Winding down!

 Happy Pioneer Day to all my Utah family and friends on Tuesday!   We will miss celebrating with our family.  We will be working working working...

We did get about one hour of rain on Friday... not near enough but we are grateful.  Still praying for more.

Our darling German/American YSA, Alise, had her final musical performance before graduating from her program on Tuesday night.  It was held in the upstairs room of a pub in Birmingham.  Her family came from Germany and she had great support from her friends, YSAs, and ward members.  She did fabulous and from all signs it looked like her teachers/critics loved it.  I don’t think the pub was too happy with our group of people who didn’t order drinks, and they couldn’t figure out why (it was sooooo warm in the upstairs room) yet everyone was so happy.  Where were the young missionaries when we needed them?   JJJ

After Alise’s performance.  Alise is next to me.

Elder and Sister Coleman arrived on Wednesday.  We did our best to keep them going until about 7pm when their eyes were so glazed over we knew the were done!  Oh how we remember the feeling!  Thursday morning they began drinking from the preverbal fire hose of intense training.   Since the jet lag prevented me from remembering very little during my week of training, I don’t expect they will either, but at least they have been exposed.  We introduced them to Portuguese food for lunch and Indian food for dinner, then finally took them to their hotel for another good night’s sleep.

Friday we took our new friends to London and introduced them to the train, the Tube, Hyde Park Chapel, and London Public Affairs, along with saying good-bye to the many many friends we have made there along the way.  Boohoo.  One thing I really wanted to see in London that we hadn’t visited yet was ‘Speakers Corner’ in Hyde Park where many of the early missionaries preached.  Although the marble stand has since gone by the way, the tradition has not.  Even still, on Sundays it is gathering point for anyone who can attract an audience.  Because we had not visited it, it was the one thing we did for sightseeing.  It was a long day, and we were all very tired by the time we reached home nearly 10pm.

Speaker’s Corner at Hyde Park in the background - with the Colemans 

 Yesterday we gave Jim and Joann the morning to themselves while we cleaned and did load after load of laundry in preparation for them.  In the afternoon Ron took them on a drive to Warwick to see where their new offices will be come October, and their new home.  The purpose was to expose them to driving and a little more of the layout of the area.  They are VERY reluctant about driving!  Practice Practice Practice.  

Our service outside of Public Affairs this week was not cleaning the church!  J We took dinner to a family on Saturday evening that, without going into too many details, needed a lift.  She also asked if we could give her children a ‘Family Home Evening’ type of lesson while there.   We showed them Elder Kearon’s video/story about the scorpion and talked about why it is always wise to listen to your parents, even when you don’t understand their counsel.  Isn’t it funny  . . . who really gets the lift when service is given . . .  just what we needed to end a crazy busy week.

About the time we arrived home from delivering dinner/FHE we received word that our dear sister in the ward whom we visited just two weeks ago, passed away in the morning.   Our hearts go to her husband, mother, and sister whom she leaves behind.  A funeral was something we hoped we would NOT have to experience while here.  L  Like faithful troopers, they were all at church today . . . bless their hearts.  Hugging them was the beginning of an emotional day.  Too many goodbyes were said for those that go on holiday this week.  Whew!  Not fun.  The YSA’s put together a card of notes and pictures from our activities and gave it to us.  We were so touched.  After church they held a farewell Munch n Mingle.  Not only was everyone so kind to us, but they also welcomed the Colemans with open arms.  It boosted their spirits and confidence.   We have such a diverse ward, unlike St. George (where they are from) or anywhere in Utah for that matter, and it was fun watching them interact with people, most of whom are hard to understand because of their Scottish, Portuguese, French, or just plain Brommie (Birmingham) accent.  Even still, sometimes I can sit in Sacrament Meeting and listen to a speaker and only understand about 1 in every 5-10 words. And you never know what might be said over the pulpit . . . I’m going to miss it so much.  

Our letter each week is getting shorter and shorter, just as our time here.  Every day we are reflecting on the past 18 months and thanking Heavenly Father for this amazing time He has blessed us with.  The Colemans kept saying, “We just keep pinching ourselves to think we are really here”, and I feel like we keep pinching ourselves to say, “Have all we experienced the last 18 months been a dream?”  

Thank you again, for the kind words from so many of you.  We can’t wait to see you either!

Ta from Solihull,

Ron and Marie