Go Suns!!!!!!!!

Elder Stoddard and Elder Benthin gave me this Sun's jersey with Steve Nash's name and number on it along with a bouquet of flowers and a lovely card for my birthday. I promised them I would wear it at district meeting this week. We have worked several months with these two elders and we love them. We all have become like family.

Happy Birthday, Elder Hummer

At our district meeting this past Thursday, we celebrated Elder Hummer's birthday. He is our District Leader and a great Elder. We had Mexican food and it was a real hit even with the Sister from Sweden, and the elders from Germany and Denmark. We love these meetings and especially now since they are in our home!!! We feel like we have our children with us once again.

Great times in Llanelli

We always spend Wednesdays working with Elder Stoddard and Elder Benthin in Llanelli. We first did their flat inspection and then took them out to lunch. One of the visits that afternoon was with Carol Llewellyn, a dear friend we have been visiting for several weeks. As we were leaving, she started to share some of the dolls and other items she has knitted. They are amazing!!! We bought a few fun items for us and for the Elders. As we left she waved to us and said she would see us at church on Sunday. That was the most special part of the visit!!!

Birthday Party at the Pomfrets

Our dear friends the Pomfrets had us over for family home evening this past Monday evening and as we opened the door they were dressed in costumes that would reminded us of America. Beverly was dressed as a Spanish woman, Shirley as a cowboy, Leanna as Miss America and TJ as the American Flag!!! The dinner was all homemade and delicious, the lesson by Leanna was superb, and the game, "Catch Phrase" was sooooooooooooo much fun!!!! We can't believe how wonderful they were to us and they made us feel so loved. Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

An Afternoon with the Thomases

Monday this past week we went out to lunch with the Thomases and they treated us to a meal at this lovely restaurant by the river. We then went to see this castle. I am sorry but I don't remember the name of the castle. We had a wonderful time together.

Andy's Baptism

We just returned from Andy's baptism in Swansea. He is a Chinese student at the University there. Elder Williams baptized Andy and Elder Larson helped teach him. These two elders are superb and are our zone leaders. It was exciting to see so many of our young single adult institute students at the baptism supporting Andy. In fact the two talks given were by two of these students and were great. We invited Andy to attend institute with them. Hope he comes next week. We love these choice times when someone joins the fold!!!

Trying to Capture the Peace and Beauty

This week we went to the London Temple with all of the Sisters in the Merthyr Tydfil Stake on Friday and Saturday and had a most amazing time. I tried to capture the beauty of the temple at night. If you click on the picture and enlarge it you can somewhat see it. It was wonderful sharing time with dear, dear sisters from our branch, mingling in the temple with over 100 other sisters from our area, most of whom I knew, and feeling of the spirit felt in the Temple of our God. We had inspiring firesides, opportunities to do much work in the temple and most of all see Cheryl Davies do baptisms for her ancestors that she had researched along with the help of her sister. This was her first time in the temple and she was glowing the entire time and in church today she was still on fire!!! Oh how I love the temple.

Can You Tell Who Went to the Temple for the First Time???

Here we are outside the London Temple on one of the happiest days of our mission!!! Can you tell who went inside the temple for the first time to do baptisms??? Yes our dear sister Cheryl Davies, the sister in the middle with the cane with the biggest smile!! Here also with me are Delia Harding, our Relief Society President, my roomie and dear friend, Theresa Williams, the Branch President's wife, dear friend and adorable lady, and Dianne Allen, the Stake President's wife, darling lady and special friend. The couple in love are Cheryl's sister Theresa and her fiance, Brian. They are to be married in December and Cheryl is preparing to go through the temple in November so she can be to their wedding. Days like these two last days make everything worthwhile.

Preparing to Part

At our Zone Training this week the Sister Missionaries in Merthyr Tydfil thought they might be transferred and wanted a picture with us. Luckily only one of the elders in our zone was transferred this time because he was made a Zone Leader. This means we will have this group with us another six weeks and will have a big Thanksgiving Dinner with them all at our home. Hooray!!!

Eating at McDonalds after Zone Training

After our Zone Training this week in Swansea, we all went to eat at McDonalds. We then topped off the meal back at the chapel with brownies and cookies that I had made. We loved this day with these wonderful Elders and Sisters!!! They have become our mission family along with the the Carmarthen Branch Saints!!

Merthyr Tydfil Zone Training

This week we met in Swansea and had training by the AP's and Zone Leaders on the new materials from Salt Lake City. It was an amazing day with much learned and spiritual and fun times shared.

Missionary Shopping

Last week we took Elder Stoddard from Idaho and Elder Benthin from Denmark shopping at Tesco. Elder Benthin's trousers were thread bare and the legs were fringed!!! This young elder earned every cent for his mission. Note the suit we bought Elder Benthin. You can buy suits out here very cheap, like under $75. He went back and got the vest after the shopping spree. Elder Stoddard is just modeling a hat. We have been working with these elders every week for a couple of months now and are having great success. We really love these two very dedicated, hard working, fun missionaries. I can even say this was more fun than shopping at my favorite store, "Dress Barn" (and that is saying a lot!!) because of the gratitude we felt from Elder Benthin.

Joseph's Ordination

Sunday was a very special day because Joseph Greenhalgh received the priesthood for the first time. He is here with his mother and father and his two brothers and his friend Christian. Believe it of not the sun was very bright, therefore the squinted and shaded eyes. We love this great family. We have become dear friends while serving here in Carmarthen. We expect great things from this young man. He is filled with love for everyone around him.

District Meeting This Week At Our Home

The elders have requested to have district meetings in our home each week and we love it because it reminds us of being with our children who we love so much as we do these great young missionaries. Transfers are coming up and we know some of them will be transferred, so we take a serious picture and a silly one of the district. You should have seen the line up of cameras on automatic on my window sill. We always enjoy a good meal afterwards. This time I prepared barbecued roast beef sandwiches. They were a hit. In the upper right hand picture is Elder Habicht from Germany, enjoying what we all love so much--news from home.

Conference Time with the Elders and Friends

Conference was extra special this time because we were with so many friends and also the elders from LLanelli and Swansea and their investigators. We brought a picnic lunch for everyone and you can see them enjoying the lunch in the pictures. The young boy is Joseph Greenhaugh who we love very much. I teach him in Primary and he is ready now to receive the priesthood. He and his family who are dear friends joined us also for lunch. Just to clarify the bottles contain what they call J2o and is a mixture of fruit juices and we all love it. I don't remember seeing it in the states. We were filled spiritually as well as physically on that wonderful weekend.
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Eric and Sarah at General Conference

You may remember a previous blog when Eric was blessed just after we first arrived here in Wales. He is taking his first steps here and we are celebrating with him and his mother, Sarah. It was wonderful having Eric and Sarah with us at conference. We pick them up every Sunday for church. It was also exciting to have Sarah at Institute last night.

A Fun Llanelli High Priest Party

We were invited to a High Priest Party in Llanelli tonight and had an enjoyable time. Present are the Richards, the Chapmans, the Phillips, the Goodfords and Elder Crandall and myself. I am eating the last of the trifle with Brother Chapman. Wow it is quite rich and they usually put whipped cream on top too!!!!!!!!!!! I won't mention the number of fat grams that are in it. We watched a video of the Phillips trip to Salt Lake City at conference time two years ago. It was most interesting. We are enjoying working in this area right now and we are having some good success.

The Three Zones at Mission Football

We had such a great day on Monday at Mission Football in Cardiff. Here are pictures of the three zones that played each other. The Zones are Cheltenham (green), Merthyr Tydfil (red, I am in this zone), and Cardiff (orange). And the winner is................................Cardiff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a super fun day!!!!!

Fun, hanging out pictures at Mission Football

Here are fun pictures taken while elders were waiting to play or resting from playing. Sister Ogden is with Sister Henry, the wife of the new senior couple in our mission. They are doing what we are doing only in Hereford, England in the Cheltenham Zone.

Pictures of Special Friendships taken at Mission Football

Here are some fun pictures of special friendships taken at Mission Football on Monday in Cardiff. In the top left hand picture I am with Elder Williams, our zone leader and very special friend. We have worked closely with him and he is exceptional. The right hand picture is of Elder Williams and elders he has trained, one of which is Elder Mathews another very close friend. In the bottom left hand picture is Elder Hummer and Elder Mathews with their convert who came and played with the missionaries. He was really good. The bottom right hand picture is of several great missionaries.