Delivered From Bondage

August 27, 2014
Last week was eventful.  On Tuesday, Dad passed the driver's test.  Our Elder's really went the extra mile by buying us pizza.  It was so kind of them, especially because they are on foot again.  One of the families we teach gave Dad a card, some car fresheners and a car cleaning kit to celebrate.  We are very relieved to have the use of the car again, but we are super busy again.  We spent a nice bank holiday at the Temple on Monday.  We met some of the missionaries we hadn't seen for a while.   It was a nice day.  Tuesday, we taught Book of Mormon.  We only had two people there, but it was a good experience teaching two people who both joined the church earlier this year.  We enjoyed hearing about their experiences as they found the Gospel.  We are doing flat inspections again and that is
 keeping us busy, along with our visits.

It was fun to see an Elder we had served with earlier this year.
We really enjoyed working with him.

Cards are very popular in England, but when they make a card
about passing a driving test, it does make a statement about the difficulty
of the test.



ng us busy along with our visits.  

Our great Elders and their guest who preferred to remain anonymous
at our pizza party.

It is a privilege to visit with two people who were so prepared
to receive the Gospel.

MLS Missionaries

August 19, 2014
Many people ask what is it MLS missionaries do.  It stands for member and leader support.  We do a great variety of things.  We work mostly with less-actives, but we also see times when we can love and support those who are coming to church on a regular basis.  After all, everyone has challenges.  We fill assignments from the mission president, the bishop and the stake president.  We support the young missionaries in their work and assist where we can with their teaching of investigators.  We feed young missionaries and give them a feel of home while they are here.  We often serve as family for those in the church who don't have a lot of family support.  We fill whatever callings we are asked to do in the ward and help lighten the load for some very dedicated people.  We encourage temple attendance and visit the lonely and the sick.
We have been visiting a woman lately in a hospital for the mentally ill.  She is far away from her home ward and she needs visitors.  When we first started visiting with her, she asked us not to talk about the church.  That was challenging, because that is our assignment right now.  Little by little she has allowed to discuss the Gospel with her.  The last time we came, she told us not to talk about the Gospel with her on that visit.  It was hard to think of what kind of message to bring her.  Then I remembered a Reader's Digest article we had shared with our children in a family home evening, "Lessons from Aunt Grace".
It turned out to be inspired as we visited with her and realized what her need was that day.  It is a good feeling when we feel we have been guided to just the right message for someone we teach.
Our oldest daughter had reminded us of that article recently when she told us she shared it with their children for family home evening.  It is comforting to see the ripple effect of the things we do.

The Reason We are Here

Last week we witnessed a sealing in the temple of a family, who we have watched,  as first the father came back to church, then his wife and children were baptized.  We taught them the temple preparation classes.  Seeing them sealed in the temple was a very sweet and sacred experience.  As we and the other missionaries watched,  we were blessed to witness the culmination of all we do.  I thought about it a few days later and I realized that we have given up time with our family to see another family become an eternal family.  I wish we could help so many people we visit,  realize what they could have.  This is really the reason we are here.  This day in the temple will certainly be one of the highlights of our mission.
We went to Manchester today and met another senior couple for lunch.  We also visited the Museum of Science and Industry.   In the evening we had a tea appointment with a kind lady in our ward.  She is in her eighties.  She has been a member for 22 years.  She told us she was sad because, even though she had read the scriptures many times, she can't remember them because she suffers from dementia.  I told her that even though her memory of them was gone, her life was a witness of what she had become, because she read them.  They changed her life.    She is one of the kindest people we have met since we have come here.

The Elders and Sisters in our district.

Families are forever.

Lots of people shared in this happy day.

A typical narrow street in England.

This kind sister gave me a birthday cake.

A Stunning view in Manchester.

At the museum of Science and Industry.

A motorcyle built for a wheelchair.

To the Edge and Back

August 4, 2014
Today is the day that the old Beatles song, became a reality for me.  I could sing these words to my husband. "Will you still need me, will you still feed me when I'm 64."  I remember hearing that song when I was young.  It was hard to imagine that I would ever be 64.  Fortunately he still needs me and he still feeds me.  We celebrated my birthday by visiting a place call Alderly Edge.  It is a pleasant town about an hour away from us with a good place to hike and a lovely view.  The weather was perfect.  Never again will I have such perfect weather on my birthday, because I normally have a very hot day to celebrate.  We took a long steep walk up to the Edge.  The web site said there was a bus to take us up there.  It lied.  It was alright.  Anytime someone wants a great view there has to be a steep walk involved.  We made it and it was a pretty place.  Afterward we walked back to town and had a nice lunch in an outdoor cafe.
We returned home and did a little cleaning and we

Lunch with the senior couples.

Our sister missionaries are super!

Entering the edge forest path.

A lovely view of Cheshire

We love being out in nature.

We are thankful for the beauty of the earth.

We passed this charming stone house on the way to the Edge.

My birthday lunch.

had a good visit with a less-active sister we have visited with ever since coming here.  I think she is getting closer to returning.  We are hopeful.  Missionary work can have highs and lows, and sometimes a lot of lows.  We do know in the eternal scheme of things we are having an impact on peoples lives.
We have two new Elders in our district and a new Sister.  The Sister is from Salzburg, Austria.  She talks like an American.  She says it is from all the American TV she watched growing up.  Her companion is from California.  One of the Elders is from Canada and the other is from California as well.   We all have the privilege of attending a sealing for a family in our ward this week.  It is one of the highlights of a mission, for missionaries to witness this.
Last Monday we spent an enjoyable day with a couple of senior couples.  We got together for lunch and had a good visit.