The Gore's drove and we headed into the town that surprised us by it's size. It was a rainy but beautiful day...unbelievable that flowers were planted and thriving in winter.
So much church history here:
Preston holds the honor of being the oldest functioning LDS Church unit in the world. Elder Heber C. Kimball and his missionary companions arrived in Preston on 22 July 1837. One of the Missionaries, Elder Joseph Fielding, had a brother Reverend James Fielding, who invited them all to attend his Sunday Services the following day in the Vauxhall Chapel. They did attend and it was announced that in the afternoon, the Elders (Elders Kimball, Hyde, Fielding, Richards and Goodson) would occupy the pulpit. They also preached at an evening service and also the following Wednesday evening. Follow this meeting several of Rev Fielding's congregation requested baptism by the missionaries. Rev Fielding then closed his chapel to the elders. Elder Kimball set the first baptisms on 30 July 1837 for the River Ribble, flowing through the South part of Preston. The open air baptism drew a large crowd estimated at about eight thousand people. There were nine baptized that morning and all were members of Rev Fielding's congregation. George D Watt out-ran another convert to be the first baptized by Elder Kimball, so eager was he to receive the ordinance
We took a walk down to the River Ribble. We were told that the rivers in England are called River first and then the name unlike in the US where we would never call it the River Mississippi.
It was cold and I'm glad this event took place in July. Here is a newer version of the bridge that the baptismal candidates raced across.
There is a beautiful park up the hill from the river and has some great LDS monuments there.
We then went to the town square where the missionaries then continued to street preach and carry on their work.
We went inside to see the old building and the jewels and clocks. We also quickly walked through a market and the town library.
These are the first box telephone booths that we have seen in England, to date.
On the way home from Preston, we stopped at Toby's Carvery...where we had a delicious lunch.
We ate Roast Beef, Turkey, Pork, Ham, Yorkshire Pudding, Vegetables of every variety, roasted potatoes, Mashed Potatoes, gravies and sauces-all sorts and to top it of off ...Berry Apple Crumble with Custard. I made it the Sunday dinner of my childhood with Roast Beef, Roasted Potatoes, Cauliflower with Cheese, Broccoli...It was very good and a place that we need to stay away from.
There are just some days when we look at each other and think..."What is this life we are leading?" On Wed night...that very thought crossed our mind... we received a call from a young Chinese girl, named Sunny, who had somehow gotten our number and was moving to Manchester. Her English was limited but we finally understood that she needed a ride from the bus station to where she was staying. At 9:00 pm, we ventured into the busy streets of downtown Manchester. There was no parking so Reed drove around the block (I say around the block but it is impossible to drive around the block because there are no blocks...He just wandered around an hopefully didn't get lost) and Jacinta (so glad she was with us) and I ran into the bus station to try to find Sunny. We searched and waited for a bit and finally found her outside with her 3 large suitcases and one carry on bag. She had a friend, Ben, with her. (I kept calling him BAN, because that was what I thought he said his name was...I get about 30 words wrong every day. His name was actually Bang and as it turns out was Sunny's boyfriend...she married him in Aug 2015) We got to the car and got her bags all loaded in when she cried out that she had left her backpack on the bus. She ran back in to find it but soon came out with the news that it was gone and the bus had gone onto New Castle. She was very upset (for good reason) as she tried to tell us all the things in the lost bag...her laptop, her ipad, her Master's Thesis and her Educational Documentation. She told us that in China, you could not get duplicates of your University Transcripts. I went back in with her to go to the office to see if we could get some help. The lady in the Bus Station office said that that particular bus would be back at 9:30 in the morning and gave us a number to call. Sunny was distraught and said she didn't want to call the number but wanted to talk only to the bus driver. The Bus Station explained that this was impossible so we finally talked her into calling the number and returning to the car. She pleaded and begged us to drive her to New Castle (which is 3 hours away) We explained that the bus was far ahead of us and that New Castle was out of our mission...this would be impossible. We almost forced her to get in the car and then we said we would say a prayer. Reed gave a prayer that her bag would be found and that all of her belongings would be safe. We drove to the flat where she was staying and she was incredibly sad. We tried to cheer her up and encourage her. The drive was long due to road construction and we were winding our way through traffic in the city, but we finally got her dropped off, took Jacinta home and headed to our flat and it was close to midnight. Exhausted, we headed to bed. In the morning at 9:30 am, Sunny called to say that her bag was returned to her at the bus station. We were all very happy and grateful. Here is Sunny, with Allie at Family Home Evening this week.
Institute is always good but particularly entertaining on Thursday when Reed taught. He did a very good job and we served Root Beer Floats. Some of the YSA's liked them and some thought it tasted like mouthwash.
Friday, we decided to venture out to a movie at the Trafford Center Mall. It is always challenging to go there. Traffic is pretty hectic and we wait in the "Queue" to get onto roundabouts, onto off-ramps and into parking. The Mall is quite incredible...pretty posh and very big. We enjoyed a quick dinner, a large popcorn, a diet coke and a movie in the fancy Trafford Cinema ..
In the midst of all our busy comings and goings, it is unbelievable that we are always thrilled to see a McDonald's. At home, I never would set foot in McDonalds but here, they just look good and we are can't resist driving through for a burger, fries and a DCoke with no ice unless you ask.
It was pot luck and we got got quite a variety of dishes. I made some Rice Krispie Treat Sushi found on Pinterest on the Chinese NewYear section. If I had thought about this I would have realized that Sushi is Japanese not Chinese, but they really liked them and they were gone in a flash.
One dish we had delivered...it was called Lo Hei and everyone stands around the table and picks up noodles with chopstix and tosses the noodles in the air. It was quite entertaining and also a unique experience. Below is the preparation of the dish...each ingredient represents something. (prosperity, good health, friendship etc) It was like a crazy ritual where 16 people are throwing food into the air.
We played a game called Chinese Whispers. It turned out to be fun even with the language barriers. We are not really "game people" so I am running out of games. If you have any fun ones, please shoot them my way...I am in need !!
Sunday was a sunny day and it didn't rain until late in the evening. We broke out our sunglasses as we drove to many meetings....
We had quite a long day. Reed started out with a 7:30 am High Council Meeting. We had our three hour block meeting where we had 11 investigators at Sacrament Meeting. Some of these had been to the Chinese New Year Party the night before. We meet in the Relief Society Room and it was jam packed. Following our regular meetings we had a Family History Training Session so that we can help interested visitors at the new building find their ancestors. Then to top it off, later that evening we were invited to a meeting with Both Stake Presidents, Bishop Roberts and Luke Kerr over seminaries and institutes. It was a two-hour meeting to figure out staffing and logistics of the new building. Basically, Reed and I were assigned to come up with a schedule for the building and where we will need volunteers and service missionaries. We were also assigned to come up with Building Policies. This new building will change the scope of our mission. We will be teaching more and part of our job will be to host visitors as they come into the building. Our days will become a little more structured and we will spend most of our time there much like going to work each day.
Today, we had District Meeting here in our flat and provided lunch for the missionaries. I'm always glad to feed them since they do not get many "Tea Appointments." Working in a Young Single Adult Ward with poor students has it's down side.
In the afternoon, we had a Cupcake Day and rode the bus to Spinning Fields to go to Hey Little Cupcake...a cute little spot in the city. Jacinta so kindly accompanied us. We love adventures with her. It was a great outing for me and Reed was a very good sport to sit in the pink cupcake store and eat his little treat.
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Our New Purchase...A Rice Cooker !! It has really come in handy cooking all these meals. I am a FAN ! It will come in handy tonight as we are having the local Librarians to dinner...Sounds crazy, but the missionaries have gotten to know the Local Librarians because they go there on P Day to email their families. We are helping with their fellowshipping efforts. Tonight, the Librarians and Elder Chong are making vegetarian Chinese Dishes. I just have to make the rice and dessert. I have heard several people say what I thought was "Bibbity Bobs" but I found this in a local store and I had to purchase it. It turns out that the phrase really is "Bits and Bobs" I stand corrected and I have found a new word for "stuff"  New English Phrases: Drives Me Crackers (drives me crazy) and Give it a Go (give it a try) |
1 comment:
I am totally going to start "drives me crackers" here! Thats a great one! Its amazing all you are doing and accomplishing! Quite an adventure every day!
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