Scotland

A two day break and we were off to Scotland.....hard to believe that in 3 hours you can be in the beautiful city of Edinburgh!!!   We walked the streets on a most spectacular day -- sun, warmth, street entertainers, food and fun.  We meandered through the castle, went to a 1 hour mini concert of Les Miz music and then headed over to Stirling to spend the night.

The morning beamed on another day and after a quick walk through Stirling Castle, we drove to Loch Lomond. As I sat and absorbed the beauty of it all my mind went back to the first time I put my feet on Scottish soil.  I was 16 years old.  My father had an assignment to visit the Swiss Temple and at the last minute (like the day of....)he decided to take me with him.  It was my first time on a plane and sometime during the night when we were over that vast ocean, the stewardess woke me up and handed me a snack of sardine sandwiches.  In my naitivity, I thot you had to eat whatever they gave you on this fancy plane, so I choked it down and instantly felt sick.  The stewerdess gave me a dramamine to settle my stomach.  It worked, but it also knocked me out!!!  We landed in Scotland and deplaned while they refueled.  I was so out of it I could hardly open my eyes which greatly disturbed him -- he kept saying "Open your eyes!  You're in Scotland and might never be in Scotland again"!  It didn't seem to matter that there was nothing to see, I was on Scottish soil and that for him, was a noteworthy moment.

Well, I hope he knows that I have now walked on Scottish soil, I have tickled my feet in Loch Lomond and I have loved it!!!!  What I missed on that groggy morning so long ago, I have made up for and it was worth waiting for!



Edinburgh Castle -- built on solid rock -- currently under repair.



He's cute, but not cute enuf!!  I think I'll stick with what I've got!!!!!

A busy day in the castle -- the place was buzzing with people.

This is Pratt's hill -- on which Parley P. Pratt dedicated the land of Scotland.  Missionaries climb this mt. on the first day of their mission and on the last day of their mission.  They spend a few minutes in solitude, contemplating their calling and dedicating themselves to the work.

The Port Cullis is a B&B at the gateway of Stirling Castle, in Stirling, Scotland.  It was our home for one night.

"Ye take the high road and I'll take the low road and I'll be in Scotland before thee.....

......where me and my true love will never meet again....

.....on the bonnie bonnie banks of Loch Lomond"
(from Brigadoon)

The little village of Luss on the bonnie bonnie banks of Loch Lomond.



....and so it was.....we just sat and ate an ice cream cone, soaked up the sun and pinched ourselves......were we really there?!

Southport Flower Show

England is known for it's flower shows....the most famous being the Chelsea show in London.  But up in our neck of the woods -- the Southport Flower Show reigns!  You pay a pretty pound, but you get a BIG overdose of the most spectacular flowers.  The show covers 34 acres and is a bit like a state fair, sans the animals.  And it was worth every English Pound £££!

You can't have an English flower show w/o English Gardens.

Wildly beautiful!

The Queen's Jubillee in flowers

I have never liked gladiolas -- always remind me of funerals -- but these were spectacular!

begonias are their specialty

If you are overrun with tomatoes -- try this. 

and of course there are always those whose creative genius surfaces in these moments

You rarely see petunias -- not enough sun -- so this petunia tree was a surprise

Sunflowers -- on the other hand -- seem to grow w/o sun! 

 

And this is about as close to summer as it gets around here.

The Olympic flag is passed to Rio......

......the party is indeed over!!  And what a party it was.

One of the newspapers reported it this way,

Something has shifted in the last 17 days.  Something fundamental.

We waved flags, cheered, won things.  We smiled.  We spoke to people in the street.  We said please and thank you. We were nice about the BBC. We had good news in our newspapers.  Men in vans stopped swearing at cyclists.  We stopped blaming people for failure.  We stopped failing.  The Queen jumped out of a helicopter. (refering to the Opening Ceremonies)

It all made us as giddy as Americans!

And to add to that I would say,

For a nation who is not given easily to patriotism, or optimism, or winning, these games were amazing.  The people embraced the excitement, lined the streets, and stepped out of their stiff British ways, cheered, dressed up, waved flags, and had a whole lot of fun!  Even the non Royalists sang "God Save the Queen!"

For us it was a taste of the Brits at their best!

The questions remain....How long will it last?  Or as one paper put it...

How long before we stop smiling in the street?  How long before the war between cyclists and motorists begins again?  Before we stop saying Please and Thank You and Hello.  How long before we forget what it felt like to be proud of being British? 

Oh that it could last. 

And don't we ask just such questions after every General Conference when we vow that we will be better and more consistent in our commitments!

Maybe next time we really will!



From the mouths of missionaries...

The missionaries turn in a weekly written report and there are often sweet expressions of testimony.  The following are just a few from this week's letters.

Each week we take the missionaries on the train into Manchester to go street contacting.  As I have mentioned before, this is a terrifying and humbling experience for most of them.  Before they go we ask if there are any who are NOT nervous and we always have a few hands.  Invariably they are the ones that get a double dose of humility as they find that not everyone salivates with desire to know more.  Nevertheless they forge onward and it becomes a turning point in their experience here.

My second week at the MTC has been amazing.  The opportunity to go to Manchester and preach the gospel was amazing.  I learnt so much and can't wait to enter the field.  I wish to share with you an experience I had the day after we went out to Manchester.  After the experience I had proselyting I really reflected on how the Lord had prepared me to be here as a missionary and what he wanted me to become.  Late Saturday evening when everyone went to bed I poured my heart out to the Lord.  I told him I was willing to do anything for Him. and thanked Him for the opportunity to serve him.  I expressed my love for him and that I wanted to obey with exactness.  I then had the most overwhelming feeling.  The Spirit completely filled my body and I knew for a surety it was from the Lord.  It was the most amazing feeling and I knew God loved me and that this is where I was suppose to be.  I have such a desire to serve and I've learnt so much!

And another.....

On the Church History Tour last week we were challenged to turn our lives over to the Lord.  This had been something |I was pondering while I was studying Christ like attributes.  After you gave us this challenge I got right on the bus and prayed and did just that and then re confirmed it that night.  The spirit was so strong as I pondered how significant that was.  I've noticed a huge difference this week in what I've learned and what I have done throughout this week.

and again....

Last week during our interview I was questioning myself "am I good enough?"  I felt the spirit so strongly during our interview and I cam e to realize that we need to trust in the Lord a little more.  The Lord will comfort us and make our weaknesses become strengths if we trust in him and are willing to work.  From then on the spirit really began to help me and I was able to bear stronger testimony.

and on and on......from little boys to servants of God in 2 weeks! 



A week in the life of......

This is just a review of a week in our life in England....no pix, just chat.

It is fun to be in Great Britain during the Olympics altho I must say that were it not for the TV coverage we would not know it was happening.  There is nothing in the shops or on the streets that would give a hint of such an event. Even in Manchester, where some of the events are being held, you see nothing.  I am told that in London that is not the case.  Olympic paraphenalia is all over the place.  I finally found an Olympic Pin in Tesco (the equivalent of KMart) which I wear on my lapel, but no one seems to notice or care.  It feels quite strange after experiencing the Salt Lake Olympics first hand and being totally absorbed in those 2 weeks of excitement and events.

The other noticeable difference is that the coverage is centered on British athletes (and well it should be).  They did give Michael Phelps some play last night but the news casters had to stand in line after NBC to get a brief interview.

There is much "to do" over the many empty seats that are in the arenas.  Someone may be de-knighted for allowing such a thing!

We loved the Opening Ceremony -- very British!

And all of this is renewing British admiration for the Queen.  The older she gets the more they like her.  I am taking comfort in that and hoping it might be a universal characteristic which will carry over to us.

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Took another walk this week without a camera so no pix.  Knott End by-the-Sea.  So how is that for a name? It is a little tiny coastal village but so cute!  It was cool but the sun was out so no complaints.

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We have an interesting group of missionaries this time.  There are little undercurrents that keep surfacing -- about pranks, sleep walking, and blatant disobedience.   It has kept Richard busy, just ferreting out the problems and trying to resolve them.  Some of them have to be done with elders who speak little English so he uses a dictionary that cross references their language and writes down all the words that he will need to use  so that he can converse with them.  It is tedious and slow but very effective.  They cannot pretend like they don't understand when he shows them the words in their language.  Words like coffee and chocolate are not the same and when they realize he can't be fooled they finally buckle.

For the first time we have no sisters in this group and are beginning to wonder if the lack of their influence is making it easier for the elders to act out.  Don't know, just a thought.

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Last week we took a drive, plugged the route into our Tom Tom (GPS) and went our way.  Everything was great until we came to a narrow road and were instructed to turn Right.  We did just that and found ourselves on a one lane road with 6 foot rock walls on both sides.  Now our car is bigger than the standard British car but we still had inches on each side of it and crept along doing just as our computerized navigator instructed.  We came to a bend in the road and by holding our breath we made it but soon discovered that the rock walls were getting closer.  We pulled in the side mirrors and relaxed a little as that gave us the extra inches we needed.  But after only a few yards the street again narrowed and now we were touching on each side, gently scraping the sides of the car.  We could see the end of the street ahead but there was no way to go forward and no way to go back.  We were trapped between 2 rock walls that had no give in them.  I began to assess the situation and figured we had enough water in the car to last until rescured but rescue was impossible as there was no sun roof and therefore no way out of the car.  And so I did what any supportive wife would do.  I put a pillow over my head and gasped!  I could feel the scraping and could hear the bells and whistles on the car screeming signaling that we were too close to something (DUH!)

Richard forged on -- one scrape after another.  Finally a man who looked down the road and saw our distress came to direct us but all he could do was wince and gasp and we pushed forward.

........the long and short of it......we made it with several scrapes on the car but after a quick trip to the body shop, the incident will be forgotten! (by some!)

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And finally,

You may recall that about 6 months ago we met a young man working in a Sandwich shop in the Manchester train station.  He recognized our badges and asked if we could stay and he would take his dinner break.  He wanted to talk with us.  We found he was an inactive member of the Church from France, now living in Manchester.  Very recently he had been thinking of going back to church and getting his life in order but he didn't know what to do or how to do it.  We took him through the steps....talking with his bishop, etc.  We bore our testimonies and wished him well. 

Sunday night we spoke at a YSA fireside in Manchester and while there had a wonderful experience.

When we walked into the building a young man came up and asked that proverbial question, "Do you remember me?"  And amazingly, Richard did remember that night in the train station eating a sandwich and listening to Andre's story.

Seems that the very following Sunday he went to his bishop and has been going ever since! 

In addition there were 3 investigators there who felt the spirit and were moved in the right direction.

 

These little moments make up for all the many times you talk and teach and hope and pray and think you have someone on the live wire only to find they have lost the spirit and moved in a different direction.

I have so much admiration and respect for these young people who doggedly keep going in the face of disappointment and adversity.