Monday, September 29, 2014

We Made it !

Here we are in jolly olde England.  This is what it really looks like.



















The next picture is our flat on Palace Gate. Ours
is on the main street level and the right windows.


















A 14 minute walk gets us to the Hyde Park Building which houses two wards, the mission office, the stake offices, a family history center and our Self-Reliance Center - home for the next 18 months.  During our first week here, our director has been in Germany getting trained on new materials.  For this week, we were on our own.



As we walk down Queens Gate Lane, there are a number of Embassy's and it seems they all drive some rather exotic cars.  We see Aston Martin's, Alpha Romeo's, Massarati's, Ferrari's and other interesting cars.  I love the eye lashes.  They are the rage here.
















The first day at the center a lady who had moved from Australia came in to get some help.  We noticed that she needed help with her CV (Curriculum Vitae or Resume).  Luckily a center volunteer named Claire came in and helped us. Wednesday and Thursday we helped prepare and serve food for Zone Conferences and received wonderful instruction on the Book of Mormon from our Mission President. On Thursday we recognized our first miracle when a single adult walked in and asked how she could help.  We were so new we did not know what to have her do.  Five minutes later, a church member from Hungary walked in and requested his CV (resume) and Temple Ordinance Records which were prepared by the previous couple.  We had no idea where to find the papers.  Our volunteer gal searched the entire office and found the documents on the computer ready to print.  Because she knew genealogy, she also knew how to find the ordinance records.  (She had only been a member 10 months herself.)  We had a language barrier with the Hungarian member and I went downstairs to the Zone Conference and found that there was only one missionary from Hungary and he was here serving in London.  Of the four zones in the mission, he was at the center the day we needed him. The Elder and volunteer helped get plane tickets, a visa waiver, and other arrangements to get the member on his way to SLC for General Conference.  How sweet it was to see the pieces come together.  The Lord knew we needed help, Eron - the Hungarian needed help, and he provided the new member and the only hungarian speaking missionary in the mission.  All at the same time in the same place.  Miracles do happen!


On our P-Day we visited a local museum and thought we had found ice cream.   Charisse, we found ice cream.  It was cold, frozen, and on a cone but it tasted like frozen whipped cream or cool whip. We will continue searching.  That will be our quest.

Cheerio to everyone - Steve & Afton



4 comments:

  1. Thanks for your emails Brother and sister Baxter. I have read your previous posts and have enjoyed them. God bless the two of you.

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  2. Oh, you'll find ice cream - you just won't find many flavors and you won't find any milkshakes you don't have to make yourself! Make sure you get the crepes, though. There's a terrific place just down the street from the Hyde Park building. Ham and cheese for lunch, and Nutella (and whatever) for desert... Yum.

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  3. I was able to relay some of what you wrote to a guy I was meeting with (virtually) in Swindon. He says you're in a really nice part of town, but you already knew that.

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  4. Dear Steve and Afton,
    What a joy to read of your adventures in England.I have a special fondness for the land of my ancestors. Yes, that was a miracle for Elon, produced by the Lord because he knows everyone of us and will help us accomplish our righteous desires.
    Thanks for making your blog accessible tome. I really like it.

    Karen

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