[SO Much] NEWS of the PAST WEEK

It's hard to know where to begin this week's blog report, because so much has happened.  Every day has been full.  

On Monday Elder and Sister Hawley both arrived at the office ready to complete training.  The word "complete" should be in italics, because it is still an ongoing project, and now the training comes both initiated by us and requested by the new office elders, because they are now beginning to get a real understanding of how much time and effort it really takes to get all the work in the office done, to do it well, and to do it on time!

This is a list of the items we have trained on:

The Mission Secretary is responsible for: 

To assist the mission president in his duties and calling 

The management of missionary arrivals and departures 

All types of correspondence with missionaries, parents, other missions, MTCs 

All referrals and the Referral Manager 

Email, telephone requests, visa inquiries, incoming/outgoing post 

Orientation of new missionaries 

President‟s Board Cards; maintaining current missionary files 

Mission annual history 

Filing and record-keeping 

Help with reimbursements, ordering of stationery, miscellaneous supplies  

Preparation of training materials & binders for new missionaries, trainers,  

         district leaders and zone leaders 

Mission calendar, building scheduling 

Baptism recording in Convert Data Entry system 

Travel with Global Visa Management 

Monthly Mission President‟s Report 

MOVES + Phone List + Organization Roster, Reports in iMOS 

Quarterly Mission Newsletter, Truth Will Prevail 

Mission Photography 

The Finance Secretary is responsible for: 

Payment of rents, utilities, supplies, costs of mission/missionaries 

Make and maintain accounting entries + system of records for the ELM in iMOS 

Bank deposits; receipts & financial record keeping 

Set up & maintenance of relations & accounts with landlords, property managers,  

         taxing boroughs & councils, and utility companies 

Negotiation of contracts and terms for tenancy agreements; arrangements in flats for 

missionary occupancy 

Maintenance of records for mobile phone placements, their use and maintenance,  

         Including number activation and phone inventory 

Mission budget maintenance & reports 

Represent the Mission; interact with Solihull on mission and financial matters 

Obtain, distribute, fund and maintain JCM Cards 

Following Church policies as outlined in the Mission Operating Handbook 

Act as Flat Manager and Fleet Manager when they are unavailable 

Maintain and operate the Petty Cash system for the mission office 

Aid in supply ordering, distribution and maintaining the supply inventory 

Perform all other duties as assigned by the mission president 

We had an interview with President Patch, in which we were able to report to him what training items we had covered, and that we felt that the office elders were ready to "fly on their own."  He seemed to agree.  He "instructed" us to complete our remaining items of training and to use the next 3-4 weeks here -- our last -- to go and "play."  [Weird!  It's like having a series of P-Days!  We'll have to go back into the office and help out, just so as we don't go into severe withdrawal!  Of course we will bring treats for the elders and the APs!]

Sister Hawley spent a portion of the day printing out 130 or so copies of her last TRUTH WILL PREVAIL ELM newsletter.  She has done six issues of the newsletter while we have served in London.  The original version turned out to be 16 pages long, with this issue including 4 months worth of newly arrived missionaries, departed missionaries with printing of their departing words, and a section spotlighting the senior couples and what their "jobs" entail.  With two of the couples leaving [Little's in October and Hawley's in December], their portions included their departing words as well.  The president thought this newsletter, however well done, looked quite professional, but that it was too long, so Sister Hawley printed out the 16-page version only just for the couples and for the departed missionaries who want to read their "words" and see their pictures in print.  Then the president gave 2 lines to each of the above missionaries, cut out a couple of pages, and trimmed it down to 8 [double-sided] pages, and Sister Hawley printed the largest batch of this size of newsletter, and then the APs passed out this copy at the end of each day of Zone Conference.  It was very well received.  E/S Hawley made PDF copies of all the newsletters Sister Hawley has done, and Sister Hawley has emailed some of the departed missionaries their own copies.  

Tuesday was a full day, with it being the first of two Zone Conference days.  The office elders attended on Tuesday, so we covered in the office for them, and Sister Hawley was able to gather more photos for the President's Picture Pages project -- he's asked Sister Hawley to collect photos of all missionaries who have or will depart from his first day until his last day:  1 July 2009 to 30 June 2012.  He's also asked for copies of each of the six newsletters, and Sister Hawley will include a list that will correspond with the photographs.  So far she has collected 203 photos, and she is just waiting for one last picture before putting all on a CD to give to President and Sister Patch.  

 New ELM Zone Leaders

On Wednesday it was our turn to attend Zone Conference.  A wonderful, hardworking, and so-well organized woman from the Hyde Park Ward, Rachelle Ostler, prepared wonderful meals for both days' luncheons:  Chicken Cordon Bleu, vegetables, rolls, scalloped potatoes, and brownie/ice cream or fruit crumble/ice cream for "pudding."  [Pudding is the English generic title for most desserts.]  The meetings were inspirational.  Each day 4 of our 8 zones were in attendance in the Hyde Park Chapel.  The morning session included testimony bearing by the new missionaries, and the afternoon session included testimonies by those departing in the next few weeks.  This included us, and we were given the "honor" of being the first ones to speak!  [Lucky us!]  We approached the pulpit together holding hands, and I explained that we started our mission hand-in-hand, we walk the London streets hand-in-hand, we serve hand-in-hand, we pray hand-in-hand, we bear testimony hand-in-hand, and we will depart hand-in-hand as well.  Actually, it was a sweet experience.  We each bore testimonies that combined with the others', and we felt that in one respect this was our leave-taking, our unofficial release, sort of permission-given/thanks expressed for our service here in the England London Mission.  It was a very uplifting day to hear all of these testimonies.  These missionaries are young, but they are so very well prepared, so motivated, and have such strong testimonies of the gospel and the Savior.  It is wonderful to hear them speak with such conviction and happiness.  It is wonderful to see what missionary service does for their spiritual maturity and character.

Standing in front of the New York World's Fair [circa early 1960's] / Hyde Park Chapel Mural

Just a P.S.:  At every zone conference luncheon, Sister Patch announces the birthdays for the month and gives everyone a Snickers candy bar.  This month Sister Hawley has a birthday, and when she got up she received the loudest cheer from the whole group there in the cultural hall!  She was so surprised, and really touched.  There were so many missionaries who came up to Elder and/or Sister Hawley to say that we are going to be missed, that we have helped someone, or done such a good job.  It was quite a special time for us.

Last week we enjoyed a relaxing dinner with new friends, Cookie and John Allred, who are members of the HP Ward, and who will be living here in London for four years while John works as an international banker.  London is his "base of operations."  He travels to eastern Europe and beyond.  This week he is in Egypt and Cookie went with him.  Their stake LDS assignment is to be hosts for the Church's 12-Step Addition Recovery Program, and we have helped to substitute for them when they have needed to go out of town.  We enjoy our time with them.  [See photo below.]

On Friday of this past week we were invited to a sloppy-joe missionary dinner by Gerry and Jim Price.  They love to feed the missionaries, and they work in the Family History Centre and have "inherited" [size-wise] the "party flat" from the Inskeeps, who went home last November.

Again, it was a relaxing and fun evening that we enjoyed with Elders Potts, Tangilanu, Curgenven, and Sheppard; the Crandall's, the Harbrecht's, and the Campbell's.

The latest "party-flat" dinner group

[Sister Hawley has given her waffle maker to Sister Price, because she likes to feed the missionaries, too!]

Sister Hawley has made two shopping trips, one back to Portobello to help Sherrie Harbrecht find some sugar shakers, and then with Elder Hawley to Kensington High Street to buy another scarf or two, and to visit St. Mary Abbot's Church Kensington -- a small church set on a corner of Kensington High Street that we pass all the time and never go in to see what it's like.  So on Saturday we went visiting.  So many of the churches in England appear to have been crafted from the same architectural plans, and yet the wood-work and the gothic arches, the stained glass windows, even the pew benches, and especially the baptismal fonts with their decorative covers, seem interesting each time -- at least for Sister Hawley.  And Elder Hawley is gracious and supportive enough to go along.  Well done, U, Elder H!

Don at front entrance to St. Mary Abbots Church, Kensington High Street

Chapel, Stained Glass, Gothic-Style Arches

 Baptismal Font and Cover

Here are some concluding photographs for this week's blog:  [1] Our 18 October 2010 group of departing missionaries:  Sisters Ostler, Browning, Elders Koppe and Obradovic; [2]  Elder Sterri, an area 70 from Norway whom we enjoyed talking with--shown here with Elder Ambihipahan; [3] Elders Hales, Johnson, and Chrimes; [4]  Sisters Anderson, Muller, and Larsson; [5]  The English tea pot [we'll use it for hot chocolate] Sister Hawley found in Stratford-upon-Avon; [6]  and a picture of us with area missionaries the Green's when we went with them to see "The Mousetrap," with them -- the longest running play ever [about 50 years]

taken from a story by Agatha Christie; [7-8] Charles Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll, who was a professor of math at Oxford's Christchurch College for many years and also, being quite shy, wrote the Alice in Wonderland stories based on his friendship with children of teachers there, in particular a daughter of the Dean of the College named Alice who requested that he publish the stories he told the children so well;   [9] the London Eye; [10] View of London from the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral; [11] the "Mission" bag that has traveled everywhere with us and that has carried everything imaginable in it [wallet, phone, umbrella, keys, scarves, gloves, camera, et al] each time we go out; [12] the Tower of London Bridge at night.

And with this last night shot, we too shall say good night!  After all, we have days-of-play ahead, and more stories and pictures to publish to share with you our last weeks in England.

May the Lord be with and bless you, and may you find the fun and playtime in your own surroundings.  It is a beautiful world created for us to care for and enjoy.  We love it and you.

NEWS OF THE PAST WEEK

This past Thursday it felt like we were playing hooky . . . to be touring and not serving in the office on a weekday.  Still, it was a good experience for our two new office elders.  They said that [a] Elder Potts was helped to answer questions by using Sister Hawley's rolodex; and [b] that nothing awful happened.  We are glad they had a quiet day . . . because on Friday afternoon, when Sister Hawley and Elder Potts got started on the next batch of letters -- and there were dozens -- Elder Potts caught the vision of what a REAL PUSH-Day is like, and to his credit he hung in there and stayed until all the letters were typed, printed, signed by the president, franked and sealed.  Elder Curgenven jumped in to help.  

Sister Hawley wrote the following 'Training, First Week Update' to President Patch:

Dear President,

Elder Potts and Elder Curgenven are bright, agile on the computer,

seem to be able to pick things up quickly, and say they are happy to

be called to work in the office.  We have spoken to them about their

responsibility to you and how they can support you; about how it may

be hard sometimes to say no to someone who asks to see files, etc.,

and that the information they handle is private.  They appear to take

their responsibilities seriously.  Today Elder Curgenven jumped in to

help when Elder Potts needed it.  When Elder Potts finishes one job,

he moves on to the next job.  Both act with initiative without being

asked.  Both come ready to work.  Both are pleasant, easy to work

with, and fairly mature.   Elder Hawley and I both feel the week went

well.  Neither elder has had a heavy-duty "push" day, so today was

educational, with all the letters we had to do.  We spoke to them

about making mistakes being human and that it is one way we learn.

Making mistakes will also sharpen their motivation to listening better

to instructions.  We don't want them to feel criticized; rather, we

try to build them up and compliment whenever we see the opportunity.

Next week they should not need to have as long a day as we had today,

and they should be able to leave closer to the goal of 3:00 p.m.

proselyting time.

If you see any areas where we can train better or add something more,

please let us know.  We are enjoying the process and getting to know

these elders better.

Thank you especially for your help today, and for staying longer to

sign all the letters.

Sincerely,

Elder and Sister Hawley

And the mission president responded with:

Dear Elder and Sister Hawley,

Thank you so much for the way you are mentoring these good Elders. They seem to be optimistic and readily enjoying their work. You both are wonderful for helping them learn in a nurturing environment. Have a great weekend.

Warmest regards,
President Patch

WHY were we touring and not in the office?  Our friends, the Harbrecht's, had received permission [MP + area authority Elder Kopischke in Frankfurt, Germany] to go on an out-of-mission-boundaries tour of Oxford, the Cotswolds area, and Stratford-upon-Avon.  When they received permission they invited us to go along.  So we too asked President Patch for permission, and he and Elder Kopischke gave us permission to go, in large part because both the Harbrecht's [who will be released February 3rd, next year] and we are close to the ends of our missionary service, and this is one way Church authorities extend thanks to senior couples -- through opportunities to tour around the areas in which they have served.

So off we went, early Thursday morning.  Our group was small, less than 16, and we had a large van as our transportation, with host, driver and running commentary giving us information about the areas through which we traveled.  It took us about an hour to reach Oxford, and although our tour was a brief walking tour [we were not able to go inside the colleges--each one has a fee and a long waiting list], we did enjoy the experience of actually being there.  We have added some photographs, of course -- some we took, and some from guide books.


PS:  This area is very close to Banbury, England, where our great-grandmother Mary Beers Hawley was born in the 1830's.  In her time, it would have been a town of about 5,000 people and merchant or trading city of the times.

            Bolliol College                          Radcliffe Camera, St. Mary the Virgin Cathedral

Christchurch Bell and Clock Tower

                                                                                                                            Trinity College

Christchurch Inner Quad


Oxford is the place of the famous Oxford University.  It began in  the 1100's and has been a major seat of learning every since.  It has over 38 colleges comprising the university; each has a quadrangle of buildings surrounding a quad or grassy garden area in the interior.  They are sort of individual entities, and are scattered about, some are located 30 miles distant from others, however, most are in the city.  Since learning was associated with religion and the Catholic Church, most have a chapel as some quite elaborate. For instance Christchurch is such a college and has St. Mary the Virgin Cathedral as part of the quadrangle [below middle and right].  

It also contains the large room and long tables that was used for the filming of the large banquet hall in the  Harry Potter movies. The Bodleian library  built in 1598 is the largest in the world, and also was used in the Harry Potter movies where the books are chained in.  We were told that parts of the library are now under water....  Many famous people are noted in the pictures and memorials -- notice all the pictures on the walls. The buildings are all old and of the yellow Cotswolds soft lime stone. The famous Cotswolds hills are to the west. The rivers Cherwell and Isis join east of Oxford and form the Thames River which flows through London.


The older printings of our new L.D.S. footnoted editions scriptures were printed on the Oxford and Cambridge University printing presses.  

                                        X Marks the Spot where the Burnings took place

There is so much history here:  Queen Mary I, oldest daughter of King Henry VIII was known as "Bloody Mary" because she ordered 15,000+ people burned at the stake for not recanting the new religion (Church of England, founded by her father) and for not going back to Catholicism. 

Elder & Sister Hawley, X-Spot, Broad Street, Oxford

Her half sister, Elizabeth I, succeeded her and was loyal to the Protestant ways of her father, so when Elizabeth became queen the pendulum of religious worship politically swung back to the Church of England. When we visited Westminster Abbey, where both queens were buried we noticed an oddity:  this, it appears, is why Mary I is buried under Elizabeth I in Westminster Abbey and with no effigy or memorial plaque. 

                                                             Ancient Drainage System


Regarding the narrow streets with drainage gutters, above.  This is typical of 14th-17th century England.  The streets were narrow with a gutters down the middle.  The chamber pots with the sewage were emptied by throwing the contents out into the streets to the gutters from the upper windows (that's where the bedrooms were).  It was a stinky, messy place to walk in the streets and the men always walked with the women on the inside so that if someone emptied there pot as they were walking by, the men got the brunt of the "stinky contents". Hence, the tradition that men walk on the street side of the women when walking down the road was born.  The streets were only cleaned by the rain and natural means. This was why there was so much disease and illness among the people living in the cities during those times. Better sanitation would come to England later in history.

                                      Oxford City Centre, Town Cryer, and Sister Hawley

We traveled by van with large windows, but crowded leg room, on to the Cotwolds which are just an area of rolling hills with colorful trees and plantings [luckily for us it was a lovely fall day, even with the grey skies and early rain], but picturesque with expensive old homes.  Prince Charles' home, Highgrove, is located in this area.  We stopped in the small town of Stoke-on-the-Wold and had lunch in a small pub on the main street, and looked at the old church there.  The churches we see are Interesting, but after seeing so many they seen to  look very much on the same design. 

                                Elder Hawley standing by the "stocks" in the town centre

                   Choir Seats                                                                           Baptismal Font, Inside Front Door

                                                                                                             Memorial Plaque

Church Organ

Colorful Seat Cushions for Long Sermons....

Eagles are seen in many churches as symbols of the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit is not something taught with much, if any, understanding

Interior front showing vicar's chair, left....

Gothic Arches

Exterior of oxidizing copper exterior church window....

Painting inside church . . . common theme here in England

Sample of carved wood at the ends of each pew bench....

Stoke-on-the-Wold Church Cemetery






After lunch we drove hen on to Stratford-on-Avon.  Avon is the river, hence ,Stratford-on  the Avon river or Stratford-on-Avon, the birth and burial place of William Shakespeare.  We saw the home in which he was reared and his wife, Anne Hathaway's, childhood home.  Historians cannot account for a period of years when Shakespeare left Stratford-on-Avon until he became famous as an actor in London, but his wife and family remained in Stratford.  Years later he returned to Stratford and his family with money and fame.  There is a story here, but no one has been able find out the truth, and there are many rumors about what was the cause for him to leave, such as poaching deer on the king's land, rumors of illegitimate children, other law-breaking activities, etc.  He was raised in a larger home with raised beds (most people slept on straw ticks on the floor), so they were in the wealthier class but not of the gentry and noble classes.  

Shakespeare family home back garden

Shakespeare family home, side view

Wm Shakespeare's parents also resided here, and his father had a leather-goods making business in the home as well

Inglenook fireplace, dining area -- an Inglenook fireplace is one 

that is big enough to sit inside

Partial view of the Shakespeare's kitchen

                                        Status Symbol = Guest bed set up in living room
   This bed was seldom used, but it showed the wealth and status of the people in the home

Anne Hathaway's home was also a large one, and one with a straw-thatched roof; straw-                thatched roofs can last 30 years or more before they need replacing....

The most beautiful and peaceful place we saw is this spot with a small river

amongst a tree-shaded area located across the road from the Hathaway home

If we lived here, this is where we would walk and sit and enjoy Nature's beauties

We enjoyed the smaller areas but they are all set up for tourists, yet, we  had a very good time.  The trip out and back to  London was about 80 miles each way, and we arrived back home by about 6:00 p.m..


This week Elder Gustafson gave Sister Hawley a small pumpkin, which we carved and put a candle in today to celebrate a bit of an American Halloween in London.  Halloween has a small following here in England, and we did see groups of people dressed in costumes walking along the streets as we rode the bus home on Friday night.  We also saw children and their mothers entering [again in costume] the Hyde Park building, all excited for a children's Halloween party there.

Today is October 31st, and the time is moving fast.  We are beginning the close-out process for council taxes, utilities and internet services. We've taken a load or two of donated-for-missionaries' items to the HP building, and have boxed up some items to ship home.  It is a  winding-down time for us as well as training time with the office-elder missionaries and we estimate that in two weeks we can transfer our responsibilities to them.   There will be a few tasks that we will stay around for, such as payments of rents, and preparations for arriving and departing missionaries, but for the most part we will be letting-go and watching our "sons" learn and progress, as trainers call the ones they train here in the mission.  It looks like we will have time for a leisurely flat departure [knock-on-wood], and perhaps some extra days to do some more touring in nearby areas.


P.S. 2  We have mentioned in previous blog entries helping Cookie and John Allred by hosting the Church's 12-Step Addiction Recovery Program when they need to be out of town. But we haven't put their picture into the blog, so here it is, taken while they were on a business trip to Portugal last year.

We also have enjoyed our time with Elder and Sister Green, who were released as Area Welfare Missionaries earlier this year.  We had a fun evening one time going to see an Agatha Christie play in London's West End, and then having a fabulous Chinese dinner in London's China Town.  Here is their picture:

The Green's and the Allred's join with other couples we've become friends with whose home is in Utah.  The Green's live in the St. George area, while the Allred's have moved to London for a 4-year work assignment of John's, after which they will return to their Salt Lake City home.  We hope to keep in touch with our couple-missionary friends.  


We know we will leave a part of our hearts here in London, because of our service here for the Lord and the Church, and because of the "multiciplicity of blessings" we have received here.


Love to All,  The Londoner's,  Elder and Sister Hawley