After many months of ourselves and many others trying to figure out or change our status on Guernsey we are off the island, as no progress was ever made and we will be assessed social security and income taxes based on our pensions, life insurance, and other interest income. Because we are under sixty-five years the assessment will be more than if we were older. So again, we are off and living in the town of Havant, near Portsmouth. I already miss the missionaries (for some reasons), family prayer, involvement with new investigators and our sweet members, all who are so faithful, besides being small in numbers, and some who are just holding on. When you live with the missionaries you become very involved in their daily ups and downs and when there are so few members you become very involved in the branch and in their lives also. I feel torn continually!
Havant is a small town only about 5 miles from Portsmouth and we live on the outskirts, actually we live on the edge of Havant and Langstone, on Langstone Road in a two hundred year old home, Woodfield House, protected from the road by large bushes and trees. We attend church in Chichester, about 11 miles to the east. Our assignment is again multi-faceted. We are still YSA missionaries, helping with institute (every week) and Family Home Evening (twice a month). We teach temple prep to one couple right now and alternate teaching of the Gospel Essentials Class. We have to visit different wards in the stake so we will not be in our branch every week. There are obviously many inactive YSA so we will work with wards and with the stake to find them and visit with them. We are also involved in missionary work and thus the missionaries. We attend district and zone conferences and meet and teach both members and nonmembers. We also find, help furnish and inspect missionary flats, including those on the Isle o f Wight. I have been asked to help with Family History by the Stake President, but I have no direction on that yet. The people have been very warm and welcoming. We taught our first Gospel Essentials class yesterday on the Signs of The Second Coming and it was beautiful and there was such a strong spirit in the room as the class members introduced themselves and share very personal experience with the gospel and their own lives. We also baked cookies for the Primary children to thank them for their amazing nativity on Christmas Eve Day. They sang like angels and it really made our Christmas. We were able to introduce ourselves and tell them a little about being missionaries and how they can be missionaries and then we all sang, "I Hope They Call Me On A Mission." After church the Primary President , Sister Toyne came and asked us if we would be willing to do a sharing time with them and we said, "Yes, absolutely!" no thinking twice on that one.
 |
| Our living room is on the left in this photo. |
 |
| Our IKEA living room |
|
 |
Our kitchen. Notice my mixer and the containers
I had to buy when we got here because the red
ones behind were too small for really baking and there weren't enough for major ingredients. ASDA store (owned by Walmart) provide the other ones. I would like to bring them home. The fridge is behind the door ... not really convenient, but It is a decent size.
|
|
|
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment