Brooklyn, New York!

Well! Start spreading the news! I'm being a part of it here in New York, New York!

My first area is (drumroll for dramatic effect): Brooklyn New York!

Me on the street in Brooklyn

The city is crazy. We use subways and busses to get everywhere, and we talk to people from every country, language, lifestyle, and religion. A new street is a new country and a new people. I have had conversations with Russians, Chinese, all kinds of Hispanics, Jews, Catholics, Africans, etc. My area is Bayside/ Dyker Heights region, but we extend to around Coney Island, and up above the Manhattan bridge in the Park Slope area.

The church is in the middle of Chinatown, which is kind of hilarious. It wonderful for the Mandarin and Cantonese elders and sisters in my district (group of about ten missionaries who one sees almost every day serving in their area), but my favorite part is how the white church steeple sticks out above the apartment buildings.

Me and Hermana Gourley in Jewville.

My outfit and tag.

I also love seeing the huge cathedrals right in the middle of the city! There are so many different religions here, and I adore seeing how they all come together to form all these many walks of life. My favorite moments, though, are when Hermana Gourley and I are talking or standing in front of cathedrals or in the city when a thunderstorm rolls through and epic lightening lights up the sky. I feel so powerful - like I'm in an action movie or something. Also, I get to enjoy singing in the rain which is delightful.

My first two days here were insane. After Delta airlines had their power outage our flight was delayed six hours to New York, so we waited in Detroit (and ate McDonalds and Chick-Fil-A thank the good heavens after all that MTC food). We got in at 9 and met President and Sister Reynolds, who are the sweetest, kindest people pretty much on earth. They are small and quiet, but have a kind of gentle power that one doesn't find too often in this hectic world. I got a heavenly nights' sleep on a mattress that felt like a cloud, and upon awaking we ate croissant sandwiches and walked around in a lovely back yard filled with flowers and bees and all the greenery I so badly missed in Utah. Also, the air here on the east coast is so wonderful! Humid, thick, and breathable. The humidity is a bit much occasionally, but for the most part I am quite thrilled to be back. After a devotional on our goals in this mission and our abilities to baptize and change lives, we received our trainers, and I am with Hermana Gourley! She is great - we are very alike and it has been wonderful getting to know her. (She is from Utah) We got to Brooklyn around three o'clock after our leisurely morning. Brooklyn, however, was everything but leisurely.

Pictures of the district: Mandarin, Cantonese, and Spanish companionships.

My first day in the field.

You see, we were 'blinded' into the area, in some missions I think they call it whitewashing. Regardless, it means two missionaries were taken out a transfer and a half ago, and we came in with a dead pool. So we have essentially no investigators, or people to teach. It's been fun building our list of people back up. On Tuesday we were supposed to teach English class, but we were unable to figure out the lock on the door of our apartment for two hours until our elders helped us, and then we got on the wrong train so we ended up not teaching, given we were an hour late. We ended up planting seeds. {A note on this, for all who are highly confused, wondering why I would be gardening. 'Seed planting' is our way of saying being kind, saying hello, and helping people get to know Mormons. We try to get the name of the church out, and be congenial and friendly. Some call it proselytizing, but for the most part we are just trying to talk to and be sweet to others.} Another very fun aspect of life here is running to catch busses. Which happens basically daily. One time we ran almost a mile to catch the bus which felt ridiculous to me, but it was better than walking three more miles! (Running is especially not my favorite right now because I have a cold my MTC district left me as a parting gift.)

Also, I am a Facebook missionary. I do not anticipate posting, but I'm using it to friend investigators and teach them lessons and all that jazz (cue jazz hands). We have taught several lessons, planted many seeds, brought a less active member to church, and met so many people this week. I am adoring the field! Like President Gordon B. Hinckley always enjoyed saying, working and praying can solve almost any problem. I am praying and working like never before, and I can wait to see the fruits of all my labor. :)"

President and Sister Reynolds.

My first picture in the mission home.

Also, our freezer freezes very oddly and my water always freezes
around the outside and not the middle so I get these lovely
glass-shaped ice sculptures.

I love you all! Keep being wonderful!

¡Nos vemos!
Hermana Voss (pronounced Bós by pretty much everyone)