Fairy God Mother Wanted

I love this mission!!!!

We have so many wonderful opportunities to be with really really nice young people.

This morning we had the district meeting in our apartment, with Elder Hill, Elder Tshindabo, Sister Porter and Sister Mattos.  Just like last week, they reverently conducted the meeting, demonstrated an aspect of teaching, reviewed last week's goals, set new ones for this week and taught a gospel concept.  The meeting ended with a wonderful motivational video by an ex NBA player.  I was even inspired.

I served them lunch.  Dave and Deb admonished us to do what we could to strengthen them and help them do the work of the Lord.  We are in the unique position of having this apartment where not only the YSAs gather, but where the young missionaries meet weekly.  I decided that we will fix lunch for them each week after our meeting.  They are lucky to have one dinner appointment a week, and they are all hard workers.  So that is one thing we can do....be like grandparents who love to feed them.  I fixed sloppy joes, steamed carrots, fresh fruit and potato chips, with brownies for dessert.  

After lunch was over, we walked over to the elders' apartment with them to inspect their apartment.  It was very clean and very nice.  There was a beautiful light wood floor throughout the flat.  It was clean and shining.  The kitchen counters and sink, the refrigerator, the bathroom fixtures...all clean.  

When we got back, SK went in search of light bulbs to replace the dead ones in both the elders' and sisters' apartments.  There are so many kinds of different bulbs that it is a real challenge to try to buy them unless you have the actual bulb with you.  He delivered them to the sisters, and then he and the elders gave one of the sisters a blessing.  She is only 20 and showing signs of arthritis, which runs in her family.  I hope that isn't what she has, but pain in her hands, wrists, fingers and feet could be a bad sign.

I worked on refreshments for our YSA Institute Class.  Around seven o'clock, they began showing up for the first class of the semester.  We had ten here.  It would have been lovely to have more, but we were so very happy with those dear young ten!!!!  Class was taught by a man named Alistair from Scotland.  It was so delightful just to listen to him.  But he is an excellent teacher, and inspired a lot of good comments and questions.

In the afternoon, a quick text to Melissa gave me the recipe for hot fudge sauce.  Brownies with vanilla ice cream, pecans and hot fudge sauce seemed like a slam-dunk.  And it was.  Just in case, someone was philosophically opposed to chocolate (que horrors!) or sugar, I put a basket of fresh apples out.

I was interested in all of the activities coming up for them.  We will be involved to some extent in all of them.  It all sounds great.

This Saturday is the Oxford Ball, hosted by the Reading Stake (that is our stake).  It is held here, and attended by YSAs from all over the British Isles.  Roughly 700 tickets have been sold, but with the people who will be helping to put it on, it will be over 800.  I think we will be helping.  But what to wear?

The next day is "YSA Day" but I don't know if any of our young people will attend.  They hold positions in our ward, and are loath to just walk away from their responsibilities for that day.  The meetings are sacrament Meeting and Sunday School (2 hours) held in the Reading Stake Center - which is about an hour away.  They will be served lunch after.  They plan on serving about 150 people, all YSAs who will be here the night before - at the ball.  It's a tradition.

The week after, we have the usual Family Home Evening on Monday, Elder Cook on Wednesday evening - with dinner, and then several other things in the area for YSAs to choose from....among other things Roots Tech on Saturday in London.  We will be with all of the missionaries from the London Mission listening to Elder Cook again in London.

The week after is a temple trip.  We will all travel down to the temple, spend the day there doing ordinances and stay the night in temple housing.  The week after that is a trip to Cambridge for all the YSAs and us where Cambridge YSAs will wine and dine us....well water and dine us I guess.  It is an annual happening.  We will stay with the Cambridge senior couple, and pump them with questions.  They have been here for 6 months.

I think there was a Halloween activity in there somewhere, and they are planning a Thanksgiving dinner too.  That is because we have so many Americans here!

I think December will be here and gone before you know it.

In the meantime, what I am going to wear to the ball?


Comments

Tessa said…
You do know that Cambridge and Oxford have a huge rivalry! I hope you enjoy spending time with them even if they are from Cambridge!
October 17, 2019 at 8:12 PM
Elder and Sister Madsen said…
We have heard that. It will be interesting for sure!
October 18, 2019 at 9:33 AM
melissa said…
A ball!! What fun. And Elder Cook! I’m hoping you’ll get to meet him personally. You DO have a connection. 😁
October 19, 2019 at 7:40 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Master Teacher

In the 1st Ward today, an 11-year-old boy gave a talk that was one of he best sacrament meeting talks I have ever heard.  He got up to speak and his head just barely cleared the podium.  He is small and has a shock of dark hair topping a cute slightly freckled face. It will be several years yet before his voice deepens.  He had his written talk, and he read most of it, but he was familiar enough with it that he looked up often and it seemed as if he was speaking from his heart. He began with a quote from Nephi in 2 Nephi 25:29, where Nephi prophesies about the future and then tells us how to worship the Savior. How? this boy asked us. He went on to answer his own question.  Nephi says "with all our might."  The boy then asked how that is done. He cited the story of the converts in the Congo who threw all of their idols into a massive waterfall where they were unrecoverable.  The boy said that when we worship the Savior with all our might, that mea...
Read more

Going Home

  Fifteen missionaries are returning to their homes this week.  For this Saturday night zoom conference broadcast, each bore their testimony from their flats with their companions by their sides.  SK and I teared up many times as we listened to humble, sweet and strong testimonies.  It is easy to see the difference as they get close to their release date.  It they have been faithful, there is a maturity and a sweetness that is unexplainable. Here is a smattering of what was said: There is no growth in the comfort zone.  I am about to go home to my comfort zone...but it struck me that my old comfort zone is no longer comfortable for me.  I want to be in a growth zone. The early apostles did not succeed, but they knew we would. One elder quoted Dave's poem "If."  "If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same...Hold on...even through the hardest times."  "How can I accomplish these things?  Jesus Chr...
Read more

Shark!

Image
We left our flat way too early for my taste this morning, heading out to go south to Farnborough.  Forty-eight miles, supposedly an hour and twenty minute drive.  We got into some heavy stop and go traffic and it was closer to 2 hours before we got there. We inspected the two young sisters' flat, which was beautifully clean and organized.  They are cute sisters.  They had been in London yesterday for zone conference and excitedly shared all they had heard and been taught.  They had their notes out and were very cute to repeat some great messages from President Checketts.  I hardly ever talk to him when he isn't dealing with numerous issues in the mission and in the middle of at least one or two crises, and planning the next gathering....all at the same time.  It must be that he and Deb are in a constant state of stress.  But he has cleared the half-way mark.  I wonder if he knows how highly he is esteemed by these young missionaries, who ...
Read more