We have had a busy few weeks again and have failed to get another post done for our blog…until now. The past three weeks plus a couple of days have been “highlighted” (or “low-lighted” in some cases) with one of our senior couples completing their mission and going home, a new couple arriving to replace them, another VC sister spending time in the hospital, more convert baptisms, many more referrals being sent to local missionaries, more miracles with guests coming into the VC, and a great General Conference.

Elder and Sister Neeley from Idaho Falls, Idaho completed their mission at the Hyde Park Chapel VC on September 28^th. We were involved in several events honoring their service including a senior missionary Family Home Evening and dinner, a dinner with the three VC senior couples, a training meeting and breakfast where our sisters honored them, and a surprise picnic in Hyde Park for them with our sisters. All of these events required some of our time to make them happen but the Neeley’s were very deserving of the recognition. As they left the VC for the last time on Wednesday, September 28^th, all of our VC sisters were there and a lot of tears of gratitude were shed. We are missing the Neeley’s already and wish them well back home with their family.

On Thursday, September 29^th, we welcomed Elder and Sister Keller from Orem, Utah to the Hyde Park Chapel VC. We have spent the last few days training and orienting them which has also been time-consuming and rewarding. They are doing great and are great additions to our VC family.

On Tuesday, September 20^th we had another VC sister become ill and she was taken to a local hospital. Fortunately, she quickly recovered and was fine the next day. However, we were unable to get her released from the hospital as they wanted to run more tests to make sure she was ok. After another day in the hospital we finally were able to convince them that she didn’t want any more tests and wanted to be released. Reluctantly, they consented.

We enjoyed hearing about several more convert baptisms that our VC sisters played a part in. One was a lady who came into the VC last December when a live nativity was set up in front of the chapel. She took a tour and our missionaries stayed in touch with her. At first she wasn’t interested but after about six months she started meeting with missionaries in her local area. On September 17^th she was baptized. Another miracle baptism took place in Orem, Utah on September 24^th. A young man from Russia came to London last year on holiday (vacation) and stopped in to the Hyde Park Chapel VC. He had not heard of our church before but was introduced to it by our sisters and was given a copy of the Book of Mormon in Russian. He returned to Russia and our sisters stayed in touch with him via Facebook. Recently, he decided to travel to Utah and attend college there. Once in Utah he met with missionaries and was baptized. About two weeks before his baptism we had a guest from Utah come into the VC and said that she was asked by this Russian young man to thank us for introducing him to the gospel of Jesus Christ. These stories make our efforts totally worthwhile. We never know when a visit by one of our guests will change his or her life forever.

We haven’t been able to do much outside of the VC the past three weeks but we did enjoy watching all sessions of General Conference. We were inspired and uplifted by the messages we heard and the spirit we felt. It is a different experience to watch conference here as the Women’s Session and the Priesthood Session each started at 1:00 a.m. Thanks to technology we were able to watch each of those the next morning here. The Saturday and Sunday morning sessions are shown live at 5:00 p.m. our time and the afternoon sessions are from 9:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. We are grateful to be able to hear the words of our living prophet and apostles in such a timely way.

One other interesting event this past week was a visit to the VC by Alex Boye’s mother. She is a dear, little lady who lives here in London and Alex is coming this weekend to baptize her. Alex grew up in London and is going to be singing and speaking at a devotional at the Hyde Park Chapel this Sunday evening.