Learning to Serve June 29-July 2

We are learning a great deal about how we can best serve the Lord in this part of England.  The learning curve is very high, but we have wonderful people who are assisting us.

Map of our mission and its nine zones.  We live in the Crawley Zone.  Many of our Parker ancestors came from the Portsmouth Zone area.

Look what we discovered on one of our favorite early morning walks. Too bad it hasn't run for many years, as it would be great therapy at this time!

This is the lane we often walk because it is concrete.  Notice the giant jet coming in to land at Gatwick Airport.

Center of East Grinstead, a small town where we go to church.

The backside of the Gate House to our office area.  We drive right under the building into our parking compound.

Office Front Door.

Our new apartment will be the window in the corner seen below, just a few feet from the front door of the office. People often go to the window and knock for "take out" help.  Sister Parker is considering putting up a "Closed for Business Until Tomorrow" sign, as our bed is on the other side of that curtain!  (We may forget to take the sign down...)

On our preparation day, we made a quick trip to the seaside town of Brighton.  We needed to get Mom some new walking shoes and office supplies.  This was the first small day trip we have made since being in England.

 

Lunch from a street vendor - Dad's favorite!

We are excited to be in England serving a mission and know this is where the Lord would have us be at this time.  We had fast and testimony meeting in our ward in East Grinstead today.  It was a wonderful meeting with many touching testimonies.  The landlord of the flat where we are temporarily staying bore a wonderful testimony about missionary service.  He indicated that sacrifice to God is worship.  

As we sacrifice our lives, time, and resources to God, we are worshipping Him.  The example was given of Abraham's sacrifice of his son Isaac found in Genesis 22.   In verse five, Abraham said to his servants, "...Abide ye here... and I and the lad will go yonder and worship..."

I know that Christ's great sacrifice for us in the Garden was also a wonderful example of Him worshipping His Father.

Settling In

England London South Missionaries with Elder & Sister Christofferson June 17, 2017
Can you find Elder & Sister Parker?

We are currently living in a studio apartment at the Bridgestock estate.  It is the old West Park estate that used to be a farm of hundreds of acres that included the current London Temple property that is about two miles from where we are staying.  The Bridgestock’s are members of our ward.  They bought the home 12 years ago when it was very dilapidated, and have converted it into a very nice estate for their family.  They have three of their families currently living there - Mum and Dad, and two of their daughters’ families (Emma and Sarah).  The flat we live in is away from the main house in what was once considered the stables.

It has been very bright, sunny, and unseasonably warm here in Southern England.  We have only had one short thunder storm, and we were inside when that came.  The estate and temple grounds are in the path of giant jets landing at Gatwick Airport, so we are getting used to the sound of the jets overhead.  Sometimes it sounds like thunder rolling in the distance.

We attend church in a nice ward in East Grinstead, one of the largest cities close by.  It is about 10 minutes away by car.  The driving on the left side of the road is now becoming more normal to Dad.  Mom has yet to try her hand at it.  We are in the country with narrow, winding, roads, trimmed with large hedges and trees.   It is very beautiful.

The Temple is also beautiful and peaceful.  The property covers 40 areas which include the temple, visitors center, temple workers housing lodge, guest accommodations building, mission office, old gatehouse, and old manor house (where the temple president lives).

The learning curve for both of us is very steep!  We have been exhausted when we get home at night, and it reminds us of when we first took over the management of Aspen Grove.  There is much to learn to understand and do on a daily basis.  We are feeling a dependence on the Lord to accomplish what will be required of us.  We recognize that this is His work and know that He will help us shoulder the load. 

With President and Sister Gubler

Bridgestock Estate- Office Elders Dye and Mee with David and Leslie Bridgestock and their daughter Emma
Our flat far left by car..  Dog is Biscuit (which is Cookie in English.)

Below is our temporary studio apartment at the Bridgestock Estate.  We will move to temple patron housing when Elder and Sister Record leave in a few weeks.

Looking forward to living on the temple grounds...

Office missionaries at a pub close to the temple.  Sisters Parker and Harkness,  Elder and Sister Record, whom we are replacing, Sister DeArden, Elder and Sister Corbet.  Elder Parker is seen in the mirror behind the group!

Elder Parker's first fish and chips in England.

This is Elder Parker in a Spitfire fighter at the Hever Castle.  What a shot!

Hever Castle is about 20 minutes from the office and was the home of Anne Boleyn, 2nd wife of King Henry VIII.

We know that God is in control of our lives and is true to the promises He has made to us and concerning our family at home.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is true, the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is rolling forth to fill the earth, and it is exciting to be a part of that here in England.

Mission Call and Missionary Training Center

3 Nephi 5:13

Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.

We have been called to serve the Lord as missionaries to the wonderful land of England.  We will be managing the mission office which is located at the London Temple.  Our housing will be located at the temple complex as well.

We had a wonderful experience serving previously in Denmark- the land where Bev's father's family came from.  The picture above is of missionaries teaching a Danish family, and also hung in the chapel where we served our first year in Aarhus, Denmark.

Now we are blessed to serve in England, the native land of most of Glen's family, and much of Bev's extended family as well. 

This is our District in the MTC with one of our trainers, Brother Jacob Zufelt.  All senior couples were from Utah.  From left to right - the Bahr's from Bountiful, the Tucker's from Syracuse, the Jensen's from Hyde Park, and the Parker's from Provo.  

Brother Zufelt is from northern California and served his mission in Mexico.  He was great to work with, and constantly bore a strong testimony of the Savior and our purpose as missionaries.  He reminded Bev of our grandson, Spencer, only not quite as tall!  He is also a runner...

Training was very full this first week, and we were glad to live so close to the MTC that we were able to go home to sleep in our own beds at night. We're getting back on the old missionary schedule, though seniors don't have to keep quite the rigorous schedule as the young missionaries, for which we are tremendously glad! 

Bringing back memories of Glen serving in southern England as a young elder.

Our children may remember the story of Dad's first time in London as a young elder, and biking across the city at night, following a big, black taxi that carried all his luggage.  The cab driver wouldn't carry the bike, so Dad had to follow behind on his bike and try to not lose him!

This is our first dinner appointment as full time missionaries.  This is the Myers family from Mapleton, Utah.  I'm afraid that we forgot to give our message as we were having so much fun with all the kids!
(This is actually our daughter and son-in-law, Amber and Tod, and their family.  From left to right - Parker, Mason, Tod, Amber, Brinley, Lacy, and Jade.)

Beautiful view last night from our back deck.  Hope the clouds in England will part occasionally, though we love rain!  :)

We want you all to know that we have strong testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and of the Restoration at the hands of the prophet, Joseph Smith.  It is amazing to watch the work go forward across the earth, and one can truly feel the spirit of the Holy Ghost when participating even in a small way in this important calling and work.

We believe in the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and bear our testimonies that by coming closer to Him in our lives, and by following the way He has shown, we will truly find the blessings and the happiness that our Father in Heaven has for each of us.  The Church is important to us, and we want to continue to help build the Kingdom by serving this mission together.  We know that we and our family will be blessed.

A beautiful wall mural found in one of the new buildings of the MTC expansion.  The new expansion is really wonderful, and has been fun to watch develop as we live so nearby.

New addition to the MTC.

  This is a fun time-lapse of the construction of the new MTC addition
https://youtu.be/Wv44ZIZ0zGM