We are in a season of change here in London. There are changes in the weather as well as the environment. There are also changes in our mission and at the visitors’ center. A time of change can be refreshing and an opportunity for a new start but also can be a time of concern and adjustment.

Tourist season has ended here which doesn’t mean that there aren’t any tourists, because there are always tourists here. But the first of September there seems to be a dramatic change in the number of tourists. The queues (lines) at the museums have disappeared and the number of guests coming into the VC has declined dramatically. Most schools here and in America are back in session and that brings a lot of changes all by itself. The weather also has turned cooler and wetter and Fall is definitely in the air.

The England London Mission is going through some significant changes as our mission president is trying to change the plateau that we have been on for convert baptisms. He has been working hard to change the way missionaries view their work and do their work. It starts with finding people to teach and then requires those people to progress through the conversion process. Up until a few months ago this mission was finding about 250 to 300 new people to teach each week (that may sound like a lot but we have almost 200 missionaries which means they were finding only 2 or 3 new people per companionship). The past few months our mission has been averaging over 400 new people to teach per week and one week last month they exceeded 600. This has shown our missionaries that they can do more. Now the challenge is to help these people to progress. One of the key indicators of that is how many attend church. Our mission has had about 120 to 140 investigators attending church each week. A week ago last Sunday they had almost 200 at church. These are some dramatic improvements that should result in an increase in conversion and an increase in baptisms in the future. It is exciting to see these changes.

At the visitors’ center we continue to deal with change. We are still settling in to a schedule with 10 sisters working in the VC instead of 8 but this change is definitely good. Further changes are starting next week as one of our senior couples completes their mission and we prepare for a replacement. The Keller’s have served faithfully and well over the past twelve months and we are grateful for their service. Their last shift at the VC will be next Monday. We have had some shuffling to replace them as the couple originally scheduled to come will not be coming. So a new couple has been called but they won’t arrive until December. Our other senior couple, the Mullen’s, complete their mission in early November and their replacements have agreed to come earlier than originally scheduled to help fill the gap. We don’t know exactly when they will arrive but we expect them in mid-October. So these next three months will be interesting as we will likely be a little short-handed for some periods of time. But we will get through it.

 

Our VC senior couples--left to right, Mullen's, Hulet's, President & Sister Stevens, and Keller's

The work continues to thrive here at the visitors’ center. Even though tourist season is over we still have lots of guests come to the VC. In fact, the end of tourist season seems to have more impact on church members coming to the VC than on nonmembers. The number of people not of our faith coming in off the street to learn more continues strong. For instance, a couple of weeks ago we had a man come into the VC who said that he was taught by missionaries twenty years ago and wanted to join the church. But he was addicted to alcohol and tobacco and wasn’t able to kick those habits. But he now has been alcohol free for two years and hasn’t had a cigarette in two months and he feels that he is ready to join the church. Another recent miracle occurred last Monday night as a young family was standing in front of the chapel in the cold wind and rain. So we invited them to come in where it is warm, which they did. The wife did not speak English but the husband did. They are from Pakistan and are living in England while the husband goes to school here. One of our VC sister missionaries saw another sister missionary walking through the VC who is from Pakistan. She invited this missionary to come meet our guests which she did. They began speaking in Urdu and the family just lit up. They were so excited to speak their native language with someone else and had never heard about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ before. They left with a copy of the Book of Mormon in Urdu and filled out one of our guest cards requesting to meet with missionaries. What a miracle to have Sister Khan (the sister missionary from Pakistan) in the VC right at that critical time!

The reason that Sister Khan was in London that night was that we were having a mission conference the next day (yesterday). This was a somewhat impromptu mission conference as it only started to be planned a week ago. Elder Jeffery R. Holland, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, was in London this past weekend participating in a conference at Windsor Castle on religious discrimination. He ended up having a little time Tuesday morning (September 12^th) before his flight back to Salt Lake. So he agreed to come and speak to our mission. So yesterday morning the entire mission came to London for an 8:00 a.m. meeting. Elder Holland joined us about 8:30 and shook everyone’s hand. Then he spoke to us for over an hour and a half. He is such an amazing speaker—humorous, personal, spiritual, and powerful. Space here does not permit us to share all that he taught us but two overarching messages he gave were how much he and the other Apostles love the full-time missionaries and that this work is true! He told us that we share the Apostolic charge given by the Savior to “Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost.” He said that we are apostles like him but he has a capital “A” and we have a lower case “a”. He also told us that he is not dedicating his life to a “fairy tale!” This work is the work of God and is led by Jesus Christ himself. Doubters may doubt and critics may criticize but that will not change that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth in its fullness. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the institution that God has directed to carry out this great latter-day work where essential saving ordinances are performed by authorized representatives of Jesus Christ. He concluded his teaching by saying that his intention is that when he is on his death bed, even if he can only whisper, he will declare to anyone who will listen that this church is true! It was a spiritual and powerful morning.

Although we are full-time missionaries we do occasionally have some time to see more things in London. A couple of weeks ago we went out to Wimbledon and toured the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club where the world famous Wimbledon Tennis Tournament is held. The tournament took place in July and the courts were now under renovation for next year. It was fascinating to not only see the famous courts and stadiums but to see the process of renovating the lawn courts that takes place each year. On another day we also stopped into the British Library where many rare and historical documents are housed. We were able to view one of four remaining original Magna Cartas from 1215 A.D. We also viewed an original Tyndale Bible, a Wycliffe Bible and an early King James Bible. Also on display were original transcripts of Shakespeare, original scores of Mozart and the Beatles, and many other incredible documents. Last week we learned that 4-year-old Prince George was beginning school at a school just across the Thames River from us. So we went on our walk past the school on that first day of school. We didn’t see any of the Royal Family but we did find the street lined with news crews and paparazzi. Sometimes we feel like we are in a dream. We are definitely “living the dream.”