Monday, Day 396
Day 36 back in NY
Pday!
Today was the best pday. We woke up at 4:30am, did laundry, came back up and went to bed. We then woke up at 6:00am and got ready for our special plans! We left the apartment at 7:00am and went to grand central station. We took the train to Scarsdale where we were picked up by the APs (Elders Tabor, Chambers, and Krzymowski). We then drove to President’s home; he came out with a bunch of Polos so we could all look the part to go golfing! We went to the golf course and played 18 holes with President Smith, William, the APs, and the office Elders. It was such a great time; we had 4 hours to bond with each other. We had a big group so we broke up into 2 groups. President Smith, William, Elder Chambers, Elder McBride and I were one group and the rest made the 2nd group. It was so fun, we had golf carts and shared clubs and just had fun with each other.
After our game we went to the parking lot and all piled into the office Elders mini van, President had to take off, so we were left with ourselves and we went to get lunch. We then got dropped off at the Scarsdale train station and headed home. When we got home it was just after 5pm so we had very little time to email and change to be out to the door to go about our plans. Just after 6pm we left and planned to go to the church… after a few stops on the train, we began experiencing "train traffic" after being on the train for about an hour we finally got to a stop and got off. We decided to take a bus to make it to the church. By the time we made it to our building we had little time, enough to send a few messages to our members and head out back home.
April 25, 2017
Tuesday, Day 397
Day 37 back in NY
We had a great district meeting this morning. Following our meeting we did some daily contacting at the church and went to West Harlem to meet up with a member in our Ward for lunch. We met with T literally a block from my old apartment in Harlem. We ate at Dinosaur BBQ, which I've never seen nor heard of and it was so close to our apartment. It was some good BBQ tho! T isn't actually in our Ward but he attends regularly. He is super great tho. We had a good time and talked a lot about his mission and brought some good memories back to him.
After lunch we then headed home for some comp study, language study and dinner. That may seem funny and so short, but our travel from west Harlem to home (SOUTH East Manhattan) is at least an hour. So by the time we got home we would have been hungry for dinner anyway.
After dinner we went to the church and started going through the list our Ward clerk gave us. It's a list of all the records in the Ward and we need to find out who's active, less active, who's still living in the city and if they are where they moved to, etc. so we do a lot of tedious work finding. But all in all we are doing the work somebody would have to do. After a couple hours we came home.
April 26, 2017
Wednesday, Day 398
Day 38 back in NY
Today had to have been by far the greatest day ever. SO the other day we got a phone call from AP Elder Tabor. He said that we needed to plan a split. (A split with the APs?!) Elder McBride and I were both so confused but excited! Elder Tabor would be coming to my area and be with me and Elder McBride would be splitting with Elder a Chambers in his old area, New Rochelle. Elder Tabor said, “I don't know why we are splitting, President Smith while in the middle of figuring out transfers stopped and said, "Elder Tabor I want you to go on a split with Elder Newbold..." Elder Tabor was surprised and thought he was kidding. President said, "yea, why don't you two go on a split, go any where you'd like, the Bronx, Manhattan, wherever." So here we are!! Elder Tabor and I began our split at the 87th St chapel! We went straight down to the bottom of the island, 200 West St. to have lunch with B from the Lincoln Square YSA Ward. We ate at this nice Chinese restaurant, we all ordered Pineapple Fried Rice. It was so good!
Our meeting with B was awesome, as always! The last time we had lunch with him, I told him "this is the 2nd YSA Ward I've serve in… most people don't get an opportunity to serve in 1 YSA Ward during their mission. So A: I did something right the first time. Or B: I didn't learn my lesson the first time… so my question for you is “what did I do right to gain the trust and friendship of you and many others in the Ward?'" He was caught off guard a little and I told him to take his time, he didn't need to answers today. But he did in part. He basically, in short said (...I love missionaries and I believe they all deserve to have a good relationship with members in the Ward and at the very least deserve to be fed by us, it's our duty to serve the missionaries... and now I'm not saying that you’re not special! Because you are, you’re an awesome Elder and have a great personality. But there's a clear difference between obedient missionaries who know how to have fun in the work and enjoy themselves and missionaries who are obedient but uptight and a pain in the butt to the Ward. And you’re not the 2nd missionary.) Well I took that as a compliment! But in this visit he said "I've pondered a lot about what you asked me last time we met"... how cool is that?! We met about 2 weeks ago and he thought about that question throughout the week and the other things we talked about and said he was applying it all in his Ward and with his missionaries. So we had another great conversation. B is so great! Love that guy.
After lunch with B we went on our way from the bottom of Manhattan to Hunts Point, back to our old area. It was so fun! Our first stop...RICKY! We love Ricky so much! We were coming down the street and like we did back in the day, we walked by his building and yelled up to his window, passing by and getting no response, as we walked around to the front, I thought maybe he's by the little shop behind his building like he sometimes is. And there around the corner was Ricky! His smile was so big! We came up and he gave me the biggest hug! He literally wouldn't let go! Elder Tabor got a little impatient and joined our hug! Haha it was a wonderful reunion! We went up to his room and he had cooked a meal for us! Haha we had just eaten but it was so great and since we didn't plan on having dinner tonight it worked out. Two great and big lunches back to back. We visited and talked about the memories and the present and Elder Tabor's future since he returns home soon and about Ricky looking for a house in California!
After lunch with B we went on our way from the bottom of Manhattan to Hunts Point, back to our old area. It was so fun! Our first stop...RICKY! We love Ricky so much! We were coming down the street and like we did back in the day, we walked by his building and yelled up to his window, passing by and getting no response, as we walked around to the front, I thought maybe he's by the little shop behind his building like he sometimes is. And there around the corner was Ricky! His smile was so big! We came up and he gave me the biggest hug! He literally wouldn't let go! Elder Tabor got a little impatient and joined our hug! Haha it was a wonderful reunion! We went up to his room and he had cooked a meal for us! Haha we had just eaten but it was so great and since we didn't plan on having dinner tonight it worked out. Two great and big lunches back to back. We visited and talked about the memories and the present and Elder Tabor's future since he returns home soon and about Ricky looking for a house in California!
After a wonderful hour visit we were on our way to see Brother Ford. We visited with Brother Ford for a bit and during our visit we got a call, Elder Tabor answered, and it was, formerly known as Elder Peyton Moss! He called because he is in Connecticut with his wife and wanted to visit us! And we just happened to be together! We talked about how the split is temporary and just for the day and so we should plan on meeting up some other time.
Brother Ford told us we should go visit Sister Barbara Jean Kaufman, so we did! When we got to her apartment, a young family walked by, the mother of 3 kids asked, "Are y'all police?" We chuckled in reply, "No ma'am, we are missionaries." Her response in relief was quick, "oh God bless brothers! God bless! I knew y'all couldn't be cops” We talked with her before ringing Sister Kaufman’s buzzer. We talked to this woman, J, she told us a little bit about her and her family. They moved here about a month ago, she's a single parent, and wants to find a church for her and the kids. We exchanged information and informed her that some awesome Sister Missionaries would contact her. She was so happy and excited!
We then rang Sister Kaufman’s buzzer, she said, "Who is it?" We said the missionaries. She buzzed in. We went to her door and chatted for a bit, she was so excited to see us again. It's been a whole year! After our quick visit with her, we got some water and a couple RedBulls from Rite Aid and on our way we went. We stopped by Sister Ruby Brian. She unfortunately wasn't home. So we gave her a call and talked for a bit on the phone. It was now about 7pm, we made our final stop at this family’s home. It was a family Elder Tabor taught while he served in Kingsbridge, The Bronx. They were home and so surprised and excited to see Elder Tabor and were happy to meet me. They are so awesome, the oldest son is 17, a senior in High School and he just met with his bishop about getting his patriarchal blessing and he hasn't even told his family that on Sunday he would be getting it! Haha we talked about what a blessing it will be to receive his own blessing. We talked about going on a mission, since he hasn't really thought about it. It was a great visit and the perfect way to end the night.
We then hopped on the train and back down to The Lower East side of Manhattan we went. It was about an hour and a half travel home. It was such an awesome day! We had such a great time, being together and reliving the moments we had in Hunts Point together.
April 27, 2017
Thursday, Day 399
Day 39 back in NY
This morning we ended our split, our companions met us down stairs after studies and we exchanged companions. They also brought some mail with them. I got an envelope from Ty Dutson's fiancés family! It was his wedding invitation!
Just a little miracle from today I'd like to share. We were on the subway heading to an appointment with D from our Ward. I was standing by the doors of the subway car and to the right of me was a man, maybe about his late 40's, sitting next to me he was writing in this little notebook like I have. So I asked him, "What do you write in your notebook?" He responded, "I talk to God." I said that's so cool! I then pulled out my little notebook and said I do something similar, I explained that I keep a conversation with God all day and through out my day I may witness Gods hand or I may receive inspiration or something great like that and I write about it. We were both pretty impressed with each other. We continued to talk for some time about the gospel and the importance of sharing it. We got off at the same stop and my companion joined in and we continued to walk and talk to him until we got to D’s apartment. We then stopped and answered some questions he had about the difference between our church and the Baptists. Briefly we talked about the Priesthood. We gave him our info and off to D's for lunch we went.
Another awesome experience, back to back, with the one above…We had lunch with D in his apartment, then we were talking about something and somehow the temple came up. And if you know me, I think you know that I LOVE TEMPLES. Since more recently I've gained an unwavering testimony of temples and the importance of the work there and the closeness to heaven we can experience. During our conversation about temples, I somehow brought up preparation to going into the temple. D asked the question, "How do you prepare to go into the temple?" Well for me, in short, I shared my experience with gaining a testimony of prayer. I explained, prior to my early return home my mission president had me drive separately on an assignment. He told me, while you drive speak out and openly about your situation, your feelings towards it, and any questions you have. He said don't turn on the radio, but observe your conversation and talk to God. I accepted his request and did exactly that. While in the car, for the first few minutes I didn't exactly know what I would say or do. But as President said, I talked aloud and to God... into more detail I continued to explain my experience and told him, my preparation to going to the temple is exactly that. I place myself in the mindset, that while I'm physically at the temple I want to spiritually be there. I want my heart at the temple. So before going to the temple, I lay out my week or current situation to God. I speak a loud and tell him my thoughts and feelings and desires. Like my experience in the car, then I listen and wait, and allow Heavenly Father to let His Spirit work in me and I feel more prepared and welcomed at the temple, leaving behind my personal affairs and enter the temple with pure thoughts and intentions to learn. I apologized for what seemed to me, my "long winded" response. But he expressed great appreciation for sharing my experience with him. We then invited him to do the same to prepare to go to the temple and we left it with that.
It was a great and wonderful day!
April 28, 2017
Friday, Day 400
Day 40 back in NY
Happy Birthday dad!
Today I just wanted to share my studies, I was reading in the Book of Mormon and don't remember necessarily having anything in mind. But I read in Nephi and I also read from Preach My Gospel. While reading these things my mind continued to think about our weaknesses and trials in life and at this moment I just had this reminder that these things are blessings and that we must see them as they are. Yes we recognize the trials in life and often times find ourselves discouraged or out of place. And we begin to feel negative towards people or the things in life that happen to us. But while I was thinking these things I just kept having this thought, *see these trials as they will become and not as they are. In the moment of trial and weakness, we may not see the immediate blessings, but if we can recognize the trial in the moment it's present in our lives we can see it for the blessing it will be and we will be able to over come them much quicker or endure them with patience and with a knowledge of the good they will bring. As I was in the Book of Mormon, reading in Nephi, the scripture that came along with those thoughts I just shared was Ether12:27 "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." The parts that stuck out to me most were "... I give unto men weakness that they may be humble;..." and "for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." What a blessing, life isn't easy. It wasn't designed to be. If that were the case a life such as this wouldn't be necessary to God or to any of us. We would still be in His presence and I'm sure have a different purpose. But no greater a purpose than this; to help our brothers and sisters receive salvation in this world.
April 29, 2017
Saturday, Day 401
Day 41 back in NY
Today we attended a Ward picnic in Central Park. It was awesome; there was food (of course) and games like Frisbee and football. We got to meet lots of members and show the members we are normal too! Haha it was a good time.
Afterward, our day was just getting ready for transfers and stuff. Elder McBride will be going home soon. So that's what our day really consisted of.
Around 10:30pm we got transfer calls! ...I found out I'll be transferred!!! I'm going up State. I'll be in New Paltz with Elder Murray, in the New Paltz Branch.
April 30, 2017
Sunday, Day 402
Day 42 back in NY
Sunday has been so great! It was fast Sunday today because we have some meeting or broadcast devotional next week. Testimony meeting was so great, one of the Sister members in our Ward bore her testimony and shared some experiences and my heart was filled with love. I related in so many ways to her testimony of recently coming back to the church and using repentance and the atonement of Jesus Christ in her life. After sacrament we mingled with members, telling them we were both leaving the area and that the area would be getting "white washed" (two new missionaries to the area). We then went to class and had a great lesson by B! Haha he's a lawyer and graduated from Harvard!
Third hour we combined and had a family history presentation! It was awesome! Can't wait to do some family history one day!
Brother Ford told us we should go visit Sister Barbara Jean Kaufman, so we did! When we got to her apartment, a young family walked by, the mother of 3 kids asked, "Are y'all police?" We chuckled in reply, "No ma'am, we are missionaries." Her response in relief was quick, "oh God bless brothers! God bless! I knew y'all couldn't be cops” We talked with her before ringing Sister Kaufman’s buzzer. We talked to this woman, J, she told us a little bit about her and her family. They moved here about a month ago, she's a single parent, and wants to find a church for her and the kids. We exchanged information and informed her that some awesome Sister Missionaries would contact her. She was so happy and excited!
We then rang Sister Kaufman’s buzzer, she said, "Who is it?" We said the missionaries. She buzzed in. We went to her door and chatted for a bit, she was so excited to see us again. It's been a whole year! After our quick visit with her, we got some water and a couple RedBulls from Rite Aid and on our way we went. We stopped by Sister Ruby Brian. She unfortunately wasn't home. So we gave her a call and talked for a bit on the phone. It was now about 7pm, we made our final stop at this family’s home. It was a family Elder Tabor taught while he served in Kingsbridge, The Bronx. They were home and so surprised and excited to see Elder Tabor and were happy to meet me. They are so awesome, the oldest son is 17, a senior in High School and he just met with his bishop about getting his patriarchal blessing and he hasn't even told his family that on Sunday he would be getting it! Haha we talked about what a blessing it will be to receive his own blessing. We talked about going on a mission, since he hasn't really thought about it. It was a great visit and the perfect way to end the night.
We then hopped on the train and back down to The Lower East side of Manhattan we went. It was about an hour and a half travel home. It was such an awesome day! We had such a great time, being together and reliving the moments we had in Hunts Point together.
April 27, 2017
Thursday, Day 399
Day 39 back in NY
This morning we ended our split, our companions met us down stairs after studies and we exchanged companions. They also brought some mail with them. I got an envelope from Ty Dutson's fiancés family! It was his wedding invitation!
Just a little miracle from today I'd like to share. We were on the subway heading to an appointment with D from our Ward. I was standing by the doors of the subway car and to the right of me was a man, maybe about his late 40's, sitting next to me he was writing in this little notebook like I have. So I asked him, "What do you write in your notebook?" He responded, "I talk to God." I said that's so cool! I then pulled out my little notebook and said I do something similar, I explained that I keep a conversation with God all day and through out my day I may witness Gods hand or I may receive inspiration or something great like that and I write about it. We were both pretty impressed with each other. We continued to talk for some time about the gospel and the importance of sharing it. We got off at the same stop and my companion joined in and we continued to walk and talk to him until we got to D’s apartment. We then stopped and answered some questions he had about the difference between our church and the Baptists. Briefly we talked about the Priesthood. We gave him our info and off to D's for lunch we went.
Another awesome experience, back to back, with the one above…We had lunch with D in his apartment, then we were talking about something and somehow the temple came up. And if you know me, I think you know that I LOVE TEMPLES. Since more recently I've gained an unwavering testimony of temples and the importance of the work there and the closeness to heaven we can experience. During our conversation about temples, I somehow brought up preparation to going into the temple. D asked the question, "How do you prepare to go into the temple?" Well for me, in short, I shared my experience with gaining a testimony of prayer. I explained, prior to my early return home my mission president had me drive separately on an assignment. He told me, while you drive speak out and openly about your situation, your feelings towards it, and any questions you have. He said don't turn on the radio, but observe your conversation and talk to God. I accepted his request and did exactly that. While in the car, for the first few minutes I didn't exactly know what I would say or do. But as President said, I talked aloud and to God... into more detail I continued to explain my experience and told him, my preparation to going to the temple is exactly that. I place myself in the mindset, that while I'm physically at the temple I want to spiritually be there. I want my heart at the temple. So before going to the temple, I lay out my week or current situation to God. I speak a loud and tell him my thoughts and feelings and desires. Like my experience in the car, then I listen and wait, and allow Heavenly Father to let His Spirit work in me and I feel more prepared and welcomed at the temple, leaving behind my personal affairs and enter the temple with pure thoughts and intentions to learn. I apologized for what seemed to me, my "long winded" response. But he expressed great appreciation for sharing my experience with him. We then invited him to do the same to prepare to go to the temple and we left it with that.
It was a great and wonderful day!
April 28, 2017
Friday, Day 400
Day 40 back in NY
Happy Birthday dad!
Today I just wanted to share my studies, I was reading in the Book of Mormon and don't remember necessarily having anything in mind. But I read in Nephi and I also read from Preach My Gospel. While reading these things my mind continued to think about our weaknesses and trials in life and at this moment I just had this reminder that these things are blessings and that we must see them as they are. Yes we recognize the trials in life and often times find ourselves discouraged or out of place. And we begin to feel negative towards people or the things in life that happen to us. But while I was thinking these things I just kept having this thought, *see these trials as they will become and not as they are. In the moment of trial and weakness, we may not see the immediate blessings, but if we can recognize the trial in the moment it's present in our lives we can see it for the blessing it will be and we will be able to over come them much quicker or endure them with patience and with a knowledge of the good they will bring. As I was in the Book of Mormon, reading in Nephi, the scripture that came along with those thoughts I just shared was Ether12:27 "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." The parts that stuck out to me most were "... I give unto men weakness that they may be humble;..." and "for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." What a blessing, life isn't easy. It wasn't designed to be. If that were the case a life such as this wouldn't be necessary to God or to any of us. We would still be in His presence and I'm sure have a different purpose. But no greater a purpose than this; to help our brothers and sisters receive salvation in this world.
April 29, 2017
Saturday, Day 401
Day 41 back in NY
Today we attended a Ward picnic in Central Park. It was awesome; there was food (of course) and games like Frisbee and football. We got to meet lots of members and show the members we are normal too! Haha it was a good time.
Afterward, our day was just getting ready for transfers and stuff. Elder McBride will be going home soon. So that's what our day really consisted of.
Around 10:30pm we got transfer calls! ...I found out I'll be transferred!!! I'm going up State. I'll be in New Paltz with Elder Murray, in the New Paltz Branch.
April 30, 2017
Sunday, Day 402
Day 42 back in NY
Sunday has been so great! It was fast Sunday today because we have some meeting or broadcast devotional next week. Testimony meeting was so great, one of the Sister members in our Ward bore her testimony and shared some experiences and my heart was filled with love. I related in so many ways to her testimony of recently coming back to the church and using repentance and the atonement of Jesus Christ in her life. After sacrament we mingled with members, telling them we were both leaving the area and that the area would be getting "white washed" (two new missionaries to the area). We then went to class and had a great lesson by B! Haha he's a lawyer and graduated from Harvard!
Third hour we combined and had a family history presentation! It was awesome! Can't wait to do some family history one day!
After church we visited some members before leaving and went home to pack!
May 1, 2017
Monday, Day 403
Day 43 back in NY
We had pday for 2 hours to do laundry and other quick things. Then we had the rest of the day to proselyte. Well we were both moving and needed to get the apartment ready and leave lots of information about the area to the new Elders coming in so we went to the church and typed up some information for them. Then went home and continued to pack and prepare for our leaving. It's been a great and interesting week!
The Lord is with us in His work, I know that to be true. He lives and He loves all. We must be mindful of the good in our lives and express gratitude and acknowledgement for those things. It is my prayer that we may all know these things and do these things, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Patience. Love. Faith
Much love,
Elder Newbold
Monday, Day 403
Day 43 back in NY
We had pday for 2 hours to do laundry and other quick things. Then we had the rest of the day to proselyte. Well we were both moving and needed to get the apartment ready and leave lots of information about the area to the new Elders coming in so we went to the church and typed up some information for them. Then went home and continued to pack and prepare for our leaving. It's been a great and interesting week!
The Lord is with us in His work, I know that to be true. He lives and He loves all. We must be mindful of the good in our lives and express gratitude and acknowledgement for those things. It is my prayer that we may all know these things and do these things, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Patience. Love. Faith
Much love,
Elder Newbold
Elder Newbold's Pday was switched to Wednesdays for the next little while. This last week he was able to email us on Monday to let us know about the switch and then today was his pday. We will hear from him on Wednesdays now until further notice. He did send us some pictures of his new area in upstate NY. It's so beautiful. He will have a car and there is a lot of land to cover, he said it will be very different than the city, it's more like home and it will be harder to talk to people because no one is out walking on the streets. Can't wait to hear all about it next week.
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| Elder Newbold and Elder Murray |
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| The church in New Paltz |
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