Summertime

July 21, 2014
A week ago Sunday we had a social for the senior couples and the new mission president and his wife. We had a good visit and enjoyed a delicious potluck meal together.  There is a great spirit of love and camaraderie between people who are all anxiously engaged in the same good cause.

Senior couples social

Last week we visited Liverpool with another senior couple.  We toured the Beatles museum and walked around the docks together.  We saw the monument to all the people who left for America from the Liverpool docks.  This monument was placed there by the church.  We had lunch together and had a relaxing day.

Entrance to the Beatles Museum

The old ships are interesting.

The Monument to families who left their homeland for the Gospel.

The Liverpool harbor where so many ancestors left for America.

This mosaic was made of Jelly beans.

Today we visited the Norton Priory with the sister missionaries in our ward.  It is the oldest remains in Europe of an Abbey.  It was built in 1134 and it was one of the first abbeys destroyed by Henry the IIIV in the 1500's.  We walk through the walled garden, saw a very old statue of St. Christopher and toured the remains of the abbey.  It was a pleasant day out for us.  We also fixed dinner for the sisters when we came home.

The Tree of Life gate to the walled garden

A pretty butterfly

These are hydrangeas just beginning to bloom.
I made the mistake of calling the Azeala's in my last blog.

Our sister missionaries

Looking over the ruins.

Inside the last remaining part of the Abbey.

A very old statue of St. Christoffer.  He is carrying Jesus on his
shoulder.

Walking Companions

We took a long walk on Monday on a walking trail on a hill above Warrington.  It was  a lovely day for a walk.  We enjoyed being outside in the English countryside.  There are nice walking paths throughout England and we plan to visit more of them.  English people do a lot of walking on these paths. We had some Gospel conversations with people as we went.  It is a good time to do it, because people aren't in a hurry.  It was nice to have a picnic and spend a quiet day together.  We got a little wet as the day went on, but it wasn't bad.
Sunday we had a good fast and testimony meeting.  The sister we found on the bus has started coming to church the last three weeks.  She bore her testimony and said how grateful she was that we met on the bus, because she had been trying to find the church without any success.  She is from South Africa and she is a very faithful woman.  She is our blessing for being on the bus.  We know that we were placed in her path so she could return to church.  God is mindful of all of us.
We have been without the car for over two months now and it appears likely that it will be this way until the end of our mission.  It has been very challenging in many ways.  Getting a driver's license in this country can be very difficult.  After many efforts and fasting and prayers, it would appear that God wants us out among people more.  Since we have accepted God's will and quit praying to have the car, we have felt more peace.  We never would have chosen what we have been through, but we trust that good will come of it.  Today as we got off the bus, we happened on to a young woman we have been trying to find for over two months.  We have been to her home over and over and prayed that we could see her somewhere.  We wouldn't have happened on to her if we hadn't been on foot.  She agreed to see us next week.  We see many of the people we have been working with making progress and we see the hand of the Lord working in their lives.  We are looking forward to getting acquainted from the new mission president and learning from him.

Our Last Zone Conference with President Preston

Saying Goodbye to an Elder we worked with at the beginning of our mission,

Our last ward temple trip.

I love azaleas.  The camera can't capture how intensely
blue these flowers are.

A view of Warrington from the cementary on the hill.

Starting along the path

A lovely day for a walk.

These ferns were almost as tall as me.

One of the queens swans. ( She owns all of them in England.)

Wildflowers on the path.

More flowers.

And more flowers.

This is the cutest shrub we have ever seen.

These were in a garden we walked past.

A well tended home and garden.

England's Begonia's are the best I have ever seen.

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