WELCOME HOME!!

We are so grateful for the warm welcome we have received here.  The Hulets and Elder Gale were good enough to take us to our flat and one of the Assistants to the President lugged our suitcases down our steep steps into our flat.  Then the Hulets met up with us to help us get an oyster card (what is needed to use the tube and the buses here) and take us to the Sainsbury store and introduce us to English grocery shopping.  A new experience indeed.  In order to use a grocery cart you insert a 1 pound coin into a device on the cart and it releases a chain which hooks it onto the next cart.  Quite genius actually.  They should start this in the US.  Maybe fewer carts would "walk away".

When we entered our flat we were greeted by such a sweet surprise.  President and Sister Irwin (Joseph's mission president and his wife) had come from the London Temple where they are serving in the temple presidency and filled our pantry and refrigerator with food leaving a lovely plant and a welcome home greeting card on our little table.  It takes over an hour to get here from the temple.  And lugging a pantry full of food on public transport is not a small task.  These two people continue to bless our lives in countless ways.  Even in the midst of a family tragedy of their own they are out serving and loving.  Such a fine example for us to follow!!  We LOVE the Irwins!!

That evening we stayed up until 2 am unpacking but it felt good.  We were due for our orientation at the Visitors Center the next day so we wanted to have things as much in order as possible so that we could serve with all our heart, might, mind, and strength.  Here are pictures of the flat we now call home.  It a basement flat but it has lots of light and an English garden in the back...wow.  It is just 1/2 mile walk to the Visitors Center in one direction and 1/2 mile walk to Harrods in the other direction.  Those who know me well will understand the value of this location...wink wink.  Welcome to our humble abode!!

The steps down to our flat from Brompton Square.

Note...slippery when wet..

Our living room area

Below is our dining "area.  Straight back is the bedroom door. 

First door to the left is the bathroom.

Second door to the left is the kitchen.

The Bathroom

The Kitchen

Note: at least the frig is a little bigger than an under the counter

like we thought we were getting.  Still significantly smaller than

US refrigerators.  And yes, we have a washer/dryer combo.

The washer works (small loads only)...the dryer part...not so much.

And YES we even get a half size dishwasher!!

The Bedroom

And the crowning glory...our English Garden just outside the 

kitchen doors.

(note...the shower rod across the door that we use to hang dry ALL our clothes

except the sheets...they hang from corner to corner in the kitchen to dry....)

As you can see the pictures here were taken after we moved in and were settled.  We now have pictures of family up on the wall and it is beginning to feel more like home.  We are grateful for such wonderful accommodations so close to the Visitors Center.  The mission office was thinking of moving us further out to try and save money(we live in a VERY expensive part of London) but decided at least for now to allow us the privilege of living close by as we are required to be on shift at the Visitors Center six days a week.  We could not be more grateful.  As we turn down our street to walk home each night this is our view.  We will often break into song "I have often walked down this street before..." from My Fair Lady  because our street looks just like those in the latter scenes.  How blessed are we?  So very very blessed.  We just hope that we can bless others lives for good in our mission here.  

Welcome Home!!

And Off We Go!!

Our time at the MTC drew to a close all too quickly.  How grateful we are to have been able to spend time with family prior to going.  I personally was finding it more difficult than anticipated to say goodbye to my family.  Admittedly 18 months seemed like a long time to be away from those I love and my heart was definitely feeling it those last few weeks.  It was not the things I would miss....it was the people.  Family and Friends are such an integral part of our lives.  For that I will be forever grateful.  But leaving them behind....not such an easy task.  

Goodbye MTC...it has been so very good!!

Our last goodbye to this happy trio!

Such a sweet final visual for me.  My sisters reading to the Littles!!

A final farewell to my mom.  

A finer example of Christ like love I have never known.

And we are finally packed and ready to go.  

Here we come London!!

So this last photo only tells PART of the story.  We had a very tender mercy occur in May. Our nephew, John Connors who served many years ago in the Bristol mission was bringing his sweet wife Ashley back to the land he grew to love.  Thanks to their willing hearts we were able to send two 50 pound bags with them which they so kindly dropped off at the mission office in London.  Wow!!  That meant we were able to bring our favorite cooking pot, bread pans, favorite kitchen utensils, extra shoes, favorite shampoo etc etc etc.  Thank you John and Ash for this sweet gift.  We are truly enjoying the comforts of our own home!!

That photo also has another story to it.  As we were struggling to use our selfie stick to get our luggage, ourselves and the mountains all in the same picture a car driving by pulled over and the woman asked if she could take our picture for us...only in Provo would she know what we were doing...hehe.  We gladly accepted her offer only to find out that her best friend's granddaughter is serving her mission at the Hyde Park Chapel Visitors Center. We were reminded once again of how much the Lord knows and loves each and every one of us!!

My sister Sherry had been so kind as to let us use her car the entire month we were in Provo.  What a blessing that was for us as it enabled us to go back and forth to Farmington and to visit Joseph and Ana-Lisa in the evenings.  Libby and Sherry drove to the Salt Lake International Airport and waited with us until we took off. They were able to take the items we needed to remove from our suitcases to get down to our 50 pound limit...yikes!!  But it was all good and with the Lord's blessing we boarded that plane and headed to London leaving Salt Lake City about 6 pm and arriving at London Heathrow at 1 pm the next day.

It took more than an hour to get through customs but we were able to share our beliefs with the custom agent who checked us through.  A great start for these green missionaries!!

As we came through the gate there to greet us were Elder Gale from the mission office and Elder and Sister Hulet who are serving as the Directors of the Hyde Park Chapel Visitors Center.  Adrenaline kept us awake as we headed to the mission office and were welcomed by our Mission President and his wife, President and Sister Stevens.  What an amazing lovely warm couple they are!!  Absolutely perfect!!  They took us into their office and welcomed us with open arms and a cool drink of water.  We also were able to meet the Williams and the Gales, the mission office couples, who have been so good and kind to us as we have prepared to come here.  In case you were wondering....WE LOVE OUR MISSION!!!