Bits & Bobs
The only way to capture the whirlwind of photos and memories from the past month is through a collection of bits & bobs (the wonderfully British way of saying a mix of random things). We’ve had a lot of random events, visitors, and experiences, with no theme other than they are a snapshot of our day to day life here. These are the things I want to remember. So here goes…
We've been lucky to enjoy more visits from friends—whether it was a quick catch-up in London or a weekend outing together.
My high school bestie and her husband came for about 10 days, so we got to spend time with them on both ends of their trip, while they explored London during the week. We visited Hampton Court, Stonehenge, Bath, and Oxford (of course!).
I also went into London one afternoon to meet up with them to see the Tower of London and walk around Chelsea, a very posh neighborhood that had flower displays for the annual Chelsea Flower Show.
After dropping them off at the airport on a bank holiday, we went for a hike at nearby Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park. Such a gorgeous place filled with flowers and wildlife.
A week or so ago we got to meet up for a dinner in London with friends from our ward in Walnut Creek. Frank was one of the boys in our Activity Day group. It was so fun to see him again and it was a delight to spend the evening with his family!
Another set of visitors were friends we met at the MTC a year and a half ago. They just recently returned from serving in the Sydney Australia mission and had always wanted to visit London, so they took the chance while we were here to come. It was so fun to get reacquainted and share our mission experiences with each other.
Now for a few random outings on our own…
We live in an area called “The Chilterns”, which is considered an “Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty” (AONB). We agree! The Chilterns is known for beautiful pasture-covered hills, woodlands, and quaint little villages. We decided to go hiking near Chequers, which is a country estate for the Prime Minister, sort of like Camp David is for the U.S. President.
You can’t visit it, of course, but you can see it in the distance. We’re still waiting for a personal invitation to come in and have some tea. But in the meantime, we loved hiking with some cow friends.
After the hike, we drove to a nearby town called Great Missenden to eat lunch and visit the Roald Dahl Museum, where he lived and wrote his stories. If you know anything about Elder VW, you should know that he LOVES Fantastic Mr. Fox! We’re also fans of Willy Wonka of course, but Fantastic Mr. Fox is one of our family favorites.
My favorite line: “If what I think is happening is happening, it better not be!” (Felicity Fox)
One evening last week we took a little ramble up the hill to visit our favorite cemetery. We both feel like there is a very unique and special spirit (or Spirit with a capital S) about this cemetery. We feel it every time we walk through it. I decided to capture all the angel markers. I’ve shared a few before, but I think they’re so beautiful!
And yesterday we found another beautiful hike near the airport (after a visitor drop-off) at a nature reserve called Black Park Country Park (what we might call a County Park).
A few weeks ago, we made one of our monthly afternoon trips into London for a doctor’s visit. We always try to take advantage of our time in the city to see or do something we haven’t seen. We were able to get last-minute tickets at a decent discount for Les Miserables, which we’ve seen numerous times at home.
There are a few lines that always stand out to me that I love:
“To love another person is to see the face of God.”
– Fantine & Jean Valjean (Epilogue)“Yet why did I allow that man to touch my soul and teach me love? He treated me like any other, he gave me his trust, he called me brother.”
– Jean Valjean (Valjean’s Soliloquy)
Such a powerful musical and a powerful message.
Now here are some random pictures of people we love.
I got to meet up for dinner with the FamilySearch team for the Area. One of my mission responsibilities is helping with special projects for Ariel, who is one of the Area managers. She’s from Portugal, she’s brilliant, and she’s hilarious! She lives a few hours away and we usually only get to chat on Teams video, so it was a blast getting to hang out with her for a few hours. She doesn’t know it yet but I’m kidnapping her back to America with me. ;)
These are the wonderful people we get to work with every day in the OGC. They have become like family! We were celebrating one of our legal coordinators, Sharon (center, fifth from the left), who had just gotten news that she had passed the equivalent of the UK bar exam. She’s amazing and we were all so happy for her!
Some random pics of friends from our ward: twinning with lovely Alice (and cute photo bomber Brother Holt), dinner with the Bray family, and a birthday party for Stacey. We love our ward family!
This next picture is a little shout-out for Elder VW and some of the work he has been able to do an OGC missionary. He’s not in the picture, but he has been working on this project behind the scenes. He is responsible for any legal contracts having to do with the Church’s humanitarian efforts in our Area. It’s a work he loves being able to do. This is called the Felix Project and is a joint effort between the Church and the Muslim Aid organization to provide food to over 100,000 people throughout Greater London. Elder Quentin L. Cook, of the Quorum of the Twelves Apostles, visited our Area and toured the Felix Project along with other leaders. You can read more about it by clicking on the picture. A powerful reminder that we can do more together than we can do on our own.
Finally…
One last thought…
We have been given an assignment to teach the youth Sunday School class, with ages spanning 11-17. I don’t have a picture of them yet, but I’ll definitely get one before we leave! They are a wonderful group of smart, good, faithful young people and we feel so privileged to get to teach and love them for this short little bit of time that we’re here.
Yesterday during the sacrament service, three of the boys in our class were passing the sacrament to the congregation.
The water was blessed and they were just finishing passing it to the members in the chapel. They returned to the sacrament table and I heard one of them whisper to the priest responsible for blessing the sacrament, “there’s not enough”. They had apparently run out of the small cups of water and there were a few people at the back who hadn’t received the sacrament. When that happens, the young men are supposed to go and fill more cups with water, return the tray to the sacrament table, and the priest will repeat the sacrament prayer to bless the new water. This was done, and the young man walked to the back to give the water to those who had not received received it.
When he returned to the table he realized, to his great embarrassment, that they had run out yet again because there was not enough water to pass the sacrament to each other. (This is usually done after everyone in the congregation has had the sacrament.) Once more, he awkwardly walked out to fill more cups with water, returned to the sacrament table, and the blessing was offered a third time. The cups of water were then given to the young men at the sacrament table.
We took a moment to talk about this during our lesson and this young man expressed how awkward and embarrassed he felt. But I shared with him how I felt as I witnessed this scene. While he was embarrassed that there was “not enough”, the act of getting more water, blessing it again, and making sure that EVERY single person could partake of the sacrament was a reminder to me that the Savior’s sacrifice—symbolized by the sacrament—is ALWAYS enough! His love is enough. No one is overlooked. The Savior sees each of us, knows us personally, and He wants each of us to have His living water in our life.
And now I’ll end with this picture, which is one of my favorite views in our beautiful area. It looks out over green pastures and a small chapel in the valley, reminding me of the 23rd Psalm.
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul.
♥ Until next time, we love you! Cheers! ♥
I think this is my favorite email from you guys. The pictures were as always SO beautiful and captured everything you talked about.
Then the last experience of the Sacrament story summed up everything about the gospel. Jesus Christ is everything. He is ALWAYS enough as you said. 🤍🤍🤍
Thanks for all your beautiful photos, so I can feel like I get to be on your adventures and sharing in your spiritual experiences while on your mission.
Brenna was telling me about a hike she is doing near Lake Tahoe which includes three lakes. I miss my hiking friend. I might have to find a meet-up group that hikes.