NEWS of the WEEK

GOOD DAY FROM LONDON!

We enjoyed our time in church today, and are grateful for each opportunity to partake of the Sacrament and to worship with gratitude.  Today was Ward Conference, and we had seven speakers, with the Stake emphasizing not a stake agenda but one from the bishopric/individual wards throughout the stake.  We've had Transfers in the Mission, which also affect which missionaries attend our ward.  This time we have our former office elder, Elder Landon Johnson, with a new companion, Elder Espinosa, from Salt Lake City.  Also, we have still Elder Morley, Elder Jentzsch, and new AP Elder Cusick, from Herriman, Utah.  Elder Monk has been transferred and is now a zone leader.  We also have still Elder Ambihaipahan, from Norway, with his new English companion, Elder Smith.  Each new companionship change enriches the companionship, their assignments, and the wards to which they are assigned.

We now have a new office-assistants couple, Elder Darrell and Sister Shelley Miles.  They live in Wembley, outside of London, and are reactivation missionaries, but they have some extra time and so the mission president has reassigned them to help us in the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  We are delighted for the extra help.  It turns out that Shelley Miles, who retired from State of Utah/Health Department employment last year, is the HR person who "hired" Don when he started working at Healthcare Finance.  Sister Miles will be the "Fleet Manager" and Elder Miles will be the "Flat Manager."

Transfers brought about many changes, mostly to the zone leader assignments.  Some new, some renewed, and some retired [just transferred to other areas to teach others..  We did not have any new missionaries come this past week, but we did send Elder Morgan home via train to northern England/Darlington; and Elder Duschletta's mother came to the office to pick her son up on Friday; they are going to tour the mission before returning home to Switzerland.  I had some email correspondance with Elder Duschletta's mother over the past few months, and by way of thanks she brought me some Swiss cookies -- nice!

With Transfers and MOVES over we continue a forward motion into interviews with the MP throughout the mission, and soon it will be time to put together the mission newsletter, TRUTH WILL PREVAIL, our winter issue.  Elder Hawley has been busy-busy with a set of auditors/trainers from Solihull for two days this past week, and he has shown what good he has been doing, and has also learned much for future.  He and President Patch are also working together to find ways to save the mission money.  It helps, when two zone leaders, in separate car accidents, totaled two of the mission vehicles.  It is costly, but not tragic.  Tragedy would be if someone had been hurt or killed in any of the vehicles, and thankfully, this was not the case.  The president's car and the APs car both were replaced [high mileage, usual Church procedure] with new vehicles this week also.  

Weatherwise it is getting slightly warmer here in London . . . degree by slow degree.  We heard it said at church today that Spring may indeed be not far away, and we are grateful indeed for a lessening of the really frigid temperatures of this winter season.  We have even had some lovely sunny periods this past week -- still cold, somewhat windy, but lovely and bright and cheery.  We continue to work on regular office assignments:  flats, moves, telephones, referrals, reimbursements and pre-imbursements.  

Sister Hawley has begun the spring mission season by sending out letters to parents about travel-home arrangements for their sons and daughters.  Once the parents send back information like which airport they want their missionaries flown home to, or that they will indeed becoming to London to pick up their missionaries, then Sister Hawley uses the Church Global Visa Management program to request travel for each missionary.  It's a fun assignment, and one that she enjoys doing, both for the families and for the missionaries, who try really hard not to think about being "short-timers" at this stage.

With the warmer weather Elder and Sister Hawley hope to get out of London more, and in March we have planned a trip to Ipswich to visit Elder/Sister Ricks, who are reactivation missionaries there.  We also plan to seek out some places that fall within mission boundaries of birthplaces or homes where English novelists lived, which is an interest of Sister Hawley's.

We hope to see more of downtown London, to take a ride on the Thames, to also [as a senior's FHE activity in April] take a riverboat ride down the SE waterways, and to attend the famous Chelsea Flower Show at the end of May.  Giving full dedication to the office and our mission assignments during the week is fulfilling and enriching.  Doing other things to provide balance on a Saturday is restorative and informative.  How fortunate are we!

Here are more photos of our beloved missionaries.  These wonderful, hardworking, dedicated and faithful young elders and sisters inspire us and enrich our lives here.  

We love the Lord and are so grateful that He 

gives us opportunities to serve this couples' 

mission, to be of assistance to others, to give

our small portion of kindness to those in need,

even, or especially, without notice, but with

thoughts of the Gifts of our Savior.  How sweet

are the "multiplicity of blessings."

We love each of you.  Elder and Sister Hawley

"Walking on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London.  How blessed are we!