New York YSA Conference

What a great experience it was to attend the young single adult conference in New York on September 12th.  We have been advertising this in our classes for months.  It is one of the best attended of the regional activities.  This actually was considered a tri-state conference and included Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York.  This two day (12th and 13th) conference was held in the Manhattan Lincoln Square building and the Worldwide Devotional for all YSAs was broadcasted from there!

We chose to go and be with the young adults on Saturday only.  It was a long, but fun day.  The conference began at noon with lunch.  Our train in, got us to Penn Station early so Reed decided to get his shoes shined. He has always wanted to do this.

After lunch there were workshops to choose from. Some from Jersey helped to serve lunch, and our director, Brother Bean taught one of the classes.

Maplewood and Scotch Plains YSA serving bagel sandwiches

Brother Bean teaching about forgiveness

At 3:30, Richard Bushman and his wife addressed the group and then we were served dinner.  After dinner we all met in the chapel again to hear Sister Kristen Oaks (Elder Oaks's wife) speak to us.

Here are pictures of some of the young adults that we knew that attended.

Wonderful Newark girls

Smart Newark guys

Paterson/Scotch Plains/Elizabeth YSA's

East Brunswick gals

As an added bonus, we were able to spend the day with Jeff and Wendy Bushman.  Jeff is my cousin and he and Wendy are serving a CES mission on Long Island.

Hancocks and Bushmans

We left the evening right when the dance was getting started.  We noticed that the chapel looked smokey and when we passed by the security desk downstairs, the alarm had been sounded.  We witnessed five fire trucks arrive at the temple.

The smoke/mist machine for the dance had set off the alarm.

The dance that night was a "silent dance."  This is a new thing these days.  There are usually two or three DJs  at a silent dance.  The dancers are given a headset as they enter.  The dancer selects the music from one of the DJs and starts dancing.  If the next song is one that they don't like, they turn the channel on their headset to a different DJ. This also switches the headset lights so others know what you are dancing to and join in.  We can see how a silent dance has its advantages.  If the couple wants to talk, they can.  They just have to take off their headsets.  Here are some pictures that some of our YSAs shared with us.

                                                                Newark YSAs

                                                      Dancing up a storm...

The conference continued on Sunday.  They met at 3:00pm for a sacrament meeting, had dinner, and then stayed for the broadcast.  We did not attend on Sunday because a new missionary couple that will live by us was coming in that evening and we had their apartment keys.

Newark YSA at the conference

We were pleased that there were translation devices for the devotional and there were workshop classes in Spanish. There were about 10% of the attendees that needed the translation and this was the first time that this had been provided. The Spanish classes were great hits for several of our YSAs! Thanks!!!

Elder  L. Whitney Clayton from the presidency of the Seventy was the speaker for the devotional. Here is a picture with a couple of our YSAs from Paterson with Elder Clayton and his wife.

Fanny, Claytons, Christian

Elder Clayton served in the same mission as Reed in Peru.  Elder Clayton was the assistant to the President during part of his time there.  Here is a picture taken in 1971 in Peru.  Can you tell which one is Reed and which is Elder Clayton? (Hint: Elder Clayton has hair in the picture below...)

Reed on far left.  Elder Clayton kneeling with red tie.

New CES Couples

For the last couple of months we have been the only CES missionaries here in the mission.  Everyone else (three companionships) went home in July.  We knew that two companionships were being replaced and we have been patiently waiting.  Well, finally, the day arrived.  The Cherringtons and the Kellers are here.  The Cherringtons are from Utah and the Kellers from Oregon.  Elder Cherrington recently retired as a professor from the BYU Marriott School of Management. We know their son and daughter in Tucson - we worked with them on the BYU alumni committee there. We asked Sis. Cherrington where their son Nathan gets his dry humor - she just smiled...

Elder Keller was a marketing executive and has worked for 3M.  This couple has had an interesting life and lived in many places. We love them already!

Cherringtons and Kellers

We had an in-service meeting soon after they arrived.  Brother Bean has assigned the Cherringtons to work in Morristown, Emerson, and Maplewood.  The Kellers will be serving in Eatontown, Princeton, and teaching the religion class for the Pathway program in Newark.  We are SO happy to have them here!!!


Baby Showers

We have two couples in our young adult program that are expecting babies.  Even though we refer to the young adults as YSAs (Young Single Adults), they don't have to be single to be able to attend Institute class and activities. We invite all between the ages of 18 and 30, single or married, to attend.

We attended a baby shower for Evelyn and Benny in Perth Amboy on September 5th.  Here is a picture of the happy couple.

Benny and Evelyn

Richard and Jennifer De la Cruz from Paterson are also expecting soon.  We were not able to attend their baby shower.  Here is a picture of them taken last month.

Richard and Jennifer

Last night we went to Richard's favorite place "Mexico Deli" for $1.00 tacos. Yum! You cannot see Jennifer's tummy, but she is due next week. We gave a can of "El Pato" sauce to Richard last week and he loved it. He is now searching the Walmarts in his area to find more. He loves hot/spicy food. He and Elder Hancock are always talking food stuff... go figure. Do you like the colorful wall painting in the picture?

Notes from the lesson
We always encourage the YA's to study the scriptures every day. Last weeks lesson had some good references to use to do this. We likewise encourage all to do so. It will bless your life!

If we study the scriptures . . .  (see: Deuteronomy 17:19; Joshua 1:8; Psalm 119:105; 2 Nephi 32:3; Jacob 2:8; Alma 31:5)
. . . they will help us learn to fear (respect) God and keep His commandments.
. . . they will tell us what to do to be prosperous and successful.
. . . they will light our path.
. . . they will tell us all things that we should do.
. . . they will heal our wounded souls.
. . . they will lead us to do that which is just (righteous).

Summer End

 P-Day Activities

New Jersey played a significant role in the Revolutionary War. George Washington spent more time in New Jersey than anywhere else during the war.  As we drive through the state we have passed by many historical sites and markers.

We decided to take time on our last two P-Days to visit a couple of famous battlefields.  The Princeton Battlefield State Park is the site of one of the fiercest battles of the American Revolution.  (It is only about 30 minutes south of where we live.)  Washington crossed the Delaware near Trenton on Dec. 25, 1776. The Continental Army won the battle in Trenton then had their second battle win a week later near Princeton on January 3, 1777.

As we walked up to the Clarke House we marveled (again) at all the green around us and stopped to take some pictures.  Arizonans never tire of enjoying green surroundings.

The Clark House sits near where the battle took place.  After the battle, the home was used as a hospital.  Among those who died in this battle was General Hugh Mercer.  He was a close friend of George Washington's.  Today there is a county named after Mercer as well as shopping centers and roads and much more.

Closer to Princeton University is the Princeton Battle Monument.  It was dedicated in 1922 by President Warren G. Harding.

The other battlefield that we visited resides in Freehold, N.J.  It is about a 45 minute drive southeast of where we live.  The Monmouth Battlefield is the site of one of the largest battles of the American Revolutionary War.  This area has been very well preserved and has a visitor center and tours.  Here are some pictures that we took that day.

OK--- now on to the "work" we do here.

YSA's and Classes

Starting early in August, Sheryl was asked to start teaching an English Institute class in Newark.  Up until then she would spend her time keeping in touch with the young adults, baking cookies for refreshments in each class, shopping and cutting up fruit, keeping records of students on the Institute website, teaching piano, studying Spanish, preparing food for linger longers and potlucks, and reading the lessons so she'd know what is being discussed in classes.

Now, she spends lots of time studying and preparing for her Tuesday English class.  We have since not had as many homemade cookies and desserts but are serving more Oreos, ice cream sandwiches, and chips and salsa. Here is a picture of Sheryl with the English class.

R to L: Andrew, Sister H, Rahameen, Danny, Amy, David

 This picture was taken on a night when not many were there.  As you can see, we were celebrating a birthday.  There are usually seven or eight attending regularly.

On the same night in Newark, Reed teaches a class in Spanish.  This class is always well attended. There are many adults that attend also. There are some very special young ladies here.  Most of them have gone on missions or are planning on going on a mission.  In fact, in Newark, there are LOTS of young adults and most of them are good strong members of the church and have great goals.  We attend church in Newark from time to time and attend (or teach) the young adult Sunday School class and every time we attend, we meet new young adults to invite to Institute.  Below is a picture from the Tuesday Spanish Institute.  The boy in the picture is actually in Sheryl's English class.

Kathy, Theresa, Pamela, Samantha, Ron

We have the English and Spanish Institute class on the same night, split for classes, and then get together afterwards for food, visiting and fun.

Now and then through the last year, Reed, in talking to the young adults about marriage would say "you can't catch fish in a bathtub."  Or, in other words, if you don't see any prospects here where you live, you might want to look in areas where there are bigger numbers of young adults.  Within the last month we saw MANY take trips to Utah and three of them moved there.  Some moved there with their family, but another finished school, graduating in finance, and decided to move to Utah and look for a job.  She (Yantna) had a job within a week with Goldman Sachs.

This is a picture of Yantna the night before she left.  We went out to eat with some YA's from Perth Amboy to Golden Corral.

Ivan, Yantna, Ezequiel

This is the time of year when different colleges and the Pathway program is starting up.  We are excited to see some joining Pathway.  Ezequiel in the picture above just started Pathway. He hopes to eventually attend BYU-I.  Reed has talked with many of the young men here and is always encouraging the importance of schooling.

We are excited about a wedding coming up!  We met Paulette Pinargote a year ago.  She is originally from Ecuador but she is here studying to be a doctor.  She told us a year ago that she was engaged and that her fiance is in Ecuador also studying to be a doctor.  They will get married in the Guayaquil Ecuador Temple in October.  They would like us to attend their wedding but we can't get permission to leave the mission ... :(

Christian and Paulette

We have enjoyed spending lots of time with the young adults this summer.  Classes have gone on as usual, but we have also watched movies, played lots of hands of UNO, and gone out to eat numerous times and have gotten home late (or early in the morning). Our bodies tell us that we are not as young as we used to be but we are having fun nonetheless. We truly love these young adults and worry about them as much as our own. So that presents some happy and sad days to us...

From this week's lesson:

There are in the gospel of Jesus Christ some paradoxes. That is, there are principles that on the surface just don't make sense to the natural mind. Here are a few of these.

1. Tithing. Many struggle to get by on 100% of their income and then the Lord asks us to get by on 90%. It doesn't make sense how it can work, but it does simply because the Lord blesses us in various ways to make up the difference. We just need to trust Him.

2. The day of rest, the Sabbath. Some find it hard to get everything done, work, play, study, etc. in 7 days and the Lord asks us to keep His day sacred by doing his will and not ours on that day. It doesn't make sense, but it works because He blesses us when we keep this commandment.

3. Helping others. Pres. Kimball taught that in order to have your burdens lifted, you must lift another's burdens. To the world, that doesn't make sense, but that is how the Lord works.

4. Fasting. Just as paying tithing opens the "windows of heaven", fasting also opens those windows and we receive significant blessings that simply don't make sense to the human mind as to why and how.

I'm sure there are others, but these teach us the principle to trust the Lord, demonstrate faith, and you will be blessed in His way and time.