Missionary Journal

England (December Weeks 1-2 2009)

December Week 1 (Really 30 November)

Monday morning early Walt got up and went to Dorchester to take his second driving test. I don’t remember if I told you all he failed his first driving test in October. The Dorchester office has a 24% pass rate (or is it 28%?). Whatever it is, it’s not very high. Walt failed because he didn’t signal when he pulled to the curb and then didn’t look over his shoulder when he pulled out. He checked all his mirrors, but that wasn’t enough. I was beginning to get worried – he can only drive on his US drivers license until 15 December 2009, and I wasn’t looking forward to walking. It takes about six weeks to reschedule and if he didn’t pass this time, we wouldn’t make it before the 15th. Fortunately, he passed. Hallelujah!! Since it was “P” day we did the laundry and then went to the Marquis of Granby for a celebration dinner. This is one of the nicest restaurants in town with a fairly pricy menu (for England); lovely dinner and a good day.

Tuesday was a really busy day. First we had District Meeting which was good as usual. I especially liked one quote: “Definition of a Missionary – A person who leaves his family for a short time so that others can live with their families for eternity.”

We got back just in time for Walt to pick up President Chasteauneuf and for them to go counsel with a member of the branch about his calling. Right after that we went shopping so I would have a gift to take to the Relief Society Christmas Social.

Tuesday evening was the Relief Society Christmas Social. We had an exceptionally interesting time.

We each brought a wrapped gift costing no more than 1£. Fortunately we have the 99P Store in High Street. A good many of the gifts were bought there. Interestingly enough, we had no duplicates.

Our Relief Society President came up with a great game (this is Liz Kagi in her Christmas Tree hat). It was set up like speed dating where you pair off and find out as many things about ech of the other sisters as you can in a short period of time (about 5 minutes I think). Most of these sisters have known each other for years and they were finding out lots of things they never knew. Fortunately, we all got to hear them.

Here are some of the sisters (we had 17 in attendance).

On Wednesday, we baked four batches of cookies in the morning: Peanut Butter, Oatmeal Raisin, Chocolate Chip, and Sugar. Since I didn’t bring any cookie cutters with me, I needed to buy some. There aren’t very many places that sell cookie cutters locally, so I looked on the Web. I finally found one that interested me very much. It was a giant snowflake. I bought pink crystal sugars to sprinkle on it (it is about 10 inches when baked). The center is supposed to come out also, but we were afraid these would be way too fragile. They were fragile enough even with it left in. With the size of oven and cookie sheets I have, I can only bake one of these at a time. Not very efficient! But this is really a “labor of love.”

We made up a dozen plates of cookies (two of each kind but only one snowflake), wrapped and tied them with ribbon. We are hoping to get cookies out to every family in the branch before Christmas.

We decided to go to Portland Island first (we have quite a few families there). It took us three days to get cookies to everybody on Portland, but we did it. We are expecting to go to Weymouth and its environs next.

Thursday was out on Portland during the day and Walt went with the rest of the men to a Special General Priesthood Meeting in Poole in the evening. It was special because they released our Patriarch (due to very old age) and called a new one.

Friday was Relief Society Potluck. I took a Country French chicken casserole. Walt and President had a Presidency Meeting while we were chatting. We almost always have in attendance at least one non-member and one inactive sister.  Good missionary opportunities! 

We offered Sister White a lift home (she lives in Dorchester – about a 45-minute drive). While we were there, we decided to visit Sister Georgina Jones and then the Kagi’s. Liz is our Relief Society President (remember the Christmas Tree hat) and Markus is our High Priest Group Leader. They have a great family. You can see Liz and Markus on the couch and Esther’s back side as she was trying to get to the cookies we brought.

On the way home, Walt took me to the Thomas Hardy (a pub) for dinner. The trio in the entrance was cute so I took a picture. They were busy singing and dancing.

Saturday, Walt made another batch of oatmeal raisin and I did another dozen snowflakes. We decided to head out to Portland and get the last remaining families there (we had been to their homes, but found no one at home earlier). Whew! We did it. Portland is all “cookied” up.

By the time we got home, Walt wasn’t feeling too well. At about 1:00 am he was having diarrhea and it wasn’t much better in the morning. He got up and dressed in his civies and took me to church.

The Gospel Doctrine lesson was “The Whole Armor of God.” What a fun lesson to teach.

I was so tired by the time I got home that I laid down and took a three-hour nap. When I got up I made dinner, made a big batch of brownies and frosted them (for the funeral on Monday; see below), and we both went to bed hoping Walt would feel better in the morning.

December Week 2

Monday morning Walt was fine and we were up early to head for the church to be there at 10:00 am to help with food for the funeral scheduled for today. We had an Area Seventy in attendance (who was obviously presiding). This funeral was for our first counselor (Tony Webb) who died a couple of weeks ago. We had our building filled to overflowing. We put out 215 chairs (not including those on the stand), brought out about 20 more, and there were some standing. Brother Webb was a bishop twice, a branch president twice, and served on the stake presidency in Bristol. He’d touched many, many people.

Since there were so many coming from hours away (Bristol, Wales, etc.), we prepared a load of food (200 sandwiches, 20 gallons of soup, and sweets [i.e., brownies, cakes, cookies, etc.]).

Here are some of the brothers and sisters helping set up and getting food on the tables (from left to right: Brother and Sister Colvil, Sister Kirsty Levi, and Sister Melanie Drinkwater).

We really didn’t think so many would be coming back from the graveside. But we had people all over the overflow room (Relief Society Room), the chapel.

By the way, here is the last picture I took of Brother Webb at Helping Hands in July before he found out about the reoccurrence of his cancer.

This picture was in the program today. It was a few years and a lot of hair ago. He and his wife (Bev) met each other about the same age Walt and I did but about 20 years later.

We will miss him so very much!!

Tuesday was District Meeting. Elder Mysyk’s lesson today was on “Enduring to the End.” We read from Preach My Gospel (PMG). Those of you who have copies should study them. The wisdom of many years of missionary work has gone into creating this manual. PMG says: “Once we have entered the strait and narrow path by our faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, and the ordinances of baptism and confirmation, we must exert every effort to stay on the path. We do so by continually exercising faith in Jesus Christ, repenting, making commitments, and following the Spirit.

“Once we have been forgiven of our sins, we should try every day to remain free from sin so that we can always have the Holy Ghost with us. In the covenant of baptism, we promise our Father in Heaven that we will obey His commandments for the rest of our lives. If we fall short, we must repent in order to retain the blessings of the covenant. We promise to do good works, serve others, and follow the Savior’s example. In the scriptures this lifelong commitment is often called ‘enduring to the end.’

“By following the gospel path, we can draw closer to God, conquer temptation and sin, and enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost more abundantly. As we patiently, faithfully, and consistently follow this path throughout our lives, we will qualify for eternal life.

“Faith in Christ; repentance; making, renewing, and keeping covenants; and being cleansed by the Spirit become a pattern of living. Our actions in daily life are shaped and governed by these principles. Peace and joy come by following this way, and we gradually grow in Christlike attributes. Eventually, as we follow this way and “press forward with a steadfastness in Christ . . . and endure to the end,” we are promised, ‘Ye shall have eternal life’ (2 Nephi 31:20).”

In order to demonstrate this we did another chair exercise. Elder Mysyk had each of the elders pick up their chair and hold it out with straight arms. They did really well for about two or three minutes. Then Elder Marchione dropped out, then Elder Rodriquez. Elder Trevisan was the last to endure to the end.

After District Meeting was over, Elders Mysyk, Marchione, and Trevisan practiced O Holy Night (they will be singing it tomorrow at Zone Conference). That’s Elder Trevisan on the end (he is singing baritone), Elder Marchione (he is singing tenor), and Elder Mysyk (he was doing a wonderful job of playing the piano and getting the arrangement to the liking of Elders Trevisan and Marchione). After practicing at that piano a few times, it was evident that our Elders needed to be amplified a little. So, we went into the chapel, turned on the microphone, and practiced several more times until everybody was happy with the result. Of course, Walt was directing.


After returning to Weymouth we headed out to deliver a few more cookies. We especially went to see a Sister who has been inactive for the last few years to give her cookies and set up a time to take her to church on Sunday. We came home and Walt left for a Priesthood Executive Committee meeting. I stayed home and worked on my Gospel Doctrine lesson and Primary Sharing Time.


Wednesday was Zone Conference in Poole (I actually left the house without my camera). We had a wonderful time as usual. The statistics President Shamo gave us were superb: almost all the key indicators for November were up 30% over October. This portends a good outcome for our goal of 600 baptisms for 2009. We had lunch and then a lovely Christmas presentation put together by Sister Shamo. Our Weymouth Elders sang their duet, and I felt it was the highlight of the presentation. We did have two other groups that were memorable. One group did “The Fourteen Days of Christmas” with each person ad-libbing his day focusing on missionary work. The other was a duet talking about “Dear John” letters, etc. These two were done at the end after the more serious portion of the presentation was completed. We didn’t get home until almost 8:00 pm.

Thursday we made more cookies and Walt decorated the Christmas tree while I finished off my Gospel Doctrine lesson. I bought a little (3.5 feet) battery pre-lighted tree at ASDA for £5 and decorations for another £5. The star is the one I wrote about last Christmas and really is too big for the tree, but the gold angel I bought to top the tree is too heavy.


I also finished off my Christmas cards for all the Weymouth Branch folks, including the “No Contacts.” I sent cards with a synopsis of the December Home Teaching Message (“Home for Christmas” by President Eyring) and a Christmas message titled “The Three Levels of Christmas.” Boy, signing and writing a short message particular to each family in 100 cards makes your hand tired, but I loved doing it.

The Three Levels of Christmas

This is a beautiful time of the year. We love the excitement, the giving spirit, the special awareness of and appreciation for family and friends, the feelings of love and brotherhood that bless the gatherings at Christmastime. In all of the joyousness, it is well to reflect that Christmas comes at three levels. Let’s call the first level the Santa Claus level. It’s the level of Christmas trees and holly, of whispered secrets and colorful packages, of candlelight and rich food and warm open houses. It’s carolers in the shopping malls, excited children and weary but loving parents. It’s a lovely time of special warmth and caring and giving. It’s the level at which we eat too much and spend too much and do too much… and enjoy every minute of it. We love the Santa Claus level of Christmas.

But there is a higher, more beautiful level. Let’s call it the Silent Night level. It’s the level of all our glorious carols, of that beloved story: “Now in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus.” It’s the level of the crowded inn and the silent, holy moment in a dark stable when the Son of Man came to earth. It’s the shepherds on steep, bare hills near Bethlehem, angles with their glad tidings, a new star in the East, wise men traveling far in search of the Holy One. How beautiful and meaningful it is; how infinitely poorer we would be without this sacred second level of Christmas.


The trouble is, these two levels don’t last. They can’t. Twelve days of Christmas, at the first level, is about all we can stand. It’s too intense, too extravagant. The tree dries out and the needles fall. The candles burn down. The beautiful wrappings go out with the trash, the carolers are up on the ski slopes, the toys break, and the biggest day in stores in the entire year is exchange day, December 26th. Lovely and joyous as the first level of Christmas is, there will come a day very soon when mother will put away the decorations and vacuum the living room and think, “Thank goodness that’s over with for another year.” Even the second level, of Baby Jesus, cannot last. How many times this season can you sing, “Silent Night”? The angels and the star and the shepherds, even the silent, sacred mystery of the holy night itself, can’t long satisfy humanity’s basic need. The man who keeps Christ in the manger will, in the end, by disappointed and empty.

No, for Christmas to last all year long, for it to grow in beauty and meaning and purpose, for it to have power to change lives, we must celebrate it at the third level, that of the adult Christ. It is at that level—not as an infant—that our Saviour brings His gifts of lasting joy, lasting peace, lasting hope. It was the adult Christ who reached out and touched the un-touchable, who loved the unlovable, who so loved us all that even in His agony on the cross He prayed forgiveness for His enemies.


This is the Christ, creator of worlds without number, who wept, Enoch tells us, because so many of us lack affection and hate each other, and then who willingly gave His life for all of us.


This is the Christ, the adult Christ, who gave us the perfect example, and asked us to follow Him. Accepting that invitation is the way—the only way—to celebrate Christmas all year—and all life long.


Our wish for you is to have a beautiful Christmas and a happy New Year.


Our love to you always, Elder and Sister Reimers


On Friday we were out and about again visiting more people and delivering cookies in Weymouth. Next week we will head out to Bridport and areas north of Weymouth.


Saturday Walt did more peanut butter, oatmeal raisin, and chocolate chip cookies, we made up more plates, and out we went again. So far, we have about one-half the branch delivered.


When we returned, I did the bulletin, completed my Primary sharing time (Remembering Jesus during the Sacrament), and dropped into bed. I picked up some free software that makes cross-word puzzles and made one up titled “Remembering Jesus.” The children had a good time with reading the scriptures about the Last Supper and filling out the puzzle.


Sunday Walt got up and put together chicken noodle soup for the Munch & Mingle we were having after church today. Usually at least two of us make big pots of soup. In addition we had two kinds of quiche, mini Cornish pasties, sandwiches, two kinds of pizza, and lots and lots of sweets. At church we finalized the Christmas Sacrament Meeting Program music, I did my things in Sunday School and Primary while trying to make sure our Sister had a good experience at church. Afterwards, there was a short “stand-up council” meeting, then Walt and President did tithing settlement. We finally got home about 4:00 pm. We looked at each other, then went out and did some more visiting. We just love being of service and having the time to devote to it.





I think I will publish this and start again on Monday. Love to you all, Jackie

Missionary Journal

England (October Weeks 3-4, November Weeks 1-4 2009) 

October Weeks 3 and 4, November Week 1

On Tuesday the third week of October we went to District Meeting where we discussed the Faith Cycle.

You must have a desire to give a place in your heart to a principle of the gospel and you don’t cast it out. God then gives you a swelling or confirmation of the Spirit, which enlarges and enlightens your understanding, which leads to increased faith. Therefore, your faithfulness in this gospel principle brings you closer to Heavenly Father. 

Alma 32:21, 27-28 

21 And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true. 

27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.

28 Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.

We have been taught by two Mission Presidents to expect miracles each and every day. Too often we don’t see the miracles because we aren’t looking for them. We’re not talking about great, big smack you in the face miracles, but the small everyday miracles that are taking place around you all the time. We have been asked to keep a Miracle Journal to record our miracles. I can testify to each and every one of you that miracles do happen. Then we come to realize that we are seeing the Faith Cycle in not only our lives, but the lives of the people we are in contact with.

We also shared the letter we had from the sister who wants to stop smoking and asked for suggestions from the Elders and Zone Leaders attending District Meeting. They told us of a “Stop Smoking Program” that had been used in Plymouth. We know the Senior Missionary Couple in Plymouth quite well since we met them at the MTC in Provo. We received shortly a PDF document that says if you sincerely commit and follow the plan for a week, you can stop smoking.

 

Since this was the last meeting before moves, I took this picture:

From left to right: Elders Marchione (Weymouth), Orme and Elmer (Zone Leaders), Allred (Weymouth), Mysyk (Yeovil and our District Leader), and Hanson (Yeovil).

We went out in the evening to visit and I came home dead tired.

Wednesday when I woke up I knew I was ill. I don’t believe I’ve ever had something hit me so very hard as this did. I have absolutely no idea if I came down with the Swine Flu, but for the next 3 weeks I did very little more than sit in my chair and sleep.

On Wednesday evening we received a call from the Elders saying that Elders Allred and Hanson were moving. On Thursday, we found out that we had a new Elder (Elder Trevisan). Now both our Weymouth Elders are from Italy.

Of course, with being together 24/7, about two weeks after I got ill, Walt came down with the same thing. Neither one of us had any inclination to anything, especially see people. I managed to get Walt to do my Gospel Doctrine lesson for me the first week and then another brother when Walt got sick.
We’ve had so many sisters calling to ask if they could shop for us or make us dinners. I told them all no. Fortunately, the borrowed freezer we were loaned has been a Godsend. We had shopped just prior to getting ill, and it was as full as it could get with frozen meat and vegetables.  Here you can see it – in the living room (lounge) under the stairs and next to our indoor drying rack and bookshelf. The open box on the right of the freezer holds hand-out copies of the Book of Mormon.

We drug into church on Sunday. I taught Gospel Doctrine, and we made roast beef subs for Munch and Mingle. I had bought a roast (fortunately shrink wrapped) before I got sick and needed to cook it. It hadn’t quite hit the “sell by” date but it was getting close and it was a big roast. When ASDA or Morrisons have sales on their roasts, I can buy them cheaper than mince (hamburger). I roasted the meat on Saturday evening and Walt cut it into thin slices and bagged it. We bought four 3-foot long thin (3-4” in diameter) loaves of bread (one with seeds and three tiger chest). After church was over on Sunday, we quickly put the sandwiches together. I came home and went to bed, took a 3-hour nap, and then fed the Elders.

November Week 2

We finally both had a good week this week. We’re up and running on lessons and responsibilities. I taught both Gospel Doctrine and did Sharing Time in Primary. I can’t tell you how good it was to feel good. The Sunday School lesson I taught this week was on Family History and Temple Work.

Oh, I love to teach on the Doctrine and Covenants.  It is my most favorite book of scripture.

As I was fleshing out my lesson, I was talking about getting to know your ancestors. I know that my great-great-grandfather Wardle (on my dad’s side of the family) came into the Salt Lake Valley as a scout with Brigham Young’s first company in 1847. I also knew from my mother that my great-great-grandfather Potter came in 1852. Mother had always told me that one of my ancestors was hanged as a horse-thief and the Indians raised a monument to him. I thought that was a little farfetched, but you never know. So, anyway I Googled both men and here is what I found. Just remember, you have to take the bad with the good.

From Day By Day with the Utah Pioneers, 1847:
Saturday, June 26

"...George Wardle was a survivor of the pioneer company of 1847. He lived in Vernal, Unitah county, and wrote an interesting letter to The Tribune full of pioneer reminiscensces. Mr. Wardle was born in Leek, Staffordshire, England, February 3, 1820. He joined the church in 1839, emigrated to Nauvoo in 1842 and passed through all the difficulties incedent to the time, arriving at Winter Quarters in 1846. He left there with the other pioneers and was with the party in all its travails and hardships. He was one of the advance company to enter the valley with Orson Pratt and was the first to go to work whipsawing for lumber. He and George A. Smith were among the first to plant potatoes in the valley.

“Mr. Wardle was a great musician, one of the earliest singers in Utah and was a member of the Nauvoo brass band. He, with James Smithers, conducted the singing for the ceremonies incident to the laying of the cornerstone of the Salt Lake temple in 1853, and was deeply interested in all branches of music. He also taught dancing at Marcy R. Thompson's log house and among his early pupils were George Q. Cannon, Joseph Fielding Smith and others. Until a few years ago there were many alive who used to dance at Mrs. Thompson's and nearly everyone remembered George Wardle. He died November 25, 1901 in Vernal, Utah” (Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah by Frank Esshom, Published in 1913 by Utah Pioneers Book Publishing Company).

Now, to the other side of the family.

 UTAH’S TERROR 

From Old Court Records Summit County Territory of Utah, 1860-1867

“Isaac Smith Potter struck terror in the hearts of hardened pioneers in Northern Utah, in the early sixties, far more than a gun toting outlaw could have done. They understood a killer, but over their families night and day was the threat of Potter’s raid, with a band of savage Indians. Their families were not safe. Heavy armed guard was maintained in Coalville, and continued until Isaac Potter and Charley Wilson were shot to death and John Walker wounded in their attempt to escape guards the night of August 1st, 1867.”

This is Issac Smith Potter (the only picture I've found).

There is another version of this story: “On 29 January 1863 Colonel Patrick Connor and 200 California Volunteers attacked a winter village of the Shoshoni Indians at the confluence of Beaver Creek and the Bear River in Southeastern Idaho. Approximately 250 Shoshoni were slain, including 90 women and children.

“Later that spring Connor planned an attack on the Utes in Spanish Fork Canyon. Isaac Potter alerted the Indians in time for them to move most of their camps. Despite this several Utes were killed but there is no doubt that the killing would have been much worse if Potter had not warned them.

“From this moment Isaac Potter was a marked man among the whites. Among the Indians, however, he gained a reputation of being one of the few whites, Mormon or gentile, in whom the Indians had confidence” (Ransom Robert Potter History, Lee H. Potter).

I’ve also read that since the town of Coalville, Utah would not allow Isaac Smith Potter to be buried in the city cemetery he was buried at the mouth of Grass Creek Canyon, which extends into the mountains near Potter's Point. It was said that his Indian friends watched over his grave. Recently, in a low water year, bones were found exposed in the reservoir bed near this point. Subsequently, they were accepted as Isaac's remains and they were re-entered in the Provo City Cemetery, Provo, Utah.

Things are starting to get organized in the branch. We have PEC and Branch Council scheduled and announced. Our Munch and Mingle on the second Sunday of every month is being well attended and supported. It is so much fun to be able to sit around for an hour or so and just chat – no program or meeting, just fellowshipping.

The weather has been cold, very windy, and rainy, but we periodically have a lovely afternoon or evening which makes it all worth it.

Two or three months ago, the Elders asked me to make them a DVD of the Mormon Moments (or is that Messages) that are on LDS.org and You-Tube. It was a little time consuming, but anything for our Elders. I downloaded 18 Mormon Moments from You-Tube and then converted the .flv files to .agi files that I could use with the Microsoft DVD Maker software that came with my laptop. The software is slow as it encodes the DVD the first time, but it works jwonderfully for copies. By the time I had finished I had added 17 more on another DVD. I made up 6 copies of both DVDs with for our Elders, the Yeovil Elders, and the Zone Leaders with a listing of titles and times for the front of the DVDs. As moves took place, Elder Allred went to Bristol, and we got a request from the Bringhursts (Senior Missionary Couple in Bristol) for copies. Boy, I love technology!!

November Week 4

Monday was “P” day and we did very little except laundry (which includes a trip to the laundromat to dry clothes).

Tuesday was District Meeting. We talked about Faith, Preparation, and Ordinances. From Preach My Gospel, page 63, we read: “Faith in Jesus Christ and repentance prepare us for the ordinances of baptism and confirmation. An ordinance is a sacred ceremony or rite that shows that we have entered into a covenant with God.

“God has always required His children to make covenants. A covenant is a binding and solemn agreement between God and man. God promises to bless us, and we promise to obey Him. God sets the terms of gospel covenants, which we either accept or reject. Keeping covenants brings blessings in this life and exaltation in the life to come.

“Covenants place us under a strong obligation to honor our commitments to God. To keep our covenants, we must give up activities or interests that prevent us from honoring those covenants. For example, we give up shopping and recreational pursuits on Sunday so we can keep the Sabbath day holy. We should desire to receive worthily the covenants that God offers us and then strive to keep them. Our covenants remind us to repent every day of our lives. By keeping the commandments and serving others we receive and retain a remission of our sins.

“Covenants are usually made by means of sacred ordinances, such as baptism. These ordinances are administered by priesthood authority. Through the ordinance of baptism, for example, we covenant to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ, always remember Him, and keep His commandments. As we keep our part of the covenant, God promises the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, a remission of our sins, and being born again.”

In other words, we can have a desire to do Heavenly Father’s work, but we need an ordinance in order to covenant with Heavenly Father.

One of the scriptures we read to use as an example was Mosiah 18, verses 8 and 10:

8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another's burdens, that they may be light; 

10 Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?  

We then discussed the Results Pyramid. Experiences lead to Beliefs. Beliefs are driven by Faith. Once that happens we are at the line where Action is taken (i.e., testing, etc. Once that is done we can see the Results. This means we as missionaries must provide daily spiritual experiences for our investigators. The attitudes that keep us or our investigators from getting above the Action Line are: (1) Cover Your Trail; (2) Wait and See; (3) Finger Pointing; (4) Ignore or Deny; (5) Confusion; (6) Just Tell Me What to Do; or (8) It’s not my job! The attitudes that get us above the line are: (1) See It; (2) Solve It; and (3) Do It!

To visually show this, Elder Mysyk stacked two chairs together and asked Elder Trevisan to stand on the chair facing away from everybody and the other four Elders to stand behind him and be ready to catch him. The four Elders promised that they would be there to catch Elder Trevisan. Elder Mysyk then asked Elder Trevisan just fall backward. Elder Trevisan wasn’t ready to make that leap of faith. (Note: I wouldn’t have even climbed up on the chair.) After a while, he finally did fall backwards and the brethren caught him nicely. It was definitely a “Fall of Faith.” The question that was asked: “When was the last time you trusted your Heavenly Father that much?” I would expect that Elder Trevisan wouldn’t hesitate too much if he was asked to make the fall a second time because he knew what to expect. He’d had the experience which led to a belief that they would catch him. Then, that belief led to his action which led to the results (faith in the brethern).  

On Friday we spoke with our financial advisor (who is managing our investments) and found out that we are coming close to being where we started with her just before the market took a dive off a cliff in 2008. Oh, well, I’ve always said, “The Market goes up, the Market goes down, but over the long run, the Market goes up. We’ll see where 2010 takes us.

Saturday we received an early morning call from President Chasteauneuf to let us know that Tony Webb (First Counselor in the Branch Presidency) had died. We have all missed his spirit these last few months and know that the Weymouth Branch will miss this wonderful man.

Saturday evening, we went with the Elders to visit a Brother Hopcroft who has moved into our branch and hasn’t been active for about 2 and ½ years. He started smoking and we were asked to present the Non-Smoking Program to him. His wife is in the Ukraine and he is very lonely. We invited him to dinner (along with the Elders) on Sunday evening.  

 

Sunday was church and the Gospel Doctrine lesson was “Every Member a Missionary.” I was actually amazed to see all the countries missionaries had been to in the first 20 years the church was in existence.

I looked up the statistics shown in the Statistical Report given at each April Conference for 2004-2008. I was really surprised to see the church is only growing at 2.5% or less over the last 4 years. This is just one more reason for members to more strongly support and participate in missionary work.

Sunday evening we had the Elders and Brother Hopcroft over for dinner. I made chimichangas, Spanish rice, salad with a cream salsa dressing, and a brownie trifle for dessert.

November Week 4

Monday should have been “P” day but we had two additional families needing the Non-Smoking Program presentation. Now we have 5 people on the program and are hoping it will be successful.

Monday evening our Elders invited us over for a “real Italian” dinner. Elder Trevisan made Lasagna, polenta, and frico (a cheese and mashed potato dish that is a local to his area; Elder Marchione, even though they don’t live very far apart in Italy, had never had it before they were companions).

Elder Trevisan is the one in the apron and Elder Marchione is over by the window. 

Elder Marchione made tiramisu for dessert. I normally don’t like tiramisu because of the coffee flavor, but Elder Marhione’s tiramisu had Caro instead of coffee and the flavor was very, very subtle. From Wikipedia: “Caro Instant Beverage, more commonly referred to as simply Caro, is brand of caffeine-free beverages. Some consider it a coffee substitute. It is manufactured by Nestlé and is widely available in the UK and New Zealand. Caro is made up of soluble solids of roasted barley, malted barley, chicory, and rye.”

We had a lovely dinner and couldn’t enjoy these young men more if they were our own sons.

Tuesday was District Meeting again and Elder Mysyk did another chair exercise with our Elders. First he had Elder Trevisan pick Elder Marchione up and put him on a chair. This was quite a bit easier for Elder Trevisan than the Fall of Faith last week. He actually picked Elder Marchione up around the knees and put him on the chair. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera out for this exercise.

I did get it out for the second portion of the exercise. Elder Mysyk had not expected Elder Trevisan to be able to pick Elder Marchione up. He really wanted to do it just a little bit differently. Here is Elder Trevisan standing on two chairs trying to lift Elder Marchione up on to the chair. It didn’t work at all well.

So, Elder Mysyk had Elder Marchione put one foot up on the chair and then Elder Trevisan was able to pull Elder Marchione up on the chair next to him.

The moral of the story was to show that the missionaries can’t make a conversion by themselves. But when the investigator is willing to take a small step of faith, it works.

At the end of District Meeting, we did “Moves Projections.” Moves Projections consists of each of us taking a guess at where all of us will be on Thursday (Moves Day). There’s actually a lot of good fun in this, especially for us because we know we are staying here in Weymouth. What I thought was cute was that Elder Trevisan guessed that the Reimers would be “Translated.” Unfortunately, not even close! But we do love these young men – they are so dedicated to the work.

After District Meeting was over we came back to the flat and changed into jeans so that we (both of us and Elders Trevisan and Mysyk) could go to help Sister Fiona Payne move into her new beautiful bigger house. And I didn’t get any pictures of this since my camera was in my scripture case back at the flat. Since I’ve been sick, my brain seems to be on autopilot and not working so well at remembering to bring my camera.

Well, it’s Wednesday evening. I ordered a Crock Pot (yes, the brand) for Elder Reimers for our anniversary (it’s what he wanted). It was delivered today. Before we left for the church for Seminary and Young Men/Young Women, we filled it with vegetables and a pot roast so that we could have a hot meal when we got home. It works wonderfully. Just like using the cooking bag at home.

A few minutes after 9:00 pm we called the Elders to see what was happening on moves tomorrow. Hallelujah, both our Elders will be here in Weymouth another six weeks. Looking back, our guesses were the most right – we projected everybody would be staying. We did lose Elder Pettersson (from Sweden). This was a surprise since he’s only been in Yeovil for the last moves period. Both Elders Mysyk and Marchione are going into their third moves period and Elder Trevisan his second. Oh well, we know President Shamo puts us where we are needed.

President Chasteauneuf requested that Walt and I represent the Branch on Thursday evening at the VIP Civic Opening of the “Weathering the Storm” exhibition at the Poole Chapel. The senior couple missionaries (called specifically to do public relations) were putting on a touring exhibition commissioned by Area President, Elder Kenneth Johnson. The exhibition was professionally designed and constructed and contained exhibits showing topics relating to personal and family preparedness, as well as civil emergencies. Friday and Saturday the exhibition was opened to the general public and there were manned displays by Poole Stake members covering the following topics: (1) Family Values; (2) Emergency Supplies; (3) 72-Hour Survival Packs; (4) Gardening, Storing and Preserving; (5) Provident Living; (6) Food Storage, Packing and Preparation; (7) Employment; and (8) Debt Counseling. The displays were beautiful and about eight feet high and 12 or more feet wide. Here are a few examples in no particular order. I’ve also put in some pictures of table exhibits that were set up for Provident Living and Food Storage.
 
Preparing for Natural Disasters (www.providentliving.org)

Education is the Key to Employment Opportunities

Family Preparedness and Provident Living

The Home Storage Table with canned goods and grains.  Below is he Provident Living Table with cook books, gardening book, canning books, etc.

This is a picture of our “ribbon cutting” ceremony that opened the exhibition. The gentleman cutting the ribbon is the Poole Councilman in charge of Emergency Preparation. Right before this picture was taken, we had opening exercises with a prayer and with Presidents Martin (Stake President) and Fairbanks (1st Counsellor) speaking. Then we heard from the Councilman. He was a very good speaker and I learned a lot about Poole. Unfortunately, we don’t live in Poole, we live in Weymouth. 


This last picture is of Sister Fairbanks, who made the best wheat chili I’ve had in a long-long time. It was chewy and spicy and really good!!

Friday we left for London at 8:00 am to attend President and Sister Shamo’s “Thanksgiving in England” dinner. I was asked to make a hot vegetable dish. I wracked my brain and the internet for something that didn’t have to be cooked at the Shamo’s nor refrigerated if I made it at home before we left with three-hour drive to London. I finally came up with a recipe for Cranberry Cabbage (made with red cabbage, apples, red wine vinegar, whole-berry cranberry sauce, cinnamon, and apple juice) that would be cooked in the crockpot. I love cooked red cabbage and this was a hit.

Walt has been very busy working with President Chasteauneuf and the Branch Council to get December activities sorted out. We have a Branch Christmas Social on the 18th and a Christmas Carol Sing on the 23rd. The Carol Sing will include most of the Weymouth Branch members with their families and friends in attendance. Last year we got people out I’ve not seen in the chapel since. There had been talk of not doing a Carol Sing this year because everybody was so busy; actually what was needed was just a guiding hand to get people started and everything took off. All that has to be done now is to check periodically to see that things are progressing.

I think that is about all for now. I wish everybody a wonderful Christmas. Love, Jackie 

Missionary Journal

England (September Weeks 3-4 and October Weeks 1-2 2009)

September Week 3
This week was spent primarily working toward our monthly goal of getting to all the members (active and less-active) in the Weymouth Branch. However, on Saturday we went to the First Annual Weymouth Victorian Military Tattoo. For some unfathomable reason I have this very positive idea that I have already written about this subject: the pictures are resized and retitled and I know I have researched “Tattoo”, but I can’t find a write up anywhere. Oh well, very senior moment.

Looking at Wikipedia I found: “The original meaning of military tattoo is a military drum performance, but nowadays it sometimes means army displays more generally. It dates from the seventeenth century when the British Army was fighting in the Low Countries (Belgium and The Netherlands). Drummers from the garrison were sent out into the towns at 21:30 hrs (9:30 pm) each evening to inform the soldiers that it was time to return to barracks. The process was known as doe den tap toe (old-Dutch for "turn off the tap"), an instruction to innkeepers to stop serving beer and send the soldiers home for the night. The drummers continued to play until the curfew at 22:00 hrs (10:00 pm).

“Over the years, the process became more of a show and often included the playing of the first post at 21:30 hrs and the last post at 22:00. Bands and displays were included and shows were often conducted by floodlight or searchlight. Tattoos were commonplace in the late 1800s with most military and garrison towns putting on some kind of show or entertainment during the summer months. Between the First World War and the Second World War elaborate tattoos were held in many towns, with the largest in Aldershot.”

Of course, the best known is the Military Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle in Scotland. There are also other English Military Tattoos held in Birmingham, at Windsor Castle, and the Royal Military Tattoo in London.

Canada has the Quebec City Military Tattoo as part of the Quebec City International Festival of Military Bands. I didn’t know we had Tattoos in the States, but the largest tattoo in the United States is the Virginia International Tattoo, held every year in Norfolk, Virginia where over 850 performers play traditional music and many international acts join every branch of the Armed Forces. One of the newer tattoos in North America is the Heartland International Tattoo in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, near Chicago. The United States Air Force holds tattoos for many different events and celebrations, like base openings and closers, and special events like the 21st Annual Langley Tattoo. The Air Force's largest tattoo is held each year at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.

Now we have the Victorian Military Tattoo in Weymouth. We didn’t see the parade from downtown Weymouth because we were too busy finding a parking place (very few to be had anywhere near the Nothe Fort where the Tattoo was held). This was an event in support of “Help for Heroes”; the charity giving aid to wounded service men and women injured in current conflicts.

The Weymouth Victorian Military Tattoo is billed as “a full living history event including the Garrisoning of one of Britain’s finest Victorian Fortresses.” The five Regiments: (1) The Green Howards; (2) The 24th Foot of Zulu War fame; (3) The Middlesex Regiment - Diehard Company; (4) the 11th Hussars; and (5) The Royal Artillery who were stationed inside the Fort since they were hosting the Garrison. The crew, along with the Drum Corps and Royalty, came to over 100 re-enactors.

As we walked up to the fort, the first things we saw were the horses, then the people tenting in the gardens at the fort.

And to show that woman’s work is never done, here is a picture proving it… Here she is fixing a tear in the tent.

Inside the tents are bed rolls but no sleeping bags or other things I could see that would take away from the “historical experience” for both the participant and the spectator. I’m glad it’s them and not me – I’m way too old to sleep on the ground.

Notice the kilt on the guy in brown.

First of all, a goodly portion of the garrison came marching into the fort, headed by the Drum Corps.

The 11th Hussars followed.

Then came the remainder of the regiments.

After all the regiments arrived, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert arrived by carriage.

Here is Queen Victoria with the Commanding Officer reviewing the troops.

This is the reviewing stand set up for the Victoria, Albert, the 3 princesses, and all the “hangers-on” (i.e., the ladies-in-waiting, etc.).

Sitting on the reviewing stand we have the following (left to right): Front Row: The Princess Royal, the princesses Louise and Alice, Prince Albert, Queen Victoria, Colonel Grenadier Corps; Back Row (sorry you can’t see them, but I have separate pictures): The Somersets (she is the Queen’s Lady-in-Waiting), the Gladstones (he is the Prime Minister) and two more ladies-in-waiting.

This is a close-up picture of the three Princesses (left to right): Princess Alice, the Princess Royal, and Princess Louise. I’ll bet those two little ones had a great time re-enacting this tattoo.

These are the Somersets.

And here are the Gladstones (remember, he is the current Prime Minister).

Here is the wife (Lady VonTutsburg) of the German Ambassador with Prince Albert.

This picture is my favorite. I went back and took a picture of real honest soldiers while I was at it. There were about a half dozen in uniform during the tattoo. I didn’t ask why they were there, but they are currently serving in the British Army. These two guys here were the best; they told me they were brothers. I said, “Sure!”

Anyway, the Drum Corps were great (probably not as good as the tattoo at Edinburgh), but we enjoyed them and their music.

As we were leaving the fort and walking back to our car, we passed this sign:

There they are right in Weymouth (as opposed to Farnborough) for those of you who spent part of your life working with them as a sub on FCS.

September Week 4
This week was pretty low key as we continued working on our goal for the month and visiting as many members as possible. On Tuesday we had lunch with the Mullens (we try to get to them out to lunch at least once a quarter or more). He was at one time Branch President (remember Weymouth has been a branch for 40 years). We always have a lovely time with them but can’t get them out to church often.

Wednesday evening, Walt had an interview with a member of the Stake Presidency and was called into the Branch Presidency as Second Counselor. This isn’t going to be an easy calling: (1) The First Counselor has cancer; (2) Walt wasn’t released from his other callings as Clerk and Sunday School President; and (3) we are still full-time missionaries. But we love the branch and are happy to serve in any and all capacities.

Saturday evening I spent with two sisters I work with in Primary. They were making home-made cards (boy, do they have the supplies to make cards) and I was critiquing. Since Sunday was Fast Sunday we didn’t have refreshments (that’s hard when 3 Mormon women get together).

Sunday was low key with Walt being sustained and set apart and me teaching Gospel Doctrine (I am really enjoying teaching a deep-down look at Church history and how it applies to our lives today).

Sunday evening we had the Elders over for dinner (left to right: Elder Allred and Elder Marchione giving us a spiritual message). The lump on the far left of the picture is Elder Reimers.

September Last Week or October First Week
Monday was “P” day and neither of us felt much like doing anything (just laundry and working on lessons). Tuesday I wasn’t feeling well again – I’m getting really tired of this. However, on Wednesday (the very last day of the month) after praying mightly to the Lord, I got up, baked the cookie dough (snickerdoodles) Walt had prepared, and we went out and visited the remaining 7 folks we hadn’t yet seen for September. Phew, we got it all done! Below is the weekly report I sent out to our Mission President:

Dear President Shamo – After feeling so miserable on Tuesday and praying to feel good enough to go out and contact the remainder of the folks in the branch, Wednesday morning we had our little miracle and I woke up feeling good, helped my husband bake cookies, and we went out to visit. We had an absolutely lovely time, making visits to these last seven people.

The visit I especially enjoyed was at the home of a young man (mid-twenties) who had finally gotten his wish and had been accepted by the Merchant Marines. We visited with his mother who was in a really good place in her life that day: Wednesday was her last day at work as she was retiring and there was a party in the evening. We spoke about her son and his aspirations and how happy she was for him that he seemed to be getting his life turned around. Elder Reimers asked her if she had ever thought about joining the Church, and she told us that she was COFE (Church of England), a lay pastor, and a street pastor. I’d never heard of a street pastor. It seems that they go out four nights a week from midnight to 4:00 am on the streets of Weymouth in a group of four to help those that are in no position to help themselves due to drink or drugs to get home safely. She told me that Jesus worked with the downtrodden and needy, and she felt she couldn’t do less. We will keep in contact with her – what an addition she would be to Weymouth Branch.

On Sunday evening we had a house full of people, including the Elders and branch members who didn’t have the resources to make it to Yeovil or Poole, to watch General Conference over the internet. We borrowed the projector from the branch and showed it on the wall. I made dinner and we watched three sessions of conference (Saturday AM, Sunday AM and PM until my husband had to take the Elders back to their flat to make it at 10:30 pm. My favorite was Elder Holland and his testimony of the Book of Mormon.

All in all, a wonderful week. Love, Elder and Sister Reimers

This really put the week in a nutshell. No marvelous places to visit, but just quiet contentment at a “job well done.”

October Week 2
Another great week as we have been out with our cookies to visit (this week it was oatmeal current cookies). We met with Sister Joyce Nash (who is 86, less active and has congenital heart disease) and spoke with her about obedience and reminded her that the Lord loves her. She hadn’t been feeling well when we called for an appointment, but Elder Reimers said he had some cookies for her and she perked right up. We visited that afternoon as we called on the members in Portesham, Burton Bradstock, and Bridport and had trouble getting out of her flat. She is so lonely and needs uplifting conversation and answers to questions. I keep telling the members of the Branch Council we need to love these less-active members back to Church.

The next day we received a call from her as she raved about the cookies and how she has never had anyone just bring her cookies (or anything like them); said it wasn’t done in England. She also said she loved our visits.

A second small miracle happened as we visited with another sister (less active). With this sister we just showed up and offered cookies. We chatted outside with her shortly and again told her that we knew Heavenly Father loved her and that we missed her sweet spirit in Church. On Saturday we received a letter from her that just screamed “HELP!” She told us she smoked and stayed away from other members because she smoked and felt she had let everybody down. She wrote: “I want you to know I believe in the Mormon religion and I want to be able to serve our Heavenly Father, but I keep losing the battle with smoking. I do read my Bible and all the books and leaflets I have got, I constantly pray and ask Heavenly Father to help me be what he wants me to be.” I am trying to find out if Poole has an Addiction Prevention Program (Margo and Al – wish you were here), and we will visit her next week to tell her again how much Heavenly Father loves her and wants her back in the fold. I’m hoping that if we can get her back in church it will help her with her desire to become closer to the Spirit so she can stop smoking.

We love being able to serve and, hopefully, positively impact the lives of those around us. What more can you ask from retirement?

Saturday evening we had Road Show at the Poole Stake Center. Only 4 of the 6 units participated. The 2 that didn’t participate are big wards and that didn’t make a lot of sense to me. Weymouth, of course, was superb. Our activities director is a commercial artist and amateur actor. The theme was “The Words We Speak.”

On first was the Christchurch Ward who did a fairy tale including Shrek, Tweety Bird, the Muffin Man, Cruella Deville, Red Riding Hood, Snow White, the 3 fairy godmothers, etc. The best was their scenery. If you can see the scenery in the back it was a book of fables and they were in Fableland. There was a little girl (about 8 I think) dressed like a princess and who slept right in front of the book until she turned the pages in the book as the scenery changed (about 4 changes). It was hysterical as she had to huff and puff to get the pages moved. They didn’t get the award for best scenery, but I thought it was great. Only issue was that they didn’t sing their music but used CD music with voices.

Next up was Bournemouth (a big, big ward with lots and lots of people). Their play was futuristic. They actually had a band with a keyboard, two guitars, and drums. The music was futuristic and not exactly what I like but I’m sure the youth did (a lot of discordant notes). The captain (on the left in the epaulets) had a good voice and the ladies in the right sang backup.

Just before Weymouth was the Salisbury Branch. I thoroughly enjoyed this presentation. It was obvious that the group had someone who knew Polynesian dancing (hint: the big guy in the middle of the picture and his wife). The plot centered around two islands (one where the women lived since they had banished the men to another island due to not ever doing anything – such as fishing, cleaning, etc.).

The best part was the ocean scene where they paddled across from one island to another. They walked the ocean across the stage and then held it on each side. It was great!!

Then Weymouth was up, and our plot was about a cute Mormon family (Molly and Norman Mormon and their 3 girls) that move into a haunted house inhabited by zombies. In this picture you see the entire Mormon family along with their home teachers (who save the day at least in the beginning) in the guise of Ghostbusters.

On the left are the zombies who have speaking parts.

The scenery was fabulous! As you look at the picture on the right, you will see 3 of the 4 zombies looking out of the pictures whereas in the picture above it there are other pictures showing; i.e., castle, etc.

There was one scene change (from the drawing room to the cemetery). You can see our director in the picture to the left has already moved two panels to the cemetery.

The highlight of the change of scenery and almost the whole play was a skeleton dance (by two of our primary boys) doing the cha-cha with a “Dancing with the Stars”-type scoring. The great part about it was they actually did a pretty decent cha-cha dressed in black costumes with fluorescent bones.

All in all, I was very impressed.

After the road show was over and while the judges were judging, one of our zombies (the non-member husband of one of our members) sat down and played the piano. I arranged a small grouping and took a picture. On the left is our director and activities committee chairman, center is our non-member zombie (he is a mechanical engineer by education, a teacher by trade, and an accomplished musician), and on the right is one of our young men, Joe Walker, who played one of the two home teachers.

Sunday was the Reimers show (kind of). Walt was the only member of the Branch Presidency in attendance and this was his first week to conduct. The First Counselor is in the hospital battling cancer and pneumonia, and President is away on family business. So, Walt conducted and conducted branch business, I sat on the stand with him, then I spoke, and he was the concluding speaker.

After the meetings were over we had our fourth monthly “munch and mingle” and it was great. Everybody brought a little something to share (Walt always makes a soup: beans, chili, stew, etc.) and we didn’t get home from church until after 3:00 pm. That’s 2 hours for munching and mingling. It is so wonderful to have a time to just one Sunday a month and an hour or so to just sit and talk without worrying about teaching or a program or really anything.

Then at 8:00 pm (after doing their Sunday evening finding) we had the Elders for a dinner of Chili, Corn Bread, and Raspberry and Blackberry crumble with custard.

Bye for now. Love you all. Jackie