Jon has been so sick AND has A BAD TOOTH! It all started about a month ago when Jon's crown fell off. He finally got in to see a dentist and he put it back on. His bite was really off though. He tried to live with that for as long as he could when he asked me to stick my phone camera in his mouth to get some pictures so he could send them to Nick Lords, our favorite dentist of all time!

Poor guy was coughing his lungs out for two weeks before, and now it seems as though he needs his tooth pulled. He had an abscess and his tooth had cracked under his crown...what a mess. We pretty much feel like dentist's here don't have much of a clue, (Was it Jon who kept telling me England wasn't a third world country? We are so blessed in America. Americans have no idea.) and when the decision was made to pull the tooth, it was a little frightening. But he needs some relief from the pain. After it was pulled he ended up with another infection and dry socket. He has had it. The second round of antibiotics was a very strong one and now I don't think he has any good bacteria in his body to fight other infections. Guess what? He has another coughing sickness...what are we going to do? I guess I am lucky he suffers in silence, but I feel bad for him, acting like he is 100% when he is barely 40-50%. I love this man of mine! I hope he gets better soon.

MTC Group 23 Aug 2017 - Total 74

Going to Greece is hard work, but they smile and have a good time in spite of 10 weeks in the MTC.

Intake Day - Sixty New Missionaries.

Holy Hannah, can i just be honest about how this day went? At 8am we got a phone call (our first to our apartment, so much better than the doorbell) from one of our Greek missionaries telling us one of our new British missionaries had arrived 2 hours early. WWHHAATT?? Oh well, instead of running, I jump in the shower and begin the fourteen hour day of welcoming 60 new missionaries to the MTC. I started off really good. I felt like I was meeting them one by one, knowing their names and faces. Then the first bus arrived with 25ish people all at the same time. After the next five bus arrivals, I have no idea who I have talked to, what I have said, who they are, what they look like, and who is allergic to gluten, shellfish, chocolate and who is vegetarian and fussy about what they eat. Mind you, I am writing these important things down, but I couldn't identify but about 10 of the missionaries that I met. It was a very long, and tiring day. But I can't even complain, because these poor missionaries have been on planes for about 24 hours, are jet lagged, exhausted, in a new country, starting a new way of life, and totally disoriented. By the time I settled the last sister with her new companion, who arrived last night at about 9:30pm, I said goodnight. Thank goodness for a new day tomorrow, good pictures that will help me re-identify the new missionaries, and a fresh brain for remembering. Some days this job makes me feel very old and brain dead.

Families saying good bye to their missionaries.

Pizza Night with the Greeks

Saying good-bye to our German's. The Greek's are left behind again.

Since President felt bad for the missionaries learning Greek, we had a Domino's Pizza night. That was the delicious food they requested! One pizza for each person. Jon is a good party giver!

Departure Photos

All of our German speaking missionaries. 
Going to Alpine-German, Berlin and Frankfurt.

Scotland/Ireland Mission.

Elder Stevens/Toronto Canada Mission

Alpine German Speaking Mission.

Manchester Mission.

Elder Katics/Hungary Budapest Mission

Greece Athens Mission - staying 4 more weeks.

England Leeds Mission

I LOVE that President! Our Danish sons.

Richard and Kathleen Walker

President and Sister Walker (2011-2013), Jon (2017-2019), President and Sister Preston (2015-2017) and Chris Pattendon (MTC Manager). Not pictured President and Sister Edwards (2013-2015).

As wonderful as the last two weeks have been, the visit from the Walker's and having them stay at the MTC, was the strawberry on top! Kathleen Walker is President Hinckley's oldest daughter. Having a conversation with her and her husband was like having a conversation with her father. She was so open and so honest and so real! Jon asked them to speak to our missionaries at one of our devotionals on Sunday. WHAT A TREAT THAT WAS! She talked about growing up in her house and how totally normal their family was. She told us a story about her stubbornness about not wanting to buy a $4.50 pin for seminary graduation. Her seminary principle made a big deal about it and called her father, who didn't make her buy it (she was standing on principle by then) and let her stay home from graduation, where he was speaking. When he got home he said, "I didn't say anything you haven't heard before." And that was the end of it. She said they didn't sweat the small stuff. And she said her mother was amazing. When he would be off traveling and people would ask her how she was doing, she would say, "We are having a ball!" And they did!

The Walker's also shared the story of how they got together. It was darling. They were both widowed at a pretty young age (50's), and she was not planning on re-marrying. He on the other hand, felt like he had things he was supposed to do (like work in the temple) with his wife. They were set up by his daughter. They ended up going to dinner somewhere they thought no one would know them, and of course someone walked in that they knew. By the second date they knew that they would be married. He talked about trying to get an appointment with President Hinckley to ask for her hand in marriage. It was hysterical. They were the President and Matron of the Salt Lake Temple and then they came to the England MTC. Listening to their experiences was so fun! She is feisty and funny and lovable. I was a little concerned about having them come and stay, and maybe feeling judged by the things we do differently. It was certainly not like that for one second. I feel like they are new friends that we have made. It is a really beautiful blessing to have that kind of effect on people. I hope I can be more and more like that for people I meet in my life.

Jon asked Sister Walker this question at our Sunday night devotional. "Your father was a counselor to a prophet with failing health for many years. I remember him standing at the pulpit at conference and assuring us that the prophet was still being consulted and making all of the important decisions that need to be made in the kingdom. With President Monson's failing health, what can you share with the missionaries to help them feel like we are being led by our prophet today?"

She immediately said that she was sure that these prophets had moments of lucidity when decisions had to be made, and that they make these decisions. Decisions about filling vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve, and other matters that need the prophet's say. She assured us that she didn't know why the Lord was letting President Monson linger for so long, but she was sure he was still leading the church and having lucid moments where he is very clear and is able to tell us the Lord's will for us.

Sometimes I wish Jon was writing in this blog as well, because I feel like he would say different things about the same experiences. I hope I say enough to help us remember the feelings we have had.

My Absolutely Adorable Greek Missionaries!

Standing - Elder Neuendorf (Germany), Elder Albertson (Blackfoot, Idaho), Elder Roffler (Switzerland), and Elder Halverson (Farmington, UT) Seated - Elder Celestini (Rome, Italy), and Elder Fonseca (Portugal/UT) 

They gave me these flowers they had picked to thank me for mailing letters, giving them candy and hemming some pants. I thought it was very creative!

British Pageant August 1-12

The British Pageant, "Truth Will Prevail", has been a wonderful experience for our missionaries, for our teachers and for ourselves. Each night of the Pageant we would walk over at 9pm to join the cast for the finale. We would make our appearance walking down the stairs where the audience was sitting, singing "Called to Serve" after one of the actors would say, "Tonight we are joined by missionaries from all over the world." Then we would sing a quick verse of "Oh Say What Is Truth" and then "Redeemer of Israel". The spirit was very powerful each time we sang with the 250 cast members. At the end we would mingle with people who had attended and answer questions or share where we were from and sometimes the missionaries were able to share Books of Mormon.

It was a big distraction for the missionaries that have been here. We wouldn't get home until past their bedtime, so we extended bedtime and allowed them to sleep a little later in the morning. We are hoping they will be able to buckle down come Monday morning and stay on task better. I know for some, who weren't singers, it became a great opportunity to feel the spirit through music. I'm so grateful that they were able to learn to love these hymns and the joy of singing with a big group. One of them said they were able to sing "all out" because they knew no one could hear them messing up. The greatest part was looking into the audience and feeling their reaction to what we were presenting. We will never forget it!

Walking over.

Entrance.

The guts of backstage.

Missionaries surrounding the cast.

Redeemer of Israel. Missionaries and cast members intermingled.

Our final performance. Sister Arthur came up next to me and held my hand. Favorite.

One of our Sister's in the MTC right now, Sister Savannah Watt (Heber City, UT), is the great great great granddaughter of the first man baptized in England. She wrote this of her experience in the pageant,

"I had the most amazing experience as I participated in the pageant. I was ready to serve a mission in May, but was called to leave in August. At first I wasn't sure why, but after my experience with the pageant, I know that I needed to be here at this time to be in the pageant. I had one of the most spiritual experiences of my life on the night I got to particpate in the devotional for the cast, watch the performance, and perform in the finale. I learned so much, and it all made so much sense to me. When the pageant focused on the restoration, I felt so strongly that Joseph Smith really saw God and Jesus Christ and that he truly was called of God. My heart burned at the announcement of the name George D. Watt (my great great great grandfather) and tears welled up inside my joyful eyes as I watched him race to the river to be the first man baptised. It was so special to then see him preaching the gospel to the people in Ireland. As we as missionaries joined the cast in singing Redeemer of Israel, tears streamed down my face. I felt the spirit testify to me that He truly is Our King, Our Deliverer, Our All. This experience honestly gave me enough motivation to get me through my whole mission. My testimony is seriously burning inside my heart! I can't wait to share what I absolutely know to be true!!"

Amen and Amen.

Elder Hampus Ivarsson

Elder Ivarsson came to us from Sweden and was returning to the Sweden Stockholm Mission after his training in the MTC. He came to us with a pure heart, a strong desire and a lot of courage. The first night he was here we went to the A&E because he was suffering from a bad chest infection. He started on antibiotics and slowly started feeling better. The confusion of all of the people in the MTC was very hard on him. He returned home today. He  is an amazing young man! He is going to try a mini mission when he gets home and see if it goes better for him when he is in the field. Jon and I are changed because of our time with him! We love him!

English Boys Visit the MTC

These adorable boys are from the Huddersfield Stake (I have no idea where that is) and they wanted a picture with our four British missionaries that greeted them (Elder Taylor, Elder Dadswell, Elder Stevens and Elder Keir). Jon is very kind to allow everyone who asks, a chance to have a little tour of the MTC and a little chat with some missionaries who are here at the time. I'm sure it is very meaningful to these young men!

Sunset

As we walked over for our final dress rehearsal with the new family cast at the Pageant, we were greeted by this glorious sunset! I'm not sure if I have seen a sunset since I have been living in England. I'm not sure if that is because I am not outside very often between 9-10 pm, or if there are usually clouds in the sky, and it covers the sunsets...but either way, I am so thankful I got to view this one! It was fantastic!!!

Cooking in England

This is proof that I have, in fact, cooked twice since I have been here these last seven months. I have made two roasts (to use the meat for sandwiches), made two different soups (white bean chili and chicken noodle), and made two different recipes of chocolate chip cookies. The only thing that has tasted right was the white bean chili soup. I will keep trying though. I'm starting to think I need to bake some real bread. That may be my next thing I try to do...

MTC Group 2 Aug 2017

Running around Chorley...

I ran to Astley Park this day and had to take a picture of the swans!

These blooms are in a back corner at the MTC. Everything blooms so pretty here.

Running out on a main road, I had to stop and take a picture of the hanging basket. I'm pretty sure there is no irrigation to anything here. The baskets are on light posts all over town.

Running on the trail by the canal. I'm sure these pink flowers are some kind of weed. They look pretty though. I wish my weeds had pretty flowers when they got big!