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.