Love from London

It has been a busy few months for the Mullen Missionaries.  We have had a lot of visitors which allows us the opportunity to share this wonderful experience with those we love. Our adopted girl Amanda and her family came to see us in March, My sisters, neice, and brother in law came in April.  May found us welcoming Cori's son John and Ash and their family, then our friend from years ago in the Berkeley University Singles Ward Lisa Hansen and her daughter,  followed by a way too short but very sweet visit from Chris and Jenna.  Then in June we welcomed my cousin Gail and her husband and we currently have the Wersky's, our junior high band teacher in Granite Bay staying with us and exploring the United Kingdom.  It has been fun to share with all of them this city we have come to know and love and even more importantly the people who have come to mean so much to us here.  It has been a very busy time as we continue to serve six days a week at the Visitors Center and to offer any support we can to the young sisters we have the privilege of serving with, to investigators who come to the center for lessons, and to ward members living here locally.  We love welcoming visitors each day.  The summer months are wonderful as our number of visitors increases significantly. They come from all corners of the world.  Our lack of foreign language skills has taught us to rely even more on the Spirit to teach those who come to the Visitors Center.  We have found the spirit to be the most powerful teacher of truth.  We knew that before coming on our mission but we have been reminded of it on a daily basis here.  We have also loved getting to know the other senior missionary couples serving here as public affairs, self reliance, mission office, pathways,YSA, and family history missionaries.  We are blessed to hold Family Home Evening with them once a month at the Hyde Park Chapel.  What a joy it is to serve alongside such wonderful souls.

It has been a particularly sweet weekend at the Hyde Park Chapel. Yesterday we were able to experience the baptism of Victoria by her husband Alexander. Alexander came in to the Visitors Center a couple of months ago and indicated that he was a member of the church that had gone into inactivity and now desired to come back home. We were thrilled for him to say the least and welcomed him with open arms. He was engaged to Victoria at the time and wanted to bring her along on this journey back to Jesus Christ. These two love birds were married just three weeks ago. Alexander met with the Bishop just after coming to the chapel and they have both met with missionaries over the past two months. During that process we have come to know and love them dearly.  Victoria gave up smoking, alcohol, and coffee all within that time. And yesterday Alexander led his sweet wife into the waters of baptism and baptized her a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Such a powerful sweet experience for us to watch their journey. Then today she was confirmed a member of the church. She calls me her American Mum and asked if I would speak at her baptism. I spoke on the Holy Ghost and was prompted while writing my talk to compare the Holy Ghost to having a royal guardsman of our own just like those guards who protect the Royal Family here in England. Little did I know until after the meeting that Victoria's Father was actually a member of the Royal Guard. It was a perfect analogy for her and a tender mercy for me. Amir, seen in white as well, was also baptized.  He has been taking the missionary lessons from Sisters Wallace and Prach, sisters currently serving in the Visitors Center with us. Amir experienced so much opposition leading up to his baptism but was so full of light following his baptism and shared with us the peace he felt within his heart. Such a beautiful thing to witness.

Sister Prach, Alexander, Victoria, Amir, Alexander, Sister Wallace

Victoria and Alexander on the day of her baptism

Victoria and Her American "Mum"

Then today in Sacrament Meeting they both were confirmed and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  Later this afternoon we had two more baptisms at the Chapel.  It brings such energy to the chapel and such a spirit of peace and unity in the Gospel.  We love it.  Victoria and Amir are members of the Hyde Park 2nd Ward.  The other two baptized today, Lloyd and Clarissa, are members of the Young Single Adult ward that meets here. Their stories are remarkable as well.

We love our mission.  We love London.  Yes it has been interesting to be here where terrorist attacks are occurring more often than anyone would like.  The Grenfell Tower fire occurred within our ward boundaries and we are still feeling the effects and aftermath of that terrible event.  We ache for several members of our ward who lived in the building next to Tower and witnessed horrific things that night.  We wrap our arms around them and love them and lift them in whatever way we can.  

Yes, we miss our friends and family immensely.  We left Hannah and Henry, our youngest grandchildren, at two months and three weeks old respectively.  Now they are both walking.  God is good though.  He gave us FaceTime.  We could not be more grateful.  We would encourage any of our friends to put a senior mission on their bucket list. It is an incredible experience that we thank the Lord for each and every day.

Divine Choreography

This past Sunday at the Visitors Center we had such a sweet experience that I wanted to record it and share it with our friends.  We have been so grateful to be able to watch the hand of the Lord work these small miracles in the everyday lives of His children.

Dagmar came into the Visitors Center on Sunday along with her parents who are here to celebrate her graduation from Cambridge University with her doctorate.  They are from the Czech Republic.  We love the Czech people as our son Joseph served there on his mission.  The Dagmars were interested in the architecture of the building which is what enticed them to come inside.  I showed them the chapel at the beginning of a Sacrament meeting and then took them into the front stairwell to show them the unusual stained glass of the building and to have a more quiet place to speak as Sundays become very busy simply because the Visitors Center is essentially the foyer of the chapel. 

After explaining to them a little about our church I asked them if they would be interested in taking a Czech Book of Mormon and explained to them what was contained in its pages.  Her parents spoke very little English but they obviously loved seeing the Book in their native language.  We carried on a fairly lengthy conversation and as they were leaving we met another couple, church members from Gilbert AZ, who were waiting until after the sacrament to go into the meeting.  When the husband heard their Czech he spoke up as he went to the Czech Republic on his mission 25 years ago.  He had spoken very little Czech since that time.  He saw that we had given them a Czech Book of Mormon so he took the opportunity to testify to them of it's truthfulness and explain to them what the book contained.  It was divine choreography as they were placed in each others paths.  We exchanged email addresses and invited them to read from the Book of Mormon.  Her mother and father are both music teachers in the Czech Republic.

  

After they left we spoke with the gentleman who had testified to them in Czech.  They are here on holiday for just 5 days and have 5 children at home.  He has not returned to the Czech Republic since his mission but tears flowed down his cheeks as he told us the following.  It has always been a dream of his to return to the Czech Republic and testify of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon to the Czech people in their language.  He felt as though that happened today in London at the Visitors Center.  He told us that he will always treasure this experience that he was totally not expecting.  He had gone on his mission immediately following the fall of communism in the Czech Republic.  He obviously has a very soft spot in his heart for the Czech people as well.  The saints there are incredible who kept the church going even in the presence of communism as they held meetings under the context of a yoga class.  When an apostle visited during that time and asked why there were no children they replied that they could not tell them for fear they would mention something to the wrong person leading to imprisonment for the parents.  Such faithful saints.  We will keep in touch with Dagmar through email.  In fact she emailed us the very next day to thank us for welcoming them. 

What a remarkable experience for us to witness.  We are witnesses of His divine choreography day in and day out on our mission.  We will be forever grateful for this opportunity.  We know He lives.  We know He loves each and every one of His children.

Meet Kira

Yes....we would love you all to meet Kira!! She is a most capable and beautiful daughter of God and a miracle of our mission here in London.

We first met her on May 24th, 2016 when she came into the Visitors Center.  As she came in we stood to greet her and when we looked at each other she could not speak.  Tears were flowing from both of us.  She said "I don't know why I am crying"  I explained that if she had a little bit of time we could share with her why she was feeling this way.


The Spirit is an incredible teacher.  We find that day in and day out here on our mission.

We spent the next hour and a half with her in the Visitors Center.  She shared with us that she had walked past the Visitors Center several times before getting the courage to walk up those steps and come in.  I will be forever grateful that she came when we were on shift.  We have a bond now that we know will last forever.

Kira is a dancer and choreographer who has built her own dance instruction/choreography business from scratch. She is very capable and consequently very successful. She had first learned about the Church from a young man she had met while on a cruise ship.  He was in a performing group on the ship and they hit it off instantly.  He suggested that she inquire about our Church and beliefs.  She contacted Mormon.org and had had several lessons with missionaries online.  So when she came to the Visitors Center she was so very prepared.  I was privileged to sit in on lessons while she was being taught by Sisters Griffeth and Hannig.  During the second lesson the sisters had prayed previously and felt inspired to challenge her to a baptismal date in early July.  Her response was.."Do I have to wait that long?"  Wow.  WOW!!  They told her she did not but that she would need to attend church three weeks in a row.  That would not be a problem for Kira.  In fact, the first Sunday she came she had gone out and bought new clothes to wear to church because she had always seen the sisters wearing cardigans so she thought she would need to have a cardigan for church.  Oh she just makes my heart soar.

Three weeks later on Sunday June 12th Kira was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I thought I would share my journal entry from that day with you.  She asked Michael to baptize her which was such a tender connection for all of us.

On the day of her baptism I wrote:

  I remember Christopher writing home from his mission about a day he had baptized an entire family. It was so sweet. Today we did not baptize an entire family but we did baptize a family for the future. We have been teaching Kira for the past three weeks and today she was baptized. Michael had the privilege of baptizing her and she had asked me to speak at her baptism. She was nervous when she came to the VC prior to the meeting block but by the time the block was over she was great. We had made a chicken salad for her to tide her over. So we went to the kitchen and talked while we ate our salad. 

Once Kira finished eating we were off to get changed into her baptismal clothes. I showed her the room and waited outside the door. When she opened the door standing there in white I was taken back and she was brought to tears. We stepped inside the ladies restroom, she took a look at herself in the mirror and said "I look so Biblical". And indeed she did. She glowed. We took some pictures in front of the font. Then we went upstairs to the institute room where the service was being held. The room was filled to overflowing. Such a sweet thing to watch these young people support each other on their journeys. And President and Sister Stevens joined us as well. I gave my talk, nervous as usual. And a YSA spoke on the atonement. The moment was here. We went downstairs to the baptistry. We made certain that her mom Gloria had a Front row seat. Michael did a wonderful job and as Kira came out of the waters of baptism she was glowing. I went back to see if she needed anything. She was in tears. Tears of joy. I just love her.
We went back to the room and heard a special musical number and the Relief Society and Elders Quorum presidents welcomed her and Jetnar, another young adult who was also baptized, to the ward. We closed with There is Sunshine in my Soul. Indeed there was sunshine beautiful sunshine. I spent the next hour with Kira and her mom. I love her mom. It was a sweet sacred day for sure!

She was literally GLOWING!!

                                  

Sisters Hannig and Griffeth taught Kira the Gospel

So grateful for the loving support of Kira's mom!!

We have remained close with Kira ever since her baptism.  We love her so very much.  How grateful we are to our Father in Heaven that she came into our lives.  We will be forever grateful.

Looking Back

Well, our taxes are submitted to the accountant.  Woo hoo!!  That's the advantage of being a young missionary.  You don't have to worry about filing taxes.  It's been an interesting experience to try and do taxes without our files close at hand.  Thanks to our dear friend Cindy for her constant service to us while we serve here.  We could not do this without her. 

We continue to stay very busy.  We love serving in the England London Mission.  Today the mission held its Mission Leadership Council.  It was so fun to see missionaries who were just new to the mission when we came last May now called as leaders in the mission. Such amazing youth we have the privilege to serve with here in London.

For recording purposes we are going to take a look back at some of our experiences since arriving here.  The lovely month of May found us adjusting to mission life.  We love our little flat located halfway between the Hyde Park Chapel Visitor Center and Harrods.  For those of you who do not know, Harrods is one of the largest department stores in the world and probably one of the most expensive as well.  It was an adjustment to be on shift 6 hours a day 6 days a week, which is really closer to 7 or 8 hours depending on the day.  One week we work the 9 am to 3 pm shift and the next week we work the 3 pm to 9 pm shift with Thursday as our pday.  Thats when we get to do laundry, clean the flat, and go exploring.
Laundry is interesting here.  We have a combined washer/dryer in the same machine which basically means the dryer does not dry...hehe.  So we have laundry strung across the kitchen and hope for the best that it will dry in 24 hours.  Never take a clothes dryer for granted again.

Prior to coming on our mission Michael had told me that wherever we were called he would get me a Bosch so I could continue to bake to my hearts content.  He kept that promise!!

 Little did I know how different it would be to bake here in England.  Not only is the humidity so much higher but the ingredients I am so used to having at home are not available here such as shortening, brown sugar, karo syrup, etc etc etc.  The biggest problem of all is the FLOUR.  No matter what I tried to bake it never turned out like it did at home.  Challenge ACCEPTED!!  Thanks to incredible family and friends we received literally suitcases filled with flour, brown sugar, diced green chilis, tortilla shells, shortening and a boatload of other delectable goods.  So very grateful for the goodness of people to bring these to us.  Let the baking begin!!

Just today we took about 15 dozen chocolate chip cookies to the Visitors Center and by the time we left they were pretty much gone.  It is such a treat to hand these missionaries a few home made cookies.  Just love the looks on their faces!  Before our family and friends brought the treasured goods to us we went on several hunts throughout London in search of American baking goods.  Through online research I discovered the flour is different here in the UK due to the protein content so it bakes differently.  They have plain flour, soft flour, strong flour, bread flour, very strong flour, self rising flour....and the list goes on.  We heard about The American Store in Notting Hill.  So one day after shift we grabbed our trolley (the shopping bag on wheels) and headed out across Hyde Park in search of American flour.  And look what we found on the way!!

Our first time through Hyde Park.  So beautiful.  

The Prince Albert Memorial

Royal Albert Hall

 And across the lake, home to beautiful white swans and ducks, lies

Kensington Palace!!

To this day we will often look each other in the eye and say "Pinch me please"  Are we really here?  We made it to the American Food Store where everything was pretty much double or triple the price it is in America.  But familiar was good and we filled our trolley and made our way home ready to bake the next batch of cookies or loaf of bread for those amazing missionaries.

We also experienced our first official wedding at the Hyde Park Chapel.  In England they are required by law to be wed first before going to the Temple.  So this young couple, Svenja and Aaron, made their way down the aisle of the chapel and officially became husband and wife before heading south to the London Temple where they were sealed for time and all eternity.

What a tremendous blessing it is for us to serve here.  We love testifying of Jesus Christ.  We set goals daily as we begin each shift with the sisters as to what we want to accomplish during the shift.  We see miracles every day.