The reference for "the age of man" is in 3 Ne 28: 2-3. The Saviors twelve apostles, all except the three Nephites that would linger, would have their ministry end and be taken home at the age of man. Verse 3 identifies this as 72 years. Thankfully we are both going strong and feel great.
We have had a very busy month. We have managed to go to all nine zones and interview all the missionaries...150.
We also just finished transfers, although two missionaries arrived on the 23rd of January. These came off schedule because they come from the MTC in Provo. One Elder who is Mandarin speaking and the other one a Sister who is trained to be in the visitors centre. We had 3 Elders and one Sister arrive yesterday. In two weeks we get another Mandarin speaking Elder and then 2 weeks later another sister from France who has been in the Preston MTC for an additional three weeks for English language training. We ended up with an odd number of Elders this time so we had one of the Stake Presidents call a young man on a mini mission. He has some mild autistic traits and we want to know he can handle the work before submitting his papers for a full time two year mission. Because of this Sister Millar and I drove to Weymouth, which is on the southwest coast on Sunday to attend church and to interview the young man. We had to leave at 7:15 AM since it was a 2 and a half hour drive. On Monday we had a new single senior missionary arrive who will be working in the office. Sister Qumseyeh is from Palestine. She had some amazing stories to tell.
Over the next 60 days we will be receiving about 70 new missionaries, almost half of them new Sisters. Very exciting times finding new apartments (flats) and arranging for new areas to work.
The snow has all melted with the help of additional rain which is now causing flooding in many parts of England. Next week we have zone leaders council and then multi zone conferences in Feb. We meet with three zones at a time on three separate days, the 13th, 20th, and 21st. If you stop and think about it , it seems overwhelming. But since it is the Lord's work I have a peaceful feeling that all will work out just fine and that;s exactly what happens. HE IS IN CHARGE AND HE WILL NOT LET US FAIL. Today is Thursday but we used it as a P day to get the laundry done, the car cleaned, shoes shined, shop for groceries, and catch our breathe.
Thank you for all your prayers, we need them and can really feel them. We do not feel alone in what we are about. We feel that D & C 84:88 is fulfilled in our behalf. We love you all. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALL THE JANUARY PEOPLE.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Snowed in.
We have had a large snow storm passing through the UK. It started Thursday night as we were driving home from three days away doing Zone Trainings and interviews. Tuesday we started in Poole. We then drove to Plymouth where we stayed two nights at the Holiday Inn. Wednesday we went into Cornwall and had meetings and interviews at the St Austell chapel. That night we drove back to Plymouth for Stake Missionary correlation meeting. Thursday we arose early to drive to Bristol for training and interviews followed by another Stake correlation meeting. We then drove the 120 miles home in the dark and with it snowing most of the way. The next morning we got up to over 6 inches of snow. Doesn't sound like much but without snow removal equipment, freezing temperatures and the hilly type terrain, we haven't been out much. Stake conference in Reading was cancelled because of the forecast. It is currently snowing again. Most church services were cancelled. So, `i get time to write in the blog.
I didn't mention that most of the chapels we meet in for the zone trainings are cold and Sister Millar and I both came down with URI "colds". Val has been in bed most of the past two days but is on the mend. Luckily be don't have anywhere pressing to go. I parked the car up the street a ways so we don't have to worry about getting out of out driveway and up the first hill. Many airline flights have been cancelled and things are a mess.
We are trying to prepare for the increase in new missionaries. We will receive 60 new ones in the next 3 months, I have their files all over the office trying to learn their names and something about them. We are getting more mandarin speaking elders and a new country represented, Albania. |We are trying to prepare for the opening of the musical in the west end theatre ;"The Book of Mormon". It does not caste the church in a good light, so we are looking at how we can tell "the rest of the story".
I thought I would share one of the miracles that our missionaries encounter nearly every day. One our Zone leaders told me this story. When he was a new missionary, his companion told him to lie on the floor and visualise someone they would meet that day. He said what came to mind was a tall man in a black hoody, "like Darth Vader". They spent the whole day looking for someone in a dark hoody but saw none. Later in the afternoon they saw the man: tall, black hoody and all. They went up to and talked to him. It became clear he was high and smoking weed. They felt very disappointed; two weeks later when in the library to email home, someone shouted at them and came up to them. " Remember me?" he said. They didn't even recognise him. Long story short, he was the man in the black hoody. He later took all the discussions and joined the church. That day after they saw him they found dark hoodies everywhere but none of them would talk to them.
To update you on our mileage, we now have driven 18,700 miles in six and half months. Good thing I like to drive and Sister Millar is real good company.
Our front yard
Hope all is well at home. We love you, we miss you, but we are happy and BUSY.
I didn't mention that most of the chapels we meet in for the zone trainings are cold and Sister Millar and I both came down with URI "colds". Val has been in bed most of the past two days but is on the mend. Luckily be don't have anywhere pressing to go. I parked the car up the street a ways so we don't have to worry about getting out of out driveway and up the first hill. Many airline flights have been cancelled and things are a mess.
We are trying to prepare for the increase in new missionaries. We will receive 60 new ones in the next 3 months, I have their files all over the office trying to learn their names and something about them. We are getting more mandarin speaking elders and a new country represented, Albania. |We are trying to prepare for the opening of the musical in the west end theatre ;"The Book of Mormon". It does not caste the church in a good light, so we are looking at how we can tell "the rest of the story".
I thought I would share one of the miracles that our missionaries encounter nearly every day. One our Zone leaders told me this story. When he was a new missionary, his companion told him to lie on the floor and visualise someone they would meet that day. He said what came to mind was a tall man in a black hoody, "like Darth Vader". They spent the whole day looking for someone in a dark hoody but saw none. Later in the afternoon they saw the man: tall, black hoody and all. They went up to and talked to him. It became clear he was high and smoking weed. They felt very disappointed; two weeks later when in the library to email home, someone shouted at them and came up to them. " Remember me?" he said. They didn't even recognise him. Long story short, he was the man in the black hoody. He later took all the discussions and joined the church. That day after they saw him they found dark hoodies everywhere but none of them would talk to them.
To update you on our mileage, we now have driven 18,700 miles in six and half months. Good thing I like to drive and Sister Millar is real good company.
Our front yard
Hope all is well at home. We love you, we miss you, but we are happy and BUSY.
Saturday, January 12, 2013
January
We Love you all and really enjoy your emails.
This past week has gone very quickly with a few events worth noting. I am interviewing this month. We go to each zone training where they have all the missionaries together. I speak briefly and then start interviews . With 16-18 missionaries in each zone that takes a little over 4 hours. On Tuesday we travelled to Portsmouth, had zone training, did interviews, then hung around for a Stake Missionary Correlation meeting. Our battery died and we had to call for road service: RAC (Royal Automobile Club) to bail us out. We got home at 10:45 after leaving the house that morning at 8:00 AM. Wednesday we were in Staines Zone. It is much closer so we got home in good time. Thursday we were in the Reading Zone. `it was a very good meeting but with some surprises during interviews that cause quite a bit more work over the past two days.
When we were in Portsmouth, the Sisters and Elders on the Isle of Wight, came over on the Hovercraft ferry. We took them back to catch it and I will include a short video, if it will work. It is amazing to watch.
Here are some of Val's new friends. They come right up to the window to eat bread even if we are sitting at the table. It has been a long day since I got up at 5AM, so this will be a little shorter. Oh, our mileage just turned over 18,000 miles today. We are happy and healthy. Forever Faithful. Pres. & Sis Millar
This past week has gone very quickly with a few events worth noting. I am interviewing this month. We go to each zone training where they have all the missionaries together. I speak briefly and then start interviews . With 16-18 missionaries in each zone that takes a little over 4 hours. On Tuesday we travelled to Portsmouth, had zone training, did interviews, then hung around for a Stake Missionary Correlation meeting. Our battery died and we had to call for road service: RAC (Royal Automobile Club) to bail us out. We got home at 10:45 after leaving the house that morning at 8:00 AM. Wednesday we were in Staines Zone. It is much closer so we got home in good time. Thursday we were in the Reading Zone. `it was a very good meeting but with some surprises during interviews that cause quite a bit more work over the past two days.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Happy New Year everyone,
Well here we are in 2013, It's hard to believe, We are getting back into the crazy swing of things, which is good, because we found not having a lot to do on the Holidays very frustrating, It was wonderful to hear, and speak, and even see some of you on FaceTime, but we still were at loose ends, and I guess feeling a little homesick, Things are quite chaotic here most of the time, the Devil is certainly making himself felt among our better missionaries, and even we are not immune to his subtle, and not so subtle enticings. The work is really stepping up and things are starting to improve here in the mission, The mission has been in a fairly rapid decline over the last few years, so we were pleased when our December baptisms were the best in the last 18 months, and the best December for 5 years, as it usually is a very slow month. We had 30, with a total of 263 for the year.
New Years Eve was very quiet as it usually is for us, the fireworks started as soon as it got dark, (about 4:30ish) and continued on all evening, President Millar met with the Assistants to the President for Monday evening accounting and I made dinner for us all as usual here at the mission home, Tuesday we took the christmas tree down and all the decorations, (nothing like in St George) but they were great, and of course I put bows on the pillows as usual, I brought some of my things with us, nutcrackers and nativities, and the place looked very festive, We honestly didn't have time to do more.
Wednesday we spent at the office on the Temple grounds, catching up on everything, and getting the final things written for a 2 page handout we are doing monthly for all the missionaries and Stake Presidents, it's called "The Harvester," President Millars "baby" it has inspirational messages and updates on baptisms, miracle conversion stories, easy recipes for the missionaries, and a bit of local history, so they will get to understand the English people, and customs a little better.
Thursday I caught up on laundry and then we drove to Poole, on the south coast, for a missionary correlation meeting, We did manage to eat at our favorite fish and chip place called Chez Fred's, which is just outside of Bournemouth, before driving home, It's a 2 hour drive each way
Well today was a dental checkup for me, and then straight to the office to finalise "The Harvester", when that was finished we had to drive to Worthing, near Brighton, on the south coast to interview an Elder, and now we are finally home for the evening. We love all of you, and miss you tons, but we are so busy it helps, Have a wonderful birthday all you January people, God Bless, and keep those prayers coming, we need them. Love always. President and Sister Millar. (Doc and Val)
Well here we are in 2013, It's hard to believe, We are getting back into the crazy swing of things, which is good, because we found not having a lot to do on the Holidays very frustrating, It was wonderful to hear, and speak, and even see some of you on FaceTime, but we still were at loose ends, and I guess feeling a little homesick, Things are quite chaotic here most of the time, the Devil is certainly making himself felt among our better missionaries, and even we are not immune to his subtle, and not so subtle enticings. The work is really stepping up and things are starting to improve here in the mission, The mission has been in a fairly rapid decline over the last few years, so we were pleased when our December baptisms were the best in the last 18 months, and the best December for 5 years, as it usually is a very slow month. We had 30, with a total of 263 for the year.
New Years Eve was very quiet as it usually is for us, the fireworks started as soon as it got dark, (about 4:30ish) and continued on all evening, President Millar met with the Assistants to the President for Monday evening accounting and I made dinner for us all as usual here at the mission home, Tuesday we took the christmas tree down and all the decorations, (nothing like in St George) but they were great, and of course I put bows on the pillows as usual, I brought some of my things with us, nutcrackers and nativities, and the place looked very festive, We honestly didn't have time to do more.
Wednesday we spent at the office on the Temple grounds, catching up on everything, and getting the final things written for a 2 page handout we are doing monthly for all the missionaries and Stake Presidents, it's called "The Harvester," President Millars "baby" it has inspirational messages and updates on baptisms, miracle conversion stories, easy recipes for the missionaries, and a bit of local history, so they will get to understand the English people, and customs a little better.
Thursday I caught up on laundry and then we drove to Poole, on the south coast, for a missionary correlation meeting, We did manage to eat at our favorite fish and chip place called Chez Fred's, which is just outside of Bournemouth, before driving home, It's a 2 hour drive each way
Well today was a dental checkup for me, and then straight to the office to finalise "The Harvester", when that was finished we had to drive to Worthing, near Brighton, on the south coast to interview an Elder, and now we are finally home for the evening. We love all of you, and miss you tons, but we are so busy it helps, Have a wonderful birthday all you January people, God Bless, and keep those prayers coming, we need them. Love always. President and Sister Millar. (Doc and Val)
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Boxing Day
IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT IT HAS BEEN TWO WEEKS SINCE WE WROTE IN THE BLOG. This is Boxing Day, which is a big holiday in England. The significance of the name is a little in question. Val says it is the day after Christmas when the nobles boxed up the left over food and gifts from the feast of Christmas and delivered them to the poor. In more modern times some say it is the day when people box up the unwanted gifts and return them to the stores for a refund. Who knows? They both seem plausible. It is a slow day for proselyting.
Last week was very busy. We brought one third of the mission in to the temple for a session, fed then a nice big ham dinner, had a short program, destributed their packages from home and then sent them back to their areas. To cover the whole mission we did this three days in a row, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. It was a lot of work but so much joy to have all the missionaries together, and watch them interact. It wA VERY SPIRITUAL TO HAVE 70 MISSIONARIES IN ONE SESSION IN THE TEMPLE. That was the high light for most of them, many of them spending their first Christmas away from family.
On Sunday we went to sacrament meeting in Kingston Ward and then drove half way to Bristol to meet the Zone leaders with belated packages. Monday we drove to Poole, where we met the Zone leaders from Plymouth and Poole with presents. We then drove over to Southampton to deliver gifts to the Portsmouth Zone. That was about a 250 mile trip. On Sunday night they had a fireside at the Visitor's Center at the London Temple. The speaker was Savannah Stevenson. She is a British Actress that played the part of Mary in the Bible videos that many of you have seen on lds.org. If you haven't seen them, just log on to lds.org and click on the Bible video site. There are many short videos on the life of Christ and many of the stories told in the New Testament. These were filmed on a permanent "Jerusalem Set" that the church built down in Goshen. It is Southwest of Provo. It was very special at Christmas time to hear her feelings of what it was like to portray the mother of the Savior. I'll include a picture of us with her.
We did not have a white Christmas, but we did have a very soggy one. It has rained so much. The ground is so saturated that water just stands on the lawns and out in the fields. Many rivers are flooded and it is supposedly one of the wettest years on record. Christmas day was very quiet for us. Talked to most of the family by phone, Skype, or FaceTime . It was so good to hear your voices. Val especially loved the pictures of her Cats. We are bracing ourselves for a big year in 2013. We hope we will be equal to the tasks placed before us. Thank you for all the support you give us. President and Sister Milllar.
Susannah Stevenson
Flooding in Cobham near Old Mill Dec 2012
Narrow road in Cornwall Dec 2012
Last week was very busy. We brought one third of the mission in to the temple for a session, fed then a nice big ham dinner, had a short program, destributed their packages from home and then sent them back to their areas. To cover the whole mission we did this three days in a row, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. It was a lot of work but so much joy to have all the missionaries together, and watch them interact. It wA VERY SPIRITUAL TO HAVE 70 MISSIONARIES IN ONE SESSION IN THE TEMPLE. That was the high light for most of them, many of them spending their first Christmas away from family.
On Sunday we went to sacrament meeting in Kingston Ward and then drove half way to Bristol to meet the Zone leaders with belated packages. Monday we drove to Poole, where we met the Zone leaders from Plymouth and Poole with presents. We then drove over to Southampton to deliver gifts to the Portsmouth Zone. That was about a 250 mile trip. On Sunday night they had a fireside at the Visitor's Center at the London Temple. The speaker was Savannah Stevenson. She is a British Actress that played the part of Mary in the Bible videos that many of you have seen on lds.org. If you haven't seen them, just log on to lds.org and click on the Bible video site. There are many short videos on the life of Christ and many of the stories told in the New Testament. These were filmed on a permanent "Jerusalem Set" that the church built down in Goshen. It is Southwest of Provo. It was very special at Christmas time to hear her feelings of what it was like to portray the mother of the Savior. I'll include a picture of us with her.
We did not have a white Christmas, but we did have a very soggy one. It has rained so much. The ground is so saturated that water just stands on the lawns and out in the fields. Many rivers are flooded and it is supposedly one of the wettest years on record. Christmas day was very quiet for us. Talked to most of the family by phone, Skype, or FaceTime . It was so good to hear your voices. Val especially loved the pictures of her Cats. We are bracing ourselves for a big year in 2013. We hope we will be equal to the tasks placed before us. Thank you for all the support you give us. President and Sister Milllar.
Flooding in Cobham near Old Mill Dec 2012
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Mid December time flies
Dear family and friends,
IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT IT WAS TWO WEELS AGO THAT I wrote our blog. Here is a brief update: Last Saturday we drove to Southampton for a missionary fireside. It was fairly well attended with a good spirit of missionary work. On Sunday we attended Sacrament meeting in the Kingston ward then drove 4 and a half hours to St Austell which is in Cornwall. There we had a special Sacrament meeting at a town hall in North Hills adjacent to a town called Launceston. We had about 30 people present with a few in actives, 2 nonmembers and 2 new members that just moved into the area. We didn't have a piano, so we sang several Christmas hymns accapello. We had enough people singing parts that it sounded great and the spirit was very strong. They will have a new branch there some day. As we get more missionaries will put another set of missionaries on that end of the ward. We stayed overnight at a bed and breakfast then drove home Monday.
The four missionaries going home came into the mission office on Sunday and the office couple took them into London for a walking tour of central London. We joined them in the afternoon and spent the evening with them. Tuesday they go to the temple. We usually go with them but I went into London with one of our Elders that had a Doctor's appointment because of headaches. In the afternoon, I interviewed them all and then we ate dinner and finished with a testimony meeting. These are so special to hear them summarise their experiences as a missionary. Wednesday morning the departing missionaries had to be at the airport at 3:30 AM. It was a short night for the office Elders that drove them. Wednesday we had one sister arrive from SLC at 6:30 AM and the other 4 missionaries arrived at 9:20 AM from Manchester. We fed them, interviewed them, oriented them and sent them out to their areas. We had two Elders one from Fiji, and one from Romania. The three sisters were from Armenia, England and Finland. STill maintaining our international flavour .
We had thursday to get ready for Zone Leaders Council. We hold it at the Mission home. We feed them a light breakfast, have meetings all morning, feed them lunch then finish off about mid afternoon . Our purpose was to establish goals for baptisms for the year 2013. The year 2012 has had the lowest number of baptisms in 9 years. We will have about 250 for the year. The goal they set by prayerfully meeting with their local wards and branches was 731. It is quite generous but reachable. We have our work cut out for us.
On a high note: we are having a very good month for December for baptisms. After an all time low of 11 baptisms for October we then had 12 for November. The first two weeks of December we had 14 with another 10-12 should have been performed yesterday. The final report will come in tonight at accounting calls by the assistants to the President. We also have about 15 more dates for the last two weeks. Last night we attended a baptism for a family of 4 in our home ward of Kingston. Today we spoke in church and are now trying to wind down from the week.
Some have asked for our address : 10 Beechwood Drive, Cobham, Surrey, KT11 2DX UK.
The Mission Office address is: England London South Mission, The London Temple, West Park Road, Newchapel, Surrey. RH7 6NB, UK.
Merry Christmas to everyone. We will miss you but we have lots of company. We are bringing all the missionaries to the Temple, Feeding them and sending them home after a short program.
IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT IT WAS TWO WEELS AGO THAT I wrote our blog. Here is a brief update: Last Saturday we drove to Southampton for a missionary fireside. It was fairly well attended with a good spirit of missionary work. On Sunday we attended Sacrament meeting in the Kingston ward then drove 4 and a half hours to St Austell which is in Cornwall. There we had a special Sacrament meeting at a town hall in North Hills adjacent to a town called Launceston. We had about 30 people present with a few in actives, 2 nonmembers and 2 new members that just moved into the area. We didn't have a piano, so we sang several Christmas hymns accapello. We had enough people singing parts that it sounded great and the spirit was very strong. They will have a new branch there some day. As we get more missionaries will put another set of missionaries on that end of the ward. We stayed overnight at a bed and breakfast then drove home Monday.
The four missionaries going home came into the mission office on Sunday and the office couple took them into London for a walking tour of central London. We joined them in the afternoon and spent the evening with them. Tuesday they go to the temple. We usually go with them but I went into London with one of our Elders that had a Doctor's appointment because of headaches. In the afternoon, I interviewed them all and then we ate dinner and finished with a testimony meeting. These are so special to hear them summarise their experiences as a missionary. Wednesday morning the departing missionaries had to be at the airport at 3:30 AM. It was a short night for the office Elders that drove them. Wednesday we had one sister arrive from SLC at 6:30 AM and the other 4 missionaries arrived at 9:20 AM from Manchester. We fed them, interviewed them, oriented them and sent them out to their areas. We had two Elders one from Fiji, and one from Romania. The three sisters were from Armenia, England and Finland. STill maintaining our international flavour .
We had thursday to get ready for Zone Leaders Council. We hold it at the Mission home. We feed them a light breakfast, have meetings all morning, feed them lunch then finish off about mid afternoon . Our purpose was to establish goals for baptisms for the year 2013. The year 2012 has had the lowest number of baptisms in 9 years. We will have about 250 for the year. The goal they set by prayerfully meeting with their local wards and branches was 731. It is quite generous but reachable. We have our work cut out for us.
On a high note: we are having a very good month for December for baptisms. After an all time low of 11 baptisms for October we then had 12 for November. The first two weeks of December we had 14 with another 10-12 should have been performed yesterday. The final report will come in tonight at accounting calls by the assistants to the President. We also have about 15 more dates for the last two weeks. Last night we attended a baptism for a family of 4 in our home ward of Kingston. Today we spoke in church and are now trying to wind down from the week.
Some have asked for our address : 10 Beechwood Drive, Cobham, Surrey, KT11 2DX UK.
The Mission Office address is: England London South Mission, The London Temple, West Park Road, Newchapel, Surrey. RH7 6NB, UK.
Merry Christmas to everyone. We will miss you but we have lots of company. We are bringing all the missionaries to the Temple, Feeding them and sending them home after a short program.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
short cold days
The days are getting noticeably shorter. It's beginning to get dark now at 4 pm. The sun comes up in the southeast, rises up to what looks like 9:30 or 10;00. THEN GOES EAST TO WEST setting in the southwest. Today was our coldest day so far. It was -2 degrees C. With the dampness, it seems that we never quite get warm. The cold starts on the inside. The heating systems here are hot water radiators, but they cycle on and off throughout the day and go off at bedtime. `it gets cold by morning and takes a little time to warm back up in the morning. You can see why the English wear sweaters. I have one on now. (Proper English Gentleman)
We attended the Crawley Stake conference yesterday and today. Sister Millar and I had the opportunity to speak three times each. There was a visiting area 70, Elder Craig Wright, presiding . It was a very good conference.
This past Tuesday we received Elder Patrick Kearon of our area presidency who came to tour the mission. We went to Poole that night and then held a Zone Conference with the 4 western zones on Wednesday. We have had so much flooding that it took some on the missionaries up to 12 hours of travel to get there. The next day, Thursday, we met with the 5 eastern zones in Crawley. These went from 10;00 AM to about 4:30 PM. It was intense and a little nerve racking to have the first mission inspection. They did not fire me yet. We did receive some useful suggestions. Like I always say: I'm in the process of BECOMING. We always have a few problems to deal with: flu, sickness, depression, a dying mother of one of the Elders, family problems at home, the death of an Uncle , etc.
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