Inviting Others to Come Unto Christ

Each week at our Visitors Center Training Meeting we begin by reciting our purpose which states:

Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored Gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the End.  In the England London mission we teach repentance and baptise converts.  Obedience is the price, Faith is the Power, Love is the Motive, the Spirit is the Key and Christ is the Reason.

It is such a perfect reminder of why we are here.  At the Visitors Center we give tours to those who come through our doors.  If they so desire they complete a referral card with their name and contact information.  Our job, we believe is to be an appropriate conduit for the spirit.  And we can testify that miracles happen.

One of our first tender mercies in our mission happened as we met this sister who was serving with us at the VC.  Her name is Sister Lung and she is from Hong Kong.  As we were chatting and just getting to know each other we found out that she had been converted to the church when she was 10 years old.  I told her that my niece Kate Connors had served a mission in Hong Kong about that time and asked if she by any chance knew her.  Guess What!?!?!  Not only did she know her but Kate is one of the sisters who taught her and was at her baptism.  The next day Sister Lung brought in a card she had received from the missionaries on the day of her baptism.  Sure enough, there was Kate's well wishes and signature.  Oh my.  So we texted Kate and she expressed how very much it had meant to her as doubts had crept in over the years as many she had taught the Gospel to fell away from the church.  Now here was one of her converts on a mission herself.  And what a powerful missionary she is.  Thank you Kate Connors for your faithful service that now is reaping wonderful rewards as Sister Lung so diligently brings others here in London unto Christ.

The card my niece had given to Sister Lung 10 years ago on the day of her baptism.

Each day we are given the privilege of moments like these where in Sister Kerr from Mesa, AZ and Sister Apiyo from Uganda embrace, Book of Mormon always in hand.  Love this!!

We have also discovered another sweet bonus to serving here in London.  We get to see lots of familiar faces as they travel through or work in London.  Such a gift to our hearts.  

Thank you Heavenly Father for good friends in our lives.  We consider friends to be one of God's greatest gifts to us here on earth.

Kexin and Nathan Smith are living in London.  

Our son Joseph stood in the circle to confirm her a member of the church during their freshman year at BYU and was also her dance partner on several occasions.  

Small world.

Matt Kern is here on an internship this summer.  His dad is a lifelong friend of Ann Marie's from Pittsburgh and baptized her brother-in-law David Connors.  So fun to spend time with him this summer.

Our first weekend in London there were four, count them FOUR,  baptisms at the Hyde Park Chapel.  The baptistry is behind beautiful sliding wooden doors right in the Visitors Center.  So we are able to partake often of the spirit that accompanies such glorious occasions.  It is particularly powerful for those who come in from the street to take a tour and are then able to witness a baptism.  This day a couple, Hasaan and Malood, originally from Iran, entered the waters of baptism after having been taught by Elders Lindsey and Tragante.  I was able to welcome Malood as she stepped out of the water with a dry towel. Tears of joy streamed down her face.  I reminded her never to forget how she felt at that moment.  The next week when we came to church we hardly recognized Hasaan as he had shaven his beard and cut his hair.  When I commented about the change he told me that he was clean on the inside and he had decided to make the outside match the inside.  Wow!! We have grown to love this sweet couple and have had them to our flat for dinner and Family Home Evening. What a blessing it is to serve!  As it is with most service we are the beneficiaries!!

Hasaan and Malood on their baptism day

Yes, the opportunity to invite others to come unto Christ is an amazing experience for us.  We will treasure this time in our life always!!

Hyde Park Chapel Visitors Center

Our home away from home here in London is the Hyde Park Chapel Visitors Center located on Exhibition Road in Kensington just up the street from the South Kensington Tube Station.  It is steps away from the Victoria and Albert Museum, across the street from the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum and just down the road from Hyde Park. Wow.  Location...Location...Location.  

When the chapel was first built there was not a single church member within 7 miles of the building site but President McKay, the President of the Church at the time, saw what it would... and has become.  It is said that about 11 million people pass by the Visitors Center each year.  We are the fortunate ones that have the privilege of welcoming them should they decide to come through those doors.  It is the only Visitors Center in our church which is attached to a Chapel making it a very busy place for members and nonmembers alike.  The Christus stands in the corner beckoning all who pass to Come Unto Christ.

The directors of the Visitors Center are Elder and Sister Hulet from Upland California. They have welcomed us here with open arms and we are ever grateful for their good hearts and their tutelage.  What a privilege it is to serve with them!!

We are scheduled to be at the Visitors Center 6 hours a day six days a week.  Our preparation day wherein we are not required to be there is on Thursday.  There are also various other meetings which we attend throughout the week.  So it is busy but a very gooooood busy.  The Visitors Center is open from 9 am to 9 pm 7 days a week.  So the duty of keeping the Center scheduled with missionaries can be a daunting task for the Hulets each week.  Our schedule changes from week to week.  We either serve on the 9 to 3 pm shift or the 3 to 9 pm shift except on Mondays when the schedule changes around as this is the young sister missionaries' Preparation Day so the Visitors Center is staffed by the three senior missionary couples only.

The young sister missionaries bring such joy to the Visitors Center and to our lives.  There are always 8 sisters assigned to the Center and anywhere from 2 to 4 more who are sent temporarily out to other parts of the mission to experience the more typical mission.  

Introducing our Visitors Center Staff

Front Row Left to Right:

Sisters Wai, Croft, Griffeth, Von Neiderhausern, Hannig, Kerr, Apiyo, Lung

Back Row Left to Right:

Elder and Sister Neeley, Elder and Sister Hulet, Elder and Sister Mullen

As you could probably guess from the picture...we are in love.  Such a blessing it is to serve here as we invite others to Come Unto Christ.  Blessings abound indeed.

If you would like to see some of the videos we present at the center simply click on this link and click on videos.  Of special interest to us when we came were the ones on the History of the Chapel and of the Church in England.  

https://www.facebook.com/HydeParkVC/

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!!!

Our MTC Experience

On May 2, 2016 we entered the Missionary Training Center and received our famous Black Tags.  We were OFFICIAL!!

It was quite the experience to don the name tags that our sons had placed on their own suits years ago.  We are so grateful for this opportunity to testify of Jesus Christ and serve the people of London.  We pray every day that we will kind and good emissaries of Him who has blessed our lives so very much. 

We were issued a card that would allow us to enter the buildings on the campus and to eat at the cafeteria every day.  Such a fun sight to see so many missionaries in the same place breaking bread together.

We gathered together in the room where we had dropped of Christopher for his mission. This was a much happier room for me now.  Love how we learn(and survive) through life's lessons.  We were greeted by the Presidency of the MTC and their wives.  There were about 110 missionaries in our group and we were assigned to a district of 16 which was actually a double size because they were short of instructors for this week.  The missionaries were assigned all over the world from Australia to the Marshall Islands to the UK and all over the United States.  Many of them were headed to Nauvoo and Kirtland to the Visitors Centers there.  Our district leader was Elder Westergard who is going to serve with his wife in the Anaheim Mission.  Our trainers were Sister Darby Robertson and Elder Spencer Vanleeuen (who had served in the California Roseville mission).  We have once again been reminded of how small the world really is.  

Our MTC District!!

The selfie stick came in handy already!!

What a treat it was for us to be associated with these sweet people.  How blessed are we!! One of the couples in our district was assigned to Pittsburgh PA as the CES.  They will do such a wonderful job there and will live close to Carnegie Mellon University.  

No MTC experience would be complete without a picture at the World Map.

The first week at the MTC was spent on Preach My Gospel.  We are so grateful we had studied it together as a couple prior to coming on our mission.  It was familiar so that we could truly focus on the points being emphasized by our instructors.  We went twice to the teaching center where we role played with "non member" investigators who were actually members acting as investigators.  It was a great experience though a little unnerving the first time we did it.  We continue to use role playing in almost every missionary meeting.  It gives us a chance to think before we speak which is admittedly a valuable experience for me;-). 

The second week was only for visitors center missionaries.  We began Monday morning with a visit to the Salt Lake Temple Visitors Center to observe how tours are done there and to be introduced to the online teaching center.  We then spent that afternoon and the next day with Elder and Sister Martin who had just returned as directors of the New Zealand Temple Visitors Center.  We found out that approximately 90 percent of visitors to these centers are members of the Church.  The Church spends a lot of money to keep these Visitors Centers going.  They reminded us that their value lies not only in introducing people to our beliefs but primarily in inviting others to come unto Christ...both member and nonmember alike.  That was such a sweet reminder for us.  How grateful we are for this calling.  We were led to understand that the number of nonmember visitors is much higher for the Hyde Park Chapel Visitors Center simply because of its location.  We can definitely say that is true having served here now for two months and having visited the London Temple Visitors Center which is approximately an hour south of London off the beaten path, so to speak.  Their visitors there are primarily members of the church though they work diligently to provide firesides and garden tours to bring in others to partake of the spirit found on those sacred grounds.

Our MTC District

Our Visitors Center Cohorts heading to Nauvoo and Kirtland 
and other places across the world.

Admittedly the best bonus ever to serving in the MTC was that thanks to our dearest friends, The Johnsons, we were able to stay in their home in Provo and spend evenings with Joseph and Ana-Lisa holding little Henry every single moment we could!!

A Month of Blessings

This has indeed been a month of blessings. We spent the final weeks in Granite Bay saying goodbye to our dear friends there....definitely harder for me than I thought.  We were set apart at the Rocklin Stake Center by President Sean Murphy.  We have had close connections with him for many, many years so having him set us apart was very meaningful to us.  He spent over an hour sharing with us the joys and anticipations that lie ahead.  We are so grateful for his kindness and goodness.  He is a wonderful servant of the Lord and we are so blessed to be under his spiritual tutelage.  He is indeed a blessing in our lives.

That same week we experienced yet another blessing as Libby and David and Kate were able to take our luggage for England to Utah  so we did not have to lug an extra 300 pounds of luggage to Boston. Our first stop on the road to our mission was in Boston to attend the blessing of Chris and Jenna's new sweetheart Hannah Joy who was born on Valentines Day. How perfect is that?  She is the sweetest most calm little soul and we soaked up every moment we could with her and her brother and sister. Oh my we do love those Littles!!

Hannah's Blessing Day April 10, 2016

 We went to the movies together....

And Mary Claire turned THREE in her Elsa wig and princess dress 

pushing her new baby buggy!!

And while all this occurred in Boston, out west a celebration of it's own was in order as Joseph and Ana-Lisa welcomed their firstborn, Henry Michael Mullen on Thursday April 7th.  Gratefully he came safely.  We were so very thankful for that blessing.  Mom and Dad were definitely smitten as were all of us!!

Meet Henry Michael Mullen....sooo cute!!

As these new lives entered our little family we also had the opportunity to connect with heaven as we laid the headstone for Gram's grave.  It has literally been years in the making but the final product is so representative of who she was and still is to our family...I miss her so very much.  I have LOVED having this month with my siblings.  We missed having Sherry and Sue there with us.  I am so grateful to be able to share life and heaven with these souls.

So the blessings just kept pouring in....Chris and Jenna and the kids joined us in Utah for Joseph's graduation.  How fun was that to be all together?  THE BEST!!  We attended Joseph's graduation from the BYU Marriott School of Business majoring in marketing and Pre-dental.  He will be attending UCLA School of Dentistry beginning in September of this year.  Well done Joseph!!

Then we spent the weekend soaking in every moment possible.  How grateful we are that Chris and Jenna joined us.  Memories to hold us for the next 18 months!!

Brothers and Cousins...does the mother heart good!!

The flowers at Temple Square were stunning...the family even moreso!

Giggling cousins!

Grampas and boulders....so much fun!!

Then that glorious weekend continued with the blessing of little Henry and the celebration of Ana-Lisa's birthday!!  A glorious weekend indeed!!

BLESSINGS ABOUND!!