British Summertime Ends

29 October 2017

Dearest family and friends

Last night we changed our clocks back an hour, signifying what is written on the British calendars, ‘British Summer Time ends.’ The clock says 5:20 pm, and it is dark as pitch. Although the weather hasn’t been too cold yet, I am sad to see our first British summer end.

Our emotions have been up and down this week! We heard news of the passing of Marilyn Flint, an iconic and loved neighbor. We are happy for the reunion she had with Vernon, her husband, in heaven, and I’m sure she and Darlene Galbraith shared a warm embrace as well. We celebrate Miss Kate’s one-year-old birthday with Ron’s sister’s family in California in spirit. She’s as cute as they come. And cancer has reared its ugly head again, and without a miracle will take a beloved friend from earthly life very soon. Our prayers are with the Stromness family. Thank you for visiting with us at our home before we left. We have pictures of you there, Richard, and we treasure them. Our thoughts this weekend have also been with our dear friends, the Hedins, as we, and so many others, remember Parker, who left this earth a year ago yesterday.

We’ve had another full week this past week! Monday we arranged to work in London because we knew my cousin’s son, Elder Matthew Allen, who is serving his mission in the London area would be at the mission office (which is directly across the hall from the Public Affairs office) because his companion was going home and he would be meeting his new companion. It was a wonderful reunion with him. We hadn’t seen him in nearly a year. I’m not sure if I broke the rules or not, but hey, we are family, so he got lots of hugs from me. The mission president gave us permission to take him to lunch. It was fun to have him all to ourselves for an hour and just be able to talk to Matt. He’s a great kid and a great missionary and we love him like our own. It was a blessing of a day! We had a later train home, so we took a detour and went to ‘Partridge’s’, a store in London that carries American products that you can’t always find anywhere else. In my backpack I carted home 5 lbs of Gold Medal flour (the flour here is very different) and 4 cans of pumpkin (yay!). My shoulders ached by the time we got home, but it was worth it. I can’t wait to make something/anything pumpkin!

Elder Matthew Allen from Bend, OR (my cousin's son)

Tuesday through Thursday were office days, working on compiling Ambassador outreach records as well as gathering information for the videos the Church will be producing in England and Wales. The missionaries had zone conference, so we didn’t get our Thursday lunch together. We did meet our new greenie missionary at church today from Draper, Utah, Elder Anderson. He had the ‘deer in the headlights’ look more than any other missionary I’ve seen here yet. “I know just how you feel, Elder Anderson” I assured him, “but you will love it here. I promise.” And then, at the Munch and Mingle, I passed him a serviette and told him what it was, and what a napkin is here (diaper), and his eyes looked even a bit more glazed.

Elder Wheeler, from our home ward in Kaysville, went to Blackwood in Wales for his first area. I’m told it is likely a Branch there, and an area of poverty. With his infectious personality, he will be a light to whomever he meets, and they will love him, I’m sure of it.

The River Ribble

Friday was a great day. We had a meeting in Chorley all day Saturday, so we went up a day early and took a culture day. Our friend, Julie Jones from Wales, who I told you about a couple of weeks ago, is originally from Chorley and offered to take us and the Parrishes to some of the church history sites in the Preston area. We visited the River Ribble where the first baptisms in England took place, some historic sites in Preston, then went to Downham and Chatburn. Julie’s father was actually the first person to be baptized in Chorley and still lives there in the same home. He knows so much of the history and has shared it with his family. It was a great day, and we could feel the spirit as well as the beauty as we visited each site.

In Preston, President Hinckley’s flat when he lived here as a missionary is on the street behind us above one of the shops. This is where he was living after he first arrived in the mission field, and he quickly became discouraged because of the opposition to the missionary work. At a time of deep frustration, Elder Hinckley wrote in a letter to his father that he felt he was wasting his time and his father’s money. A little while later, Elder Hinckley received a reply from his dad. It said, “Dear Gordon, I have your recent letter. I have only one suggestion: forget yourself and go to work.

In Preston, where the politicians first hung
the sign “Truth will Prevail” which
became the motto of the
Mormon missionaries.

Saturday was nothing short of fabulous. We attended the Great Britain Public Affairs National Council Meeting. We sat in a six-hour meeting with some of the best people I know in Great Britain and Ireland. I’m not sure I can adequately describe all that I felt during the meeting. Although it was all about Public Affairs, every single principle taught was applicable to real life:

• How do we influence those we serve with that haven’t quite caught the vision of the importance of the work? We love them.
• What do we do if they don’t follow through on their assignments? We forgive them.
• How do we tell them they need to do better? We praise them for the good they are doing. 

Bottom line: We use Christ-like attributes to move the work of Public Affairs forward. We lead with love and by example. As I thought about my family, my friends, my church callings and community service at home, every principle applies in the same manner. We love, we forgive, we praise, we support. So I walked away from that meeting with a heart and mind full of what I need to do to be more like Jesus Christ. I’m so grateful for the promptings of the Spirit. Ron and I both felt it was a magical day.

When Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was tasked with
finding a place to build a temple in the
Preston area, he came to this oak tree in
Downham to pray for inspiration.
He knew of the history of this hallowed land.

I was so grateful for the extra hour we were given last night! I actually didn’t sleep any longer; instead, it allowed me to make a big potato salad for our Munch n’ Mingle after church today. And at the Munch n’ Mingle we chose to hang out with the YSA’s (Young Single Adults) and I’ve decided they’re much more fun to be with than the old people. We planned our next gathering in two weeks, and I can’t wait. What a blessing it is to be asked to associate with them.

I apologize that I ran out of time to reply to the emails this week. I received some really good ones! Thank you so much. I love you for taking the time to write and for keeping us in the loop. I’ll close until next week with this thought from our Saturday meeting:

“May we focus on the simple ways we can serve in the kingdom of God, always striving to change lives, including our own. What is most important . . . is whether or not individual people – ministered to one at a time just as the Savior did – have been lifted and encouraged . . .”  M. Russell Ballard

Have a wonderful and joyous week, and look for simple ways to lift someone each day. It will come back to bless each of us tenfold, I promise!

All our love,
Ron and Marie

Doctrine & Covenants 59:3 

Yea, blessed are they whose feet stand upon the land of 

Zion, who have obeyed my gospel; for they shall receive 

for their reward the good things of the earth, and it shall 

bring forth in its strength.

No Sightings of Robin Hood This Week

22 October 2017

Hello everyone!  Thank you to so many who kept in touch this past week.  It was great to hear from you.  Happy Birthday to my niece Angie!  Please tell Corbin that Jean Pierre and Marie miss him!   Also, Happy Birthday to my friend Lori Park!  Thank you for making the effort to come see us during your visit to England.  I hope your day is wonderful today!

We are missing the sun this week and crossing our fingers that we will see it again before next year!  It has been dark and gloomy – a scene right out of a Sherlock Holmes movie.  We woke up to a severe fog warning on Thursday.  Maybe the Brits are just used to it, but I think if I lived here permanently I might be in a state of depression for the winter . . . The temperatures haven’t been too bad yet, so there’s the bright side!  I was able to get just one walk in.  I think I’m doomed this winter.

We are thankful for a week in the office with very little travelling.  I was able to keep my email inbox down in the twenties which makes Elder Partridge a happy camper.  We are in the beginnings of a very big filming project for social media so the logistics of that has kept me on my toes.  I’m finding that I don’t multi-task as well as I did when I was younger.  My brain seems to go on overload quicker, so it has been a week of balancing.  On the bright side, we are seeing results from our training in the Leeds Mission as missionaries are posting videos about why they are serving a mission.  It is so fun!  If you see them on my Facebook page, could I ask that you share them!  We want this to be a successful endeavor.  The PA Area Director in Frankfurt is taking this idea to the Area Presidenttomorrow in her meeting.  We are very excited about that!

Monday, we took the sister missionaries to lunch.  Sister Bessendorfer, who has been here since the beginning of her mission (she was Whitney Crandall’s MTC companion) was transferred.  We helped them get her luggage to the train station on Tuesday.  I was truly worried about her!  I’ve never seen a missionary so nervous.  It’s hard to get on and off the train by yourself with two pieces of large, heavy luggage, a heavy backpack, a bike, and a helmet.  And the wheels on Sister B’s large piece of luggage were completely shredded, so it was nearly impossible to roll.  You just hope that some kind soul will see her struggle when it’s time to transfer to another train and give her a hand.  (For those with future missionaries, buy GOOD QUALITY luggage for them!  The cheap stuff doesn’t hold up through all the transfers and it makes it ten times more difficult!)   I asked her what made her the most nervous about transferring?  Was it actually getting there?  Or a new area?  Or a new companion?  She said, “It’s that the area formerly had Elders, and now I am moving in with my new companion to the Elder’s old apartment!”  I laughed.  “Nothing a scrub brush won’t fix,” I said.  I could feel her pain.  But there was more to it than that.  First transfer is always scary.  I just hugged her and told her there was someone who needed her in her new area.  

One of the Elders was also transferred, but not the one we thought!  The one that had only been here for one transfer was being made a Zone Leader and going to Nottingham.  Elder Beining, who has been here for 4 months, stayed and will become a senior companion and the new District Leader.  Secretly, I really think he was ready to experience a new area.  Another challenge.  Because Elder Blair was leaving, we took the Elders to dinner.  (I like those kinds of days . . . I don’t have to pack a lunch or worry about dinner!  But it was an expensive day.  Worth it!  Five Guys is always worth it.)

Speaking of expensive, the exchange rate for dollars to pounds is less favourable than it has been.  Instead of things costing about 25% more, it now costs about 33% more, and rising.  For everything we purchase on our credit card in pounds, we get an immediate notice of how much is costs in dollars.  OUCH!  I told Ron we needed to live off British grown fresh fruits and vegetables because they are yummy and inexpensive.  He was thrilled about that . . . not.

Thursday we took lunch to the missionaries after their district meeting.  Four missionaries – four different countries represented; USA, Australia, Italy, and Philippines, yet they were all there for the same purpose, making the same sacrifice, to share something with the people of England that is near and dear to their hearts  . . . the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It was very humbling.  “Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven!”

Thursday evening we drove to Nottingham for more training with President Leppard on missionary videos.  It was raining British cats and dogs on the way, and when we ran from the car to the church, thank goodness we had ‘brollies’, but our feet were soaked!  That’s how hard the rain was coming down.  We had planned to have a nice dinner before heading home, but the weather was so bad we hit the drive-thru at McDonalds (yup) and headed home after the meeting.  We were glad to get home safe, but without one Robin Hood or Maid Marian sighting.  J

We were also happy to have a Saturday home, spent doing cleaning, laundry, finances, and grocery shopping.  I attempted to make cookies again for our YSA activity, but then bought some at Costco that looked a whole lot better.  I just can’t get the hang of converting recipes or using the oven here.  Ron said he would ‘sacrifice’ and eat them so they didn’t go to waste, bless his heart . . .

This past week “Festival of Lights” week, a Hindu and Sikh holiday celebration.  I don’t know much about it, but beginning Wednesday night there have been massive fireworks going off every night until WAY past my bedtime.  I think tonight is the fifth and last night.  They do know how to party . . .those Hindus and Sikhs!

My little darlings were pretty good singers in Primary today!  We gave them all a CD a couple of weeks ago of the Primary Program songs, and I can tell they have been listening to them at home.  They are learning the words quite well, and I say a prayer of thanks at the end of Primary.  Even the Nursery children engaged today.  It was a day of tender mercies.  Tonight we have our first YSA activity.  I’m praying for one more tender mercy.

Today the Opening Song in Sacrament Meeting was “Thanks for the Sabbath School.”  I’m not sure if it is an LDS written hymn or it appears in other church’s hymnals as well.  Maybe one of my friends that belong to a different faith can tell me.  As many times as I’ve sung that song in the last 50+ years, there were a couple of lines that stuck out today . .

“Thanks for the teachers who labor with care that we in the light of the gospel may share.”

Ron taught Sunday School and High Priests today.  I witnessed all of his preparation.  We had great talks in Sacrament Meeting.  I’m so thankful for all the preparation that goes into Sundays by so many people.  When we arrived at the church, the lights were on and the doors were unlocked and there were people to greet us.  The Sacrament was prepared.  Bread appeared as it always does.  I felt an overwhelming amount of gratitude for these things today.  It is the season of bountiful harvest and giving thanks, isn’t it?  And the second line . . >

“Strive with the noble in deeds that exalt, and battle with energy each childish fault.”

There is always so much that can be done.  Today I was reminded again to focus the BEST things!  And aren’t we constantly trying to overcome weaknesses and be just a little better?  It’s part of my daily prayers as I ask humbly for help. 

We are so grateful to all of you for the bounteous blessing you are to us.  We learn from you as we watch you deal with your trials.  Our testimonies grow stronger as you share your own testimonies with us.  We feel indebted to so many who care for things at home for us.  We especially thank our family for the sacrifices you are making so that we can serve, knowing you are ok.  WE LOVE YOU!

Favourite quote today, applicable to all:

You will come to know that what appears today to be a sacrifice will prove instead to be the greatest investment that you will ever make.”

Gordon B. Hinckley

Love you all,

Elder and Sister Partridge

Ron and Marie

One Last day of Summer...

15 October 2017

Hello dear family and friends!

We hope this letter finds you well and happy. We’ve had a beautiful week in so many ways. We hope your week has been wonderful also. The sun was shining today and was a lovely 62 degrees outside. Yesterday it was 69 degrees . . .close enough to 70 that I felt like we were blessed with one last day of summer. There has been just enough rain to keep the natives from crying DROUGHT, but the rain has been mostly at night, so . . . once again, HALLELUJAH!

Happiest of Birthdays to our son, Zack! He will be 29 on Friday. He is hard working, fun loving, and a great Dad. His passion is sports, and although he doesn’t think he is very good at math, he can tell you sports statistics like none other. He honors his priesthood and blesses our family with it. It is a true blessing to be his parents.

This past week was a heavy travel week, Monday afternoon to late Saturday night. We did drive back to the flat to sleep Thursday night just to avoid one more hotel, then back on the road Friday morning. We spent two days in the Leeds Mission at two separate zone conferences. It was gift day at Zone Conference, as each companionship took home a brand new slow cooker for their flat. In Sister Turvey’s words, “You put in a little of this, and a little of that, mix it together, turn on the cooker before you leave in the morning, and VOILA! Dinner is ready when you get home.” The missionaries were so excited!

The Leeds Mission

Even more exciting than the first gift was that they all received smart phones! They are the first mission that we know of in the UK to toss the dinosaurs. President Turvey is very understanding of how important social media is as a missionary tool, so much of the conference was talking about how to use Facebook as missionaries, etc. Words like meme, hashtags, and dashboards were spewing from President Turvey. When it was our turn to present, I introduced us, then I started off by telling them what a cool mission president they had that knew what a ‘meme’ and a ‘hashtag’ even was, but then the thought came to me that I needed to speak their language, so I said, “No, he’s not cool . . . he’s SICK! Wicked sick.” They laughed, with Sister Turvey laughing the loudest and hardest, and the ice was broken and we had a great time with our presentation.

To tell you a little about the presentation we do for the missionaries, we present a short new program called “I’m a Missionary.” We created the concept following the pattern of the highly successful “I’m a Mormon” campaign that the church came out with around the time the Book of Mormon musical came out. The idea is that over 60 different countries are represented with missionaries in the UK. We are asking them to make a simple 60 second video introducing themselves and why they are in the UK and post it on Facebook. They will post to their personal Facebook page, the local church social media pages, and their mission Facebook page. It is a fun and simple way to help people understand and know them.

We met lots of new Elders and Sisters, including Elder Rex from Orem, (Festival connection to his great aunt), Elder Schmidt from Bountiful, (you may know his dad the piano player J), Elder Anderson from Farmington, Sister Autumn Jenkins from Kaysville, and Sister Watson who worked at El Matadors to earn money for her mission.

Left: Elder Rex, Top: Elder Anderson, Bottom: Sister Jenkins

Friday we were back up in Chorley. We were able to do a temple session as well as have dinner with our cruise friends in Manchester. They are still talking about their experience at the Pageant and still passing around the program. Hearing this made our hearts dance and our faces smile. Whilst in the temple, the names of those of you who have been on our minds and in our prayers lately were placed on the prayer roll. We hope you feel the blessings of prayers on your behalf from around the world.

While in Chorley we were also able to get permission from the MTC President to visit Elder Bradley Wheeler from our ward in Kaysville, and his companion, Elder Thacker from Highland, UT. It was great to spend a few minutes with him and answer a few questions about the Birmingham mission. We gave him a little care package and snap a few photos for his mom. For all those who know him, he is happy and looked great.

Elder Wheeler

Yesterday we attended the Multi-Stake PA Council meeting for the Manchester area, where Ron and I each gave a presentation. I gave the counsel a follow-up on the Pageant. It was my first time actually presenting by myself using PowerPoint. Ron purchased a “clicker” for me to use to make it easier. Thank you! “Where do I put my notes?” I said. “You don’t use notes. Your notes are the PowerPoint slides,” he said. Yikes. “Where do I stand?” “You don’t stand, you move around.” Double yikes. “I have to remember what I want to say about each slide, remember to click to advance slides, and walk around and engage with the audience?” “Yes, dear. That’s what good presenters do.” You’ll have to ask him how it went. I was glad I was first on the agenda, and done. Ron’s presentation was on ‘Opinion Leader Outreach’ and ‘Working with Priesthood Leaders’ in Public Affairs – piece of cake for him. He has the clicker down pat.

We hurried back to Birmingham last night after the meeting to meet the Parrishes and Malcolm and Sharon in to attend the “Legends” concert, where one segment featured Jay, Merrill and Jimmy Osmond. It was a tough PA assignment, but somebody had to do it J. We had a great time with the Osmonds. The other legends . . . well . . . I think that when you can’t sing well anymore you just turn up the volume on the music and hope no one will notice. It was VERY loud! Or maybe we’re just getting old. Or both. We did have some great Mexican food before the concert, the first we’ve had since being here. Best meal all week!

Tonight we attended a satellite broadcast wherein members of our area presidency and also Elder Whitney Clayton and Elder Ballard spoke. It was a bit different than some meetings in that there wasn’t a general theme to the meeting. Each spoke on a subject of their choice. Great thoughts on how important the Book of Mormon is, keeping the Sabbath day holy, and not being afraid to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. A bonus to attending was that we were able to see Sister Harwath who was serving in our area when we first arrived. We love her and didn’t even get a chance to say good-bye to her when she was transferred. She goes home this week, back to Switzerland, so we felt it a tender mercy to get to hug her!

We love you! Thank you for staying connected to us! Thank you for allowing us to share our mission with you. It is a tremendous blessing to re-cap each week. We send our love and prayers to you.

Cheers!

Ron and Marie

The Welsh Connection

8 October 2017

Hello once again to everyone who is still willing to read our weekly letters! Thanks to all for your love and support. We love hearing from you and appreciate your love and continual prayers for us as we serve this mission. We continue to pray for you also, especially those that are experiencing trials. Well, doesn’t that include about all of us on any given day?

Happy Birthday on Wednesday to my niece, Tricia! She’s the one we were just in Paris with. We celebrated early! Also, Happy Birthday to my dad who would have been 85 years old on Friday. Friday the 13th has always been a lucky day for me, as my dad was born on a Friday. I still miss him like crazy.

We’ve had another busy week full of fun and new learning experiences. Monday night for Family Home Evening we hosted a gathering for the senior missionaries at the office. We had a potluck dinner and then watched the DVD of the Pageant since most of the couples were not able to attend. There were 24 in attendance all together including President and Sister Leppard, mission president and wife. We now have two senior sister couples as well. One is from England; the others are from Saratoga Springs, Mountain Green, and South Jordan (Daybreak) in Utah. It was a great evening! The desserts and popcorn were my favourite.

L to R: 

Elder and Sister Dutton (England), Elder and Sister Willmore Taylorsville), Elder Partridge

Elder and Sister Wills (Solihull), Elder and Sister Richards (Island Park, ID)

Sister Blumell (Canada), Sister Taylor (England), Sister Gerth (South Jordan, Daybreak),  Sister and Elder Haws (England)

Sister and President Leppard (England), Sister Stewart (Mountain Green), Sister and Elder Veeter (Farmington)

Back:  Sister and Elder Vernon (Cedar City)

Side:  Sister Blackburn (Saratoga Springs), Sister Partridge

Tuesday was an office day. Wednesday the Parrishes came up from London for our monthly video conference with the Frankfurt PA Team. That afternoon and late into the evening the four of us worked on a project for the Ambassador Outreach. It was good that they had planned to not return to London and stay overnight because it was quite late when we finished. We had a meeting in Wales on Friday, so we took an extra day and took the Parrishes to some of the church history sites they had not been to. Ron and I are becoming quite the tour guides at Gadfield Elm, the Chapel at Castle Frome, and Benbow Pond. J A new place we went that we had not been before was a tour at the Cadbury Chocolate Factory! It was fun, and interesting, and they give you soooo much chocolate while on the tour that you are sick by the time you get out, and we only ate a little of it! We brought home eight candy bars from the tour!

Thursday night the Jones family who live in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, invited us to dinner. Julie Jones is on the Great Britain PA council from Wales for our church and we have the opportunity of working with her from time to time. She is a delight. Her focus on the PA council is on interfaith relationships, and WOW what a spitfire she is. It is amazing how respected she is among the UK interfaith community. She has established personal friendships with leaders of many Christian churches such as Catholic, Church of England, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, and others. She is currently working to organize a seminar with leading female interfaith leaders from all over the UK. What a pleasure to get to know her and to become her friend. While we were out site seeing together, she shared with me what her 11-year-old son had said the previous evening before we arrived. “Now which religion is coming to dinner tonight? Will there be any Muslims or Sikh’s?” Nope, just the Mormons. J

The home where David O McKay’s mother
was born in Merthyl Tydfil, Wales.

Julie shared with us a traditional Welsh dinner, one that she said on Sunday everyone in Wales would be eating. It was small portions of chicken, stuffing, and a large variety of vegetables cooked many different ways. It was so yummy! And amazingly she did this on a night that her eldest son was to meet with the high council to report on his recent return from serving in the Scotland/Ireland mission. Julie stayed home to host us. Her husband (who is a counselor in the stake presidency) Face timed her from the high council meeting so she could listen to his report and share her testimony. And of course we were there to listen in as well. It was a very touching and spiritual tender mercy for us to be able to be part of.

After dinner we walked down the street and around the corner from Julie’s house to the home where David O. McKay’s mother was born. The old man that lived there for a long time had passed away recently. The family asked the Church if they would like to purchase it for a historical site, but the Church was not interested. They were interested, however, in placing a plaque by the front door that told of the history of the house, so now the Church pays the family a monthly stipend to have the plaque there. For my non-member friends, David O. McKay was the ninth president of our church. He was actually born in Huntsville, Utah, after his mother immigrated with her family.

Julie also took us to see their chapel, which is the largest chapel in the UK. And, they DO have one drinking fountain! It was built when President McKay was our prophet, and it was like he was building the church in memory of his mother! They spared no expense. I’ve attached a photo of the chairs in the Relief Society room, to name one thing. You wouldn’t believe it! They are as comfortable as any chair I have EVER sat in! Nice and soft and roomy!

Our meeting on Friday was with the co-owner of the Celtic Manor in Newport, Wales. He is a member of our church and very well connected in the UK. Celtic Manor is a gigantic luxury property with several golf courses and several hotels. It is where the Ryder Cup was held in 2010 (for the golfers in the crowd!) We stayed two nights on the property and had a great meeting with Simon Gibson. He treated us to lunch afterwards, and then Ron and Stan played a round of golf while Julie took us site-seeing to some restored Roman bath house ruins, a museum, and gave us a little history of Wales. The weather was beautiful. It is fun when we can ‘work’ and feel like we get a little vacation too. We loved it.

Celtic Manor

We arrived home about noon on Saturday. The Parrishes caught the train straight to London from Wales. Although it took us all day to get to Wales on Thursday with the site seeing, we were home in two hours. I dropped Ron off at work and I went to the grocery store and came home to do laundry. Mid afternoon I began not feeling well and ended up with what I think was a 24-hour virus. I’m happy to say I am feeling better now, but Ron went to Stake Conference by himself and we postponed our first YSA get together. L

This morning while Ron was at Stake Conference I did the best I could to get a little church in by listening to past Ensign articles and watching some of the church videos. Every time I get on LDS media I find more and more. I was particularly looking for something I could share with our new home teaching families that have small children. There were so many I will need to decide which one to use this time. Just to name a few I came across:

· Are you experiencing too much fighting among siblings in your home?
· Is someone in your family struggling with depression?
· Would you like to hear what children think or know about Jesus?
· How do you deal with perfectionism in a child?

I watched videos that addressed all these issues. I’m grateful that the Lord is mindful of “every little thing from our trials to our triumphs. And help is available at our fingertips.

We leave tomorrow afternoon for a week of travel and will return Saturday evening. We will be attending Leeds Mission Zone Conferences and Manchester Multi-Stake Public Affairs Council Meeting, taking part in training at all the meetings. Rubbing shoulders with the young missionaries is the part of this trip that excites me! And, we will attend the temple in Chorley on Friday. That always makes for a good week.

May you be blessed and uplifted as you love and serve. We love you all so much!

XOXO,
Ron and Marie

An English Summer For Sure!

1 October 2017

Hello to all!

I’m told we are having a superb fall, and once again, just like winter, then summer, I say, “Hallelujah, my prayers are being answered!” We have only had the heat on a few days, and we are still sleeping with windows opened most nights. There is some rain, and the air is damp. Every morning when we go to work it feels like we are playing Hopscotch down the walk to the car as we dodge the chunks of mossy . . . yuck . . . that have fallen off the roof overnight. Thank goodness for Gordon and his broom every day!

Happy Birthday to our Hay-Hay! She is 13 years today! She is our baby-lovin’ sports playin’ girlie girl and we love the addition to our family that she is. All the kids love her and we love her too! We hope you have a great day Haylie!

Thank you to all who expressed concern over my mom. She continues to heal with good physical therapy. I’m told she is doing better physically than mentally. The family made the decision to move her to Fairfield Village in Layton, formerly Legacy. It’s very nice and we are hoping she will settle in and be able to call it home soon. I am so grateful for those who have been watching over her and making decisions for her since her fall. I pray every day that you will be blessed for all you are doing and all the time you are taking out of your busy schedules. Thank you so much!

We continue to hear of struggles and trials of our loved ones. We feel so helpless in offering support. We continue to pray for you each day and hope that your faith and your inner-strength will sustain you, and that you will have the time to accomplish every needful thing each day. We pray that you will turn to the Lord for help, as it says in Psalms 136:12, “With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, His mercy endureth forever.” We love you!

Monday night we met our two new YSA reps at Five Guys and made a plan to get as many as we could to activities once or twice a month. Our first gathering will be next Sunday evening. We will count it a big success if we have 6 people there! I’ll let you know . . . any suggestions would be welcomed!

I’ve been doing some cleaning out at the office this week. It was prompted when we were trying to play a CD, pulled two different ‘boom boxes’ off the top shelf, and neither worked. CHUCK CHUCK! I ran across a label maker that I haven’t seen used in the workplace for 20+ years, and very old Christmas cards that will never be used. CHUCK! If you know me well, you know that I get my highs from de-cluttering, so it has been a great week! I did run across a book that had been made in 2011 highlighting a European tour Donny Osmond (be still my heart) and his family did when they were picking up one of their sons from his mission in the Netherlands. They travelled to quite a few countries in Europe and did a fireside at each one. There were several testimonies written about how the fireside with the Osmonds led to conversion. And for my Festival friends, the articles were written and book compiled by Glade and Lola Petersen! (Lola is a past Chairwoman of Festival and the person whom I first learned about a Public Affairs mission. They served in Frankfurt at the Area Offices.) That book did NOT go in the rubbish bin.

Friday Ron woke up not feeling 100%, so we decided to give it a couple hours and go in late. But as the morning progressed Dr. Sister Partridge diagnosed a flu bug, so we decided to stayed home since Malcolm had left for Utah the day before and there wasn’t anything pressing at the office. I was able to catch up on some deep cleaning, ironing, and mending.

I just LOVE Conference weekend, and this weekend has not disappointed. We didn’t even try to go to the church since Ron wasn’t feeling well, so once again we are grateful for technology that allowed us to stream it at home. First session (which we are able to watch at 5:00 pm on Saturday) began with a BANG! Favourite quotes were:

“Let me offer two reasons why we should turn to the Lord. First, your life will be better. Second, God will use you to make the lives of others better . . .” President Uchtdorf

“Every one of us aspires to a more Christlike life than we often succeed in living. If we admit that honestly and are trying to improve, we are not hypocrites; we are human.” Jeffrey R. Holland

We LOVED watching ‘The World Report’ after Conference. There was so much we felt a connection to, beginning with the flooding of Houston. We sat on pins and needles last month and kept in close contact with Alisha, praying for her family to be safe. When it showed the video of volunteers in boats, we were reminded how grateful we were that one of those boats helped our son-in-law Sam, our grandson Nathan, Sam’s parents, and Sam’s sister’s two dogs to safety as they brought them from the parent’s home to Sam and Alisha’s home. And when it showed the “army of volunteers . . .Mormon Helping Hands” coming to the aide of those who were displaced, we thought of the times Alisha Face Timed us wearing the yellow t-shirt as she and Sam were “mucking.”

The World Report also showed highlights of Elder Christopherson’s visit to Oxford, which Malcolm left the Pageant to attend, and we saw him in the audience! Speaking about Watergate, and Nixon, I loved Elder Christopherson’s quote, and it has come to my mind and blessed me more than once in the last 7 weeks:

“Putting ones integrity on hold, even for a seemingly small matter, places one in danger of eventually losing the benefit of protection and conscience all together. A life devoted to service to others allows conscience to flourish. “
I know I shared it before, but it’s a keeper and a good reminder.

The next feature we loved was on the new Book of Mormon videos being produced! I felt a bit of connection there as I learned last week of a friend who has been involved in the filming of “Nephi Building a Boat”. His wife, Lise, an eloquent writer, gave me a description of not only the setting and characters but the feelings Roger had expressed whist being part of the tremendous experience. It warmed my heart!

Also shown was Elder Holland at Windsor Castle at a conference on religious minorities. Ron and I worked with Elder Holland’s office to build the list of invited guests and gathered the bio’s on those Elder Holland asked for. Several area authorities, missionaries, and Public Affairs staff were in the video. We squealed with delight (well, I did J) to see our friends, knowing many of you would see them also!

The report on the Family History records being scanned in Siera Lione was videoed by our friend who did all the videos for the Pageant, and we recognized his work right away! We were happy to see that his filming went well and was branded by The Church.

And last but not least, the Paris Temple! When they showed the inside of the temple, I said to Ron, “We walked up that beautiful staircase just 10 days ago!”

After watching the report, I felt a swelling in my heart so large I thought I might just burst, and I was blessed with another sure confirmation of the importance of the work we have been called to do. Again, through the times of trial and homesickness, this makes it all worth it.

We watched Saturday afternoon’s session this morning, followed by the Priesthood session. I can appreciate Elder Cook’s British humor when he says, “I love the British summer. It is my favourite day of the year!” Spot on!

I’ve told you how many “coincidences” I’ve had over here, meeting people that it seems realistically that our paths should never cross, and how I don’t believe for a minute that it is coincidence. Elder Rasband’s talk also confirmed it when he said, “What may appear to be a random chance is, in fact, overseen by a loving Father in Heaven.” Isn’t it true. I know it is.

Now we prepare to talk with our family and watch the Sunday morning session at 5:00 pm again today. I know I will continue to experience the same feelings that I have had since we began watching last night, and what a privilege it is to watch Conference wherever we are in the world with the flip of a switch or two.

Enough waxing eloquent, we bid you farewell, and give thanks to God for the blessings we enjoy because of our dear family and friends. You are ever on our minds and in our hearts . . .

Love,
Ron and Marie