July 7, 2019

Good-bye to the Turveys and Welcome to the Greens

I didn't realize how hard it would be to say good-bye to the Turveys. In just a short time we became friends and learned from their leadership. They are great examples and were leaders of influence and example. England, Leeds mission is better because of their service. We're grateful to have had the privilege of serving under their leadership and being their friends. We both hope to meet again either in Utah or England.

Saying welcome to the Greens was more fun than I expected. We met them at their home in Centerville before we left on our mission. Our impressions then were great and felt they were prepared and ready to serve and lead this mission. They arrived in Leeds a week ago but because of the big "meet the missionaries" adventure they were on, we didn't get to say hello until a couple days ago. We were seated in the back of our zone's "meet the Green's" meeting. Sister Green was talking and introducing their family. Then, she stopped and looked right at us and said, "It's the Carriers!" Everyone turned to look at us and they were probably wondering why we were so popular with the Greens. President Green was great....funny, spiritual, and motivating. It was a powerful meeting. We're very grateful to be serving with them.


The Turveys are now home in Bath, England


The Green's are in temporary housing until the mission home is remodeled. They're from Centerville, Utah

Grassington, England (45 minutes north of Leeds)

The YSA added places to see and things to eat to our bucket list while in England. One of them was to travel through the Yorkshire Dales National Park and stop to tour the ton of Grassington. We did and will go back during Christmas because they have reenactments and beautiful decorations at Christmas. 

The ride was lovely with beautiful scenery along the route. We traveled through the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Stunning overlooks and beautiful scenery all along the route.

Grassington is a town at the top of the Moors. It was charming in every way. The people were friendly and proud of their cute village.

A well kept farm and lots of very narrow roads on every street in town



Green fields with horses, sheep, and cows grazing. Beautiful wheat field along the route.

A Church just outside of Grassington.

I loved walking the streets and found a cute shop with delightful shoes. Pete took a picture of the sign just inside the store.

Center of Grassington

Skipton

Skipton is a town we passed through on our way home from Grassington. We had been there before but wanted to explore the castle. There was too much rain to see the restored castle the previous trip.

View of the castle and us on the steps entering.

Saltaire

Saltaire is a town just outside of Bradford. Mr. Salt built his textile business near the Aire river. Thus the name Saltaire. He built a huge factory and homes for all his workers so they wouldn't have to travel far for work.  It's also a World Heritage site.

The Church in Saltaire

Saltaire canal

Administration building and factory near the railroad


Artichoke growing in Saltaire and the housing for the workers

4th of July British Style

Marian, the secretary at the institute, decided we needed to do a 4th of July barbecue. She bought the meat and made sundaes, banana shakes, and rootbeer floats. I made the potato & macaroni salad. Pete made baked beans. It was a success. Everyone had fun celebrating our holiday with us. Marian bought lots of American flags to hang outside too.  So sweet of her.





We LOVE the YSA.

Helping the elders and sisters 
We had several opportunities to help the sisters and the elders last week.

We enjoyed the privilege to teach with Elder Haws and Elder Hopkins. Sharon and Simon have been coming to church for a while.  I have enjoyed visiting with Sharon at Church and was really excited when the Elders invited us to come with them to teach her. She and Simon have made changes in their life and were eager for their baptism. Their wedding and baptism was Saturday, July 6. The wedding was the first ceremony with the bishop performing the ritual. It was different than our civil weddings with all the "properness" of England in the signing of the certificates. It was held in the chapel and the reception was elaborately decorated in the cultural hall.  The baptism was a sacred ordinance performed later. Most of the wedding guests stayed to watch. All of their family attended and they enjoyed the spirit which was felt there. I'm sure more will come to know Christ through Sharon and Simon's example.  

We did some contacting with Elder Cottle and Elder Ethington too. Our experience with them was not as successful but they're not giving up.

The YSA that we met through the art activity we did with Sister Teo and Sister Niebarger in front of the institute was very successful. Two of them have been coming to our YSA activities and are being taught. They're both from China. They have told us they recognize something special about our Church. 

We met a couple Italian students doing a study abroad from Italy. They came to pancake breakfast with a member. They also were at the 4th of July barbecue. 

On one of our walks we talked with a couple young men coming into Leeds University for a month study abroad. They were Chinese.

Tonight, Saturday, July 6 we're doing a special fast, as requested by Sister Green. She turns 60 July 6 and wants the entire mission to fast for the success of this mission for her birthday gift.

Today, Sunday, we invited the Green's to eat dinner with us. The mission home is being remodeled so they are in temporary housing until the remodel is finished. It's been a struggle but they're keeping positive. We invited them to come to the institute any time they need food or lodging. It was fun to be with them. They are great for this mission. 

This is His work. We feel blessed in many ways and know the Lord continues to direct our work as we continue to follow Him. 

President Green shared the following scripture with us at the zone "Meet the Greens." 

I won't share all of it but the reference is D&C 121:36-45 

Here's the beginning, verse 36, that I'm sharing at the end of this blog! 

That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.