JULY 4 - JULY 28, 2022

HIGHLIGHT AND MORE HIGHLIGHTS

JASON BENTING was baptized….after a 10 year journey!  The Lord never gives up on his children, and we should not give up on each other.  Jason was a referral sent to us by young missionaries out of the area.  We drove 1 ½ hours to his home to meet him, loved our visit, felt his faith, and were excited to continue helping him.  Then began a string of phone tags, text messages, cancelled appointments…for weeks.  Michael shared in detail (in his mission email) the night a miracle changed everything. Our typical pattern of asking ‘when we could meet together’ transformed to a gospel study session using Facebook messenger and What’s App!  He accepted and kept commitments.  We traveled several times to visit and teach him. There were daily texts between Michael and Jason, and Jason acted on his faith - his ten years of ‘investigating’ transformed into baptism on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.  We drove the next day to the Porthmadog branch, where he attends and Michael performed the confirmation. The members are so inviting and are welcoming him perfectly!    It is so humbling and exciting to be a part of his journey….hoping to help him share the gospel with his wife and little son and continue the path to the temple.

Jason was baptized by the branch president, Steve Bullock. The other man (Charlie) is a special-needs man that Jason has cared for for several years.  He is a member of the church and in his ‘special way’ was a great example for Jason and sparked his interest in the gospel.  Everyone can be a missionary!

Jason lives in a ‘picture postcard’ village called Dolgellau.  We LOVE to visit him there!

What does ministering look like?

We received a text from an older couple in our ward asking for a visit. The wife is suffering from dementia and anxiety.  We were happy to be able to respond.  We quickly made a picnic lunch for the four of us, picked them up and drove to Plas Newydd, a beautiful manor house/castle just down the road from our flat.  We ate outside, toured the manor, and strolled the stunning grounds along the Menai Strait.  It was enjoyable for all of us.

That was the easy part!  The next day's request was to come to their (enormous) house and help them box their 50 years of personal belongings to get ready to sell their home.  I could have been in my element tossing and throwing away all their JUNK, but it was TREASURE to them….every single thing of which they were unable to part. Not sure what is next! They are moving to America and their ‘treasures’ won’t fit in two suitcases!

P-DAY

We enjoyed a great day out with the Briggs, another senior couple, who are serving near the temple in Preston.  Did I mention that ALL missionaries, senior and younger want to visit our island!  We enjoyed being with them and repeating a hike along the coast of Newborough nature reserve, visiting another castle, and a fun dinner in the Snowdonia mountains at Betws-y-Coed.

TEA FOR TWO (or 8!)

Our first Relief Society activity in over two years because of Covid.  Hosted by Caroline Sansome in her garden, we were asked to bring one sweet and one savory to share. I brought colorful vegetables with hummus and freshly picked red strawberries.  Took most of it back home.  (Thought this would happen!)  Vegetables are not the food of choice in England/Wales. But cakes, cookies, tarts, chocolates are….she has a gorgeous view from her garden.

HOME SWEET HOME and my daily walk-abouts

Each morning while Mike is at the gym, I’m walking outside for as long as I can before the weather changes!  There are so many varied, beautiful shades of gray in the skies - and so many varied, beautiful flowers constantly blooming.  My farm friends ‘moo’ and ‘baa’ as I pass them and I am grateful to be a missionary here….rain or shine!

WHAT ARE MLS MISSIONARIES?

We serve as MLS missionaries (member-leadership-support) We are assigned to the Gaerwen Ward of the Chester Stake to help lift, support, train, teach and anything else needed.  We love the people in this ward.  Each Sunday there can be from 40-70 members, and some additional visitors.  We keep busy with each auxiliary on Sundays and during the week.   A few recent activities include:

Teaching a temple preparation class for Dylan Gill, (called to soon serve as a missionary in Cambodia).  We attended the Preston temple with him and his family.  He is going to be a great missionary!  We enjoyed a Cambodian lunch afterwards.  Not sure what I ate!

Next ward activity was a fun Scottish Ceilidh evening.  We learned the Gay Gordon, the Virginia Reel, and the Dashing 

White Sergeant.  We danced for a solid two hours and all had a good time.

Next up?  Youth activities including water volleyball in the church parking lot, and pickleball/pizza night

Last ‘ward activity’ for the week?  Does lunch and a beautiful walk through Betws-y-coed with Bishop and Melanie count?  We did step into an old church and bishop tried out the pulpit!!

Our time is moving onward.  Each day our list of people to find, people to visit, people to teach grows longer and our time is growing shorter.  It is a privilege to be serving here in Wales