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.