I can’t believe it has been a month since our last
blog entry. We continue to find ourselves busy and pausing to write an entry
seems to take a backseat. We are well and still enjoying our time here in
London. The events of yesterday that made worldwide news reminded us of how we
often take things for granted. The terrorist attack occurred not far from where
we live and work (about 3 miles) and we have visited the area many times. Being
here in London at the time of the mayhem made it a lot more personal, but
still, we were never concerned for our safety or the safety of our
missionaries.
Our work is very enjoyable. We have spent a lot more
time this past month working with our sisters and the other two senior couples
in using the visitors’ centre more effectively. Our sisters do an amazing job
in using our exhibits and teaching the gospel. But we can all always do better.
We are impressed with how our sisters seem to be able to start teaching the
gospel from the moment they arrive in the VC. We have learned, though, that
they have lots of questions about how to handle certain situations which we are
now trying to help them with.
We have had some great experiences recently. A young
Chinese man came into the VC on February 11th. He admitted that he
didn’t know much of anything about God or religion but wanted to learn. Last
Sunday he was baptised. Last weekend the brother of the man from Rancho
Cucamonga that we mentioned in our last entry was baptised here in London. And
last Monday we received a letter at the VC (we hardly ever get a letter from
our guests) which said:
“I came to the Hyde Park
Chapel on 4 March 2017 to find out more information on the Book of Mormon and
was given a copy.” He indicated that he has read the book and found out for
himself that it is true. Then he wrote, “I have decided to become a Mormon. The
missionaries are coming to see me on Saturday March 25th. I will
also be attending the Sunday service at 10 am.”
Such experiences make our efforts all worthwhile. We
never know who is going to walk through our doors and we never know how lives
will be changed by walking through our doors. But often we learn of some of
those people and how their lives are changed. We never force anyone to listen
to us nor do we ask them to just believe us. We invite them to find out for
themselves.
We also continue to witness the “hastening of the
Lord’s work” through our sisters’ online work. They respond to thousands of
requests from Mormon.org. This month they will send more than 1,000 referrals
to local missionaries. We have learned that hundreds of those who are referred
to local missionaries are being taught the gospel. And since the first of this
year we have learned of more than 20 of those have been baptised.
We continue to have many interesting people visit the
VC. Recently Jimmy Osmond and his wife and daughter stopped by. They were here
in England meeting up with Jimmy’s brothers, Jay and Alan, for some
performances. Last Sunday and yesterday Elder Carl B. Pratt, emeritus General
Authority Seventy, came by before departing for a temple mission to Panama. We
also had a great mission tour a couple of weeks ago from Elder Alan T. Phillips
of the Seventy. It was great to be with him as he lives here and his family
attends church here every week.
Rod’s brother, Carl, and his family came for a visit
last week and we were able to do some fun things with them. We showed them
around London and visited many of the traditional sites (Big Ben, Tower of
London, Buckingham Palace, etc.). Carl arranged for a private tour into the
countryside of England. We were able to join them for a trip to Salisbury
Cathedral where one of the original copies of the Magna Carta is housed.
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| Salisbury Cathedral |
We
went to the famous Stonehenge and stood among those huge stones that have stood
for millennia. And we visited a site we had never heard of before called
Avebury. We saw quaint homes and buildings with beautiful thatched roofs and
beautiful farms. The real attraction, however, was another stone circle similar
to Stonehenge but much larger and much more complete (with many more stones
than at Stonehenge). We learned that there are more than 600 of these ancient
stone circles in England.
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| Stonehenge |
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| Avebury |
The daffodils and other flowers are beginning to bloom
here which makes the parks look incredible. The daffodils just spring up in the
grass with no planting or maintenance. They don’t bloom long, but right now
they are amazing.
