In the park

Look what we saw strolling in the park.

London & much much more....

The chopping block, which was used for beheading people long ago and the rack used in the torture chamber, where people were stretched until they gave up information.

The Bridge Tower and the memorial where many heretics, traitors, etc. were beheaded!

We also visited the National Gallery and Buckingham Palace. Yes, the guards are alive, they just hold really still.

The musical, Book of Mormon, has just started playing in London. So the LDS church is advertising the church everywhere: in the Tube, on the buses, on the motorways, in the airports and train stations. The ads say things like mormon.org.uk, You've seen the musical, now read the book. The book is always better. The church is encouraging members here to create a profile to put on the web, so people can find out that Mormons are normal people.

The LDS church has also put a three-page ad in the program of the musical. The musical is not nice, but the church is incredible!

 

We also visited West Minster Abby and saw Big Ben! Hands-on history is great. George Fredric Handel and Queen Elizabeth I is buried in the Abby. But the architecture is breath-taking. Of course we couldn't take pictures!

 

 

 

 

Everywehre we go, there are flowers, well-groomed parks, and gardens. We saw a few of those in London.

 

 

 

We were advised to take a UK license plate home with us, and there was one just lying on the ground!

 

 

At the train station we found Harry Potter's entrance to the train station which leads to Hogwarts, so Charlie and Flat Jaxon are on their way!

 

 

There was a Chinese "gathering" organized near our home in the park. I believe there were about 17 young people there. It was an incredible event, organized by Shawn, Jason, Joey, Peter, and Hardy.

 

 

When it got dark, it continued in our home. Good times.

 

 

 

 

Continued over-night and into church the next day. We had 43 at sacrament meeting at our home. 

 

 

Daniel Szpakowski, a Polish man just got baptized. We are so excited. He has been investigating for months. He has two very adorable children and wife and in order to be baptized he had to first get married. He has been coming to church though. Elder Ressler and Deshazer desire a lot of credit for hanging in there.

 

 

Elder and Sister Olson organized a service project. Turns out it was a big project. We had to move a big block of cement out of the back garden.The elders took turns with the sledge hammer. It was great to watch all that muscle put to good use. And no one got hurt.

 

We took lots of investigators to the ward walk along the Humber River. Here are a few pictures.

 

 

The streets are lined with spring blossoms. They are so beautiful, but you have to stand in the middle of the road to get a good picture.

Sunday our four Chinese men received the Melchezidek Priesthood before returning to China. It was an incredible experience. They are so pure and innocent really.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

London

While in London we saw some incredible sights. Here are a few: the Tower of London, including a catapult

For sale.

This is a university for sale??? We wondered who would buy it!

Alnwick

Here's a couple pictures of the castle at Alnwick where Harry Potter's movies were filmed. I guess you could say that it's Hogwarts!

Vist to Scotland

The skies are bluer in Scotland and the architecture different. The Edinburgh Castle was incredible. We saw Catherine, Queen of Scots as a baby and later when we went to London, we learned that she was deemed a traitor and beheaded by Queen Elizabeth I. We saw the crown jewels and learned that James VI of Scotland became James I of England who succeeded Queen Elizabeth and commissioned the bible to be translated into English which is the bible we now read - King James Bible!

Almost the real deal

We went into an incredible toy store and found Queen Elizabeth made of legos, so we took a picture. This is also a phone booth made of legos. That would take a lot of legos!

Ahh!

Flat Jaxon almost got eaten by a dragon!

Charlie and Dana visited

Charlie and Dana came to England to visit us!! We got permission from our Mission President to spend some time with them, so we went north. We took Flat Jaxon (Stanley) with us and taught him to fly on the broom with his grandma while we were at Hogwarts, Harry Potter's castle.

Stake Leaders that help with the Young Single Adults

This is Brother and Sister Wileman, the YSA couple in the stake, whom we work closely with.

YSA wedding

One of our YSA couples, John and Amanda, got married. Couples are required by law to marry in a public place, in case the queen decides to attend the wedding. Then the couple goes to the temple to be sealed within 24 hours. They always have so much food for everyone who attends the wedding.