NEWS of the WEEK

Well, it is getting colder in London. This week we saw snow flurries on two days, nothing that sticks, but cold enough to snow. Areas out side of London report 2 to 4 inches on the ground. We have a Sister Missionary from Portugal whose box from home with her winter coat has not been received, so she will be cold. The members will help her until the box can be located. Because the humidity is so high, at about 80%, the cold is very penetrating, especially with the wind. We are, however, doing very well and so is the mission.

Christmas is all around with posters, lights, and the stores all decked out, just like any US city. They have succeeded in removing Christ from Christmas here as well as the rest of the World. We note that the "peace on earth, good will to men" is possible only as the heart of each person is changed by receiving Christ and taking on His loving attitude and being loving to all mankind. If the good will is present, then the peace on earth will follow. So we continue to invite everyone to come unto Christ and partake of his love and the blessings of the Gospel. The world is changed by one heart being changed at a time.

We are inundated with mail and packages and are trying to get them out to the missionaries before Christmas. The President and his wife are taking packages this week out to the various zones to help get them there before Christmas. We are certainly busy. Sister Hawley's computer had a security fault and locked her out of her computer and after over 4 hours with Gobal Help Desk of the Church's IT department in Salt Lake, most of her files have been restored and a new user profile set up. This has caused alot of problems and is not completely fixed yet. But hopefully, she can again process the boat load of work she must do each day to keep current. She is the star of the office and keeps it running and is great for the missionaries to have as a resource and a surrogate mother on occasion. Brother Hawley has some additional year end financial details to accomplish this week and has a list to complete before the end of the year. All reimbursements for the year must be processed by the end of the day Monday, 21 Dec. Yup, there is plenty to do.

We have no Christmas decorations in our flat and are to busy and never home long enough to enjoy them anyway. Our Christmas will be quiet and cozy here in our flat as the public transportation system all shuts down for two days during the holiday, so every where we go we must walk. Even the taxis stop running. Merry Christmas to all. Christmas is to be with family and to think about the real message of Christmas which is the great gift to mankind provided by the Savior. Christ brought to pass the blessing of the resurrection where every person will resurrect and physically be brought back into the presence of God to be judged to see if we have learned to live according to celestial law and be capable of living in the presence of God. To that end Christ suffered the punishment of the sins of all men so that they will not be subject to the punishment of their sins on condition of their true repentance and rehabilitation so that they are willing to obey and their hearts are changed so they are capable to living according to celestial law. Thus, Christ overcame death and hell and we should use Christmas as a time of gratitude for the gift of His life and His atonement. Glorious are these thoughts and sentiments. We are most grateful to be in His service and helping to invite all to come to Christ.

"They shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and the very points of his doctrine, that they may know how to come unto him and be saved." Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 15:14

Missionary work is teaching people "that they may know how to come unto him and be saved."

Merry Christ to you all from London! May the blessings of the Lord be upon you and His peace find place in your heart.

NEWS of the WEEK

This past week has been full of many activities. On Monday Sister Hawley prepared the monthly President's report on baptisms. She also completed the ELM newsletter, Truth Will Prevail, in time to print enough copies to pass out to all mission companionships. Elder Hawley received 6 of our mission vehicles being recalled. He also contracted on three flats for three companionships to move into. On Tuesday afternoon President Kopischke arrived for his tour of the England London Mission. Elder Kopischke is the area president and regional representative for the Church and he is from Frankfort, German. Each evening he met with stake officers. On Wednesday and Thursday all 8 mission zones congregated in the chapel to hear Elder Kopischke's counsel, instruction, and enthusiasm for missionary work. A fine ham Christmas luncheon was prepared both days for 70 missionaries each day by a wonderful and generous group of sisters from the Hyde Park Ward. On Friday Elder Kopischke met with and instructed the mission zone leaders. It was a busy week, full of much activity. At the end of each zone conference meetings, Elder and Sister Hawley swapped out old Nokia mobile phones for new Samsung phones, making many companionships, who'd been making do with semi-functional telephones, very, very happy. This fall we've said farewell to some dear missionaries who have been released, including the Inskeep's and Elder Conner Gietz, the senior AP when we arrived in the mission. We've greeted missionaries from all around the world, including Brazil, Portugal, and Italy. And we've enthusiastically watched as Elder Avanesyan "graduated" from his English tutors to "fly on his own" with a new area assignment and companionship.

Some words of counsel from Elder Kopischke & President Patch:

-- Put your head in the heavens. You will know that all things are possible.

-- Know what is right. Do what is right. Teach what is right.

[President Patch's definition of Leadership]

-- What is my hope for this conference? It is important to be instructed by the Spirit of the Lord.

-- Focus: Give a face to your dream. We learn from our own experience, and then we can testify of its truthfulness. It increases our faith. Then we can teach others. [Ether 12:19]

-- Personal righteousness increases your power to teach.

-- Covenants are our safety net. We can have our agency, and our covenants provide balance, boundaries, protection & prevention.

-- Agency is to act as God would act.

-- You can act but not enforce.

-- The Spirit teaches. The Spirit converts. The Spirit makes known and familiar. [PMG, Chapter 11; D&C 42:14]

-- Faith is a principle of action and power and desires.

-- Miracles come by the will of God. You are not responsible for the miracles, but you are responsible for the effort. Let desire grow until it finds some place in your heart. [Alma 32:28]

-- I will go,... and do,... what the Lord has commanded, because I know the Lord giveth no commandment save He shall prepare a way for them....

NEWS of the WEEK

GREETINGS from Sometimes Sunny/Sometimes Rainy London. Although it can be either one, wait 5 minutes and the weather will change. Another thing we've learned is that the high temperature and the low temperature for most days are quite close together, so it doesn't feel all that cold, even in December, and that's OK by us. What we are surprised about is that wearing a scarf around the neck really does make a positive difference in whether we feel warm or cold. I'm all for scarves now!

Elder Hawley was asked to be "Santa" for the Young Single Adults [YSA] this week. Elder & Sister Little are over the YSA and are senior couple missionaries like we are. What they didn't know is that Elder Hawley is really one of the real Santa Claus's elves, and he knows this job like the back of his hand! Many years ago when we first moved to Utah after completing dental school, we had neighbors who were really into the Spirit of Service and Giving. The Mrs designed and sewed her husband a wonderful Santa Claus suit, complete with boots, belt, bells, beard, hat, fur, glasses and hair. Her husband would go 'round to all the children in the neighborhood, and for them, he WAS the real Santa Claus. The first year we lived there he came into our house and sat on our son Jeff's and daughter Debbie's beds and asked them if they'd been good [they were all of 3 and 2 years of age then], and what they wanted for Christmas. He was WONDERFUL! When he passed away, his wife came and gifted Don with the suit, and Don lovingly wore that suit and went around the neighborhood in this man's footsteps each Christmas Eve for many, many years afterwards. We've now passed the suit on our one of our sons, and hope that he too will bless the lives of many children when he helps Santa at Christmastime.

The photo above shows Elder Little on Santa's knee. It was another happy evening. It always is, isn't it, when we share our love of Christmas and Christ with others.

Last week in the mission we greeted one new sister and one new elder missionary. The sister is from Portugal and the elder is from England. Each has such a strong testimony. Next week we greet two more new elders, one from Australia and one from Albania. The England London Mission is really a melting pot of cultures and traditions and languages. It's an extraordinary experience to have, and we are grateful for it and we are enjoying and learning from it. We are trying to help a sister missionary from Pakistan who has her call but not her visa to finally get the OK to come here and fulfill her mission call to the ELM.

This week we have our area representative coming to tour our mission. He has requested that all zones come into the Hyde Park Chapel for zone conference -- four zones on Wednesday, and four zones on Thursday. Our area rep is Elder Kopischke. We have a local sister and her committee who will prepare a ham Christmas luncheon for 70 people each of the two days! Bless her heart! Sister Hawley is preparing the ELM newsletter, TRUTH WILL PREVAIL, so that each companionship gets a copy. We now have 138 missionaries. Preparation of text and photos usually takes 4-5 days [intermingled with whatever else needs to be done], and Sister Hawley is playing catch-up after getting sick with a nasty case of the flu that had her down in bed for 5 days. Fortunately she has been blessed with a renewal of health, for which she is most grateful. The MP has written his 'President's Message,' and Elder Hawley is writing a list of training items to go into the newsletter. In addition, Sister Hawley adds the 'Departing Words' from missionaries who have been released during the past 6-12 weeks, and also includes photos of these released missionaries, photos of the newest missionaries, where they are from, and any birthdays for this period. When space permits she adds scriptures, spiritual thoughts and photos of ELM missionaries.

NEWS of the WEEK

We were informed last summer that 10 vehicles would be taken from the mission in a cost saving move by the Church. This week we were notified that we need to prepare to let the 10 cars go by the end of the year and preferrably by the end of November. This is a reduction from 30 cars down to 20 so it is a major reduction. The missionaries will now walk or use public transportaton with just a few being able to use bicycles. Brother Hawley has arranged for the first four to go this Thursday and the missionaries will bring in four on Wednesday and leave them over night to be ready for the car transport to pick them up on Thursday. We have so very little parking in London at the Hyde Park Chapel that we hope all goes well.

Transfers week in next week and we have been busy getting things ready for the moves. The President and his Assistants give us the information as to where each proselyting pair will be and we input in the to computer system. This system online controls the flats, the money base support for the missionaries and allows us to reimburse each missionary for any additional costs incurred and also keeps track of the 60 plus mobile telephones in the mission. It is a great shuffle to relocate 57 proselyting pairs. Some what of a giant jigsaw puzzle. Sister Hawley is in charge of this operation and is doing a great job. It is just interesting for Sister Hawley to enter this into the computer and some missionaries come by and want to know what is going on. They have wandering eyes and try to find out if they are being transferred. Of course this is a great interruption to Sister Hawley as she graciously tells them to find another place to be. The actual transfers will take place on Wednesday next week and the missionaries are informed on Monday night that they will move on Wednesday.

We seem to be getting faster and better at our jobs as we actually went home by 5 or 6 PM most every day this week. Saturday was fun as we were given permission to travel to the London Temple about 23 miles away for temple attendance. What a real spiritual treat. We road the tube (subway) to Victoria Station, purchased train tickets for Lingfield and traveled by train for about 48 minutes. The trains are new and very nice, with many stops along the way and are powered by electricity so they are very smooth. We called a taxi for the 5 mile ride from the train station to the Temple. The Country side was green and pastural with sheep and cows scattered about, very lovely. It was raining most of the day but we did not get very wet, umberellas are a must in London.

We purchased a little book this week called "The Greatest Thing in the World" which is about Charity and Love by Englishman Henry Drummond. This was written in the 19th century, but contains some wonderful truths and insights about 1st Corinthians chapter 13 and Charity which is, as we learn in the Book of Mormon, the pure love of Christ. Charity is a gift from God, it is more than benevolence but is tasting God's love for us by humility and contrition on our part and in the process God allows us partake of His Love and we are changed, an actual change of heart that expands our view of life, of people, of ourselves, and we want to reach out and share and give to people in a greater way, in a Christ-like way. It is like Lehi's Dream in the Book of Mormon. He takes hold of the word of God, the Scriptures, and is lead to the tree of life and tastes of the fruit which is symbolic of the love of God and is most precious to the soul. Once Lehi partook, his first response was to seek his family and share with them what he had found. It is the love we receive from God that changes us and makes us greater, expands us, and spiritually grows us to want to be good and do good to everyone. We see everyone as our brother and sister and we want to share the Gospel with everyone, so they can taste the fruit, the Love of God also. That is why Charity of the greatest all, of both faith and and hope. We are experiencing such spiritual growth and are being changed in a very good way. This change makes us most happy in our work. Henry Drummonds work just takes a deeper look at love and its components and consequences and how it is the essence of true religion. Most Christ-like characteristics grow out of Charity, such as patience, kindness, meekness, humility and benevolence.

NEWS of the WEEK

Perhaps the highlight of the week for me came when I was entering the name of a man who had just been baptised this past month into the Church's Convert Date Entry or CDE. As I read through the submitted baptism form I saw that this man's wife and two children were already members of the Church. Which means that in one year's time he and his wife and children will be able to go to a temple of the Lord to be sealed for Time and for All Eternity. Many of the entries I make are for single or divorced individuals, with or without children. So when an individual, by his or her choice to be baptised, also unites his or her family, it brings such a feeling of happiness into my heart. This is the desire of our Lord and Savior: to unite families and to give all the fullness of the temple blessings.

Last week we heard of our ward/stake temple day coming up on November 21st. Knowing the new policy for missionaries, we at first didn't think we could go. However, as suggested by our mission president, we sent him an email petitioning our request to be allowed to attend with our ward members in order to unite with them and support them, especially the newly endowed ward members. The president forwarded our email to the area representative, who emailed back that indeed we do have permission to attend the London Temple this coming Saturday. We are thrilled. It is so close to our U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving that we will go with gratitude and thanksgiving in our minds and hearts. We plan to take the train from Victoria Station to Lingfield, and from there, a taxi to the temple. We want to travel this way so as to maximize the time we will be able to spend there at the temple. We think we can do more than one session this way.

Both Elder and Sister Hawley have enjoyed some quieter, somewhat slower days in the office this past week. It has enabled us to "catch a breather" and to get some more assignments done on our own time as compared with having to do them in a rush or when a lot of activities [and noise] are going on around us. We've even been able NOT to stay in the office 12 hours a day, but to leave on the early side. Sister Hawley has been helping Elder Hawley with the flat searches and has offered to help lighten his load. Elder Hawley in turn has given Sister Hawley the task of Missionary Reimbursements, which Sister Hawley is enjoying; she also finds that this job is one that can be done in the slower moments of her day, and she likes learning to do new things.

The APs did another workover near the U.S. air base [and commissary], and were so nice to bring us another case of A & W Root Beer. E/S Hawley will have to reciprocate by fixing them root beer floats! Sister Hawley has also made her almond sour cream bundt pound cake to slice and share with all of the missionaries who are "regulars" in the office: the APs, the office elders, the Britannia elders and sisters, the Spanish elders and sisters, and she'll even have a few extra slices on hand for those who just "drop by."

This coming week brings "finish MOVES" for the president, which means that he has a deadline every six weeks to finish his spiritual decisions on transfers within the mission. This time he has something else that has increased the difficulty factor: Area leaders have told us that 10 cars will be withdrawn from the mission total of 30 -- we are told that England has more vehicles than any other UK or European country -- and that they will not be replaced. So he has been pondering and praying over these two aspects of transfers for the last 10 days to 2 weeks, alone and with the advice of the APs and of course with prayer and the Spirit to guide him. He also has shared one or two other considerations with us. Once he has made his final decisions, the APs will go to his flat and take two photos of the "President's Board" there, and these photos will be given to Sister Hawley, whose turn it becomes to make those changes official through iMOS [Internet Missionary Operating System]. Once these changes are made and are uploaded, she then prints out two new copies of phone numbers and organizational rosters. These changes also tell her what other responsibilities will become active for Transfers week next week. Included in these "in-house" changes is one former AP's departure as his mission has come to its natural conclusion, and we will indeed miss him as he is one of the best. Also on the calendar is the arrival of one elder and one sister missionary coming by train from the Preston Missionary Training Centre. This is quite a small group. In one month we will say goodbye to another missionary, and welcome two more. And then we will see no changes for at least 2 more transfer periods, and maybe three. In April of 2010 we should see an increase of activity, which we will welcome. The final project for Sister Hawley will be to create the Truth Will Prevail newsletter, as it is published every other transfer period and is to be printed the week before zone conferences so as to make it easy to give every missionary a copy. From the missionaries who are or have gone home we will have printed their "departing words." And photos of them and of the new missionaries who have arrived since the last issue will also be included, as well as a new President's message. It's fun to do and the missionaries look forward to reading it.

When there are changes in the mission these changes automatically involve Elder Hawley. If we were to divide our responsibilities into halves, Elder Hawley is responsible for anything financial, and Sister Hawley is responsible for office duties and anything involving people. Elder Hawley will be finding some new flats for some companionships based on possible changes for missionaries who will lose their vehicles by the above change. It isn't easy just to say, well, this car is old and has the most miles, so it's on the list to go. It matters where the missionaries are located, and how wide their proselyting area is. If there is good public transportation, then not having a car may precipitate them moving from outside the city or town closer into the city center so as to access that public transportation to get to the various parts of their assigned area and also to be closer to the chapel where meetings and some teaching appointments are held. Elder Hawley is a good source for the missionaries and he gets many phone calls each day, which he trouble-shoots one by one. He also acts as "middleman" between the missionaries as tenants and the landlords or owners of the flats they [or rather the Church] rents in their behalf.

What is fun is to have no day like the one previous or the one yet to come. We are being trained to become more flexible as well as more patient and more knowledgeable. It brings such blessings into our lives, and we rejoice in this opportunity to serve the Lord's children and to help in our small ways to bring to pass His work.

One final comment: on the way to church this morning we passed a new addition to the neighborhood: across the street from our Hyde Park Chapel building is the Natural History Museum. It is such a beautifully and architecturally constructed building, and really quite large. The 'front gardens' are long and spacious. At holiday time an ice rink is set up with both a portable restaurant and an outside snack shack, and beside these attractions are a large lighted Christmas tree and medium-sized merry-go-round. I'm not sure we want to risk a fall-down on the ice, but perhaps we will take a ride and drink some hot cocoa on a cold evening before we catch the C1 home. [See attached photos.]

NEWS of the WEEK

Another week has flown by. The weather is cooling but holding nicely in the low to mid 50's in the day and high 40's in the night. We went to Windsor Castle by train on Saturday, October 31st. The day began with light rain and we were out the door by 8 AM to catch the train from Waterloo Station. We rode the train for about an hour to Windsor town at a cost of about 5.50 pounds. The way was pretty, green, with many small towns and many houses, but some areas with open land, farms, meadows and waterways. The castle sits on a hill, elevated about 100 feet above the Thames River as it was a defensive castle/fort in for most of the time. William the Conqueror began the building and it has been added to by the many monarchs over the years. Windsor has been inhabited by kings or queens continuously for over 900 years, the longest in modern history. It stands on about 600 acreas of land and is quite glorious. The "Royal Apartments" were lavish and grand. Much on the order of the Buckingham Palace, with gold ornamentation all about. There is a distinct military leaning with armour, spears, swords, old flint-lock guns, and weapons of the King's guard decoratively hung about on the walls. Queen Mary was given a doll house in the early 1900's that is on display. It is to scale [1 x 12] of an English manor house of the day, complete with beds, running water, electricity and it was really quite something. The house is over 8 feet tall and wide. We went through the gothic chapel , St. George's Chapel, which has the tombs of many of the royalty, including Queen Mary, Henry the VIII, his personal favorite wife, Jane Seymour, and many other notables. Oliver Cromwell used Windsor as a headquarters when he was deposing the Royalty in the 1600's. The pictures might give the large size and scale of this castle. It is still used by the current Queen Elizabeth and her family, and is a favorite place for her on weekends and vacations. Being just 10 or so miles west of Heathrow Airport it is an easy journey for her from Buckingham Palace in the city. We in America have a hard time relating to the notion of a king, queen, or any royalty. We are not used to the class system still somewhat present and in effect here in England.

We also went to Kings Cross Train Station where Harry Potter went by train to Hogwarts. You can see from the pictures above that we found platform 9 3/4 where Harry went through. Kings Cross is a busy station, not one of the very biggest, but it was fun to ride the bus up Oxford street all decorated with lights for Christmas to the end of the line for bus route 10 at Kings Cross.

This week was Zone Conference week. Three days are spent during the six-week time between transfers and are used to train and teach the missionaries. On Tuesday the President and the Assistants to the President trained the Norwich, Ipswich, and Romford Zones. On Wednesday they trained the Hyde Park and Canterbury Zones. And on Thursday they trained the Northampton, Watford, and St. Albans Zones. We were at the Hyde Park Zone Conference. The President worked for the Presiding Bishopric of the Church in Salt Lake for years and was involved with many of the humanitarian projects around the world, including disaster relief in many areas. He had some good notes on the personalities of the Brethren, including President Monson. They are wonderful men, but human, warm and loving, yet they are hard workers and have high expectations for work by those around them. Each one is of course different and unique. I was impressed by the new missionaries who came just three weeks ago. One, Elder Boer, from Italy, went street contacting the first evening of the day he arrived in London and the first person he spoke to was from Brazil. Since Elder Boer also speaks some Portuguese, along with Italian and English, it was a small miracle as this man has now accepted the invitation to be baptized sometime in November. Elder Ambihaipahan, who is from Sri Lanka but was raised from babyhood in Norway, also new, had a similar experience: the third person he contacted during street contacting is from Sri Lanka, and has accepted the invitation to be baptized. Over and over the missionaries are led to people who they are best suited to teach and meet. This is not by coincidence that we are put in places at certain times. The subject of the conferences were to help us learn to be led by the Spirit when doing missionary work. There was much good instruction and the spirit was very strong and enjoyable. We are so very blessed to be here at this time doing what we do. We know the Lord is in this work and watch the lives of people change as they embrace the gospel principles and apply them in their lives. There is no witness until after the trial of your faith. One must apply the principles and then one learns the truth about the principle and the truth in the principle. One cannot learn by just reading, hearing, or thinking about it, although this helps; one must apply the principle and then a witness will come to our awareness, and one will come to know if it is truth and if it is of the Lord or not. We were also taught be bold and follow the promptings fo the Spirit. Open Our Mouths and let people know what we have and why we are here. A sister in Sacrament meeting taught us a scripture from 1st John 4:18: ". . . perfect love casteth out fear". So as we taste of the Love of God and our hearts expand to seek the welfare of our neighbor and all of God's children as we see them as our brothers and sisters, then so too will that love overcome our fears and we will find courage to share the gospel. We have the truth and so we have something the world needs and every person in the world needs to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and make the decision to accept or not. We love you all and wish for the blessings of the Lord on you.

NEWS of the WEEK

This week was somewhat of a change. We reorganized the office furniture and made it more of a professional office. It feels so much better and should be a better place for the Spirit of the Lord to attend the workings of the office. Each week we tackle some area of clutter, and tidy it up. We are also going to get two new office chairs, a new desk for the APs which will give them more drawer space, and possibly new office furniture in the "gathering place/social/waiting lounge area of the office.

Even Elder Hawley got more caught up in the financial area and the flats and vehicles. Maybe we can actually do this job with just the two senior missionaries and a few hours per week from the office elders. It has felt overwhelming to me for the pass three months. This week was interview week for the President and all of the missionaries were given individual interviews. Some days the office was full of missionaries and others, when the interviews were outside of the mission office area, were quiet and lovely. "Lovely" is a very English term. Things that are good are "Lovely"!

We appreciate everyone SKYPing. It was good to hear from Julianne and Seth about their upcoming move to Missouri. We hope they can find a buyer for their house. We love and need the contact with everyone. We are not homesick, but do like to keep in touch and know what is happening at home.

We are surprised at the warm temperatures that have stayed with us. Every day is between 60 and 65 degrees and the rain is limited and just drizzles early a few days a week. We barely need umbrellas. They say in mid winter is gets down to freezing at night, but so far the nighttime temperatures have stayed above 45 degrees. We are getting good with buses and with the underground -- it is called the "tube" here -- and a few train rides.

We have seen some of the wealth of the monarchy accumulated over the centuries by taxing & burdening the people they were supposed to serve and lead. All the opulence and gold and fine and precious things, while the lay person often lead a life of difficulty and poverty. I think a line from Isaiah 3:14-15 tells how the Lord feels about this. "The Lord will enter into judgment with the the ancients of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses. What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord God of Hosts." All this gold and finery is from the poor and in the castles and mansions of the rich and powerful monarchs. The leaders did some good things for the people and for freedom, but there appears to be great injustices, yet we are glad the Lord will judge and judge righteously and justly, so we need not fret about it any longer. Justice and vengeance are the Lord's.

We are reminded daily that this is the work of the Lord and we see his hand working in so many little things and in so many ways. Brother Hawley just finished reading the Book of Mormon again and found so many new ideas and teachings this time through the pages. The Lord certainly loves us and awaits to bless us as we come to Him and obey His commandments. Sister Hawley is adding some pictures of our senior couples' Family Home Evening group, and some of the new office setup, and some of the missionaries we have grown to know and love. These last photos were taken just before October transfers or MOVES, as it is called here.

Love to all. Elder and Sister Hawley.