A Memorable Day

 It has been a long long long day! It's been a lovely one, but I am ready for bed.

We left Oxford at 7 a.m. and made the hour and a half drive into London. We gave ourselves extra time to get there. We were supposed to be there by 9:30. I took us an hour and a half to go the last ten miles, forty-five of those minutes were the last three miles. Traffic jams around here are no fun. We arrived at Hyde Park Chapel at 10:15.

We enjoyed the rest of the morning's meeting. Among other things, about twenty missionaries read the names of every individual the England London Mission has baptized since January 2020, and every person we as missionaries have assisted in going to the temple. It was sweet listening to all 1,087 names.

Everyone sat reverently listening. Everyone knew and had worked with at least one person on that list and paused to think about what a gift it was to serve that person and be a small part of that individual's journey here on earth. 

We had four people speak to us about their experience of converting, and they were awesome stories. One of the Assistants gave a look back at the last eighteen months, and then Dave and Deb spoke. They gave us each a mission t-shirt which we put on. I unfortunately looked very much like a sack of potatoes, so I don't think it is a shirt that I will wear often, but I will still cherish it.

After the closing prayer around noon, everyone got on buses (except us - we drove our car) and were taken to the Crystal Palace, a pro football stadium on the south side of London.

We got in line at the snack bar and each got a hamburger and fries and a soft drink. We went into the stadium and ate, and then all the young missionaries were divided into twelve groups for games. All the senior couples ran the games. Ours was quite fun - badminton - only it was eight on each side - each with a racquet. 

It got up to 74 degrees today and we had long-sleeved shirts on and were out in the sun.  I was pretty warm! I really hope it doesn't get too much warmer. It was lovely when there was a breeze.

We played games all afternoon, ending with a soccer tournament among the twelve teams. They young missionaries seemed to love every single moment of the day, and Dave was loving it, and loving that they loved it! I'm certain that will be an amazing memory for each missionary there.

At 6, it wasn't quite over, but we got in the car and left for home - two hours - not as bad as the morning. We arrived at the church at a little after 8, and were able to spend an hour with our former bishop and his wife. and five young adults. 

We ordered the pizzas on the way home to be delivered to the church at 7, and I had made dessert yesterday and delivered it to Kristina, so everything was under control. I don't know what we may have missed at the stadium, but we were so happy we got back to Oxford for FHE.

All the way around, even with the traffic, it was a memorable day.


They even projected our mission logo onscreen


They are gathering to be divided into teams

Our cute young Oxford Sisters



Our intrepid young zone leaders

Cheering their team on


Our Oxford Elders

SK is in line for his hamburger, but it gives you a great view of the shirt




Comments

Erin said…
Ha! I was going to post exactly what Melissa said—what a day!
June 8, 2021 at 12:51 AM
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