Mission Bound: 18 months in England

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

June 25, 2012

Monday, 25 June 1012

Well, it is preparation day and it is Dad's (Dave's) birthday--75 today - that seems like a milestone we should celebrate, but instead we are just hanging out at the house.Sometimes it is good just not to have to get "missionary dressed" and go out. Dad mowed the lawn, I walked around the lake, we went grocery shopping, and now I am blogging and Dad is reading a Western. When I heard the missionaries watch Disney movies sometimes on their P-day, I knew it was OK for Westerns and children's books on our Kindle :)

As I have mentioned before, we have pretty much established a routine that doesn't change too much...making a few visits to Slovakian homes during the week, preparing lessons, etc. for Sundays and preparing a weekly missionary meal and breakfast (that doesn't sound too hard until you find you have to go to about three stores to find what you need--our main stores are local groceries called Morrisons and Sainsbury's - ASDA (equivalent to WalMart) and Costco - After having shopped in the stores today I still didn't find dry mustard - I guess I'll use regular mustard instead; and, of course, quite a few missionary/church meetings and occasionally going with the missionaries on teaching appointments.

We begin the month of June at a dinner at the mission home in Leeds to recognize a departing couple and welcoming a new one. I must say our admiration for the Mission President and his wife is way up there...they have so many responsibilities and they still take time for dinners, etc. President Lindley just called Dave for his birthday, so he must do that for every missionary too. Our missionary couple from Scotland left - they were in our zone so we would see them fairly often. We now are the only couple in the southern part of the mission. The new couple are assigned to a Youth Center in the way north of England...about as far away from us as you can get. There are seven couples now in our mission--all from the United States - two from Utah...Logan and Fillmore; one from Idaho around Rexburg I think; one from North Carolina (maybe South) I can't remember; one from California - Sacramento area; new couple are from Star Valley Wyoming; and us. Another couple leaves in two weeks (the one from Logan) and a new office couple will replace them - I don't know where they are from. It is strange to think we are in the middle now of the couples who have come since we have and those who were here before. I don't think there are any leaving now until December.

We also have had another transfer of young missionaries--our fairly good Czech speaking sister was transferred as well as our district leader. Our new missionaries are brand new from the mission home--a sister missionary from Alaska and Kansas (where her parents now live) and an Elder from Adelaide Australia. It's quite interesting watching their progress. It changes from week to week.

Before we arrived for the mission home dinner on June 1, we left early for Bradford England which is about 10 miles from the mission office in Leeds. I've mentioned that is where some on my family tree lived before coming to America. We found the Bradford Cathedral which we went into; a nice guide talked to us and had the curator come out when I told her my ancestors had been married and baptized there. He brought out one of the old record books and with his white gloves turned pages until he found one of my ancestors listed. I know the records have been microfilmed and I had the information that was there, but it was cool to actually see the book and an ancestor's name written in there. After visiting there, we drove through the city trying to locate the addresses I have of where my ancestors lived. There was actually three streets by the same name of one of the addresses. Not being able to figure out which Albion Street it was we spent quite a bit of time locating all three--I'm pretty sure the last place we visited was the street they must have lived - it was the closest to the Cathedral and over 150 years ago I don't think the city would have been as spread out as it is now. It was a highrise type of apartment building...very old...with a narrow street in front. My ancestors lived in #101 and #102 (not sure why there are two apartments listed) except for the fact they had 10 children so

they may have rented two places. The family all worked in the woolen factories which was the big industry at that time. I want to go back sometime and tour one of the woolen museums they have showing what it was like to work there.

England has just celebrated the queen's diamond jubilee. All over England they celebrate mostly with street parties and family gatherings--except in London where it was a big deal. It was all televised so you may have seen some of it at home. We do not have TV so just saw some from Internet coverage. The ward here had their own picnic by the lake where we live. They enjoy just getting together, playing soccer (football excuse me :)) and going canoeing. The Primary children dressed up like royalty with robes and crowns and marched in their own little parade. The weather was chilly but that's the way they do things here...outdoors even if it is chilly.

The Euro Cup has been the main emphasis here for a few weeks - boy, do they get excited about their football. Mostly they just take life as it comes, but someone recently wrote, when it comes to their sports that is another story. Sad to say, I think I read that England just lost to Italy; they won't be happy for sure. All the English flags that have been flying on cars, houses, etc. will be coming down I assume...maybe they will leave them up for the Olympics which is the next big thing here. The Olympic trials are going on now and so we will have to move Church a few Sundays since the stadium will be used for the trials.

Someone asked if they sing God Save the Queen instead of God Save the King...yes, they do I found out. There is also another song (maybe their national anthem). I think it is called Rule Britannia - this might be the song that infers that the Baby Jesus lived in England for a time - I've got to look up on Wikipedia the real story behind that song. We sang it at a mission home dinner when a couple from England were leaving. Kind of an interesting song--lyrics, music--I'll find out more about it.

We visited a major mall here a week or so ago - It is called Meadowhall. We have a small mall by our house, but it doesn't qualify as a mall to me. When we visited Meadowhall (actually not far from the Don Valley Stadium) I was surprised how huge it is...I would say about three times the size of Montgomery Mall in Maryland. There are a few American stores I recognize but mostly stores I have never heard. Truthfully, it seemed strange to be there not just because I don't particularly like shopping but I guess our missionary mode doesn't fit in with that now...I'm sure that will change once we get home.

I've come up with a few adjectives to describe England particularly when I get frustrated with trying to find things...antiquated, old fashioned, inconvenient..annoying sometimes, but that is what makes England England I guess. Pencil sharpeners, plastic sheet sleeves, paper clips are just a few examples. The little pencil sharpeners you find in kid's pencil cases for instance are the only pencil sharpeners I have found. I cannot sharpen a pencil very well; when I finally think I have done it the point breaks and I have to start over again. OK, just a funny example. We'll live with it - I have American consumerism in my brain!!

Another funny thing I saw recently. A milk truck delivers milk on our street early in the morning. I happened to be awake when it came by. The truck (called a lorry in England)

has a cab on the front; then the back part along the sides is opened up and there sits lots and lots of crates. The driver gets out quickly takes a crate to a door and drives away. I don't know why that seemed so funny - I think it was the open sides where you could see all the deliveries to be made.

We were delighted to have Catherine and Russell visit us a week ago - Russell had a business trip here and a conference in Greece which they later went to - The company he visited happened to be only 15 minutes from our house which made it convenient. They were to have stayed three days, but a missed flight in Houston because of weather problems which necessitated their going to Chicago to catch a flight to London delayed them by one day; once they got to London their luggage could not be located somewhere in the Heathrow airport. Three hours after landing it was finally found; they got the fastest train they could get to come to Sheffield (about a two hour train ride). They arrived Thursday afternoon instead of Wednesday morning...but we still got to take them to York, Castle Howard near York, and our favorite little village of Castleton. They were so tired with jet lag and delays, but they were good troopers and wanted to see all they could see. They tasted their fish and chips and mushy peas and we ate in Dad's favorite pub that has a carvery...buffet like food of roast, gammon and turkey with potatoes and gravy, yorkshire pudding, and vegetables. Only Dad had the carvery, the rest of us opted for something on the menu that took forever to arrive. Dad was finished so he watched us eat jacket potatoes, etc. Anyway, they got a taste of English food. They left the next day for sightseeing in London and flying on to Greece. They have now arrived home safely which is always good news!!

We look forward to more family and friends visiting...Karen says they will come next summer. They hope to be celebrating Clint's tenure and want to tour Europe especially back to Austria which Karen loves since her Study Abroad days. She is now looking into cheap ways to do all of that - My brother and his wife and hopefully my mom want to come also

before we finish...we look forward to visiting with anyone who comes through Sheffield.

Well, another long blog...hit and miss it as you wish!! I think Karen will get pictures posted fairly soon which visualizes more of what we have seen. Until next month - keep well and safe!!

Pictures

Parish near us

Flowers over back fence at Southall

Castleton from Peveril Castle

Peveril Castle keep

Peveril Castle ruins

British phone booth

Sunday, May 27, 2012

May 27, 2012

It has been nearly a month since I have updated our blog - I didn't think it had been that long.

Shortly after the last entry we had mission transfers. These occur nearly every six weeks...I've never seen senior couples transferred yet. I'm not sure that happens. We have several new missionaries in our district. Our Zone Leader, Elder McKay, was transferred to the way north of England. He had been working with the Slovakian group for a year.

He and Dad really enjoyed each other so that was hard for Dad to see him go. Our new zone leader is from Logandale, Nevada--Elder Taylor. Elder Pearse, the other zone leader is still here. He is from West Virginia and returns home the end of July. He plans to visit the DC temple upon his return. I've told him to watch for President and Sister Bryan and President and Sister Pratt. Elder Gee is another transfer to our district. He is from Ogden, Utah and works with us in Don Valley. His companion is Elder Juran and works very well with him. We enjoy having those missionaries in our district for dinner once a week. Our zone leaders transferred from Don Valley to Sheffield 3 ward, but we still have our district leaders Elder Balderee from Portland Oregon and Elder Cumming from Scotland.

Our little Slovakian group continues to move forward with baby steps. It was somewhat discouraging to have one or two families who have been baptized (one quite recently and one about two years ago) leave the group (one to return to the Hallejujah Church and the other I'm not sure) It became apparent they joined the Church in order to receive welfare money and when it wasn't as much or as forthcoming as they thought it should be they left. It's sad to think that perhaps was the reason they joined the Church in the first place...but their motives do finally come to the surface.

Some of our youth (teenagers) struggle with peer pressure from friends and family. Our young missionaries do a good job keeping them under their wings. It would help to have more help from the ward/stake (but they have a lot on their plates too) More teaching materials in their language would also be helpful - Some of the teenagers speak English fairly well; others not so much. We find the young children doing the best learning English. We have the For Strength of Youth Pamphlets in English here and one copy of the Personal Progress program and one of the Duty to God program. I am slowly beginning to translate them into Slovakian--thanks to Google Translate!!

Transportation is another issue - Not a whole lot of ward members have cars; those that do struggle with petrol prices in this down economy--Slovakian members have neither cars nor money for public transportation. Anyway, the members do their best to get the members to activities that are at the stake center and other ward buildings. Missionaries are not allowed to drive members in mission-owned cars because of insurance purposes as you can understand. It's hard for us when it would be so easy to pick people up...but we understand why we cannot.

Those are some of our challenges...but all in all things are good and as I said, we move forward in baby steps!! One new family joined the church about a month ago--mom, dad and four children. I teach two of the children in Primary...they do pretty well with English since they are in school. They love to learn and chastize others who are disturbing the class. Their family lives in a hostel for the time being...they are hoping for a place to live in the Darnall (Don Valley) area to be closer to Church. They walk about 30 minutes to get to Church. It is interesting to see the government at work here...finding them homes, basic living supplies, hostel facilities, etc. Of course, immigrants are grateful for all the help they get...

Several teenagers from other families have joined. Their parents have not, as yet, but the missionaries are teaching them. Two of the boys are now passing the Sacrament. It is so good to see them grow step by step. One of the boys is just turning 13 - just a little older than Ben, Ethan and Morgan. He loves all the Church activities and wants to participate in all of them.

Many of the members are related to each other which I believe I have told you. The young missionaries find a big teaching pool just finding out about other members of the group's family--mostly all from a city in Slovakia--Spisska Nova Nes--Trying to figure out their family tree is a complete nightmare :) The ward mission leader would love for them to find some name on their family tree to take to the temple. Many are nearing their one-year membership (some nearly two) and he thinks they are ready to receive their endowments.

We still teach English to several families and plan to add more as their time and ours permit. They have to go to English classes to receive their government benefits. I believe many understand what is being said pretty much, but they are very hesitant to speak. That's what we are trying to get them to do and not be afraid if they make mistakes.

We are taking some children to the local library to get their library cards. They are very excited to go, but get very shy when they are there. They really don't venture far from their homes and their neighborhood. It is a real experience for them.

A few interesting comments some have made: Ivan Pecha, 9 years, old told us his favorite DVD was The Lamb of God. Having been in his living room, I find that a positive when there are many comic-type DVD's in his house to compete with. Ricky Pecha, our 17-year old member, who is very musically oriented told the elders he wants to be like them and go on a mission and not just waste time in his life--so many people in their neighborhoods I'm not sure what they do except watch TV and walk the streets. I think he realizes there is much more to life. He also told the Bishop he won't date until he goes on his mission. I hope his dream is fulfilled.

We attended a full mission conference in York last week. We traveled by hired bus with the missionaries from the southern part of the mission--about 30+. They are so full of energy, but very well mannered. Their mission has made a big difference in their lives!! Elder Jay E Jensen of the Presidency of the Seventy was our visiting authority. It was very good to listen to him for nearly 3 hours - Time went quite fast - He told how the missionaries need to saturate their teaching in the Book of Mormon and he gave other specific advice to do missionary work. He also gave a good health tip for traveling. Elder Russell Nelson told them on long flights to stand up periodically and flex your calve muscles by rocking back and forth from toes to heels. Elder Nelson told them it is in the calve muscles where blood clots form that go directly to the heart chamber--so every so often we had to stand up and rock back and forth--kind of funny to see us all do it while he was teaching--but good advice from a heart specialist for those of you traveling, plane, car, bus, whatever.

Our next excursion is to a senior missionary dinner June 1 at the mission home in Leeds - one couple leaves right after that and a new couple is arriving. I'm not sure where they will be assigned. It's kind of nice not to be on the bottom rung of the ladder any more!! Bradford, England is about 10 miles west of Leeds. That is where our Wilkinson line orginated before some of the member joined the Church. I know some were married in the Bradford Cathedral and also the children were baptized there. I hope we can visit there and find the cemetery where family members were buried. I also have street addresses of where they lived and want to take a picture of the streets (although I know it will be different and their homes will most likely not be there) That's our next adventure!!

We've seen a few interesting things the last few weeks. One was a funeral entourage which if we hadn't been driving I would have loved to have a picture of. A very elegant hearse filled with flowers followed by a horse drawn carriage where you could see the casket inside its glass windows. Quite a sight with many cars following.

Dad saw the other day a neighbor woman out mowing her lawn and a neighbor man hanging out the laundry on their outside clothesline - not sure what to make of that :)

Two words I've heard a lot: Blimey and Brilliant!! We still have to laugh at what they call things and still have a hard time understanding what they are saying - I guess it will always be that way.

I keep this blog as a journal, so I know there is a lot here to even want to read...just pick and choose what you want :)

We have a baptism in a few hours so I need to fix dinner and get ready - until next time...

Forgot to tell you about the weather. The last week has been in the high 60's and 70's - brilliant :)

I took some pictures around the lake by our house today where people are out on boats, picnicking, walking dogs, etc. It's a nice place to get some exercise.

One lady said to enjoy it because it will only last a week or two - I already see the temperatures will be in the 50's next week. A few others say it's too hot for them - really?

One girl told us it's way too humid - she surely hasn't visited Maryland, Kansas or Alabama :)

I forgot to mention our P-day a few weeks ago - We visited a little village called Castleton in the Pennine Mountains - it is about a 15 mile drive west of Sheffield. Once out of the city the landscape becomes very pastoral. I will always love to see the sheep (so many of them) grazing in the fields and the old stone fences that surround the sheep.

Castleton is an old village (they keep everything looking old - but it still can be a little "touristy" - There is an old castle (very small) on the top of the hill in the village - it looks over all the countryside around and was used for guarding the forest from intruders - the castle is pretty much neglected but the walls, windows and stone stairwells are still in place - sometimes royalty would come with their entourage to go hunting in the forest, there are places outside the castle walls where the servants lived but it's hard to imagine how they brought their horses and carriages up as high as they did.

There are resturants, gift shops, walking trails, caves, hotels in the village and about so a nice place to spend several hours. Again the sheep are all around. One little lamb behind the castle was lost from his herd and you could hear the sheep "baaing" very loudly probably to get him to run home :)

It's nice to get out of the city for a change of scenery.

Sunday, April 29, 2012

April 29, 2012

Dear Family,

I can see it's time for an update if I try to do this every two weeks or so.

We are finally seeing the weather we had anticipated having when we first arrived in England. The past week and a half we have seen just a few peeks of the sun. Each day has been cloudly with daily showers on and off - about 4 or 5 days have been days of steady rain, some wind, and very cool temperatures--in the low 40's. I, for one, am ready for some sunshine; however, having expected this type of weather, I am not stir crazy yet--I guess we go out enough it keeps our thoughts on other things. I'm not sure what is in the forecast--so this may be our "lot in life" for the next bit. The funny thing to me is the British are completely sick of it--it puts them in pretty grumpy moods or at least they talk grumpily about it :)

The last time we wrote, we were leaving the next day for a day trip to York - Those pictures have already been posted - We took a day tour with one of the tour companies here in Sheffield - It was nice just to relax and let the driver deal with the traffic and roundabouts - Dave especially liked that - I laughed at the music they played as "background" while we traveled - it was an American male singer (I could tell by his word pronunciations) and he was singing songs I remember from the 50's--I have no idea why they picked that type of music--Lawrence Welk type if you will!! Obviously they were ttrying to appeal to all of us on the bus who were "senior citizens" for sure.

We initially went to Yorkminster (both a cathedral and a minster) - They told us what the difference is but I can't remember - I think it has something to do with who is in charge like an archbishop, or some other religious designation. It is the only Medieval cathedral still standing in Europe (or maybe it was the British Isles) Anyway, it was very old, built in around 900 A.D. As you can imagine, it had beautiful stained glass windows, very old grave markings of their religious and political leaders who had some connection to the "York" The markings are on the floor of the cathedral; you look down at what is written about the person, and they are actually buried somewhere underneath the slabs on the floor. There are a lot of statues honoring other important saints and people since those medieval times. I was interested in watching people, other than the tourists, who come in to meditate or pray. I wonder what is happening in their lives, how religious they must be, to take the time to stop and take the time to do this - of course, that happens in all cathedrals and churches open to the public.

Our next stop was the shopping area in the middle of York - it is closed to most traffic and is all pedestrian friendly. Many unique shops are there and some I recognized - I stopped in at Crabtree and Evelyn (which I haven't seen since being in Maryland), Laura Ashley, and I enjoyed going through a Scottish clothing store; cardigans, Harris Tweed jackets, kilts, scarves, and much else representing Scotland--its woolens, food, etc. Dave was happy that my only purchase was a small item in Crabtree and Evelyn.

There is also a lot of souvenir memorabilia in most of the stores in commemoration of Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee which will be celebrated and a national holiday here in England on June 6 I believe. She has been the reigning monarch for 60 years.

We had lunch at the "tea room" Kent and Lynne Morgan recommended--Betty's tea room I believe it was called - Very popular in York; we waited outside in a line (que :)

before we could get in. Such properly dressed waiter/waiteresses using their very proper English to serve you - Glad we found out about it and had lunch there.

After lunch it was time to do some more exploring--we ended up taking a sight-seeing bus around the city where very informative tour guides told us about all the history and sites of York--we were on one of the double decker buses so we had a good view. I forgot to mention while in the cathedral there is a tower you can climb to the top - 250 steps up a spiral stone stairwell - the steps were pretty steep and only about 24 inches wide - thankfully, there was a railing to hold on to or I don't think I would have made it. Finally at the top you walk out and can see much of the countryside from all viewpoints. Coming down was somewhat easier--the next day I could hardly walk I was so sore--Dave, however, only felt a few twinges--what's up with that?? Anyway, we saw the cathedral on the sightseeing bus which reminded me of the tower.

There is a stone wall built nearly all the way around the city by the Normans so many years ago for protection from invaders - You can walk a path next to the wall so we walked along that for a bit, but not around the whole city. It was time to meet our tour bus, so we walked back to the gardens where we were dropped off. It was a good day. We enjoyed seeing another part of England.

Our missionary work here is settling into a pretty basic routine. A week or so ago, we were visited by a senior missionary sister from the Area offices in Frankfurt. She is working in the historical part of the area offices and came to document, interview, photograph the beginnings of the Slovakian Church growth here. She did a very thorough job of getting the information she needed interviewing missionaries, Slovakian members, Church leaders here. She used the building facilities, Slovakian members homes, mission offices for her interviewing. Since we have only been here a few months, we didn't think we could contribute much, but we ended up having about a two-hour interview with her. She worked for the Family History and Church History libraries in SLC as her career, so she had the professional background necessary to do what she did.

Our time is spent in a lot of meetings :), visiting in the homes of the Slovakian people--recognizing their birthdays (which I think I told you, they are not really sure themselves when their birthdays are let alone celebrating them, helping make sure Primary/YM/YW and Sacraments meeting take place and are run correctly. I just taught my Primary class today (9-10 year olds now) teaching them the Book of Mormon from the Primary manual. It is really hard to get to the level that they can understand - today we talked about Lehi and his family leaving Jerusalem (we got started late on teaching from the manual, so we're quite behind most other Primaries :) Just teaching them the words--Lehi, Nephi, Jerusalem takes some time--to their credit, they always know when we talk about Jesus and how good He is - They love to color, paste, and do any activities I can come up with--today we built the city Jerusalem out of Legos, tents out of index cards, and caves and mountains out of Playdough--they loved doing that; especially destroying the city Jerusalem!! Who knows if any of it made sense to them--

Another thing we do is try to get the children and youth to any activities the ward or stake has. Last week the Beehive/Deacons went to the temple to do baptisms; trying to arrange their transportation to meet (at the stake center for the rides), finding the appropriate clothing for them to wear, coordinating with the ward leaders, working out financial arrangements (since they have no money to speak of) takes a lot of time and can be frustrating and stressful. We took four cute little boys to a stake Primary activity yesterday. I think they get overwhelmed with what is available for them to do which most of us would take for granted--painting T-shirts, learning how to use a yo-yo, making simple jewelry, doing art, and decorating cupcakes--they were overjoyed with what they were able to take home--and as I watched the English children (just like children in any American wards) getting somewhat unruly, running around etc. these little Slovakians sat very politely by us, and did everything we told them to do giving us many thank yous for taking us there. So amidst the stress and frustrations, there are wonderful pay backs from each of them.

A member of the ward, Sister Nettleship, and I have begun teaching English in the homes of some of the Slovakians. We are beginning very simply using Church materials and mission materials. Sister Nettleship has been a teacher, I believe, but sitting in one home teaching Sister Dunka was such a great experience. Her nephew, Roman, sat with us. He is 14; came from Slovakia about 4 months ago, will not be enrolled in school until next fall. They are so wanting to learn English and so proud of what words they could say and understand after the lesson. Sister Dunka thanked us so much and said we were just like sisters to her--sounds like Relief Society - right :) and Elder Bond is her brother!! We hope to continue with a few more sisters--they especially need the help; the husbands as is their culture get out, but the women pretty much stay in their homes preparing meals and taking care of the children. You can see how strong they are, however, and the three strongest families in the unit - the wives are now participating in Sacrament meeting with talks and scripture reading - they are so proud of themselves!!

We have posted pictures of the baptisms that take place--we had one more yesterday--the father of the family that was baptized last week. We should not take for granted how many baptisms occur here - it is not typical of many places in our mission--or in other parts of the world for that matter. And, as I have said, the missionaries work so hard, they are committed, funny, and work well together for the most part - I think the word that best describes them is optimism--even with days and days of cloudy, rainy, weather!!

Finally, here's a few odds and ends we want to journalize:

Sacrament meeting singing - They love to sing - I told you there are only a few songs they sing but with such gusto!! No one can out sing them with God Be With

You 'Til We Meet Again!! They really have wonderful singing voices, too - They must sing in Stake Conference as a group sometime!!

Ricky Pecha - Our 17-yr old whose family, except for him, have gone back to the Hallejulah Church - He was explaining to me about Easter and said in his broken English Easter Monday was a celebration when Jesus stood up - meaning He was resurrected - I guess in their culture they think it was Easter Monday and not

Sunday - making it three full days--when we celebrate Easter

Language: Still laugh at the different phrases used here - Dad and I realize we are really dealing with two languages here - Slovakian and British lingo!!

I think I finally understand how Elder Juran communicates with the Slovakians--Czech and Slovakian (and a little Polish he says) use pretty

much the same language--only a few words are different--it's just in how they say them--For instance, in English we say How are you? in

British English you say "Are you doing well?" For a long time, when they said that to Dad he thought they were thinking he was sick!!

"Rubbish" - That's what all the Brits say for "stupid", "dumb" etc. :) Luv - Both male and female are called that ALL.THE.TIME. Well, I'll try

to keep track of other funny things we hear constantly.

Well, I think that catches you up with the last few weeks. This week is transfer week. Don't think Dad and I have to think about that. It will be hard if

any of our missionaries in the Slovakian group will be transferred - I'm sure it could happen. We'll know on Tuesday.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Pictures (April 23, 2012)

5 Converts from the Pecha Family

Mounted Police

More Police

Saturday, April 14, 2012

York Pictures (April 10, 2012)

Bootham Bar at York Wall

Interior of York Minster

Purple Man

York Minster

Another view of York Minster

York Street Scene

Timbered Houses in York

Monday, April 9, 2012

April 9, 2012

We hope everyone had a Happy Easter!!

We, of course, spent Easter Sunday at Church with the Slovakians. As I looked over the little group at Church, I wondered if we would still be with them next Easter and, if so, how different it might be. Dad and I get to Church about an hour early--to help other missionaries set up for Primary and Sacrament meeting. There are workers hired by the Stadium where we meet who set up chairs, microphones, etc. which helps. We never know what changes will be made - I had figured out where I could take my little group of

2-6 year olds to give them a short lesson, have a few coloring/pasting activities, and then let them play with toys and have a snack without attracting all the older Primary children who would descend on the toys and snacks - I had it all figured out and then found out they were using the room where we should meet for a luncheon - that changed all the plans which is pretty normal - Dad keeps busy trying to make sure Sacrament meeting is organized and in place, communicating with the Slovakian group leaders to hopefully pray they are understanding how to conduct, who is speaking, etc. - then it's time to begin - they trickle in anywhere from 1 hour before to 1/2 hour late (the ward leaders and missionaries are trying to get them to come on time - One sister from the ward comes around 1 hour before to teach an English class to the adults which is a great thing for them. By the way, we have a little computer keyboard (maybe I've said this already) - I am trying to figure out all the things we can do with it - it's pretty cool) The younger missionaries set it up and make sure the sound system is working. The Slovakians have a hymnbook with about 30 songs in it translated into their language (songs from our regular hymnbooks)

Easter Sunday went as follows:

Dad picked three Easter songs to sing, made sure the speakers were ready and everything set up

Just before Church, the Slovakian group leaders changed the songs (to the only three they have sung so far)

One Slovakian member who is scheduled to speak next week told Dad he wanted to speak this week instead because he wanted to bear his testimony on Easter Sunday

Dad asked Sister Freeman (who was going to speak and had prepared an Easter message in Slovakian) if she would now be willing to speak next Sunday

The Slovakian brothers started to pass the sacrament before they had blessed it - the Bishop took care of that quickly

The Primary age children after the Sacrament leave the room and go out in the hall or stadium to play (the parents stay quietly in the meeting)

The sister missionaries leave to corral the children who have discovered the elevator and are riding it up and down

Sacrament meetings moves along nicely - Brother Tomko bears his Easter testimony (not sure what he said since it's in Slovakian), Sister Dunka reads "The Living Christ" in Slovakian and Bishop McEwan, in English, gives an Easter message - Elder Juran translating it to Slovakian

OK - just a quick glance at our Sacrament meetings (I think Dad has a picture of the Stadium to attach to this e-mail)

But, with all the craziness, it is wonderful to see these band of members taking their baby steps further and further each week - We had 25 investigators at Church - It is amazing the work the missionaries do - usually investigator families bring other family members with them - so we see new people each week - 5 little boys (I told you there is sooo many boys) came into Primary about 15 minutes early--never seen them before although the missionaries knew who they were - one of our teachers is their school teacher also - they adore her - call her mum and miss - there's some new names for you Catherine :)

So it is all good - We had Easter dinner with four other missionaries at a ward members home who is on the ward missionary committee - we've been there before - an interesting couple I've told you about before - he loves to cook and went to chef's school - it was really good but we may have a heart attack before we get home :)

Potatoes and gravy, crusted meat pies, crusted apple pie with rich, rich cream--but all so good - We only eat there about every six weeks - We just have to be careful what we eat at home

We took the sister missionaries back to their assigned areas since they had one more hour of teaching time--so dedicated they all are--they told us that afternoon they had been walking down a street they felt they should go on--a white van with three men in it past them several times--as they continued walking they saw one of the men get out of the car - go up to a building a smash a window with a sledgehammer -they pretended not to notice and kept walking quickly--they then went to the police station to report it- they were so scared -

General Conference was different watching everything as a rebroadcast - With the help of Dad's computer, the Slovakian group watched one session (Saturday afternoon I believe) as our Church meeting last Sunday - They are so attentive (except for the children who go out and play who knows where in the stadium :)