Missionary Journal
England (May 2010 Weeks 3, 4, and 5)
May Week 3
Monday was laundry, and cleaning. Not much else but working on lessons and some shopping.
Tuesday was District Meeting and we played a really fun game. You open your scriptures to a page and pick a verse, and then another person tells you what missionary/ gospel doctrine you need to liken it to. It was hilarious. We all got a turn. This picture shows Elder Hillary (our District Leader) leading the discussion.
Here are Elders Reimers, Quaye (our six-week missionary), Kimberly, and Barber looking up scriptures. Elder Quaye is great and is working on his medical paperwork so he can submit for his full-time mission.
Tuesday evening was PEC which Walt conducted while I stayed home and read.
Wednesday we headed out toward Osmington Mills (for visits) and, of course, did some sightseeing as well.
While we were in Osmington Mills, Walt took me to see the UK’s version of a C.O.P.E. Course (PGL School Adventure). On Monday evening, we received a call from one of the sisters in the branch and were asked to take some clothes out to her son who was at the C.O.P.E. Course.
We went out to see it in the day time and took these pictures. The courses are set up to help students make connections about how their behavior affects themselves and others while participating in adventure activities. Her son is shy and doesn’t participate easily in team or group activities. It was expected the three-day course would help and as far as I have heard it was great.
I was interested and looked COPE Course up in Google (of course): “What is A C.O.P.E. Course? C.O.P.E. is an acronym for "Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience." A COPE Course is a custom built challenge course or ropes course designed to meet the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) Project C.O.P.E. installation and operation procedures. COPE Programs are based on attaining seven goals outlined by the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). I didn’t know that this was instituted by BSA.
We left Osmington Mills and went further east to Corfe Castle. Here’s a picture of it from the road. It obviously is a ruin and we didn’t want to pay £10 (about $15) apiece to see it. We also went into Corfe Castle Village and stopped at the local bakery for a treat. Wikipedia states this about Corfe Castle: “Corfe Castle is a fortification in the English county of Dorset. It stands above the village of the same name. The castle dates back to the 11th century, and commands a gap in the Purbeck Hills on the route between Wareham and Swanage. The majority of the road traffic to and from the Swanage area passes below the battlements of the castle."
We bought a Chocolate Cake at the local bakery (it was chocolate cake with chocolate frosting (melted chocolate). With some milk it was great.
After we finished eating I took a small path back behind the bakery and took some more pictures of the castle ruin.
As we were leaving I walked up and around the corner and took this picture of the village church.
Walt noticed some cows that looked like they were moving in the field near the road as we were leaving Corfe Village, so we circled around and sure enough, there they were crossing the road. Obviously they pasture during the day on the left and then cross the road to the barn for milking in the late afternoon.
Once the road was clear we continued east and toward the coast to Swanage. Wikipedia notes: “Swanage is a small coastal town in the south east of Dorset, England. It is situated at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck, approximately 10 km south of Poole and 40 km east of Dorchester.
The town has a population of 10,124 (2001). Swanage, originally a small port and fishing village flourished in the Victorian era, when it first became a significant quarrying port and later a seaside resort for the rich of the day. Today the town remains a popular tourist resort, this being the town's primary industry, with many thousands of visitors coming to the town during the peak summer season, drawn by the bay's sandy beaches and other attractions. The town is located at the eastern end of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site.” Our first and last stop was at the harbor. After that we headed back to Weymouth.
Thursday we were out and about in Weymouth. We have this absolutely beautiful rhododendron tree on Buxton Road that is wonderful in the spring. I wish I had gotten to the tree just a bit earlier (you can see all the flower petals that are on the ground). It is slightly past its prime. Nevertheless, it’s something to see.
Friday was an at-home day, working on lessons and speaking assignments.
Saturday, we were on Portland visiting and I took these pictures of the Victoria Roundabout.
As they were last year, the tulips are stunning!
Sunday was church and a good day. I am really enjoying teaching the Old Testament. Teaching it means I really have to study well and know what I am talking about.
There are great stories here that I’ve never really thought deeply about or applied to my life. I do like to teach – I learn three times more than I ever manage to impart to those who are listening to me.
We had a visitor today – she is the sister of one of our “no contact” sisters (Sheila Coleman). Sheila is in Dorchester Hospital having one of her legs amputated. Walt, President Chasteauneuf, and I headed over to the hospital at about 3:00 pm to see Sheila and another sister who is in the same hospital. We were told she was by the “pencils.” I had no idea what was meant by that, but soon found out. The “pencils” is a modern sculpture of colored pencils that are balanced and move around on the tripod base.
We saw both sisters and had a very nice visit with Sister Coleman after which President Chasteauneuf and Walt gave her a blessing.
May Week 4
Monday we washed clothes, cleaned, and waited for the Gas Man who was coming to check all our gas appliances (heaters, stove (but not oven), boiler (hot water for the kitchen and bathroom sink), and water heater system in the shower. I believe they are supposed to have a yearly check, but this is the first time I’ve seen a “gas man” around.
Tuesday we didn’t have district meeting because we were having Zone Conference on Friday. We spent a goodly portion of the day out an about in Weymouth and found out in the evening that we were having district meeting on Wednesday instead.
Wednesday, we went to District Meeting where we discussed Christ-like Attributes and went through the “Attribute Activity” on page 126 of Preach My Gospel. I would suggest everyone who has a copy of Preach My Gospel take advantage of that activity and work on your weaknesses. It does a good job of pointing out problems.
After district meeting, we did quick Flat Checks in Yeovil and Salisbury. Then we had lunch and made visits in Dorchester. We also picked up Carol White to take her to visit Sister Coleman at the hospital since she is close and could visit periodically. Unfortunately, Sister Coleman was sleeping when we were there, so we didn’t get to see her.
Thursday was an at-home day as we waited for the Leasing Agent to come by for our 6-month house check and worked on lessons and other church-related activities (making an addition ten copies of the 2-disk set of Mormon Messages) since we would be out of pocket all day tomorrow, and I had missionaries asking for copies of the disks and we would see everybody at Zone Conference.
Friday we were out very early to pick up the Christchurch Sisters (missionaries) to take them to Reading (about two hours from home) for Zone Conference. Unfortunately, it was an hour to Christchurch and then was supposed to be an hour and one-half from there to Reading. It took so long to get out of Christchurch that we were late for the Zone meeting prior to the conference. As we were driving, my glasses broke. They were titanium frames and they just broke at the nose piece. That meant I went through the conference without being able to see anybody. Real fun!!
The conference started at 10:00 am and we were privileged to (first of all) shake hands and then hear from Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. It was a great meeting. Elder Cook explained why he was in the British Isles by telling us that he was here to record his testimony of Jesus Christ at the River Ribble (where the first baptisms outside the United States were conducted in July 1837). Elder Cook also told us he was on the organizing committee that oversaw the creation of Preach My Gospel. Interestingly enough, the goal of Preach My Gospel was that it couldn’t be memorized. For so long the missionaries had memorized the lessons and didn’t really understand how to digress from the script when questions came up. Now, the missionaries study to understand the Gospel principles and rely on the Spirit to guide them to what needs to be said as they are teaching. It makes for missionaries that are well acquainted with the Holy Ghost, are becoming scriptorians, and who really know the doctrine of the Church.
Saturday while I finished up lessons and other stuff for church tomorrow, Walt took my glasses and went into Weymouth to find out if they could be fixed. Unfortunately, since they were titanium they couldn’t. I am so thankful I brought another (old) pair so that I could at least see what was going on even if it wasn’t quite as clear as normal. I finished my lessons and dropped into bed.
Sunday was fine. I taught Gospel Doctrine and then did Primary Sharing Time. After we finished the tithing and other “after church” activities, we went home and had lunch.
Sunday afternoon we went with John Dadds and his boys, Daniel and Luke, to see the bluebells since we were rather late to see them last year.
First we went to the village of Milton Abbas. John described it was a “cake box” village. In other words, it looks like the pictures they put on cake boxes. Wikipedia: “Milton Abbas is a village in Dorset in the south-west of England, approximately seven miles south-west of the market town of Blandford Forum and 11 miles north-east of Dorchester. The village had a population of 766 in 2001 and is sometimes considered the first planned settlement in England. The original abbey and House is now a famous boarding school - Milton Abbey School.”
I looked at the property listings. These are two-bedroom homes (built for the peasants since the Lord didn’t want to be able to see them from his home). You can own one of the few homes available for £230,000 to 275,000. That would be ~$335,000 to 400,000. They only have one bathroom and it is probably upstairs, but for $400K you can get a separate dining room. For $335 you probably get a combination kitchen/dining room.
I took a picture of the reroof that was going on here. This is a typical “reed thatch” roof. Imagine having a roof like that?? Supposedly they last for 40-50 years (with the “ridge” needing replacement every 8-10 years) and cost more than a cement-tiled or slated roof counterpart.
So that you know what I mean by ridge, here is a picture of a lovely 4-bedroom home worth about $1M. You can see the ridge (scallops) at the top.
This is the first shot I took from a distance as we walked toward the school.
It was a lovely afternoon. We went home and to bed.
May Week 5
Monday was hair day again. I realized none of you had ever seen where or who does my hair.
It is relatively inexpensive to have my hair done here: £43 (a little over $60). If I just want to have it shampooed and styled it is £14 or $20. Labor costs are so low! Amy and Judith are state of the art and great with my hair. I will miss them when I go home.
Monday evening I made chocolate chocolate-chip muffins with a borrowed muffin pan to take to Sheila at the hospital tomorrow. Then, while we were sitting down in the lounge (front room), we heard this huge “CRACK” upstairs. I ran upstairs and found the toilet just dumping water on the floor. I grabbed the bathroom rug and stuck it on the floor behind the toilet to sop up the water and hollered for Walt. It turned out that the toilet tank had cracked (I have no idea what caused it) and so we had to figure out what we were going to do until tomorrow (the soonest a plumber could be called) for bathroom privileges. Another issue was that there is only one water cutoff valve in the whole house (under the sink in the kitchen). This valve shuts off the water for the whole house!! Finally Wonderful Walt got a stick and a coat hanger and wired the shut-off valve for the toilet tank up so the water wouldn’t run into the tank and onto the floor. That meant we could have showers in the morning and actually could use the toilet if we poured water through the toilet bowl. It meant keeping a bucket in the bathtub for the time being, but it was close for getting water to pour. Before we went to bed we called our landlord and informed him of the problem. He is so good to us.
Tuesday was district meeting. Then we went looking for a switch for President Chasteauneuf’s office at church. They have very different switches in England - they are aren’t universal, but once a certain type of switch is installed, you either install another one just like it or you start all over again. We had to go two different places to get the switch, but finally got one. Unfortunately, Walt can’t put it in for two reasons: (1) He isn’t licensed and (2) it’s a public building and must have a licensed electrical technician. Fortunately, we have one in the branch (the Branch Executive Secretary). After that we came home and had lunch, hoping as we drove in that the toilet would be fixed. Oh, well – not yet. He came shortly before we were ready to leave for Dorchester to visit Sheila at the hospital to see what type of toilet we had. After that we left and they were busy working on the toilet when we returned. You can see one of the plumbers with the old toilet on the front lawn. There’s a long story about a toilet on the front lawn and that’s why I took the picture. Ask me and I’ll tell you when we get back in town.I made dinner, printed an agenda for the Branch Council meeting, and we left for the chapel. Walt conducted and the meeting went briskly along with everything getting done.
Somewhere in between all the “stuff” that happened on Tuesday, I got a call from the Primary President asking me to pull together a sharing time for primary on Sunday (not my week since it is the 5th Sunday) as she was going to not be there due to family considerations. She wanted a video of Christ’s ministry and something for the children to do as a discussion tool for the video. I’ll think of something tomorrow.
Wednesday I grabbed the “Faith in Christ” DVD and ripped the contents. Then I cut out small vignettes and melded them into a 13-minute DVD of Christ and His Ministry. Most of the dialog in “Faith in Christ” is in the form of scripture quotes. I just wrote down the quotes I liked, looked them up in the scriptures, and pulled together a cross-word puzzle. I also downloaded all the New Testament Scripture Stories and loaded them on a DVD for Primary. No Problem!! Just takes time.
I worked more on my Gospel Doctrine lesson and touched base with sisters in the branch to make sure Sheila was getting visited.
Thursday we were up very early and out to Poole for Zone Training/Conference. The Poole Zone was there for training and interviews with President Shamo. At 11:00 the Plymouth, Portsmouth, and Bristol Zones joined us for Zone Conference. We heard testimonies from the Elders leaving at the end of this moves period (ten of them from our four zones). There wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd.
On the way home we did flat checks for the Zone Leaders (Bournemouth) and the Poole Elders. At the Zone Leaders flat I found a quote from Brigham Young taped to the window: “… live every day so that when you lie down at night you can look back on the day and say, in all honesty before God, ‘I do not know that I have done a wrong action, said an improper word, indulged in a bad thought, or neglected to perform any duty that I ought to have attended to this day, and I can lie down in peace, and submit myself to the Lord, and if I never wake again in this world, all right, I am just as ready to go now as I ever shall be’ ” (Brigham Young, JD, pg. 107). This is beautifully said. We could all do to live our lives to this thought.
In the evening we received a call from Brother Humphreys (Stake High Council). He was coming to Weymouth to give a 5th Sunday Relief Society/Priesthood combined lesson on Tithing. He wanted Walt and me to take part in the lesson. Walt told him OK. That meant I had two things to do 3rd hour. Well, I offloaded sharing time to the Primary Second Counselor (Fiona Payne: a mechanical engineer who designs airframes for helicopters) and started preparing our parts. Walt also realized he hadn’t made the second speaking assignment for Sunday and started pulling together a talk (he was scheduled to speak in June or July anyway – this just meant he was a little early).
Friday we went to Weymouth for an appointment to have our eyes checked (it’s been almost two years) and order some new glasses (two to three weeks before we get them). It was after lunch before we were finished and we did a few little chores and had a late lunch out before coming home. In the evening Walt worked on his talk and I worked on Gospel Doctrine.
Saturday was more of the same. About 2:00 pm I was sitting at the computer when the right lens of my old glasses fell out and into my lap (the screw had come out and we don’t even have a small screwdriver to put it back in). I couldn’t believe it – first one pair and then the other. Since I couldn’t see anything, Walt went to town and to the same place we bought our new glasses and got them to fix my glasses. Fortunately they did since I wasn’t happily anticipating giving a Gospel Doctrine lesson with not being able to see or walking around blindly. We finally finished everything that needed to be done (bulletins, etc.) and dropped into bed about 11:00 pm.
Sunday was good. Everything worked out fine. We got home about 3:00 pm and took a nap.
Our youth speakers need some help, so Walt gave them each a copy of the General Conference talk he was basing his talk on and asked them to critique him when he spoke. They were all at the chapel early to hear what he wanted them to do, they sat right up front, and listened very carefully to what he was saying, and (according to him) did a brilliant job of what they were asked to do. They also understood how they could apply that learning to their next opportunities to speak. It was kind of a “gutsy” thing to do.
That’s it for this month. Love you all. Jackie
