“The message if we hear it is: ‘Make it last all year’”

 What a wonderful week! Left off the blog last week before our Christmas trip into London. We left first thing Friday morning on the train to Paddington Station. The day was bright, cold and windy. Our hotel room was ready so we dropped off the luggage and headed out to see what holiday cheer we could find.

Paddington bear at the station

Our first stop was ‘Winter Wonderland’, a huge Christmas fair in Hyde Park. My goodness it was so much bigger than I expected it to be! There were holiday booths, carnival rides, carnival booths and food venders everywhere. There were wonderful smells from all the confection booths and people, crowds and crowds of people! All kinds of people, all shapes and nationalities… Everyone was having a great time. We enjoyed the atmosphere, munched on a warm pretzel and just wandered around. Oh to be young again…I had no desire to ride any of those thrilling rides, no need to purchase things that we would just have to find room in the suitcases for. We just enjoyed being spectators!

As the sun started to sink in the sky, which was quite early since we were just 3 days away from winter solstice we walked to Harrods to check it out for Christmas. Bill found the right bus and we headed to Covent Garden. My goodness everyone had decided to have a Christmas weekend in London!

It was dinner time and we were hungry so we stopped into Porters a famous pie house there in the garden. Last time we tried to eat there on a Friday night we could not get in because we had no reservations. Luck was on our side and we got a table. Coincidentally it was right next to the table where we sat on our last excursion there about 3 years ago on a trip with Bill’s sister Margie and her husband Craig.

Loved the food, love the atmosphere. As we were finishing the meal we noticed a little note on the table announcing that the place is closing down in January! We asked the waitress and sure enough after 35 years of rich tradition they are shutting their doors. How lucky we were that we got to eat there one last time.

Porters

The city was alive with glittering lights, signs and sounds of the season. I am so glad that we decided to take a bus back to South Kensington to the hotel so we could view it all from the top deck.

Saturday we got up and headed out early. We stopped at a great little café near the tube stop there in South Kensington for breakfast. The food was great! Lots of people were starting off their day the same way. Busy little place.

Mmmmm

We headed to the National Gallery, had lunch in the Crypt across the street in the basement of Saint Martins-in-the-Fields Church. We had tickets then to go see “Cats” at the Palladium. The musical has just returned to London after 12 years.

Loved it! We have neither one seen the production before and we were just delighted. We sat down 6 rows from the front far right. We felt like we were in the middle of the action!  Merry Christmas to us!

With planes, trains and automobiles we made it back to the Paddington. Not really but we did have to catch a couple of busses and then take a cab. All fun, all through the middle of the sights and sounds of the season! Home again by 10. Last trip to London till we come on vacation sometime in the future! Memorize memories!

We attended our own Southmead Ward on Sunday. Fran gave one of the Christmas talks! She did a fabulous job. I even got called on to give an extemporaneous talk. I was thankful for the talk from the week before because I had some thoughts already prepared. Mosiah 14: 4, Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows…5, But he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed…

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas was sweet, everyone is so happy this time of year. Hanna took a four day student trip to Paris for Christmas so we got to give her a Holiday hug on Sunday.

Sunday evening we had a once in a life time experience. This Christmas is the 100^th anniversary of the Christmas Truce that happened spontaneously in ‘no man’s land’ between the English and German front during the World War I. Our Bristol Stake sponsored and presented a wonderful fireside in honor of the anniversary. The church sponsored a documentary and the Poole Stake prepared performance ideas for the Stakes that held commemorations firesides throughout England. Our Stake did an outstanding job, a multimedia presentation in film, song, word and dramatic vignettes! What a lovely way to begin Christmas week. I am so thankful that we were here to witness the celebration.

Christmas Truce 

I will forever remember the Christmas Truce evening and the ceramic poppies around the Tower of London; truly the benefit of being in England this year of 2014!

Monday we got up and spruced and shined up the flat. At 1:00 pm our whole district came over for a Pizza, gift exchange, watching ‘Muppets Christmas Carol’ P-day party! Love these young people! I feel it a privilege to call them friends!

Tuesday morning we went to Wells Rd for District meeting. The traffic was horrific! Everyone and their dog was out running last minute Christmas errands. Whew!

Wednesday, Christmas Eve was baking day. I baked my apple pie and some dinner rolls. I made a huge mess in the kitchen and was tired when the day ended but proud of my handy work. We watched Toy Story 3 and Skyfall on TV for our ‘Eve’ celebration.

Beautiful Christmas Eve morning

Merry Christmas morning Thursday! Kind of fun to get there earlier than anyone back home. We had a few gifts to open, some to each other and some from dear friends.

As is now our tradition (a tradition for only 2 years) we invited young single adults who come from far away and were not going home for Christmas over for dinner. Alan from Mexico and Shera from Hong Kong. It was a pleasant afternoon and actually enjoyable to drive them back and forth because there is no traffic on Christmas day at all in Bristol!

The rest of the evening was spent talking on SKYPE to all of our family! 6 video calls and one SKYPE phone call to Bill’s mom. What a joy to see all the happy faces of the grand-kids and see what Santa brought! Love the technological ability to do this!

Friday Boxing Day! It is a real holiday! Another day home with family and friends and also a day for great bargains if you want to fight the crowds. We did not, we stayed home out of the fray!

I am so grateful for this wonderful season. I am glad for two Christmases’ in England! What wonderful memories and profound experiences. I am forever thankful for this opportunity!

Everyone have a Happy and Prosperous New Year. As my four year old granddaughter Lizzy said: “Merry Christmas and Happy Halloween”….she knew it was happy something.

Sing Choirs of Angels…..

Because we are taking a Christmas trip into London Friday and Saturday I had better write the blog post now. 

Sunday was a good day. Our goal for the next few weeks is to attend some of the other wards in our stake. There is only one ward in our stake that meets in the afternoon it seemed like a good idea after such a busy week to go there.

We drove up to the church just as Sacrament meeting was about to start and were greeted at the door by a member of the bishopric who whispered, "do not be surprised if the bishop asks you to speak." This time we came prepared! We were both given that opportunity. It is always so enjoyable to feel the spirit of each ward as we visit. We just love the kind and accepting attitude of the members! A very nice experience at Weston-super-mare 2.

Monday was a good preparation day. We cleaned and scrubbed and then went to ASDA for some Christmas shopping. We watched The 'Miracle on 34^th Street' for FHE! Oh yeah and I baked brownies!

Tuesday morning we picked up the Downend sisters from the hospital near our flat where Sister Dantzscher had some lab work, and took them back to their flat. That afternoon and evening were very enjoyable. We actually entertained. We had Rosemary (82 yr. old spinster) from across the street over for hot chocolate and treats. We had such a lovely chat! She is a devout member of the Anglican Church. She is a very good Christian. Her little doggy Pip always goes with her every where.

Tuesday late afternoon our cute Christmas Angels Fran and Georgia came over for more Hot Chocolate and gift exchange. Such a enjoyable day. We felt very blessed and happy!

Wednesday it was district meeting with all our great fellow missionaries. Elder Caruso had each companionship give a presentation from the three missions of Alma in the Book of Mormon. I just sat there and basked in the spirit and smile a proud smile inside. I know pride is not a good thing sometimes but I can’t help but feel like a proud parent when I am with these hardworking, dedicated young people.

After we left the meeting and dropped off the elders we went to visit Jessica. She is a YSA who lives in our ward. We tried to contact her when we first came but never were able to meet her. Last week she contacted us out of the clear blue. She is a lovely person. We had such a nice visit with her. So glad to get to know her and associate with her these next couple of months.

Today, Thursday, we went with Aaron to lunch at Cosmos. He is the YSA rep from our Southmead ward and a return missionary from the London South Mission. We had such a nice visit. Then a very fun evening watching Elf with our young friends for Thursday night  activity. We even had an Elf sing along. Fun times, felt very Christmassy!

So this is a wrap, not too much to report. Tomorrow we head to London to see the Christmas festival in Hyde Park and Bill actually got us tickets to see the matinee of ‘Cats’ which just returned to London after a 12 year absence. Smile smile!

So Merry Christmas! I will probably try to take more pictures next week and report our Holiday celebrations to you. In the mean time I love you all so much! We are enjoying one more Christmas here in the UK but will be happy to “be home for Christmas” next year!

I never feel like criticizing the sparkle and glamour of the Christmas season with all of its glitter, hustle and wonder; all are a part of my memories and many magical feelings. I am however much more grateful that Jesus Christ was born! He is the first gift, he is the King!

"The glitter of the season should never dim our sight and prevent us from truly seeing the Prince of Peace in His majesty." —Dieter F. Uchtdorf

cheer from home

Let every heart prepare him room...

Blog time again… This past week has been busy and filled with missionary responsibilities and enjoyable time with YSA. Last Saturday we were up bright and early heading through beautiful Somerset and Wiltshire Counties to Chippenham for the Zone leader’s flat inspection.

The morning was crisp and sunny. It is hard to describe how pretty driving through that part of the West Country can be. It reminded me of a notion I had when I was going to school in Hawaii a very long time ago. My friend Janie and I would imagine being rich enough to have a camera that could record the entire trip driving into Honolulu from Laie. We wanted to take such a masterpiece home to California with us so we could watch it any time we got home sick for our year in the islands. Janie’s Mom just laughed at us and said “if you were rich you would just come back and visit”. I had that same desire for the beautiful green countryside of England. Now I do not have to be rich and I actually could record the whole drive, but I think I will just come back and visit someday.

The Elders were so cute, they had worked very hard to have their flat in tip top shape. They were even bragging about the deal they got on a new iron and vacuum. Love these boys!!!

Next stop was in Bath proper to inspect the Sisters flat and of course it was in great shape. Sister Polidario from the Philippines and Sister Torvinen from Norway were excited because they had a baptism that afternoon. The cake they baked for refreshments however stuck to the pan and split in half. I helped them figure out how to serve it in an alternative fashion and no one would be the wiser.

Since we were already in Bath and had a parking place, we decided to walk on down to the city center to the ‘Bath Christmas Market’. This event is quite famous! The feeling in the air was electric with Christmas cheer. The crowds were so thick that browsing the booths could only be from afar with many bodies in between. I loved it though…even though Saturday was probably not the best day to enjoy it. There were actually rows and rows of buses bringing people in from all over to see the market!

We did stop at a little booth selling olive wood carvings from Bethlehem. We bought a figurine of Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus. In chatting to the vender we mentioned that we knew someone from Bethlehem. We told him her name and he said he knew her and her family. He knew her first name without us telling him. That made us feel like the item is authentic and made it even more special because of our love for Sister Qumsiyeh.

We found some fun Christmas trinkets to send to our family at another booth. Even with the crowds it was a glorious day! We came home to find our travel plans for our release date in February and went to the movie to see “Paddington Bear” that evening. Loved Saturday!

Sunday was awesome as usual. The Fast and Testimony Meeting as always inspired me with a desire to strengthen my own testimony. The discussion in Gospel Essentials class was lively. Some great questions were asked that made us all think and search for the answers and daily application.

Sunday night Bristol City celebrated the 150 year anniversary of the Clifton Suspension bridge, you know the one I am obsessed with and keep posting pictures of. Quite a few of the Young Single Adults met at our house and we walked over to the downs to watch the spectacle! It was a fantastic display. There were thousands of people in the park spilling out into our neighborhood, stumbling over each other in the dark. The group and a few more came back to our flat for hot chocolate and donuts and games!

Monday was a good day for catching up. Most of the sickies from last week were recovering. We watched the First Presidency’s Christmas devotional with Georgia. We invited more but she is the only one who could come. I loved it, I always feel the Christmas spirit so much stronger when I watch this broadcast every year.

Tuesday we were waiting for a currier to come pick up the Christmas packages we are sending home. Bill went out to run some errands while I stayed home to wait. We then both waited, from 8 am to 8 pm and he never showed up! Now we had to wait all day the next day. Ugh! Fortunately he did come in the morning.

Tuesday we went to Costco and other errands we could not run the day before. That night just as we were going to bed we got a call that the Elders in Downend were being taken to A&E (emergency). Elder Caruso our district leader was pretty sick. Adrian Evans called us later in the evening to say that they had been checked in and were told it was a long wait so he was going home. We said we would pick them up when they were done. The call came in at 2:15 am. We did learn that it is really easy to drive around Bristol in the wee small hours of the morning! He had tonsillitis and was put on some strong meds. They were both pretty worn out after spending such a long time in the waiting room. They were also worried that they would have to miss the trip to the temple in the morning. He was well enough and they did get to go.

We were not able to go on this mission temple trip because it conflicted with the Bristol Stake YSA Christmas meal. We went over to the Wells Rd chapel in the evening to help with the decorating. When we came home we were still tired form our middle of the night escapades the night before.

We were soundly sleeping and at 2:15 am on the dot the fire alarm in our building went off. Groggily I poked my head out the door, to make a long story short there really was a small fire and we all had to gather in a safe place. One of the flats had an electrical fire and had extinguished it but there was a lot of smoke. The Fire Brigade had been called and three big fire trucks showed up. They pulled this very long hose up the stairs but it was not needed after all. The pumper truck stayed and the hook ladder and hydraulic trucks left. We did not get back to bed until about 4:00 am because they had to make sure the electrics were checked out and we were all safe. Another middle of the night vigil!

Thursday we went early to help with meal preparations. The traffic was so bad though it took us an hour to get there. The chapel is only 5 miles away…The whole evening was great! It was the "Mad Hatter Christmas Party". Thanks to Adrian and Brenda Evans and Lisa Taylor and all the YSA who helped. It was very fun.  These moments are moments we will cherish for a long time. We were very tired when we finally hit the sack that night but could not stop smiling! 

It is amazing how much we  have come to love all of these people! 

Friday more flat inspections. This time we drove to Taunton and Weston-super-Mare. We love visiting those sisters. They are so great. I wish I could can the spirit we feel when we walk into their flat and as they enthusiastically tell us of their work!

Book of Mormon tree Taunton sisters

A Five Guys hamburger place has just opened up in Bristol so Friday night we took Fran and Georgia there for the first time! It was a blast! It really does feel like you are walking right into the US when you enter.

There is a lovely German market in down town Bristol. It was rather festive walking back to the bus stop. Loved it!

German market

Today Saturday one more flat inspection; the Downend sisters. Their heat was off and we helped them call for repair. You should have seen their faces when the person on the phone said the repair man would be there between noon and 5. All their plans went out the window. I told them all you can do now is have faith that he will come early not late. As we were driving back to our flat we get a call from the sisters singing in my ear “There can be miracles when you believe” from The Prince of Egypt. The maintenance guy already came! You may say coincidence, I say tender mercies!

Love you all, love this experience! I am so thankful for this season of the year. Even the busiest people can feel the magic in the air. Isn't that amazing? Even the non-religious can not deny the power of celebrating an event that happened over 2,000 years ago still brings! He lives! He is The Gift!

sunset late afternoon from our kitchen

Let every heart prepare him room…

Merry Christmas! We do not have snow here but it is cold and crispy, at least just enough. I love the chill in the morning when I walk. This is the season when it just does not seem right to have warm days and palm trees. I know that is what I have at home, we make do. I just feel more Christmassy when I have to bundle a little and can see my breath!

The other morning when I was walking I thought of the changing of the seasons. It is delightful walking on the Downs and experiencing each one; The crispness of an autumn mist, the foggy mornings of winter, the pale green awakening of spring and the warm breeze of summer. The route I take has so many memories attached to it. It is in these quite moments at the beginning of the day that I listen to the scriptures, ponder the wonders of the gospel, and contemplate how to best help the YSA, investigators and missionaries. Here is where I try to come to terms with the lessons that I am learning. Some of those lessons require swallowing pride and repentance. This lovely scene recalls to me feelings about the Book of Mormon, for it is here where I absorbed the words and regained a powerful witness of its truthfulness!

Winter

Spring

Summer

Fall

OK back to the events of the week...Last week’s post was in the middle of our semi-annual Bristol Stake Conference. We were able to attend 2 sessions and a special fireside of the conference and Elder Olsson of the 8^th quorum of the 70 presided and spoke. He is from Sweden, not only does he have a very sweet spirit about him but listening to his wonderful Scandinavian accent was delightful.

It was just so nice to listen to words of council and bask in the spirit brought by our leaders. For me the highlight of the whole conference occurred during the Saturday session. Fran spoke as a new convert and her talk was brilliant! I cannot explain the feeling of joy that I felt, just like Doctrine & Covenants 18: 15… “How great shall be your joy with her in the kingdom of my Father!”

Sunday afternoon the doorbell rang and two little Christmas Elves came to visit and spent the afternoon. What a pleasant surprise and enjoyable way to spend the Sabbath!

We ended up visiting the Southmead Hospital each of the first three days of this week. Monday morning we got a call that one of the sister missionaries in the Downend ward had to be taken in an ambulance because she was in a lot of pain. I spent the afternoon in A&E with the sisters as she waited for care. Bill drove back and forth with the Southmead Elders so that she could be administered to, then they needed to get back to E-mail their folks. It seems she may have passed a kidney stone. She was sent home with antibiotics for UTI.

Tuesday we had District meeting. The Zone leaders came and it was a very good meeting. New missionaries and new leaders give a different flavor each time but always a feeling of commitment and dedication. Elder Rolz from Germany fed us a German dish made from pancake batter, onion and cheese. It was interesting and tasty. After the meeting we went up to the hospital again because our Bishop had asked if we would look in on a sister from another city who was too far from her family for frequent visits. We drove around for a half hour and could not find a place to park. The facility is brand new and huge but without adequate parking for its size. 

We went home and came back on Wednesday. After waiting for a parking spot for about 10 or 15 minutes we were able to stay. I am so glad we did. Such a sweet sister! You could tell she did not feel well at all but was very pleasant to us an appreciative that we had come to see her. We left her with a prayer and the assurance that Heavenly Father is mindful of her.

We left the hospital and headed to Cribs Causeway mall where we met Hanna for a very nice lunch. Since she has returned to Bristol we have not been able to spend very much time with her and it was so wonderful to catch up. She is doing so well and loves the church. How thankful I am that we could witness the miracle of conversion last year! What a joy to watch her learn about and embrace Christianity! The festiveness of the shopping mall and the good company left us feeling very happy!

Thursday was institute so the day was one of preparation. The attendance was small but the spirit was good! It's the season for colds, flu and illness which is probably why we were few in numbers.

Today is Dec 5 and our release date is Feb 5, yikes, exactly 2 months!! Seems like time has gone so fast some days and yet slowly on others. I have learned so much! Lest you should think it is always a bed of roses, I will confess that is not always the case. Those times of challenge, lack of patience and sadness keep teaching me so much! This morning I was listening to the General Women’s conference to Sister Marriott’s talk, she was sharing about a temple visit during a difficult time in her life. Something that she said describes very well what such learning moments are like:

Through the pure spirit of revelation in the temple, I was taught of my utter need for a Redeemer. I turned immediately to the Savior Jesus Christ in my thoughts and felt my anguish melt away and a great hope spring up in my heart. He was my only hope, and I longed to cling only to Him. It was clear to me that a self-absorbed natural woman “is an enemy to God”⁷ and to people in her sphere of influence. In the temple that day I learned it was only through the Atonement of Jesus Christ that my prideful nature could change and that I would be enabled to do good. I felt His love keenly, and I knew He would teach me by the Spirit and change me if I gave my heart to Him, holding back nothing.

How I love you all! I know that my ability to love has increased much while I have been serving. I have felt the Savior’s love for the great people I have met and worked with! And my love for you, my dear friends and family has also increased! My cup runneth over!

Merry Christmas again!

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