Elder Christofferson ... the chance to hear from an Apostle

We flew over to the mainland in  June for a mission conference to hear Elder Christofferson. He had been in England speaking at Oxford, related to his role in Watergate. Apparently he was a junior law clerk at the time, under Judge Sirica.  KSL reports, 

OXFORD, England — A unique time in modern American political history took center stage at England's famed Oxford University on Thursday.Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spoke there about his role in investigating the Watergate scandal.Elder Christofferson stepped into historic Christ Church College at Oxford University and also stepped back in time as he described a defining moment in his life.

Before becoming a church leader, Elder Christofferson was an attorney.In 1974, Elder Christofferson was the clerk for U.S. District Court Judge John Sirica who ultimately ruled that President Nixon should turn over the recordings of White House conversations about the Watergate scandal."He (Sirica) said to me on one occasion, 'I hope you appreciate this. Not many law clerks get an experience like this,’” Elder Christofferson said. “Then he paused and said, 'Not many judges do either,' and then he smiled.”

A young Christofferson and Judge Sirica were the first ones outside the White House to hear President Nixon's secret Watergate tapes. On the tapes they heard the president ask how much money it would take to keep the Watergate burglars quiet. 

Elder Christofferson told an audience of students, faculty and guests that what happened during Watergate was shocking, surprising and a tragedy. He said was proud of Judge Sirica’s integrity.

 "When you don't resolve things when they're small, they grow and become more complex and difficult, or they can, and sometimes the efforts to avoid dealing with it turned out to be worse than the original crime or misstep.”

 The Watergate burglars were indicted in Judge Sirirca’s courtroom. After that, Christofferson delivered a 50-page grand jury report that revealed President Nixon’s role that eventually led to his resignation.

 Elder Christofferson said his involvement with investigating Watergate proved to be an invaluable life lesson. 

  KSL Elder Christofferson

He was also here to preside over the Staines Stake Conference and our Mission Coference. We were there to be taught by an apostle of the Lord. Before the meeting began we all were able to shake hands with him and introduce ourselves. I didn't think I would be too affected, but I was. My notes stated, "I thought coming from Bountiful that the opportunity to shake the hand of an Apostle's hand may be less of an occasion, but it was NOT!" I was deeply

moved and watched as missionaries from all countries had the opportunity to shake his and Sister Christofferson's hand. Some of them may have never seen an Apostle in person and to be able to shake his hand and talk to him was such a moving experience for them. One young missionary from Africa knelt as he approached him ... profound respect and love ... tears to my eyes. I have not even had many of these experiences.

To begin President Gubler reminded us that Reverance invites Revelation and repeated a quote from President Eyring, " He also taught that scripture study each day will teach what each person needs.

Elder Christofferson taught us to make our prayers specific and desire to know his will at all times.The spirit will teach us things we don't even know how to ask. Get better and better as  you go through life. Be more diligent about following the spirit. Pray with the intent to follow those promptings you get and the Lord will give you the gift of the Holy Ghost. You have to be willing to ACT. Take COURAGE! It is the hallmark of a saint, being willing to follow the spirit.

One missionary from mainland China asked him if he had a message for China. Jokingly he asked he missionary if he was going to give the message to those in China. He told us that there are 70 branches in 5 districts. They are free to teach family  members about the gospel, but they cannot cannot public proselytize. There are 1000 members of the church in China. It is growing because of members.

He was asked a question related to his talk in conference about moral relativism. Many say there is no right or wrong. We say NO. We have to have truths in place to have agency, laws govern consequences.

There was also a question about enduring to the end. " The Lord expects us to ride the good and the bad. Go forward even when it is not easy, not convenient and not pleasant."Helaman 10:3 -  "they were much cast down. The blessing was based on weariness.

And then he expounded on the "Noble and Great Ones." Abraham 3:22-34. Intelligences were organized or born. there was a group called the "Noble and Great Ones." Abraham was one, good leaders are ones. In verse 24 it says that they great spirits helped create the world.  The Savior was a noble and great one. Alma chapter 2. They were called and prepared in pre-mortality (not pre-existance - we have always existed). They had EXCEEDING FAITH, not just faith. They had good works. It is a holy calling to preach the gospel and save souls.  ... too much to write here.

Mission picture. Elder Christofferson and his wife are in the very front.

Here are some other quotes or comments;

• Be grateful He lets us help and thank Him for the privilege of having a part in His work. "It's a miracle he lets us touch anything."
• One missionary asked, "How to we develop Christ-like love." His response was, "Ask for it  Moroni 7:47 ... "Pray with all the energy of your heart. See them through His eyes - Serve them."
• "If you get a prompting and it makes no sense follow it anyway. Have faith to know what God would have you do or say."
• "Ask for your daily bread, not your yearly bread."
• "There is no trial o r tribulation in this world that can happen to us that the Lord cannot change to work for our benefit."
• "Develop the patience to know that things will always get better.
• If you express gratitude for what you have been given, I have more to give you."
• "Following the spirit is a matter of increasing diligence."
• "President Monson is  always giving 100%. At times it varies in comparison but as long as we are  giving 100%, that is all that matters. The Lord judges us based  on what we do withwhat He gives us. We all receive t he same blessing as long as we multiply the talents we have."

Stephanie has GONE ... but we went to Sark and memories remain with us!

Part of the GU10 band. There are "10"members.

We got back to the mainland on Wednesday after the short ferry ride from Poole. We shopped High Street and got lost ... I don't know how, because there are only two major streets, and then went to one of the restaurants on Cobo Beach, "Crabby Jacks." We had been there before and I had ordered those delightful mussels, so I was looking forward to another pot, but they were out of mussels and I was so sad, the word "heartbroken" seems a little too dramatic.  We walked the cliffs one morning and then had brunch at the Cobo Beach Hotel, which was more like breakfast except no sausages and tomatoes. We visited two wonderful families, Wednesday night and Thursday night. and Friday night we went to a concert at the Forest Parish Church.  I search the internet and papers for events so that we can go and invite others and this one just popped up. GU 10, a local folk and shanty band was playing a benefit concert and it was wonderful. We sang and clapped along. They had refreshments and a small baazar and Stephanie bought a silver ring.  We talked to people (of course). One lady who sang two songs at the beginning of the night had met with the missionaries and she came back to talk to us. She said that she loved the meetings and it made her think more deeply about her own beliefs. She hoped that the people on the island were kind to them. We talked about the eighty member interdenominational choir that she sings with and told her that President Hewlett had a wonderful voice. The only drawback is that they practice on Monday nights. She was so kind to approach us. At the end of the meeting I talked to Margery of the Vale Church. She wouldn't give me her last name, but said that I could talk to the Priest at Trinity Church. His wife was American and they get involved in a number of charity projects. I was looking at interfaith projects that we could get involved with. She said it was nice to see a missionary couple and maybe they could related to some of the people differently than the young missionaries. Truth be told, the young missionaries are amazing and teach us so much each day. Almost every day when they come home they say, "Do you want to know the miracles we had today/" We have a family prayer at night and they share miracles. I have told them that just being here is a pretty big miracle. That they are willing to serve for two years and go out each day, regardless of the circumstances is a miracle.

Back to Stephanie ...  I had booked a ferry Saturday morning to the Island of Sark. There are a number of close island that make up the Channel Islands, Sark is the smallest. It is about a 45 minute ferry ride and we left at 11:45 a.m and were to return on the 4:00 ferry. We packed a picnic lunch, which we ate on a cliff overlooking Little Shark and the ocean. On a "clear day you can see forever," and see France. As we got off the ferry a tractor driven lorry took us to the top of the hill and all of a sudden you were in days forgotten. There are no cars on Sark and the only transportation is your feet, bicycles and horse-drawn carriages. I had checked into Carriage rides before we left and we took that option. If we had a little more time we would have liked to have explored on foot a little more. I am a little unsure of bicycles after my knee surgery and my fall in Devon, but we only had a few hours.

Going into town, right off the tractor ride	Main Street Sark
Another view of Main Street Sark	The road to the south cliffs.
Stephanie with France behind her ...	This is a true statement. The drop behind this gate was terrifying!

Saturday night was our last event and Stephanie and I went to the Guernsey Brass Concert @ St. James, a former church turned Concert Hall. They were playing music from the movies and I thought she would enjoy it and I also thought it would be better attended. It was well done, but with all I had to do for Sunday we left a little after intermission ( I was trying to find green enchilada sauce ... never found), although when we were waiting for Steve, Stephanie went back in for a couple more numbers.

France behind. This was the landing point for some settlers and pirates. I really do do my hair each day, but it usually ends up like this with the humidity and the wind ...That's' my story and I am sticking with it!	Our ride home. See the people queing up...
Our horse and driver ... Winston was his name. I don't remember hers.	The lighthouse on  the NE of Sark, constructed in 1913. "Sark was a desirable place for lighthouse keepers to be posted. As it was considered a 'rock station', pay for serving there was good but it was not as remote as other lighthouses of that class. It might have been the only rock station where the keepers could go to the pub when not working." Thank you Wikipedia!

So, that is our week with Stephanie. What a joy it was and I think a good break for her.

More of the Isle of Guernsey

I thought I would give you an additional little taste of our life here in Guernsey in pictures.  The island is small, about 7 miles by 5 miles. The island is beautiful! Speed limits do not go over 35 mph, and yes we are in mph and not kilometers, and the roads are very narrow with granite walls on both sides. People refer to the scratches on the sides of cars as granite rash. The people are very kind, helpful and polite. They waive you in if you want to turn or park. The island is an off shore mecca, similar to the Cayman Islands, so it is a major financial centre (spelled right over here). The flower are gorgeous! The population in the island is about 65,000. The perimeter of the island is about 39 miles, which our missionaries walked for charity.

The island is not part of England and has its own money, although they do accept English pounds. England does not accept Guernsey money! It is a Balliwick, and one of three Crown dependencies of the UK. Under the terms of the Treaty (or Peace) in 1204, the Bailiwick comprises a number of islands in the English Channel which fall into three separate sub-jurisdictions: Guernsey, Alderney and Sark.

I may have mentioned, but 115 cruise ships come to the island each year with about 180,000 people, so  it can get busy downtown when the ships come in and there is a place  in the paper where they list what ships are coming in each day/week. Here's my visual tour ...

The Rousse. This round stronghold was actually built during the Revolutionary War when France and the United States of America as they say became Allies. We are only 10 miles off the coast of France	The beach near the Rousse.  Some are rocky, but below this is sand.
The Little Chapel built in 1914. It is 9x4.5 feet	Victor Hugo's home. He was in exile for 15 years here  and wrote Les Miserable here. Inside is weird and amazing and  all original.
Peonies in the grocery store .. still my heart!	More flowers ... lots of hanging window pots
The last of my mussels and maybe the best - butter, cream and other things with a small  baguette to sop	A string quartet from Prague.  They were amazing @ St. James
Looking out over the cliffs	The road in front of our house/church

Stephanie Came to Visit .....

Stephanie on the M5. See the telephone  in the
 background. Welcome to England!

We have had a very busy week. It always seems like a busy week. A week ago Sunday, I rode the slow, slow ferry, overnight, to Portsmouth and went straight to London, to pick up my mixer, our winter coats, and surprise ... surprise Stephane from Gatwick Airport Sunday morning. I though we would get to church, but after talking to Elder Record in the mission office I went to the South Terminal and waited, and as luck would have it she didn't arrive. So I checked the arrival board and found no flight from Las Vegas via Virgin Atlantic Airways , so I consulted the local kiosk (a word used all the time here) and took the shuttle to the North Terminal. Without any power on my phone or the back up charger (remember it was a long, long 13 hour ferry ride). Stephanie got here quicker than I did! I looked around for a few minutes and then miraculously Stephanie was right there beside me. I actually wasn't sure how I would find her. But after two terminals and an extra 45 minutes we didn't have time  to get  to church in Crawley and all wards start at 10:00 so we wouldn't have made it anywhere ... so disappointed! A week without church is a pretty low week! We headed off and thought we may get to Windsor Castle, but a  short distance later on the M5 we heard a loud pop, almost  like a gunshot and the road became very noisy. Stephanie said, "Maybe it is a flat." So I slowly left the largest road in England and moved to the left ... yes a flat tire! But, as tender mercies go we had room  to pull over and there was an emergency phone about 200 yards ahead on the side of the road,  so Stephanie made the trek to call. "Did we have a break down company,' we were asked. I didn't know, because I had never broken down and didn't even know what a break down company was. I searched through the glove box and found a card and a phone number. The lady on the other end called the company and we waited on the guard rail, because they told us not to wait in the car. We tried to find humor in the situation ... I know we should have made it to church! One of the speed cameras was right in front of us and the lady told  us she could see us in the camera. I tried to waive at the cars, but Stephanie shut that down quickly. About 45 minutes later, we were off on a smaller spare tire to see if we could get the tired fixed. Leatherfield, first stop, neither of the "tyre" shops were open, so I made the decision to go slowly on non-major roads to our next destination. It took so long because non-major  roads are so slow.

Grassmere House in Salisbury our first night. The best of three nights accommodations.	 Stephanie @ Salisbury Cathedral
Our Costco run for the branch and for the missionaries to Bristol (sort of). Notice the Manitoba Strong White Flour!

We went to Castle, Salisbury Cathedral and Magna Carter House ( that was pretty amazing), Old Sarum, Stonehenge, the Roman Baths and the Jane Austen Center in Bath (we both thought that was underwhelming). Then before we left we were off to what the google maps told us was nine miles to Costco in Bath. It was open until 8:30 and Stephanie had to be back to take a call at 9:00 p.m. It was not nine miles and if we hadn't found a quicker way home, we would have never made it and oh yes, we  had twenty minutes in Costco to get it all done. I forgot some things, but we are a lot better off. We can only buy like 8 heavy paper plates at a time on Guernsey. I should be okay for a little while.

My scones and clotted cream shop

On our way back to Poole to take the quick ferry Wednesday morning,  I wanted to take Stephanie to some family history sites. MAJOR ACCIDENT! I wanted to take Stephanie for scones and clotted cream in this shop called "Toast" in Honiton, Devon and stop at a wonderful design shop that is next door.  I knew I was pushing the time, but off we went.  I also knew that if I headed south we would be okay as our ultimate destination was south anyway. We started off on those small roads, but I quickly veered off to the larger road when I saw the sign "Honiton." It took longer than I thought and by the time we got there all the stores were closed. I was trying to cross the street, going uphill, when I turned around to press the walk button. My heel got caught in a cobble and I could feel  myself falling backwards, downhill. I tried to catch myself by holding on the walk box, but that didn't work and I fell backwards hitting my head very hard on the old cement brick building to my left. I was on the ground and a couple appeared from nowhere. Stephanie had been across the street waiting to cross and she was just as fast. My head began to swell on the left side in quite a large area and it was very tender and sore. The gentleman who came to my rescue said it had turned quite red and possibly I should have it checked. I hadn't lost consciousness, and I could get up and walk so I decided against his good advice and we proceeded up the street. It is getting better, a week and a half later, but still tender. I am still a little concerned, so at some point when we go back to the mainland I will a have it checked because I do not want to find out that I had a bleed, or have something happen later related to it. I won't have it checked here because they have no national insurance here on Guernsey and anything major they take to England anyway .... I did tell Stephanie where to go if something happened to me.

The Design Shop	Design Shop#2
Oh how you know I love a good fabric!	... and anything else design related

Nothing opened and still a few hours of daylight so we asked directions to Poole and headed back to Hemyock so I could check out "Tedburrow"

where my Great Great Broomfield Grandparents lived when they died (on death register). Steve and I had passed the sign before but didn't know if it was a house or a hamlet or something else. We drove up the fairly steep, narrow, dirt road and stopped at the first old house, where the sign said, "Tedburrow Farm." The gentleman had only lived there fifteen years, but he told me that Tedburrow was a collection of about 6 houses, excluding the newer ones down the hill.  There was the Browning farm just up the road and at least two older building that had slate roofs. We headed up the road, but could not find the two slate roofed homes and time was running out. I would need land record research to determine the home. We headed back to Hemyock for dinner at the Catherine Wheel. The only commercial building in Hemyock ... fish for me and fish and chips for  Stephanie. Strange occurance at the Catherine Wheel! I told the bartender that my Great Grandparents were married across the street at St. Mary's Church. He told me that there are still a number of Broomfield's in the area. Another man was sitting at the end of the bar and when we left he stopped me and said that just last week there were other people, he thought from Essex, inquiring about Broomfield's that had lived in Rose Cottage around the corner. James Edwards had told me that not too many years ago there were others inquiring about Broomfields. Out of the woodwork .....

 

	My dinner at the Catherine Wheel, Hemyock. Ashlyn do you love those eyes looking at you?

Stephanie's dinner ....

Now off to the island with Stephanie to see and visit and eat ....

Around the Island in 14 Hours

People in Guernsey walk, in fact only a few people in our branch have cards and yes there are only a few people in our branch. I have noticed that there are many "walks" sponsored for various causes. One of the first weeks we were here the Rotary sponsored a Coastal Walk around the island ... 38.5 miles. Seven hundred and over fifty people registered to walk. So we sponsored our three missionaries at the time, bought them matching hats and spent the day supporting them as they walked around the island. One of our missionaries, who is from Christmas Island, was walking in shoes someone gave to him, that were two sizes too small.  After about 20 miles we got a rescue call. We went and found him new shoes and met them at one of the beaches. There was an emergency van and I made sure he got treated and it wasn't just blisters, as he had rolled his ankle in the first few miles. He finished the walk, but all suffered for a number of days, in fact they all finished after about 14 hours, beyond tired, in fact exhausted, sun burned etc., but they represented the church and talked to a lot of people, and we made sure they were well fed afterwards. Next year we hope to help with the planning of the walk and the walk itself, as President/Elder  Hewlett now attends Rotary  meetings each week. I wish I could walk 35 miles, even 10 miles would be major! We love our missionaries!

At about 25 miles	Same 25 mile post. Bordeaux Beach
The trail leading to the Rousse	Another view from our support post  at Rousse
 The trail.  We thought these were WWII fortifications but they were actually built for the Revolutionary War when the United States  and France became allies. We are  only 10 miles off the coast of France.	They finished! Congratulations!