Days Never to Be Forgotten
Tuesday morning early - but not bright, we departed for the London Temple. The sun came up sometime after that. We needed to stop for petrol, and of course we did just a little bit of bumbling, which is absolutely necessary. We got to the temple about 3 hours later.
We hurried inside where young elders and sisters had assembled from 3 zones....as well as the senior couples. And 2 extra senior couples, the office couple, Dave and Deb and the Sister Training Missionaries.....two young sisters who are the equivalent of the Assistants to the President (elders). There were maybe 70 of us.
We assembled in a room in the basement of the Temple Housing building. There was a room just barely large enough to fit us where we met for a devotional. It was one of the most spiritual meetings I have attended. We sang some Christmas hymns, Dave spoke, Deb spoke, four of the soon-to-be-released missionaries from these zones spoke, we had two special musical numbers from two of the young missionaries.
Dave shared a fairly long clip of Elder Bednar's talk at a mission presidents' seminar in June. He called it the "talk of Elder Bednar's life." And it was amazing. Briefly, he told about how Christ - no matter what was happening in his life, always looked outward to help someone in need. Examples, When he was arrested and Peter sliced off the ear of one of the mob - Jesus healed him. When he was on the cross, he reassured one of the other men on a cross that he would be with Him in Paradise. Also when he was suffering on the cross, he told John to look after Mary his mother.
Dave followed Elder Bednar's comments with his own comments that were powerful. He reinforced all of the main points. He also told the story of when Larry died, and how hard it hit him. hAfter six months, he finally saw a counselor, who was fairly famous at that time. Dave poured out his heart to this man, telling him that he had lost the heart to do anything. This man listened and then after 20 minutes or so, simply told Dave that 3 months was enough for this kind of behavior, and that Larry would not be happy with him.
Dave left the office angry. But slowly he began to realize the counselor was right and began to move on. He was called as a bishop (age 28) shortly after that, and had to focus on other people instead of himself and his grief.
Deb shared Pearl Buck's Christmas Day in the Morning, which has an absolutely wonderful message, closely related to Dave's and Elder Bednar's. The whole meeting was so beautiful and I was in tears for a lot of it.
We all walked over to the temple, a short walk through the parking lot. We all had to rent clothing because as a rule, most missionaries don't take temple clothing. They were very efficient getting us all what we needed and soon we were in an endowment room together. In our three zones, it appeared that the sisters were outnumbered by elders, but not by much.
I was touched by the reverence of that many young people in the celestial room. They walked quietly into the room and stood silently with their eyes closed as if they were praying. Some sat down and looked around at that beautiful room, just taking it all in. They were all as beautiful as the room, and I loved being there with them.
We finished about 3:30 and walked back to the temple housing building, where a large room was set for Christmas. A tree stood in one corner surrounded by gifts. Deb and the office couples have worked tirelessly since September making sure there were gifts under the tree for every young missionary. They emailed families asking for the gifts to be sent to the office so they would know who would receive something for Christmas. Deb has purchased I don't know how many gifts for elders and sisters who will not be getting something from their homes and families.
Six large crockpots held six large turkey breasts, large pots of mashed potatoes, large pots of stuffing, corn and rolls fresh from the oven made a marvelous feast. Cranberry relish and a pomegranate blueberry JELLO salad completed the bulk of the meal. Those young missionaries were in heaven! And SK declared that jello to be better than the time-honored orange jello salad we have had since we have been eating Thanksgiving dinner! Someone found jello on an American website. They topped it with a whipped cream/cream cheese mixture, and I must admit it was awesome.
They handed out the gifts, sang a lot of Christmas songs, and then the senior missionaries began to ferry the young ones to the train station in the rain. Some of the young ones (like our Oxford four) drove and all started their lengthy trips home. Some took two trains and the underground in London, probably taking up to 4 hours to get home.
This will happen again Wednesday (today), Thursday and Friday. Similar devotional, preceded by breakfast, temple session, Thanksgiving/Christmas feast, singing, gifts and departure for home. I know I keep saying it, but I don't know how Dave and Deb keep up.
We stayed up late playing games with the other seniors after the room was clean and all the dishes done. Dave and I had a little time to visit quietly in the now silent room, and then I went up and crawled into bed. We had checked in earlier in the day - in the rain!
Today we helped with breakfast and then peeled potatoes for today's feast. We said goodbye and took 4 hours to get home, stopping at one young elder's apartment with a Christmas gift that was missed. It was quite a ways out of our way, but we were happy to be able to do that. We made a quick stop at Costco for a selection of cheese and crackers for Institute tonight.
We assembled in a room in the basement of the Temple Housing building. There was a room just barely large enough to fit us where we met for a devotional. It was one of the most spiritual meetings I have attended. We sang some Christmas hymns, Dave spoke, Deb spoke, four of the soon-to-be-released missionaries from these zones spoke, we had two special musical numbers from two of the young missionaries.
Dave shared a fairly long clip of Elder Bednar's talk at a mission presidents' seminar in June. He called it the "talk of Elder Bednar's life." And it was amazing. Briefly, he told about how Christ - no matter what was happening in his life, always looked outward to help someone in need. Examples, When he was arrested and Peter sliced off the ear of one of the mob - Jesus healed him. When he was on the cross, he reassured one of the other men on a cross that he would be with Him in Paradise. Also when he was suffering on the cross, he told John to look after Mary his mother.
Dave followed Elder Bednar's comments with his own comments that were powerful. He reinforced all of the main points. He also told the story of when Larry died, and how hard it hit him. hAfter six months, he finally saw a counselor, who was fairly famous at that time. Dave poured out his heart to this man, telling him that he had lost the heart to do anything. This man listened and then after 20 minutes or so, simply told Dave that 3 months was enough for this kind of behavior, and that Larry would not be happy with him.
Dave left the office angry. But slowly he began to realize the counselor was right and began to move on. He was called as a bishop (age 28) shortly after that, and had to focus on other people instead of himself and his grief.
Deb shared Pearl Buck's Christmas Day in the Morning, which has an absolutely wonderful message, closely related to Dave's and Elder Bednar's. The whole meeting was so beautiful and I was in tears for a lot of it.
We all walked over to the temple, a short walk through the parking lot. We all had to rent clothing because as a rule, most missionaries don't take temple clothing. They were very efficient getting us all what we needed and soon we were in an endowment room together. In our three zones, it appeared that the sisters were outnumbered by elders, but not by much.
I was touched by the reverence of that many young people in the celestial room. They walked quietly into the room and stood silently with their eyes closed as if they were praying. Some sat down and looked around at that beautiful room, just taking it all in. They were all as beautiful as the room, and I loved being there with them.
We finished about 3:30 and walked back to the temple housing building, where a large room was set for Christmas. A tree stood in one corner surrounded by gifts. Deb and the office couples have worked tirelessly since September making sure there were gifts under the tree for every young missionary. They emailed families asking for the gifts to be sent to the office so they would know who would receive something for Christmas. Deb has purchased I don't know how many gifts for elders and sisters who will not be getting something from their homes and families.
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| This is our little zone...these are the cute missionaries whose flats we inspect every 6 weeks. We just adore them. |
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| Tip of the iceberg, and gifts for one of four days of Christmas for President and Sister Checketts. |
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| Look at this beautiful art in temple housing!!! Giclee on canvas. I'm telling you, our little Oxford flat dedicated to YSAs is going to get some nice art too. |
Six large crockpots held six large turkey breasts, large pots of mashed potatoes, large pots of stuffing, corn and rolls fresh from the oven made a marvelous feast. Cranberry relish and a pomegranate blueberry JELLO salad completed the bulk of the meal. Those young missionaries were in heaven! And SK declared that jello to be better than the time-honored orange jello salad we have had since we have been eating Thanksgiving dinner! Someone found jello on an American website. They topped it with a whipped cream/cream cheese mixture, and I must admit it was awesome.
They handed out the gifts, sang a lot of Christmas songs, and then the senior missionaries began to ferry the young ones to the train station in the rain. Some of the young ones (like our Oxford four) drove and all started their lengthy trips home. Some took two trains and the underground in London, probably taking up to 4 hours to get home.
This will happen again Wednesday (today), Thursday and Friday. Similar devotional, preceded by breakfast, temple session, Thanksgiving/Christmas feast, singing, gifts and departure for home. I know I keep saying it, but I don't know how Dave and Deb keep up.
We stayed up late playing games with the other seniors after the room was clean and all the dishes done. Dave and I had a little time to visit quietly in the now silent room, and then I went up and crawled into bed. We had checked in earlier in the day - in the rain!
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| View from our room! |
Today we helped with breakfast and then peeled potatoes for today's feast. We said goodbye and took 4 hours to get home, stopping at one young elder's apartment with a Christmas gift that was missed. It was quite a ways out of our way, but we were happy to be able to do that. We made a quick stop at Costco for a selection of cheese and crackers for Institute tonight.
We had a good group....I'm sure it is the last time until mid-January that we'll have that many. By next week at this time, it will be down to just 3 or 4. But we'll carry on with however many activities we can to help those few through the season.
It has been a truly wonderful two days, ones that I hope I can remember. After writing this lengthy wrap-up, I am aware that I have hardly touched the surface. There were so many memorable moments that I just can't address them all.
One quick one. I met a lovely young mother in church Sunday who said she, her husband and children were traveling, just to see England. She looked tired. The thought occurred to me that I ought to invite her to dinner. I didn't and I regretted it after they had left the church.
As I was walking down the steps of the temple housing, I met a young man with a toddler who was staying there. He looked tired. I said "hello," and he said hello, and I kept going. Then he said, "You spoke in church Sunday!" I told him that I had and asked him a couple of questions, and said goodbye.
I went into the kitchen to see what I could do to help there, and Dave came in and began opening boxes and rummaging through the refrigerator. Someone asked if they could help him, and he mentioned that he just met a young father who was wondering where a grocery store was. Dave was trying to put together a little sack of bananas, granola bars, apples, yogurt and I am not sure what else.
Dave who is so very busy with so many thing (he had been in the middle of a meeting assigning transfers - lengthy and complex - and had wandered out in the hall to find that young father, and immediately reached out to help him. I felt chagrined. I decided as I was praying last night, that from now on, I will put something in the crockpot every single Sunday morning, and if anyone is visiting at church, I will invite them to dinner.
Well, now my eyelids are truly heavy. I'll say goodnight for now.
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