Season of Inspiration

Meet Paul, our neighbor

As you can see Paul always has a smile on his face despite the fact that he deals with a severe case of Epilepsy that has required multiple surgeries with even more debilitating results. Yet each day, he heads out to help others who are suffering from Epilepsy. Not long ago we found him unconscious in the road (not far from the bus stop on a very busy thoroughfare adjacent to a school and community centre). As we diverted traffic, the neighbors called for an ambulance. When he regained consciousness, he smiled as well as 'thanked' people for helping him and stated matter-of-factly that this was his third episode that week. It was the first time I noticed that his baseball cap was in fact a 'hard hat' meant to protect his skull from the constant falls. Paul's attitude is reflected in his statement on how he deals with the effects of the disease when he says, "What can I do about it?  Just make it as good as I can." He lives independently, volunteers at clinics, runs an Epilepsy support group, helps out at the hospital, and gives us courage by facing his daily challenges with dignity and humor.

Paul is always positive and his attitude certainly makes us humble when we consider our blessed life.

Stake Young Men and Young Women Event at the Sheldon Ward

Our ward hosted the Birmingham Stake Young Men and Young Women Christmas event on the 7th of December. We had about 40 young people turn out to enjoy a world cultural night of games, food, music, and socialization. Different countries were represented through their unique foods as well as traditions of Christmas.

Guess what foods were represented by Great Britain? United States? Germany? Italy? Switzerland?

Part of the Stake event was to decorate the boxes being donated to the Crisis Centre by our ward's young women and young men.

Then we delivered the 'hampers' or boxes of Christmas care to the Crisis Shelter in the Digbeth area of Birmingham.

Joanna is the Young Women's President (on left) and the two Young Women are Gulia Camisani and Amy Wilkins who enthusiastically collected 10 boxes of 'necessities' for those in the shelter. What is remarkable about the collection is the joy that is produced by the sacrifice of those who have so little themselves. You just cannot believe how little these members have, yet they would give the 'shirt off their backs'  believing they are rather well off. The recipients of the hampers are blessed by the goods they receive and those who sacrifice truly enjoy the spirit of Christmas as evidenced by their smiles in the photograph above.

Westminster welcomes the Family Values Award recipients of Rev Canon Ann Easter and David Burrowes MP on 10 December 2014.

Thirteen members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons joined in the celebration. Included in the prestigious group were the Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, a retired Archbishop of the Catholic Church, several Church of England clergy and Elder Patrick Kearon of the First Quorum of the Seventy along with Elder Clifford Herbertson, an Area Seventy.

In what was the largest Family Values Award ceremony in the history Great Britain, nearly 60 people gathered to honor these two outstanding family values advocates. 

Gabi (Gabriele Sirtl), Director of Public Affairs for Europe, Malcolm and Joyce wait to get through security outside the Palace of Westminster.

Malcolm and Dan carry the Family Values Statues into the Houses of Parliament

It was a pleasure to meet in person President and Sister Millar of the London South Mission. President Millar is a renowned heart surgeon from St. George and has said that he knows the 'good' hearts of several general authorities as he has held them in his hands.

Our table included Craig Whittaker MP, Brad and Vicki Roos (prominent American business people), President Steven Hunt (Canterbury), Vivian Pattison of MediaWatch and a former recipient of the FVA, and President and Sister Anatsui (Wandsworth).

We were honored to be included in this world-class event as the guest list of dignitaries was far above our station in life. As Public Affairs missionaries for the Church in the United Kingdom it was our opportunity to help plan this event.

London - The British Museum, Harrod's and the Royal Albert Hall Christmas Concert

We took a short 'cultural break' for preparation day on Monday the 15th of December and stayed overnight at The Rembrandt Hotel (it is right across the street from the Victoria and Albert) so we could enjoy some museums and the Christmas Concert at The Royal Albert Hall just a block from the Hyde Park Chapel.

We had a great day at the museum... The next sequel of 'Night at the Museum' will feature the British Museum and its antiquities. Fortunately security let Joyce bring this 'old fossil' home with her.

I know it is difficult to see any of the the hieroglyphics(ancient and modern Egyptian plus the Greek) on the Rosetta Stone, but this small stone unlocked ancient Egypt's language for the modern world.

Joyce thought our little Rachel would love this photo with a magnificent sculptured horse head from the Parthenon.

These two were the most precious and beautiful items in the museum... Notice the Parthenon antiquity in the background. We can only imagine what the governments of Greece and Egypt think of their treasures being on permanent display in the museums of London and Paris.

I stood up to take a bow, but nobody clapped... Hurt my feelings until I salved them by purchasing 'Ben and Jerry's' ice cream at the Royal Albert Hall which exclusively sells this American treat to its patrons.

The concert included stars from the West End, the Royal Philharmonic and the London Concert Choir. Plus the audience got to sing along with all the Christmas Carols... It was a lot of fun to share the experience with our friends and fellow missionaries, the Jolleys. We enjoyed Alfie Boe in concert in Birmingham last week, so Joyce's effort to try to give me some 'cultural experiences' beyond having yogurt every morning has kicked in to full gear!

The Christmas windows at Harrods are simply works of art... ZCMI in the old days took their lead from these magnificent displays that go on for a huge city block in Knightsbridge. Notice the only thing we could 'afford' in Harrod's are the small sacks of chocolates purchased in the in-store Chocolate Shop that must be as large as normal-sized grocery store.

The Christmas Truce commemorations throughout the United Kingdom

As you will remember from a previous post, the National Director of Public Affairs had an idea to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Christmas Truce that took place during the first Christmas of World War I. Nearly 40 stake and ward productions were produced throughout the United Kingdom where thousands of people gathered to acknowledge the good of mankind through video, speeches and choral presentations. Dozens of Mayors, councillors, MPs (Members of Parliament) and dignitaries came to our chapels along with friends and neighbors to participate in these commemorations. The goodwill and exposure of the church will be felt for a long time as local newspapers gave positive reports of the events.

The Solihull Ward Choir presenting music for The Christmas Truce.

Brother Dunn and his daughter perform a duet of carol music. Interesting to note that Brother Dunn grew up in Dan's hometown of Brigham City, Utah and is an international business executive stationed in England.

We met this lovely lady while searching for flats for our senior sisters and as we spoke she indicated that she had been a Solihull Borough Councilwoman for twenty years and was the current Mayor. Kate Wild said that she hadn't been to our church in many years and would love to attend any events we were presenting. Her Lord Mayoress, the honorable Kate Wild, not only attended but spoke at the presentation. Notice the impressive gold chain signifying her office as the Mayor of the entire borough which includes a number of cities.

Our Sheldon Ward Party on the 19th of December

Since the Activities Committee is part of my calling in the bishopric, Joyce and I enjoyed the blessing of organizing the Christmas Party. Thank heaven for the following who made the event happen: Celia and Dean Jolley for always being there to support, the young missionaries for helping with the decorations and set up, Costco for the American food, the bakers at Morrisons and ASDA, Samuel Stilger for the games, Dolly and Sian for always being dependable to the very bitter end (of the clean up) and David Sumner for the video set up. Take a look at the fun and great people we have come to love...

Joyce, baby Mansea and Samuel

A typical Ward Party with lots and lots of food.... Interestingly enough the English 'polished off' the Baps (yummy rolls with Ham, Turkey or Beef), fruit, sausage rolls, desserts but left all the salads and  veggies untouched! Thought they would like crisps (potato chips) and dip... we had tonnes (English spelling) left over. Guess we have a lot to learn about party food!

Jeremiah got his face rubbed 'raw', stuffed, shaved and was a great sport during one of the games.

Everyone wears Christmas 'jumpers' or sweaters and it is customary to select a winner of the jumper contest at every Christmas event. Thank goodness for Cadbury Chocolates (Birmingham is the origin and corporate home of this delicious chocolatier) which were presented to the winners.

Patrick Carroll and his adopted son, Timmy, in their Christmas 'Jumpers.' Obviously Timmy is happy about being in the contest and enjoying the Christmas spirit.

Mary and Michael Reynolds-Jones with Maria Jones (in the middle) are wonderful. He is a former Bishop of the Ward and with Mary are the Single Adult / Young Single Adult Advisors for the ward. Eighty years old and still smiling and serving with dedication. We have 59 YSA and 142 Single Adults (over 31 years of age) on the rolls of the ward with about 25% activity.  Maria is a faithful single mother supporting her missionary son (in McAllen Texas) and is a pianist in the ward. We love these three great examples of goodness.

Two of our four good missionaries who helped set up for the ward party... Elder Burke and the District Leader, Elder Farley. 

Christmas Eve and Day

Following the Ward Carol Concert on Christmas Eve we went to our flat with friends to have a lovely Swedish meatball dinner and exchange a few small gifts. The highlight of the evening (other than Joyce's excellent dinner and the rousing caroling) was the Skype session with Jameson, Laura, Rachel and Carter who celebrated their Christmas a day early thanks to Rachel informing Santa that her daddy was working on Christmas Day. Two observations: 1) Santa has always been very generous and accommodating 2) Don't you love the pure innocence of children with their extraordinary faith.

Santa does come early to St. Louis and Rachel was very happy along with her ever-smiling little brother, Carter.

The next day started early as we picked up two of our elders at 7:30 a.m. due to the fact that Elder Burke is from Australia and needed to Skype with his family at 8:00 that morning. Following his Skype call, we had our traditional Christmas breakfast of sausage bake, fruit, yogurt and juices. Joyce didn't tell Elder Kennedy that there is cheese (which we later understood he doesn't like) in the sausage bake and he only had three helpings. The sisters were supposed to join us but they came down with bad colds... such a shame, especially on Christmas. But we later delivered dinner to them at their flat.

I drove thirty minutes to pick up the other set of missionaries for dinner at 1:00 p.m. while Joyce fixed a delicious Stuffed Pork Chop dinner with carrots, mash potatoes, rolls, fruit salad, apple pie, pumpkin pie, brownies and of course my favorite, gravy! We added A&W Root Beer to the mix for dessert and they ate all of the above including having 'floats' with the treasured soda pop.

We gave the missionaries gifts of ties, orange chocolate balls (a hit everywhere), Shloer (a European favorite soda), snack pretzels and then played the game mystery 'practical 'gift exchange (pictured below). Elders Kennedy (from Lethridge) needed to call home and had arranged for the call at another member's home, so Dan took them to Sister Pat Sheridan's house. 

In the meantime, Elder Kircher (Munich Germany) arranged his call with his family from our flat and Elder Farley (Tooele) followed for the next hour. Thank heaven for technology! We cleaned up and then Dan took these two elders home while Joyce consolidated and washed the dishes. An hour later... now 7:45 p.m. we started opening our wonderful gifts from family and friends causing us to marvel at the generosity of friends here and at home who give so freely. It's humbling to recognize this great tradition of the exchange of gifts was started by wise men seeking the prophesied Christ. How grateful we are for the opportunity to to be recipients of His supreme gift to each of us.

The day ended about midnight (after watching the Christmas episode of Downton Abbey) with a call with Brittany who is in St. George with Corey, kids and Corey's brother and his family. Just a perfect Christmas Day as we could not ask for anything more while serving as missionaries. 

Have a Happy New Year!

"Go forward in life with a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face, but with great purpose in heart." Gordon B. Hinckley

As we think about what gives us daily smiles, there are some people and things which bring twinkles to our eyes as we enjoy our experience in England:

Communication with family and friends

Our bulletin board next to the dining room daily puts a twinkle in our eyes as it reminds us of what is going on in the lives of loved ones back home. It's difficult to take a picture of Skype or FaceTime, but we absolutely love the technology which has allowed us to instantly see the smiles on loved ones faces.

People we admire and love to serve with in the Solihull office

Pauline and Anna with Sue (below)

Almost everyday we find a note, treat or both on our desks as these three continue to believe there is a direct correlation between the heart and the stomach. Attempting to reciprocate, we bring our fair share of treats...especially the filled doughnuts from Morrisons or the Chocolate Cakes from Marks and Spencers.

Sister Russell and Sister Banner 

These two great examples of faith and commitment are 'stars' in our minds as we daily see the twinkle in their eyes.

Malcolm

Described as a 'true English gentleman,' Malcolm puts in long hours in behalf of the Public Affairs for the Church and has a unique gift of language. It is rare to find anyone with Malcolm's prodigious 'wordsmith' skills. 

Craig White

Always willing to give a 150%, Craig keeps everything and everyone 'going' electronically. 

Daily learning opportunities in our long, but happy days.

Typical Weekly Schedule:

Monday through Friday

5:30 a.m.     Joyce arises
6:30 a.m.     Dan thinks about rising
8:00 a.m.     Breakfast after morning study and daily prayers
8:30 a.m.     Travel to office
9:00 a.m.     Begin on Monday with scriptures: then media, email, programme development, training
11:00 p.m.   Finish office, training, church - bishopric and primary, missionary, home teaching, etc.
11:00 p.m.   Watch BBC News
Saturday
5:30 a.m.     Joyce arises
6:30 a.m.     Dan is dreaming about arising
8:00 a.m.     Generally traveling to deliver training or responding to church assignments
7:00 p.m.     Return home and plan Sunday
Sunday
6:30 a.m.     Dan arises to get ready for bishopric meeting... Joyce has been up for hours
7:30 a.m.     Bishopric meeting while Joyce practices the piano at the church or prepares for Primary
2:00 p.m.     Deposit tithing funds at the bank
3:00 p.m.     Dinner and then pass out from exhaustion
7:00 p.m.     Highlight: Skype / FaceTime with children & grandchildren

Missionaries

Elder Farley (Tooele) and Elder Peterson (Cache County) are wonderful missionaries representing the Lord in a very difficult area. This is outside the council building where their flat is located in a predominantly Muslim area. Note their optimistic smiles as they share the gospel's message of the restoration in the dead of night... it's 5:00 p.m. in the photo.

Courteous Drivers

Each morning on School Lane we play 'dodgems' with the parked cars on both sides of a two-lane street, oncoming traffic including trucks, "loads" of traffic and it all works due to the courteous nature of the English drivers. It's truly amazing as they let cars pass, merge and avoid potential accidents with smiles and waves. We are learning a great deal about the virtue of 'pleasant' patience.

"Learner" Drivers

No this "L" for Learner is not hitting into the other car at the roundabout on Stratford Road, but they do get very, very close to one another. It seems every fifth vehicle is a Driving Instructor's vehicle and the driving tests are extremely challenging to pass. Perhaps this could account for the good driving and the courtesy exhibited on the road...

Kind People

We cannot say enough positive about the kind people in the United Kingdom and especially the helpful people at the Post Office in Shirley. We have become quite friendly over the past eight months as we seem to use their services on occasion.

Roundabouts

Roundabouts give senior missionaries second chances and facilitate a great deal of traffic. The concept of a roundabout originated as 'circulations' in the beautiful English city of Bath during the 1760s and has become the most popular of English road junctions.

Trains and our little Shirley train station

Getting to Birmingham or Stratford-upon-Avon is very convenient due to the rail station just two blocks away with train service every 20 to 30 minutes.

Green, lush landscape 

This lovely English park is just a short distance from our flat on the way to the office in Solihull. Surprisingly it is still green with the exception of the leaves on the deciduous trees. One of the favorite past-times in England is walking the dog...

Ward Family and especially the Primary

Joyce loves the Primary children who presented their annual programme (UK spelling) this past Sunday and were 'brilliant.' The British term brilliant' is just a bit more effusive than our term of excellent!

Bishop and Anna Stilger's family

Bishop and Sister Stilger with their entire extended family (from Switzerland and Germany) at Elisa's baptism a couple of Sunday's ago. Dan conducted the baptism with the entire ward attending. A celebration in the cultural hall followed with seemingly endless amounts of delicious food.

Highfield Fish and Chips

Considered one of the ten best in Birmingham, Highfield Chippy is a favorite! The owners recognize us as we quite frequently visit them to get the best traditional fish (Cod) with the accompanying mountain of chips (french fries).


ASDA

Within recent months ASDA (Walmart) has thrown open its doors. Lucky for us we live only a few blocks away. On chilly or stormy days, we are grateful for underground parking.

The Gym (24 hour access) where we 'attempt' to keep in shape after those fish and chips.... in wee early hours of the morning or the late hours of the night.

Notice the rows and rows of equipment which are fully utilized each evening by the younger set looking for socialization by virtue of a lot of sweat. Mornings are almost exclusively accessed by the more mature and the use is considerably less vigorous. Guess what time of day we fit in?

Products found in England that are reminders of home

We have been able to source Campbells products at the local Sainsbury's, but Amazon brings us Pam from South Africa, Skippy from Canada, Pumpkin from the states (only recently we found some at Tesco), Bisquick at about a $1 an ounce from an American store in London and Karo syrup for the popcorn balls at a liquid 'gold' cost. Such simple pleasures bring smiles....

Wonderful milk products

Milk products are very reasonable and extremely good in the United Kingdom. From tasty yogurt to "soured" cream or incomparable custard, all are of the highest quality and readily available.

Flower vendors make every day a beautiful visual anticipation. Holly Christmas wreaths are this week's delight.

Jacket Potatoes

'Potatoes with Jackets' are a treat with the severe cold outside. Baked potatoes do come from places other than those wonderful family farms in southern Idaho. Jacket Potatoes with your choice of butter, cheese, beans, cottage cheese and chives, tuna or any combination of these ingredients offer a quick break and delicious alternative to sandwiches for lunch (some still call it 'dinner' here).

We could fill these pages with specifics which bring smiles to our faces and twinkles in our eyes... which would only bore you. Most importantly, we have 'moist' twinkles in our eyes as we contemplate on the rich heritage of the gospel in the United Kingdom and the impact it had on our ancestors. Although not all came to Utah by virtue of their testimonies of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, many first heard the restored gospel's message in this great land. Gathering to Zion, they provided a quality of life for the generations that followed in the United States. That pioneer spirit continues to leave us in awe as we see the richness of our lives in terms of opportunities, security and fulfillment. Hopefully, we can show these courageous forefathers our appreciation by serving the great people of the United Kingdom with great purpose. It seems the more opportunities we have to serve, the more smiles and twinkles are brought to our countenances.

This week brings the Family Values Award at The House of Commons where we meet with at least 10 MPs, an Archbishop and the chaplain to the Queen along with Elder Kearon and Elder Herbertson.
Busy days... interesting days...