Institue in Chorley

 This is Bronwyn.  She is our friend from Preston.  She brings a smile to all who know her.

 After Institute the YSA do an activity.  Today they were making dragons out of wooden spoons and decorations.

Lyn and Naomie show us their creations.

Naomie's Birthday Dinner

 The Preston YSA came over and made dinner for us for Naomie's birthday.  It was delicious!

 This is our dear friend Siti.  He makes us all smile!

 Jordan was baptized two months ago.  He is a joy to be around!

 Naomie and Rachel are amazing!

 Selfies!

Unbirthday Party March 2015

 Rachel Davidson is our dear friend.  She has an amazing conversion story. We hope someday that she will write it down so we never forget her sweet testimony.

 Tim and Yuki open their white elephant gifts.

 Craziness!

 Lynn, Jordan and Andre enjoy the "Alice in Wonderland" props.

 Mom helped Rosie with the decorations.  Rosie was recently baptized and lives in Kendal.

It's a tea party!

We love these wonderful missionaries!

 Sister Hunter has been a great help to us as we adjusted to missionary life.  She loved us and helped us get through Christmas for the first time away from home.  She will always be special to us.

 Sister Guymon is the best!  She served in South Ribble with Sister Brimley.

 Elder Launer is from Finland and is one crazy Elder.  We took care of him after a bad fall on his bike.

Elder Carpentier is from France and is now one of our sons.  We love this young man and hope we never lose contact with him. 

General Conference 2015

General Conference was so good!  We were disappointed when we found out the two wards in the Preston Chapel were not going to show general conference because of a broken projector.  We decided that we would try to see what we could do to help the missionaries and the YSA see conference here in the area.  We felt good doing this because otherwise many of these people could not have seen conference.  At one point we had 30 people there.  Mom made sloppy joes and potato salad to feed everyone between conferences. as you can see David and Lucille came to see conference for the very first time.  We were so happy to share this time with them.  The messages of the Prophet and apostles was full of love and peace.  We pray that some day more people can see conference throughout the world.  We know it is God's word on the earth today.  We are so blessed! By the way-when we visited David and Lucille we noticed that they had a framed picture of us on the wall in their family room.  Really?  Wow!  That is so humbling!  We love them so much! 

Hiking the JRR Tolkien Trail

 The JRR Tolkien Trail is a 6 1/2 mile hike in a beautiful town called Green Hurst.  It began raining half way through and by the time we finished the hike water was dripping off of mom's hair.  We all looked like drowned rats!  But the hike was amazing and looked just like the what you would see in the movie.  We could picture little hobbits coming out of the shire and running off to the woods.

 Dad and I tried to keep track of all the missionaries but they were like little kids finally let out to play. 

 Sister Amichia, Sister Fewou, Elder Sorenson, Elder Nelson, Elder Jin and Elder Mongie

Sunday in Workington

 We traveled to Workington once again to visit the Branch and check on the Sisters serving there, Sister Leiter and Sister Bevans. 

After church we went to the Sisters flat to do a flat check and to see if everything was going okay fro them.  These Sisters are amazing and the Branch loves them so much!

Blackpool

We went to a Chinese dinner in downtown Blackpool.  It was in the heart of the area where the Elders are not allowed to go.  Blackpool is a cheap imitation of Las Vegas.  When we got to the dinner we noticed that only the men of the ward were there and mom asked about where their wives were.  Then one of the men asked me when I was going to be receiving the Priesthood and we realized that it was a priesthood activity.  We quickly excused ourselves and left.  So embarrassing.  Oh well!  We can't really say that we Blackpool but the ward there is amazing and the people are so nice. 

Skills Workshop

 We attended the Skills Workshop in Chorley with all half of the missionaries in Manchester Mission.  There are so many missionaries we have divide the mission in half and have it on two separate days.  We have lunch from Subway which is always good.  We have way too much food when we get together.

 These are three Sisters from China.  They are so cute and we have a lot of fun together.  They have decided that they want to marry dad because he is a gentleman.  I told them that he was already married - sorry!

 This is Elder Mongie and Elder Jin.  They are our Chinese speaking Elders here in Preston.  We have got to discussions with them and it is so interesting to hear them teach the gospel in Chinese.  We testify of the truthfulness of the things they teach and the investigators usually can understand our English.  It is a wonderful experience!

This is our group of missionaries from our half of the mission.  We do not have a full group picture but I have requested one from Sister Ulrich.  I hope that some day soon I can post a group picture of us all.  The EMM is the best!

Mothering Day

Mother's Day here in England is sweet and simple.  They call it Mothering Day.  I received flowers from two of the YSA girls, a card from all the Elders and Sisters serving here in Preston and a card from all the YSA.  Sister Collins also gave me a necklace she made of the Tree of Life.  In Sacrament Meeting they gave all the mothers chocolates and candy.  It was a sweet day.  Dad also confirmed Lucille a member of the Church on this day.  Then later when things quieted down a little we were able to talk to our family.  Dad and I love you all and know that we are blessed with the best family ever!  We thank Heavenly Father every day for letting us be your parents, grandparents and family.  Families are eternal! 

Shap Abbey

 We found this neat old Abbey that was built in the 1500's in the town of Shap.  It is located at the top of England not far from Scotland.  We had a fun time exploring this wonderful piece of England and learning about it's history.

Preston and Carlisle District Meetings

 This is the Preston District.  They are so much fun and we truly love these Elders and Sisters.  Elder Nelson is the District Leader with Elder Sorenson as his companion.  Elder Jin (from China) and Elder Mongie are our Chinese speaking missionaries.  Sister Amichia and Sister Fewou are both from France.

 These are the missionaries that serve in the Carlisle District.  We love them all!  Elder Hammond is the District Leader and his companion is Elder Singh.  Sister Esau and Sister Arias serve in Kendal and Sister Bevans and Sister Leiter serve in Workington.

We love serving with such amazing missionaries!

Lucille's Baptism

 Lucille was baptized by her fiance David on Saturday March 14, 2015.  This was a very special day!  We love them both.  Elder Blunck was able to confirm her a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints the next day in Sacrament meeting.

 David and Lucille just before her baptism.

 President and Sister Ulrich came for her baptism.  Proud moment for all of us.

This is Lucille's family,  They came to her baptism to love and support her.  They did not know a thing about the church and Elder Blunck took the opportunity to show them a video about the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Their grandchildren have since started reading the Book of Mormon with their granddad. 

Blackpool District Meeting

 Dad and I travel to all the different District Meetings in our Zone and visit and support the missionaries there.  We hope we are doing some good.

Dad made the brownies for this District Meeting.  Elder Williams is the District Leader.  He is companions with Elder Rongo.  Elder Klaver and Elder Fransom are from South Ribble and the South Ribble Sisters also attend this District but they were sick on this day.

Family Home Evening Food

 At FHE we always eat a lot of food.  I am sick of makeing it and have decided to buy fruits and vegetables or packaged cookies etc so that we don't have it around our house.  It is making us fat!

Night Walks and Signs

 Dad and I love to walk at night.  We walk three miles and look for things to have our picture taken by.  This is the best we could do on this night.  We are just happy to have some nice weather once in a while so we can get out and walk.  We feel so much better when we walk.

We live on Conway Drive so of course I had to have my picture taken by it.  We always start out cold and then get hot.  Exercise is good for us right?  So I take my coat off and carry it the rest of the way.