Is Homesickness contagious?

.........because if it is we are having an epidemic. We haven't had any of this for several groups, but for the past many days the missionaries have almost lined up at Richard's door seeking comfort and reassurance and blessings. Maybe it's the spring air, the bright sunshine, the greening of trees, but whatever it is it has hit with a vengeance. It is painful to watch.....but we remind them that it is not fatal. Add this to the never ending group that feels inadequate, is anxious, and overwhelmed, searching their souls for sins, and trying to leap from the world.

Still they are wonderful. We have an elder from Armenia who speaks NO English. The other missionaries do all they can to help him. We have searched for someone in the area who speaks the language and can help him but have come up with a blank. In the meantime, we have connected with a young man in Armenia that we are putting on skype two evenings/week and who is helping him with language and training. I feel for him when I watch him in class just sitting with a blank look on his face. But he does not seem to get down.

Another young man was pulled off the streets of Guyana by missionaries. Two years ago he was homeless and living a seedy lifestyle. He could not read or write. He stood in church last Sunday to bear his testimony. He just stood there for a moment looking around at this beautiful building with it's spectacular grounds and said, "I never dreamed I could be in a place like this." He eats 3 hearty meals a day, dresses in a clean shirt each morning and reads from his own scriptures. It is like Heaven for him!

Interesting.....we have a sister who is from So. London going to the CA Anaheim mission and a sister from Anaheim going to London South Mission. It is a topsy turvy church! But we love it!

A Day in the English Countryside

It has been a while since we have taken a preparation day so Wednesday, after we said good-bye to another group, we jumped in the car and drove up north through the Lake District and into the countryside.
No day in the countryside would be complete without a castle but this one in Carlisle was small and rather disappointing.....
Our destination was Hadrians Wall, built by the Romans in 133 AD. Really such dates seem inconceivable -- To walk on stones built in ancient days.....this wall was orginally erected to keep the Barbarians from crossing into Roman territory -- it had a large moat in front of it and stone turrets along the wall where the Roman soldiers could stand guard. It would seem that since the beginning of time, people have been fighting over territories, lands and people and of course power. And I guess the theme has always been "he who has the most land wins!"

Not quite like the Wall of China, but "O Well".

If only Richard had been a Roman! He could see them coming and was a sure shot!!!

It does not matter which way you go, you will see something wonderful!

Spring daffodils, baby lambs, small villages, rolling green hills, stone hedges, and believe it not -- some sunshine.

The lambing season is in full swing and the baby lambs now dot the countryside. This one looked only hours old. And the shepherd has already claimed him!

Note the color of the trim -- blue for house, red for the cow stalls! This is England -- stone wall fences and stone houses with colored trim!

.........unless you live like this. Then the hired help lives in the stone houses and you live in the manor!

frankly.....I prefer this!

We ended our glorious day at Lake Windemere

St. Patricks Day

We never miss a chance to have a little fun and St. Patrick's Day gave us a chance. Luca (the chef) donned his cabbage hat, made Irish Stew, Irish Soda Bread and green frappes with toothpick shamrocks on the top. The Elders wore green ties, the sisters green shirts (you really can't tell in this miserable pix).

We gave a little history of the holiday, waved the Irish flag and called it a day.

At Peace

Richard arrived back here on Monday evening after a long and tiring week. It is always difficult to say good-bye to a loved one, but it is intensified when the departed is a daughter, brought down before her time. But so many blessings accompany even deep sadness. And his week was filled with them. Grieving is driven by love and that love was demonstrated over and over again as the family gathered together, friends paused to pay tribute, and heaven orchestrated the timing.

He arrived in SLC before she passed away and had some very tender and meaningful time with her. Her death followed and the funeral was taken care of all within the week he had to be home.

Added to the sorrow and blessing was the passing of his brother, whose funeral was being held while he sat in the hospital holding the hand of his dying daughter. But even that was a blessing as he was able to see their family and share their grief.

He came home with a complete sense of peaceful closure that comes from the spirit. I don't know who was happier to have him home, me or the missionaries, but we all rejoiced and he is now back in the saddle tending to the needs here and moving this work forward.

Mission President's Seminar 2012

This has been a difficult week.......Richard received word that his oldest daughter, who has suffered from cancer for 6 years, had taken a turn for the worst. After 3 days he decided to go home. It indeed was the right thing to do as he had several hours with her before she passed away. I will write of the details when I get them.

In the meantime......we were both scheduled to go to the Mission President's Seminar in Frankfurt this week. So......he went to SLC and I went to Frankfurt.

Funny story: My instructions were to take a taxi to the neighboring town where the seminar was being held. I was told it would cost about 60 Euro. I got thinking about that outrageous expense and since I had plenty of time I decided I would go it on my own. After all, I have always liked adventure!

Any of you who have been to Frankfurt know what that airport is like -- more like a city -- big, busy, confusing and German speaking but I made my way to an info booth and they directed me to the subway.......somehow I managed to get in the ticket line and purchase a ticket to Bad Homburg. I was told to go to platform 1 and take the train that was to arrive in 4 minutes.

As I stood waiting for the train I noticed a man with a uniform that said POLICE! So I asked if this was the train to Bad Homburg. He nodded his head up and down and I jumped on. We sped away and I began to study the German written info they had given me and look around for any clues that might tell me where I was and where I was going. NOTHING! They kept scrolling the names of the towns coming up and no Bad Homburg! The train was virtually empty and there was no one to ask until a woman (basically an angel) got on and sat right across from me. She saw me looking at these German instructions and asked if she could help. Her English was music to my ears. I explained that I was going to Bad Homburg and she said, "Oh you must get off at this stop, go up the stairs, turn left, go down the stairs, look for platform 5 and wait for train E6. Honestly, just a little detail that everyone else had failed to mention!!

Sure enuf, in 9 minutes the train came rolling into the station and I got on! And after many many minutes it pulled into the Bad Homburg station. Wow! I'm home free (I thought). From there I would take a cab. I had the name and address of the hotel I was trying to find so I thot it would be a piece of cake. But when I got off the train I found myself in the middle of nowhere with not a soul around -- no people, no taxis, no nothing. Hmmmmmm. What now. I contemplated walking but had no idea what direction to go. Then I noticed a bus station with several busses pulling in. I walked over, boarded a bus and showed the driver the name of the hotel. He began hollering at me and honking his horn. He then called out to another bus and shooed me with his hands in the direction of bus #6. Honestly, whatever! So I, and my suitcase on wheels (best invention since chocolate cake) started running and jumped on bus 6! I showed the driver the name of the hotel and held out a hand ful of change. He took some coins and pointed to the front seat.

I felt a bit like Alice who had just fallen into Wonderland and I wondered when the Mad Hatter would show up!!! This driver must have taken the scenic route through every residential area in this small town and 20 minutes later he turned to me and said "tourist?!". "Meetings" I replied. "Off here!" And so it was that 2.5 hours and 6 Euro later I walked into the lobby of this lovely hotel. I just couldn't help but pat myself on the back and say in an almost audible voice, "I DID IT!"

So much for adventure. I then had time to walk the streets and see a bit of this beautiful little city before the meetings began the next day.

The Seminar was wonderful. Elder Kopischke, Elder Causse and Elder Teixeira, the area presidency here did a wonderful job and we received a lot of instruction that filled our wells. The 2nd day Elder Christoffersen was with us and he spent over an hour answering questions. I loved it and the side bonus is that my brother (Clark and Kathleen) were there from Barcelona, and several other couples that are dear friends and that we have known for many years. I arrived home last night filled with a spiritual richness that comes from such meetings.

The only thing that would have made it better would have been to have Richard with me but I am grateful that he was home with family during this most tender time....
Life is an adventure!

Missionary work is just pure JOY!

When we first received this assignment my only concern was that we would never get an opportunity to do actual missionary work -- contacting, teaching, etc. Well, not true! We have had plenty of opportunities.

We recently spent our preparation day just being missionaries. We had arranged with Rebecca (our Yogurt friend) to meet with her again. We took the train to Manchester and sat across from a woman who seemed very interested in our message. She accepted a Book of Mormon and promised to read it. She was on her way to London and would read while traveling.

We then met with Rebecca and again taught her. It is just so fun to be continually bearing testimony and expressing feelings about our beliefs. We have come to love this young woman like our own.

On our way home we stopped to buy a sandwich and the young man who helped us was an inactive member of the church. He took his dinner break and ate with us asking us how he could get back into activity. Once again, an opportunity to teach and testify.

On the train ride home, my little heart was just bursting. To think the Lord would use little 'ole us to spread the seeds of the gospel and help others! I told Richard that my life has been filled with many many glorious days but this simple day of just sharing testimony was right up there with the best!!! I was experiencing the pure joy of missionary work!

I really really love being a missionary!