Far Rockaway

Greeting everyone,


This week has been a big change. It was transfer week and I learned I would be going to Rockaway, NY. I moved here on Friday. Yes, that is actually a place. You will have to look it up. It is still part of Queens but is on the very southern edge. It is actually right on the beach of the Atlantic Ocean. It is a small strip of land or peninsula that sticks out off of Long Island. This description may give you a picture in your mind of how this area is. Every street is named Beach Street. It is 12th Beach St, 13 Beach St. etc. This area is a lot more laid back than Rego Park and a lot less people.


Another big change is, I no longer just teach in Spanish. I teach in English as well. We travel a short distance to a busy street and that is where we contact people.


I now notice the smell of the ocean. I can’t really describe it, but is has a definite scent and those that have smelled the ocean know what I’m talking about. It’s a fresh air kind of smell. The weather here stays pretty cool because of the ocean. The worry will be when winter comes. I’m sure that means freezing ice storm type weather.


My new companion is Elder Farmer from Oregon and he has been out about 3 months longer than I have. I knew him from when I was in Bridgeport Connecticut. We get along really well so that helps with dealing with the change. We are the only missionaries in the area. The closest missionaries are from the area I just left which is about a 45 minute drive away.


Something new here is there is a branch, not a ward. The members meet on the fourth floor of a business building. The Church rents the entire 4th floor for Sunday services or other member activities. No chapel, no Bishop etc. We have maybe 50 members in the area.


My new apartment is not as nice as the one I left, but it is bigger. We live in a two story apartment and live on the second floor. No more elevators, just stairs. We have our own car here and traffic is nothing like I was use to. We can go anywhere without traffic worries.


I look forward to learning the new area, meeting the members and finding those who are seeking for the Restored Gospel. I know I am doing the Lord’s work and feel his influence in my efforts.


Elder Noah Kendrick
Rockaway, New York




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sight Seeing

Image
Greeting from the Bronx. It has been a busy couple weeks. I am starting to get use to the area. The hardest thing to get use to is how there are pockets of people. In Flushing it was mostly Chinese people. The Bronx is mostly Dominicans. It is really interesting how people gather in pockets to different boroughs. I have been on a few travels the last few weeks. I spent some time in Manhattan last week and today I went to a Yankees game. The missionaries here are treated well. The Spanish people are glad to hear about the Gospel. I would explain it as, they love God and are glad to hear more about Christ. It’s the commitment that is the struggle. They make a lot of excuses like, it’s ok, I have Jesus in my heart.  The missionary work here is the same as my other areas. We do all street contacts. We work in the areas of the apartment buildings mostly. We do spend some time near stores or parks, where ever we can find the most people. We had a media referral come in from one of the Ch...
Read more

Mindful

Image
Hola from the Bronx. It’s been a few weeks. All is going well. I just wanted to check in where it’s been a while. There is honestly nothing new or too excited going on here. We did have a baptism last Sunday which is awesome. It was Sister Yudelky I talked about in my last email who was sick and postponed her baptism. We were able to get it scheduled and taken care of (picture below). We have been doing more street contacting and have a couple people who I believe will get baptized in the next week or two. I have faith we will keep finding people who are ready. Weather here has cooled a little. The highs are in the 80’s which makes it a lot more pleasant to be on the streets. We have had a few rainy days lately. Having said the weather isn’t to bad, the Bronx is still not the place to visit or plan a vacation. I have been studying how everything testifies of God. I have been more mindful of how even the ability, knowledge and material to build such big buildings came from God. It is am...
Read more

Last Transfer

Image
Hola everyone. All is well in the Bronx. Having said that I’m in the Bronx, means I stayed here for my last transfer. It is crazy to think I am in last area. Remember though, I am staying two extra weeks. I don’t know if I will move my last two weeks for a trio. I guess I could have one two week transfer, but officially this is my last. We had a mission tour last week. This is when a General Authority comes and tours the mission, gives devotionals and meets the missionaries. Elder and Sister Daines from the Seventy came and gave two separate devotionals because of the size of the mission. Elder Daines spoke about covenants and baptism. He focused on teaching how the Savior would. It was good to remember and refocus on why we are missionaries. I have zone conference this week and I get to hear from President and Sister Taylor. This is the second zone conference since they have come into the mission. We are teaching two people who are looking good for baptism this week. Nuris from the Do...
Read more