Missionary Journal

England (June Wk 01 2009)

Monday 01 June 2009
We had an absolutely lovely day today. We did housecleaning in the morning and then started toward Glastonbury to see the Abbey. First we stopped in Yeovil to shop. The Elders had told us about a store called Primark where we could buy Walt some cheap jeans. They were right; we bought Walt a pair of jeans, 3 short-sleeved white shirts, 2 ties, and socks, and they all cost less than £20. We couldn’t even find jeans anywhere in Weymouth for less than £20.

After we finished shopping, we headed out for the Abbey.

Albert E Webb in his 1928 “A Hasty Story of the Abbey and aDescriptive Guide to the Abbey Ruins” penned the following: “To the reader unacquainted with the history of Glastonbury it may not be out of place to give a hasty outline of its story – legendary and historical. Probably to some the name of Glastonbury has little or no significance, yet its sacredness, dating for us from the first years of the Christian era, would seem to be older than Christianity. For in very ancient times Glastonbury – Ynys Witrin – Isle of Avalon – was known throughout Europe as the 'Happy Isle of the Blest', the abode of departed spirits; and from being a fabled Paradise in pre-Christian days, Glastonbury became the spot most hallowed by Christian tradition of any within this realm.”

As we approached the museum we saw our guide, Isabelle, who is from Brittany (France) and has the sweetest accent. She is dressed as a pilgrim making a pilgrimage to the abbey.

To give you a starting point, in the museum there was a scale-model of the Glastonbury Abbey. As you can see, it is a huge, magnificent edifice (unfortunately, there is very little left to see).

From the book “Glastonbury Abbey,” M R James, Provost of Eton, wrote: “The church was an enormous building. The total length, including the Lady Chapel on the west and the Edgar Chapel on the east, was some 590 feet. It consisted (going from west to east) of the Lady Chapel, the Galilee (joined to the west front), a nave of nine bays, with aisles, transepts with two chapels in each (the north transept extending somewhat farther westward than the south), choir of eight bays, with aisles, and Edgar Chapel. There was a central tower and probably two western ones, and a large north porch. Some smaller chapels were attached to various parts of the main structure.

“Of these there remain: the shell of the Lady Chapel and Galilee, three bays of the south aisle wall of the nave; the eastern piers of the crossing; a bit of the north transept; a large portion of the south wall of the choir aisle; fragments of the east wall; besides foundations exposed by excavations. The Lady Chapel (often called St Joseph’s Chapel) is, as I have said, the completest piece of the ruins. We have the shell of it, a beautiful late twelfth-century building of four bays, with angle turrets.

“The eastern bays attached to it in Early English style form the Galilee, which joined it to the main church. The crypt was not constructed till early in the sixteenth century; old materials were then used, which tends to confuse one at first sight. The well, which is quite outside the foundation wall of the chapel, is not mentioned in any medieval record.”

We had to wait for 5 or 10 minutes for the tour to start. We waited on the abbey grounds just outside the museum (in the breeze). From this area we could also see the Glastonbury Tor which is topped by the medieval tower of St. Michael’s Chapel.

Once an island (see earlier) almost encircled by the sea, legend has it that the Tor was the entrance to the Underworld, home of the Celtic god Avalloc, from whom Avalon takes its name. This is where Joseph of Arimathea was supposed to have buried the Holy Grail.

Our first stop was at the thorn tree:

It seems that tradition still shows a Weary All Hill, on which St. Joseph of Arimathea and his eleven tired companions are said to have rested on their first landing, for Glastonbury was an island in those days. St. Joseph rested upon his staff and gazed out on Glastonbury Hill. This staff was reputedly taken from a tree, which grew from a thorn in Christ’s crown of thorns. When St. Joseph came to move on he found that his stick had taken root. Its claims to sanctity awakened the ire of an unhappy Puritan, who expressed himself by diligently and impiously trying to cut it down. It was a gigantic tree for a thorn, and was in two parts. One part he demolished, the other he wounded mortally. And then it revenged itself. A splinter from it flew into his eye and killed him. Botanists agree that it is a Levantine thorn. It blossoms for Easter and then for Christmas. On Christmas Day, flowers from it are on the altar of the Parish Church of St. John the Baptist.

This is the other side of the Lady Chapel. Inside the chapel the first floor was the site of a wattle chapel which was supposed to be one of the first Christian churches built above ground.
Going inside, you can see the altar at the end of the building.

A community of monks was already established at Glastonbury when King Ine ofWessex enriched their endowment. He is said to have directed that a stone church be built in 712.

There is also a tradition that Christ in his boyhood came to Glastonbury. Although that sounds improbable, I guess it’s is not impossible. The Phoenicians came to Britain seeking metals several centuries before Christ. Herodotus, in the fifth century B.C., speaks of Cornwall as the Tin Islands, and Greeks also came in search of ore. St Joseph is thought to have been one of those merchants and acquired his wealth from tin. He might well have brought the Holy Child (who was supposed to be his nephew) with him on one of his journeys.

Such traditions are stories to cherish, and this is one which William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827, an English poet, painter, and printmaker who it is told was largely unrecognised during his lifetime) chronicled. He wrote the following lines (which are used by the London South Mission as their theme song and called Jerusalem [see e-mail for M3 of the song]):

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England’s mountains green?
And was the Holy Lamb of God
On England’s pleasant pastures seen?
And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among those dark satanic mills?
Bring me my sword of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear! O clouds unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!
I will not cease from mental fight
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England’s green and pleasant land.

I’ve been singing them for 6 months and had no idea where they came from. The words are beautiful and the music is lyrical. I will put a MP3 of a choir singing the hymn on my e-mail.

I looked up Jerusalem on the internet and got a YouTube vido where I could hear the song. It was explained as: “The unofficial 'anthem' of England from the poem written by William Blake. A tribute to the generations that have gone before us to preserve that 'green and pleasant land' for 'England & St. George!'”

The last tradition I’m going to speak of is the Authurian legend. It is said that King Authur was brought to Glastonbury in a boat after being mortally wounded in his last battle.

In 1911, the monks of Glastonbury Abbey dug to find the remains of King Arthur and his Queen, Guinevere, in the cemetary to the south of the Lady Chapel. On the 19th of April 1278, their remains were removed in the presence of King Edward I and Queen Eleanor to a black marble tomb in the choir of the Glastonbury Abbey.

The small plot you see picked out in the lower left-hand corner of this picture is what is left of the black marble mausleum that was built for King Arthur and Queen Guinevere after King Henry VIII got hold of the abbeys and monastaries (see sign below).

In 1539, King Henry VIII had his well-known fued with the Pope over whether or not he could divorce Queen Catherine of Aragon because she couldn’t give him an heir. Wikipedia notes: “Henry VIII was a significant figure in the history of the English monarchy. Although in the great part of his reign he brutally suppressed the influence of the Protestant Reformation in England, a movement having some roots with John Wycliffe in the 14th century, he is more popularly known for his political struggles with Rome. These struggles ultimately led to the separation of the Church of England from papal authority, the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and establishing himself as the Supreme Head of the Church of England. Although some people claim that Henry became a Protestant on his death-bed, he advocated Catholic ceremony and doctrine throughout his life.” NOTE: My sources in Weymouth tell me you can’t tell a Church of England mass from a Roman Catholic mass. Interesting.

Since Henry knew he was going to be upsetting his in-laws (King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile) and would probably be in a war with them, plus possibly the French and others, he came to the conclusion he needed more money (it never changes does it?). In order to procure this additional income, Henry and Thomas Cromwell disbanded monasteries, nunneries, and friaries in England, Wales, and Ireland, appropriated their income, and disposed of their assets by the Act of Supremacy (passed by Parliament in 1534) which made him the Supreme Head of the Church in England; and by the First Suppression Act (1536) and the Second Suppression Act (1539).

From the Medieval Sourcebook: The Suppression of Glastonbury Abbey 1539 we read: “Glastonbury Abbey was one of the largest and most famous English Benedictine Monasteries. It was reputed as home of the Holy Grail. Under Henry VIII, in the most successful land grab in English history, Henry VIII and his chief minister Thomas Cromwell suppressed the monasteries. This act gave the Tudor monarchs immense wealth – perhaps one third of the Land in England. It also, effectively, required the Protestant Reformation to come to England. Although Henry maintained a Catholic faith, he allowed his son to be raised as a Protestant. To maintain political support, Henry, Edward, and later Elizabeth awarded monastic lands to members of the English aristocracy (hence the number of English Stately homes called ‘Abbey’). This disbursal of Church lands meant that the entire English upper class was committed to maintaining separation from Rome, and "Protestantism" became a defining feature of English national identity.”

The murder of Abbot Whiting (the last Abbot of Glastonbury) is described in a letter written to Thomas Cromwell by a Richard Pollard: "Since my last letter to your lordship the late Abbot of Glastonbury went from Wells to Glastonbury, and there was drawn through the town upon a hurdle to the hill called the Tor, where he was put to execution... The late abbot would accuse no man but himself of any offence against the King's Highness, nor he could confess no more gold nor silver nor any other thing more than he did before your lordship in the Tower. From Wells, 16th of November.”

Seemingly not content with judicial murder, the tribunal decided that the remains of the abbot should be prominently exhibited in the county. His head, white with eighty years, was stuck on the abbey gate and the rest of his body was quartered and sent to Bath, Wells, Bridgwater, and Ilchester. The monks, staff, and dependents were driven out, while the revenues were sent to the royal coffers.

When everything of value had been carried away the remains eventually became a common quarry whose walls were blasted with gun powder to get the rocks out of the walls (see below).

The only building that remains completely intact is the “Abbot’s Kitchen.” No one seems to have any idea why it wasn’t torn down like everything else. I couldn’t find anything saying why it still here, but I do know that over a century later, the local Quakers took advantage of the ruined abbey by using the still standing "Abbot's Kitchen" as their meeting house until they were forced out.

Here are a few pictures of the inside of the kitchen:

There were fireplaces in each of the 4 corners.

The kitchen was the last place we toured, but no tour is complete without pictures of flowers. I took the following pictures on the way out of the Abbey grounds. As you can see, the flowers are against the courtyard wall.

After we left Glastonbury Abbey, we went to dinner at the Thomas Hardy in Dorchester (on the way home). Here is a picture of Walt enjoying dinner.

Tuesday, 02 June 2009
This morning was District Meeting. Today’s topic was on Faith. We started out with some scriptures:

Hebrews 11:1 - NOW faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Romans 10:17 - So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

2 Corinthians 4:18 - While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Alma 5:15 - Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?

We went from the definition of Faith (Hebrews 11:1) to how Faith is obtained (hearing, seeing that which is not seen [eternal things], and exercising faith).

For the eye of faith to work it must have revelation (light). Faith requires 3 things: (1) Light and Truth; (2) the Spirit; and (3) a willing, open heart.

President Hinckley: “Our faith, our knowledge is not based on ancient tradition, the creeds which came of a finite understanding and out of the almost infinite discussions of men trying to arrive at a definition of the risen Christ. Our faith, our knowledge comes of the witness of a prophet in this dispensation who saw before him the great God of the universe and His Beloved Son, the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. They spoke to him. He spoke with Them. He testified openly, unequivocally, and unabashedly of that great vision. It was a vision of the Almighty and of the Redeemer of the world, glorious beyond our understanding but certain and unequivocating in the knowledge which it brought. It is out of that knowledge, rooted deep in the soil of modern revelation, that we, in the words of Nephi, ‘talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that [we and] our children may know to what source [we] may look for a remission of [our] sins’ (2 Nephi 25:26)” (Gordon B. Hinckley, “We Look to Christ,” Ensign, May 2002).

We must focus on what we know by the Spirit and then move forward in our work. When we do that, we will truly be missionaries rather than just being on a mission. The difference in being a missionary and being on a mission is shown in these verses:

D&C 58:26-29
26 For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.
27 Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;
28 For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.
29 But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned.

D&C 4:2 - And now, behold, this shall you say unto him—he who spake unto you, said unto you: I, the Lord, am God, and have given these things unto you, my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and have commanded you that you should stand as a witness of these things;

D&C 81:3-7
3 Therefore, verily I acknowledge him and will bless him, and also thee, inasmuch as thou art faithful in counsel, in the office which I have appointed unto you, in prayer always, vocally and in thy heart, in public and in private, also in thy ministry in proclaiming the gospel in the land of the living, and among thy brethren.
4 And in doing these things thou wilt do the greatest good unto thy fellow beings, and wilt promote the glory of him who is your Lord.
5 Wherefore, be faithful; stand in the office which I have appointed unto you; succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.
6 And if thou art faithful unto the end thou shalt have a crown of immortality, and eternal life in the mansions which I have prepared in the house of my Father.
7 Behold, and lo, these are the words of Alpha and Omega, even Jesus Christ. Amen.

Elder Harding is our District Leader. His lessons are great. He knows his subjects well and gets a little help from his father who is a Stake Institute Director. Here we are at District meeting. You can see Walt’s bald spot there on the closest portion of the picture.

Wednesday, 03 June 2009
Today we had Sally-Ann Woolrich (a less-active member) over for lunch. We ate and chatted from 1:30 to after 3:00 pm. What a sweet sister; we are looking forward to having her back in full activity soon.

This evening we had the missionaries for dinner (roast beef, baked potatoes, salad, bread, and blackberry and apple crumble with custard for dessert [I made enough for both lunch and dinner]).

In between I worked on lessons for week after next.

Thursday, 04 June 2009
Today we were out visiting and in the afternoon we had the opportunity to do some service at Loraine Godwin’s. She owns the Richmore Hotel in Weymouth (right on the Esplanade which is just across the street from the beach) and is building a residence in the back of the hotel. I had called her to set up a June Home Teaching appointment in the morning and asked what we could do for her when she told me she was really busy right now and would like to meet later in the month. She asked if we knew anyone who could come and paint. I said, “yes” and promptly called the Elders. They went over for an hour in the morning, and Walt and I went in the afternoon.

We had no sooner gotten there than the Elders showed up. Above you can see all three of them working (Walt is in the black shirt). To the left, you can see the elders wearing plastic sacks over their shoes. They changed out of the “finding” clothes (finding is tracting or knocking) into service clothes there, but didn’t bring a second pair of shoes; therefore, the plastic sacks. We worked until that room was finished (two coats) and left while the workmen were plastering the brick walls in the other rooms. As is normal in England, the outside walls are brick and the inside walls are wood framed with sheetrock; no taping or texturing that I could see.

After we cleaned up we went out visiting. The one house I took a picture of was Joe Paul’s. He is the gentleman who told us about Moreton and the Church of St. Nickolas. That is Joe’s car that is covered and his front door is on the left of the car. His house is the area behind the front door and the portion to the left (two windows). His son built it onto his home for his parents not too long before Joe’s wife died. What a great son! What a lovely man.

Friday, 05 June 2009
Today we spent out visiting. We went shopping as we finished for the day so we would have something to put into a sack lunch for tomorrow’s trip to London for the Missionary Meeting with President Uchtdorf and Elders Anderson and Oaks.

As part of getting ready for the trip to London, Walt decided he needed to get his hair cut while we were near The High Street. He parked the car and I just waited there while he was gone. Just as he returned to the car, I heard and felt a thump on the top of the car. I got out of the car and looked up on top trying to see what had hit the car and if there was any damage. I heard a voice from the third story of the building saying he was sorry and would get his window wiper in just a few minutes. You can see the window wiper on the pavement just to the left of the front tire. It didn’t hurt the car, but surely startled me.

Here are Walt and the young man retrieving the window wiper.

Saturday, 06 June 2009
We were up at 5:00 am so we could pick up the Elders (at 7:00 am) and head for Poole to pick up another Elder (by 8:00 am) and then to Southampton to catch the bus to London.

When we got to Poole, the Zone Leaders took the Poole Elders and we followed them to Christchurch (fortunately on the way) so we could take one of the Christchurch Elders to Southampton.

When we reached Southampton at 9:30 am we had a while to wait until the bus came at 10:30 am. No one wanted to be late as President Swinton said anyone that didn’t make the bus could go back to their area and work. While we were at the Southampton Chapel there were people there setting up for a wedding. I took a picture of the lovely flowers in the chapel.

I also took pictures of the Elders (lots of them) waiting for the bus to arrive. One of the members was there helping set up for the wedding, and said he hadn’t ever seen so many Elders in one place before. I was the only sister in the bunch.

When the bus arrived, we got on (half a bus worth) and then drove to Reading (pronounced “Redding”) to get the Reading Zone. I asked Walt to take a picture of the busload of missionaries. You can see, by this time, we had several Sister Missionaries.

At Reading we also picked up President McLuckie, who is first counselor in the Mission Presidency. He lives in Oxford but was in Reading as the Mission Presidency was split among buses.

We pulled into Hyde Park (London) just after noon. Here is a picture of our bus and the missionaries getting off.

We went into the Hyde Park Chapel. As you can see, it's right in the middle of high-rise buildings and (like the Manhattan Temple and Stake Center) fits right in. The chapel is the tall edifice with the gold steeple (?) and the building to the right. Next door is the Victoria and Albert Museum.

We went into the chapel and put down our packages (scriptures, back packs, etc) to save our places. At that point in time I didn’t really realize how necessary that would be.

While I was in the chapel I took a picture of the organ pipes. Usually chapels don’t have organ pipes. Our seats were in the front row just at the bottom of the picture.

President McLuckie told Walt and I we needed to be at Hyde Park for mission pictures at 2:30, but right now we had an hour of so if we wanted to go out and wander around. Of course, the Elders couldn’t wander around unsupervised, so they went into rooms by zone and tried to think of something fun to do.

Fortunately, on the same block were several museums. The first building here is the National Science Museum and the second the National Natural History Museum, on Exhibition Road.

Since we only had an hour, we breezed through the Science Museum quickly. This is the only picture I got here and, yes, it is right side up. The car is mounted on the ceiling. One of the exhibitions shows how Formula 1™ technologies have been transferred from the racetrack into our everyday lives. It was interesting. It was part of the Energy Hall, which was all we saw.

Next, we zipped into the Natural History Museum. You saw the entrance we used (Exhibition Road). We walked right in with no problem. This is one of the first things we saw. The website for the Natural History Museum notes: “The central atrium design by Neal Potter overcame visitors' reluctance to visit the upper galleries by ‘pulling’ them through a model of the Earth made up of random plates on an escalator. The new design covered the walls in recycled slate and sandblasted the major stars and planets onto the wall. The Museums 'star' geological exhibits are displayed within the walls.

“Six iconic figures are the backdrop to discussing how previous generations have viewed Earth.” This is called the Avenue of Sculptures. Each sculpture has specimens from that era, including a piece of the moon. I got pictures of four:

The main entrance is on Cromwell Road (just around the corner). I couldn’t resist walking around the corner to take this picture. This is beautiful building. However, the people were queued up in a very long line to get in.

Next, we walked across the street and turned back toward the chapel. The red brick building is the Exhibition Road entrance to the Victoria and Albert Museum (fondly called the “V&A”).

This is a picture of the entrance on Cromwell Road. Again, a very beautiful building.

Here is another picture from where we could see it over the trees.

The V&A was having a Baroque Exhibition; this is just a sample of what was to be seen.

Mostly, we saw just a small portion of the sculptures. I want to come back when we have time to really appreciate what is in these museums.

At 2:30 pm we met at Hyde Park for pictures. Sister Swinton’s son was taking pictures. This was the first try at getting us all together until it was realized we didn’t have two buses’ worth of missionaries on the steps. There are about 170 missionaries in the London South Mission. Of course, Sister Swinton’s son took pictures of the London Mission also.

After the pictures, it was hoof it back to the chapel and wait for President Uchtdorf’s arrival.

When President Uchtdorf, Elder Anderson, Elder Oaks, and their wives arrived we all stood as they filed in and up to the pulpit area. President Uchtdorf consulted with both Mission Presidents and then said he would like to shake everybody’s hand. We went row by row up to the front to shake President Uchtdorf’s and Elder Anderson’s hands. We remained standing until it was done. I believe there were over 300 missionaries based on 170 for London South and 140 to 150 for London. President Uchtdorf had something to say to each missionary (since I was standing close I saw he varied about 10 different salutations).

President Uchtdorf told us that it is the responsibility of the Quorum of the Twelve to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. Since the Quorum of the Twelve were so busy, we dedicated brothers and sisters were the extended arms of the Quorum to work full time proclaiming the gospel. He also wanted us to know that our call and where we serve comes directly from a member of the Quorum of the Twelve (one of the Apostles). Two of the Twelve Apostles go into a dedicated room and take each missionary one by one, looking at the picture, reading the biography, looking at our strengths, weaknesses, and abilities, and makes the call based on revelation.

Sister Anderson spoke for a few minutes and thanked us for our service.

Elder Anderson spoke and said that we must “Remember we are His witnesses. We testify of Him as the Son of God, Savior of the World.”

Then we sang “Called to Serve.” It probably wasn’t as loud as it was at the MTC when we had 2500 missionaries singing, but it was heartwarming to be part of this great cause.

Sister Uchtdorf (Harriet) spoke next and told us of her conversion in Frankfurt, Germany. Her 36-year-old mother had just lost her husband and they were all sad. She (13-years-old) and her sister never heard laughter around their home anymore. One day two well-dressed (and cute) missionaries came to the door and wanted to teach them about the gospel. Harriet’s mother wasn’t so interested in hearing anyone, but Harriet managed to talk her into letting them in the house. The missionaries taught them the Plan of Salvation. They started going to the Frankfurt Branch (where 16-year-old Dieter Uchtdorf attended) and laughter started coming back into their home. Sister Uchtdorf ended her talk saying: “I am grateful every day for missionaries and for the Love of my Heavenly Father. You can save lives.”

After his wife finished, President Uchtdorf gave some closing remarks. He wanted us to know that we influence lives of people we don’t even know. Using his wife as an example, he said he never met the missionaries that taught his wife, but if they hadn’t met and converted that family, he might never have met Harriet, his eternal companion.

Then he gave us some “one-liners”:
“You can tell how big a person is by how much it takes to discourage him.”
“We have the message that changes lives.”
“God doesn’t call the qualified; he qualifies the called.”
“President Hinckley in Preach My Gospel: ‘We are here to assist our Father in His work and His glory, ‘to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man’ (Moses 1:39). Your obligation is as serious in your sphere of responsibility as is my obligation in my sphere.’”

He left us with this blessing: “You are instruments in the hands of God. Go forth with trust and strength.”

Our meeting ended at 5:35 pm. We stood and let the General Authorities go first since they had to eat and be back in their seats before 6:00 pm for the Priesthood Session of Stake Conference. As soon as they left through the doors, we did a mass exodus with the London South Mission heading outside to our buses. As we were leaving we had to go past the priesthood holders who were waiting to go into the next meeting. As you can see in this picture, they were in line all the way down the block to get seats. Fortunately, one the reasons the Hyde Park Chapel was chosen for this broadcast meeting was that it holds upwards of 900 people. I have no idea how many people were waiting, but could only think what it will be like tomorrow when it isn’t just men, but also women and children.

We got on our bus with sack lunches prepared by the Mission Office folks and left London on our way back to Southampton. We just did the journey backwards and got home about 10:30 pm. It was a long, but great day.

Sunday, 07 June 2009
The Stake Conference broadcast was made to both Poole and Yeovil (since both have satellites). That made it easy to chose to go to Yeovil (closer and the parking is better).

Elder Oaks spoke on reactivation of the less-active members. He said it was mostly pride that kept them from coming back and that it was our (members) responsibility to invite all to return.

Elder Anderson also spoke on reactivation. He said that Brigham Young had revelation that “as the Church expands, Satan’s power expands. We cannot be casual in our faith. We must continue to minister to the less faithful (less active). We must let our children see our commitment to serve.”

President Uchtdorf was the concluding speaker. He said”: “That as Paul said in Romans 1:16: ‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.’ We must not be governed by fear. The Gulf Stream warms the U.K., but the Gospel of Jesus Christ has greater power to warm hearts.”

That was it for today and this week. What a glorious week it was. We saw such beauty and heard such wonderful truths. Love you all. Jackie