Summer is here

I was  surprised and dismayed to see that it has been a month since we last posted on the blog.  We have been through our largest transfer since we arrived in the mission. We received 36 new missionaries in the month of May. The main day was the 29th although we had some arrive two weeks earlier.  Thirty-four came on Wednesday the 29th.  It is wonderful to see their eager and excited faces. Two days later we held Mission Leadership Council. (Used to be Zone leaders council) This consists of ten companionships of zone leaders and four Sister Training Leaders. They come to the mission home, and we feed them a light breakfast and Sister Millar cooks a big lunch (dinner), this takes a full afternoon of Costco shopping the day before, it is 14 miles away from here and takes most of the afternoon, plus doing a lot of the prep work the night before), there are usually about 30 in attendance, and we accomplish about 6 hours of training.  This week we are starting interviews along with each Zones individual conference.  We have done three zones: one on Tues, Wed. and Thurs.  This amounts to about 7-8 hours of non stop interviews plus driving sometimes 2 hours each way, and fixing a sandwich and chips and fruit with a drink .  It is like going to school again where we pack our lunch and go for the day.  We have three more zones next week and three more the week after.  Sister Millar interviews the sisters now that we are getting a lot more.  I still interview them as well.  Sister Millar ends up with several hours of patiently waiting for the President to finish.  She is wonderful and a good companion.
     I wish I could say that everything is always smooth, but it isn't.  There are always some illness problems, discouragement, homesickness, and others. Nothing too serious but it all takes time to sort out as they say here.  We have found 25 new flats this past month.  We opened 15 flats  in new areas this transfer and we will open ten more in five more weeks.  It is a big job to find the furnishings, bedding, kitchen things, get new area books, DVD players and supplies to open a new proselyting area. The master plan for moving bodies around the mission is mind boggling.  The office elders are amazing that we haven't lost anyone. especially on such a tight budget as we have. How they get all the luggage moved around is still a mystery, I think they must have Harry Potter's magic wand,
     The weather has finally warmed up.  The trees are in full leaf and there are lots of flowering  trees and shrubs. Here are some pictures of our back yard.

 This is our front yard Wisteria bush, just outside our office

this rhododendron bush is just down the street.

This is the main road going though our neighbourhood, all the streets are like this, with houses tucked in behind the trees. Below is one of the challenges we meet quite often driving down the street.

 This is one of the white horses carved into the hills, around Southern England, we saw this on the way to Bristol when we went for that YSA fireside about a month ago.

This is the front of the house with the wisteria in full bloom, it's on either side of the office windows. Below is our side entrance, looking toward the back garden, The garage is on the left, and that is a pink clematis in full bloom.

This is our neighbours home,
 We don't seem to have very much time to ourselves these days, but that is just fine, we are happy and very much involved in the Lord's work. Many nights it is very late when we get home, and a lot of days we leave home around  7:30am, with lunch bag in hand, We are having a great time with each missionary and love them all dearly, they now represent 53 countries, what a blessing this call has been in our lives, We love you all, and wish all of you our love and prayers, a very happy birthday to all, congratulations to George and Preston who became Elders on May 19th, and a special congratulations to Dezzie who got baptised yesterday.  We love you all, President and Sister Millar. (Doc and Val)                                                                                                                                We hope you like our little bit of England

Happy Mothers Day

Dear friends and family, How time flies, We want to wish all you Mothers, a very Happy and Wonderful Mother's Day, Today has been as busy as usual with a correlation meeting at the Staines Stakehouse at 7.00 am, ( That is 45minute drive away) then church at our home ward, Kingston. Then home for lunch, Then off to Wandsworth, near the Thames River, to meet with an Elder who is having some problems, then back in the car to drive to Aldershot to give another Elder a recommend for a patriarchal blessing, finally got home after 7.00pm and I'm just starting to get dinner ready.
      Last weekend we drove to Bristol, a good 2 hour drive away, we spent Saturday night there, and joined a YSA conference with youth from all over the country, there were over 350 young men and women there, we had sacrament and testimony meeting in the morning with Elder Kearon speaking, he is the 1st councillor in the area presidency, in the afternoon there were workshops with the Temple Presidency, and in the evening President Millar gave a fireside on Miracles, Medicine and Prophets, Mostly it was about the men who happened to be in the right place at the right time to help the Prophets when they had life threatening problems, and then he emphasised that whatever job or profession you go into, you need to be the very best you can be because you never know when your particular skill will be needed. we spent Sunday night in Bristol and drove back to London on Monday morning, The afternoon we spent with the AP's putting the final touches on plans for Zone Conference the next day,
          Tuesday was the Staines, Reading and Portsmouth Stakes Zone Conference, Wednesday we drove to Winchester (an old Roman Fort town and it has a Cathedral that was first started being built soon after the time Moroni was hiding the gold Plates in the Hill Cumorrah), for a baptism and we were invited to dinner at the ward mission leaders home afterwards, thats an hour and a half drive each way so we didn't get home until after 10.30pm, and Monday and Wednesday we also had President  Martin stay with us, He is my husbands 1st councillor and spoke at each of the conferences,  Thursday was the Crawley, Maidstone and Wandsworth Zone Conferences so that kept us pretty busy,
    Life is good, the Devil is working really hard on all our Missionaries and even the Leadership are not immune,
      Friday we caught up with some laundry and housekeeping and drove to the office to catch up with things there, Also drove into London to help out some of the sisters who are having some cultural clashes, Saturday we drove into Chichester (another Roman Fort town with a very old Cathedral) anyway we needed to see an Elder who hasn't been feeling well, we need to find some private medical care for him, even though he is English the National Health system won't take care of him, We are having a lot of problems getting health care even for English Elders,  The word is that the Church is going private for all Missionaries to make sure they get the proper treatment, that should be in effect by the end of the year.

Chichester Cathedral, Beautiful bluebells by our back door, and my little "Foxy" coming for some treats. Love you all, thanks for your Love and prayers, President and Sister Millar, aka, Doc and Val.

Summer is coming

Dear Family and friends, So much has happened since we last reported.  We had our largest transfer ever.29 new missionaries arrived on April 17th. There were over 100 missionaries affected with the transfers to accommodate all the new ones.  We had 14 Elders going home.  We took them into London on Monday, to the Temple on Tuesday, had departing interviews followed by a testimony meeting..  On Wednesday the new ones came and we put the departing Elders on the plane for home.
     During the past two weeks we have had two new senior couples arrive;  The Adams, who will be in the office, and the Homs who will be working with the YSA program in the Wandsworth Stake. Our dear office couple, the Kearls, went home to Canada this past week.  This brings lots of mixed emotions. They have been so good to help us get going the past 9 months.

Seeing the Kearl's off at Heathrow airport. what a Bitter-Sweet day.
     It was quite hectic to find 8 new flats for this last transfer.  We will need 12 more by May 29th. We have received instructions to include Sister missionaries in our leadership councils.  This past week we had what used to be called the ZLC (Zone Leaders Council).  It is now referred to as the MLC (Mission Leaders Council).  Sister Millar feeds them a light breakfast and then lunch.  We had 30 people this time.  It takes a Costco run and lots of work.  She did great!!!!! That was on Thursday last week, The weather was gorgeous, we hope that wasn't our summer!!  Friday, President Millar had his eye appointment in London, which takes most of the day, by the time we catch the train at 9am, then a 35 minute ride to Waterloo Station, them 2 tube rides on the underground, to get to the Eye Hospital in East London. then after the appointment we reverse the travel and get home about 3pm.  Saturday we needed to visit some missionaries to talk face to face.  The problem was that they were in Redruth, which is in Cornwall, 250 miles aways.  We drove for 10 hours that day, not counting the time we spent there, because we had to be back to speak in sacrament meeting today in the East Grinstead Ward. Our lives are very busy but we have a peaceful and fulfilled feeling in our hearts.  We know this is the Lord's work and that we do not labor alone.
  The days are getting longer.  It starts getting light at about 5:00 in the morning and the sun goes down about 8:30 and gets dark by 9pm in the evening. We had summer one day this week, it got up to 23C which is 74F. The nights still go down to 6C some mornings, which is 38F.  We have a very busy next two weeks with three multiZone conferences, a national YSA conference that we need to participate in down in Bristol. We will write and tell you about it next time.
We love you all, drop us an e-mail sometime when you have a minute, it's always good to hear from home. We are also off to the London Mission on Tuesday for a Conference in the Hyde Park Chapel, with all of our Senior Couples who are doing YSA assignments. (Young Single Adults) in all of our Stakes, they are doing such a valuable work, We also have 2 Senior Couples doing family history at the National Archives, and they help out in the wards to which they are assigned on Sundays. We also have a few Senior Couples doing Leadership work in the wards and Branches that are smaller, we have 3 Senior couples in the Visitor Center 20 Senior couples altogether and 2 Senior Sisters (office staff).

This is Hyde Park Chapel and Visitors Center, it's also the Mission Office for the London Mission, and it's just down the street from Hyde Park, the Royal Albert Hall, and across the street from the British Museum,      Love to all, President and Sister Millar.

Greetings everyone,
        Well another week has come and gone, We can't believe how quickly time is passing, Last week was General Conference; wasn't it wonderful? We went to the Visitors centre to see each session, it was nicer to do that than watching at home alone, Many of the Temple workers were there as well as the Office and Visitors Centre workers, so it made it a good group, we also had a number of investigators there as well.
        President Millar has finished interviewing each of the missionaries, as he does before each transfer, so we have been very busy with lots of travelling, We are also working on a new program that the Church is starting that will be on line and media related, We are getting instruction from Church media workers in Salt Lake, in person and via skype, At the present time it is just for the London mission and our mission, London South that will be doing it, so we are in the process of making another Zone (Area) that will be computer and media related.
       Next week will be transfers and 14 missionaries going home, (as well as 30 Sisters and Elders coming in), that is going to be a hard day as not only are they most of our great leaders but young men we have come to love very much. They are from all over the world and we will miss them terribly.
      Tuesday we went into London to see a Dermatology Dr, as the President had a small cyst on the bridge of his nose and wanted it checked, so we got to see all the media blitz that the Church has put up on advertising Mormon.org.uk, It is in Charing Cross station, Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus.

This is some of Charing Cross Station

 This is advertising the play "The Mormon's are coming" not a very flattering portrayal of the Church

 This is one of the tunnels in the underground

Waiting to go down to the underground at Oxford Circus Station

 underground stations, as well as on 250 buses.
      The weather is starting to gradually warm up, although the trees and flowers are a good month behind schedule, The daffodils still cover the grass wherever we go, they are so beautiful, and there are so many varieties,
       The days are getting longer now, it starts getting light at around 5:30am and doesn't get dark until around 8:00pm. occasionally we have a beautiful sunny day, but mostly they are overcast, and today it's quite rainy, although the weather is getting warmer at long last.
       We will include some pictures, We hope you get them ok. Our love to everyone and the very best wishes to all our birthday family. Love and God Bless, President and Sister Millar. aka Doc and Val.

 Just wanted to share some daffodils with you, sorry they are a little blurry, I took them through the windshield.

Easter cold

Sorry to be slow in posting a new episode in our lives as Mission President. Since we last wrote, we've had transfers.( Ten new missionaries. ), Zone leaders council, and have been trying to get interviews done. Last Thursday week, we drove to Bristol, interviewed missionaries in two different location, then attended a Stake leadership meeting and then drove home. We left at 7:30 AM and got home at 2415 hrs.  That was a long day.  The next morning we did interviews in the Staines Zone which was closer but still took the whole day. Each zone has 16 to 22 missionaries. If each interview is 15 minutes that usually amount to 5 hours of non stop interviews. Some need a little more time to discuss their concerns. It is very rewarding but taxing.  Sister Millar does a lot of sitting talking to the other companion while I'm with the missionary. She often learns more than I do about what is going on. Last week we interviewed in four zones, requiring two overnight stays in hotels. Next week we will finish the last three zones.
     We are trying to make arrangements to receive 30 new missionaries on th 17th of April.  We also have 30 coming May 29th and another  30 on July 10th.  One of biggest problem is finding new flats to house all the new sisters and elders. The Book of Mormon musical opened in London last week and the church is launching a huge media advertising campaign that will drive many interested persons to Mormon.org.UK.  We are trying to gear up for more missionaries to be able to work on line with chat and social media proselyting. These are the things that keep us busy. Oh, we always have a few health challenges: we've had two different missionaries with the chicken pox, one had minor surgery, and colds, flu, etc.
   

Easter COLD

The weather man has informed us that this is the coldest Easter on record. It was snowing a little yesterday. We had a lovely day at church in the Kingston Ward.  Sister Millar was one of the speakers.  She did really well, prepared her own material and gave most of her talk without too many tears. It is amazing to see how much she is growing as she has to be doing more things out of her comfort zone.
     Since our last posting we have had transfers with 10 new missionaries, zone leaders council, and we are working on personal interviews in the nine zones. On Thursday March 21st we left for the Bristol zone at 7:30 AM.  We got home after midnight.  We interview the missionaries, attended a Stake Priesthood leadership meeting and then managed to take a wrong road due to construction resulting in a 30 mile detour.  I think we actually ended up in the Birmingham Mission for a while and didn't get home until after midnight. We interviewed the Staines zone the next day on Friday. Last week we did four zones. We travelled to Plymouth on Monday, stayed overnight since it is a 5 hour drive. Did interviews on Tuesday, drove 3 hours to Poole staying overnight again. Interviews the next day then home.  On Thursday we interviewed in Crawley then Friday back down to the coast to interview the Portsmouth zone. It is a busy time but very rewarding to spend individual time with the missionary. Each zone has 18 to 24 missionaries so you can see it takes a few hours. Next week we will finish the last three zones.
     The Book of Mormon musical opened in London last week.  The church is doing an advertising campaign to see if we can generate increased interest through Mormon.Org.UK.  We think it will increase the number of people wanting to talk about the church by chat.  We are setting up a few companionships that will be able to proselyte using digital and social media: chat, Facebook, Blogs, etc. It truly is a new age for missionary work. Never mind that older people like Sister Millar and I aren't exactly fluent in these technologies.  We are learning as we go and we do not work alone. Well these are the things that keep us busy and away from the computer talking to all our family and friends.
      Let me share with you some of the things that make us Happy. It is amazing to see young missionaries arriving in the mission, timid, scared, and wide eyed.  Two weeks later seeing them talking to strangers and loving it. We see miracles every day of finding those who are seeking for help in this troubled world, We attended a baptism of a young man who joined the church hoping to bring happiness to his family who are non christian and not really approving of his decision. We have several converts from China. There are a lot of students in the UK.  We have 6 Mandarine speaking elders and one sister that speaks Cantonese.  Sister Millar recounted and we now have missionaries from 51 different countries in the mission or are coming in the next two transfers, We have an Elder coming from the Peoples Republic of China, a Sister from Kirabati, and Elders from Mozambique, Nigeria, and Madagascar. Know that our health is good and we are Happy, but we sleep well.
     We will try to get you some more pictures next time.

Marching On

     It is hard to believe that it is actually March already. Since we last visited we have been to Germany. February 27 thru March 1st. we flew to Frankfurt to attend the interim Mission President's seminar for the thirty missions in the Europe area.  We had the privilege  of having Elder Jeffery R. Holland with us for two days. What a blessing to be instructed by one of the twelve apostles. He is very spiritual and quite entertaining as well. He taught us how powerful the Book of Mormon is in the teaching of the restored gospel.  There is so much doctrine even in  the first two books of First and Second Nephi. The second day he talked about the Fall of Adam and all the consequences of it, and how they are all overcome by the atonement of Jesus Christ.
     The Area Presidency trained us on how to help our missionaries improve their daily planning and how to teach with clarity and simply.  It was all very good.  We also attended a session in the Frankfurt Temple on Thursday night .  I will attach some pictures.

Frankfurt Temple at night.

 

 Strange three wheeler

 Lotus

Mini original very small

    We got home on Friday, had a new Sister missionary from France arrive on Saturday and we were right back to work.  After getting the new sister settled in we drove to Slough for a baptism, and then on to Oxford, where they had four baptisms that day. On Tuesday we had a senior couple arrive and another Sister from Albania.  We got them settle in only to make a trip to Exeter on Wednesday.  It is a 400 mile round trip in one day.  We needed to talk to one of our sister missionaries about some family problems and it wasn't appropriate to handle it over the telephone. We crossed over the 22,000 mile mark this week. On our way home from Exeter we stopped for a break at the Haynes automobile museum.  I've never seen so many different cars.  Many of them I had never heard of.
     To get a little break we went into London on Friday to attend a Chinese musical ballet called Shen Yun.  It was very good and very well done. We took the train and 2 underground trains to travel to the Barbicon Theater in central London.  Great adventure.  Today is Mothering Sunday in the UK. It is the equivalent of mothers day in the USA.  Since missionaries can call their mothers on Mother's day we let the British missionaries call today and the rest can call in May.  Some of them try to get a little creative and try to do both.  Most of them are very obedient and aren't a problem.   But their are a few that bear watching.
 This week is transfers: we have one going home and 10 coming in.. We will open five new areas.  In April we are up to 30 coming and even more in May.  We are frantically looking for new apartments (flats).   Know that we are healthy, happy, and loving life.
     We wish all Mothers a wonderful day no matter when Mothers day is, and a Happy Birthday to all our March Birthday people, we think of you all often and miss you tons, but it helps being busy as we don't get time to dwell on things at home, and start felling homesick, Know that we love you all so much and pray for you always,     God Bless,      President and Sister Millar.