Work, for the night draws nigh…

These roses make me happy!

Time flies when you are having fun they say… can you believe we are only a few weeks away from our one year mark! Time is relevant, some days inch by minute by minute and some weeks are past before you even turn around. All good.

Last week we left off with Wednesday's events. Thursday was my day to post the blog and that evening we had a very delightful Institute class on prayer. Brother Balloch started by saying that a really good prayers is one that is absolutely sincere! Elder Bednar has said that prayer is ‘holy communication and consecrated work.’ The entire discussion was very good with many of these faithful young adults adding their thoughts and convictions. A statement made by our teacher in conclusion is that prayer is a mini university. I have not been able to get that out of my mind. Many times when I have prayed this week I have pondered that statement.

The activity for the evening was towel volley ball played with water balloons. Very fun, lots of laughter and water hilarity!

A house in our neighborhood

Guess what they have a 4^th of July in England too, it just isn't Independence Day! We had a nice day anyway! Several of our friends here text-ed or called to wish us a happy day while we are far away from home. We talked on SKYPE with our two sons and that was really nice! Thanks Mike and David! The Bishop’s wife even came up to me on Sunday and told me she had been thinking about me on Friday and hoped we had a nice day! It really is a nice thing to be here and reflect on the blessings of home and to also realize that other peoples and nations have blessings and freedoms as well. Elder Russell M Nelson in the July Ensign this month said: “Saints in every land have equal claim upon the blessings of the Lord. Spiritual security will always depend upon how we live, not where we live.”

Our 4th of July dinner at TGI Fridays

Saturday was just a lovely summer day. There was a huge fund raiser on the downs: Race for Life! Breast cancer research. Lots of pink tuu tuus, pink wigs and many women participating in a 5K ‘pretty muddy’ run. Along the route were mud baths and muddy slides etc. There was a very festive feeling in the air. We walked around and drank it all in. There was a 3K on Sunday too but no mud and a lot of little girls were running with their mums.

Sunday meetings were very good as usual. There was a baby blessing in our ward for a baby who belongs to two very prominent families in the Bristol Stake. We had a lot of visitors many that we know and work with in our calling. The testimony meeting was very powerful! Sometimes they are just like that. A visiting brother commented in his testimony that he noticed how many new things were being celebrated in our ward this day: the new baby, a new member receiving the priesthood and a new deacon etc. All of these events made him realize that he too could be made new as he partook of the Sacrament and renewed his covenants with the Lord. Loved the reminder! Later in the meeting the Bishop shared a story, he had been to visit a family in the ward who have a cute little preschooler. He asked Alfie if he knew who President Monson was and the little guy quickly answered ‘yes, he is a child of God’. Not the answer that Bishop was looking for but very profound!

Sunday night YSA FHE was in Bath and we had such a nice evening. Kieran taught the lesson using the Parable of the Sower. The discussion was great and to reinforce the message as an activity we all drove to Royal Victoria Park. He divided us into teams and we went on a seed collecting walk to see which team would collect the most. I know that from now on I will think of this parable every time is see seeds in nature! It was such a nice evening, a little cool but so balmy.

Admiring the winning team's collection.

We finally were able to take our trip to the temple. We left Monday and stayed overnight and attended a session in the morning.  A Monday evening stroll around the peaceful temple grounds provided a lovely family home evening! We were able to do the work for two family names on Tuesday morning. When we went into the temple it was a sunshiny morning, when we came out it was pouring down rain! Actually the cloud burst only lasted for the time it took us to get to the car and retrieve our rain gear.

Peaceful FHE

We drove home in the afternoon on Tues and were able to talk on SKYPE to 10 of our grand kids who were all together in Cedar City, Utah for a mini family reunion! Each little one had to do some kind of a performance for us, make me smile! I am so happy that they enjoy each other’s company and want to be together.

There was quite a World Cup game on that evening, could not believe the ending score! While my companion was watching the game I visited with a friend on SKYPE.

Wednesday again. District meeting! This was the last one before transfers and it is very likely that a few of the missionaries will be making changes. It is always hard to say good bye, we get so attached to these great kids!!

For only the second time since starting our assignment we missed the Wed YSA meal. We left the house at about 6 pm and were still only about a mile from our place after 40 min. The traffic was horrendous. I finally checked out the traffic report to discover that there was a lorry (truck) fire and one of the major streets was closed. So we backed up and headed on a new route that is only a couple of blocks from our flat. There we were bumper to bumper, we had to call and be excused, and at that rate we would not even get to the Wells Road chapel till everyone else was ready to leave.

Through the course of the evening though I ended up having some needed discussions on SKYPE. All is well that ends well, though I am not so sure about the outcome of that Argentina/Netherlands World Cup game!

This morning we had a delightful visit with Brenda and Adrian Evans. Brenda is healing quickly and improving every day. She looked so good. It was so nice to spend an hour basking in her sweet spirit. We are so thankful for her recovery!!

Sometimes, especially right now during summer break we have to be creative with our time. As we are seeking worthwhile service to give, I get a little discouraged. I was very grateful to read a statement in this month’s Ensign by Elder Gerrit W Gong: “Recognize that being busy is not the same as being worthy, and being worthy does not require perfection.”

Thankful for another week here in jolly Olde England, thankful for the opportunities given to us by this call! Love you all back home! Love those beautiful grand kids that bring so much life, laughter and faith to our family!

TTFN! As Tigger would say!