Charity... the Pure Love of Christ

26 March 2017

Today is Mothering Day in England.
They even gave me a flower at church! The weather
is a bit windy, but the sun is shining!

Happy Mothering Day in England!  I received a potted flower at church today.  The church IS the same all over the world!     It has been a very busy week...

I’m chuckling even as I write to tell you about some of the funny phrases I’ve heard recently.  First, I was having trouble with texting on my phone.  Craig, the IT guy at work was helping me in our office.  After a minute he said, “I’m just going to give your phone a jiggery poke and then I’ll bring it right back.”  Ok . . . whatever that meant!  But whatever it did mean, it’s now working!

Second, the sweet missionary couple that works from our offices and is also in our ward, Chris and Jeannie Wills, invited us to dinner tomorrow evening at their favorite restaurant. When describing where the restaurant is located, he said “It’s twixt Warwick and Solihull.”  Ron knew what he meant.  I had no clue.  

Third, when emailing the women over social media for the upcoming British Pageant, we were setting up a time to have regular calls with each other and deciding how often to have them.  I said, “Would you like to talk weekly or every other week?”  She wrote back, “I’m good with either weekly for fortnightly.”  I knew ‘a fortnight’ meant two weeks, but I had no idea ‘fortnightly’ would ever come up in a conversation I’d be having with someone.  

And finally, a couple of weeks ago I was meeting with the women over Public Affairs for the Pageant.  After our meeting we were just chatting, getting to know each other, she was telling me about being “gob-smacked” over something . . . it’s just so darn cute!  I just love hearing the British language from all our new friends.  

I’m learning to say “post a letter” instead of “mail a letter”, say “mobile phone” (with the long i sound) instead of cell phone, and “sorry” instead of “excuse me”.  I’m still getting use to someone always saying to me “you alright?”  I want to say, “Why, what’s wrong, don’t I look alright?” when really they are saying, “how are you?”  I’m trying to answer them with “Brilliant!”  Yes, I might be talking a little funny by the time I come home.

As I mentioned before, one of our responsibilities is the media for the upcoming British Pageant.  Malcolm told me that he was sure with my past Festival of Trees responsibilities I had a lot of experience in journalistic writing, so he put me in charge of writing news articles for the pageant to be posted on the church media sites as well as social media.  I told him  he was sadly mistaken.  I am not a writer.  My friend and mentor, the director of the Foundation, was an English major and fabulous journalistic writer, so she wrote everything.  I wrote very little.  “Well then, you’ll just have to learn.  Are you willing?”  I have several friends with such talent in writing!  Sharon, Rhonda, Lise... I must have been cleaning when they passed out that talent...   I have always admired their gift, especially now.   With all the patience and kindness a true English gentleman has, Malcolm has been mentoring me.  He is a wonderful journalist himself, so it has been fun. I would write, email it to him, he would chop chop, edit edit, and send it back.  I would re-write, he would say “thank you.”  Then he would re-write my article.  I would see it posted on Mormon Newsroom UK and recognize a couple of quotes that were mine.  Not offended at all!  So practice makes perfect, or so they say... last week I wrote an article, he changed a few words, and it will be posted this week.  It is titled, “BRITISH PAGEANT HELPS FAMILY THROUGH DIFFICULT TIME”.  This is another testament that the Lord qualifies us beyond our natural abilities when we are about His business.  When it posts, I’ll share the link.  

Wednesday was such a sad day, not for just England, but for the world.  Thank you so much for all those that reached out to us, making sure we were safe.  Our heart goes out to the Cochran family in West Bountiful as well as Sister Cochran’s parents who are temple missionaries in the London Temple.  There were two other “big news” items that affected the Mormons that day also here in England.   Malcolm is first contact for everything newsworthy in Great Britain, so our office was hopping.  We got our first real taste of a high-pressure day in Public Affairs.  

We loved having Elder Kovach and Elder DuPlessis over for dinner!

Thursday we met with the Elders and Sisters again for their District Meeting.  It’s fun to take them lunch and share a spiritual thought.  Elder DuPlessis will be going home on Tuesday, so today we had the Elders to our flat for dinner.  I will miss his dry, deadpan sense of humor.  Thursday, Ron said he had “two” missionary stories to tell them.  Well, you all know what kind of trouble we get in when we say two of anything.  . .  Elder DuPlessis said, in the most deadpan, South African accented voice, “Elder Partridge, I think you had better just have one story from now on.”  Too funny.

My Malteser cookies

Friday was “Red Nose Day” or “Comic Relief Day” in England.  The stores sell red noses, antlers (like at Christmas), and various other comic relief items, all proceeds of which go to the England Humanitarian Charity.  Some people dress up.  There is a candy here named “Maltesers” (like our malt balls) that is also a sponsor of that day.  If you bake something using Maltesers in your recipe, and put a picture on social media, Maltesers will donate £5 to the Charity.  So it is tradition in our office to have a bake-off that day, with Luke, our Facilities Management manager, as the judge.  Everyone brings something made from Maltesers, Luke judges them all, declares a winner, then everyone purchases the goodies and all the £’s go to charity.  Luke also takes pictures of everyone’s entry and Tweets it.  It was my first attempt at making cookies and converting grams to ounces, etc.  They were very dry (like the desert, that dry), so they weren’t great, and I didn’t win the bake-off.  But I sure had fun playing.   
The weekend was spent up in the Chorley area again (where the Preston Temple is) for a meeting Friday night and all day Saturday with the Great Britain National Council.  It is amazing how dedicated the members are here to sharing the good will of the Mormon church, spending the time to do this on top of their regular jobs, parenting and and often several other church callings.  They sit on Interfaith Councils, hoping to be an influence for good and share our beliefs on religious freedom among other things. My eyes have been opened.

Where the first baptisms took place in England in 1837. Such beautiful country. I can't even tell you how beautiful. @Sawley, Lancashire

Stan and Joyce Parrish, Public Affairs missionary couple in London, came up for the meeting as well.  We picked them up at the train station and took a drive to Downham where Lord and Lady Clitheroe live.  This is also the River Ribble Valley where the first baptisms took place in the Mormon Church in

Lunch with the Parrishes in Downham today,
where Lord and Lady Clitheroe live. It feels like Downton Abby.

1837.  It was like stepping back in time.  The Clitheroe’s own the whole valley.  Those that live there “tenant” from them.  There are no overhead wires.  I thought I was right smack dab in a scene from Downton Abby.  And the place we had lunch, Greendale, was amazing.  I ate a week’s worth of calories in one sitting full of fresh homemade bread, spring soup, ham and cheese sandwich, and bread pudding, all of which were nothing like the food we are used to back home.   I seriously didn’t eat the rest of the day.  It was the best meal any of us had eaten in a long time.  If you come see me, let’s go there!

We heard a wonderful heart-warming true story at our meeting Friday night.  Back In 1979, the mission president of the Manchester Mission planned a field trip for his missionaries to Hawkshead Village, a beautiful old quaint town in the Lake District.   The missionaries piled together on a bus for the day.  The mission president had previously arranged with the vicar in town to hold a special meeting in the old church there   The missionaries has an amazing experience. . . everything the Mission President had hoped for.  

Fast forward now to 2016.  One of the missionaries went back to England for vacation to visit his old mission area.  He also visited Hawkshead Village again, remembering the “P-Day” trip all the missionaries took.  He went back to the old church, where he met the vicar.  He learned that the church they had met in some 37 years prior was in dire need of a new roof, which would cost £70,000.  The vicar didn’t know how they were going to raise the money.  The missionary went home and contacted as many of the missionaries that were in the mission in 1979 that he could find and told them the situation. Through the generosity of all the former missionaries, they were able to present the vicar with a check for $20,000.

This story warmed my heart.  (If you read it in the Ensign, remember you heard it here first!)  It was certainly such a kind and generous offering.  But not something I am unfamiliar with.  I am so blessed to have many people in my life who are equally as generous and set a good example to me and to many others.  For example, the total earned for Festival of Trees last year was announced Friday evening, breaking records again at over $2.6 million.  WOW!  I am so honored have been part of such an amazing cause.  And so many of you are part of that also. Whether it be Festival or something else, thank you for being such kind, generous people.  You are my heroes this week!

Moroni 7:47  “But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.”

Ether 12:34  “This love which thou hast had for the children of men is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit the place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father.”

We miss our family, we miss our friends, we miss home, and Bajios, Café Rio, and Market Street Grill . . . but at the same time feel so blessed to be serving.  Thank you for your love and prayers in our behalf.  And thank you for your emails!  It’s as fun as Christmas morning when we hear from home.  We rejoice with your happy news, and are saddened when we hear of someone struggling.  We love you and pray for you as well.

Have a wonderful week this week!  We’ll be thinking about you!

What goes up must come down...

19 March 2017

I have to begin by telling you that the Europeans know how to do food right!  The cheese, oh the cheese . . . every piece I eat I just can hardly eat without letting out a little moan of delight!  It is SO good!  And the yoghurt . . . another word spelled differently here . . . so creamy and fresh tasting.  And the bread!  Many have zero preservatives . . . I think it’s the same with the cheese and yoghurt that makes the difference.  There’s just no comparison.  But, they can’t quite get Coke Zero right.  Go figure. 

(March 15th) Beautiful spring day - not a cloud in sight. From what we have seen so far,
this is a rare day. We are enjoying it!

I also want to tell you about the school kids here.  In the mornings when we are driving to the office we pass dozens and dozens of kids walking to school.  But the greatest thing about it is that it’s their mum, or dad, or sometimes both, or grandmum, walking to school with them.  They hold hands, they chat, they laugh.  It looks like such a time of bonding.  Can you imagine what a great start to the day it must give the children?  And in the afternoon, when the kids walk out of the school, standing behind the big iron fence are those same parents and grandparents, waiting to walk home with them.  I’ll just bet they get an earful on the way home.  What a glorious way to spend quality time with kids. If I had to do it over again...

I'd rather be getting my exercise
playing PICKLEBALL!

The parent/child walking time seems to happen only when they are in Primary School  (I think it is roughly the same as Elementary school as we know it).  After that, it seems that the kids are too cool to have Dad or Mum hanging around.  Just like our kids at that age, they want to be with their friends.  All the kids, young and older, wear uniforms to school.  The boys have such nice clean-cut haircuts, suits and ties.   The girls wear skirts and jackets.    I have mistaken two school boys walking down the road for two missionaries more than once!   It really is a ‘lovely’ sight to see.

Next to our office is the Solihull Private School.  From the looks of the cars in the parking lot, you have to be pretty wealthy to have children enrolled there.  Some attend like regular school, but for some it is home.  It is like one of those boarding schools you see in the movies where the rich people send their children.  From the opposite end of the floor where our office is, I can stand at the window and watch the comings and goings of the students there.  It is a beautiful campus.  I am fascinated with knowing what it is like inside the classrooms.  Someday I’ll make my way over and go inside just to see!

Solihul Private School

Last week we were on such a high, still in awe of being able to visit beautiful Norway, and the many other experiences we had had thus far while serving.  But what goes up must come down, and that last few days at the office have been just that.  The work has been a little slow while Malcolm holes up in his office to prepare for presentations he is making to the big guys in SLC over Conference week.  It’s good that it was a little slow, because Ron has been struggling with a cold and stomach issues.  He is stuck driving me to work whether he feels like going or not, so he just goes. 

And then there’s March Madness, which is a big week for our family, as we usually do a family bracket for prizes worth up to dollars J.  And no one loves it more than Ron and his boy Zack who look forward to attending together every year.  When Zack texted his Dad and told him it was fun, but not the same without him . . .

And also, my quilt group had their retreat this week, which we have had for the last few years up at our cabin . . . and they try their best to include me over Face time and Facebook, bless their sweet hearts, but it’s not quite the same.

And my mom is struggling and the family is having to deal with all kinds of things, and I’m not there to help . . .   

The view up the walk at our flat. Could it really be Spring or is this just a teaser? Isn't it brilliant! 

But then I get an email from my friend who has cancer, and she tells me she’s getting her port removed and feeling better and her hair is coming back in, and I get an email from my cousin that says she can’t wait for my next letter, and our two year old grandson Face times us in the middle of the day just because he wants to talk to his Grandpa. . . . it’s all good again.  And Soroosh hasn’t met with the missionaries for a couple of weeks because he doesn’t have much free time, so he is using his free time to read the Book of Mormon. . . it’s all good. 

And so goes life, whether we are home or away. . . ups and downs every day. 

Yesterday afternoon we drove to Stratford Upon Avon, about a 40 minute drive.  It is the birthplace of Shakespeare, and also where the Gines family is from.  It was a lovely town, with lots of fun shops and eating establishments, Farmer’s Market on Saturdays, and people dressed as statues of Shakespeare hoping to get a few pence dropped in their tin cup for their efforts.  After wandering around the town we went to the cemetery.  I wondered if a miracle might happen and I could walk in, look down, and see a Gines or Joynes headstone in front of me.  No such luck.  So Ron and I began to wander in different directions of the cemetery.  But it was getting chilly, and starting to rain, so we stopped.  I did talk with a woman there who approached me and asked if I was American.  She suggested we go into town to the records office and start there.  So next trip, that’s where we will begin.

Today was a big day at church for us.  When the Bishop got up in Sacrament Meeting to announce the program, he said, “Our first speaker will be Elder Du Plessis, after which we will invite our new missionaries, Elder and Sister Partridge to speak, and I hope this isn’t too much of a surprise . . . “.  So I learned a good lesson today.  Always be prepared to say a few words!

So I told them a true story that happened right before we came, and bore my testimony of Heavenly Father knowing who we are.

The Sunday after our farewell in our ward I decided instead of attending our ward I was going to go visit my mom in the Care Center in Bountiful and go to church with her.  After doing that, instead of going home (Ron was still at church), I decided to go to another church in Bountiful where I knew my good friend and master teacher, Lise, was teaching Gospel Doctrine.  When I arrived, Sacrament meeting was going, so I slipped in the back.  After the meeting, the women sitting in front of me turned around and asked me if I was visiting or new.  I told her I was visiting.  By this time Lise had spotted me and came back and told her ward member that I was going on a mission in two weeks.  She said, “Oh, where are you going?  I told her, “Birmingham, England.”  “That’s where my husband and I served 10 years ago!”  Then she said, “Would you do me a favour?  There is a ward member there that I keep in touch with, and she’s having a struggle right now.  When you meet her, will you give her a hug for me?   So she told we whom to look for, and told me her name.  I wrote it in my ipad.  Mind you, there are about 9 wards in the area.  Four days after we arrived, we were at theSaturday evening session of Stake Conference, and the Joneses were introducing us to so many people.  When the meeting began, I remembered that I had that name in my ipad.  I showed it to Sister Joyce, and she said, “She’s the one you met outside in the foyer.”  After the meeting I found her again and gave her a big hug from her friend, Karen Pincock. 

The next evening, I texted Lise and told her to please let Karen know that I had found Pat and gave her a big hug.  Lise texted back, “I’m in Relief Society with her right now.  I’ll tell her.” 

Was all that a coincidence?  That I chose to go see my mom that day?  That I decided to drop in on my friend?  That I happened to meet Karen?  I think Heavenly Father had his ear on Pat’s prayers, and in a round about way, her prayers were answered. 

Ron’s testimony was sharing part of his conversion story with the same message; Heavenly Father knows who we are.  (He may or may not have held two fingers up while talking about something that happened twice . . .really, if we haven’t offended everyone by the time we leave it will be a miracle.  I think we both need to tape our first two fingers together until we learn our lesson!)

Second level far right. That's our digs!

 The next big thing that happened at church was that we both were called out of Sunday School separate and given new callings to serve in the ward.  Ron is going to job share and teach Gospel Doctrine, and I get to be the chorister for Primary!  It has been a long LONG time since I had that calling.  I hope I can remember how to teach and lead.  I sat in on singing time today.  There were less than 20 children there total.  I’m excited for the new challenge!

And so, our fifth week in England comes to a close.  I’m so grateful to be healthy, happy, and productive each day.  I am especially grateful to be serving the Lord.  I pray that any blessings we might receive go to our loved ones who need it most.  We are grateful for those who are watching out for our family, our home, and all those things that we can’t do from here.  We are excited to hear about Bryant’s mission call.  We love news from home.  Thank you for sharing!

To close with my favorite quote this week:  “If you choose to embrace gratitude as a central element of your life, it will serve you well.  It will help you resist the temptation to succumb to pride and to fall into a sense of entitlement.  It will help you to see the good and to acknowledge the positive.  It will help you to put in context the bumps in the road and the adversity you will from time to time encounter.  It will help you focus attention on those less fortunate than you whose lives you can bless.”  (Harvard Law Professor Roger B. Porter)

Hello from Norway!

12 March 2017

Hello from Oslo, Norway!  Another country I didn’t ever think I would get to visit, not even while serving.  It is a great blessing to be here . . . more later!

I won't be having this special!
(Restaurant - Zizzi)

Thank you for the emails and prayers!  We love hearing from you and all that is going on in your busy lives too.  It’s funny to think that when we are waking up in the morning, most of you are just going to bed the night before.  And when we need to call Utah during the day, we have to wait until at least 3pm in the afternoon.  It’s little things like that that make me smile and think about home, and all of you, and how blessed we are by our family and friends.

And speaking of blessings . . . after a week of rainy days last week, we finally had a reprieve!  Monday AND Tuesday, no rain!  And Wednesday, they said no rain, but we woke up to rain. But it did clear up, a little sun came out, and it actually got up to about 54 degrees.  We even went for a little power walk after work.  It felt so good!  Thursday, again no rain!

I want to also mention the rest of the story . . .for those of you who read about Lord and Lady Clitheroe last week. . .I had the sweetest phone call from Lord Clitheroe on Monday.  He regrettably informed me that he and Lady Clitheroe were no longer doing interviews.  After all, they are both close to 90 years old.  Bless his heart for calling!  They have been good friends of the LDS Church for many many years.  So, no miniature Downtown Abby visit for me this time.  L

I had a return email from a family member and a friend, both who live outside Utah, that asked what a Pageant is.  That was a good reminder to me not to assume that everyone knows!  The LDS Church holds annual pageants around the United States quite a bit; Palmyra, NY; Nauvoo, IL; Manti, UT; Mesa, AZ.  They all depict a historical time in history for the Mormons.  The British Pageant is a historical play/musical that depicts the early days of the church when Joseph Smith sent 9 of the 12 apostles to

On our evening walk we saw .....
YIKES!

the British Isles in the mid 1800s to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and convert the British to Mormonism.  They were very successful, with over 7,000 converts.  Many of them immigrated to the United States to gather together with other Mormons in “a new world” in hopes of a better life.  (The British were struggling in their own country at that time.)  It has been said that the British literally saved the church.  The Pageant is free to the public and all are welcome.  It helps everyone who attends understand The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a little better.  And, it’s just fun to watch!  It is a true blessing to be involved.  For those of you who are interested in seeing more about the Pageant, here is the link.  

On Wednesday morning I woke up to the news that my childhood second mom, Afton Zundel, had passed away the week before.  I was sad for me, and for my dear childhood friend, Liz, and all of the Zundel family, but so happy for Afton and the great reunion in heaven with her husband, Bob, who passed away 7-1/2 years ago, her mother, Elaine Passey, and many many others.  You know how there are certain people that are placed in our lives that can change the direction of your life for good?  That was the Zundel family for me.  I love them and love Bob and Afton for opening their doors to me as a young child beginning at the age of 3 years old.  What I am most grateful for is that her death was not unexpected, and before I came to England I was able to visit her and tell her how much I love and appreciate her.  I’m so grateful for that time with her. 

Off to Olso!

We also found out that we would have the opportunity to attend some training in Oslo, Norway over the weekend.  One of our main responsibilities as missionaries is to do Spokesperson Training for key people throughout the UK who may be interviewed by the media.  Our first training for members involved in the British Pageant is coming up next month.  We went through training ourselves with the Joneses before they went home, but I know I was still suffering with a little jetlag at that point and don’t remember everything.  The Book of Mormon musical is coming to Olso in September, so Malcolm and the senior missionaries in Germany who have responsibility over Norway were going this weekend to begin training spokespersons there.  We decided to go also for another opportunity to learn.  We are very glad we did.  The training was great. 

Unlike what you might think, the Book of Mormon musical, although pretty sacrilegious, not written by Mormons, and written only for entertainment, is a very positive event for the church.  The church has adopted the campaign, “You’ve seen the play, now read the book” with Alex Boye’s picture on the poster.  The response has been great.  It keeps the missionaries busy in the area it is playing in, giving away lots of Books of Mormon.    

Bishop Patrick Waal

It’s always fun to try and make a connection with someone when I go someplace new.  It is especially easy if they are members of our church.  When I think of Norway, I think of my ‘LL’ friend Lise Solveig Hogan Tutttle who was born in Norway while her dad served in the Air Force; thus, the spelling of her first name (pronounced Lisa) her middle name, Solveig.  My good friend, Kathy Bess, has a grandson serving his mission in Norway right now.  And, before we left, Dan Luke from our ward came over to visit us, brought a copy of the book he had written, and asked us to give it to someone in the UK.  He also said, “If you get to Norway, say hello to my brother!”  We didn’t think that would ever happen. 

So we found ourselves in Norway.  At the training, I began asking attendees, “Do you know anyone with the last name of Luke?  Do you know an Elder Mitchell?”  Sure enough!  Bishop Patrick Waal from Drammen whose picture I posted on FB, knew the Lukes.  Dan’s nephew is one of his counselors!  And yes, he also knew Elder Mitchell.  He had served in his ward not long ago.  We also met two missionaries there serving in the mission office (connected to the Institute Building where we held the meeting).  One of the missionary’s names was Elder Mitchell.  Not the same one, but he also knew him, and actually one time when they were at a meeting together, and this Elder Mitchell had lost his badge, Kathy’s grandson Elder Mitchell had loaned him a spare!  And the other missionary came out with Elder Mitchell to Norway from the MTC. 

How does the song go?  “It’s a small, small world . . .”

Norway is cold, but beautiful.  We actually came on a good weekend.  The weather has been nice.  It was about an hour drive from the airport to our hotel downtown.  The scenery was beautiful, with rolling hills of farmland, red and white barns and Scandinavian looking farm homes.  There was a skiff of snow covering a lot of the land, but the sun was shining and it was beautiful!  And the accent of the Norwegians . . . I love it!  Everyone speaks English, but when they are amongst themselves, they speak their native tongue.  It is a beautiful sound.  We went to a pub-type restaurant for dinner Friday night.  The special was “Mutton Stew with Cabbage”.  We just HAD to order it.  It was quite tasty actually, but it won’t become a dish I’ll be ordering regularly.   

L to R:  Elder and Sister Will and Elizabeth Cottam, Senior Couple in Germany Malcolm Adcock, our director

Our new friend, Dag , who is the Director of Public Affairs in Norway, picked us and the Cottams up for church today.  (He is the one who made all the arrangements for the training yesterday also.)  I have to say, I have never been so warmly greeted by a ward in my life.  Everyone was so friendly and kind.  We met President and Sister Hill (mission president) from Orem, their friends the Robinsons who they just recruited and have been in Norway for only eight days, several young Elders and Sister missionaries, and ward members.  They have translation capabilities there, so we wore ear buds while someone translated testimony meeting.  They have such strong testimonies and feel the gospel so deeply.  For Sunday School we met with other senior missionary couples and had a discussion on Utah, who we knew in common, and a little bit on building strong marriages.   J   But Relief Society was my favorite.  Sister Cottom (Elizabeth) and I chose not to have a translator but to enjoy the lesson in Norwegian.  It was President Hinckley’s lesson on the value of women.   As we sang these words together, the Spirit filled the room:

            Som sostre i Sion arbeider vi sammen or ber at velsugbekser pryder var dag.

            Vi bygger Hans rike med flid og med iver.  Vi styrker de svake, er dem til behag.

Can you guess the song?  “As Sisters in Zion.”  The language didn’t matter.  It sounded like a choir of angels, and the spirit bore witness of the divine sisterhood we enjoy.  I am so grateful for my sisters in Relief Society, and to belong to such a benevolent organization.

Before leaving Oslo today we walked around the city centre in the rain to take pictures. This is the King and Queen's Palace. The flag is flying which means the King is home. The guard looked pretty young and small! I think I could take him .....

      From the palace looking down Main Street                                                Parliament                                     

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway. This is the Nobel Peace Center. A lot of history in this beautiful country. @ Nobels Fredssenter

I am so grateful for my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and for eternal families, especially today, as it is the seventh anniversary of my Dad’s passing.  Not a day goes by that I think of him and miss him.  I am grateful to know that I will see him again.  I’m grateful for each of you and the way you have touched my life.  We love you and pray for you, and thank you again for praying for us.

Europe Area Public Affairs Announcement

Brothers and Sisters

It is with pleasure that we introduce to you our two new missionary couples serving in Europe Area Public Affairs – based in Solihull and in London.  We are so pleased to have them on board, working together in this great cause.

Elder Stanley B. Parrish and Sister Joyce Parrish are serving in London, focusing their efforts on Ambassador Outreach as well as assisting in strategic input for the London Public Affairs Council (LPAC).  They are the parents of 6 children, 17 grandchildren, and 1 great grandchild.  Elder Parrish has served in many capacities including Chief of Staff to United States Senator Orrin G Hatch and Executive Director for the Department of Community and Economic Development in Utah under Governor Norman Bangerter.  Sister Parrish is a Homemaker and has hosted many high profile community events with her husband.

Contact Information:

Elder Parrish -  Office:  0207 838 1960  Mobile:  07801 285257

Sister Parrish -  Office:  0207 838 1960  Mobile:  07801 285267

Elder Ronald D Partridge and Sister Marie Partridge are serving in the Solihull Public Affairs office.  They have country responsibility for Ireland and for The Netherlands and will concentrate key efforts on working with the Great Britain National Council on Spokesperson Training.  They will also focus on projects relating to the upcoming British Pageant.  Elder Partridge is assigned as financial supervisor for the Solihull Public Affairs office.  Elder Partridge worked for Symantec, a worldwide computer security company, for 23 years.  He managed a team of technical opinion leaders and positioned products to large government and private enterprises.  Sister Partridge is a Homemaker and also did volunteer fundraising for the local children’s hospital, leading a board of 90 women as well as overseeing publicity for the event.  They are the parents of 3 children and 12 grandchildren.

Contact Information:

Elder Partridge -  Office:  01217121162 

Mobile:  07801 685265

Sister Partridge – Office:  0121 712 1163 

Mobile:  07801 1685266

We know that you will enjoy getting to know these outstanding couples.

I didn't mean to... honest!

5 March 2017

Another week has gone by with many more new experiences. I still have to pinch myself sometimes when I think, "Are we really living in a foreign country for 18 months serving a mission?" It still seems like a dream that I will surely wake up from soon.  

Some of you have been asking to see pictures of our flat. Here is our humble home! @ Shirley, West Midlands

My life just got better and easier this week!  We discovered AmazonUK.com.  It has just about everything just like the Amazon I ordered from at home.  Everything I couldn’t find at Costco, I found on Amazon.  With those two stores, who needs anything else!  There are a couple of things that the prices are highly inflated because they clearly have to be shipped from the U.S., but most things are priced right.  I discovered it when one of the young missionaries told me his mom sends him OTC medicine and Lucky Charms from AmazonUK.  Can I get a Hallelujah!

Isn't this a cute idea! It was in a little French boutique
lunch place we went to yesterday (Cafe Isabella).

Last Sunday during Sacrament Meeting the Ward Mission Leader slipped us a note inviting us to Family Home Evening (FHE) at his home. He said several in the ward attend, including the missionaries, so would we like to come? So we agreed. We picked up the missionaries after work and went to Brother Fream's house. What he failed to tell us was that it was FHE for the singles in the ward! I didn't even realize at that point that the ward mission leader was single. No one planned a lesson, so they decided to choose an "I'm a Mormon" episode from ‪LDS.org and call it good. Well, Ron took charge and made a lesson out of it and it turned out pretty well. They served pancakes since the next day was Pancake Day which is traditional for the beginning of Lent in England apparently. Their pancakes are like our crepes. They're really good with chocolate on them! So on the way home I asked the missionaries what their purpose was for attending, and they said, "Brother Fream will go inactive if we don't." So there you have it. I did get to know one 90-year-old, very lonely widower named Duncan. My heart was breaking as he told me the story of his wife's death and how lonely he was. Loneliness is an ugly thing. I prayed that my eyes will be open and I can always be a friend to someone who is lonely.

The office work has been going well. I am learning to adjust to Windows vs. Mac and Outlook vs. Google. And thank goodness I have my computer guru husband/companion who is all knowing or knows how to figure it out because his brain thinks like a computer to help me out. I have been working on VIP invitations for the Paris Temple Open House going out from our office, and also VIP invitation lists for the upcoming British Pageant.  I even sent a letter to Lord and Lady Clitheroe of Downham asking if we could come do a video interview with them about their involvement with the Pageant in 2013.  I Google’d them to find out a little about them.  Their home in Downham (which they own Downham) looks like a smaller version of Downton Abbey.  Wouldn’t that be fun to visit!  I’ll keep you posted...

Speaking of the Paris Temple Open House, we were told that the first two days the tickets opened up, 10,000 were gone, and there were no more tickets available for any Saturday. Isn't that exciting! We were encouraged to plan a trip to go by the Director of PA in Europe, so we are going the first weekend in May with Elder and Sister Parrish, the PA missionaries in London. Never in a million years did I dream that when the Paris Temple was announced, I would get to go to the Open House. Again, I just have to keep pinching myself.

A picture of a garbage truck
for Lincoln!

Thursday we took the two young Elder missionaries to lunch. It's easier than having them to our flat for dinner because they don't have cars or bikes and we live quite a ways from them. While we were eating and making small talk, one of the Elders asked us about some of the restaurants we have eaten at since we've been here. Ron started naming them, and there were two that we have eaten at twice, so I just indicated with my two fingers "twice". The first time I did it, the missionary from South Africa, Elder DuPlissis, choked on his food. When I did it the second time, Ron caught on and said, "Do you know you are flipping the missionaries the bird when you do that?" I turned 22 shades of red and apologized up and down. Karen and Lyn, did you warn me about that? I've been so careful not to ask for doggie bags, or say crap, or any of the other things you told me, but did I forget that one? I didn't mean too . . . honest!

We had our first traveling assignment this weekend. We were asked to attend the audition callbacks for the Pageant in St. Helens which is 2-3 hours from home. We were also asked to attend a pageant board meeting after church on Sunday in Chorley where the Pageant is being held. Since we needed to be there by ‪8:30 a.m. On Saturday, it was necessary to leave on Friday. Malcolm is very supportive of taking a comp day if we work a weekend. He actually pretty much insists on it. We left the office ‪on Friday morning and went sight-seeing in Liverpool for the day which is nearby St. Helens.  

Two significant things that we know about took place in Liverpool. First, it was the port that immigrants came and left from, including our early apostles and the many converts that left England for "the new world". There is a statue near the water that was donated by the Mormons in 2001 representing families leaving. The plaque is inscribed,

"This statue of a young family commemorates migration from Liverpool to the new world. It was given to the people of Liverpool by the Mormon Church as a tribute to the many families from all over Europe who embarked on a brave and pioneering voyage from Liverpool to start a new life in America. It is estimated that in total approximately nine million people emigrated through the port. The sculpture is cast in bronze; the child stepping forward symbolizes migration to the unknown world whilst the child playing with a crab indicates a deep association with the sea."  

The second significant thing about Liverpool is that it is the home of the Beatles! We had so much fun taking a two hour bus tour of the city, listening to Beatles music, and seeing significant places where each one lived and inspirational places for their songs. We now know who "All the Lonely" people are, who "Eleanor Rigby" is, found “Penny Lane”, stood at the gates of the "Strawberry Fields", and sang familiar lines like "Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm 64" and "Tomorrow may rain, so I'll follow the sun." There were people on the bus that knew every word to every song played. What a great afternoon and a fun getaway. We also chose to eat local food while there.  Apparently they are known for their “Scouse” pronounced “Scose”.  It is basically a really good beef stew.  It warmed us inside and out on a cold rainy day. I posted some pictures on Facebook and Instagram of a few of the Beatles sights. 

Our assignment on Saturday was to accompany the videographer doing filming and interviewing, get media releases, and make sure everything went well with him.  That part was pretty easy.  The really fun part was seeing the enthusiasm and feeling the spirit of those who were hoping to be part of the Pageant.  Many participated in it in 2013 and wanted desperately to feel the same spirit again.  They described the experience as life changing.  We were also able to meet several whom we had known only through email up to that point.  It is always refreshing to put a face with a name.  Everyone was so appreciative of our service as missionaries and were so kind to us. 

This morning we attended a regional conference at the Stake Center that shares the grounds of the Preston Temple.  On that campus is also the Preston MTC as well as temple housing for patrons and workers who come to do temple work.  It will also be the sight of the Pageant.  The conference was broadcast from SLC.  Elder Ballard was the main speaker.  His talk was about the same as the regional conference we had 6 months ago with him.  She shared the story of the Sequoia Tree on the BYU Campus.  Although the same message, he tailored it well for the members in Northern Europe.  Technology is such a wonderful thing!

After Conference we had a four-hour Pageant Board Meeting.  Members from all over the UK were in attendance.  Their dedication to this project is amazing.  The Director of the Pageant lives in Jersey in the Channel Islands.  One member of the Presidency drove down from northern Scotland.  The Music Director is from Kent.  Ray Robinson from Bountiful, representing the Creative Arts Department of the Church in SLC was there.  We feel so blessed to be part of it!  As soon as we get video footage I’ll post it.

We wonder how our home is from time to time, what our grandchildren are up to at a particular moment, and miss running into friends and neighbors.  We were so glad to get back to our flat tonight, but it still doesn’t feel quite like home.  But the Lord is blessing us and sustaining us and calming our fears and trepidation.  We love and miss you all and appreciate your prayers on our behalf.  A quote from the script of the British Pageant I heard yesterday was from Heber C. Kimball.  “To lead is to be a bridge for Christ.”  I’m not sure how much we are leading, but hopefully some of the work we are doing will be the bridge for someone to find room for Jesus Christ in their lives.  We know he is our Savior and King.