May is for Missionary

May has been full of great experiences and adventures.  We will share the highlights with you in this installment.

Sebastian

Last Month we mentioned that we had been working with people from many countries.  Sebastian Criste has been really special.  Sebastian is from Romania and came to London to find work as things are really bad in his home country.  He walked past the Hyde Park Centre and the missionaries stopped him on the street and invited him in.  The missionaries thought we could help find him a job.  Everybody seems to think we are an employment agency – NOT.  Sebastian was living in a Hostel, out of money, and unemployed.  Up to the Center the missionaries came and they left him with us and we started working with him.  Sebastian had a couple of plans, none were very well thought out.  In two months he thought he had a job lined up in northern England, pending the arrival of a friend who actually had the job.  Meanwhile, he was starving, homeless, and without resources.  His mother was going to send money to help but she ended up in a Romanian hospital with diabetes problems of her own.  We helped build a CV and got Sebastian looking on the internet for job openings.  He found an agency that would give him temporary day work so he started out for a week’s work doing office cleaning.  Sebastian has been taught some great values and really knows how to work hard. What he lacks in skills he makes up for in drive.  After his first week, Anthony, his new boss was very impressed and Sebastian received glowing reports from the job supervisor.  His boss loved finding people who could really work and so he helped out by finding Sebastian a week’s lodging.  After two weeks work, the job was finished and he was again looking.                          

Sebastian

In the meantime, Sebastian had been taking the missionary lessons and was really excited about the Church.  He could not get baptized until he was more firmly settled.   Another Hostel was found and we worked with him to carefully budget the money he had now earned from the first two weeks of work. While in the new hostel, he was asking around and talked his way into a job as a night manager.  He has a job and so baptism became a reality.  Elder Baxter was able speak at the Baptism and it was a wonderful experience.  Sebastian is excited about the Gospel and after two weeks has been given the Aaronic Priesthood.  One of the jobs that Sebastian has considered (he is applying for everything) was to be a model. We scrounged a suit from the missionary stash and we counseled him on being careful of which jobs he applied for.  He found that the modeling was not for him.

He has since given away a Book of Mormon and invited others to Church.

Sebastian's Baptism

 He is also passing the Sacrament and loves being in a ward and receiving new member lessons.  Sebastian’s first boss called and has more work for him and so now he works from 11 pm to 10am at the hostel, showers and goes to work for Anthony, the first boss.  Gets off work, sleeps a couple hours and returns to the night manager work at the hostel.  He is saving to have a down payment and security deposit for a flat of his own.  A third job is a possibility so things are really looking up.  The Lord is blessing this young man.

For P-Day, we were scheduled to go with some other missionary couples to Richmond Park. We rode the train and then transferred to a bus.  We asked the driver where to get off for the park and he told us he would tell us when we got there.  He must have forgotten because after a long ride, we were at the end of the line and he was telling everyone to get off.  Then he remembered he was supposed to help us.  He told us to change busses and to ride back.  During the ride, we asked other passengers for directions and they helped us find the correct stop.

Deer just above sign

We heard about the beautiful flowers, so we walked into the park – we walked down the trails – we walked past the lodge – we walked and walked and walked and found only one bush (it was beautiful) but not really spectacular.  We were able to see a polo game off in the distance and then we came upon a sign warning us to watch for deer.  I lookup up and there was a deer grazing just in front of us.  We walked closer and soon saw two deer, then we came upon five, and then more and more until we were literally in the midst of a herd of about 75 deer.  Quite an experience.

    As we walked past a beautiful lake and more deer, the sun was setting so we started making our way out of the park. 

                                           Isabella Plantation inside of Richmond Park

          

 During the next week we found that we were in the north end of the park and the flowers were in a southern part of the park in an area called Isabella Plantation.   So, the next week, when we found Isabella Plantation, and as you will see from the pictures, was very spectacular with the spring blossoms in their full glory.

Annother day in the Centre, a pair of Elder’s brought in Mauricio from Brazil. Mauricio came to London from Brazil and was looking for work.  He is a very competent computer programmer and even helped us solve a virus problem. We started working on his CV and on resources to help him find employment.  He was desperate to raise money so he soon took on three part time jobs to support himself and to send money back to Brazil to bring his wife to London.  He is working on his English so I am sure it won’t be long before he can get a good computer job.  When we went to his baptism, there was such a sweet spirit.  The whole meeting was in Portuguese so we did not understand a word of what was said, but recognized the spirit.  The City Ward meets in a school so their ward comes to Hyde Park to use the baptismal font. It is so good to see 30-40 people from the ward venture across town and show up to support Mauricio.  He cannot wait to share the gospel with his wife when she comes June 2.

US Embassy - London

Throughout the early part of May, we spent hours and hours working with Sister Tshimanga to prepare her for her interview with the US Embassy to get her student visa.  We had the schools in S.L. ready to admit her to fall semester and we had arranged for housing and support.  We had practiced with ward members who are employed at the US Embassy to make sure Sister T. would give the best answers.  The day of the interview came and there were about 700 people applying for Visa’s to the US.  We got to the US Embassy just before 10:00 am and Sister T. had to go in by herself.  Long waits. Stress.  More waiting.  Finally she came out. The consulate worker looked at her file and found that Sister T. had applied, prior to her mission, for a Visa to the US just to go to the MTC in Provo for missionary training and had been denied.  Because she had been denied once, the worker would not consider the different circumstances and she was summarily dismissed with a failed application.  However, we feel that there must be something extraordinary waiting for her when she returns to the Congo.

Our work in the Self-Reliance Centre has been expanding.  We support the 8 stakes that touch London and go wherever we are needed to teach and support the Self-Reliance Initiative that is being rolled out here in the U.K.  This month we have traveled to the Crawley Stake, Eastbourne Ward.   Two weeks ago we had a great meeting with the Bishop of the Eastbourne Ward.  Things went well.  But most interesting was the building that the Eastbourne Ward meets in.  See the pictures included.  This was a Church of England building that served as a school.  The local school stopped using the building and the LDS Church came in and purchased the building.  They did a little remodeling inside, but they left the rich culture and history of this beautiful building.  To the best knowledge of the ward historian and public affairs director, this is the only LDS Church building that has a cross on the outside.  Built into the chimney, you can see the masonry church cross.  Interesting. 

Eastbourne Ward

Note Cross in the chimney

While down there, we visited the English Channel and were able to almost see France.  It was a misty day and not perfectly clear.  But we had faith that if we looked hard enough and far enough, we could see over the ocean clear to France.

Greenwich, England

Last Monday, we were able to take our P-Day and go with another missionary couple to Greenwich Village.  This is the spot where the Prime Meridian runs through and it is the point where time begins a new day. Scholars have studied the stars and time, and all sorts of things.

Prime Meridian marker

Also, on top of the building is a large round ball.  Every day at 1:00 pm, that ball is raised to the top of the tower and precisely at 1:00 pm the ball drops.  This is the traditional way that all of the passing mariners were able to set their watches.  As they passed Greenwich, they could watch the ball and when it was dropped, they could visually see that it was 1:00 pm.

Greenwich Ball Dropping

Nelson's Ship In A Bottle

By golly, the ball dropped while we were there and it agreed precisely with my IPhone as it struck 1:00 pm.  Greenwich is also the home of the Maritime Museum and the largest ship-in-a-bottle.  A replica of Lord Nelson’s sailing ship as pictured here.  Greenwich is a wonderful, quiet, peaceful escape from the hub-bub of London.  

To finish up, we want to tell you of a miracle. We have had a wonderful senior couple working in the Visitor Center.  Late in April, Michael and Shari Ohman went for a walk in Hyde Park.  Michael has been a professor of organ music at BYU but are currently serving here in London.  Mike sat down on a bench for a rest and Shari moved away to take some pictures of the Spring Flowers.  When she came back moments later, she found Mike laying on the ground with two police officers approaching.  You NEVER see policemen in the park and of course they are never around when you need them.  They asked Mike if he was drunk, just as Shari approached, and she assured them he was not.  She showed them her missionary tag.  He was having some trouble breathing so he moved to the grass and had slumped to the ground.  Soon he reported that he was having severe chest pressure and pain down his left arm.  Yes, he was having a severe heart-attack.  Immediately Shari called to the officers.  One came over to give assistance while the other radioed for an ambulance.  Within fifteen minutes Mike was in an ambulance on his way to the best heart hospital in London.  One miracle is that there were policemen on the spot when they were needed and the other was that Elder Ohman was receiving lifesaving treatment so soon after the heart attack. They nearly lost him enroute and when he arrived at the hospital he was immediately treated.  In the operating room, it was reported that they lost him twice, but were able to revive him.  Three arteries were badly blocked and there was a large blood clot blocking a heart valve.  Drugs were administered to dissolve the clot but that thinned the blood too much and he started bleeding severely internally.  Again he was nearly a departed soul. Mike has been in the hospital for nearly 40 days experiencing multiple complications and just last Wednesday was given the OK to fly home to Provo.  There were a couple of times when things looked really bad for Mike and he would request a blessing.  On those occasions, immediately following the blessings, things improved.  High blood pressure would drop, white blood cell counts would improve, and the Lord blessed Mike to continue. He is a walking (not really as he is riding a wheel chair mostly) miracle.  Friday we, Afton and I, put him and his companion on a plane for home.  The Area Mission Doctor accompanied them back to SLC.  There will be no more late night visits to the hospital which means no more late night crossings of the Westminster Bridge.  See night shots of Big Ben and the London Eye.

London Eye leaving Hospital

Big Ben after leaving St. Thomas Hospital

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Well, as you can see, we have had a very full month.  Time and again we were strengthened in our testimony that the Lord is guiding this great work and that he is watching out for all of the missionaries. During this month, we had a mission conference and our missionaries were all given training in the use of the IPad for missionary work.

Missionaries setting up their IPads

Elder Kiernan, the new Area President, told us that the work must go forward to help Heavenly Father get his children home to Him.  Elder Nielson of the Seventy, reported how the Gospel is being spread through the world electronically.  During the Christmas season, HE IS THE GIFT (video presentation) was viewed over 33 million times over the 28 day campaign.  During this last Easter, HE LIVES had over 30 million views in just 8 days.  The Brethren are using every modern tool to take the Gospel to the World.

Principle #3 of the MY FOUNDATION Self-Reliance workbook is to be Obedient.  Obedience to God’s laws and principles leads to spiritual and temporal blessings.  For example:

     The Word of Wisdom (D&C 89) ----------- Better health, great knowledge

     Tithes & Offerings (Malachi 3:10-12) ----- Temporal & Spiritual blessings, success in our work, protection

President Monson said, “The knowledge which we seek, the answers for which we yearn, and the strength which we desire today to meet the challenges of a complex and changing world can be ours when we willingly obey the Lord’s commandments.”

Joseph Smith said, “I made this my rule:  When the lord Commands, do it.”

April in London

April is a good month.  We have had people come in from many different countries.  We have helped out and worked with people from Romania, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Brazil.  For many reasons, they believe that they will be better off leaving their home-lands, family, and friends to come to London.  They have been told that there are jobs and opportunities and a brighter future in London.  Life is just as hard here as it is in their home lands.  But now they don’t have family or friends to help them and they are in a country that they often can’t speak English.  They come with no job, no money, and no plan. Often they end up sleeping on the street, or the basement of the Methodist homeless shelter.  They come to us having been told that we can help them find jobs, and we can give them all that they need.  Wrong.  We offer hope, we give them training, rewrite C.V.’s, and point them to a computer in our Centre.

It is with great anticipation that the London members of the Church and missionaries look forward to General conference.  We do get conference here in London, but our schedule is a lot different from what we are accustomed to at home.  On Saturday evening, at 5:00 pm, we got to watch the Saturday Morning Session live.  Sunday, the schedule goes like this: 

·                  9:00-11:00  Priesthood  session

·                  1:00-3:00  Saturday Afternoon Session

·                  5:00-7:00  Sunday Morning Session live.

·      Sunday afternoon session was on our own to try and find.

Conference was awesome.  We look forward to reading, studying, and making them part of our lives.

We did pick up the story about Savanah Stevenson.  She is currently “Glinda” in WICKED here in London and she has been in the YSA ward in the H.P Building.  She did get married last week to a fellow from the US.  They were married in the chapel at HP (Government rule requiring marriage in a public building) and then they were off to the London Temple in the afternoon for the sealing.  Hope you all saw her story between conference sessions. 

King's College Chapel

Here is a fun thing we got to do on a P-Day.  We took a train and traveled to Cambridge.  This was a lot different than I expected.  We found that there is not one Cambridge University, but a series of at least 20 separate colleges. Unlike our schools where you get up in the morning, leave home, go to school, attend class and then return at the end of the day, here the students eat sleep and attend class almost exclusively in the same building. More like Harry Potter ville.  On and around the campus there are over 100 libraries and a church for each of the colleges.  Originally the schools were started by the Churches and this was the start of their education system. Some of these schools date back to the 1200’s. 

                                                            The quality of the education is tops and there are so many 

Stories of Old & New Testament

notable people who have graduated from the various schools in Cambridge. We got to visit one of the St. Mary’s church which was one of the first chapels established. From the bell tower, we could see all of the other colleges spread around the campus.  King’s College chapel was open for us to visit.  It was built by King Henry VI in 1446 – 1537.  It is the epitome of the English late Gothic Style, with its vast painted glass windows, filigreed stone frame and gravity-defying fan vaulting.  Each fan shaped ceiling panel weighs over 1.5 tones.

King's College Chapel - Ceiling & Organ

Here we are Punting on the River Cam

April also had its ups and downs.  Two special friends, Mike and Shari Ohman, had gone for a walk in Hyde Park.  Elder Ohman wanted to sit and rest for a moment and his wife stepped away to take a picture of Spring blossoms.  When she returned, Mike was laying on the grass feeling sick and two patrolmen came over to see if he was OK.  Shari said he would be fine and they turned and walked away.  Then Mike reported the pain was getting worse and his left arm was going numb.  Shari called to the two officers and one came and assisted and the other immediately called for an ambulance.  This was a miracle as we never see police in the park.  With help close at hand, Mike was on his way to the hospital and receiving treatment even before arrival there.  He was having a massive heart attack.  Had the help not been so readily available, we would have surely lost him.  He was touch and go for quite a long time in the hospital.

From the time Mike was admitted to the hospital, systems in his body started to shut down.  The doctors were able to stabilize him yet treatments did not work as they were expected.  Body functions all rebelled and started turned themselves off and soon Mike looked like a chemistry experiment with tubes and gadgets coming from all points on his body.  For about 14 days, treatment continued on everything except his heart.  Daily there was very slow progress.  Just yesterday, Mike was moved out of the critical care unit and is now in a cardiac unit.  He has finally started eating and most all of his bodily functions have come back on line.  Now the doctors have to decide how to treat the heart.  There are three arteries that are restricted and at this point, we have not heard what the doctors plan on doing.  Today is a Bank Holiday so we probably won’t hear more until after we send this blog installment.  Please keep Elder Ohman and all of the missionaries in your prayers.

Trinadad Island Design in Claire's restaurant

One fun news bite is:  We have a volunteer that comes into the Self Reliance Centre and helps us every week.  She has been doing the volunteer work for a couple of years so she really knows what she is doing when helping clients who come in.  Claire’s dream has been to have her own Jamaican Café.  We have been involved in helping her get it ready and here are some pictures.

Clair's kitchen under construction

One of the Visitor Center sister missionaries is ready to be released.  Under the direction of the Mission President, we were assigned to arrange for her further opportunities for higher education.  (We have tried the D.R. Congo, Italy, France, and the United Kingdom and would you believe, she got accepted to LDS Business College.)  For some of you, we are repeating her story.

“Currently, I am a full-time missionary.  In my country (DR Congo), I completed the best university education I could.  I started to work at the only hospital in town.  After working for 6 months, I received so little payment I felt ashamed.  Since my baptism 4 years ago, I have always had the desire to serve a mission and soon I was called to England.  I am the only member of the Church in my family and I am the first person from my country to be called to England.  Nine months into my mission, I found out that my parents split up. As far as I know, since August 2014, none of my siblings have been living with either of my parents.  My situation is difficult as I have no home to go back to at the end of my mission.  I hope to build a bright future for myself so I can help support my (6) younger sisters.  I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and for my mission.  I have learned how to love others and developed many Christ-like attributes which helps me to become a better person and overcome trials.  Thank you for this opportunity to go to a school of higher education.”

Elise Tshimanga

Sister Tshimanga needs a home from May to September.  She will be taking an advanced English course in downtown SLC and will be in class approx. 20 hours per week for eight weeks. We are looking for three families to help out.  We have one volunteer so far.  Our suggested breakdown (it’s flexible) could be:

   May 24—June 24              (She could be working part time)

   June 24—July 28               (She could be working part time)

   July 28—Sept 10               (She could be working part time)

She needs a bed, food, people to speak English with, and help getting to TRAX and/or Bus transportation.  In September she will begin LDS Business College and with the Baxter’s help will get student housing near the campus. Her long range goal is to get a nursing degree from BYU-I.  Please let us know if you might be able to help us with any of the above listed time commitments by May 12^th. 

Sister Pagofile & Sister Tshimanga between You Know Who

March Madness

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.

So, we cannot crown the basketball team, but we discovered several other crowns. This month we were able to visit Windsor Castle to see some of the English Crowns.  Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world.  It as been the family home of British kings and queens for almost 1,000 years.  For more beautiful details, check out:    www.royalcollection.org.uk/visit/windsorcastle/about  and you will get a professional view of what we experienced.  From the opening screen, go to the second picture and click on the link. 

We had a wonderful day taking the train out into the countryside to a village called Slough and then a short ride to Windsor.  We jumped off the train and right into the small village center of shopping and food.  As we came out of the shopping area we were at the foot of the castle looking up and it was a beautiful view.  Each visitor gets a personal head phone connected to a hand-held video of the rooms, information, and history of the Castle you are about to visit.  


According to the flags, it appeared that the Queen was in residence during our visit.  A fire  destroyed a large section of the Castle a few years back, but it has been restored to its original splendor.  This is a place you can visit often and enjoy the art work and scenery repeatedly.  During half of the year, when the "royals" are in full time residence, the tour is shortened and the personal residence areas are off limits.  However, as we toured the Castle, the residence was open. It is amazing to see how the royalty live.  I would be afraid to spill on the carpet.  But, then I am not royalty and I would have to pay for the clean up, not having a small army of support staff.  Be sure and watch the video listed above.

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.  

Tuesday morning we were up early to attend a session at the Preston Temple and then we had the wonderful experience of a personal walking tour of missionary sites in Preston, England. President Ulrich and his wife from the Manchester England Mission joined us for the tour. We started out our walking tour at Wadham Road, the flat which was previously occupied by Gordon B. Hinckley when he was a missionary. This is where he arrived in the mission field only to write home telling his father that he was not sure what he was doing in the mission field.  His father wrote back and told him to get to work and things would all work out.  He had to decide why he was there and let the Lord help him.  Elder Hinckley got to work, built upon his testimony and served a very successful full mission.  The other picture is a flat where the early Apostles lived and they were attached by legions of evil spirits.  With the Priesthood, the Apostles cast out the devils and went on to gather great spiritual strength and momentum for the Church.  

We visited the "cockpit" which was an area (originally a building) that was used for cock fighting. The Temperance movement had a great start here and eventually the Church took over the building and met there for 3 years. Preston is the home of the oldest continuous congregation of the Church. When the early Apostles started their work in England, the first baptisms were performed in the River Ribble. Within a week of their arrival they were asked to preach at a congregation. The preacher was a relative of one of the Apostles.  They were so successful with their preaching, members of the congregation were asking for baptism.  The Apostles were soon asked to leave that pulpit but many conversions happened that week.  On the day of the first baptisms, the story has it that two new investigator's wanted to be baptized "first" and they actually had a foot race to the River Ribble.  


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!!!!

February @ England London Mission

For this installment, we have decided to tell you a bit about how we do things.  Thought we might give you a view of how we get around and do our Church callings.  We use a variety of means of transport: foot, car, van, bus, horse, tube, train, and airplane.  Ok, we only used the airplane to get to and from England.  No flying during our mission - yet. Lets take a look.

Each day when we start out, we leave our flat and walk about 3/4 mile toward the Hyde Park Centre. We walk up through a pleasant community, passing a dozen or so shops and stores, several indian restaurants (4 or 5), we can turn down either Queens Gate Terrace or Elvaston Place and cross over

Queen's Tower at Imperial College Campus

Queen's Gate Road and proceed to the Falmouth Gate of the Imperial College.  If we try to pass through the gate at night after 11:00 pm, the gate is closed and we have a longer walk around the outside of the college campus.

Falmouth Gate to Imperial College

As we split Imperial College essentially in half, we can look ahead and see the HP Centre on the east end of the campus.  At the center of campus we pass the Queen's Tower.  This tower was built about 1887 as part of Queen Victoria's Imperial Institute.  In 1960 the Institutte was being replaced, most of the original structures were torn down.  Through extensive lobbying the 287 ft bell tower was saved. The Queen's Tower has ten bells each named after royalty and the bells chime on holidays. Of course, the area around the Queen's Tower is called the Queen's Lawn. They really like the Queen over here.  So much so that only the Queen can have a queen-sized bed.  There are doubles and king-size beds, but you never find a Queen Sized bed - only for the Queen.

Hyde Park Chapel

 As we depart from the college campus we are face to face with the beautiful Hyde Park Centre.  This is home to four wards (Hyde Park 1 & II, City Ward on wed nights, and Britania Young Single Adult ward).  And in addition, it is the only building in the world with a complete Visitors Centre, Stake Offices, Bishop's Offices, a Self-Reliance Centre, and the London England Mission offices. A very well used building and hub of constant and varied activities.  We often have varied high profile guests that come and vist the Centre.  The HP Centre is home to mission conferences which most recently had Elder Quentin Cook.  Two weeks ago we were host to Brian Grim, President of Religious Freedom & Business Foundation who later that day addressed Parliament on the impact of religious freedom on politics.  Sister Baxter and I were privildged to take Brother Grim to dinner and talk about our Self Reliance program, some of which he is moving to incorporate into his work. (By the way, he is Catholic.)  He is now writing and speaking about the positive impact and inspired programs of the Self-Reliance Initiative of the Church to the Vatican.

The Hyde Park Centre is used for a miriad of activities. We have spoken of the International Celebration put on by the HP Stake which has representation of 110 cultures within its membership. Other activities include extensive sports / games enjoyed by wards, stake, mission, missionaries, and others.  The Chapel is also home of a most beautiful organ and we often have special events there. The most recent was the presentation of a very funny 1925 classic silent movie, The Freshman. Harold Lloyd, the star of the show was a friend of David O McKay's. (Mike Ohman accompanied the silent file on the large pipe organ.) See the pictures below. Remind us to tell you about the amazing impact that Harold Lloyd had on the Church in the Los Angeles area.

Mike Ohman to play for The Freshman

The Freshmen @ Hyde Park

OK, other ways we get around in our London travels.  As Self-Reliance Missionaries, we have a car - a small one, but a nice car to transport ourselves to meetings and training.

Toyota Meriva

 I have taken driver's training to help me adapt to the driving on the wrong side of the road - where did we lose our way when we separated from England.  I guess we just had to rebel to make us left side drivers on the right side of the street as opposed to right hand drivers on the left side of the street. In any case, we try not to drive for two very good reasons.  One, there is usually no place to park, and second, it is really slow to drive (average within around London is 7 mph).  Traffic congestion can be the worst in any part of the world.  The street system runs randomly through the city (Random as in odd angle intersections, streets narrowing from three lanes to one lane or perhps you are driving and all of sudden the center two lanes force you to turn right - ready or not :-) ) with varied one-way streets and you are also limited because you have to dodge the River Thames which runs through the middle of the this huge city.  Bus lanes add to the confusion. Thank goodness for GPS, it is a lifesaver.

OK, I guess we should mention the huge fleet of taxis.


  Apparently there is one manufacturer of cars here that builds nothing but Taxi Cabs.  They are specially built with very tight turning radius' to get around the narrow and winding roadways.  They are all the same shape but they are now being painted in every imaginable color and decoration.  The interiors are utilitarian open in the back so you can often get up to 5-6 passengers and some luggage into a single small cab.

You probably already know that we use the "Tube" or underground train system.  When you get out of Central London, the trains do run above ground, but the tube is definitely UNDER ground.  We walk to the Gloucester Road Station and walk down a flight of stairs to get to our most common train. By the way, the Circle line was the first underground train and it was built in 1863.  Now, however, the Picadilly Line runs underneath the Circle & District lines. In some areas of the city you can have trains running at four or five different underground levels.

Gloucester Station 

Paddington Station

 There is one point where escalators are taking passengers down to their trains and there are two of the elevators like the one pictured here.

Escalators

Some of the escalators are the longest in the world. The Tube carried 1.23 Billion passengers in 2013 and that number keeps increasing.  It takes a lot of equipment (lifts and escalators) to get people to the varied levels to catch their trains. The Tube then can drop you off at places like Waterloo Station, Paddington Station, Kings Cross / St Pancreas Station, or Victoria Station.  These are major hubs for rail service taking you all over the counry in every direction.

San Pancres / King's Cross Station

 Done with walking, lets take a bus ride.  Many Londoners get around on one or more of the 80,000 busses. The iconic Double Decker red bus is everywhere.  Included is one picture of a stack of busses near Picadilly Circus (not a Circus circus, but a tourist shopping area and entertainment centre).  (Sorry, could not find the picture showing 9 busses criss-crossing Picadilly Circus.  Here is a picture at Hyde Park Corner.  I can count 9 busses here as well.)

9 Busses @ Hyde Park Corner

Bus Ad

The busses can take you wherever you need to go and are good for getting closer to your destination. It is kind of fun to see the "Mormon" influence on the buses.  The play's advertising plan has given an unexpected rise in notariety for the Church.

Queens Brigade -

Oops, Just kidding.  I said that we included "horses" in our transportation.  Not us, but we do hear Her Majesties horses trotting down our street on their way to Hyde Park for their daily exercise early in the morning.




A train related experience.  A young man named Jagath hails from Sri Lanka.  He comes annually to London to visit his X-wife and young son.  This year he came and the mother and son had left for the USA without telling him and he ended up stranded here in London. In late December, Jagath was trying to get in contact with friends and was taking a train toward Northhampton.  Some strong urge told him to get off of the train and to take the next train.  He described it as something dragging him off of the train.  He got of the train he was on and took the next train.  Shortly after, he noticed a young lady talking to another passenger and she mentioned something about a very important book. Jagath was intrigued and wanted to hear what was being discussed.  But Jagath is a real gentleman and could not butt in and he certainly could not approach a single young lady directly on the tube. A few stops later, the lady got up to get off of the train and to his surprise, a second young lady got up and walked out with her. This made it more appropriate for him to stop them to talk,  He jumped up and got off of the train and as they walked down the platform, Jagath stopped the sisters and asked about this Book of Mormon they had been talking about.  The Sister's asked him if he would like to know more and he said yes so a meeting for set for 6:00 that evening.  They met and the Sister's brought the ward mission leader with them and they taught Jagath a first lesson.  They asked if Jagath would like a Book of Mormon and he said yes.  They committed him to reading the book. The Ward Mission Leader could see that Jagath was sincere and also was in need of help.  He took him home with him and Jagath lived a few days with him.  Through help from the London North Ward, and with continued teaching from the Sister Missionaries, Jagath developed a strong testimony and was soon baptized.  The Sister Missionaries introduced Jagath to us during his teaching and we helped get him employment.

Jagath in his Suit

Tie tieing less

We were able to secure a suit from a missionary who had left one behind when he completed his mission.  I even taught him how to tie a tie.  Jagath is going to make such a good member of the Church.  He is resourceful, caring, and honest. He has told us, "I am a totally changed man."

One day when he was the Self-Reliance Center, we were helping him and others.  A Hungarian fellow was in tough straights and Jagath voluntarily gave him advice such as "spend your last 20 pounds on a week bus pass. That way you will have a warm place to stay at night."  Jagath is faithful and is now passing the sacrament and working to save money so he can visit his son in California.

Our purpose here is to help people become more self-reliant through teaching principles.  We (everyone of us) can learn and live these principles, skills, and the habits of Self-Reliance.  The principles will lead us to spiritual and temporal self-reliance.  Here is an invitation to all who are reading this blog to read and examine each of the principles that we will send you over the next twelve months. The first of these principles is FAITH as found in the workbook My Foundation: Principles, Skills, Habits.  

Go to (srs.lds.org > Self-Reliance > Manuals & Videos > My Foundation. Click on the image of My Foundation on the web site and scroll down to Lesson 1, starting on page four.  There are supporting videos at the bottom of the resource page.  Be sure and check out the video listed below. (copy and paste this link into your browser.)

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/principle-1-exercise-faith-in-jesus-christ?lang=eng

We suggest that you study one principle every month until we get home. These make wonderful Family Home Evening lessons.

The Work of the Lord is moving well here in London.  We love this opportunity to serve and love the people we are able to work with.  We know that this is where the Lord wants us to be at this time in ou lives and hope we can faithfully share some of the highlights with each of you.