Yearly Archives: 2025

Today at church we saw old friends and met new ones. Several months ago, a 19-year old young woman had just traveled to NY from Portland a few weeks after…

We went to the Queens YSA Ward in Woodside last Sunday to present an Employment Workshop during the 2nd hour of church. We left over an hour before church was…

These musicians have been in Times Square subway station the last two times that we have been there and their music is lovely! They work hard and smart for their…

Brian and I went to see MJ on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre. The theatre is 0.8 miles from our apartment and the weather was great, so we walked…

The Employment Center has been very very busy and we have been doing our best to keep up with all of the job seekers. Sunday, February 16 we got a…

A few weeks ago, a middle-aged woman dressed in a clean, but old t-shirt and jeans visited us at the employment office. She was loud. She talked like she had…

Brian and I were able to take a quick trip to Utah last week for the baby blessing of our grand-daughter, Chloe May. Chloe is a beautiful, sweet baby and…

Two Boots pizza is just a few blocks from us but we had not tried it until Monday. It's a fun, kid-friendly pizza place with some interesting pizza names and…

Last Friday night we went to a terrific Indian restaurant in Midtown Manhattan with two other senior missionary couples; Elder Kory and Sister Carolyn Katseanes from Provo, Utah and Elder Doug and…

Last week, a job seeker named Teia come to the employment center. She recently moved to Brooklyn, NY from Moscow, Russia with her husband and daughter. She speaks no English…

Every Sunday night, we have a New York New York City Mission Devotional by zoom for all young and senior missionaries. Our mission President, Lance Taylor, is a friend and…

Last night, Brian and I went to eat Korean BQ with our missionary friends, Elder Gary and Sister Suzanne Bringhurst from Highland, Utah. They had never eaten kimchi and were…

Last Wednesday evening, Brian and I went to ChamberFest 2025 at The Juilliard School to see our Young Single Adult friend, Makenzie Hart, preform in a String Quartet. Makenzie plays…

As I was studying scriptures the other day I came across then President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's "You Matter to Him" address from October 2011. He describes how we are nothing…

Yesterday Brian and I went to the Kingsbridge 2nd Ward in the Bronx. It took us an hour to get there by subway from our apartment. The Bishop asked us…

Sheila and I walked to Verdi Square (about 1/2 mile from where we live) and tried two more pizza by the slice places: "Pizza Collective" and "Made in New York…

While Sheila and I were walking to Grand Central Station in the falling snow from our missionary tour of the New York Public Library (https://brianbrandenburg.com/january-6-2025-stephen-a-schwarzman-building/), I saw my phone ring.…

Monday, January 6, the Senior Missionaries in our mission had a group activity. We took a tour of the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (commonly known as the Main Branch, the 42nd Street Library, or…

On Sunday, Brian and I attended two of the wards that meet at the Harlem Building. We rode the subway uptown. On the subway, we ran in to Mackenzie Hart,…

January, the month of resolutions, is a great time to do a little introspection, and then set and reset our goals for the year. Generally, our goals follow our dreams.…