Flushing First Branch, Queens, New York

A highlight of our mission service is the opportunity to be a part of the Flushing First Branch located in Queens, New York.  Every Sunday we travel about an hour and a half on the train to attend our meetings there.  We are so grateful to feel welcomed by our "church family." About 75% of the congregation speaks Spanish and the other 25% speaks English.  The talks in sacrament meeting must be translated Spanish to English or English to Spanish. Sacrament meeting hymns are sung in both Spanish and English at the same time--a little confusing.

 Our main contribution to the branch involves music. The branch has several pianos and an organ, but NO ONE in the branch can play them. It makes a huge difference in the spirit of our meetings to have a prelude and postlude, and to have our congregational singing accompanied by the organ.    The old chapel organ is unique.  When the speakers' podium is raised or lowered, all the electric organ stops are randomly reset as well.  The results are unpredictable! Elder Hawkins has surprised us with some unexpected sounds from the organ!

These precious Relief Society sisters sang "As Sisters in Zion"  (in Spanish) for a recent sacrament meeting.  They prepared diligently and even arranged to have matching blue skirts, and blue and gold neck scarves.  Though their Church experience   is typically limited, they are faithful and devoted to the Gospel.
We are honored to call them "sisters."

We have the great blessing of serving in the Primary, providing music.  Here are some of our children.  They are bright and quick; all are totally fluent in English and Spanish.  All speak Spanish at home.  Their roots go back to places like Peru, Ecuador, Chile, or Mexico.  What a privilege it is to share the beautiful Primary songs with them!

The branch sisters were honored with treats after sacrament meeting on Mother's Day.


Flushing First Branch CTR Class

Eleanor's Adventures in the Big City

 We loved having a week's visit from Eleanor and her parents, Pete and Rachel.  We all moved at a more relaxed pace through many of the city's sights, and enjoyed them in a whole new way, through a toddler's eyes.

Here we are in the Cloisters' gardens featuring plants and gardening techniques from the Middle Ages.

 Eleanor loved sitting with her favorite friends near the apartment window where she could enjoy the sun and get a good view down into the street below.  She liked watching the trucks, buses and taxis whiz by.  The sidewalks were filled with the most interesting people and dogs!

 We had hoped she could make friends with the giant Hans Christen Andersen statue in Central Park, who reads his huge book of fairy tales to all the children who pass.

 Eleanor especially enjoyed the stunning dioramas at the Museum of Natural History.  Their floor-to-ceiling format was perfect for her viewing.  She liked to study the description plaques placed right at her level.  She appropriated the museum map and led us through the exhibit halls.

 Many things in New York City are just plain BIG!
. . . . from an Easter Island head in the Natural History Museum to a bright red sculpture on a downtown sidewalk.

The carousel in Central Park was a highlight.  At first Eleanor resisted even getting on her big horse; then she warmed up to the idea.  Every time she passed us as her horse went around and around, her smile got bigger and bigger.  Finally she decided that all the bright colors, happy sounds, and twirling motion were were pretty fun!

We had to try out every escalator we happened to see.  This one was in the Plaza Hotel, featured in the children's book Elouise.





What could be better than a simple picnic in Central Park?  There are endless discoveries to be made wherever you look!

Meg and Tim Visit "The Big Apple"

Our daughter, Emily, and grandchildren Meg and Tim came for a four-day visit and packed in as many sights as they could!  We walked the Brooklyn Bridge for a spectacular view of the city's lights.

We took a ferry out to Liberty Island in New York Harbor and were thrilled by the sight of our beautiful Statue of Liberty.  We even got to climb up inside to her crown.  This full-sized model shows her nose is about four and a half feet long.

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 Of course we had to try lots of the delicious, thin-crusted New York pizza.

 And we enjoyed some amazing pastrami at Katz's Delicatessen on the Lower East Side.

A highlight for both Tim and Meg was attending some Broadway shows:  Phantom of the Opera and Wicked and [the favorite] Matilda.

We biked the Central Park loop dodging the taxis and joggers.  The Rhododendrons are in their glory right now.

 We were all dazzled by the incredible, seemingly endless displays at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Tim liked the armor; Meg found a cool drum!

Meg and Tim were excited to attend the Manhattan New York Temple to do baptisms for the dead.  We were happy we could help them provide these ordinances for some English Lancaster cousins from the 1800s.

 What a breathtaking view from the top of the Empire State Building!

Of course we had to sample some genuine New York bagels and try a traditional "black and white" cookie.  Meg and Tim were great tourists, happy and uncomplaining.

The Cloisters Museum and Gardens

The Cloisters Museum and Gardens is a separate branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe, both domestic and religious. The collection includes masterworks of sculpture, stained glass, tapestry, manuscript illumination, and precious metalwork dating from about the ninth to the fifteenth century.

 We have visited here several times recently and find The Cloisters to be a magical place! It is located near the top of Manhattan, set on a hilltop with grand views of the Hudson River. The extensive gardens featuring medieval plantings, enhance the setting for the art.

The unicorn tapestries, woven about 1500, are particularly treasured.

Architectural elements and whole rooms have been imported from locations in Europe and reassembled in the museum.  Visitors travel chronologically through the Middle Ages as they move from room to room.

The Gothic Chapel features stained glass windows from fourteenth century Austria, and tombs from France and Spain.

The Cuxa Cloister was constructed from a pink-hued marble from the Pyrenees Mountains quarried in the twelfth century for a Benedictine monastery.

 This chapter house, originally built in southern France in the twelfth century, was used by monks for meetings and instruction.

This Fuentiduena Chapel, featuring elements from Spain and Italy, is particularly stunning.

We enjoyed the serenity of this cloister reconstructed from portions of the ruins of several small monasteries in southern France.

 This stately king has stood in this portal for over 700 years.

We were impressed by the design and craftsmanship of these beautiful ceramics.

This exquisitely detailed "Merode Altarpiece" depicting the Annuciation was painted about 1425.  It is displayed in its own room accompanied by many medieval household items similar to those portrayed in the painting.