Happy Pioneer Day Tomorrow!

23 July 2017

Dear Family and Friends,

We have thought of so many of you this week as we hear about fun things you are doing, or trials you may be going through. We love you and pray for you and pray for the Lord's blessings to be with you. We hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow celebrating Pioneer Day. We were a little sad not to sing “Come, Come Ye Saints” today at church. :-( We do like our traditions!

Elder Mordue is going home next week! He's the
one across from me. We took him and his comp to dinner....
anywhere he wanted to go. He chose Five Guys!
Hadn't been there while on his mission. Funny, there's a Five
Guys in Farmington where he lives! We're going to miss him...
for the next year . . . Well done, thou good and faithful servant! 

We are once again in Chorley on the beautiful campus of the Temple, Church, and Preston MTC. We will be here through tomorrow evening. We arrived here yesterday after teaching a class in Leeds, a new area of England we had not yet visited. I remember that one of the Ellertson boys served in the Leeds Mission. It was great to meet President Turvey and feel of his enthusiasm for missionary work as he introduced the pilot programme for "JUST SERVE" to the Leeds Public Affairs Council. Although it has been in the USA for about a year now, they are just in the beginnings of it here.

The "Pageant" buzz is everywhere, as the core cast arrived here on Friday and busy with rehearsals. It's wonderful to be part of it. It feels so much like Festival . . . such a blessing.

Costumes almost ready!

This week went much the same as last, with most of our time focused on preparations for the Pageant, so I'll just share a few of our highlights:

• Watching a video of our youngest granddaughter, Hannah, learning to walk.
• Dinner at Five Guys with the Elders Thursday evening as we bid farewell to Elder Mordue (from Farmington!). We always love to be with the young missionaries.
• Having 125% attendance at our Media Training Class in Leeds yesterday. "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear . . . “ Thank goodness we had made extra copies!
• Attending the temple yesterday with Pageant leadership, cast, and crew members.
• Watching the Preston MTC missionaries enjoy a little outdoor time playing volleyball. Matthew, our nephew, this will be you in just one month!
• Singing the closing song in Sacrament Meeting today with fellow British church members, 

Verse 1:

Hark, All Ye Nations! Hear heaven’s voice.

Thru every land that all may rejoice!

Angels of glory shout the refrain; Truth us restored again!

Verse 3:

Chosen by God to serve Him below,

To every land and people we’ll go,

Standing for truth with fervent accord,

Teaching His holy word.

Chorus:

Oh, how glorious from the throne above

Shines the gospel light of truth and love!

Bright as the sun, this heavenly ray

Lights every land today.

We have worked the past two weeks without a day off, and we don't see a day off in the next two plus weeks, so please say a little extra prayer for us that we can stay healthy, and strong, and our stamina will be enough to sustain!

Philippians 4:13. "I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me."

Have a wonderful week! You continue to pray for us, and we will for you, and light a firecracker for us tomorrow!

Love to all,
Elder Ron and Sister Marie Partridge