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Plastic Bags, the Tumbleweeds of New York

February 24, 2020

Wow, I have lots to share this week but I don't have a lot of time to write because my district is going to play soccer today and then go to the Queens Mall! So, I am going to make a list of the things that happened in an attempt to make things a bit more concise.

1- First, and probably the most exciting thing, Elder D. Todd Christofferson (a member of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles) is coming to NYC and wants to meet all the missionaries this Saturday! We have a meeting with him in the Lincoln Square chapel, which is actually inside the Manhattan temple, and I am so excited! We were told to show up a little early to get a picture with him and the whole mission, and then he will share a message with us.

2- We met a lady on the street named Maria, and had a great conversation with her where she happily agreed to come to church! On Sunday morning, the trains were down for maintenance. So what did Maria do? She walked 26 streets by herself to make it to church! That is a super far walk, and she did it all in high heels! She showed up a tad late but we were astonished by her desire and persistence to come! The ward lovingly greeted her and probably 15 people hugged her and introduced themselves. Everything was going perfectly and she fit in really well! After church ended, someone asked if she was a member, and Maria replied, "yes"! We were really confused and shocked! Turns out, she was baptized in Ecuador many years ago and her records have not been moved to this ward. She just... forgot to tell us that! So, yeah.  At Least we were able to re-activate her and help her make a lot of new friends!

3- I went on an exchange with my district leader, Elder Goolsby, and it was super fun. His companionship is in charge of the Facebook account for our area, so I got to do some Facebook missionary work for the first time and became an admin for the page. I scheduled some posts to automatically post every day for the next 2 weeks, so look out for those.

4- English class this week was good but not as eventful as we were hoping. Teaching them the gospel instead of English is a work in progress but we'll get 'em next time.

5- We had a ward missionary activity on Saturday where we decorated each floor of the building to represent each Kingdom of Glory: telestial, terrestrial, and celestial. We started in the lowest kingdom and worked our way up to the celestial kingdom, with a lesson taught on each floor. The decorations also became brighter and more extravagant as we got to the top. We invited some people from the train, Gerado and Lilian to come, and... they came! They brought notebooks and took notes the whole time, and apparently, it was Gerado's birthday! We were so happy they came and were able to learn more. It was truly a miracle that they not only came but came with notebooks and pens. We talked to them for maybe 3 minutes on the train, so we really did not expect them to come, but they did! And on his birthday too! The weird thing is, the ward insisted that we have someone to represent Jesus in the celestial kingdom. It seemed very sacrilegious but they bought a costume and asked Elder Goolsby to wear it, so he did. Seemed pretty odd but I thought I should explain that before you see the pictures.

6- Last thing! I have been reading the book, Saints, to prepare for the upcoming general conference. This week, I read about when Joseph Smith came to New York City to share the gospel. This is what it said:
"New York City had a population of more than two hundred thousand, and Joseph sensed that the Lord was pleased with the wonderful architecture and extraordinary inventions of its people. Yet no one seemed to glorify God for the marvelous things around them or take interest in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ." Joseph also said that he was discouraged because of the wickedness and pridefulness of the people. He faced many hardships, but he said "I am determined to lift up my voice" despite the opposition he faced. I felt a strong connection with him because he was preaching the same gospel, in the same city, facing the same challenges (except his challenges were much more severe). If he can do it, I can too.

I know this email wasn't very "concise" but I just had lots I wanted to share. I hope you all had a good week! I always ask you all to pray for us and for the people we teach (and please keep doing that), but... if any of you need any prayers from Elder Larson and me, let me know! Have a good week!

Elder Webster

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