Our Temples: Houses of the Lord

We feel so blessed to be living here in the heart of New York City serving as missionaries in the Manhattan Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We serve a 7-hour shift in the temple every day it is open, typically Tuesday through Saturday every week. We support the temple presidency and local members in the surrounding areas of New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania in providing sacred ordinances which bless both the living and the dead.  We enjoy a wide variety of responsibilities from administering and recording ordinances, to cleaning and doing the laundry.  In all we do, our purpose is to promote the great latter-day work of salvation for the dead, and to encourage and bless the local Church members.  We serve patrons who speak a dozen different languages.  Many of our most faithful are Spanish speakers, and Elder Hawkins is especially helpful with them. Sister Hawkins has extra duties in the temple office.

 

"Surely these temples are unique among all buildings.  They are houses of instruction.  They are places of covenants and promises.  At their altars, we kneel before God, our creator, and are given promise of His everlasting blessings. . . . Here we set aside our own selfishness and serve for those who cannot serve themselves.  Here, under the true priesthood power of God, we are bound together in the most sacred of all human relationships--as husbands and wives, as children and parents, as families under a sealing that time cannot destroy and death cannot disrupt."

 Elder Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, August, 1974

Marriages performed in this "sealing room" are for time and eternity. Ceremonies are sacred and simple; they are attended by only the closest friends and family.  Afterwards, couples can greet more friends and well-wishers in front of the temple.  Passersby on the crowded sidewalk shout their congratulations, and drivers on busy Columbus Avenue honk their horns.

Temple work blesses both the living and the dead. Through family history work we discover our roots, and our lives are enriched.  In April Sister  Hawkins made connections with a fifth cousin, and they shared the opportunity to perform ordinances in the Manhattan Temple for common ancestors.

When two of our grandchildren, Meg and Tim, came to visit, they performed ordinances for some cousins from the 1800s.  We were so pleased to be able to share with them the spirit of this work in the "House of the Lord."

Josie and Chloe in Gotham City

We were so excited to have Joe, Charlotte, Josie, and Chloe come from Highland, Utah to visit us for a few days.  We were on a break from our temple service during the temple's routine two-week summer maintenance.

Here we are checking out the view from the top of our apartment building.

We went to Manhattan's Chinatown for some authentic Chinese dim sum.  We got along pretty well until they brought around the fried chicken feet.
The next day they were thrilled to discover "Shake Shack," and that quickly became their favorite New York meal.

Chloe was especially excited about our visit to the huge Nintendo Store at Rockefeller Plaza.

 Many say that Juliana's in Brooklyn is supposed to have the BEST (thin-crusted) New York pizza--and we agree.

 It was a thrill to watch the city put on her sparkling jewels of light as dark fell.  The Manhattan skyline was stunning!  Afterwards we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge.



Another highlight was visiting Ellis Island, Liberty Island and the Statue of Liberty.

We enjoyed walking through Central Park several times.  Central Park is a huge, beloved, public space which is vibrant with activity all day long in the summer.  The Bethesda Fountain is an especially lovely spot.

 When we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Chloe was particularly excited about seeing the Degas ballet paintings.

Charlotte, with her training in and love for art, was a wonderful guide for her girls as they got a taste of the treasures in this incredible collection.

We thought Josie looked a lot like the woman in John Singer Sargent's elegant portrait of "Madame X."

We all loved the vast collection of Egyptian art.  Here Joe and Josie check out the Temple of Dendur  transferred here, block by block, from the Nile Valley of Egypt.

Both girls were fascinated by the displays of arms and armor.  These horsemen ride beneath banners  of some of the knights of the Round Table.

A little weary after more than four hours at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, we reluctantly decided to call it a day--even though there was still so much yet to see.

We hope  this dear family we come back and see us again soon!

Around the City

Down near the southern tip of Manhattan is the financial district including the New York Stock Exchange.  Wall Street was so named because it ran along the line of defensive walls the Dutch built to protect themselves from the British .  Close by is Federal Hall, the site of our nation's first capital.  A grand statue of George Washington stands on the site of his inauguration.

A surprising sight right in the midst of busy downtown New York City is this peaceful colonial-era graveyard near Trinity Church.

 We attended a splendid New York Philharmonic concert in the mammoth, Anglican Cathedral of St John the Divine. Started in 1892, it is still only two-thirds finished.  When complete, it will be the largest cathedral in the world.

 The Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, on Fifth Avenue along "Museum Mile," is home to a fine collection of modern and contemporary art.  We enjoyed the stunning architecture of the building itself more than the art it housed.  It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, his only building in New York City.

We spent one morning biking on Roosevelt Island, located in the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn. We got great views of Manhattan's east side.

This now-abandoned smallpox hospital, built on the island in 1856, served about 100 patients until 1875, when it was converted into a school for nurses.

"Roosevelt Island" honors President Franklin D Roosevelt.  It has residential areas as well as an impressive park commemorating his presidency.

We were deeply moved by this visonary statement he made near the beginning of World War II.

 From the island we got this spectacular view of Manhattan from the east.  Prominent along the river on the left is the UN Building.  Center is the spire of the Empire State Building; the pointed crest of the  Chrysler Building rises on the right.

We were thrilled by a performance of the Tabernacle Choir in famed Carnegie Hall on July 2.

One hot afternoon we took the subway south about an hour to the southern edge of Brooklyn along the Atlantic Ocean to "Coney Island."  It was a fun change of pace to get sand between our toes on the beach and stroll the historic boardwalk, built in 1921.

 The amusement park rides included the rickety, wooden roller coaster,"Cyclone," a designated New York City Landmark.

Of course we had to try a "Coney Dog" from Nathan's. (And, truly, it was the best I have ever eaten!) They claim to have invented the hot dog and have been selling them here since 1916.

New York City is full of music, from street performers to the finest classical concerts.  Dozens of free summer concerts in parks are sponsored throughout the City. We have enjoyed several, including this one by the Boston Symphony Chamber Players in the huge Naumburg Band Shell in Central Park.

Priesthood Restoration, Harmony Pennsylvania

Last week we got to take a "road trip" with the other temple missionaries  to visit Harmony, Pennsylvania, three hours to the west of New York City; here we were excited to see all that the Church has done to develop the site of the latter-day restoration of the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods.  Workmen were busy all over the area hoping to have the project completed and ready for dedication this fall.

A beautiful chapel/visitor center built of the locally quarried blue stone was nearing completion.  New statues commemorating the restorations had just been installed.

 

The original foundations of the grand Isaac Hale home and Joseph and Emma's small home had been identified, excavated, and used as the "footprints" for these lovely historic reproductions.  

Elder Hawkins stands by the original commemorative monument erected years ago and which has been left in place.  He remembered contributing to the fund to build it when he was a young Aaronic Priesthood holder.

 The original headstone marking the grave of Joseph and Emma Smith's infant who died at birth is encased in a modern headstone in the nearby country graveyard.

The day's highlight was the hour we spent with a knowledgeable and inspiring local Institute director on the banks of the peaceful Susquehanna River reviewing the glorious events commemorated here.

The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge

 A favorite bike path here in New York City runs almost the whole length of Manhattan, along the Hudson River.  We like to get on at 68th Street and ride eight miles north, up the river, to the George Washington Bridge.  At the base of the bridge stands a little red lighthouse which has a special story. . . . The Hudson River was essential to the history and economic development of New York.  The river provided food for early settlers, was important to the expansion and growth of the city, and is still an important waterway for commerce. The rocky outcropping of Jeffrey’s Hook has always been a hazard for boats on the Hudson River at night.  In 1921 a previously used lighthouse was moved, reassembled and placed here by the Coast Guard. “Fat, red, and jolly,” it had been built in 1880 of cast iron and steel.  It was the southernmost lighthouse on the Hudson River and the only lighthouse on Manhattan Island. . . .  For lighthouses to show pilots where they are in the dark, they each have a specific color or pattern of flashing called a “characteristic” that pilots can recognize from a distance.  The Little Red Light House’s characteristic is one second of light followed by two seconds of darkness.

Only ten years after Jeffrey’s Hook Lighthouse was assembled here, the George Washington Bridge was built overhead.  Under the bridge’s bright lights, the lighthouse became obsolete for the second time.  In 1947, the Coast Guard de- commissioned the lighthouse, and its light was extinguished.  In 1951, the Coast Guard proposed to dismantle and auction off the lighthouse, but the public protested with an outpouring of letters to officials, largely because the lighthouse was a beloved character in the 1942 children’s book The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge, written by Hildegarde H Swift and illustrated by Lynd Ward.  The campaign to save the lighthouse was successful, and on July 23, 1951 it came under the jurisdiction of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.

In the book, the Little Red Lighthouse feels dwarfed by the George Washington Bridge.  He feels unneeded and unwanted until one particularly foggy night when the Bridge calls to him, “Little brother, Where is your light?”  The Lighthouse wonders, “Am I a brother of yours, Bridge?  Your light was so bright that I thought mine was needed no more.”  The Bridge replied, “I call to the airplanes; I flash to the ships of the air.  But you are master of the river.  Quick, let your light shine.  Each to his own place, little brother!”  Today the light in the Jeffrey’s Hook Lighthouse shines on.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a New York City landmark.