A few pictures from my mission...



I will forever miss these towers. Where before they stood as a symbol of strength, now they are symbol of pain for me. I cried that day, for I love my city.






My first week in the mission, I trudged through Times Square in the rain. My impression then, was "is this it?" And, thinking myself philosophical, "Is this all the pinnacle of man's progress has to offer? Yes, God is indeed strong, and man weak."

Now, it's just a place to get cheap tickets.




I was one of the few computerliterate englishspeaking priesthood holders in the Bronx that didn't already have a leadership position in a ward. Thus, I was called as ward clerk in the two english speaking branches for about a year total. The missionaries were sent out to help "clean out" the bloated membership lists. The primary results? Yes, the activity rate really was just 10%, mostly women - the members hadn't all moved away. Retention became a major point from our mission president about this time....

One of the three best places to eat on my mission: a pizzeria on 135th and Broadway in the Bronx, where the 1/9 subway ends. The bread and cheese were thick, and the sauce had a full, earthy taste. An italian family ran the joint, and worked like bees behind the counter to keep things going. This is the only time I afforded myself an entire pizza, about a month before I went home.






The LDS church in Kingsbridge, Bronx, dedicated around 1997-1998. Supposedly cost $10 million, due to land values, and construction: it sat near the junction of the two major arteries in the Bronx, and had underground parking controlled by access code. Unfortunately for vandals, the exterior had a spray-away clearcoat. Within a few weeks, the vandals had stopped trying to tag the church with spraypaint. All that money for infrastructure, and they still gave me an old computer for clerk duties.