large russet baking potatoes

Olive oil

Montreal Steak Seasoning or garlic salt

Melted butter about ¼ cup

Shredded cheese

Crumbled cooked bacon

Sour cream

Fresh chives finely chopped

Instruction:

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Pierce each potato several times with a fork or sharp knife.  Rub each with olive oil and sprinkle on the seasoning.

Place on a foil lined baking sheet.  Bake about 50 minutes or until done.  Transfer to a wire rack until cool enough to handle.

Slice each potato into quarters lengthwise.  Using a spoon, scoop out the flesh, leaving about 1/8^th inch intact:  Reserve the flesh for another use.

Lay each skin on a foil lined baking pan.  Brush the insides of the potatoes with melted butter and sprinkle with garlic salt.  

Place pan/skins under the broiler for about 2 minutes until the top edges start to brown.  Watch carefully that they don’t burn.  

Remove from broiler and sprinkle with shredded cheese.  Return to broiler until the cheese is melted.

Top with sour cream, chives, and bacon or eat just as is.  Good dipped in ranch dressing too.

Baked Potato Soup

Serves 12-14 hungry missionaries

Ingredients:

6 large baking or russet potatoes, baked

1 32 oz bag frozen hash browns

1 very large onion or 2 medium sized, chopped

5 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 can (10 oz) cream of chicken soup, undiluted

¼ - ½ cup butter

2 ½ teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

2 quarts chicken broth

2 cups half and half

2 cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded

6 tablespoons chopped fresh chives or dried chives equivalent

1 8 oz package of cream cheese

Sour Cream

Green onions

Shredded cheese

Bacon bits, crisply fried  (I use about 2 lbs because missionaries don’t often get bacon and they load it on.)

Directions:

Scrub the potatoes.  Dry them and rub with olive oil.  Poke with fork.  Sprinkle with Montreal Steak Seasoning or garlic salt.  Bake at 400 degrees about 45 minute to an hour, depending on the size of the potatoes, or until done.

Let them cool. (I did this the day before.)  Scoop out the meat of the potato leaving about 1/8 inch potato on the skin. Set aside to make crispy baked potato skins.

In a large crockpot, add the hash browns, onion, garlic, cream of chicken soup, butter, salt, pepper and chicken broth.  Cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours.  Add the scooped out baked potatoes.  Cook until the potatoes are heated through.

Add the creamed cheese.  Mash the mixture with a potato masher or a hand blender until the cream cheese is blended in, the potatoes are coarsely chopped and the soup is slightly thickened.  Stir in the half and half, 2 cups sharp cheese and chives.  Stir until the cheese is melted and blended in.

Serve in bowls topped with sour cream, sliced green onions, additional shredded cheese and the bacon.

It was transfer week here in the mission.  13 missionaries went home and 11 new missionaries arrived.  I went, as usual, to the mission home Tuesday afternoon to help Anthea with laundry and dinner.  Being with the missionaries never gets old.  They bring life and spirit where ever they are whether they are coming or going.

Departing missionaries and President and Sister Reynolds

Sisters Seay, Fields and Provard

Elders Honey, Atoa, Barola and Mitchell

Elders Brown, Switzer and Wixom

Elders Peters, Peña and Rossi

Meeting the new missionaries is so opposite of the departing missionaries.  The departing missionaries have 18 months to 2 years of hard work behind them.  They are sad to leave but ready to start new chapters in their lives.  The "newbies" usually look a little like deer in the headlights.  This group came to New York in the midst of the Nor'easter. It was a rough flight.  They told me that they circled in the air over the city for about 45 minutes waiting for the opportunity to land. They arrived on Monday and I didn't see them until Tuesday morning, but some of them were still a little green in color.  The elders who picked them up at the airport reported that they had to stop the van a few times for sick missionaries.  What an introduction to your mission! 

Thursday I accompanied some missionaries to Manhattan.  It is fun to go into the city.  No matter how many times I go there, I notice interesting things.  In the winter the city puts pine boughs and pine cones in the planters around the trees where there are beautiful flowers in the spring, summer and fall. It looks really nice.   I always am entertained by people watching.  The area I most often go with the missionaries is the upper east side, so people are very well dressed and the streets are mostly clean and well kept.

Saturday I went to Freeport to help with some things.  This was my first time to actually be in Freeport.  I've passed through but never stopped.  I want to go back there again when the weather is warmer and I can walk the Nautical Mile.  Read about Freeport.

Recently I have been helping a few missionaries who are struggling with discouragement, depression, anxiety, and stress or various forms of these problems.  I've read several talks by general authorities.  One of my favorites and most helpful is the talk by Elder Holland. Read "Like a broken vessel."  Everyone should read this talk.  It will give you a lift.




Each of us reacts differently to our trials.  No matter our response to trials, stress, anxiety, depression, and discouragement affects each of us at one time or another in varying degrees.  We all know others in our lives who struggle daily with these ailments if I may call them ailments.  We can help ourselves and others if we understand how and why and know that through the Atonement and with the help of therapists, doctors, medications, and the Lord we can overcome.

I know that the Lord has provided a way for us to be happy in this life as we go through our daily struggles.  The way is not always evident, but if we can strive to make our lives Christ-centered, it will become easier and we will then be more in tune with the Spirit and can be guided more easily.   As we partake of the sacrament, we make a commitment to always remember the Savior. The more we keep Christ in our thoughts, the more He will become the center of our lives and the more He will guide and direct us to reach our full potential. Always remembering the Savior will always bless our lives and will help us to bless the lives of others.


I love you my family and friends.

Lunch date with Sisters Panoussi and Talaboc

Another experiment:  pretzel brownies

The sisters brought me an empanada de pollo

Dinner with Elders Bergeson and Lance (Notice I was eating a healthy meal-
broccoli and salmon. I do eat things other than chocolate and potato skins.)

European chocolate given to me by some elders who know my weakness.
Homemade fudge sent by my niece who also knows my weakness. I am so spoiled!!!