Cultural and Spiritual Experiences

June 22, 2014
Last weekend, we attended a ballet to see a young women in our ward perform.  We are her family's home teachers.  We attended the performance of Coppelia in Stockport along with two other sisters in our ward.  It was an ornate old theatre with an old organ in the center belong the stage.  We suppose it was to accompany the silent movies shown there at one time.  We enjoyed the evening, but Dad probably doesn't feel the need to see many more ballets in his lifetime.
Sunday morning, a man was baptized in a service before church started.  This man approached the sisters in Warrington when he was picking up his children from school.  He felt he should talk to them. He has been preparing for baptism for months now and we hope his wife and daughters will be baptized in time as well.  He will be a great asset to the ward.
Monday,  Dad and I visited London and stayed over night.  We took the bus tour, the boat ride on the Thames, saw the National portrait museum,  and visited St. Paul's cathedral.  We climbed the five hundred steps to the top.  It was a great view, but my knees felt like jelly for a while after we got down.     It is a very nice cathedral, though  nothing compares to the beauty and spirit of the Temple.  We also saw a performance of Les Miserabe.
We spent the rest of the week making visits and Friday night we went to dinner with two sisters in our ward.  We had a lovely meal on Sunday at the home of our Relief Society on Sunday.  She has a well kept garden and she likes to grow vegetables as well as flowers.  We liked eating outside in her garden.
The food she prepared for us,  looked like something out of a magazine.  I wish I had taken a picture of it.

Waiting for the ballet to begin.

The Newest Member of our Ward.

London at night.

Parliament

Westminster Abby

St. Pauls Cathedral

A great view from the top!

Summer Coming On

June 10, 2014
We have had some fun filled days and a very special fireside recently.  Friday one of our senior couples picked us up and took us with them to the Ribbon Cutting ceremony at the new Manchester Institute Building.  We attended the dedication in March, but this was for the local dignitaries.  We had a pleasant visit with the other senior couples in attendance and afterward we went to Costco together.  Sunday was the last missionary fireside where President and Sister Preston will attend, because they are being released at the end of the month.  It was the best one we have attended.  These firesides are for new members to come and share their conversion stories.  The fireside is always good, but one man's story was especially memorable.  He had just been re-baptized after being excommunicated 20 years ago.  It was very inspirational and impressed on all of us the importance of never giving up on people.  He said that in retrospect, he can see how God was placing people in his life to help him to return.  After he spoke, the mission president and his wife gave beautiful talks.  These people are beloved by all who know them.  At the end of the meeting, the missionaries planned a special musical number in their honor.  One young missionary at a time stood up and began singing Called to Serve.  They were joined by more and more until  all the missionaries stood singing to them in tribute to their service.  It will always be one of the highlights of our mission.
Monday, another missionary couple picked us up and took us to Wales, where we visited two castles.  We saw Rhuddlan castle and Castle Conwy.  We saw some great views.  At Castle Conwy, the sun came out just after a rainstorm.  The sun on the green hill surrounding Conway made the grass so bright green, it seemed to glow from within.  I will always remember that.
Finally on a more humorous note.  At zone meeting today we were playing Ninja,  for a zone activity at the end of the meeting.  You have to stike some awkward poses for this game.  Just as an Elder in our group struck a pose, he heard the riiiip! of his trouser seam.  It will be his most embarrassing moment.  Everyone had a good laugh including him.  Elder Whitehead loaned him his suitcoat until he could get his trousers sewn up.

Ribbon cutting ceremony

I liked this patch of blue opening up in sky covered with gray
clouds.

Entering Rhuddlan Castle

View form a castle window.

Senior Sister

Looking out on Conwy

I'm glad I don't have to learn Welsh!

View of the Bay.

Castle Conwy

May Flies By

June 2, 2014

The month of May, though full of challenges has flown by.  We continue to ride the bus when we can and rely on the Young Elders and and ward members for rides.  Though it is much easier to serve others, we can  see the benefits of people serving us.  The man who has driven us to YSA activities has not been to church much, in many years.  I think it is helping him to serve us.  We are totally reliant on him to do our YSA calling and I think

YSA Girls

Us outside the Chorley Stake Center

Elder Whitehead and the YSA

Preston Temple at Night

Senior Missionaries at the River Dee

Old Roman Bridge

Along the River Cruise

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This looks like a fun place to live.

Senior Couple on the Cruise

A Very Soggy Day in Downtown Chester

The ceiling of Chester Cathedral

Chester Cathedral

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Our Chauffers

They give good service

Outside the dance at the Chorley Stake Center

Chester Castle

it is good for him to feel so needed.  We feel impressions that our situation with the car, though challenging for us,  is blessing him.
We have had some pleasant visits with members as we had tea appointments with them recently.  One couple, older than us,  told us about how they raised their family of eleven children.  If you could see the size of their home, you would wonder, how did they do it?  They are very faithful people.  The husband gave up a good job offer in America to stay in England and build up the church there.  Just as the job offer came,  President McKay asked members to stay in their own countries to build up the church and he willingly followed the counsel of the Prophet.
We were able to attend the temple a week ago Monday.  It was a bank holiday and we went with the young missionaries.  Last weekend we attended the Institute Ball in Chorley.  It is held once a year for the YSA.  It was good to be with our YSA.  There was lots of good food there, but the DJ wasn't very good.  The music he played,  just encouraged groups of people to get out on the floor  in circles, often groups of boys together and groups of girls together.  I knew he needed to play some slow songs to get people into partners.  I requested that he do it.  He didn't respond to my request.  Some of our YSA girls requested a slow song as well.  He announced that he was going to play a slow song and dedicated it to me.  Elder Whitehead and I danced as the YSA girls looked on.  I was touched by their kindness.  It seems like it takes a lot of effort in these times to get young people mixing and finding a companion.  These young people need to find companions and get married.   We want to see them blessed with families of their own.
We attended a performance of the Lamb of God yesterday.  It was just beautiful and very professionally done.  Just after that, we went to institute graduation.  It was a lovely evening and it gave us a chance to reflect on our experiences with the YSA this past year.   In a way we feel that we are in the harvest stage of our mission.  We have been blessed with impressions that we have made a difference in people's lives.  It is a good feeling.
We visited Chester with another senior couple today.  It was very rainy but we had a good time taking a  river cruise on the River Dee,  and walking around Chester.   The guide on the Cruise told us a story about Medieval times.  There was a place along the river bank where women who were accused of witchcraft were put in a barrel and rolled down the hill to the river.  If the woman drowned, she was considered innocent and on her way to heaven.  If she didn't drown, they took her out of the barrel and hanged her.  What a choice.  I'll have to remember that story next time I think I'm having a bad day.  We had a good lunch at a restaurant  called the Great American Barbecue.  We had the Big Pig Sandwiches.  Lucklily,  they were not as big as they sound.
We have seen so many beautiful places on our mission.  We feel very grateful.