March Madness. Mad, because BYU did not play their way into
the NCAA tournament. The last couple of season games were available for
us to see and they were fun to watch. We anticipated seeing more of them,
and then they did not get through the play-in game. Oh well, next year.
By mid-month, we were summoned for
training to Preston, England. This is a bit out of the mission (100 miles), but
because of our mission assignment, we have permission to attend the specialized
training. We drove up to Preston on Sunday night and located Elder and Sister Lee who are a
delightfuly Self-Reliance Missionary couple. They opened the
area so they had to find their own flat. It is a quaint old "British" cottage on the edge of town that sits on the edge of a golf course. They
have decorated their flat with furnishings that give it a warm and inviting
feeling. They often have missionaries and YSA come over for dinner and other events. This is the Lee's base of operation (their flat) as opposed to
our office that we work out of at the Hyde Park Centre. After an
excellent home-cooked meal we drove to the temple grounds at the
Preston England Temple. We enjoyed the Temple Patron Housing during out stay.
Training consisted of a recap of the
materials we have been presenting and new mentoring tools to be activated and
used with candidates that need support. We shared power point
presentations and exchanged ideas of ways to present information to the Stake and Ward Councils. Some of the missionaries are currently
holding "My Path Devotional's" which are kick-off meetings to present
the new manuals and workgroups.
Brother Watt won and became the first convert baptized in the UK. By about 1845, there were more members of the Church in Northern England than in all of the United States. When the call to Zion went out, thousands left England with deep rooted testimonies and traveled at great hardship and sacrifice to come and build Zion.
Other work continues here in London. President Jordan gave Sister Baxter and me the assignment to help a young sister missionary to get a plan in place for when she leaves her mission. Sister Tshimanga is from the Congo. She has taken all of the training and schooling available in the Congo and we have spent time helping her to apply for schools in Italy, France, the UK and BYU-Idaho. Saturday we spent six hours with her as she took the IELTS (English entrance exam). Stay tuned next month and we will let you know how she did. (We are still waiting too.)
Saturday for Elder Ohman's birthay celebration we had a delightful time at the Royal Festival Hall. We, along wih the Jordan's, & White's attended the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and afterwards met Mark Oshida one of the violinists in the performance. While teaching at BYU, Elder Ohman met and instructed 3 of the 4 Oshida children, all very talented muscians. Mark became a good friend of the Ohman family. As a banker by trade, but muscian by avocation and love, he has become a world traveler sharing his talents with orchestras around the world. He left following this performance to head for Logan, Utah to work with Craig Jessop and will return to London a week later. We walked over the Hungerford Bridge crossing the Thames River from the Embankmant tube station to the Royal Festival Hall (in the immediate background). Preston, our Civil engineer son, recognized this prominent bridge so I thought I would include a picture as we were crossing the river Saturday evening.
Finally, See Lesson 2, "My Foundation - Principles, Skills, Habits" as referenced last month. (see SRS.LDS.ORG, > Self Reliance > Manuals & Videos) Use Time Wisely This is from a manual that is not yet announced to the USA, but the skills are wonderful and can help all of us. As you study the importance of time, you will find it a most valuable gift that God has given us, Evaluate the following principles:
* List Task
* Pray
* Set Priorities
* Set Goals, Act
* Report (to Heavenly Father)
See if you can apply the principles in your own life. Check out "The Gift of Time" as a support video of the lesson.
We love the work we are engaged in. The people are wonderful and it is a joy to be here. The Church is true!!!!
This is so great - I always loved visiting Windsor! So glad you got to 'say hi' to the Queen!
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