Today While the Sun Shines....

Pearce Family Visits Manchester

   We were so happy to see the Pearce Family.  Molly, Randy, Ike, Oliver, Nellie and Maggie all came to visit. After two months traveling Europe they finally landed here in Manchester for a week with us. It was a highlight for us.  We took a break from our missionary work to be with them. More about the Pearce's visit below:

But First...a few Mission Experiences...

     We continue to teach with the Elders and Sisters when needed and we have taught Thursday Institute most weeks during the summer. We continue with our Wednesday night Gospel Path's class and even though numbers are down we feel good about the curriculum we have developed from Primary and Youth manuals for new members of the church.  We now have created 10 lessons with 4 more planned.   We know this will come in handy in the future for something. We have learned that part of the process is coordinating our styles for the lessons and WE have learned a lot. 

     There is a young family in the mission who requested Senior Missionaries so we started teaching them a couple of weeks ago. They have 5 children and we are looking forward to spending time with this cute family.   They are currently on "holiday", and we have a lesson planned for this coming week and hope to go to church with them next Sunday (Aug 10). 

     We did a presentation at a Religious Education Day at Parr's Wood (High School) last month which we previously posted.  We walked away from that thinking "that was nice and informative." We have recently found out that one of those students went to the mormon.org website, liked what she read, filled out the referral submission which was then sent to local missionaries and will be baptized later this month.  Then two more came to the YSA building and asked for a tour, had a discussion with the missionaries and want to learn more.  We will participate in teaching them.  That was great news to hear - from our little powerpoints we prepared, potentially 3 baptisms!  

   

    A huge day for us was seeing Joulia baptized.  We met Joulia when she had a tour of the YSA building.  She was so open with her feelings and recognized the spirit right away.  Sister Pew sat in on many of her lessons with the young Elders and Elder Pew taught her about Joseph Smith and she never looked back but changed her life.  Joulia is from Lebanon and is a courageous, bright and lively young lady who will be an example to her family in the years to come. 

Elder Peterson, from Montana and Elder Sidhu, from Coventry, England. 

We hosted a  special Sunday Dinner after Joulia's baptism with Jess (Who will be baptized in two weeks) Joanna Borges, Elder Sidhu and Elder Peterson, Cinthya Abod and Joulia

   

   We traveled south a few miles to Macclesfield to spend a Saturday Evening with Elder Kissle (from Ohio) and Elder Desir (from London). They cooked a Pasta dinner for us and then invited us to knock on doors with them. This was a first!  We met Elder Desir soon after we arrived in Manchester and immediately felt a connection with him. He is a great young man with many talents, particularly basketball.  He also has a great tie collection and he and Elder Pew have exchanged ties often.  He showed us his collection of over 100 ties.  He is a "polished" and very sincere missionary.  We hope to keep in touch with him.  Elder Pew went out with him while I paired up with Elder Kissle. Elder Pew was in heaven and I was a bit reluctant.  I was amazed at how bold Elder Kissle was. He is a convert of only a couple of years but has such a strong testimony and passion for teaching the gospel.  These missionaries always amaze me. After our missionary work Elder Desir was anxious to drive so he got behind the wheel and took us for a drive through Macclesfield and we saw beautiful neighborhoods and homes.  We didn't know the Vauxhall could drive that fast. He enjoyed the freedom of the open road! 

Missionary lunch at Barburrito where Elder Pew shows off his American tie given to him by Elder Desir.  Lunch was a celebration of a job well done for several missionaries including Elder Desir and  Elder Nielson, 

More missionaries at Barburrito and goodbye to Elder Caleira

Elder Pew models his new red, white and blue American tie from Elder Desir.

Elder Peterson celebrated his birthday with a chocolate cake for lunch...

And white cake and a party at FHE that evening

We will miss this great Portuguese Elder!  Elder Caleira has been a great zone leader and one of the best missionaries ever!  We had a great goodbye dinner at Giorgio's Italian Restaurant. 

Elder Caleira and Elder Hotchkiss from Layton, our zone leaders the past 2 months.

Elder Pew and Elder Caleira in deep discussion on the way back from dinner.

  We were invited to be the devotional speakers for the Ashton Stake Youth Conference. We spent our July 24th, Pioneer Day, with these great youth who had a wonderful week of experiences planned for them.  About 70 youth attended and we loved being with them.  We did a presentation on "Your 4 Minutes" (Thank you Macy and Ryan) and Hastening the Work.  That afternoon they spent a couple hours with the missionaries on Oxford Road street contacting and getting a true test of missionary life. The youth handed out about 20 Books of Mormon in the first hour.

Our new Mission President, has asked that the Senior couples help in training the missionaries on Family Search so they can help investigators and members with Family Search. Sister Hill and Sister Pew work on Saturday mornings helping the missionaries discover the Family Search website.  

 

Here is the buffet at the Mission President's Home where Senior Couples gathered for a Sunday Meal and a Discussion with President Ulrich and his wife.

This is Qin, learning to make Smores, URBAN STYLE,  for Family Home Evening. 

Smores turned out great!

Games at FHE.

Reed receiving a belated Father's Day Gift from Ali and Clark. He is tasting the licorice.  

A special Sister Missionary Meeting was called in July. They met with President and Sister Ulrich in the YSA building and discussed health both mental and physical and also standards and mission rules. They had a healthy lunch and then did Yoga and Aerobics.  These are a few of the 100 Sister Missionaries.  (Note: one week later we learned that head lice were also transferred at this meeting- Nightmare!!  Sisters...No More Hugging!!)

This is Westgate Dental where we have spent several hours while Elder Pew goes through a Root Canal Process.  Since dental is not covered on our insurance, Elder Pew shopped around for the cheapest Endodontist and found this little gem in Wilmslow.  I commented that it was cheap because they didn't use any ANESTHETIC!  After the first appointment, with no pain killers, he was in considerable discomfort and could not teach institute.  Sister Pew had to fill in and thank goodness for the power point Elder Pew had prepared. It was a shaky night for Joseph F Smith.   Due to the deepness of infection, two weeks later, the root canal is still not completed; but the pain is gone. We hope this procedure continues to go well.  

    This is Elder Rasmussen from Kaysville and Elder Butterfield from Tennessee.  Elder Butterfield has a girl waiting for him that he is engaged to but hasn't seen for 10 years. She lives in North Dakota. A very long distance relationship. We asked if he was related to Clark Butterfield and our Butterfield family in Utah, but he is not.  

Heaton Park Activity

   We sponsored an activity at Heaton Park on a great summer evening. We were told that maybe this wouldn't work because of weather and transportation to the Park. It turned our quite well with 30 YSA's attending. They played football, Frisbee, group games and had a picnic. We provided KFC which I think is the main reason they attended.  They love KFC here and we have found that food is definitely the important factor in a good turn out for these activities. 

I found this great game of  Tic Tac Toe Frisbee on Pinterest. Katie and Sophia play a round but they didn't know what Tic Tac Toe  was since they call it Sticks and Knots...it actually makes more sense !  What is Tic Tac Toe?

Elder Sidhu and Sister Pew at Heaton Park

Elder Peterson is So Thoughtful

    These are some of the reasons that we will miss Elder Peterson.  He has been so great to work with and so thoughtful.  He is easy going but such a diligent missionary. He relates to others so well and is a wonderful teacher. 

He left me some Subway cookies on my desk.

This is my favorite Birthday Present...a Tower of Diet Coke! Thank you Elders Peterson and Sidhu.

They gave Elder Pew these British Cuff links.  They also gave us a British old fashioned suitcase and a British Door Decoration.  How Thoughtful !!  We now miss Elder Peterson so much!!

News Flash...Elder Pew passed the first part of the UK Driver's Test

   Just so you all know, our US driver's license is good for one year in the UK. After a year you have to get a UK Driver's License.  There is a written exam, a simulated Hazard exam and then a Drive-in the-car exam.  Before you can take the written and simulator exam you have to study a book and do practice tests online.  I cannot even tell you how many hours Elder Pew has spent studying for the exam. Each step has a 3-4 week wait to schedule so you have to start a few months ahead to make the deadline. There is also a chance you will fail a portion of the test and then you have to call in and make another appointment and wait another 3-4 weeks to get in to take your test again.  It is crazy!  You have to hire a driving instructor to get you ready for the Driving Test and it is difficult to find someone who will teach you with an automatic transmission since all the cars here are stick shift. (our mission car is automatic). On the test you must know how to check the oil and other car maintenance. This is called show and tell and if you know Elder Pew he doesn't do car maintenance.  He has been driving into Burt Brothers for years and letting them take care of this.  Well...on July 24th, he passed the written and Simulator Hazard portion of the exam and now will start his driving lessons and do the In-The-Car Test. We will keep our fingers crossed.   British driving rules are not like US rules, so the driving test is a challenge.  This mission just announced that Senior Couples will now have to pay for their own Driver's License and after watching Elder Pew go through this process, I am not going to drive my last 6 months.  Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to drive...and independently on my own. This will be a great adjustment for me. I will be super nice to Elder Pew so he will drive me wherever I want to go. 

 

Elder Peterson and Sidhu assisting Elder Pew with his Driving study.

The Pearce's in Manchester

We were so excited to see Molly and Randy and their four kiddos.  Randy has been working in Europe this summer and Molly and the four kids came along. I am amazed at her courage and patience with this whole situation. Traveling with four little ones is pretty hard. They all had a good time and certainly experienced a great deal at their young ages. 

Ike and Oliver stayed at our flat most nights and we enjoyed them hanging out with us.

Lunch at the Noodle Bar !

It is hard to eat noodles with chopsticks. 

We visited several museums and historic sights. One was the Manchester Museum where we saw Dinosaurs, Reptiles and Mummies. 

Ike with several reptiles and frogs in the background

Oliver with the Oliver the Frog Exhibit

At the Manchester United Stadium (Old Trafford)

     I did celebrate a birthday here on July 25th.  Early in the week Reed took me to Trafford Centre Mall and bought me several new outfits. Because I had so many missionary worthy skirts and dresses to choose from and I couldn't decide; and he was tired of shopping - he just announced that we should buy them all.  (Very nice guy) He then helped coordinate tops at Banana Republic.  Probably saved him a couple of hours trailing me around the mall.  

     So glad the Pearce's were here as we visited two historic sites, Dunham Massey, A military hospital and grounds and the Quarry Bank Mill where cotton was milled in earlier days.  It was a beautiful, busy day I will never forget.

Nellie on the trail at Dunham Massey

Reed has not had a chance to talk sports (except football/soccer), politics, the "market" ...since Ryan was here so he and Randy walked at a Margaret pace catching up.

Ike in the Bark House at Dunham Massey

Outside the Hospital

We took a picnic to the grounds of Quarry Bank Mill and had lunch on the grass; Peanut butter sandwiches, crisps cookies and warm Diet Coke.

This is what the families looked like that worked at the cotton mill.

Ollie, Nellie and Ike watch intently as cotton is spun into thread.  These women who were not married and worked at home spinning were called "spinsters".

Ike, Ollie and Nellie watching the demonstration of carding, spinning and weaving.


modeling their period outfits

Margaret loved Pop Pop but unfortunately never did warm up to Amma on this little trip. Amma has a lot of work to do to re-connect when she gets home. 

We had a grand birthday dinner at Tai Pan in Manchester where we all dined on Sweet and Sour Pork, Lemon Chicken, Noodles,  Kung Po Chicken, Beef and Vegetables and even Duck.  Afterward, we went home for a Birthday Magnum Ice Cream Bar. 

After two spills and tired children, there were few left at the table at the end of the meal for the fresh fruit. 

The Hoyles brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers for my birthday. 

    The next day we went to the MOSI museum (Museum of Science and Industry)  Oliver let us know that he was tired of museums and didn't want to go in any historic homes. They all did enjoy the airplanes and the hands on activities at the MOSI.

Ike and Oliver working on their battery operated flashing light pins. 

Ike, the ever so helpful brother...ALWAYS !

Pop Pop turning the water wheel.

Now we are tired of museums.

And little Maggie is tired of this stroller.

Nellie learned to weave.

After the museum we went to Dogs and Dough where we ate hot dogs and drank Cream Soda, which they kindly sold to us for $5 per 12 oz can. 

Dogs and Dough menu with a variety of hot dogs and Pizza.

We went to Heaton Park that night and they all enjoyed running and rolling.

Giant Slide.

Little Slide

 Nellie always has a plan!  Here, she has her plan for the day at the park. She takes after me and my pictorial plans.

On Sunday after church we took a beautiful drive up to the Lakes District. We stayed at a little inn on Lake Windermere called Linthwaite House at Bowness-On-Windermere. It was lovely and relaxing. At night, while going to sleep, we could hear sheep baaaaa ing.

Margaret still not sure who this "Amma" is.

the Pearce boys looking like "The Team"...Where is the BLUE??

Putting green and playing croquet.

Love this little shelf for Wellies and Blankets as you go out the door.

Hydrangeas that grow like weeds here!

on the trail to the fishing pond...with no fish.

Beautiful flower baskets on all the buildings.

Blue Hydrangeas 

I love this sofa in the sitting area of the Inn!! Where can I find this fabric?

View from the sitting area in the hotel.

Randy convinced us to not get on the cruise boat to tour the lake, but hire our own little boat and go on our own.  I was quite skeptical but it turned out to be a great idea.

Do not let any of these children go overboard!

I have always loved Beatrix Potter and this was a fun interactive Kid-Friendly Museum.

Ike with Peter Rabbit

Nellie with Peter

Ollie with Jemima Puddle Duck

Peter's blue boat and shoes in Mr McGregor's Garden

I need my hedges to look like this ! 

The Manchester Aquatic Centre is right next door to the YSA building.  Jess, who works there and who will be baptized in a week, gave Nellie a lesson. Nellie was Nellie and pretty much told Jess what to do during the hour long swim lesson.

We had dinner at Almost Famous Burgers in Manchester. Fun and loud spot to eat Burgers and Fries.

It is fun to have a daughter come but very hard to see her go...Goodbye Pearce Family See you all in 10 months...but who's counting??

As you can see,  the kids are exhausted and will head home next week after a trip to the Beach at Cornwall.

The same day Pearce's left was Transfer Day and many of our Missionary Friends headed home including Elder Caleira and Elder Peterson.  We also said goodbye to Elder Nielson, Elder Desir and Elder Walker. (not pictured)  Sister Fituli and Sister Thomson were also transferred out to other areas. This was a double sad day for us!!

We did gain two missionaries in the YSA.  Elder O'Brien from New Zealand and Sister Chu from Toronto Canada will be joining the YSA Missionaries.  That's the long and short of it. 

Goodbye to Elder Peterson

On transfer day the buses roll up from the MTC to deliver the new Missionaries and then take the Missionaries back to their various areas. 

News Flash...The Head Lice epidemic has hit the Elders and they had to shave their heads.  Only fist bumps for me.

I have never, ever, ever defrosted a freezer in my life...nor do I remember my mother doing this.  A chore that must be done here.   Welcome to England's 21st century.  

Elder Desir got us onto these little tarts.  There are even lemon ones.  This could be the death of me.  I love tarts !!

Month of July...Done and Done

We had a fun Face Time call with the Bells at home.  It seems Ryan, one of our Sons-in-law has decided to grow a beard. We aren't sure how we feel about this.  We hope it is gone before  we get home. 

We love this beautiful shot of a double rainbow over our house in Kaysville.  Thank you to Kim and Gaye Brown for sending it to us.  It has been such a relief and blessing to have  our daughter and family living there to take care of things and watch over this place.  Thanks Murdocks for living at Hampton Court while we are away !!

New Word:  Throwin It Down!!- Raining really hard!