Time flies when you are having fun!

Lots of good things this week. Wednesday was transfer day and our district only had one change. Elder Davis from Wales, our District leader is now one of the Bristol Zone Leaders and we have Elder Darcy form Ireland as his replacement. I know for all of you Jane Austen fans might think it is kind of cool to have an Elder Darcy. We welcome him!

  

Elder Davis is from Merthyr his picture is on the bulletin board

Thursday we spent a very lovely hour at the hospital visiting Brenda Evans. She is one of the Stake YSA advisors. She gave everyone quite a scare a couple of weeks ago and ended up in the hospital. She has diabetes and they will not let her go home till all is stabilized. We had such a nice talk with her and as is often the case the person we had gone to cheer up and inspire ended up lifting our spirits for the rest of the day!

Thursday evening institute class and a great discussion about two of Elder Scott's wonderful talks on revelation. There is an article in the June Ensign from him called ‘Agency and Answers: Recognizing Revelation.’ It pretty much sums up the discussion we had.

On Friday Bill and the elders moved some boxes from Hanna’s flat. She is going home to Taiwan for a few weeks and we are baby-sitting some of her stuff. We fed them lunch. They had to go give a blessing to a member in the hospital who because of a serious bike accident during a business trip in Portugal, had to come to Southmead Hospital for a special hip operation. He is from the neighboring stake of Cheltenham and he had requested the blessing. While the elders and Bill were waiting for the appointed time they dropped by to say hello to Brenda again for a few minutes.

It was quite poignant Friday listening to the tribute and the special celebration at Normandy on BBC for the 70^th anniversary of that historical events that led to D-day. This country was the last hold out to Nazi Germany and their story is very courageous. The significance of that day on the beaches of France is a powerful reminder to the citizens here in the UK of the sacrifice and courage of so many who stood up to and fought hard to conquer such a great threat against freedom. I do not think I can describe the feelings that I have seeing this commemoration from the perspective of those who were pushed right up against the wall, fighting such over powering evil. I definitely have a new appreciation and I salute these brave allies!

Sunday meetings were great, as always uplifting and edifying. We had High Council speakers. The tradition in this stake is for the wife to accompany her husband and be one of the speakers. I must say I am glad that was not the case at home when my companion had the same assignment. The talks were both excellent. Both were on faith. 

Sunday evening was the 4 Stake Institute Recognition program. It was held at the Merthyr Tydfil Stake Center in Wales. The Farrells gave us a lift and we had a very nice journey. The sun was shining though Tina warned that there is always rain and sheep in Wales. She was a prophetess indeed there were lots of sleep and we did drive through a couple of cloud bursts. The regional YSA committee meeting was held before the recognition program so we started our journey just after church in order to be there by 4 PM.

Wil and Tina brought a picnic

Elder Donaldson our Area authority was there and gave a wonderful talk on Moroni 10: 3 & 4.   Elder Kearon who is in the Area Presidency sent a very nice video message which was quite timely for the group assembled. Such a pleasant afternoon and evening. Bill’s great grandmother was born in Merthyr Tydfil so the experience was doubly nice.

Monday the Southmead elders needed to use our internet for Monday mailing. Before they left we fed them taco soup and sent them on their way. In the late afternoon we drove over to Bath and met the sister’s there to look at another possible flat rental. This time was a success! The flat is very nice, in a nice location and is happy to rent to a company. The landlords are St Johns hospitals, a charity themselves, so everyone wins.

Monday evening we had FHE with the elders and Alex. I taught a lesson on the blessings of choice and we played a couple of games and had brownies. Alex goes home this week end so it was nice to spend the evening with her.

This week has been full of some great blessings, some especially wonderful Family History discoveries and temple work was experienced by Georgia. We feel blessed to share the joy with her.

I have a couple of spiritual thoughts I want to share from Patricia Holland about humility and self-worth:

“I think the Lord is looking for people who are truly contrite. Humility is very becoming to any of us and humility comes from an honest recognition of both our limitations and our strengths.

When you dwell on your limitations excessively, to the point that they affect your inner view of strength, you mock God in his very creation. You deny the divinity within you. You resist the gift of Christ on the cross. So be patient in your pursuit of perfection.”

It has been a good week. I have had some great conversations with many of you on SKYPE. I am so grateful for your constant support and prayer! Be happy! Happy Father’s day to the 6 wonderful father’s or our grandchildren! Hope you have the good day that you deserve and feel the love that your family has for you as well as our deep gratitude for who you are!!

It is Summer in Bristol