Missionary Journal
England (January 2010 Weeks 3, 4, and 5)
January Week 3
This was a fairly quiet week. Monday was “P” day and we did laundry and cleaned. Tuesday was District Meeting in Yeovil. We took this picture just outside of Weymouth.
Due to the snow (which was much deeper and hazardous toward London), the mission conference was cancelled. We were notified later in the week we would have just a Zone Conference at the temple on Friday the 22nd.
Half the branch is down with some kind of stomach flu and, of course, I got it too. Fortunately, after hearing about everybody’s bout with this, I had it pretty easy – even though my stomach was queasy, I never threw up. I did have the massive headache and muscle aches, but that’s all.
By Sunday I was feeling OK and we had a good Sunday. I taught Gospel Doctrine and did Sharing Time. We had the missionaries over for dinner and finished off the week fairly well.
January Week 4
This week our house seemed to be “Branch Central.” We started out on Monday with President Chasteauneuf arriving to get a check written as we were doing “P” day activity, which extended into a short Presidency Meeting. Delight’s Christmas package arrived today with scarves and hats she had knitted for the Elders. Tuesday we didn’t have District Meeting since we would have that early on the Friday at Zone Conference so we were out and about. Later that afternoon we had a sister over who is speaking on 31 January and needed some help. I worked with her a couple of hours until she was more confident about her topic and ready to put her talk together. I will check with her next week and make sure everything is OK. I prepared the bulletin for Branch Conference on Sunday so that Walt could take it to a meeting this evening. Then I made dinner so that Walt could pick up President Chasteauneuf to drive to Poole to meet with the Stake Presidency in a “Pre-Conference” session. Wednesday we were out and about and working with folks.
Thursday morning fairly early, Walt was going down the stairs. As you can see they are steep, narrow, and with no padding. About 2/3 of the way down, he slipped and went the remainder of the way down on his back. I found him on the floor at the bottom of the stairs. He definitely hurt and was unhappy during the day but kept saying he would make it to the Zone Conference tomorrow. We stayed home on Thursday and I worked on lessons (not for this Sunday since it is Branch Conference).
On Friday morning Walt decided he couldn’t make the trip to London, so Elder Marchione drove, I navigated, and Elder Trevisan slept on the way to London. Fortunately, Elder Marchione is a great driver – even though the weather was stormy and nasty, he got us to the London Temple and back very nicely. We did have one peculiarity – the SatNav was acting weird. On the way out (about 3 hours), I was worried about navigating Elder Marchione over the 20+ miles on the M3 with other roads merging and leaving the roadway. For some reason, the SATNAV took us over a route that missed the M3 completely. We were a little late (partly due to Elder Marchione driving at a cautiously optimistic speed because of the inclement weather and a car he’d never before driven and partly due to the route the SATNAV picked), but we saw a lot of lovely country and nary a bit of the M3. Coming back, I was a little worried about getting petrol (gas) but didn’t want to pay London prices, so I told Elder Marchione to get off the first station he saw where the petrol was £1.11 a liter. We drove and drove and didn’t see any. Finally, we were getting on the M3 (I wasn’t so worried anymore), when the SATNAV told me to take Exit 13 toward Southampton. I didn’t remember getting off the motorway here before, but since neither Elder Marchione nor I had driven this route before (being a passenger is different), we were trusting the SATNAV. Exit 13 took us into Eastleigh and told us to make a right turn (across traffic – remember, they drive on the wrong side of the road). We couldn’t see the turn because of road work going on and had to go down the road a little further before we could turn around. As we made the “U” turn there was a station at the right amount and we bought petrol. When we got back on the M3, the SATNAV told me to go 22 miles on this road. I have absolutely no idea why we were directed off, but there it is. A SATNAV directed by the Holy Ghost??
My favorite part of Zone Conference (in addition to the temple session) was a set of quotes from Preach My Gospel (PMG) and questions by Elder Roberts (one of the Assistants to the President (APs)). These quotes and questions don’t only apply to missionaries, but apply to all of us as teachers, examples, and role models. Look at the quotes and then ask yourselves the questions. That’s what we did – there was no discussion just a “to yourself” question and answer session.
1. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World?
2. Does your faith lead you to action?
PMG Page 73: “We pray with faith to our Father in Heaven in the name of Jesus Christ (see Moses 5:8). Because He is our Father and we are His children, He will answer our prayers.”
1. Do you pray with faith that your prayers will be answered?
Question for this quote:
1. Do you use prayer and faith to minimize your addictions or are you too proud?
1. Do you believe and apply what you teach?
2. Has your faith grown in missionary service?
The second portion was entitled: “Recognizing and Understanding the Spirit.”
Question for this quote:
1. Do you have the faith to be guided?
PMG Page 93: “The Holy Ghost works in the hearts of people to bring about these changes. As people choose to keep commitments, they will feel the power of the Holy Ghost more strongly and will develop the faith to obey Christ. Thus, you should help the people you work with grow in faith by inviting them to repent and to make and keep commitments.”
Question for this quote:
1. Do you choose to keep commitments?
PMG Page 93: “You can teach in the Lord’s way only by the power of the Spirit, and you receive the Spirit through the prayer of faith. The Lord said, ‘And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach’ (D&C 42:14). As you pray for help in your teaching, the power of the Holy Ghost will carry your teachings ‘unto the hearts of the children of men’ (2 Nephi 33:1).”
Question for this quote:
1. Do you do everything possible to cultivate the Spirit so that you can teach?
PMG Page 97: “As the Lord’s servant, you are to do His work in His way and by His power. Some missionaries feel confident that they know how to be successful. Others lack such confidence. Remember, however, that your confidence and faith should be in Christ, not in yourself. Rely on the Spirit rather than your own talents and abilities. Trust the Spirit to guide you in every aspect of your work.”
Question for this quote:
1. Do you have confidence in yourself thus hampering the Spirit, or do you have confidence in Jesus Christ?
The third and last portion of this address was titled “Key Indicators for Conversion.”
PMG Page 138: “Your purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Key indicators have been identified by Church leaders to help you focus on this purpose. As you focus on these indicators, you will help people progress toward baptism, confirmation, continued activity in the Church, and lasting conversion.”
Question for this quote:
1. Do you have faith that you have been called of God by a Prophet?
It was a lovely conference. We had lunch at the temple cafeteria (hamburgers and chips) and then headed home (another 3 hours).
Saturday was a good day for Walt with us keeping things pretty much low key so that he could get to church on Sunday for Branch Conference. Mostly I worked on agendas and budget worksheets, and did some last minute changes to the bulletin. Elders Marchione and Trevisan are going to do a special musical number (“Be Still, My Soul”) for Branch Conference. Oh, yes, we also put a stew in the Crockpot and made coleslaw for the Munch and Mingle the Stake suggested after tomorrow conference is over.
Sunday we picked up President and his wife at 8:30 am and headed for the Church. Walt is so happy that they are having regular presidency meetings every Sunday morning. Interestingly, I mentioned it to our High Council rep and he told me he didn’t believe in early morning Sunday meetings. However, this works and two of us have no family worries (no children left in the home, etc.). Our new Second Counselor picks up his Mom and Dad for church but they complete their meeting early enough for him to go the couple of miles to their home and return before Sacrament starts.
Conference was great, the Stake Auxiliary Presidents and their boards did Relief Society and YM and YW, with most all the Stake folks staying and mingling.
January Week 5
Monday Walt was feeling pretty good with just a few twinges now and again. We did laundry and prepared for the week ahead. Tuesday was District Meeting and we spoke of attaining perfection. Elder Ard (our new District Leader) handed out a talk by Elder Russell M. Nelson titled “Perfection Pending.” It starts out:
“If I were to ask which of the Lord’s commandments is most difficult to keep, many of us might cite Matt. 5:48: ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.’
“Keeping this commandment can be a concern because each of us is far from perfect, both spiritually and temporally. Reminders come repeatedly. We may lock keys inside the car, or even forget where the car is parked. And not infrequently we walk intently from one part of the house to another, only to forget the reason for the errand.
“When comparing one’s personal performance with the supreme standard of the Lord’s expectation, the reality of imperfection can at times be depressing. My heart goes out to conscientious Saints who, because of their shortcomings, allow feelings of depression to rob them of happiness in life.
“We all need to remember: men are that they might have joy—not guilt trips! We also need to remember that the Lord gives no commandments that are impossible to obey. But sometimes we fail to comprehend them fully” (Russell M. Nelson, “Perfection Pending,” Ensign, Nov 1995).
Ah, yes, we do tend to get down on ourselves for not being perfect. However, have you noticed that we are sometimes doing a great job but let ourselves get into the habit of comparing what we have or can do to someone else’s strength and finding ourselves coming out second best. I’ve realized over the years that Latter-day Saint women are some of the absolute best at recognizing just how imperfect we are. I do testify that if you will rely on the Lord, He will give you the strength, courage, and ability to perform whatever acts are required of you in righteousness. We have seen some mighty miracles and a lot of very small miracles here in this part of England over this last year. It has been absolutely wonderful to be here.
Tuesday evening we made dinner (cottage pie, salad, bread, and raspberry-blackberry crumble with custard for Elders Trevisan and Ard and then took them to Branch Council. After Branch Council was over we went home and relaxed for a little while, and then I went up to bed.
Other than this, the remainder of week went quietly (kind of), with me cooking, cleaning, and babying Walt. To give him the benefit of realism, this hurts and you can see it on his face.
Sunday he got up, showered and dressed ready for Church. As we got into the car, he started coughing and just about screamed. Therefore, we picked up President Chasteauneuf (Val is sickly with whatever tummy bug is going around) and headed to the chapel. Walt didn’t come in – he said he could just see himself sitting on the stand and starting to cough, then screaming. Sunday went fine. Walt came and got me and cleaned up the tithing and issues and we left with President. We headed to the bank to put the tithing in the night deposit, dropped President off, and went home. We had a quiet evening and went to bed (me in bed and Walt on the couch).
That’s enough for now. Love, Jackie
