Filling days in London, Liverpool, Chorley and Birmingham

Halloween at the Hyde Park Visitor's Centre

The Chapel and Visitor's Centre on Exhibition Road has in excess of 10 million people a year pass  by the Christus with just a fraction taking time to see what's inside. Tucked in between the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Imperial College, The Royal Albert Concert Hall and the Museum of Natural History, this multi-use Stake Centre provides concerts, lectures, interfaith as well as missionary programmes (British spelling) in addition to being a respite from the hustle of downtown London. Currently we are producing a video and article explaining the opportunities offered to members and others not of our faith at both the Hyde Park  and London Temple Visitor Centres in the United Kingdom.

Elder Ohman is serving as a Visitor's Centre missionary along with his wonderful wife. A retired music professor at BYU and master organist, Elder Ohman provided a Halloween organ concert to a 1925 silent movie version of Phantom of the Opera. What a treat on a day that also shares the celebration of the birthday for Joyce's outstanding father, Bernell Wrigley.

Ice skating rink at the Museum of Natural History on a night that was a extraordinarily warm and full with children dressed as their favorite Halloween characters. As we walked back to The Rembrandt Hotel after the concert, we felt a twinge of nostalgia as we longed to see our grandchildren in their pirates, pumpkin and bridal costumes.

 Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace

The next morning we videotaped interviews to use on mormonnewsroom.org.uk and headed out to play tourist (note the lack of coats due to the warm record breaking 70 degree weather on the 1st of November). The horse brigade decided to give Sister Jolley and Sister Jones a close-up view of their regal trappings.

Elder Jolley and Elder Jones got close to the "bars" guarding Buckingham Palace... we were just glad to be on outside looking in! I'm told the Queen felt the same... she was glad that we were on the outside looking in.

It's fairly easy to maintain crowd control when you see the automatic weapons of the Queen's Guard.

Even the Queen's band has a policeman with a few weapons...

The Christmas Truce is a commemorative event being held in 29 stake centers here in the United Kingdom. To help promote the evening where friends and neighbors will join with us in honoring that special Christmas event where combatants put down their arms to celebrate their common humanity and belief in the Saviour, we put together an interview, trailer video and stills to create the video for mormonnewsroom.org.uk.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3869z09gnyo2p2h/AAAOzL02L9PU7nXfxM1RZ2ssa?dl=0

Each of the 888,246 Ceramic Poppies in the moat of the Tower represent a British and Commonwealth solder who lost his life in World War I. The hundredth year commemoration of the beginning of the 'war to end all wars' is a poignant reminder of the price Great Britain and many other countries including the US, paid to preserve freedom.  It is a privilege to be here during this remarkable moment in history where such strong nationalism and respect are displayed. Our wonderful friends, Sister and Elder Jolley, were in London to cover their assignment as Self Reliance missionaries and enjoyed the beautiful summer-like day at the Tower as much as we did!

Following the visit to the Tower we made our way to Covent Garden to see War Horse in the New London Theatre.

Five star it was... magnificent puppeteers inside mechanical horses portrayed the real horror of the war for horses and their military masters. Another term may be "heart-wrenching" as we were artistically reminded of the inhumanity of war.

Sister Jones loves the hustle and bustle of Covent Garden where a street performer guessed she was a "teacher, no a headmistress." He then saw her missionary badge and engaged in a lively, humorous dialogue on what he knew of the Mormons.... especially "that lovely boy, Donny Osmond."

Conservation and Heritage Journal

Joyce wrote an article on the construction of two new chapels in the UK for the Conservation and Heritage Journal that was published this month. It's remarkable that the interest in the building of "new" chapels is very strong as many churches are being closed or converted into other uses across the country.

For the Church to continue to build lovely new chapels indicates its growth as well as importance in the community's view.

Notice the bronze work done at the chapel site... It is the only sculpture located at an LDS chapel in all of the United Kingdom.

Training in Liverpool

Media training was scheduled for Thursday and Sunday evenings in Liverpool with amazing members of that historic stake. We stayed in Preston over the weekend to finish two articles, attend the Preston Temple, videotape the National Director of Public Affairs and meet with our ward friends and fellow missionaries, the Pecks.

Anfield Stadium is the home of the Liverpool football team. It rises out of a poor neighborhood loaded with row houses and is filled to capacity (about 45,000) each match. The average player makes nearly $5.5 million and is generally very young (19-29 years of age). It's a system that promotes a celebrity status for ill-equipped young men who burn out long before they acquire the maturity to handle the fame and adulation thrown at them by their football obsessed fans.

 The mix of modern with historic gives Liverpool an eclectic dock area look.

It is almost impossible to imagine how large some of these sailing vessels were... but compare this anchor to Sister Jones

The Liverpool docks provided the embarking point for the migration of 60,000+ British converts in the mid-1800s. The docks were much the same as sailing vessels like the one above carrying the faithful to America.

On the same side of the table as Elder Jones is the former Bishop in Wigan (Brother Gifford), his wife (Jana) and the former Stake President in Liverpool (Brother David Hoare) participating in the discussion of how to effectively respond to media inquiries.

It is heart-warming to see the faithfulness of the saints in the UK. Here they are after a long workday, an hour or two of travel and probably a skipped dinner, taking a three-hour training session on how to be more effective in their callings when dealing with the media. We are consistently humbled by their willingness to go-the-extra-mile... or miles in many of their cases.

Chorley

Elder Jay and Sister Joan Peck are following in the footsteps of her father who served his mission in England some 77 years ago. Sister Peck is an inspiration as she serves in the Preston Temple three days each week while her husband practices his 'legal wizardry' in the Office of General Counsel for the Church in Europe. Without legs and in a wheelchair, Sister Peck amazes everyone with her positive attitude and can-do determination to live life to its fullest by serving the Lord. We had a wonderful dinner with Joan and Jay while pursuing an article about the Pecks' (past and current) ties to true original British Pageant of 1937 which had President Heber J. Grant in attendance.

The article is now on mormonnewsroom.org.uk entitled, Missionary Memories link Pageant Past to Pageant Present.

Back to Liverpool

On Sunday evening we trained the Liverpool Stake Presidency for three hours. Below is President Marshall, who along with every other Stake President we have trained, re-affirms the Lord's hand in calling the right person at the right time.

President Marshall answering media questions posed to him by the fairly recognizable and acting 'Regional BBC Television Journalist.'

The Christmas Truce (for 2014) idea originated with the Walter Cronkite broadcast with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and is particularly poignant as all of us in Britain commemorate the 100th anniversary of the event with poppies on every lapel.
On Armistice Sunday, parades are held along with moments of thoughtful silence and worship services to commemorate the 10 million soldiers who lost their lives in WW1. Nearly a million were British Commonwealth soldiers along with another 2 million who were injured in the Great World War.

Any Beatle fans out there? We broke into song as we drove down the famous Penny Lane.

Elder Werner (from Russia via Germany.... we've seen names 'Americanised" and his is "Germanified') and Elder Frandsen were on their way to the chapel when we saw two handsome young men walking along the dual carriageway. As providence would have it, they needed a ride and had a key, and we had a car and needed to get into the stake centre to set up. It worked for both of us!


Helping the Sisters Discover Birmingham

Trains are a wonderful mode of transportation in England as they take a 30 minute drive and condense the excursion into a 12 minute ride. We showed the sisters where to catch the train, how to read the schedule and what adventures there are at the end of the line.

Sisters Banner and Russell are 'sports' as they learn how their newly acquired transportation passes can be used on the buses and trains in the West Midlands.

The marvelous downtown mall (The Bullring) in the centre of Birmingham is just across the street from the New Moor Train Station.

Many Americans have seen the PBS series on the Selfridges department magnet and this mall has one as an anchor. It's incredible... this department store has the cafe, haberdasher shop, grocery store, bakery, deli, clothing shops of the ZCMI and Auerbach's of days gone by.

There is a reason moss grows on everything and on every side in England (not just on the north side like back home). It's due to the liquid sunshine that we are receiving in abundance every day now that it's winter in the UK. In fact there are many parts of the country that are flooding and this is just the start of the winter season.

Sadly, the weather has turned quite cold which has caused the leaves to turn brilliant red in front of the Church Administration Building in Solihull. We fear that winter has come to England as the clouds hang low and the mists are daily.

Brussels - Chocolate, Waffles and Training

Travel is easy and hard

Thinking we could beat the early morning London traffic, we left Solihull at 6:00 a.m. for the 100 miles journey to the Hyde Park Chapel on the M40 motorway. Three hours later and considerably more impatient we arrived with just an hour to spare to get to St Pancras International Rail Statrion to take the Eurostar to Brussels.

Hailing a taxi rather than taking the Picaddilly line on the tube we arrived in time for the customs and immigration inspections to board the high-speed train through the Chunnel to Brussels. It took us about double the time to get to London than it did to travel to our destination in Belgium.

Brussels is the hub of Europe as it hosts the European Union  with its 27000 EU employees representing most of the nations of Europe. Currently the UK is struggling with its membership in the EU and it could present the Conservative government with an enormous challenge as the UKIP party has gained a strong foothold in EU and local elections by promoting nationalism versus the Eurocentric vision of a federated Europe. It is also home to a Church Public Affairs Office and a downtown chapel housing two units of the the stake.

The Grand Place in the centre of Brussels is spectacular with the city hall surrounded by restaurants and shops filled with lace, chocolates and beautiful artwork.

Belgium waffles are out-of-this-world delicious as evidenced by Joyce relishing this strawberry, hot chocolate, chantilly cream... oh, and waffle dessert of Kings!

Take a look at this 'tiny' Belgium Waffle. Needless-to-say, we shared and even then felt a twinge of guilt. Joyce felt the guilt more acutely than did the Chocoholic Dan!

Elder Jones between bites of waffle in the Grand Place.

Chocolate shop after chocolate shop... has Dan questioning if he'd been translated directly to heaven!

Joyce in front of the City Hall in the Grand Place admiring all the the flowers... Her version of heaven is a lot less sweet than Dan's. She prefers the beautiful display of flowers as well as the magnificent lace and embroidery art shops that proliferate around the centre of Brussels.

Ah, success as evidenced by the newly acquired contents in the plastic bag. Lace and embroidered pillow cases were the buys of the day.

Flowers adorn the street lamps, window sills and front steps on almost every building in Brussels.

The Oxford English Dictionary identified the word for 2014 as "selfie." Here is our selfie from the Grand Place in Brussels... Cute girl and a guy who is carrying his own bags (under his eyes).

Brugge takes us back to Medieval times

Brugge is a World Heritage site that has lovely cobble-stoned streets, charming window pots of flowers and bicycles parked outside the doors.

Joyce in a courtyard of an medieval hospital across from the Picasso Museum with the Church of our Lady in the background. The Church houses the only sculpture by Michaelangelo outside Italy.

Magnificent lace reflects the artisans of Belgium.

Charming squares inviting people to relax, eat and mingle dot the entire city.

Bruges (French spelling) was a seaport centre in the early to mid-1000s that has diminished in importance due to the sea access being filled with silt. It remains a wonderful example of what life must have been like in 1300 A.D. or 1400 A.D.

Charming building along the canals.

Parks filled with statues and beauty.

All of this natural beauty is due to a moderate climate, valued historic preservation and lots of the above... We darted in and out of the rain for the entire day. But it began to pour as we were leaving on the train back to Brussels.

Videography Training in Brussels

The Church is making real strides in upgrading the information available to members and the public in general through mormonnewsroom. We were trained along with National Directors of Public Affairs for several countries on the art of taking videos, editing them (with music / sound / graphics) and uploading them to the local newsroom websites. This will facilitate more effective communication as it allows people to view a topic or event in a video rather than just text.

Dinis Adriano (Assistant Director of European Public Affairs), David Templeton and Fernanda (National Director of Public Affairs for Cape Verde) find great satisfaction in demonstrating new skills on and off camera.

Peter Middleton (professional videographer and producer), Marianne van Wermeskerken (National Director of Public Affairs for The Netherlands) and her husband, Dr. Nico van Wermeskerken, consult with Peter about their video production --- blessings associated with the principle of tithing.

Dan, Serge Vandendriessche (National Director of Public Affairs for Belgium and US Embassy PR Officer) and David Templeton (Videographer and IT specialist for Ireland) enjoy their new-found friendship  at the seminar.

A coincidental meeting at the train station finds Elder Peres and Elder Martinez, missionaries serving in Flemish speaking Belgium within the Paris France mission. Guess what language they are teaching? Spanish in Brussels where they are just returning from their weekly football (soccer) morning enjoyed with nearly 75 members and others interested in learning more about the gospel. Who would have thought Spanish and Portuguese speaking wards / branches throughout almost every major country in Europe?

A Time for Reflection - Ashton's 50th Anniversary

Dan and Brian Ashworth (a great leader in the Manchester area during Dan's first mission) greet each other. President Ashworth was a Bishop who taught Elder Jones a great lesson on fearless faith nearly 45 years ago.  It was thrilling to speak with him again and relate the experience we shared together in Ashton so many years ago.

Dan looks happy to see his longtime hero... Brian Ashworth.

The Ashton Ward building was built 50 years ago and has been community and church focal point for all these years. The celebration bought hundreds back to cheerily gather to reflect on the history of the church in Ashton. Two missionaries from my day as a young missionary, Elder Kent Winder and Elder Craig Jessop, have made significant impacts on the Church worldwide as well as those made in the Ashton Oldham area of Manchester all those years ago.

Martin Cook, former Bishop and Stake President in Ashton, now is the National Director of Public Affairs for Great Britain.

Elder Jolley is a nephew of our good friends and fellow missionaries, Dean and Celia Jolley.

Where there were just four missionaries some forty years ago, today there are ten serving in the same geographic area including these great looking elders from four continents.

The two-day celebration was highlighted with a combined sacrament with nearly 500 people from the two Ashton Wards and the Oldham Ward.

Joyce turns 39...(again)

 Joyce with her birthday cake from The Cake Artists in Solihull.

 A rousing round of the English version of Happy Birthday to You. 

 Joyce serving everyone her birthday luncheon... from the left, Rob (Systems Programmer), Craig (IT), Pauline (Church Magazines), Alan (Accounting), Sister Russell. John (Systems Programmer), Anna (the heart of the office and Missionary Applications), Jan (Real Estate) and John (Facilities Management).

Outside our office in Solihull...

Birthday flowers from Sisters Banner and Russell on our dining room table along with all the photos of family at home.

My, how time flies... the weeks are now booked until the holidays!

We looked at our calendars and discovered that nearly every night along with each weekend is now booked in our diaries (English word for calendars) until after the 17th of December. We are scheduled for London this weekend, Liverpool and Chorley the next week on the 6th through 9th of November.  On Saturday, the 15th, we are taking the Primary children on an activity to the Think Tank in Birmingham. Stakes leaders from the Manchester and York areas are next for training during the month of November. We also look forward to assisting with Thanksgiving dinner for approximately 30 senior missionaries, the Family Values Award presentation at The House of Commons on the 10th of December, and a host of other office related projects.

Our days became even more filled today when we received a text on Sunday asking us to meet at the Sheldon chapel before sacrament meeting. Joyce said she had an impression about why the need for the meeting, but Dan was completely in the dark. The Birmingham Stake Presidency called Dan to be the Second Counselor in the bishopric of the Sheldon Ward. It's quite unusual to have a missionary serve in a leadership role in an established ward in England (although Joyce has been serving for the past two months in the Primary presidency). With the lack of priesthood leadership in our small Sheldon Ward, Bishop Stilger felt inspired to make the recommendation with the blessings of President Griffiths (Stake President) and President Rasmussen (Mission President). Interestingly enough we now have an Italian first counselor, American second counselor, a British ward clerk and a German Bishop in an inner city British ward. Don't you love the marvelous mix of multiple nationalities in just one small inner-city ward in Birmingham? Truly this is a global Church.