Missionary Journal

England (January Wk4 2009)

Saturday, 24 January 2009
Well, I spent most of today redoing my lessons for tomorrow. I will take my laptop to church just in case someone can get the projector to work. My feeling is that the projector is not right in its little computer brain – it doesn’t even look to acquire a signal. Hope we didn’t break it (at least it should be under warranty!).

Oh, I miss all my beloved electronics at home! This really is a sacrifice. I’ve been so incredibly spoiled for so very long!

I don’t feel alone; however, Walt finally decided he needed to do a little preparation for his Gospel Doctrine lesson this evening. He’s over on the couch reading and deciding what he wants to do. He thinks this is a hard lesson to present (poor baby).

We went over the chapel this afternoon and found some pictures (enough so that we both can have a set of what is needed for the same lesson to two very different classes).

Sunday, 25 January 2009
Today was church, obviously. My lessons, both Sunday School and Relief Society, went well. I’m not only teaching the saints, but a non-member as well (he’s been through Gospel Essentials 3 or 4 times and the leadership has decided he’s ready for a little more meat). As you can see, here is my classroom (in the Library).

My Relief Society lesson was The Ministry of Angels by Elder Holland (what a wonderful man!) and I especially like the following quote: “I have spoken here of heavenly help, of angels dispatched to bless us in time of need. But when we speak of those who are instruments in the hand of God, we are reminded that not all angels are from the other side of the veil. Some of them we walk with and talk with—here, now, every day. Some of them reside in our own neighborhoods. Some of them gave birth to us, and in my case, one of them consented to marry me. Indeed heaven never seems closer than when we see the love of God manifested in the kindness and devotion of people so good and so pure that angelic is the only word that comes to mind” (Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Ministry of Angels,” Ensign, Nov 2008). When I read this, there were many Alma Branch folks who came to mind. As a Missionary correlation group (our new Branch Mission Leader, the Elders, and Walt and I) we are focusing on friendshipping and getting the branch members to get more involved with each other.

Walt’s lesson went well as far as I could tell from what he said. I’m glad. I believe this is his first time at teaching Gospel Doctrine.

Tonight we had the Elders over for dinner. Elder Ellsworth wanted to have Mexican food, so we made beef and cheese enchiladas, Spanish rice, and beans and cheese. I would have made chili rellenos casserole, but we can’t seem to find canned chilies anywhere over here.

Monday, 26 January 2009
Today we were supposed to have an appointment with Sister Kim Pooley (who stood us up the last time we had an appointment). She did it again. I didn’t call to confirm (which I usually do) because I was just positive the last time was an aberration and she wouldn’t do it a second time. Oh, well. We all have our free agency.

Other than that, today was “P” day and we washed 4 loads of clothes and towels and dried them. I also worked on my next lessons (Sunday School for next Sunday and Relief Society for February). I came across a phrase that I really liked: “Prayer is the means by which man communicates with God. Revelation is the means by which God communicates with man.”

I had a young man of 20 tell me two weeks ago that he quit the church because he prayed and prayed and never gained a testimony of Joseph Smith or of the Book of Mormon. We told him that the Spirit comes as a very still, small voice (a whisper or feeling or inspiration). I wish I had read this before we went to see his family (who are fairly active); it’s put so well:

Dallin H. Oaks: “This [burning in the bosom] may be one of the most important and misunderstood teachings in all the Doctrine and Covenants. The teachings of the Spirit often come as feelings. That fact is of the utmost importance, yet some misunderstand what it means. I have met persons who told me they have never had a witness from the Holy Ghost because they have never felt their bosom ‘burn within’ them.

“What does a ‘burning in the bosom’ mean? Does it need to be a feeling of caloric heat, like the burning produced by combustion? If that is the meaning, I have never had a burning in the bosom. Surely, the word burning in this scripture signifies a feeling of comfort and serenity. That is the witness many receive. That is the way revelation works.

“Truly, the still, small voice is just that, ‘still’ and ‘small.’

“The language of peace, as spoken by the Lord, embraces a sense of quiet confidence, comfort, and warmth. It is gentle and calm, amiable and sweet; it is temperate and kind; it is orderly and identified by happiness, joy, and feelings of love” (“Teaching and Learning by the Spirit,” Ensign, Mar. 1997).

Tuesday, 27 January 2009
I spent a goodly portion of today making calls to check on sisters we have already seen and making appointments for those we haven’t yet seen. About 4:00 pm Walt started making cream of potato soup. The Elders were coming over for dinner (dinner appointments were scarce again this week) and then we are going together to the Welfare (7:00 pm) and Branch Council (8:00 pm).

Dinner was good and, as usual, the Elders had a spiritual thought for us. They used one of my favorites. Moroni 7:42-17:
42 Wherefore, if a man have faith he must needs have hope; for without faith there cannot be any hope.
43 And again, behold I say unto you that he cannot have faith and hope, save he shall be meek, and lowly of heart.
44 If so, his faith and hope is vain, for none is acceptable before God, save the meek and lowly in heart; and if a man be meek and lowly in heart, and confesses by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have charity.
45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—
47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

Then they told us that they picked those verses because of the charity we’ve shown them in feeding them and bussing them around. They feel very much at home in our flat. We just adore them (what marvelous young men). They also wanted us to know that things have really picked up since we’ve come; that very little was happening in the branch and now things are moving out. Yes!!

After dinner we went to Welfare and spoke about the missionary work that should be going on in the branch. Interestingly, two brothers spoke about something Walt had said in his Gospel Doctrine class – he obviously had them listening. Good for him!

During Branch Council, it was noted that we need to have the following classes taught very soon:
1. Priesthood Advancement (Walt can handle that.)
2. Temple Preparation (Guess who?)
3. A new class titled “Strengthening the Family.” This is to be taught to everyone (families, singles, etc.). The book was published in 2006, but it isn’t on LDS.org. It contains 9 90-minute lessons and will be taught sometime other than during Sunday meetings. The 9 topics are: (1) Parenting Principles and Practices; (2) Under-standing Child Development; (3) Communicating with Love; (4) Nurturing Children; (5) Fostering Confidence; (6) Overcoming Anger; (7) Resolving Conflict; (8) Teaching Responsible Behavior; and (9) Applying Consequences. (Guess who again?)

I certainly will be busy preparing lessons. Of course, most of you know just how much I “hate” to prepare lessons to teach (whether it was at church or work). Between working with the less-active members and teaching, I expect to be very busy. And I love it!!!

Wednesday, 28 January 2009
I think we’re back at the flat for good this evening (it’s 6:17 pm – most of you should be up in the States). We had a really good day. Our first appointment was with a sister who moved into the branch (Dorchester) some months ago and promptly had foot surgery. She hasn’t been in church because she was told she could only be on her feet 10 minutes an hour until they healed. Unfortunately, after they healed, she didn’t start attending meetings. No visiting teachers have come, no home teachers. I told her we would get that taken care of shortly. We hope to see her in church soon. First thing we need to do is get her a friend in church. That is our mission to see the Weymouth Branch loving the less-actives back to full fellowship.

Our next appointment was at 4:00 pm, so we decided to take some time and see Dorchester since we don’t get out there very often (this was only the 2nd time since we’ve been here). The first thing we saw was this great big, grey edifice. It turns out this is called “The Keep” and is the Dorchester Military Museum. We paid £8 for entrance and it was worth it. All four stories are galleries showing the Dorchester units and where they served. As much as I hate to say this, they were in the US during the Revolutionary War – not on the right side either. Almost everything was behind glass but beautifully displayed and numbered with explanations for every item in each case. Walt was mostly interested in the weapons (guns, etc.).

They had a video in a bunker with this poster on it. I thought it was worth taking a picture of. It says, "Women of Britain Come Into the Factories." No one probably realized the issues this was going to cause when the men returned from the war and found that their wives didn’t want to leave work and give the jobs back.

These are real, honest Nazi flags. The first was Hitler’s National Socialist German Workers' Party and the second was Hitler Youth.

Next, we went up on the roof. For those of you who know me well, you know that is sheer pananoia for me. However, I did manage to take a few pictures of Dorchester so you can see pictures of another English city.


These are just homes that are across the street on both sides of the Keep.

Here is a building that was the barracks for soldiers in WWII. Obviously, this has been well refurbished since the end of the war.

After we finished at the museum, we strolled down the street looking for a place to have a late lunch. We next came upon St. Peter’s. I believe St. Peter’s is Church of England since it also said, “of Peter, Paul, and all the saints.” Internet says: “St Peter's Church stands in the middle of Dorchester in Dorset, near to the Dorset County Museum. There has been a church on this site in England since Norman times, and the current building dates back to 1454. It has incorporated earlier materials and the arch around the door to the church dates from the 11C. The statues of knights in the south chapel also predate the current church, coming from the 14C.” So, very old.

We walked a few blocks further to the High Street.

Then we started back and had lunch at a cute little tea room called the Horse with the Red Umbrella.

Here’s Walt sitting in the Annex at our little table. Lunch was good. Walt had a salad and minced meat with onion pie and I had a brie and bacon sandwich (English bacon like I had has no fat except around the end slightly).

After lunch, we came back to the car and toward home. We stopped at the flat for restroom privileges and then headed toward Portland to see our elderly sister who is living with her daughter that we saw last week. When we met with the Branch Council last night we found out that the Relief Society is working on getting a calling tree set up so that one sister will call every day and someone will visit every week. Plus the Priesthood is working on getting the sacrament out to her weekly. As we were leaving, her daughter Nicki (whom I really like) gave me flowers and a hand-crocheted shawl (“…if I’m going to be living in England, I need a shawl!”). It’s really hard not to cry at times like that. I just sniffled a bit, thanked her, and gave her a great big hug.

As soon as we got home, I called Sister Kagi (Relief Society President) and told her about our first appointment in Dorchester this morning. She said she didn’t know who the sister was. Since Sister Kagi also lives in Dorchester, she will call her and take her to church so she will know where the church is and feel welcome. Next, we’ll get some visiting teachers.

We feel so blessed to be able to help.

Thursday, 29 January 2009
I spent most of today working on lessons for Sunday and calling less-actives for appointments next week since all day Friday will be taken up with the Poole Zone Meeting.

Friday, 30 January 2009
This morning we were out the door and picked up the Elders at 7:10 am for the hour-long drive to Poole for the Zone Conference. I picked up this picture (out the front windshield) as we were driving along the road to Poole.

The first thing we had was 1.5 hours of District Meeting. Since Elder Ellsworth is District Leader he gave the Lesson using “Froto the Investigator.” The lesson (Meeting the Needs of the Investigator with the Scriptures) was inspired by “Peach My Gospel,” pages 177-182. I also picked up a great quote from Elaine Dalton: “The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare.”

Since transfers come up on 12 February, everybody was taking pictures today. No one has any idea where in the London South Mission they might be in two weeks (not even in the same Zone).

The picture below is all the Elders in the Zone with the exception of Elder Bång who was in talking with President.

Next came Zone meeting where we were taught by President Swinton, then Sister Swinton while President met with all the missionaries separately (except he met with Walt and I as a companionship) and each Elder companionship worked with the Zone Leaders on approach, teaching, etc.

The theme for 2009 in the mission is “The Iron Rod Invitation.” One thing that was said really hit a kindred thought in my mind was: “Don’t focus on the Mists of Darkness (issues such as smoking, etc.), focus on the solution (Testimony, Scriptures [Book of Mormon especially], Prophets, Church, Prayer, and Members). When the solution supports the needs of the investigator, the mists often just fade away (they no longer have substance).

Both President and Sister Swinton spoke for about 1.5 to 2 hours each on the Iron Rod; just wonderful presentations. He was an Area President prior to this assignment as Mission President and she, as I’ve said before, has written scripts for Church screen plays. As I think about being a mother and how much I would want to have all my children grasp hard onto the Iron Rod and make it through the mists of darkness to the tree where they can partake of the fruit, it makes what we are doing here of even more importance. We are giving people (sometimes even whole families) the chance to see the way to the tree of life and are putting their hands on the Iron Rod to get them heading in the right direction. How marvelous this opportunity is to help others who are struggling in a world that is in chaos to find the peace of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

After the meeting was over (about 4:00 pm), Walt and I took a walk while Elder Ellsworth was attending a short District/Zone Leader meeting. Since I haven’t seen much of Poole, I walked down the street and around the corner to take a few pictures of houses. Poole is a little more upscale than Weymouth.

Most of the houses we could see within walking distance were single family dwellings – very uncommon for England.

I also took this picture of a brick wall. I don’t know how old this house is, but you can see the moss that is growing. I thought it was bad enough that we had moss growing on Debbie Road before we left. But it is nothing compared to the damp here in England.

After Walt caught up to me, we walked down the other way from the church and found a redwood house. They don’t have wooden houses in the UK. Almost everything is brick, even the yellow house in the center of the picture above is brick covered with plaster or stucco and then painted. In most cases, the walls inside the house are brick covered with plaster or sheetrock type material and then painted. This kind of looks very like home.

I guess I’m done for the week. Miss you all. Jackie