Religious diversity in the city

The trees are starting to change color as fall moves in. Hopefully I'll get to see more of it when I go to Central Park this afternoon. Weather hasn't gotten too bad yet, but more to come.

Great things are happening here in the Deaf Branch. We had a record-tying 80 people in sacrament meeting, which is our main meeting at church! Our recent convert that was baptized two weeks ago gave the closing prayer, which was both his testimony and prayer of thanks to the Lord for the church in his life, which was awesome to see. He is really immersing himself into the gospel. Afterwards, the South mission sister missionaries in the branch had a baptism, which was cool to attend. It's cool to see how both of the New York, New York missions can work together to build a congregation.

ASL class is different each week. We have a few semi-regulars that come when they can, and a few others that come every once in a while. Sometimes we get a new person. Sometimes no one at all shows up to class. We try to advertise our class by word-of-mouth, and we also have a Facebook page for it. I really want to see it get bigger.

New York City is a very active city in terms of religion and faith. There are so many different chapels, cathedrals, and places of worship I have seen so far, and many more I have yet to see around the city. There is religious graffiti and signs many places, and people of all faiths and cultures everywhere you go. As missionaries for our church, we are generally respected as "Jesus people", and thus don't get too much trouble. There are a few who want to tell us we're wrong, and many more that don't even want to make eye contact, but for the most part people are respectful to us.

We definitely aren't the only ones trying to save souls on the streets. The Jehovah's Witnesses are very big here, and we see their little stands and missionaries everywhere. My companion and I try to exchange pleasantries with them whenever we can, showing how ministers of different faiths can be kind to one another. We had a couple of their Spanish proselyting missionaries come to our apartment, and you should have seen the looks on their faces when they saw our name tags. The Jewish faith is active in trying to reactivate Jews, asking everyone on the street -- including us -- if we are Jewish. There are even a few stand-alones that preach their own doctrine. Needless to say, there is much "fishing of men" here in the Big Apple.

What I have been finding about all the religions is that we all have more in common than we think. Everyone else preaching on the streets is doing the same thing we are: inviting people to change their lives for the better. That is the basis of my work, which is to invite people to come unto Christ through faith in His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. May all of us strive to follow His example.

Love you all,

Elder Ryan Turner
New York New York North Mission
American Sign Language