Thursday, May 07, 2015
Dinner with the Sisters
April Letter
Dear Family, April
27, 2015
Time has been rushing by and I think about writing a letter
to you, but there are so many things to do and I realize that three weeks have
gone by. We really have not been taking
a P-day so finding the time to sit down and concentrate and write seems to
disappear. We are past our six months
mark and it is good to think that a year from now we will be home. A year is a really long time but at least it
is only a year and no more. Don’t get me wrong, we love our mission and are
learning and growing by serving here but being away from family is hard. We have missed Kacey’s promotion ceremony to a
Major, Emma’s baptism and soon it will be Amelia’s baptism. Thankfully you are all very supportive of
each other and have been there for each other.
It makes us so happy that you are getting together this summer and going
to a cabin at Strawberry Reservoir. A
family will always be a family and we need to treasure it.
Our days are full of finding those members who are inactive,
driving to different towns and areas, and teaching members the gospel,
reminding them of how they felt when they first got baptized and why they chose
to be baptized. We are visiting with
people who have not talked with anyone from the church in 10 years, people who
are on the rolls but who have not attended church for a very long time. Some are very surprised when they answer
their door and see who we are. We went
to a home in Blackpool and when the man answered the door he said “Oh, it’s the
Jehovah witnesses.” We laughed and said
“no, we are from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints.” And he said “that’s even worse!” It was so funny! We had a really nice visit with him at the
door and even offered him a Book of Mormon but he told us that him because he
is homosexual and that we did not want him.
We told him that God knows him and loves him. We always have hope that people’s hearts will
be touched as we bear our testimonies to them.
The Bishops have finally started giving us lists of people
in their ward that we can contact and that has really helped us in our
work. We drive many miles to find these
people and many times we ask each other “Can you believe that we are here doing
this?” It seems so amazing to be so far
from home looking for people we have never met and in a place we do not
know. Missionary work is interesting
that way!
We are speaking every single Sunday, except fast Sunday, in
a different ward or branch for the next two months. We are not consistently in the same ward as
many senior missionaries do. Our mission
president is having all the new senior couples do what we are doing as they
come to the mission. We have seen wards
collapse and really struggle when a senior couple leaves a ward because they
were doing so much to hold that ward together.
Our mission president is concerned with keeping the wards strong and able
to sustain themselves without missionaries.
This way the ward members have to step up and do things they wouldn’t
normally do. It is a good thing and we
are seeing the blessings from his decision.
We are definitely giving our all in this work. Gas here is nine dollars a gallon and with
all the driving we are doing we spend a lot of money to go where we need to
be. We are receiving and witnessing
miracles as our gas stretches far beyond what it should. We also are providing food for many activities
for the YSA and district and zone meetings.
We were cooking a lot but luckily we figured out that we can go to
“Poundworld” and buy cookies, cakes,
candies etc. and keep it in our closet until we need it for an activity, then
we can grab it on the spur of the moment and go. I
was so tired of cooking, it was driving me crazy!
We met with all the senior couples for dinner last week
because three couples will be going home this next month. They are amazing people and are great
examples to us. We will miss them and
look forward to getting together with them when we get home. Every missionary makes many sacrifices to
serve a mission but every one of them will tell you that it is worth it. It is not easy but it is worth it. There is no way we could learn the things
that we are learning any other way. We
recognize the sacrifice is great but by consecrating all we have to serve a
mission also sanctifies and blesses us and our family. There is always a choice to work hard and do
all you can for the Lord or to just suffer through your mission. We admire those missionaries who give their
all to accomplish this great work. We
are blessed to serve with many valiant and strong missionaries! When we see the blessings of the gospel
working in people’s lives it brings us so much joy. This past week we were there so see David
bless the sacrament for the first time and Lucille has been going out with the
sister missionaries and sharing her testimony and supporting investigators as
they come to church for the first time.
They have both grown so much. Our
goal is to get them to the temple with their own family names in the next
little while. We have been doing some
family search and found Prudence’s family going back 12 generations. That was so fun! Someone in her family had traced their family
line back a long way!
We have also been traveling to Kendal in the Cumbria
District, by the lakes, and staying overnight so that we can spend more time
contacting and less time driving. The
missionaries were recently taken out of the area because there are not enough
missionaries so we have been staying in their flat until the lease is up(one
night a week). We have met many
wonderful people that we love so much!
We will always treasure these dear friends!
So, why are we serving a mission? Well, I ask myself that often and I realize
that the answer is always changing. It
is strengthening and uniting us as a couple.
We are learning to work together better and to understand each
other. You would think that after 37 years
of marriage we would have that figured out but in reality it seems to be a
changing process that is continuous. You
can say that we are growing and changing and hopefully it is for the better. We know that Heavenly Father is helping us to
grow and that He is kind in teaching us the things that we so stubbornly refuse
to learn. Pride and selfishness are so
hard to overcome! Why do we think that
we have to have everything we want right now and cause another person to do
what we say they have to? That is a
never ending question. Even when we
think we don’t do those things we find that we really are. It may be subtle but it is in our human
nature. Submitting to God’s will is a
better way but not always easy.
We love you all! We
are grateful for your love and support of us being here on a mission. All of us are making sacrifices. Thank you!
We love you all so much and pray for you always! You are always in our thoughts and
prayers. Keep smiling, working hard,
praying and reading your scriptures.
There are many blessings being given to all of us every day, every
moment. Trust in Heavenly Father. He is sustaining you this moment and always.
We Love you!
Mom and Dad
March Letter
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
Institue in Chorley
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