Back to the Future!

 Great Scott! It's so hard to believe that we have reached the end of our mission!  These eighteen months have flown by at warp speed.  August was crammed with activities as we tried to finish up all our goals and assignments while showing the townhouse we live in so the owners could sell it because we have learned, sadly, that we are not being replaced by another senior couple.  But we were blessed with a delightful visit of our two oldest grandchildren, Emma and Rachel.  They kept us hopping with sightseeing in Manhattan, hiking and the beach in Connecticut, a Mets game, a trip to the temple, Central Park, and the newly opened Back to the Future the Musical (fantastic! The DeLorean flies!!).  We loved feeling their energy and their love for us and for each other and were sad to see them go.

It has been a temple-focused month for us.  First, we were blessed to attend the Hartford Temple with a sweet young woman we have been teaching - she truly looked like an angel as we got a glimpse of her true spirit!We also finished the temple prep lessons for a couple who will be sealed in December.  Early one Saturday morning, we accompanied another group of youth and new members to the Manhattan Temple - and were blessed to have the missionaries who baptized them come with us.

But I will have to say our favorite trip was September 2nd, when we accompanied our friend Jeff, who was baptized just a year ago, to the temple to receive his endowment.  The day was made even sweeter because his wife is now preparing for baptism later this month - and that is, indeed, a miracle. 

The young missionaries in our district were also busy and brought four more souls to the covenant of baptism, siblings Daniel and Sarah, Crystal, and YSA Shechyna.  Neil and I spoke in the family ward on August 27, and we both emphasized the importance of members in referring, teaching, and helping newly baptized members integrate into the congregation.  This has been something we have focused on during our mission and we have seen miracles as the ward has embraced this principle.  And we even took the Bishop's challenge and testified in Spanish! 

Fun places we visited this month include the Lyndhurst Mansion in Tarrytown, NY, the former home of "robber-baron" Jay Gould.  I think it was a good reflection of his personality because all the rich marble and rare wood finishes were actually fake! Our guide told us that it was more popular at the time to pay well-known artists to make realistic finishes than to build with expensive materials.

We also visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art - we almost didn't go because we got a little burned out on art museums when we visited Europe, but we're so glad our senior couples planned a trip!  There was so much there that was beautiful and fascinating - one afternoon wasn't long enough to see it all!  We especially liked the American and Egyptian wings - can you believe these and many more intricate clay models depicting life in Egypt were found in a hidden chamber of a chief steward's tomb?  Beautiful!

But our time in the NYNYC Mission is hastening to an end.  Last Sunday night, in our final mission devotional, Neil and I gave our departing testimonies for all the missionaries.  I testified of three truths I've learned on this mission: 1) Jesus Christ lives and is at the head of this church and at the head of this mission - He leads His work and we just do our best to follow Him as our prophets and mission leaders direct. 2) Miracles are real! I like to say that every baptism starts with a miracle - and we've had 1425 of them so far this year in our mission! But now I know that the greater miracles happen after covenants are made and our new friends' lives are changed through the atonement of Jesus Christ. 3) The future of the Church is in good hands!  The young missionaries with whom we have served are incredible in their courage, enthusiasm, obedience, and testimony and they will be an immense force for good in the world and in the Church.  I encouraged them to always remember, remember the miracles they are experiencing and the feelings they are having to anchor them throughout their lives. Neil shared D&C 4:4, "For behold, Fairfield is white, already to harvest..." which got a smile out of Pres. Holmes.  Then he testified of the joy of serving with the young missionaries, of watching people grow in the gospel, and of the power of the Book of Mormon - not only to convert people, but to strengthen and protect individuals and families. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live and love us. Joseph Smith was a prophet and we are led by a prophet today. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God's church on the earth today. After we turned off our mike, we gave each other a big hug like the young companionships frequently do, and that got another big smile.

At this point, we are almost wishing we had a time machine to take us back and extend our mission time - or even to take us forward a year to see how all our new friends are progressing in the gospel.  But we start our journey home on Thursday and we don't have a DeLorean with a flux capacitor, so stay tuned for our final entry once we've arrived in Arizona.