Hi Family and Friends,
March 21, 2015
Five months? Can you
believe it? We have been out fine months
already. Sometimes it goes by so quickly
and we barely have time to eat before we fall into bed at night. We love serving our mission here in England
and feel blessed by the many experiences we are having here that are teaching
us so much. We miss our family and look
forward to seeing them again soon. Do
you think they would ever let whole families serve missions together, grandkids
and all?
Our time is being spent going to District Meetings in
Preston, Blackpool, and Carlisle. We
love to visit with the missionaries and see how they are doing in their
different areas. We see great leaders
stepping up and leading their districts with love and great knowledge of the
Savior. We have been amazed by the
missionaries’ ability to take charge and to work with all their hearts to
fulfill their purpose here. It is
impressive when you realize that they are only 18-25 years old. The gospel is taught simply, with pure hearts
and intent. It is humbling to witness
the missionaries’ service and sacrifice.
Heavenly Father is guiding this work!
We also spend a lot of time helping and supporting the Young
Single Adults. We go to Preston and
Lancaster for YSA activities as well as institute in Chorley. We teach a Book of Mormon class also during
the week which is for new investigators and anyone that would like to attend. We are learning much more than our students
are. That is for sure!
We will be speaking in three wards this next month and we
pray that Heavenly Father will help us to accomplish this. We will be traveling two hours to get to
these areas. We pack our lunch for the
day (and Dinner) and off we go. It can
be a long day because we leave when it is dark and get home in the dark. We visit members after the block of meetings
and encourage them to return to church activity. They are needed so desperately in these
Branches and we try to let them know how much they are loved. We pray that the work we are doing might
change some lives. That these members
might feel Heavenly Fathers love for them.
The greatest experience of this past month is the baptism of
Lucille Kellett. We have been teaching
her since November and she was baptized last Saturday. She is 53 and is engaged to a member who was
less active. He had stopped going to
church 17 years ago but when we came to his door the first time he started
crying and said “I knew you would come.”
He had pictures of the Savior in his home and we felt the spirit very
strongly there. He had just had open
heart surgery and we feel that miracles had happened in his life to prepare him
to return to church activity. He
promised us he would come to church at Christmas time but he never came. We went by his home but could not catch him
home. We later found out through Lucille
that he had pneumonia and was in the hospital.
We went to the hospital next day and Elder Blunck and a friend gave
David a blessing. He immediately got up
and felt better. He returned home the
next day. We continued to teach them and
by the time we asked Lucille to be baptized she was so ready. David prepared himself to receive the
priesthood so he could baptize her. It
is a wonderful blessing for their family. She knew that what we were teaching her was
true and it seemed as if she already knew the lessons before we taught them to
her, Now that she is baptized and her family can
see the changes in her, their grandchildren also want a Book of Mormon and have
begun reading with their granddad in the afternoons. Lucille stopped smoking, drinking coffee and
moved back into her own home so that she could be obedient to Heavenly Father’s
commandments. Her grandchildren asked
her why she wasn’t living with grandpa anymore and she told them that it was a
sin and that she wanted to follow all that Heavenly Father asked her to
do. The grandchildren have given their
grandpa rings so that he can ask Lucille to marry him. They want Lucille back into the house and to
be with grandpa. “And a little child
shall lead them.” There will be many
more miracles and blessings happen with David and Lucille. We will keep you posted.
We were able to go to the Temple with all the Elders and
Sisters to do baptisms for the dead last week.
Dad baptized for two hours. (One hour the first time and then another
hour the second time). His arm was so
sore the next day. He wore himself out
in the” service of our God.” It was a
beautiful day. We were able to have
David and Prudence come to the Temple during this time to do
confirmations. David is our first
baptism here. This was their first time in the Temple. They felt the spirit very strongly and did
not want to go home. We love the Temple
and the joy and peace we feel there.
We love you all! The
gospel is true and is the source of all righteousness, truth and joy. Eternal lasting joy. We hope that all of you are able to go to the
Temple often and partake of the blessing available to you there. You are in our prayers and our thoughts
always. We love you all so much!
Pray often, read your scriptures and do all you can to
strengthen your testimonies and feel the blessings of the Holy Ghost as your
constant companion.
Love,
Mom and Dad
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