Children's Coloring Book of a Primary Song

Beverly came up with the idea of creating a little coloring book from the Primary Children's song "I Know Heavenly Father Loves Me," so Scott drew these eight panels of cartoons and made them into a one-sheet (two sided) coloring "book," with four panels on each side. He made two versions, one in English and one in Spanish. Beverly then folded up each sheets and put it in a Ziploc baggie with three crayons. We are going to give them to little children to keep them entertained while their parents receive the missionary lessons or while their parents are talking to us on the subway.

Our Kingsbridge Zone Picnic in Central Park

Central Park, Manhattan, New York

On Wednesday (our Preparation Day), August 28, 2015, we enjoyed a Kingsbridge Zone picnic in Central Park (Manhattan).

Sister Zimmerman (Beverly) prepared hot dogs for the picnic:

Elder Zimmerman (Scott) made vegetarian Hawaiian wraps for those who requested them:

Scott folded them up and wrapped them in aluminum foil. We also took hot dog buns, ketchup, mustard, chopped onions, sauerkraut, grapes, and potato chips.

We took the subway from the Kingsbridge chapel in the Bronx down to Central Park in Manhattan. Here our group is walking through the park to our picnic site by the volleyball courts:

L. to r.: Sister Zimmerman, Elder Moss, Elder Perez, Elder Murphy, and Elder Cheney.

 Other missionaries arrived at the picnic site:

Elders Holtom, Elder (Unkown; not in our zone); Elder (Unknown; not in our zone), and Elder Schmidt.

In front, Sister Millett. Next row, Elder Price, Sister Geiger, and Elder Nielson. Behind and unrecognizable, three Elders.

 The elders and one sister enjoyed a game of football:

L. to r.: Elder Nuttal, Elder Salceda, Elder Moss, Elder Murphy, Elder Hinckley, Elder Brower, and Sister Ek.

 We gathered around a picnic table to eat our lunch:

Some of the time, we just sat around and enjoyed the park and each other:

Sister Zimmerman (sewing an elder's tie), Elder (unknown; back to us), Elder Perez (drawing cartoons), Sister Cookson, Sister Brown, and Sister Ek.

 Some of us continued snacking and talking (Sister Zimmerman is on the far right repairing an elder's split pants):

President Smith (second from left in orange T-shirt) and two of his children (only his daughter Lauren is shown here) joined us just before we ate lunch:

Sisters Lunt, Brown, and Johnson:

Elders Moss, Eggleston, and Richards:

Part of the picnic was a dessert contest. One set of Spanish sisters made a Book of Mormon cake:

Another set of sisters made a name tag cake, but the frosting melted on their way to the park, partially obliterating the text:

A clever set of elders made this chocolate cake and pudding. It shows the righteous Ammonites (Lamanites) burying their arms of war:

Our Zone Leaders, Elders Murphy and Moss, made this cake (complete with Pop-Tarts), which represented the Bronx:

The winning dessert, as determined by the judges (President Smith's children, Lauren and William), was a key lime pie made by Elder Matheson.

Sister Zimmerman continues the mending projects that the elders brought to her.

Central Park is an amazing place, with people from all walks of life doing a variety of things. It's incredible that such a park is located in the middle of a huge city:

This picture shows the carnival located near the south end of the park, with skyscrapers in the background:

Police officers (in this case two women) patrol the park on horseback:

 Musicians play throughout the park in hopes of getting donations:

 Artists draw pictures of people for a small fee:

Food carts sell drinks, hot dogs, pretzels, etc., to the many visitors to the park:

For a hefty fee ($50 for up to 20 mins, plus $20 per extra 10 min., plus tip!) you can take a ride on a horse-pulled carriage:

Humans aren't the only ones in the park;

 We enjoyed seeing some of the statues scattered through the park:

It was a fun day in Manhattan!

Multi-Zone Conference

On Thursday, August 20, we attended the Zone Conference at the Kingsbridge Chapel in the Bronx. The three zones involved were Kingsbridge (our zone, which covers western Bronx and Yonkers), Olmstead (eastern Bronx), and Westchester (New Rochelle, Scarsdale, Elmsford, and White Plains). We heard wonderful talks and testimonies and received valuable training.

The day started with breakfast:

Missionaries enjoy a bagel and chocolate cream cheese breakfast. Elder and Sister Zimmerman made the chocolate cream cheese from a recipe of Sister Morgan's (the wife of the previous mission president). The missionaries loved it! Elder and Sister Gardner are at the far left back.

A sister missionary shows the enthusiasm we all felt for the zone conference.

Sister Zimmerman (center, black and white blouse) helps set up food for the breakfast.

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The missionaries all seemed to enjoy the relaxing breakfast before the conference:

Elders Wilson (Yonkers, Spanish speaking) and Essler (Yonkers English speaking). They live in our building in Yonkers.

Sister Gardner (center, in blue jacket, black skirt), mission historian, takes photos of the missionaries during the breakfast:

Missionaries came back for seconds, while Sister Zimmerman started to clean up:

Sister Lunt and Sister Johnson, in our Kingsbridge Zone.

 We enjoyed being with all the wonderful young missionaries:

 Clothing Exchange during breakfast:

Sister Missionaries look through the Clothing Exchange, which was mostly clothes left by past missionaries when they returned home.

President Smith eats a bagel while chatting with a missionary.

The chocolate cream cheese that we prepared.

President Smith was the first speaker (he actually gave three talks during the day). He was always full of energy, enthusiasm, and love.

Pres. David L. Smith makes a point during his opening address.

 After President Smith spoke, six missionaries were called on to give talks.

Sister Vassau delivers her 5-minute talk on the Book of Mormon.

Elder Matheson delivers his talk on the Book of Mormon.

Sister Peterson shares her 5-minute talk on the Book of Mormon.

 This quartet sang a beautiful number:

Elder Brower, Elder Richards, Sister Cookson, and Sister Geiger

Elder Gore, one of the two assistants to the president, lead a discussion and role-playing session on how to quickly share the Book of Mormon:

President Smith gets a bite to eat at the conference lunch:

Our Zone Leaders, Elders Murphy and Moss, gave the Top Ten reasons why the Kingsbridge Zone is the best:

 Elder (Dr.) Gardner, mission medical adviser, gave a presentation on health and safety:

The conference, with all the sessions and with breakfast and lunch, lasted from 8:15 AM to 4:00 PM. It was a great day!