After a full week under our belts in London our adventure is really beginning to take shape. We have had more amazing experiences at the Visitors' Centre (VC) and have now ventured out into London beyond just walking distance.

The international flavor of London and of our mission continued to be evidenced this past week. As we have worked at the VC we have welcomed people from Poland, Cameroon, Bermuda, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Persia, India, Egypt, Norway, Sweden, and Scotland to name a few (as well as the U.S.). Many of our visitors are in London on vacation or on business. Some come into the VC because they are curious about what our building is (we are located right on Exhibition Road where many famous museums are located along with the prestigious Imperial College) and others come in wanting to know more about the church.

Tonight we witnessed our first baptisms at the Hyde Park Chapel (the baptismal font for the church is literally in the VC). A lady who is from China and teaches at Imperial College across the street from the VC was baptized. She shared a powerful testimony after her baptism that she wants to change her life for the better and follow Jesus Christ. A mother and her young daughter who are from Spain (but the mother is originally from Ecuador) were also baptized. The baptism was well attended and a spiritual experience.

We have also been involved in some of the administrative matters of the VC this past week. We had a video training session with Salt Lake and are working out some of the "minor details" of our service here (like getting our purchasing card activated, purchasing an Oyster Card used for the local subway called the Tube, getting internet in our flat and so on). There are more administrative matters to deal with but that is part of our role as Director of the VC.

Connie and I managed to get out and see some of the city this past week. We walked all around Hyde Park and it is beautiful and big. We took the Tube to the theater district at Covent Gardens and we visited London Bridge, Tower Bridge, and the London Tower. This is a beautiful city and quite different from the cities in the U.S. that we have visited. We are gaining some real insights into this diverse world that we live in.

Tower Bridge

Tower of London

What an exciting week this has been. We flew out of Salt Lake City on Monday and arrived in London Tuesday morning. It really felt like we lost a day there somewhere but we trudged ahead anyway. We were met at the airport by another senior missionary couple (Elder & Sister Gale) who were waiting with a van to take us and our luggage to our flat. Fortunately, they knew the way very well (they live in the same building as us) and navigated the London traffic quite well. We spent an hour or two unpacking and then Elder Gale met us at our flat and walked with us over to the Hyde Park Chapel.

There we met many of the missionaries that we will be working with at the Visitors’ Centre (VC). All were very friendly and welcoming. We also met with President & Sister Stevens who were also very welcoming. They shared with us many things about the mission and about London. It is an honor to serve with them.

We proceeded to work in the VC that very afternoon and have worked several shifts since. Welcoming visitors and giving tours of the VC have been amazing experiences. In just our first few days here we have had visitors from Australia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Uganda, Dubai, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Poland, China, Taiwan, and of course, many from the United States and United Kingdom. Their backgrounds and interests are very diverse. It is exciting to talk with them and share information about our church with them.

We have also begun to settle into living in London. Dealing with jet lag and settling in have been the biggest challenges thus far. Our flat is small but comfortable. We have managed to buy a few groceries so we can eat at home. We don’t yet have internet at our flat but that is scheduled for next week. We learned after arriving here that Verizon email doesn’t work in London so we are still trying to figure out how to get our emails. We manage to find our way from our flat to the VC quite well now but still need to explore a lot more to be comfortable on the streets of London. We have explored some and have walked past Kensington Palace, Royal Prince Albert Hall, and the Queens Tower. Our flat is on Palace Gate (a street) where many foreign embassies are located. The street is lined with stately, old residential buildings with incredible architecture. We definitely are in the city with pedestrian and vehicular traffic all around us most hours of the day and night. It is exciting to be here.

We have completed our training and are ready to depart for London. We entered the Provo Missionary Training Center (MTC) around 2:00 on Monday afternoon, January 11th. We were shown to our room and did our check in (consisting of a photo shoot and getting our agenda and materials for the week). We didn't have anything else scheduled for Monday until dinner that evening. We had a very nice private dinner with 22 other Visitors' Center Directors and MTC Presidents and their wives. One couple didn't make dinner because their flight was delayed. We were joined for dinner by five General Authorities (church leaders with assignments throughout the world).

Tuesday morning we began our classes at 9:00 and had classes or speakers until 8:00 or so in the evening through Thursday. We were instructed by General Authorities and other church leaders throughout the week. Here is a list of the General Church Leaders that taught us: Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Elder David A. Bednar, Elder Neil L. Andersen, Elder Brent H. Nielsen, Elder Mervyn B. Arnold, Elder Gregory A. Schwitzer, Elder W. Craig Zwick, Elder Jorge F. Zeballos, Elder Per G. Malm, Elder Steven E. Snow, Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, and Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson. We also were taught by leaders and staff of the Church Missionary Department.

We received instruction on spiritual things, on operational issues, on teaching techniques, and on historical information. We also spent some time on Temple Square being taught by experienced sister missionaries there. Our training concluded with a very nice dinner in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City where all of the leaders who instructed us attended with their spouses (with the exception of Elder Snow).

The week has been very informative and spiritually uplifting. We also developed some great friendships with those who attended the training and are now reporting to assignments all over the world. Here is a list of countries that our classmates are going to: United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, New Zealand, South Africa, Ghana, Spain and, of course, England. It was an honor to associate with such great people.

Now our adventure begins in earnest as we fly to London. We'll give you an update from there as soon as we can.

Our adventure has begun. Last week we completed packing up our house and have it ready for our renters to move in. Friday night and Saturday we completed packing our suitcases (it's one thing to pack suitcases for a week or two but packing for two years is a challenging experience). Our son, Todd, came on Saturday and took us to the Ontario Airport where we boarded a plane and flew to Salt Lake City. Our son-in-law, Josh, picked us up at the Salt Lake Airport and we have stayed at Julie & Josh's home in West Jordan, Utah Saturday night and Sunday. 

Today we enter the Missionary Training Center in Provo to receive some instruction and training from our leaders. We will be there for four days and then we'll return to our daughter's home in West Jordan for a few days before flying to London on Monday, January 18th.

We appreciate everyone who has wished us well and who are praying for us. The hardest part of this adventure is leaving family and friends. But nonetheless, we are excited to go and look forward to sharing some of our experiences with those of you who may be interested through this blog.

We have returned to our home in southern California one last time before setting out on our mission in London. We had a great time with family over the holidays. We had all of our children and grandchildren together (22 of us at Julie's home in West Jordan, UT) for a short time between Christmas and New Years and had a great time. We also enjoyed seeing many extended family members including Connie's Parents and 99-year old Grandmother and Rod's Mom.

We will spend the next six days making our final preparations for our departure. We will fly from Ontario, CA to Salt Lake City on Saturday, January 9th. Then we report to the Provo MTC on Monday, January 11th. We are scheduled to be set apart as full-time missionaries at the MTC on Tuesday, January 12th. Our training will conclude in Salt Lake City on Thursday, January 14th.

We will have one last weekend at our daughter Julie's home before flying from Salt Lake City to London. We depart on Monday, January 18th and arrive in London the next morning on Tuesday, January 19th. We are excited to soon depart and appreciate your thoughts and prayers as we embark on this great adventure.