Don’t you just love New York in the Spring?

Manhattan skyline

 

The event that inspired this trip was the Becket Fund gala honoring Elder Oaks, who received the Canterbury Medal for promoting religious liberty. It’s kind of a big deal. If you go to lds.org it’s front and center on the home page, or you can read about it here. If you watch the video you’ll notice a slender, beautiful girl with a big smile standing next to Elder Oaks in several of the clips. That person is Emily Hardman, Communications Director for the Becket Fund, and one of my favorite people on the planet. Emily is involved in a really important line of work. If you don’t know about the Becket Fund, you should. It is a non-profit law firm fighting to protect religious freedom, and they’re really good at what they do.

While I didn’t attend the dinner, by all accounts it was a tremendous success!

I was able to spend that evening with Deborah and fam in Brooklyn. After inhaling some delicious pizza we wandered out onto the pier in the fading twilight to look at the Manhattan skyline. In one of those magical serendipitous moments, suddenly fireworks began to light up the sky beyond the Brooklyn bridge! Gazing at the city lights and the fireworks sparkling over the East River in the cool night breeze was absolutely enchanting.  

The building lit up with red white and blue is the Empire State Building. The tall tower in the middle is the 1,776 ft. tall tower that’s part of the new World Trade Center, which is a pretty awesome project.

the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges and the magical fireworks show...

my favorite subway ad:  Fall in Love, Stay in Love

Belgian waffles = instant happiness

It was so good to see Deborah again! What a great pal. And a fantastic tour guide. And a champion mom! (Navigating through a crowded subway with a toddler in stroller is not exactly a piece of cake.) Mmm, speaking of cake, let’s talk about food. If you’re planning a trip to NYC, you need to try the very  scrumptious Belgian waffle carts around Central Park. My favorite come drizzled with dark chocolate syrup. There’s also an amazing indoor bazaar full of Italian restaurants and markets called Eataly, and a Pizzerias everywhere where you can eat authentic and delicious New York style pizza.

Food...

Lunch at Lombardi's

Eataly breads

Eataly

the ol' crew together again

Mmmm...pizza!

Jess's scary zombie face...

"The City..."

Times Square

Time's Square

Times Square

Jess wearing her little saucy hat...

Playing in the fountain at Bryant Park

friends!

Chillaxin at the park, next to the ugly rope sculptures...

St. Patrick's Cathedral

St. Patrick's Cathedral

This little man is the best. He provided fun and entertainment wherever we went. His smile is adorable. AND, he generously donated the discounted tickets he won in the Newsies lotto to us! What a guy.

Winning the lotto!

NEWSIES!

Seeing Newsies was all out fun. It’s a refreshing show because it doesn’t profess to be something it’s not. It doesn’t have to be profound and epic or emotionally jarring, because it’s only meant to be entertaining. The energetic dancing and choreography and the witty dialogue were just what they should be. The actor who played Jack completely owned the stage. He looked like a younger version of Hugh Jackman. AND he could sing. His voice was amazing, and besides that he was adorable.

I mean, look how cute he is.

"One for all and all for one!"

"Open the gates and seize the day!"

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

Deborah and I got to see Phantom of the Opera! I’ve always loved Phantom, but I’ve never actually seen it performed in a theater before! I think it definitely lived up to its reputation! The only complaint I have is that it felt too abbreviated. I didn't want it to end. I wanted to see so much more! The scenes were quintessentially Broadway with smoke and lights, giant backdrops, elaborate costumes, lots of drama and, of course, fantastic music. It was a little jarring at first, as each character made their debut on the stage, and I thought to myself “Wait! That’s not the way that character is supposed to act! They delivered that line wrong!” Raul was so abrasive, Christine so torn and Phantom so completely psychotic! But that’s part of the magic of theater! I really do love when actors will take a character and make it their own, inserting their own personality or adding a slightly different twist to their part. Christine and Phantom both had phenomenal voices and it only took as long as their first number to completely win me over. It was a pretty magical experience.

 

at Phantom of the Opera!

Another serendipitous moment…

Deborah and I had just gotten out of Phantom and noticed a crowd collecting around the theater where Tom Hanks is starring in Lucky Guy. A fancy vehicle parked near the side door, and of course we had to stop, because that could only mean one thing! Tom Hanks was coming out! We found Jess and Em who were just getting out of Cinderella, and we all joined in the general hullabaloo and fiasco of a mob of fans waiting for a glimpse of the celebrity. The door opened several times, teasing us, as the less prestigious showmen made their way past the thickening throng. Then, finally, he appeared! The crowd went wild as Tom Hanks himself emerged from the theater! Some boosted friends onto their shoulders, one fan hoisted up a volley ball, and several hundred cameras and phones shot into the air. I found myself yelling out, “We love you Tom! Really, truly, you are very important to me!!” (If he could have heard me he would’ve thought that a witty remark.)  Em had disappeared but we soon after discovered she had gotten a better view than any of us. Ingeniously working her way up to the front of the crowd she had managed to get close enough to not only profess her adoration but to actually kiss his car window! He obviously considered this a great compliment, and smiled and waved from the back seat. Next thing she knew, his car had rolled over her foot, and sped away. This brief encounter was no doubt a magical moment for both parties. Em now owns a shoe that was run over by Tom Hanks’s car! And Tom Hanks now has a car that the infamous Emily Hardman kissed! … and I was there!

That's Tom Hanks!

Tom Hanks sportin the stache...

 

Jess

Empire State Building

New York Public Library...which was closed! Rats.

Rats!

on the tram

The rain perfectly coincided with the time we were planning on visiting Central Park. Blast!

My favorite part of the trip was doing a session in the Manhattan temple. We accidentally ended up in a Spanish session, which I loved and think I’ll try more often.  It’s a beautiful temple inside, and remarkably quiet and peaceful despite the noisy city all around it. I was reminded of a Conference talk about the Manhattan temple, by Elder Stone in 2006. Methinks it has been quoted in Conference since then but I can’t remember by who. But he drew this analogy: 

  How was it possible that the temple could be so reverently silent when the hustle and bustle of the   metropolis was just a few yards away?

The answer was in the construction of the temple. The temple was built within the walls of an existing building, and the inner walls of the temple were connected to the outer walls at only a very few junction points. That is how the temple (Zion) limited the effects of Babylon, or the world outside.

There may be a lesson here for us. We can create the real Zion among us by limiting the extent to which Babylon will influence our lives.

Cool right? Going to the temple turned out to be a fantastic highlight, so I’m glad we found time to go!

Manhattan temple

I love that New York is home to such a crazy variety of people. The week I spent in New York with my mother a few years ago, we woke up early every morning just to sit in a bakery and watch people through the window while we ate out bagels. But I pretty much avoided making eye contact with anyone. My approach on this trip was a little different. I made more of an effort to strike up conversations with strangers: on the elevator, in the subway, at a Pizzeria, in the temple, standing in a ticket line... Nearly everyone I met was remarkably friendly and helpful! (Those times I was trying to make my way through the city by myself I made friends out of necessity.) The diversity there is amazing. Hop on any subway car and you’ll see people of every ethnicity, culture, and background you can imagine. And for every inconsiderate, crazy or conniving person you run into, you can find dozens really fantastic people. Though the city feels pretty gritty and crowded, there's something magical about it being such a true melting pot! Like this awesome video from School House Rock.