Last week our daughter Debbie encouraged us to go and see the new Pixar/Disney production "UP." We loved it! And yes, we do indeed have that 'Spirit of Adventure!' Guess we'd better pack A LOT of BALLOONS and be prepared to "inflate" and infuse them with our own spirit and testimony and faith!
Last Wednesday we went to lunch with Don and Diane Snow, recently returned FHC missionaries from the ELM. Elder Snow has created a web page with LOTS of helps and hints for missionaries going to the ELM. Don and Diane have been so generous in answering our questions, providing sources for further information, and sharing with us their love for their mission and for the Lord and His gospel plan.
When we collected the Wednesday mail we found the much-anticipated letter from ELM President Clayton Foulger, welcoming us to the England London Mission, sharing his testimony with us, and providing us with further information to help us in our preparations. He wrote of speaking with President Patch, who will arrive in London on July 1st: "He is expecting to have you work in the mission office to assist him in the administrative and financial operations and affaires of the mission." We have also had the help of two office missionaries, Elders Hall and Weibel. We are spending many hours on the computer, looking for flats in the Queen's Gate, Knightsbridge, South Kensington areas, which are all close enough to Exhibition Road and the mission office. Expensive, yes. Some very nice indeed, and in a beautiful area so close to Hyde Park. We look forward to enjoying our walks to and from the office. We are told about London weather that . . . it is less foggy than Americans expect; that it's more misty every day, perhaps drizzly, rather than rainy; and that England is in the 7th year of a drought! Also, that some sort of head covering [plastic hat that fits in a purse or pocket for women] will be more useful than would carrying an umbrella around every day. We are grateful for lightweight raincoats with/without hoods and liners, which we think will serve us well.
Yesterday we gathered items to ship to the London office ahead of our arrival. When an apartment is advertised as "furnished" or "fully furnished" this does not include linens like towels and sheets. Nor does it include dishes, utinsils, pots and pans. We have decided to wait to purchase pots and pans, and to see if things like toasters are going to be provided in the kitchens. But we can save some money [we lose half the U.S. dollar in the conversion to pounds] if we send some of our own extra linens, towels and other items. We can also pack in the box some small kitchen or bath items, and perhaps some books that we won't need until we get there. Each project we complete brings us closer to our departure date and closer to the beginning of our Big Adventure.
Today we remember our fathers, the ones we knew, dearly loved and miss, the ancestral fathers whom we hope to become acquainted with some day, and the ones we know today . . . husbands, sons, brothers, uncles, friends & neighbors. We express our deepest gratitude for you, and for your excellent examples and for all the blessings you bring into our lives. And, from our hearts, we love and thank our Heavenly Father, and know that because of Him, we are blessed indeed. We hope you who are fathers are having a wonderful day. You deserve it. We cherish you and what we learn of and from each of you. And, just as an aside, THANK YOU for GRANDCHILDREN, nieces & nephews & cousins! In my heart is a special place for my husband, and the father of our children. Thank you for all you do and are. We are traveling hand in hand. ILUM.
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