October/November

October/November Blog:

Just making a list here:

            Cardi – Cardigan

            Boots and bonnets – Hoods and trunks (of cars)

            Courgettes ( pronounced with a soft “g”) – Zucchini

            Aubergine – Eggplant

            Nappies – Diapers

            Joiner/Joinery – Carpenters/Remodeling company

            Coppers – Policemen

            Holiday – Vacation

            Garage – Same as garage except pronounced Gar pronounced “air” with a  

                            hard “G”

            Windscreen  - Windshield

            Sultanas – Raisins

            Building blocks (Legos) – Bricks

           Idle meal – One that makes you want to take a rest after having eaten

            Words and Phrases:

            Get it sorted

            Cheers

            Luv

            I’m a bit concerned

            Make my own way

            Knocked back        

            Bit annoying

            Feeling poorly

           It were like

           “Me job; me family”

            I’ll fetch it for you

            I’ll chance my luck

            Splendid

OK – You’re English lesson for another month J

Slovakian Members

We now have witnessed two Slovakian weddings.  Our latest was Veronica and Jozefs – I had to speak at that one J  Quite a few people attended this one – about 30 – I hope I stressed enough why it was important to be married – Hopefully, some took notice!!  Pictures were taken outside the chapel – Children only stayed outdoors for a few minutes – then wanted to come in to eat the wedding cake – We had to keep them at bay for another 20 minutes or so until the bride and groom came in – Not an easy task – Jozef, by the way, was just ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood today at Church now that he is married.

We were very surprised to see our Holub family (the one with 12 children come to Church a few weeks ago)  This is the family that would not come any more because the Bishop was not providing them with enough things that they wanted – These are the children who are so adorable – dark curly hair and big brown eyes (I will get a picture of them some day) – We were all excited they were there – but then the next week Brother Holub told Elder Juran – now I want you to come to my Church!!  Oh, well, maybe someday they’ll return for the right reasons.

One member talked to a man in the streets of Darnall who had no food or money; he gave his family’s weekly government allotment to him leaving his family of six children with not much food for a week.  Another has taken in a Polish homeless man and found a job for him.  Human nature—very interesting!!

One of our members has discovered a mouse/mice/rat in their home.  They are beside themselves – They finally bought a cat but after having it a week the cat caused so much mischief they gave it away.  The wife and kids are so scared, they don’t like to be anywhere in the house alone—we told them we would bring peanut butter for the traps (since that has worked for us) but they didn’t know what peanut butter was.  Hopefully it will get rid of their rodent problem!!

Church

We have been having about 75 attendance at Church the last month or so; it was very difficult to handle the children there one week – One investigator said he didn’t think he would come back – but he has and he and his family (wife and 5 children) will be joining the Church (after they are married J) One of his children has been a real handful in Primary so I don’t know why they were complaining at Church.  Then, today, I found out she is autistic – I’ll think much kindlier of her now.

We just changed our meeting schedule today for the first time.  They will now have a short RS/Priesthood meeting before Sunday school begins.  That makes Primary ½ hour longer – but Sister Powell-Pepper, our Primary coordinator, wants to feed them breakfast during that half hour – She doesn’t think they get fed in the mornings; I’m pretty sure that isn’t true – but the kids loved the juice, fruit and biscuits (cookies) this morning.  Actually Sister Pepper was so concerned about what they ate – she was worried about what afflictions they may have (ADD/ADHD, diabetes, etc) and what she could feed them.  We tried to convince her they would be fine – They worry about so many things here in Britain!!  We hope all this change is getting them closer to making this little unit a branch – a Bishopric member visiting today told us that was the plan – We’ll let you know if and when it happens.

Missionaries

The Elders and sisters have gone to the shopping area of Darnall (where we meet for Church).  They stand next to the stores where the Slovakians shop and sing hymns for about an hour – They finally convinced Dad and I to join them which we did – Slovakian Church members have stopped and joined us; English people just walk by; others are curious – we haven’t done it for several weeks – we go on Saturday mornings and other things have been going on – I think weather permitting and not too cold they will start again with Christmas carols.

It’s interesting to talk to our Czech/Slovakian elders – One said his parents were very much against the gypsies in Slovakia (he used the word racist) and the other said his parents weren’t against them but would very much hesitate visiting with them.  Cultural traditions play such a part in our human society!!

Since Dad hasn’t been able to do much lifting or using his shoulder because of the rotar cuff tear, our nice missionaries came over last week and mowed our lawn – I think  it will not have to be mowed again until next spring.

Our changes in missionaries that occured this transfer:   Elder Sandor finished his 3 month stay with us and returned to the Manchester mission.  He finishes his mission in about two weeks.  Our new elder is from theCzech Republic (Elder Sindylek)
and is Elder Juran’s childhood friend – I wondered how that might work out but they are doing beautifully together – It really has helped missionary work to have the language barrier broken down by these elders.. 

Our sister missionaries are doing great – We had a threesome for about three weeks.  One of the sisters in our zone came to be with the Don Valley sisters– Her companion decided  to return home after only being out for about a month – I don’t know why.  She was from some European country.  One of our sisters has been here six months – it’s very possible she will transfer – she is quite sad – but perhaps she will stay – we will see.

Elder Juran has been our district leader for about six weeks now.  What an amazing change has taken place in him – so much more confident and grasping the work with gusto!!  He is now concentrating on keeping the members we have active and not seeking too many new investigators at present – I think it is a good decision – The new members seems to be attending Church a lot and connecting with the other members.

One of the new missionaries in our zone is from Romania. We visited him and his companion for flat inspection.  It was amazing to hear him speak – really speaks the English language well.  Apparently Romania is a romance language related to Italian, French, Spanish, etc.  He said he understood our speaking better than he does the British.  Many Romanian immigrants here and after having only been transferred for a couple of weeks he had 10 investigators scheduled for baptism.

Mission Life

(1)

We went to a teaching appointment with the sister missionaries.  There were grandparents, a mom, and two little boys ages 5 and 6 .  When dad sat down the little boys looked at him at said “are you a king?”

The sisters put on a DVD of President Monson’s conference talk – then the little boys said “are you a prophet?” – One little boy was looking at pictures in an Ensign – saw the General Authority chart and thought dad was one of them – The gray hair and being Caucasian must cause the reaction– I’m not sure how being a king relates J

 One interesting comment the grandpa made (he has lived in England for 12 years so speaks a little English) –He tried to communicate with us how good America is for all the help they gave to Europe after WWII.

While in the appointment, we heard people yelling from outside.  The sisters found out their car was rolling down the hill!!  When it got to the bottom instead of rolling right through an intersection and into a house, it just stopped.  The sisters ran outside as fast as they could, but the car had stopped before they got there.  Apparently they didn’t know about putting their car in gear (had it in neutral) – The Lord watches out for his missionaries and for his cars J

(2)

We completed our flat (apartment) inspections of the 9 missionary flats in our zone.  I must say they were mostly in tidy condition – except for 1 or 2 .

While visiting one apartment in Chesterfield (where my Hudson and Bircumshaw family had resided) we toured the Church of England cathedral in the city – The tower at the top is twisted and looks like it is falling over – but the people say it is very sturdy – just looks funny for sure.  While in the cathedral a man came in – I guess one of the parishoners – He stood at the pulpit and started reading from the Bible – Problem was there was no one in there except us wandering around – Maybe that is his job at that particular hour whether anybody is there or not.

(3)

They just celebrated Guy Fawkes day in England– Nov 2 – Check Wikipedia to read up on Guy Fawkes – I didn’t know about his place in British history.  Anyway, they shoot off fireworks all over England and light bonfires.  Now, when I say fireworks this just isn’t in the city park or plaza – this is in all the neighborhoods – We watched a spectacular fireworks display from our bedroom window – A neighbor a few houses away kept them going for about an hour – There was so much smoke and noise – I wondered how the city/country who are so health and safety conscious lets that happen – I thought for sure our house or car would catch on fire as cinders kept falling from the sky.  The other amazing thing is this went on for four days – We even heard some fireworks last night – maybe people getting rid of what they didn’t use or buying them on sale after the celebration – So there’s Guy Fawkes for youJ

Miscellaneous

(1)

President Lindley showed us a video at a zone conference called “Treasure in Heaven” It’s the story of John Tanner joining the Church in early Church history and his coming West – It was very good and when I found out it was on You Tube, I hope you will check it out.

(2)

We just had another zone conference last week – The missionaries love to get together for the day and revisit prior companions.  President Lindley decided to speak about his experiences in his profession as Director of Security for the Church. He has traveled to over 60 countries with prophets and general authorities.  It was very interesting hearing about some of the experiences with Presidents Kimball, Hunter, Benson, Hinckley and a little President Monson.  He related the experiences to the personality traits of the Prophets and how missionaries could incorporate those same values. 

We have not done much sightseeing the last few months, but President Lindley has given us permission to leave the mission boundaries to go on P-day to the Preston Temple (in the Manchester mission) and to Derbyshire and Stafforfdshire counties which are only about 1 to 1 ½ hours away from us – We could do that in one day and that is where more of my many English ancestors originated.  He also gave us permission to visit London – perhaps this will be our Christmas gift to each other.  We can go for about 3 days but probably would not leave until sometime in January.  I guess a few other senior couples have done this with family, so we will see.

(3)

For those who know us well, you will know of our reaction to the Presidential elections.  I have many thoughts and comments, but unlike so many Facebook friends, I must save these comments until we return home or done privately.  Missionary time is not the place, I don’t believe, to express them.

(4)

We wish you all a wonderful holiday season – The senior couples will have a Thanksgiving dinner together the day after Thanksgiving.  The whole mission will celebrate Christmas a week before at the Air Force Base in Harrogate.  The Slovakians will share their Christmas culture with us thanks to the generosity of the Sheffield 1 Ward who has reserved part of the stadium where we meet and given funds for the celebration.  We’re looking forward to that

You are always in our thoughts and prayers – We miss family and friends a lot but are now over half way through our mission – we look forward to seeing so many of you next summer!!

E-mail us often!!  We love it!!

Dave and Barbara