TWO WEEKS WORTH!

Over-night Temple Trip Fiasco

It’s Friday night and it’s been two weeks since our last entry on the blog. Last weekend I couldn't write because we had an overnight trip to the London Temple (I don’t know why they call it London. It’s 1 ½ hours away!) We rode the train with about 10 kids on Friday afternoon. Most the YSA on the train were our Chinese members. Oh how I love them! When we arrived it was still light outside. The last time we’d been to the temple it was still in winter. What a transformation. The grounds are absolutely glorious and HUGE!! We were able to join with a few more YSA and sit on the grass and just be silly. It was so fun.

The next morning more kids joined us. We had about 30 there to do baptisms. Our assignment started at 8:00 A.M. It was another precious experience. We had one of our new converts there for the first time. He’s a beautiful tall black Frenchman. I was there handing out towels and sitting with them while they dripped off. When he finished his baptisms he came and sat down. I could tell he was very moved by the experience. All he could say in a subdued reverent voice was “Wow.”

After the baptisms the kids that were endowed did a session with us. I LOVE THE NEW FILMS! It is worth the extra minutes to watch because it’s so much more meaningful! Again it was a wonderful experience to be in the Celestial room with kids we love so much; a preview of heaven!

When we got out of the temple we realized that most the kids had been able to get rides back home with people who had cars. The ward had reserved a bus to transport back the kids but we were left with only 6 who didn't have a ride. The problem was the bus was scheduled for pick-up at 4:00 and we were done by 1:30. We went to lunch in the temple and then waited and waited and waited. Finally at 4:30 Jim called the Bishop who called the bus to find out it had broken down on the way to get us. We were stranded and that was after waiting for 2 ½ hours. WE DIED!!!!

We ended up having to take a taxi to the train station, ride the train to the middle of London, catch a tube that couldn't get to our station because of rail work so we had to catch a different tube that went a different direction and finally at 7:30 we got home. It was a disaster. Kind of took all the fun out of the trip for us. We were exhausted!

So that’s why there was no blog last week. Is that a good enough reason?

Elder Garner’s Great-Grandparents’ Conversion

I've mentioned how much I adore EVERY Senior Missionary couple here in our mission. They are all so precious. I would choose them for my friends. One couple that works as Employment Specialists are the Garners. I don’t know if I've ever met anyone more kind than them. You can just feel their goodness!

On Wednesday last week I was walking by their office and stuck my head in to say hi and then kept walking. I heard someone walking behind me and it was both of them. They came to tell me that they hoped I didn't mind but they had been reading my blog and wanted me to know how much it meant to them. I was blown away, but grateful if it could bless them. They deserve all the blessings the Lord could offer.

Elder Garner had just read our story of Grandma Nellie’s parent’s conversion and asked if I’d like to hear one of his family conversion stories. OF COURSE!! He told of his Great-grandfather who happened upon a Parley Pratt pamphlet and after reading it was converted. The problem was he was married to a VERY contrary woman. He knew if he told her to listen to the missionaries she would do the opposite.  He came up with a plan. He left the pamphlet out where she could see it and then told her to NOT read it; that it was of the devil. Then he left the house for several hours. When he came back not a word was said.

The day came when Great-grandpa went to be baptized. In his arms he carried a bundle of clothes to change into. As he came to the agreed upon place on the river, there stood his wife with her bundle of clothes under her arms! He asked her what she had there. “Clothes.” Then she asked him what he had there. “Clothes.” That’s all that was said as both husband and wife were baptized having never spoken a word about the gospel to one another!

This same Great-grandmother and Great-grandfather came across the plains in a wagon. It was reported that she placed a rocking chair in the middle of the wagon and held her baby on her lap and rocked (not walked) her way across the plains. That rocking chair is now on exhibit in a Fillmore museum.

Elder Garner told me that his grandma had grown up with that story, but had never shared it with her own children until she wrote her family history. That amazing story would have been lost forever if it had not been written down! I’m converted. I GET IT!

O.K. Here’s another story I got after writing the story above. It’s told in Elder Garner’s own words.

About 30 years ago, I began wondering if I had collected enough information about my ancestors to identify all my convert ancestors. I discovered that I indeed had enough information; all my convert ancestors were my 2nd and 3rd great grandparents, so there were 18 or 20 of them. I wrote up a brief account of each of their conversion stories, about seven pages altogether, and decided to give each of my siblings and our adult children copies for Christmas that year. Nobody made much comment about it.

Two year ago, I was given the task of motivating members of our High Priests group to become more involved in Family History work. I had decided to tell them that one of the major steps in Family History is connecting with our ancestors and then telling our posterity their stories so that our descendants will connect with their ancestors. I was working on this lesson on Saturday when we received a letter from our granddaughter Sarah, who was serving a mission in Hong Kong. She told about one of their investigators, Stella, who was 15; she was convinced that the gospel was true but was hesitant to exercise the faith to commit to baptism. Sarah was trying to figure out how to help Stella during study time one morning when the thought came to her to read the stories of her ancestors.

When Sarah had received her call, she had been encouraged to bring some family history with her on her mission. Her mom, our oldest daughter, simply gave her a copy of the write-up of my convert ancestors. So she read through it and discovered that one of them, William Riley Cole (actually her 5th great grandfather) had been baptized at the age of 16 and had then been instrumental in the baptism of his parents. Sarah and her companion decided to share William’s conversion story with Stella.

When they met Stella the next day, Sarah told her about her ancestor and the effect that his joining the church had, not only on his parents, but obviously on his descendants. Stella’s faith was obviously strengthened, and she responded by saying, “William Cole can be my example.” (Sarah reported a couple of weeks later that Stella had been baptized.)

Well, you can bet that I shared the letter with the High Priests group the next day! A more appropriate illustration of what I was trying to teach could not have been imagined. But what impressed me was the fact that, when I wrote up the stories, I had no idea that 30 years later, it would make a difference in a conversion on the other side of the world! Later, I shared this event with my siblings, one by one, only to find out that they had been using these conversion stories for years in all kinds of lessons and settings! They simply had not told me. Again, I had no idea that what I had recorded in simple form would make so much difference in so many ways.   Shared by Elder Lynn Garner

A Sunday in the Life of YSA Senior Missionaries

Let me tell you my last Sunday. We went early so we could have a discussion with Sanje, an amazing handsome young Indian man from Birmingham England. I love what the elders and your dad have investigators do. They give them a chapter from the Book of Mormon and have the investigator teach them from the scriptures. It’s powerful. It gives them the opportunity to speak truth and as the words come out of their mouth the spirit witnesses to them what they are saying is true. I so wish you could have heard Sanje teach Sunday. It was beautiful. Like your father, it’s going to be devastating to his parents if he gets baptized! We are fasting for him next week when his parents come to London when he will tell them he wants to be baptized.

After the discussion I went downstairs and waited for my new Visiting Teaching Companion. She’s a college rugby player that is less-active but when I called her to come she was so darling. We were to meet one of our girls, a Chinese member of about a year that is also semi-less-active. Paige, my companion, ran from the tube to be at the church on time. Our girl never came but we had a wonderful discussion together.

As church was starting I ran upstairs to practice a song with one of our YSA who was performing it in Sacrament Meeting so we were 15 minutes late to the meeting. She sang a song I’ve probably done 30 times in my life, a great old classic “O That I Were an Angel”. It was so strange to hear someone else sing it. She did a wonderful job.

From Sacrament Meeting I ran to the room where we had our Marriage Prep class. It’s the information from John Lund that I love so much and taught with Dad’s BYU kids. It’s unusual that we actually have 3 couples and 2 singles that have fiancés in other wards that are engaged or about to get engaged attend.  It’s such a fun class with world-class information. It went so well that they didn't want to stop so we went 15 minutes over and once again I was late for the next meeting; Relief Society. It was a great class taught by one of our older YSA.

Then, along with Paige, we grabbed our second girl we visit teach and kidnapped her into a side room where we had a wonderful visit. Her name is Rebecca and she’s in her last year of med school. She’s mostly active but I have never really known her. I’m going to love all these girls and best of all they are girls I didn't really know.

After our visiting teaching Jim and I caught a ride to our second counselor’s flat. He’s a single Romanian YSA convert who is a taxi-cab driver. They were having a dinner as part of our re-activation to pull some of the kids in. There was about 15 people there. The food was great and the company even better.

By time we got home it was late. We had been gone ALL day; the life of YSA Senior Missionaries!!!

Elder and Sister Hom from Wansworth Stake

We had our Thursday night Institute dinner which is always a little crazy, but I have to admit, so worth it. Our dinner is from 6:50 to 7:30 when class starts. Last night we were to be at a Stake Meeting at 7:30 so a darling group of our kids ended up doing all the dishes for us. What a sessy! 

When our stake meeting was over we came down to meet with Elder and Sister Hom who was there visiting our institute from a neighboring stake that is NOT in our mission. They serve in London South and they have a YSA program that is rockin’. I got to know her when she called to ask about food for their Institute Recognition Night. We begin to talk and then talked some more! They've been out for 14 months. When they got here the previous Seniors had a program that was already established. It was reassuring as we talked. What they are currently doing is almost exactly the same thing that we've worked the last 3 months on and what we are presenting tomorrow to the Bishops. In their stake YSA it is 90% black. Like us, Sister Hom said they had wanted to serve in Africa. She said this was even better. It was like being in Africa only with flushing toilets and clean food. They gave us some great ideas and we made some great new friends!

Our first letter from Skyler

We received this letter from our newest grandchild this week, along with some adorable pictures of her. She is so familiar to me. She could be one of my babies. We are so in love with her already. Can’t wait to meet this newest member of our eternal family!!

Dear Maga and Baba;

I’m so excited to write you this letter and tell you all about everything that I've been doing!

I’m already over ten weeks old. By the time you get my letter I will be over eleven weeks old. Can you believe that?!! I grow so fast! I loooove my mommy’s milk! I swallow really loud when I’m eating and I love humming while I eat. It helps me to digest all of the yummy nutrients! Sometimes while I’m eating I hear mommy talkin to Heavenly Father. He’s my pal. And she thanks him for my yummy milk! I’m thankful for it too! It calms me and makes me very tired ….milk drunk is what mommy and daddy call it. After I eat they’ll burp me, my head hangs and I’m out like a light!

One thing I love to do is smile! I smile so big that my nose scrunches, my eyes close, my head rolls and it continues to travel through my whole body. There are just so many things to smile about! Don’t you agree? I love everyone. There is no one I won’t smile for. Oh yeah, I have a good friend; Mr. Fan. He hangs out in my bedroom, and in the living room. He sits on the ceiling. He’s so silly! Sometimes he is very still and sometimes he moves so fast. My head and eyes try to keep up with him, but it is so hard. He must have super powers! I look at him all the time. He loves to make me smile!

Since the day I was born my hands like to be in a fist, my thumb must be shy because it is always tucked inside. I’m beginning to open my hands more and more. My mommy and daddy tell me I have beautifully long fingers and pretty nail beds! I have really long skinny feet, with long toes. My big toe could easily be confused with a finger. All the better to hold onto the lips that nibble on my toes! Silly parents! I’m really tall, top of the charts. I have dark hair that’s getting darker every day. I have a natural side part, which works great! 

Everyone tells me I have big beautiful lips, sometimes I’m not quite sure what to do with them so they just fold in (Everyone like that.) I have a pretty cook chunk of skin attached to the top of my neck that I can rest my chin on. Everyone tells me it’s a good, healthy thing so that’s good.

What else….I love taking baths with my mommy. She calls me her little froggy because I like pushing off her tummy to go swimming in the tub. (I can’t wait to practice my skills at the place you call Lake Powell.)

Daddy calls me intense sometimes. I like to call it “sending a clear message”! That way no one is confused about what I need.

I take after daddy, in that I sometimes have toots that you could mistake for his. At first it really hurt my tummy and that’s the only thing I would fuss about! Mommy and daddy would have to help me. My daddy is a real expert at helping the gas and poopies come out I’m so glad about that! But now my tummy is doing a pretty good job without a whole lot of help.

One last, very important thing I need to tell you guys…I love my “Cougs”. I have enclosed some photos of my cheering them on in my cute outfit! I can’t wait to cheer them on with my favorite Maga and Baba!

I can’t wait for the day that I will get to smile for you guys, can’t wait until I get to be snuggled by you and smothered with kisses and loves. I miss you guys!

Thank you for serving a mission and for setting such a good example for me and all of our family! Our Father in Heaven loves you and is so grateful for your…He told me! Like I said, we’re pals.

I love you Maga and Baba!

Love your Baby Girl,

Sky (in the “Sky”… like Stars….get it?!)

Shelby……ADORABLE!!!!

Luke’s Baptism

One more thing; LUKE ROBERT MERBACK is now an official member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!!! He was baptized yesterday May 24, 2014. We are so proud of him. We hope Lukie liked the video talk on the Holy Ghost rom Maga and Baba’s special fishing picture with Luke. We thought about him all day and missed being there SO MUCH!!!

Love to you all.  

May 9th, 2014/ "The Salt of the Earth by Elder James K. Phillips

It’s already May 9^th!! How does it go so fast and yet it seems like we've been here for a year. It’s truly an enigma!

Let me share a couple highlights from this week. Monday is always Family Home Evening at the church. We generally have about 25 to 30 kids attend. When we first arrived here in January there were two FHE groups going with the Chinese having their own group. After talking to Dixon, a Chinese Brit who has taken responsibility for the Chinese, he felt there was beginning to be separation between the Chinese and the rest of the ward. We advised our ward to do away with the two groups and combine them into one FHE. It took a while to get the Chinese kids comfortable but it’s moving along. I love having them there with us.

This past Monday one of our Chinese young women gave the lesson. Her name is Meggie (they all take American names because their Chinese names are too difficult for the rest of us to say or remember). She’s beautiful, tall and speaks English well enough to communicate. She had gone to a lot of work, getting a Chinese video on YouTube (with American subtitles) about how love overcomes estrangement between a son and his father. Then Meggie shared the differences in our cultures, backed up with pictures online. She expressed how family means everything to the Chinese. She bore her testimony that it was the principle of family that opened her heart to listen to the missionaries when they first approached her 6 months before.

The most precious part came at the end of her lesson when she, in tears, shared how her parents were divorced when she was 10. In China when a man and woman marry, the wife leaves her family and goes to live in his home with his extended family. If a husband divorces his wife, she loses not only the benefits of marriage and security but also her place in his family and his home. She is completely cut off to make it on her own with no support. It’s almost unheard of for a divorced Chinese woman to ever marry again. This is what happened to Meggie’s mother. In an amazing display of vulnerability, ESPECIALLY FOR THE CHINESE, Meggie, crying, shared how their lives had been full of loneliness and hardship. She witnessed her gratitude for the hope she had found in the gospel of Jesus Christ; that families can be eternal. She witnessed that was her greatest desire!

No one stirred in the room. This was so unusual and so sacred. When she was done your father and I were able to bear witness of what our family meant to us, that EVERYTHING this world could offer, career, position, money, possessions, paled in comparison to what we found in a home where the gospel was evident and where love and respect resided. I testified that the greatest decision I ever made was the decision to be home as a full time mom. We recognized that it might not be possible for some, but where it was possible we told them to not let the world deceive them into thinking it was somehow less than. Other YSA added precious comments that were so sweet and appropriate and then we closed our meeting.

Most the YSA went upstairs to play volleyball, but the Chinese YSA stayed down in the basement. We ended up talking to just them for another 2 hours. I can’t begin to express the tender feelings of that experience. We found that a young man, one of the happiest boys I've ever met, had the same experience as Meggie. It was just he and his mom. He cried telling us how she was so alone with him here in London. Another young woman came from a home where the father physically abused her mother every day after work. She would beg her dad to divorce so her mother wouldn't have to be beat, but it continued for years. When she asked her mother why she stayed the mom answered that she stayed because of her two children. Can you imagine the guilt and heavy load that this young woman took on shoulders? We talked long about agency and personal responsibility; which neither was hers to carry and how she could begin to put it down.

We shared with them our experience with Ashlee visiting China. At the time I went I remember thinking how random it was that we went to China, of all places in the world. Now I see!!! It was so part of the Lord’s plan for us. We shared how clear back then we fell in love with the people of China and often wondered how the Lord would open the doors to allow the gospel in. Now we see what President Hinckley said coming to pass. He stated that it would quietly go forth throughout the country and a foundation would be in place ready to receive the missionaries when the doors finally open. That is happening right now! I told them I was looking at the pioneers that were going to be part of that modern day miracle. Each one of them are bright, capable, mighty spirits. On it went and when we were done there was such a feeling of love. It was a personal witness to both Jim and I of why we are here in this place at this time!

Tuesday night was once again Institute here at our flat. Last week was on the Second Coming. This week was on the Millennium! I was a bit concerned it would be a lot of me telling and them listening because there is so much to learn. But I shouldn't have worried. There were so many questions!!!! I realize that this is a subject that is not discussed in depth near enough in the church. It ended up being a fabulous evening full of learning and discussion. Instead of the kids leaving here with dread, they left excited with what their part could be in getting ready for the greatest events in all the creation. A couple days after class, one of our Chinese students posted, “Sister Phillips I’m preparing right now for his coming!” Can’t ask for better result than that.

Thursday was our dinner which I’m getting so much better at; not stressing near as much this second time around. And I’m getting lots more involvement in the kitchen. It so reminds me of home, everyone always gathered around the island talking. That’s what is happening here. Great conversations!

Thursday was also significant because after dinner we had our meeting with the Stake Presidency on our Re-activation Plan. We went with our two stake YSA Reps; Tom and Jade, who we adore. We were anxious to get their response and their O.K. We shouldn't have worried. It went amazing. They loved it and its simplicity. They gave us their full support. We will begin in our ward tomorrow then present it to the rest of the stake at a Stake Bishops training meeting in two weeks. So grateful for their support!

Friday we took a P-Day!!! Hurrah!!! We went to the Tower of London!!! What a sight! First of all it’s HUGE. It sits on 8 acres of land right on the Thames River with several towers and layers and layers of walls and a moat. It’s spectacular. Right next to it is an area called by Londoners “The City”. It’s the financial center of London. It contained huge modern buildings where most the banking and business is conducted. The City is contained in about one square mile. Picture this! The 1,000 year old rock walled prison superimposed on extreme modern glass and steel buildings that tower over it. The sight is a little mind-boggling.

Tours are given by what is known here as “The Meateaters”. They are the keepers of the tower, dressed in bizarre original uniforms. They give you the tower’s history and all the best stories and mysteries. They are hilarious and so well-informed. They aren't sure where the name “Meateater” comes from. They believe it was in given when those that guarded the tower were given no money to work there but were paid with meat to eat, a rare commodity in those days. Whereever the name came from we were just glad they were there. It added so much fun to the tour. It really is astounding the age of things here. We can’t comprehend it coming from America. It was a fun date with my sweetheart!

One last thing; tomorrow I start a Marriage Prep class that runs for 4 weeks. It’s the information off of John Lund's tapes that I feel is so vital for kids getting married. We have 4 engaged couples and 1 couple ready to get engaged that are coming. I’m excited. I love his stuff and really feel it’s beneficial (especially this first one on Content Communication!) Every couple should be required to take this class before they get married!!!

                                    NEWS BROADCAST!!! 

You will all be so proud of your dad. He has just handed me the first installment of his personal family history!!!! Yes he’s agreed to do this!!! He has so many AMAZING stories to share. What better time than when I’m keeping the blog for him to start writing his stories down. (Be sure to comment on his blog. We need to encourage him so he will continue.) This is NO SMALL THING for him. You’re going to love it!

                                   

          “The Salt of the Earth” by Elder James K. Phillips

Sister Mary Botham Salt changed my life when I was on my mission. I was a Zone Leader serving in Newcastle and working with one of my district leaders on splits that day. In the England Central Mission we tracked and tracked and tracked and this day was no different. I was trying to teach my district leader how to have success on the doors, given it was such a key to success in our mission. It was my door and as it opened a little old lady was revealed. She was cheerful and full of life and engaged with me immediately. I felt something special from her and asked if we could come in and share a message about Jesus Christ and explain why we had come to England for two years. She said she was a good member of the Church of England and very active. I don’t remember what I said that got us in the door but I remember feeling the Spirit touching her enough to trust us to come in. For a little old English lady to let two young men into her house was very unusual.

I bore testimony of the Restoration and how much it had changed my life. I told her that I was a Catholic but knew that Heavenly Father had once again spoken to a modern day prophet. I testified that Jesus set up his original Church with Apostles and Prophets and he’d done it again in our time through Joseph Smith. This prophet was given a book called the Book of Mormon and I asked her to read it to discover for herself if it was truly a book from God. She said she would and I knew she meant it. We said our good byes and I felt strongly that she would join the Church. We set an appointment to have our district leaders continue to teach her.

I walk away from that house with a spiritual witness and a closeness to this wonderful sister that I can’t explain. I told my district leader that I wanted him to report directly to me on her progress every week. They taught her most of the discussion but then contacted me to tell me they had decided she wouldn't be worth teaching anymore because she wasn't progressing. When I received that message on call-ins I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I told the district leader that we’d take her and continue teaching. I bore my testimony to this elder that Heavenly Father was going to teach him a great lesson about whose work this really was and that until he learned it he wouldn't be successful.

We taught this grand lady. It became one of my most cherished experiences on my mission. The Elder that wrote Sister Salt off was at her baptism as I laid this precious sister gently down in the waters of baptism. She was in her late 70’s when she was baptized. It was a baptism I would never forget. I loved this sister.

I was transferred out of Newcastle and into the Mission Home in Birmingham soon after her baptism where I became immersed in the work there. One day I received a phone call from her nonmember daughter. Her daughter told me that the last year had been the happiest year of her mother’s long life. She informed me that her mother had died the day before. The reason for her call was to honor her mother's last request that I speak at her funeral that was to be held in Newcastle. I was overwhelmed with sorrow that my friend had passed on.  I also knew what I was being asked to do. I began fasting and praying for the direction the Lord wanted me to take, given who would be attending that funeral. Sister Salt was not only the salt of the earth but also a beloved leader and friend to hundreds of people from her former Church of England congregation.

I received permission to go and deliver that funeral address from President Reed L. Reeve, my mission president. When we drove up to the Newcastle Chapel parking lot we found it filled to overflowing. I walked into that Chapel and saw a congregation of non-members sitting alongside the ward members who had also fallen in love with Sister Salt.

I gave an address that God gave me that day. He gave it to me because of His great love for Sister Salt. The spirit of the Lord was so strong and his message powerful to everyone in that room, witnessing that what Sister Salt had believed was true.

The missionaries baptized for months after her passing from those touched by the spirit at her funeral. Best of all was how the very missionary that had written her off became one of the most successful missionaries in our mission; all because of the example of one little old lady; Sister Mary Botham Salt.  

Moving Forward With Rescue/ Grandma and Grandpa Harbor’s Conversion

It feels like we've been here for months and yet the weeks continue to fly by. It feels like I just wrote in this blog two days ago yet here we are again. It’s crazy!

We continue to press forward. For the past couple weeks we've been working on putting together a program to help “rescue” the less active YSA in our stake. It’s daunting and very complicated. Having Britannia Ward makes it even more so. There are many YSA that have moved their records from their home wards in the Stake to Britannia but are inactive or unaccounted for. We have 8 wards in our stake, all with large numbers of less-active YSA. And usually if the ward’s YSA are active they attend Britannia so there’s no one to help the Bishop and ward fellowship those left in the home wards.

Also recently I have come to realize that now with the world wide culture of kids getting married later and later it gives the adversary a much greater opportunity to slowly pull them away from activity because there’s nothing anchoring them to the church. Even when they have testimonies it’s hard to live the gospel only for them and they feel there isn't a place for a single person in this church. More about this later.

Another issue is distance. Because Britannia is for the whole stake we have many members having to travel 1 ½ hours on the tube just to get to church. Can you imagine the difficulty in trying to Visit and Home Teach our YSA or fellowship them when it takes that long just to get there?!

We had another eye opening experience last night. There is a 29 year old woman in our ward who Jim and I both adore. She’s a fire-cracker; full of personality. Her voice is straight out of the Phillips family; it’s a rug rat husky voice that I adore. We have been concerned with her because of her spotty attendance, which didn't add up to who we felt she was. Last week Jim had a chance to do his magic with her, loving on her and seeking to understand what’s up in her life. She started to really cry. We asked her to meet with us last night.

It was a fabulous night on so many levels. We now have a friend for life. We were able to deal with her feelings of unworthiness that was holding her back and she was able to add a much needed insight into challenges for the older set of YSA in our ward.

She has really struggled for the last year. She felt unworthy even though she had gone through the repentance process. She had lost confidence that she could fully live the gospel. She was despairing and felt stuck, having lost hope of more. Of course that’s a perfect prescription for the adversary to go to work. It had gotten to the point that she was even questioning her testimony. Then, after talking to Jim this week, she had a precious experience that she shared with us last night.

There’s a vendor who sells fruits and veggies outside the entrance to the tube that she takes every day. He’s friendly and chatty and always greets her and takes time to talk with her. They have become friends. He had seen her Friday night all dressed to kill. It was obvious that she was going out on the town. The next morning he saw her again and told her she looked pretty darn good for being out on the town the night before and then asked if she’d gotten wasted. She told him she didn't drink and he asked her why. She explained about her membership in the church and a religious discussion ensued with her telling him about our second witness to Jesus Christ found in the Book of Mormon. He immediately said he wanted to read it. In fact he told her not to show up again without the book in hand.

She ended up going to Hyde Park and getting him a copy where she placed her testimony inside. Her words to us, “It made me remember my testimony and how deeply I still believe. It was an amazing coincidence.” I looked at her with tears in my eyes and said, “That was no coincidence. You've got to know and recognize the Lord orchestrated that for YOU and that He is so aware of your pain and struggles.” She begin to cry with me. The Spirit filled the room and there was no doubt to any of us that this was all planned perfectly to help her “remember”!

She is the perfect example of what our older YSA are dealing with here. We have a huge sub-set of YSA that are 27-31 years old. They've served for years in Britannia but are feeling burned out, feeling too old to be there and that there’s nothing left for them in Britannia Ward. They are slowly slipping into inactivity. She confirmed what we are seeing. Most the major callings in our ward are the younger YSA. I’m not sure if it’s because they are more willing or if the leadership wants to give them the experience of these callings. We have this group of older YSA who should be leading this ward forward with added maturity and experience, but instead they are casually sitting on the fringes or not coming at all. IT’S SO FRUSTRATING!!

We've got this friend, along with another older guy in our ward, putting together a list of these older YSA, many that we have not even met. We can’t lose these kids. They are converted, but discouraged and feeling hopeless and unneeded. But we NEED them. We want to gather them together at our flat and get their feedback on what we can do to meet their needs and what we can do to reengage them in this work. I FEEL the Lord’s love for them and it’s breaking my heart. These aren't kids that don’t have testimonies. They are converted!! We just can’t lose them. There’s got to be a way. Pray for us to be inspired on how to bring them back.

Back to my initial reference to putting together a program aimed at rescue. We have come to realize that if the reaching out is not coming from the home wards it will fail. Yet our home ward Bishops here are overloaded with other concerns. There isn't much space in their focus for young adults who don’t want to come to church. We've tried to figure out what resources we have that could help, without burdening those already burdened. It’s a must to have a YSA rep that is still attending their home ward but we knew we needed more than that. Jim was the one who realized we have an underutilized talent pool in Senior Missionaries and sets of missionaries assigned to each ward in our Stake. What a powerful resource they could be to help find, support and fellowship the kids the YSA reps are trying to bring back.

All this hinged on President Jordan agreeing to let us use his missionaries.

Monday we got a surprise call from the President Jordan asking if we wanted to go with them to Costco. OF COURSE! I always need to go to Costco! Our first thought was how this would give us a chance to broach the topic of Rescue that included their missionaries. We really didn't know how he would respond.

We had a great conversation with them going up. They had just returned from Frankfurt where a Mission Presidents Conference had been held. He shared some amazing, powerful learning with us. Jim was even able to help him with a couple ideas of application to our mission.

On the way home we carefully brought up what we had been working on and how we had felt inspired to use every resource available, which had led us to the conclusion that the greatest resource was with the missionaries. We explained how we thought we could utilize their help. Without a hesitation President Jordan said, “DONE! You can have my Elders on Wednesday nights and can use my Seniors whenever they are willing.”

We were blown away. It was just that simple.

We got home from Costco and just fell to our knees in gratitude for a visionary mission president and the Lord’s hand in leading this forward. You have no idea what a gift this truly was!

Our last person to get buy-in from is President Phillips. We will need his support to get the Bishops to move forward and get the Reps called. We meet with him Thursday!

Sorry! I hope this wasn't boring. This is our reality we are living right now. It’s constantly pressing on our minds. We know this is why we are here!

Grandma and Grandpa Harbor’s Conversion

I've gotten in the habit of listening to General Conference talks when I am getting ready in the morning. This morning it was a talk from the Sunday afternoon session talking about recording the conversion stories of our ancestors for our children and grandchildren. I realized that although I've told our children about my Grandma Nellie’s parents converting to Mormonism, I have never written it down. When I heard the talk today I felt inspired to record it for our grandchildren.

My great-grandfather William Harber (born 1871 in Queensland Australia) was a young man when he first laid eyes on the beautiful petite Miss Mary Louise Higgs (born 1872 in Birmingham England, but having moved to Australia) at a town dance. In that very first instant he fell head over heels in love with Mary and turning to his friend told him there stood the girl that he would marry.

They courted for several months and were married, eventually raising 8 children, their 6^th being our Grandma Nellie.

They were 33 and 32 years old and had 4 children, when my Great-grandmother was called to go and assist her sister in another town who was having a very difficult pregnancy. Grandpa Harber warned her before she left about “those Mormon missionaries” that were out and about. He very explicitly told her to be on guard and stay away from them. Their preacher had informed them that they were up to no good.

She left him at home where he continued to work. She was gone several weeks. While she was at her sister’s house she did indeed run into “those Mormon missionaries”. They seemed so sincere and nice that she decided to disregard her husband’s warning and listen to their message. It wasn't long before she knew what they taught was true. With a burning testimony in her bosom, she was baptized in 1904.

On her trip home she agonized how she was going to tell her husband what she had done. Finally she arrived home and broke down in tears telling him that she had disobeyed him and had been baptized into the Mormon Church. To her shock he began to laugh with joy.

Unbeknownst to her, William had also met “those Mormon missionaries” and had listened, was convinced of the truth and had been baptized while she was gone. In total surprise and joy they rejoiced together that, independent of one another, they had found the truth.

My Grandma Nellie was born in 1907 and shortly after the Harber family took their infant and 5 older children on a ship from Australia to America, where they settled first in Richfield Utah and then on to San Bernardino, California where my Grandpa Harber designed and built the Stake Center that is still in use today!

I never met my Great-grandfather. He died in 1947. I have a vague memory of my Great-grandmother. I remember thinking how tiny she was and I was only 5 when she passed away. What I do remember is how my Grandma Nellie ADORED her parents. She would always tell us that there was no finer people ever born than her parents! Seven of their eight children remained faithful in the gospel until the day they died.

Their daughter and my grandma Nellie Louis Harber Splaine was a priceless influence in my life, cherished by her grandchildren and great grandchildren alike. I can’t wait for the day I will see her again!

Hurray!!! Another blog complete. Oh how we love each one of you and continue to pray for each of you by name. We pray you can feel our love for you and our deepest desire that you will hold tight to the rod of iron, remain true and find the joy in your life. We are so grateful for our family!!! Love you all! 

Our First Easter Sunday

I just lost 3 hours of work on this blog. I'm devastated! I really just want to walk away from this and wait to write next week...but I promised. This will be short. Still I need to make a  record of a couple things that have happened this week. (I really don't know how Nephi was able to make a SECOND set of records for the Book of Mormon. Obvious to me he was a far better person than I!)

I mentioned last week what a fabulous Easter week it had been. It was culminated on Saturday night. Jim and I caught a train that took us up to Watford, where we caught a taxi to meet up with the Johnsons at Toby's Carvery, a fun restaurant. They are the YSA Senior couple over the Watford stake. They have the next highest number of YSA at 35. We've been able to exchange ideas for activities, but no one in the mission can help me with the food. Even Sister Johnson doesn't do full meals, but more snack and finger food for their YSA. With them they had friends visiting from Boise who, by time dinner was over, were ready to put in their mission papers. This work is contagious! They were smittened yet overwhelmed at the same time with what we do. It's so fun to talk to other Seniors working in this mission to find out about what is working and  how they are accomplishing their goals.

After dinner we had to catch another taxi that took us to the Stake Center where Rob Gardner's "Lamb of God" was being performed. It was led by a young man (just aged out of YSA) and YSA from all over the UK. It had a full orchestra, solos and choir. I kept my expectations in check, having no idea what to expect. I already knew I absolutely loved the music. It's powerful and so spiritual, but it has to be sung beautifully and it's not easy music to sing. We had several instrumentalists and a couple vocalists from our ward in it and wanted to support them.

Was I in for a huge surprise. It was AMAZING!!! The soloists couldn't have been better. The orchestra was lovely and the spirit was abundant. It was so worth the hassle and money to get there. WE LOVED IT and were so grateful we had gone!! That night my heart was filled to overflowing in gratitude for the gift Christ gave to the world that Easter morn!

The next day, Easter, we tagged along with the Davis', our office missionaries, to the Stratford ward to hear Kenny give his farewell talk. It's no small thing to go there. It's an hour and a half tube and train ride. The actual chapel is in the suburb of Ilford, a predominantly black community that is full of gangs and graffiti. When we got there and had to walked to the chapel it felt a little dicey and intimidating, until we entered the chapel doors. Immediately we were sweep up by the members. We had a couple Britannia ward members that had come home for Easter, along with Kenny and Tai, take us and introduce us to everyone. Hugs all around! We met the very handsome, very young Bishop who we needed to get on our side for his support with the YSA. It worked!

In their chapel there were no pews, but folding chairs. They had no one to play the piano so they just came and grabbed me to play. Because it was Easter many of the African women came in their native clothes, headdress and all so the chapel was filled with bright colors and dark faces. Ninety percent of the ward is black, most the adults from Africa. When they sang it was off key but full of enthusiasm and zeal. IT WAS SO FUN! You all would have loved it!!

Kenny gave a wonderful talk. His mission will be blessed by his humor and enthusiasm. He's a darling young man. After we went to Elder Davis' Gospel Principles class that was filled with missionaries, 3 investigators, ward mission leaders and us. Elder Davis did a fabulous job and there was lots of participation. Then on to Relief Society. Girls you would have died to be there. The Relief Society President, one of only a handful of white members, gave the lesson on "Believing Christ". She did a marvelous job, very spirit filled. But the best part were the comments by the African sisters. These are women dealing with heart wrenching adversities (including the twins' mom) yet they are so faith-filled and passionate about the gospel and their comments were wise and deep. I was in heaven!

After church the ward did a Munch and Mingle in honor of the boys leaving. It was obvious they don't have many young men leave from that ward to go serve missions so Kenny and Tai going to serve was a BIG DEAL! What a spread! There was so much food, many dishes I'd never seen or tasted before, but all so good. It was noisy, wild and crazy. And there we were, right in the middle of it all, having a blast. Over in the corner was Jim inviting two of Kenny's friends to attend mission prep, with Kenny laughing as he told Elder Phillips they weren't even members. That didn't stop Jim. He told them to come anyway! We actually did get 2 young men to commit to come. 

When everyone had eaten they asked if Kenny and Tai would bear their testimonies. It was precious because, although they don't have a lot of teenage boys in this ward, there are lots of older primary boys. As these precious Elders bore their witness that they knew they'd been called to serve and then a witness that the gospel was true, the younger boys sat mesmerized, not moving. What a powerful example never to be forgotten by these young men. 

Being a part of this made me homesick for the family wards I grew up in out in the mission field. When you live in the mission field your ward truly becomes your family, your safe harbor from the world. It was so apparent that's exactly what this ward meant to all of them. It was their family! We loved being there and felt it an honor to be included.

There's more but I'm so done! I kept my promise.

I want you to know that we continue to minister. So many needs. But we are finding greater joy the longer we are here. There are many things we need to improve on and get better at, but the one thing we do well is LOVE THESE KIDS!!! And they know it! That's why we are here! Tonight we have a meeting with our Stake YSA REPS to finalize our plan we want to present to the Stake and Mission President for rescuing our Lost Lambs. How I wish I had our picture over the fireplace. It so represents our feelings about this. We have pondered and prayed and tried to simplified this plan for several weeks and pray it will be accepted and supported. This weekend is the final tweaking before presenting it to Presidents Phillips and Jordan next week. Pray for us.

Know we miss you EVERY day. It is a true sacrifice leaving you all behind! We pray for each one of you many times a day. Know that if we've earned any blessings from service we are sending them your way. Love to all.

Stake Conference, Easter Week and a Life Lesson on"Regret"

It's fun to be new enough on our mission to continue to have "Firsts". Last week was our first General Conference. This week it was Stake Conference and in two days our first Easter. Holidays and vacation time are going to be the most difficult being away from family. I treasure our traditions that bind! At one of our Family Home Evenings the YSA went around and asked what family traditions they had growing up and I was AMAZED at how few had any. It's such a high value for me to have "Events" that we can count on, cling to and depend on that make our family who we are. It makes me happy to watch our children using some of the traditions they grew up with and creating their own traditions within their new families. It really is powerful and I miss sharing them with you!

It's been a nice week. We've had no Institute because of Spring Break so that means no lesson on Tuesday and no dinner on Thursday; two huge responsibilities off our shoulders. I've needed the break but realize that the "LOAD" (as Elder Bednar calls it) is part of this experience and I need to more fully embrace it and be glad for it. Still this has been a very nice break.

Our Stake Conference Saturday night session was amazing. President Phillips wasn't there. He's been gone for 3 weeks so they proceeded without him. The highlight of the Saturday night meeting was our Helen. She's Chinese and the one whose mother was converted over Skype. Her mom was actually here to hear Helen speak. Helen has only been a member for 5 months but she got up and spoke as if she'd done that sort of thing her whole life. Her English is very good and she was articulate and so spiritual. After the meeting I went and hugged her and expressed my gratitude for what she's said. Her reply, "I just want to be worthy to be His mouthpiece." Then she burst into tears. I cried right along with her and told her she HAD been his voice that night. It was so sweet. I adore this young, beautiful woman.

You all know how I've been so concerned about the YSA choir for the Sunday Meeting. I'd had about 55 kids the week before but knew that several of them that attended were not going to be there the following week for Conference. (Spring Break; all the kids road trip). I had no idea what I was going to end up with that morning. Our rehearsal was for 9:00 a.m. To my utter amazement I had just as many kids there that morning than the week before. Our rehearsal went amazing and was SO MUCH FUN because we were actually making beautiful music. I know the kids loved it, as well.

Our Stake was stunned by the YSA's performance. It really was very beautiful, especially with only 1 1/2 rehearsals. They brought and felt the spirit. It was a true miracle. This experience should never have happened. I feel like it was such a personal gift to me. A tender reminder that after I've done all I can then I need to exercise my faith that He will provide. It was so sweet and I truly acknowledge His hand in it. (Every day in my prayers I'm pleading with the Lord that He will increase the faith I have to GREAT Faith! That, along with having the Holy Ghost always, is my daily plea.)

Monday nights are always fun here. It's our FHE and all we have to do for it is show up and bring energy and enthusiasm for whatever they have planned. For the first couple months they would have a short lesson and then play volleyball. I requested about a month ago that we need to change it up so that everyone has something to participate in. The last few weeks we've been doing silly all-inclusive games that have bonded our group. THEN we play volleyball. There's a real benefit in having just plain fun together. It's worked!

Tuesday was a gorgeous day and I asked Jim how about us taking our P-Day and taking the train up to Hatfield, about a hour away, and going to see the Hatfield House. It's the house that Queen Elizabeth 1 grew up in from the time she was a baby, basically under house arrest. She was the daughter to Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII. Her mom was beheaded and Elizabeth was kept there until her late 20's when she eventually was informed she was the new Queen of England. (There was no male heir to the throne.) We heard it had beautiful grounds and that the house was used in lots and lots of movies and that it was a must see.

We took the train, which is always an adventure, and got there around noon. When we walked through the gate to pay we were informed that the grounds were opened and they were having a sculpture exhibit through the gardens, but the house was closed. We were SO disappointed! We almost didn't pay to go in, but decided we'd come all this way we might as well. I'm SO GLAD we did. We had an hour woodland walk, another couple hours through amazing gardens, so amazing they made me cry with homesickness for my garden and the exhibit was extraordinary. We then had lunch there at an outdoor restaurant. It was a lovely lovely day, even without getting into the house itself.

Another first was on Wednesday; our first Zone Conference! One of the surprises for us about our mission is how little we have to do with our actual London Mission. We work with the missionaries, see them every day. We've become good friends with Pres. and Sister Jordan and the other senior missionaries, but our lives are really consumed by the YSA. So it was wonderful to feel like a real missionary and go to Zone Conference. We got to meet all the missionaries from our Zone and be TAUGHT and I mean TAUGHT by the Jordans. They are both fabulous teachers and leaders. I was blown away with the quality and depth of their teaching. I have a better understanding of why the Jordans have been called to preside over the London Mission, not a small assignment. It's a very high profile calling within the church. Now I know they were called because they are magnificent, even more than I had supposed. Now I understand why this is the mission in Europe that every pilot program, marketing idea etc. is past through first. They really truly are amazing and I'm so grateful to get to learn from them. It's an honor to be here in this mission at this time.

Last night was a rare first for me. We have, as one of our Visitor Center's senior missionaries, Elder Ohman. He was on the BYU Music faculty as an Organist and instructor. One of his unique skills is his ability to play the organ for silent movies. Last night the Visitor Center had an open night to the public showing Cecil B. DeMille's movie "King of Kings, a two hour black and white silent movie on the ministry and death of Christ. I LOVE Elder Ohman. We've become very good friends, but I actually wasn't too excited about sitting 2 hours through a silent film. OMG it was amazing! The movie itself was campy and old fashioned, but it truly testified of Christ. And Elder Ohman was unbelievable. You need to understand there is NO WRITTEN MUSIC. He just improvises as the movie unfolds, adjusting the music to what's happening on screen. It is a lost art form. It was magic to watch (they had a screen on his hands so we could watch him play, along with a huge screen with the movie on it). I also didn't know how many would come but we probably had 250 people there. It was a huge success and so appropriate for this upcoming Easter Sunday. Along with King of Kings we are going tomorrow to a production of Rob Gardner's Lamb of God. It's absolutely gorgeous music that I hope will be done well. It's being put on by Wadsworth stake with YSA participating from all over the UK. To top all this off I have been reading this week Bill O'Riley's "Killing Jesus", the historical and political history of the time of Christ and how all things collided to make the conditions perfect that would allow Christ to be crucified. Christ has been such a center of everything I've been involved with this week that I've actually been dreaming about the Savior for the last few nights. What a marvelous way to prepare for Easter. It's been powerful.

REGRETS

So this week I've been thinking about regrets and what we have said to each of our children as they went to serve their missions, "No regrets!" This saying has become our mantra, as well. My children know of an experience I had when I was at BYU that was a pivotal experience for me. It literally changed the way I have lived my life. As so many of my deepest learning experiences have been, I learned the horrible weight of regret from a tragic experience.

My sophomore year at BYU I lived at Sparks Apartments. Right next door we had a mom, her daughter and daughter's friend move in. The mom's name was Ladorna. She and her family had lived in Laguna Beach until a recent divorce sent Ladorna back to college to get her degree in Art. Her daughter was just starting BYU and was playing tennis on a scholarship. It was odd because it was Ladorna, not her daughter, who became my good friend. I found out that Ladorna's husband had been a Bishop who had had an affair with one of Ladorna's good friends in the ward. Ladorna had 3 daughters, the older two left the church over his affair and her youngest who she was living with was the only one who had stayed active in church. It was a such a sad situation.

We remained good friends that whole year. My junior year Ladorna moved into nicer apartments and I didn't see her again until our Senior year when we were placed in the same Teaching Certification module for the whole semester. I would see her everyday. It was there that she told me about another tragedy that had come into her life. Her tennis star daughter had just been diagnosed with cancer and was very sick. I was heart-broken for Ladorna. I remember thinking how much can one woman take? Through the semester LaDorna kept me appraised of her daughter's status.

It was a cold late afternoon in the dead of winter when Ladorna took me home from our class in her car (I walked everywhere. No car for me!) We were sitting talking when she turned to me and said she had a favor to ask. She told me what a difficult time she was having keeping her daughter's spirit up, especially with the cold, dreary winter weather. She told me that I was such a bright force of energy that she just knew I could make a big difference to her daughter if I would just come visit her and bring some light. I told LaDorna that I could do that for her and I really intended to.

Here was the problem. I was carrying 21 credits that semester. I was Activities Chairman for our ward AND bottom line I really didn't know the daughter and had no idea what I should say. It was an uncomfortable situation to walk into. It was very easy to just put it off. Our semester ended and so did my daily interaction with Ladorna. Eventually I forgot all about it.

That is until my last semester at BYU, a summer session that would allow me to graduate in August. I was sitting in a General Ed Class; Humanities 101 that I needed to finish up. I was bored so I opened the Daily Universe, BYU's newspaper, and there on page 4 was an announcement that Ladorna's daughter, BYU Tennis Star, had succumbed to cancer at the age of 20. I sat there stunned and then the tears came. I got up and walked out of class, got on my bike and begin peddling to Ladorna's apartment, crying as I rode. My heart was broken for her and I was filled with shame.

For the first time in my life I recognized what true regret felt like. I would go and beg Ladorna for forgiveness for not doing a simple act of kindness. I would offer her my sympathy and tears. But no matter what I did or said it was too late, eternally too late to do the one thing that would have made any difference for Ladorna. Her daughter was gone and anything that mattered that I could have offered was gone with her.

I realized that what I was feeling is what hell would be; the recognition of what we might have been. I made a vow that day that I would never shy away from a difficult situation simply because I was uncomfortable or didn't know what words to say. I vowed that I would try to live my life that at its close I could look back and not regret the choices I had made or actions I had taken. I NEVER wanted to feel the way I was feeling that afternoon ever again.

Forty years later I can say that my regrets are limited. My main regrets are not for the things I've done, but more for the things I was not diligent about. I have truly tried to keep my promise to myself to not shy away from hard situations. I've come to realize that there are no right words, only love, that matters. I've learned that no matter how careful I am to do what's right I make mistakes. But those mistakes can be swallowed up in the gift of the atonement. It's only deepened my gratitude for the mercy and grace of my Savior. For all these lessons learned I am grateful. And it all started with Ladorna.

I hope and pray that someday I can thank Ladorna, face to face, that though I failed her in her greatest time of need the lesson I learned was not in vain. It changed my life forever!

First General Conference on our Mission!

It's early Saturday morning and I'm just now getting started on this blog. It's been an intense week of counseling, teaching and feeding our kids, but it's been good! I just couldn't make myself sit down yesterday and do this. Writing this blog takes more energy and focus than you would suppose. I'm grateful I promised to write because I think otherwise sometimes I would let it go. I remember feeling the same way with missionary letters. But the love overrides the fatigue. And I KNOW how much I would regret it. Also your sweet encouraging comments help motivate and keep me writing! Thank you for taking the time to let me know you are reading and enjoying our experience with us.

How about last weekend's General Conference? It was amazing. And you are right Tanner! There is something so precious about hearing the words of the prophets when you are serving full time.

Our schedule for conference here is crazy. Our first session was live of the Saturday morning, only our first session started at 5:00 p.m. Sunday morning we had Priesthood session from 10-12:00. Saturday Evening session was from 1-3:00 p.m. on Sunday and Sunday morning session was live here from 5-7:00 p.m. Sunday evening. They don't broadcast the last session because it would be from 9-11:00 so we have to pick it up on-line. (It was so fun. I had 18 lbs of chicken to shred for our Thursday night dinner so I took my pot of cooked chicken breasts and sat in front of the computer and listened to the last session of conference. Just as the session ended I was finished shredding all the chicken. Now THAT'S the way to make a job go quickly.)

You all know that I'm suppose to conduct a choir for Stake Conference tomorrow morning. It had been a total disaster. Last Saturday we ended up going to Costco with the Jordans. I expressed gratitude for letting us use a few of the sister missionaries to sing and then jokingly asked if they had any Elders that could sing. Sister Jordan was so cute. She offered to call a few Elders that she knew could sing that were serving in our stake and since they were all going to be at conference anyway she would ask them to come. I had personally emailed anyone I thought could possibly sing in our ward and told them that I would be offering our traditional conference breakfast of Swedish pancakes, strawberries and cream or homemade syrup if they would come rehearse between the conferences; 3-5:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Sunday morning I got up at 6:30 and made about 75 pancakes. I'd made the syrup and cut up the strawberries the night before. I went in to church at 11:00 to set up and was there when the men came out of Priesthood session at noon. Dad felt it was the BEST priesthood session he'd ever been to. (I have since watched it online and feel the same way. Elder Oaks' talk on priesthood, keys and woman will be a landmark talk. I loved every single talk in that session!) We then attended the session from 1-3. After it was time for choir. I truly had no idea what to expect. Well, between my emails and Sister Jordan's phone calls was I surprised! We probably had 50 kids there Sunday. It was a miracle. I went from a handful of kids to a full choir. I had 1 hour to teach two songs. Luckily they were both pretty simple and they picked them up pretty fast.

We had our brunch and cleaned up. Then we were back to our last session (your Sunday morning) that was fabulous. When conference was over we had a baptism (we have a baptism EVERY Sunday). By this time (around 8:00 p.m.) I was drooping and ready to go home. It had been a long, intense day that had begun 14 hours before. As we were leaving one of our girls that we knew, but not well, grabbed my hand and asked if she could just walk home with us, that she badly needed to talk to parents. As we walked and I heard her story my heart was filled with compassion. I hurt for some of our kids. Their stories would break your heart. I can't go into detail, but this beautiful 28 year old has been keeping her family together through horrendous trials for years. She was tired, lonely and just wanting to get married and let someone else carry the heavy load. She ended up staying for a couple hours. It was magic watching Jim be a daddy and give wise and prudent counsel to her. I literally watched as her shoulders came up and light filled her face. She had some hope as she walked out the door. How badly these kids need hope. The world presses hard here. Lots of our kids have little or no family support, especially financially. They have to work SO HARD to simply get by. It's such an added stress. So many broken homes. Because many are converts they are having to figure out how to apply and live the gospel on their own. I realize how badly they need our example of what marriage looks like and to just have access to a mom and dad. That's being called on all the time. That's why we both live in fear of not having the Spirit. We never know when we will be called on for help or to give a blessing or just listen and advise. It's a huge responsibility that we don't take lightly.

As the first girl left, there stood another at the door. Our crazy Sunday ended after midnight. What a day; our first General Conference as full time missionaries!!!

Tuesday night was Institute here and it was a great class. Our numbers were down to 19 because Spring Break has begun here. In fact for the next two weeks there will be no Institute and NO DINNERS!!! What a wonderful break for me. I think our Tuesday class is so much more than a gospel class. It is such a sweet opportunity for kids to gather in a home, once again to feel like family. We have to kick them out or they would stay all night.

Thursday was a new experience. I have a young Chinese man, Dixon, who has helped me in the kitchen since I came. His background is crazy. He was born in Hong Kong where he lived until 10. His parents, who were already members, moved here to London where he has lived ever since. His accent is a mix of Chinese and British and I have to really listen to understand him. I LOVE DIXON! He single handedly shepherds our Chinese members and he watches out for me. All he knows how to do is serve. Because it was his spring break this past week he offered to make dinner Thursday. His whole family's hobby is cooking. Dixon is a master chef and cooks amazing Asian dishes. So I bought the ingredients and met him and a couple of his Chinese friends Thursday afternoon and it began. We ended up with 5 people chopping and chopping and chopping. We made enough Vietnamese chicken salad to feed 70. That is no small feat. And it was GOOD!! (Dad didn't touch it. The base was cabbage). I was so pleased that almost all the kids LOVED it! They were so cute with him. After he told me it was a lot of work but if they enjoyed it then it was worth it. It was a fun experience working in the kitchen with a few Chinese YSA, an American YSA girl that I've adopted and then two Senior missionaries came in to help. It was crazy and fun.

As you know Jim teaches on Thursday nights the Mission Prep class. He's had in his class two twins. These are BIG black young men that are like giant teddy bears. They are 24 years old and both decided together it was time to go serve. I told you about their girlfriends and Jim's plea to the girls to help get them safely on their missions. He promised they would all be blessed in this life and eternally by Kenny and Tai's choice to go serve. They received their calls; one to Manchester England the other to Scotland. Easter Sunday is Kenny's farewell in Stratford, a ward on the outskirts of our stake. It's great timing. We want to attend to hear Kenny's farewell, but also to have the boys introduce us to the YSA in their ward. Since we have the next two weeks off from other time-consuming activities we want to focus on the inactive YSA from the wards outside of Britannia. What a better way than to meet the Bishop, talk to prospective missionaries and be introduced to some of the kids by these boys we adore and have invested in. We will sorely miss Kenny and Tai's enthusiasm for the gospel and their love they share with us.

Let me tell you about yesterday. It was a day of miracles. We've told you about Ziyed, the 34 year old Lebanese man that Jim has been teaching. He has continued to progress. There has been a hitch though. Last week we found out that Ziyed, like every other Mid-easterner, smokes. What's added to the difficulty is he lives with a chain smoker that never quits smoking all day long. It's made it almost impossible for Ziyed to stop.

Yesterday we had a teaching appointment with him at the church where he shared this story. He told us the day before, unbeknownst to him, his flatmate went to his doctor requesting nicotine patches. The roommate came home and informed Ziyed that he was going to stop smoking! Joyfully Ziyed said he wanted to quit also so they are going to share the patches and work on this together. Now you must understand the flatmate has no idea of Ziyed's gospel quest. He's doing it simply for health reasons, but what a tender mercy that was totally recognized by Ziyed as a gift from God. He also bore a witness to another whispering of the spirit. A little context first. Ziyed is a student of the bible. This man KNOWS the scriptures and has studied them his whole life. His questions for the sisters and for Jim are DEEP and penetrating, not superficial EVER! Two days previous as he was reading the Book of Mormon he said very clearly the spirit whispered, "Stop making this difficult!" He said he heard it twice. He looked at us and said, "So I am believing!" My answer to him was that the Lord WANTS us to ask questions, that questions are good. But it's the way we ask that makes all the difference. One who questions without wanting to find answers will never find the truth. But one who asks questions with the desire to find and understand makes it possible for the spirit to testify to the truth when they hear it. I told Ziyed that his questions have always been ones seeking to know. We love this man. He will be a great leader and we feel God's love for him. It was such a sweet meeting.

Last night we had another miracle. I can't go into detail, but we have two young people in our ward that used to date. They broke up a year ago and it has caused the young woman to go into a tail-spin, to the point that she's had difficulty coming to church. This young woman has been one of the pillars of our ward. It's a huge loss to not have her feel she can come to church. They really haven't spoken since the break up. We realized that in order for understanding and healing to occur we needed to get them together and do a GROW session.

We knew it would truly take a miracle to undo a year of deep hurt and misunderstanding. We gathered together last night at 7:00. It took four and a half hours, but at the end there was resolution and forgiveness. You have no idea how powerful it was to watch two truly wonderful, but hurt YSA that we love able to tell their truths and be reconciled. Your father did a masterful job that was totally driven by the spirit. I felt the spirit striving with us the whole night. It was this power that allowed the healing.

Today I awoke to this email:
Thank you sincerely for making a miracle happen. With most sincere gratitude and respect and love from my heart!

It really, truly was a miracle that again confirms to us the great love the Lord has for these young people and how we must be willing to give our best to serve them any way we can.

Tanner, once again we hope you had a wonderful 30th birthday. Dad said he saw you all on Google at dinner together. That's when I'm so sad we can't be with you to celebrate and rejoice together. THIRTY YEARS OLD!!! How in the world is my baby 30 years old? It just tells me how OLD I AM!!! Tanner you are now truly and officially a GROWN-UP!

We ask for your prayers. Pray that my kids in choir from last week will show up tomorrow morning! Pray we will have the energy, both physically and emotionally, to continue in this work. Pray that Ziyed will be able to stop smoking. Pray for Kenny and Tai as they go out to serve. Pray that each one of you individually will hold tightly to the rod of iron, that you will continue to love and serve the Lord. And pray that all our grandchildren will be protected from the world and grow in their testimonies. Our deepest desire is that we can all sit down together in the Lord's presence when our life is done. Heaven won't be heaven without each of you there with us. We love and pray for you daily. I hope you can feel our missionary prayers in your behalf. I've always known how blessed we are as a family but never more than now! We owe the Lord EVERYTHING!!!

Forty Years!!!!

I haven't much time today to devote to our blog. We are taking a Costco run (1 hour 15 minutes there; 1 hour 15 minutes back) with Pres. and Sister Jordan. If we keep these up the Jordans they will be our best friends! (Actually we truly love ALL the Senior couples here. They are diverse in talents, personalities and gifts, but every one of them love the Lord and are committed to serving Him with their best stuff! How can you NOT love people like that?)

Last week was devoted to writing down our family miracles. It was such a sweet experience "remembering". The day I wrote that blog just happened to be our 40th Anniversary. Forty years!!! Now THAT is a significant number. Ashlee I truly loved your anniversary post. It made me cry. Those same words have come out of my mouth! I, too, don't know where Starla ends and Jim begins. Who we are is so entwined that I truly believe my heart would cease to beat without him. He is the love and light of my life and now, more than ever, I rejoice and thank the Lord that my life is linked ETERNALLY with his.

To celebrate our anniversary we decided to see "Wicked". I've seen it with all the girls, but it's been years ago. Jim had NEVER seen it so I was very excited to take him. Another plus is the lead, "Glenda" is played by Savannah Stevenson who just happens to be a YSA member of the Britannia ward. (I'd never met her. The show's schedule keeps her from attending right now). She's been a huge endorsement for the church here in London and is a beautiful girl.

The Whites (the couple that came to see us at Christmas) told us a clever plan. They said that if we were willing to go at 8:00 am and stand in line the box office would open at 10:00 am and usually had left over front row VIP tickets that they would sell for discount of only 29.00 pounds. Since I was writing the blog that morning Jim volunteered to go and stand in line.

Now you all know your dad. Within a couple minutes he'd made friends with the people waiting. On one side was a girl that had literally seen the show over 100 times. Her name was Amanda and she was actually there to buy tickets for a friend. They became fast friends. She was the one who told Jim the exact BEST SEATS in the show. On the other side was Sasha and Mandy. Sasha was from Croatia and Mandi was a Brit. They had met at a hotel in Canada because Mandi is a flight attendant and Sasha worked at the hotel she would stay at. They had such a darling friendship and were outrageously funny and flamboyant. They, also, had seen the show dozens of times. Jim said it ended up being a party as they waited in line.

Jim got there early enough to get his pick of tickets. We were dead center, front row. When the show started we were probably 12 feet from the actors. I felt like we were onstage with the cast. IT WAS AMAZING! More about that in a minute.

Jim came home with the tickets, I finished the blog and we got ready and went to The British Museum. It is an amazing building full of artifacts from Egypt, Greece, Rome etc. We went through the ones that followed up on what we'd seen on our cruise. We decided that for it to be meaningful you really need a guide. Poor Jim has a very hard time just looking! Then we went to Covent Garden. It's an area of London full of shops, restaurants and street shows. It's electric with energy and showcased different performers on every corner. We ate dinner there and then made our way to the theater.

The show was fantastic. We sat next to Mandi and Sasha who loved watching Jim as much as the show and had continuous commentary that was almost as entertaining as the show itself. Savannah was amazing; a perfect Glenda. Elsaba was the understudy but I thought she was fabulous. Being so close you could see every nuance, facial expressions, details of the amazing costumes and feel the energy coming off the actors. It really was fabulous. Best of all, your father LOVED the show.

Afterwards, Sasha and Mandi took us up to the stage door where the actors come out from so we could meet Savannah. While we were standing there a very handsome couple walked up and in American accents asked where we were from. When we said Orem, they told us they were from Pleasant Grove. Our tags gave us away (it happens ALL the time. Mormons are always stopping us and asking where we're from and what we're doing here). When we told the Pleasant Grove people whose name was the Singers that Savannah was LDS they stayed with all of us to meet her. We were not disappointed. Apparently Amanda (from that morning) had emailed Savannah that two Senior Missionaries were going to be there to see her. Savannah came right over and said she's seen us on the front row and had actually winked and waved at us during curtain calls. She was so gracious and allowed us to take pictures and talked with us for several minutes. We were able to meet all the leads of the show. Every one of them were so down to earth and unpretentious. By time we were done we had two new Utah friends and Mandi and Sasha will be friends forever. It really was a memorable evening; our 40th wedding anniversary spent on our mission in London topping that off with seeing Wicked! Can't get better than that!

I want to share just two experiences from this week that has been full and fruitful. We are truly establishing meaningful relationships, giving prudent counsel and gaining the trust of the kids and the leaders.

Also your father has begun to be found out. He has done all his teaching with the two elders assigned to our Britannia ward. Well, I think the word is getting out. He's teaching more everyday as the missionaries realize what a treasure he is and how he can teach ANYONE! That brings me to our latest story.

Three days ago a set of sister missionaries had called to ask if Jim would come teach with them. When he walked in the building the sisters told him their investigator was late. As he walked by the other set of sisters he heard them teaching a young Christian man from Lebanon; Ziyed. This 34 year-old man really KNEW his bible and the sisters were having a hard time staying up with him. Jim introduced himself to Ziyed and they began to talk. Jim found out that for two weeks he had a strong spiritual impression to enter the church but had resisted until that moment. He had only been there for 10 minutes before Jim entered the building. That introduction ended up being a full hour long discussion and it ended with Ziyed begging Jim to stay and keep talking. He was hungering for what he was hearing. He had spent his life searching for the truth. Right on the spot he made an appointment for the next day.

When they met yesterday Jim said it was an amazing experience. One of Ziyed's first questions was how were those who never had a chance to receive the gospel going to be saved. Jim went to a scripture from the bible that he hadn't used in years but that came to his mind; 1 Peter 3:18-19 and 1 Peter 4:6. When Ziyed read it he proclaim, "This is in the bible!!! How have I never seen this in the bible?!!!! The hair on my arms are standing up!!!" Jim was able to testify of a loving Father who will give EVERY ONE OF HIS CHILDREN a chance to hear and understand. Jim taught baptisms for the dead and again showed him the scriptures in the Bible that testified of this principle; 1 Corinthians 15:29. Ziyed was overwhelmed. The whole lesson was one of questions answered and Ziyed's joy in finding answers he'd searched for his whole life.

After the discussion Jim brought him to our Institute dinner, introduced him to many of our kids, took him up to our precious Job Search missionaries; the Garners (Ziyed just lost his job. He'd managed 4 restaurants that had just been sold and he was laid off. It was all a part of God's plan. Ziyed would never have had time to search out the church working 100 hours a week. God loves and knows each of His children and opens the way for those that truly are seeking to find the truth!) And today they meet again. Jim loves this righteous man. It's been such a sweet experience.

This past Tuesday was a very difficult day for me. I woke up feeling very blue and homesick. I was tired. I felt stuck in the routine of cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping! I was feeling like I wasn't making a big enough difference. Just feeling sad. But it was more than that. I also knew I had Institute that night and that I couldn't begin to teach that class without the spirit. Yet I struggled all day. I finished preparing the lesson, finished making our dessert and cleaning the house. Then I just begged to have the spirit. The lesson was on redeeming our dead (temples), one of my favorite topics, but it was very deep subject. Right before the class was to start I had 2 different sets of missionaries call to tell us that they were bringing investigators to class (this had never happened before). I panicked. This was not a lesson for investigators but I had NO TIME to change. People were already arriving. I just prayed to be sensitive to who was there and asked Jim to add explanation as he felt inspired.

I was concerned as I taught, but the spirit came! I was very aware that it was in that room. I knew it. And the darkness I had felt all day was GONE (and has not returned!). After class the kids stayed, fellowshipping one another. There was such a sweet spirit of unity and love for each other and for us. I realized that the darkness I had felt all day was directly from the adversary bringing despair and overwhelm to dissuade and discourage. When I fully recognized what was going on I was so angry. But I'm also glad. Now I know that through the priesthood I can have the darkness cast out and keep moving forward. It was something I really needed to understand and a great learning for me.

One last thing; last night Jim and I gathered with our stake presidency counselor, Pres Stephenson, and a roomful of Chinese YSA to begin planning a Chinese YSA Conference to be held in November at Hyde Park chapel that will include Chinese members all over England. It will be a 3-day affair. It's a very big deal with very big implications. What wonderful, amazing chinese we have on this committee. They continue to amaze us with their valiancy and testimonies. It's powerful to behold. A great work is abroad on the land!

Well, Pres. Jordan just called and canceled our Costco trip. Darn! I'm needing to go again, badly! I've had to bribe kids to come practice choir for Stake conference next Sunday after General Conference. We are meeting between sessions; 1-3 and 5-7p.m. I told them I'd do our traditional conference breakfast; Swedish pancakes, homemade syrup, or strawberries and whipped cream. Need stuff from Costco. Hopefully we'll go tomorrow.

This choir business here has been hard. It's such a different set of circumstances than what we deal with in the states. Most our YSA lives at least 45 minutes away by tube, many live 1 1/2 hours away by tube. Not only is time involved but it's VERY expensive for them to travel, costing up to 5-6 pounds one way. It's no small thing to be active in the church for these youth! This makes it impossible to call rehearsals that are not attached to another meeting that they need to be at. But by doing it that way you run into the problem of conflicting meetings, home and visiting teaching that they do at church etc. And doing the choir this time for Stake Conference has been especially difficult because of the number of valid conflicts; last week was Mother's Day, which many of the local members go home for, university spring break which allows the kids time to go travel, general conference and then the very next Sunday is Stake Conference. Not a good combination for trying to rehearse. IT'S BEEN SO FRUSTRATING!!! That's why the bribe for brunch between sessions. Luckily I have two very easy hymn arrangements that we can hopefully pull together in basically one rehearsal hour. It is what it is! Just praying we get enough kids there to pull it off. I've been sending out emails the last two days to every person that might sing. (I finally got a ward list that allowed me to do it.) I'll let you know how it goes. I definitely have a new appreciation for the difficulties that the church faces here. NOTHING is simple or easy! I witness TRUE sacrifice EVERY DAY here just to be an active member of the church! It humbles me!

That's all for now. I've been smiling every time I think of our new granddaughter; London! Love the name! Now Bri let's make sure it's a girl, O.K. We got to finally see Skyler with open eyes and a darling smile. Made us very happy! We just love you all so much and continually pray that you will take advantage of this weekend's general conference and listen and apply the words of the prophets to your individual lives. How blessed are we to hear God's direction for us NOW! Don't take it for granted. (You should see our crazy schedule of when the sessions are broadcast! They are all over the place. Just grateful we can go and feel the spirit of the sessions, no matter what time it is.)

The work continues. We are being blessed and recognize the privilege we have in being called to this place at this time! We are so blessed. Love to all!