Number Sixty-Five and Moving Ahead

One more week has come and gone.  They seem to go so fast.  Actually we are feeling a little relieved today.

We had a stake (London Wandsworth) come to us and ask us to teach all their leadership about family history.  They we willing to call all the Bishops, High Priest Group Leaders, Elder's Quorum Presidencies, Relief Society Presidencies, youth leaders, mission leaders, etc., etc. and have them come to a two hour training on a Saturday morning.  We stewed and fretted and practiced and continued to revise our presentation until the last minute.

Worker in the Archives

Worker - Making Copies

We called the member of the stake presidency that we had been working with and asked if he had some equipment for us to use.  We also asked if he could produce a few handouts for the attendees.  In the process of his agreeing, we asked how many he thought would be there -- he said maybe 20 or 30. Members don't show up, he said, to meetings like this. We had almost 50 and every ward in the stake was represented except the Spanish speaking branch.  We felt pretty good about our presentations and it took us all of the two hours that we were allotted.  We had worked pretty hard on putting a massive powerpoint together and had tried to get all the latest information from the Church to share.  There will be lots of followup to do and several more opportunities to teach and train.

Instructor of Stake Leaders

Wandsworth Stake Leaders

Monday was part of the Easter holiday and there wasn't a lot of things open around here.  Most of the rest of the week was spent with the usual -- helping in the family history centre, tutoring the centre staff, shopping cleaning, etc.  Powerpoint was the key word for the week.  Wednesday and Saturday were the big days.

Wednesday was probably our busiest day.  Elder Smart did a daytime presentation to a group of 21 from U3A (University of the Third Age), kind of a learning opportunity for oldies.  In the evening we had two appointments -- a conference call with family history leaders and a home teaching/baby visit to the Goodlets whose new born baby was introduced to us.  Cute; cute; cute.  Jonas Goodlet.

Goodletts & Son

Missionary - Goodlet Baby

Thursday and Friday were both powerpoint days along with other miscellaneous activities.

Of course, the best day is still Sunday.  We get to meet with the members and enjoy their spirit.  We probably said it before, but we sure do love our ward and the members are wonderful (in the Queen's English -- "BRILLIANT")

Have we said before that we also have a "Brilliant" family. We miss you all so much and are starting to get a little more excited about returning home.  We get excited about accomplishments of our kids and grandkids. We get excited about family successes.  We get excited about opportunities to teach and share.

Until our next time of writing we bear witness that the work of the Lord is moving ahead and that we are so happy to be here in His service.

Love to you all,

Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Annie and Paul, Sister and Elder Smart

Ugly Archive Bird

Week 64 HOW TIME FLIES!

We have had a little bit of a break this week.  No scheduled conferences and the LFHC  closed
Thursday evening for the Easter holiday and will not be opened until Tuesday morning.  You would think that this country is very religious, but we think that it is a convenient way to get a holiday (or should we say a couple of holidays). Our week included helping other senior missionaries with their family history. We also spent time organizing our presentation for our meetings next week.  We, once again, had to take the car in for service.  We had a warning light telling us that there was a problem, $33.00 later, it turned out to be only a $1 burned out tail light  (did you get that cost; $1 for bulb; $32 to figure out it was a bulb)  :o).

On our day off, we found time to visit the Brompton Cemetery where Paul's ancestor, Mary Major was buried.  The cemetery office wasn't open and even though we had the lot number, we had no idea how to find the grave.  We will make another trip there before we leave this country when we can get into the office for help.  This cemetery is a beautiful historic sight and one of 7 major cemeteries created in London in the mid 1800s.

Brompton Cemetery

Brompton Cemetery

We celebrated Easter by attending our own Staines Ward for church.  It had been a month since we last attended due to speaking assignments and general conference. Many of the members thought we must have been released since they hadn't seen us for a while.  It was good to return to our Ward.

Our enormous hams for Easter Dinner

We planned as close as possible an Easter dinner like the ones we're used to in the states.  We found a ham to bake, after much searching. At first, the only thing we could find was pork roast.  We finally found someone in the store that was able to help us find a ham.  Of course, it only came in small packages, but tasted good.  We bought two and fixed one for one set of Elders in the ward that did not have a dinner invitation.  Their schedule did not allow time for them to come to our flat, so we took the cooked dinner to the church so that they could warm it and eat it after meetings were over today.  We were appalled when we learned that someone at church must have been real hungry and ate part of the dinners left for the missionaries.  They helped themselves to a roll and a few other things.

Happy Birthday to Emyli this week.  She turns five.

We just discovered that we neglected to mention Alayna and Tanner's Birthdays a couple of weeks ago. Hope they had a good one!

Alayna age 5

Tanner age 3

                                                                                 

                                                     







Have we ever mentioned how much we enjoy doing these blogs -- not.  Well it's okay.  We take turns and it makes it not so bad.  Notice the smile on the following:

Happy Blogger

We are so grateful for the atonement of Christ and all that means for us.  Not only does it allow us to repent of our wrong doings and receive forgiveness, but it allows us to feel the tender mercies of Christ in our lives.   The blessings that are ours from the atonement is much more than any of us can even imagine.  This season brings joy in Christ and his love for us.

Love,


Grandpa and Grandma, Mom and Dad,  Paul and Annie, Elder and Sister Smart

Sixty-three Weeks and Still Going Strong!!

This week started out much like many of the others -- family history centre work, home teaching, visiting teaching and other work as we tried to get ready for a big weekend.

Annie didn't feel well for most of the week.  She couldn't eat a lot, but that was probably because not much was coming out on the other end.  Paul finally convinced her to see the doctor, which she did on Friday.  He gave her a prescription that fixed her plumbing and now both ends are doing much better.

Paul spent a lot of the week getting ready to make a couple of presentations for the GOONS.  We think we explained who they are last week.  It's always a challenge to gear a presentation for a specific group and to create a handout for those that attend.  Paul is so finicky that it seems to take forever to get a presentation ready.  He has to have the right look, the right colors, the proper sequence of slides, etc., etc.  Anyway, he worked for most of two or three full days getting things in order.

We have also been struggling to get our taxes completed, but with some good help from home, we signed and finalized everything this past week.  Guess we shouldn't have sold the Tooele home last year.  It really hurt us, at least tax wise. To Annie's credit, she did most of the work getting things ready.

The big day came for the presentation we mentioned earlier.  We left Saturday morning for Ashford, Kent -- about 80 miles from our London home.  We got there in nice time and we are pleased to say that the car didn't act up.  We had a nice room, good meals and all the equipment worked.  Paul made one presentation on Saturday afternoon and one on Sunday morning.  People were complimentary and seemed to enjoy what was presented.  We worried a little about Church and were nearly prepared to attend a non-denominational service at the hotel.  However we checked lds.org and found that there was a ward in Ashford.  Better still, we found that it was just around the corner from the hotel.  So, Paul made his presentation and immediately following it, we drove to the Church and got there just in time for Sacrament Meeting.  Following sacrament meeting, we arrived back at the hotel just in time for lunch.  After a few good byes, we were finished about 2:30 pm.

Paul (before haircut) Presentation

Paul (after haircut) Presentation

Annie @ Conference Banquet -- Will Mission Pres. Approve Beverages
Is She Excited About These Or What -- Check Out Her Expression

We discovered that we were not too far from Dover.  It held some historical interest for both of us.  We decided to see it.  So, we drove about another half hour east.  Upon descending into the city, we immediate saw the famous white cliffs of Dover and drove around.  We drove through some very beautiful country with lots of green fields and sheep and lots of spring blooms everywhere.  As with many places here in England, we saw a big castle on the hill and stopped and took a few pictures.  Then it was a two hour drive back home.

White Cliffs of Dover

Dover Castle

Kathie share a picture of some of the work of our granddaughter, Harlie.  She has learned a lot this year from working in a greenhouse and loves working with plants.  Her whole family has got interested and is looking forward to having a nice garden -- mostly because of a developed talent and interest from Harlie. Way to go Harlie!

Harlie's Plant in Window

On another note, we are saddened to learn of Paul's sister's surgery.  Donna had her shoulder operated on this week and is in some serious pain.  Our faith and prayers go out to Donna for a quick and successful recovery.

As is usual, we would like you all to know that we love the Lord and are pleased to be in His service.  We love working with the members and nonmembers here in England.  The Lord has been good to us and we hope to express our love to Him by doing our little part here to help.  We are excited that this next week is Easter.  We recognize what the Lord did for us as we celebrate the Easter season.  It is particularly lovely at this time of year here in England.  May you all be blessed to appreciate all that took place many years ago by our Lord and Savior.

Love,

Grandma and grandpa, Mom and Dad, Annie and Paul, Sister and Elder Smart

Week 62 " busy work" week

This week has been filled with all kinds of "busy work".   We have sent out many emails to stake leaders in the 4 stakes we have been assigned to.  We have outlined goals and messages that we have been sharing with these stakes.  Our taxes have been finalized this week, (hallelujah!)  The end of the month (March) paper work that our new calling required, was completed.  We started the week with a whole page list of "busy work".  We have been crossing it off one item at a time as we have completed each item. 

Sister Smart tried to do as much of the "busy work" as possible, because Elder Smart was busy trying to research and put together a presentation he is making this week for the GOONS (Guild of One Name Studies).  This is a unique genealogy group that studies names instead of ancestral lines of genealogy. 

We spent 2 days this week working at the LFHC with Elder Smart mentoring the staff again and Sister Smart taking their place on the floor helping patrons.  We then spent 2 more days at the LFHC trying to get everything on the "to do" list accomplished.  We needed to have both of us on a computer with a printer to accomplish all that we had to do, so we went to the center to work.  It works well for Annie, but not for Paul.  Anytime the staff sees him at the center they continually ask for his help on a genealogy question.  He did not get to spend the time he needed on the power point presentation.  Next time we try it, he will probably go to the far end of the archive computers (to hide) and then only go to the LFHC when he is ready to print.  There are definitely some disadvantages to having so much ability with genealogy research.  Annie has learned so much from him, that many of the requests for research assistance, Paul turns over to her. 

It has been much like Spring this week.  Nature is starting its cycle all over again.  Our TNA swans have laid eggs and we are watching and waiting for things to happen.  We only caught the mother off her nest once last week and 3 eggs were present.  Last year she laid 10 and so it is probable that there are a lot more eggs there now, but we have yet to get a view of them -- she's always on the nest.

Swan sitting on her nest

Conference on television just like at home is so much fun for us.  We look forward to each session.  Watching them live is great.  Morning sessions come on at 5:00 p.m and afternoon sessions we watch starting at 9:00 p.m.

We enjoyed having Rebecca and Mentor over for lunch yesterday.  They are a couple who used to live in our Staines Ward that recently married and moved to Liverpool.  They are returning to their home lands (Australia and Nigeria) and are leaving the UK this week.

We have a strong testimony of the gospel and enjoy sharing it when we can.  We have 3 home teaching families that allow us to share with them.  Annie also has 6 ladies to Visit Teach each month (4 households).  Life is still very busy, but different than it was at the first of our mission when we were digitizing each day.  We pray that we can serve as the Lord would have us do.

We send our love to all of you.  We miss you all.

Love,

Grandma and Grandpa, Mom and Dad, Paul and Annie, Elder and Sister Smart

Do we look like tourists or what?
Windsor Castle - Three Guards