The Zoo and sisterhood

So this week was a little bit slower... but a lot of good stuff happened...Sorry I didn't really think about what I was going to say before hand. I'm usually better about that. But off the top of my head:

First off, we went to the zoo!! As I may or may not have mentioned before, we do service each week in a nearby park called Prospect Park. The park was designed by the same people who built Central Park, so it has a similar feel to it. Beautiful place...Anyway...inside Prospect Park there is a zoo, and to thank us for the many years of service the missionaries here in Brooklyn have rendered to the Park they let us in for FREE! Wooo! Super fun. So I'll include a couple pictures from that. (Tara didn't send any pictures of the Zoo.:()

So I've been thinking about something a lot. And that thing is...Sisters. A sister is a really unique person. I think everyone can agree that a relationship with a sister is pretty special. As we were riding the train on the way to an appointment the other night we were sitting across from a mom and two daughters. The sisters were very close in age and they had matching clothes on. One had her head resting on the mom's shoulder and the other rested her head on the shoulder of her sister. All were sleeping peacefully. (Well, as peacefully as you can sleep on the Q train. Haha.)

It got me thinking about how much a missed my Sister. How appropriate that her Birthday is tomorrow (Tuesday, Sept. 24th)! So... Jaycee my dear...I would like to dedicate this email to you.

From the beginning of my time here on earth it's always been you and me. "Where did the time go??" People always ask...But I think we know where the time went. The time went to countless hours playing dress up. The time went to watching Beauty and the Beast and Lion King over and over again. Time went to many hours braiding hair and talking about boys. And well, as much as we hate to admit it...it went to many hours of fighting about pretty dumb stuff. Haha.
So where did the time go? It went to US. Time together is what made us the people we are today and it created the relationship we have now. Sometimes though, I like to think about the earlier stages of our relationship. You know, before time actually existed here on Earth. How was it back then? I like to think we were best friends in the premortal life. Or maybe we weren't. Maybe Heavenly Father just knew you were the only person who could put up with me for eternity. Haha. Regardless I think Heavenly Father put us together for a very special reason. I may never figure out for certain the REAL reasons. BUT I have my suspicions. I know one thing for sure...You saved my life in a sense. Because of your expereiences you helped me see what paths I needed to take. I can truthfully say that I would not be where I am right now without your help. So, thank you for all the time you've spent with me. And I thank our Heavenly Father for allowing me to continue the relationship we began before this life.

Here's to families! Here's to sisters! Here's to another day in the life! AND here's to Birthdays! Happy 22nd Birthday Jaycee! 

Keep on keepin' on everyone! Pray for a missionary experience this week, and I promise you it will be given...and when it is, take it!

Love you all!

Sister Franklin

Jamaica and The Ultimate Lesson

     So... I'll just start by saying. This week was INCREDIBLE. I know I say that all the time. But I REALLY REALLY mean it this time. Haha.
     I'll start with saying our Bishop is just amazing. Simply amazing! So is his wife. The Herrera's moved into our ward just before I got here and look, now he's the bishop. The Lord sends ya where he needs ya. That's for sure. I've seen a lot of changes in the ward since he's become the bishop. He is so kind and so loving. He encourages us missionaries so much and thanks us for our hard work. He definitely motivates me to work harder and to be diligent in serving this ward that our good bishop cares for so much. Sister Jorgensen and I went and taught with his wife on Tuesday and it was such pleasure! She is such a great example of "acting well thy part" to the sister's in our ward and to us missionaries. In case there's any question, I'm referring to the talk "We Are Daughters of our Heavenly Father" by Sister Dalton. If you haven't read it recently... GO READ IT! Love that one.

     Hopefully I can do justice to this next story via email... it's a little complex and there's a lot to it... so I pray it makes at least a little sense.

     I was asked to participate in a public concert that the missionaries in Zone 6 were putting on. Along with Sister Blosil (from the Midwood English district) and Elder Goates and Elder Erickson from my district. (In case anyone wants to know... Sister Blosil is pretty much famous for her beautiful voice, Elder Goates is a vocal performance major from BYU and has got PIPES, and Elder Erickson may or may not be the best, or next to the best, piano player I've ever met..,Sooooo not really sure why they invited me, but I'm sure lucky they did.) (Sister Freeze and Sister Jorgensen stayed here in Midwood while Sister Blosil and I along with the Elders spent Saturday in Jamaica, Queens singing/performing and inviting people to church.
     It was a pretty cool experience. We were in kind of a big... like, mall? Thing? I don't know... regardless, we sang near a food court where a lot of people could gather and listen should they choose to. A LOT of people came and expressed interest in learning more and there were even a few people who were taught lessons right there in the food court. How cool is that!?

After the concert was finished, we planned to just head home to Brooklyn. BUT the Lord had a much better plan in mind for us.
     As we were just about to head down into the Subway station to get home, a man dressed in Muslim attire stopped us and said, "You guys are Mormons, right?" "Yes, we sure are!" was our reply... Now, at this point in time I hate to admit I was trying to think of all the many ways you can say "Sir, we really don't have time to argue but thank you for your opinion and your time" and which version of that phrase would be best for the situation. I immediately repented when he responded to our confirmation that we were indeed Mormons... He said, "Would you mind teaching me about what you believe? There are so many unreliable, hateful sources out there I simply can't trust what I see on the internet or read in a book. The only people who can accurately tell you about the beliefs of another religion are those who practice THAT religion." (You have to understand...this RARELY happens...usually people who approach us like that only want to argue or mock us. So this was a HUGE blessing, and well, a shock.) We all felt good about this, and said we'd be happy to teach him about our beliefs. He then said, "Hey, actually, would you mind coming back to the school and teaching me and my fellow scholars as well."   UMM, CLARO QUE SÍ. It's not everyday you get invited to a Muslim school to teach Latter-Day Saint doctrine.

     So we went down the block to the school. We removed our shoes before entering... (always super cool to participate in the traditions of other faiths and cultures, I LOVE IT!) and were seated in the office of the dean of the school. He came back with the Dean of the school. He kindly greeted us and offered us coffee or tea... And so it began! Haha...We taught them ALL of the missionary lessons including, The Restoration, The Plan of Salvation, The Gospel of Jesus Christ, The Word of Wisdom, The Law of Chastity, Tithing, Ordinances and temple work, and Missionary Work!
     They taught us about the Muslim beliefs and we learned LOTS about the history of Islam. I discovered that they actually have extremely similar doctrine to us. Interesting right? I had no idea. They believe in a pre-existence and an after-life just as we do... and they have very similar views on family and chastity. However, the extreme difference between our religions is Jesus Christ. They are not Christian. They do not believe that Jesus was the son of God. They do believe he was a prophet and they love him very much, but they do not worship him in anyway or acknowledge him as a savior for mankind.

     I thought about my relationship with my Savior Jesus Christ and tried to imagine my life without that. It simply couldn't be. I'm so grateful for my knowledge that Jesus did indeed suffer every pain and affliction for all of us…he paid the price of our lives and made it possible to receive a fullness of joy.

This experience was one of the most enlightening and powerful experiences I've had in my life. I don't think I've ever had a spiritual witness that God lives quite like that. It was such a unique situation. It was truly a blessing to speak openly and freely about the doctrine of Christ and have no fear of ridicule or disrespect.
     Before we left, we gave them all the pamphlets we used to teach and gave them both a copy of The Book of Mormon.  Adam, the one who stopped us on the street gave me his personal copy of the Koran. SO AWESOME, right? He marked the chapters that really changed his life. Interesting to note that Adam is from Puerto Rico. So we got to speak a little Español. And hey, now that I've gotten pretty good at this Spanish thing... I can learn Arabic. Wooo!
     I think the greatest thing I took away from it was that God loves us. He truly does, and he allows us to experience what we need to in order to progress in our lives. I don't expect that either of those men will join the church anytime soon. And you know what, it's okay. Adam said to us, "There must have been some reason why God gave me the courage I needed to talk to you." And he's right. God does have his reasons. So whatever the reason, the four of us were meant to cross paths with those two great men that day.
We traveled back to Brooklyn and discussed what had happened. We all felt similar spiritual impressions and feelings. Love those missionaries we'll all remember that experience forever.
     After an hour and twenty minutes on the train, we were home. and shortly after that.... TRANSFER CALLS.
Dun. Dun. Duuuuunn.
And well. I'm staying here in MIDWOOD! WITH SISTER JORGENSEN. First time transfers didn't just throw me a huge curve ball. Couldn't be happier. Sista. J and I are going to rock this.
Best week ever!
Hope everyone else had a great week too! Keep the faith!
Love,
Hermana Franklin

      Me in Prospect Park

The View from my apartment window.

So Ghetto but so super cool!

 

Sister Jorgensen and Me (SYD)

Social Networking, Spiritual Gifts, And Sister Sydney Jorgensen

So... here's a slightly crazy piece of information for the week....

Come October, I can use Facebook for proselyting purposes... Whaaat? I'm not really sure how I feel about this. :)  I really loved the idea about leaving all that social connection behind when I left. However, I know the First Presidency and other people at church headquarters have thought about this a lot and this has definitely been in the works for years... So I'm sure great things will come of it. I just really don't love the prospect of seeing everything going on back at home as of right now... sort of feel like it will be more of a hindrance than help... Guess we'll find out in October.  

Ran into Jay and Lisa Franklin yesterday...That was SO crazy. I mean, of all the millions of people here in New York City! Haha. Guess they were in town for a Yankee's vs. Redsox game... (Way to go SOX.) (Sorry New York, you'll never convert me in that aspect. Haha.) Super awesome to see them and tell them all about my area and the missionary work around here.

Something I've been thinking about a lot this week is the concept of "spiritual gifts". I was encouraged by Sister Freeze (a sister serving in the English ward) to write down all the gifts of the spirit I've been given and all the talents I have. Then to write down things I'd like to improve on and spiritual gifts and talents I would like to develop more fully. I definitely recommend this exercise to anyone and everyone! It's awesome.... here's why...

The word talent comes from the Greek word talanton, meaning balance or weight, and refers to any variety of weights of gold or silver and the value of such in terms of currency in ancient cultures. Most of the seventy occurrences of the world "talent" in the scriptures refer to money in this sense, including in the parable of Jesus concerning the king who became the model of compassion by forgiving one of his servants a debt of "ten thousand talents".  (Matthew 18: 24). However, in His other well-known "parable of the talents" (Matthew 25), the Lord uses the metaphor to show that talents can be more than just money... they're also gifts that we can use to achieve worthwhile goals. In this sense talents are given to us to build the kingdom... they do in fact come with covenant responsibility. When we serve the Lord with all our heart, mind and strength (D&C 4:2) we can "stand blameless before God" and bring "Salvation to our souls". (D&C 4:4) Using our talents for the cause of Zion will bring joy, comfort and eternally enduring blessings.

As I learned more about what talents and gifts of the spirit actually ARE... I saw how I could use the gifts I've been given to improve those things that I saw needed some work in my life. The lord doesn't give us a task unless he has prepared a way for us to accomplish it. And well…I found that I have been given many tools/gifts/talents that will enable me to accomplish and achieve the goals I've set for myself.

(If you'd like citation of my sources...the scriptures, PMG, True to the Faith, and My Missionary Companion scripture book. Haha. I highly encourage you to read the spiritual gifts section of True to the Faith. Super great. )

Another gift I've been given is my Companion Sister Jorgensen.

She is such an inspiration to me. And I couldn't be more grateful to have her as my companion right now. She's helped me learn a lot about myself in the last 6 weeks.

She is such a strong woman. I don't know if she realizes it, but it's the truth.

She gave me a talk to read this last week... Wow. She just knows exactly what I need, when I need it. Ironically the talk she gave me mentioned how God has a very detailed plan for my mission... the people I will serve and teach, the wards I will be placed in, the areas I will be assigned to, my mission president and his wife, and of course those who will serve as my companions. And I know 100% that this is true. I know Sister Jorgensen was meant to be serving in this ward with me at this point in our missions. Our companionship isn't perfect... it's not like there weren't days this transfer that we could have been more effective/diligent. BUT Sister Jorgensen always knows how to make things better. It's awesome to see how our spiritual gifts and strengths really compliment each other.

Man,

I pray we stay together this upcoming transfer! (Only one week left of this transfer... they're just FLYING. Kinda want time to just slow the heck down. Haha.)

Anyway... that's about all I'd like to gab about today, hope everyone is well and dandy!

LOVE you!

Hermana Tara Franklin

D&C 135:3

This week was a roller coaster to say the least.

Something I think I should share that everyone would enjoy is a good "dog" story. I may have mentioned this before but dogs are extremely common around here. EVERYONE and their dog have a dog. (Why? I don't know. I've never figured out the logic behind... "We live in a tiny apartment that requires us to have our TV on our kitchen table and our bathroom also serves as space for Christmas Decoration storage...So we should probably get a dog." :) Whatever! Everyone's got one, regardless of how little sense it makes.)  Thus, we're used to getting attacked by various kinds of dogs of all sizes when we come to people's apartments...This week, however we had a fantastic encounter with a pet RABBIT.

We were looking up a less-active member in our ward when we found a MASSIVE pet bunny at the top of the stairs. It was bigger than a lot of the dogs and cats that I've seen in people's houses. He freaked us out pretty good. Haha. I don't know how many of y'all have had a rabbit, the size of a small child, charge you, but man it's scary. I think he thought he was a dog. After he realized we came in peace he just kind of hopped around us and pretty sure he would have wagged his tail if rabbits did that.  We named it Thumper. Never did figure out its real name because the member who owns it wasn't home. Better luck next week.

Another interesting thing that happened to us was that I was stopped by a gentleman who asked me to keep "my religion" out of his life and away from his family. He told us that his sister was a lesbian and was happily married to a woman in California. He also expressed his disgust with "my religion" for their support of Proposition 8. He told me he could never believe in a church where the men are called Elders and the women are not. It was probably only a 30 second conversation. It makes me sad that people misunderstand. This was one of those times where you feel pretty helpless...and by defending yourself you would only make the situation worse. So we had to just walk away. I truly feel bad that his family may have been hurt by discrimination or hateful propaganda geared toward homosexuality or sexism. But that's not "my religion".  My religion doesn't promote discrimination or hate. My religion isn't about exclusion. It's about inclusion. The good news of the gospel of Christ is for EVERYBODY.

Also, saw my second street fight this week. No knives this time. Haha. (Sorry mom, maybe I shouldn't tell you these things till after I come home.)

Had Mangu for the first time!! So good. For those of you who don't know. It's a Dominican dish...mashed plantains with onions and all kinds of good stuff in it.

My favorite highlight of this week was that the youth in my ward went to youth conference. They got to go upstate to The Sacred Grove and see Palmyra and all the Church History sites along the way. (So jealous of them...) Many youth who attended haven't come to church in years and Ashlynn our beautiful, wonderful 12-year-old investigator went as well. They all came back just glowing. ALL of the young women and young men got up and bore their testimonies of the Prophet Joseph Smith during sacrament meeting. Several of them went into the Palmyra Temple and got to do baptisms for the dead for the first time ever. Hearing about their experiences just brought tears to my eyes and joy to my heart.

They all got me thinking about my personal testimony of the Restoration and of Joseph Smith. I remember talking with my district a little while ago about when we all knew the church was true. Most of us said it was just a knowledge that came over time based on countless experiences. But one experience that really stands out and that I'll never forget was when I visited Carthage Jail with my family about 7 years ago. I remember putting my hands up on the window from which Joseph fell and I felt an overwhelming feeling. I remember feeling like God truly knew me, and loved me. I knew in that moment that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that he was called by God to restore the gospel. 

Joseph Smith was given a divine mission to bring God's true church to the earth once again. I am so grateful that Joseph Smith completed his mission so that I could be here today serving mine. D&C 135:3 says "Joseph Smith the prophet and seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it." I feel nothing but indescribable gratitude for the many blessings the restored gospel has brought to my life and to my family.  Joseph Smith himself said, "Now what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven; a voice of truth from the earth; glad tidings from the dead; glad tidings for the living; glad tidings of great joy."

I love being a missionary!

Hope you all have a great week! A shout out to my Aunt Kylee and Uncle Scott and Cousin Ross... Congratulations on your new baby girl! She's GORGEOUS!

Love,

Sister Tara Franklin

        Thumper -- Killer Rabbit

6 Months

Can you believe it? I sure can't.

I woke up on the 20th and realized I was 1/3 through the 18 months I'll serve as a missionary. Kinda panicked a little bit. This is it?? After 6 months, this is where I'm at? I quickly decided I needed to do something to change my attitude about this milestone. So I read my journal. Starting with the day I entered the MTC, I read 6 months worth of experiences and spiritual thoughts. Wow! It was so incredible to reflect on the person I was when I left and see how different I am now. I've sure learned a lot. And I've overcome a lot.

I've kind of come up with a list... "10 of the greatest lessons I've learned in the last 6 months as a missionary."

1.) Charity is a gift. It is the greatest of all spiritual gifts. 1 Corinthians 13.... I truly am nothing without charity.

2.) Working with members is the greatest work I've done as a missionary. When you involve the members, miracles happen.

3.) "Venir" is a Spanish word meaning "to come". It is grammatically incorrect to use this verb as a command unless you are already at the place you are telling some one to come to. I find this to be kind of profound. I have definitely learned that you cannot convert someone beyond your own conversion. In other words, you can not invite someone else to "come unto Christ" unless you have already come unto Christ yourself.

4.) Obedience brings blessings, EXACT obedience brings miracles. Alma 57: 19-27 explains the story of the Stripling Warriors. I LOVE verse 19. It explains it all. When you are obedient to the commandments of God you are protected and you can walk confidently before the Lord.

5.) As a missionary we tend to ask ourselves questions... Like, "Am I inspired?" "Did I do that right?" "Are they ready?" or "Do they like me?"

If I could go back to the beginning of my mission I would live by the following phrase... DON'T ASK DUMB QUESTIONS. I would go back and tell myself the following:

These questions simply aren't valid. And they lead to self-doubt and in essence, discourage you from sharing the gospel. Of course you're inspired! You have been given the gift of the Holy Ghost and He is your constant companion. If you truly believe that you are an instrument in the hands of God and the Holy Ghost will help you know what to say. You WILL BE inspired and guided as you try to share the gospel. That is a promise.

There is no right way to share the gospel... If you have only the needs of the individual you're sharing the gospel with in mind, you'll never go wrong.

Are they ready? Well, ALL people are ready to hear what you have to say... Are they ready to accept the gospel? Maybe not. But they ARE ready to have some sort of interaction with you regardless.

"Do they like me?" is not a valid question because it frankly doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if they like you, it only matters if you love them. If you're thinking about whether they like you or not then you're thinking about you. Forget yourself and go to work. :) So back to my first point, Sister Franklin, avoid the "dumb" questions and ask yourself "What can I do to help?" "What have I done to strengthen their faith?" or "Who could use a prayer, a visit or even a plate of cookies" today. You'll waste a lot less time and feel a whole lot better if you ask yourself questions like that.

Good to remind my greenie-self of some good lessons I've learned. Haha.

6.) Missions are an opportunity to change our lives and work toward becoming the best versions of ourselves we can be. Ether 12:27. If we submit our will to the Lord He will change us into someone far better than we could ever become on our own. Weak things will be made strong unto us.

When I finally just let go and realized this wasn't about me I saw myself becoming a little more patient, a little more capable, a lot more kindhearted and a whole lot more humble. It's been great to realize that I'm really not all-that-and-a-bag-of-chips. Haha. The Lord is the awesome one.

7.) Thanks to Elder Bednar's The Character of Christ and MANY experiences I've had on my mission I know that through the strength of the Lord natural men and women, like myself can become saints. It's only through the Atonement of Christ that we can be exalted. It doesn't matter who you are, where you come from, what language you speak, how much money you have, or what stage of life you are in... the atonement will heal you.

8.) Similar to number 6, from my mission president I have learned that the sooner you let go of your pride the sooner you enjoy your mission. As soon as I decided that LEARNING was more important to me than my fear of messing up... I learned ALL kinds of great things! (Imagine that... what a concept! Haha) "The greatest thing about making a mistake is that you can try again and do it right next time" --Pres. Calderwood

9.) NO EFFORT IS WASTED. Yes, "Success" is great I suppose... but what is SUCCESS, really? The most important thing is not necessarily that you were "successful"... the important thing is that you TRIED. Elder Hogge said something to me in my first transfer that has stuck with me the rest of my mission. And that is, "If you're not failing, you're not trying." Sometimes you just have to have failures. But hey, that means you put in some effort. And effort is where success comes in.

10.) Every soul is great in the sight of God. New York has taught me that it's pretty dang easy to write someone off as "a jerk who is just angry at the world". But in reality, their salvation is no less valuable than mine. Everyone deserves to be treated with the respect, kindness and love, because we are all children of a Heavenly Father who loves us equally. He sent us to the world to take care of one another... not judge each other. And you know what, some people don't realize that. So those of us who do understand this, should take that as an opportunity to practice what we preach.

I continue to learn things everyday. Yesterday for example:

I was talking with a sweet couple in our ward. They joined the church in El Salvador and have since had 2 children marry in the temple and have a son on a mission!  I found out their second oldest daughter served a mission as well. I didn't actually know they had two daughters... She came back from her mission in 2010 and was diagnosed with cancer only months after returning. She died about a year later. Sister Vasquez explained to me that she couldn't be angry with God...how could she be angry with someone who had given her so much? She said, "She is His daughter too. And He needed a really great missionary to come to the other side of the veil. He chose the best there was."

I really needed that experience yesterday.

And so.... 11.) God truly has a plan. Though it may not make a lot of sense to us right now, we'll understand one day. When tragedies happen and when hard times come we can take comfort in the gospel. And in the fact that we have a loving Heavenly Father who has given us so much to be grateful for.

6 months down. 12 to go.

Love you all so much!

Hermana Tara Franklin

Future Missionaries

Aloha! (My companion is part Hawaiian so that's my little tribute to her...Haha.)

All is good in the Midhood.

Midwood rocks.

We're having so much fun out here and things just keep gettin' better and better everyday!

A story of two "brothers"....

Kevin was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church! A wonderful young boy, 10 years old, the Elders have been working with for the past couple months. Such a sweet kid.

Something that I love about Kevin is that he has impacted his family for eternity. Because of his example and his desire to come to church and be taught by the missionaries, his mom has come back to church after years of inactivity. She's now working toward getting a temple recommend to go to the temple for the first time. I'm so excited for this family.

Jeremiah is a recent convert and he's also 10 years old. One of the smartest kids I've ever met. Sister Jorgensen and I go and visit him and his grandma, Rosie (Also a recent convert) every week.  Jeremiah struggles. Rosie and her husband Eddie have to work A LOT. So Jeremiah spends a lot of time alone, out roaming around and his grandma really worries that he's going to end up in trouble one day.

We planned a lesson for Rosie and Jeremiah based off of the visiting teaching message in the Ensign...but when I saw how much Jeremiah was struggling...I felt very impressed we needed to focus our lesson on him. I opened the Ensign I was holding straight to the story that President Monson shared in his Conference address in April. I shared the story about the matches and accidentally starting a fire and he listened the whole time. We then talked to Jeremiah about how the rules and boundaries that have been set by his grandma are there to keep him safe. He began to cry and gave Rosie a big hug. He said, "Thank you for worrying about me. I know you worry because you want me to do my best. I want to be better."

We all had tears actually. One of the happiest moments I've experienced on my mission!

I also found out about Jeremiah's love for drawing...so I brought him a sketchbook the next day. Every artist needs a sketchbook. :)

Jeremiah came to the baptism for Kevin on Saturday (the next day) with a "Future Missionary" tag on his shirt. So awesome.

The greatest thing about these two boys is that they are missionaries! And they have invited their families to come unto Christ. "Let no man despise thy youth"! It doesn't matter how old you are. You CAN make a difference. Jeremiah and Kevin have impacted my mission and changed my life. I can see them one day serving as full time missionaries and changing the lives of so many people. We're all connected that way. Heavenly Father is in the details of it all!

Hope your week is full of miracles! Write down 10 things you're grateful for everyday this week. It sure helps me!

Love you all!

Hermana Tara Franklin

Also, my district leader, Elder Erickson has gotten me addicted to crossword puzzles... Never thought I'd see the day. Haha.

This is a picture of Jeremiah and Kevin!

This is a picture of Kevin and my whole district. The camera kind of distorted us... I promise I haven't gained that much weight. I've actually lost like 10 pounds since I left the MTC. But there you go. Haha.

Never Fear Brooklyn is Here

Hello!

Guess what everyone...(drum roll, please....)
I'm in Midwood! Brooklyn! Still in the city. I was definitely secretly hoping that would be the case. :)

Things are...DIFFERENT out here. In all aspects. This area is a lot quieter, dirtier and well...a lot more Jewish. I've never seen so many Hasidic Jewish people in my life!

The look of all the architecture is super cool and very "Classic old-time New York City". I love it.

The Hispanics are quite scarce out here. Haha. It's been interesting...moving from an area very heavily populated by Hispanics to an area where you really have to search for 'em. We're the only Spanish Speaking district in the whole zone.

I now live in a big apartment complex. Our apartment is right next to the English Sisters...Just so happens that I get to hang out with THE Sister Blossil and my home girl Sister Freeze everyday!! I adore them both.

My new companion is AWESOME. I LOVE HER. Her name is Sister Jorgensen. She's a Hawaiian Bombshell from Alpine, UT with rockin' style. Get this...I actually kind of new her before we came out. She went to High School with my best friend Shelby Frampton! Small Mormon world. We communicated a few times via facebook before I left for the field...She's one transfer behind me. (Looks like I might end up being the Senior Comp for the rest of my missionary days. Haha.)  I can tell she's had it a little rough her first two transfers and I know this companionship was a GREAT change for both of us. Simply awesome. I can't say enough good things about her.

My new ward...Well...It's really struggling. It's nothing like my ward in Queens. We don't really even have a Bishop right now, there's NO ONE investigating and more than half our ward is completely inactive and/or completely forgotten. It's pretty sad. But I KNOW this area has a lot of potential. President talked a lot about the misconception of "tough areas". He told us that EVERY area is what YOU make it. And I truly believe that. I know I can't come in and expect to transform the ward in just one transfer... but I think Sister Jorgensen and I together this transfer are going to be able to make a HUGE difference. I'm so grateful for all I learned about "strengthening the stakes" in my last ward.

There are a lot of really solid, super strong members in this ward as well. They've all welcomed me in with OPEN ARMS. I've never been complimented on my Spanish or on my hair color so much in my entire life...Haha.

Anyway...We've got some big plans for this transfer. And I couldn't be more excited about it.

Just FYI... I live really close to Prospect Park. If you want to get an idea of what kind of area I live in Google Prospect Park. It's GORGEOUS. Queen's parks are a total dump compared to Brooklyn's. Haha.

Love you all! Stay tuned for more pictures and fun stuff next week!

Hermana Tara Franklin

 Back in Astoria with Hermana Laney