AUGUST 30-SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

‘SISTER BAYALAGMAA BAYARLKHAGVA’

I’ve posted before about Sister Bella staying with us for a week between transfers a few months ago.We grew to love her, enjoyed our week together and thought that would be the last we saw her because she would be finishing her mission in six weeks and returning to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.  President 

Tunnicliff called one morning and asked us if we would be willing to let Sister Bella stay with us for the last few weeks of her mission because of some specific needs.  Of course we quickly said ‘yes’ and prepared for her to be with us.

Elder Rasband asked us a question in October 2017 general conference - “What are God's miracles in your life that remind you that He is close?”  He encouraged us to find daily experiences that show us the Lord is in the small details as well as the major milestones in our lives. He beautifully described the Lord’s hand guiding us as ‘divine designs’.  No coincidences.  Divine designs. Elder Rasband invited us to write these experiences in our journals so we could see the Lord’s hand in our lives. This is a testament of divine designs. We have been able to witness a beautiful example of God’s love for each of His children through our experience with Sister Bella.

Can I share her story?

Sister Bella grew up in a Buddhist family in Mongolia, the oldest of three children.  Her younger years were one of privilege for that country - private schools, nice home, nice clothes,etc.  Her parents then divorced, and she became the child of a fatherless home, limited income and a broken heart. 

 

 DIVINE DESIGN #1

When she was about 17 years old, she was introduced to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints by her step-father, who ironically had never shared with the family his membership in the church!  He invited them to go to ‘his’ church, but he did not attend with them then, or now.  She told us that it was very different from being a Buddhist, with monks that prayed for you if you paid them some money.

 The missionaries taught her, her mother and brother about 

Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  They were all baptized and happily became dedicated disciples of Jesus Christ.  Sister Bella loves the Book of Mormon.  Soon she desired to be a missionary herself.  

DIVINE DESIGN #2 

After only two years as a member, Sister Bella was called as a full time missionary, assigned to labor in the England Manchester Mission.  Because of Covid, she served eight months in her country of Mongolia, in isolation, along with thousands of other missionaries around the world.  But as a new member, this proved too hard for her and she returned back to her home an hour away.  She tried to get back to her ‘non-missionary life’, but felt empty and soon desired to return to full time missionary work, even if it meant serving her entire mission in Mongolia. 

DIVINE DESIGN #3 

 Sister Bella served a few more months in Mongolia and was so joyful when her visa came and she could come to the Manchester Mission. She served here for about 6 months, learning English, serving with a native Brit companion, and two Germans with English as their second language! She has done remarkably well.  She is a light of the gospel!  She is captivating as she shares her journey of faith with others.  She is so inclusive and full of love for absolutely everyone.  She is a diligent student of the scriptures, loves President Nelson and quotes past prophets as if she has been a member of the church her entire life.  

DIVINE DESIGN #4

As her mission was nearing completion, she was very concerned about what the future would look like for her.  The church has an inspired program, called ‘MY PLAN’ for all missionaries preparing to return home.  It is designed to help them set goals and be self reliant after their missions in areas of education, discipleship, dating and marriage.

Sister Bella soon realized that it was going to be very hard to accomplish all those things in Mongolia.  Her desire was to attend a BYU school, but with no money, no sponsor and limited English…‘my plan’ was proving to look difficult, if not impossible.

DIVINE DESIGN #5

Our previous mission leaders, President and Sister Johnson had put in place a program that senior missionaries serving here could contribute to aid young missionaries with schooling, etc. that otherwise could not happen. Elder and Sister Davis served here as self reliance senior missionaries, returning home to Utah a few months ago.They have a network already in place with BYU-Hawaii admissions for people just like Sister Bella from the islands and Asia.

DIVINE DESIGN #6

It is now our privilege to be a part of the next ‘divine designs’ in Sister Bella’s journey. She arrived in Manchester, England last April, serving in the Manchester area where we would have little or no contact.  We attended a mission wide conference where we met Sister Bella among 160 other missionaries.  We immediately felt a connection to her and enjoyed our brief time together.  Coincidence? We next met her at the temple baptistry with the entire mission again.  There she was proxy for five of her ancestors, including her beloved grandma.  With a large mission, it is ‘unlikely’ to be with missionaries from other zones, unless a ‘divine design’ is occurring.

DIVINE DESIGN #7

President Tunnicliff called one hour after Matt and Heather’s family left from visiting us here in Wales.  Sister Bella was struggling with a companion and needed some extra love and encouragement. Could we help? We drove to pick her up in Manchester and brought her to Wales, and our flat!  She spent a week with us as we included her in our normal missionary routines - morning walks, youth meetings/seminary, etc.  She helped us teach Philippa Smith and Damian Halligan, attended institute, served Bishop Quilter’s family, had daily scripture study and Come Follow Me with us. She embraced everything and everyone. In a week it was transfers and we took her to her new companion and last assignment before completing her mission. We kept in touch with WhatsApp and Facebook messenger.

DIVINE DESIGN #8

We connect with Davis’s (in Utah), Maurice who is director of admissions at BYU-H and Sister Bella in Stockport via a zoom call to discuss the possibilities of her attending BYU-H.  There were a lot of obstacles - financial needs for tuition/books/board and room, sponsors, English proficiency, airfare from Mongolia, laptop, phone, class courses and the BYU application itself.

Every single obstacle was discussed and a plan put in place.  All she needed to do was pass the English proficiency test and the rest could work out.  We were all ecstatic.

DIVINE DESIGN #9

Sister Bella did not pass the English Test. She could try one more time, but it was unlikely she would pass….but if she enrolled in BYU Pathway Connect, attended zoom gathering groups and institute, the English test could be waived.  The problem?  The Pathway semester was beginning immediately.  If she did not enroll, she would have to wait an entire year to apply to BYU-H.  

President Tunnicliff called us again to ask us if we would be able to let her stay with us for the remainder of her mission.  Of course we would!  We drove to Manchester to pick her up, came back home, and set up a daily routine of school classes.

DIVINE DESIGN #10

 It was soon apparent that not only did she need a place to study and ‘attend’ the classes, but she needed help in her application to BYU-H, specifically writing five essays.  

Essays are difficult for anyone applying to college, but when you add a language barrier it is daunting . Sister Bella can communicate very well conversationally, but writing coherent grammatically correct essays were well beyond her at this point. This help could not have happened with another young sister companion.  We helped her formulate ideas and write properly. I spent all day for two weeks with her in this endeavor(Thank you English major Elder Dudley for his contributions!)

Her entire application was complete and ready to submit before she returned home.

I know there are countless ‘divine designs’ that have occurred in Sister Bella’s life before we met her, and no doubt there will be countless ones in her future.  Both Mike and I feel so blessed to have witnessed and been a participant in some of these ‘divine designs’.  

I think Sister Bella had a wonderful ‘last week’ of her mission.  We had a special evening at the mission home accompanying Sister Bella to her departure dinner.  She continued to help us teach Philippa and Damian Halligan.  She bore a beautiful testimony in sacrament meeting. She simply endeared herself to all who met her, and that includes us.  She calls herself ‘our #1 Mongolian granddaughter'. She knows all the names of our children and grandchildren.  She prayed out loud everyday for Jared Clark when he had his bike accident.  She left us lovenotes in cupboards, inside the dryer and closets.  There were tears from all of us as we drove her to the airport to depart for Mongolia to reunite with her mom and sister. She is grateful.  She is humble.  She is loved by us, but more importantly by Heavenly Father.  We are all loved by Him.  Isn’t that amazing?

We did manage to fit in some beautiful sightseeing on a steam train with the Haighs from our ward.

And we enjoyed a special evening with the Cooneys at their home for a delicious Chinese dinner.  Sister Bella became very dear friends with Kev and Alicia’s daughter, Chloe, and bore a powerful testimony to her. We all are praying she might one day (soon!) be baptized.

How could we not take her to the milk shack dairy on our way home from South Stack Lighthouse?

Last week at church for Sister bella with the Cooneys

Dinner with President and Sister Tunnicliff at our flat after Sister Bella’s departure interview

Teaching Damian Halligan with us

Teaching Philippa Smith with us

Departure dinner at the mission home for all departing missionaries, including Sister Bella!

And she’s off…to Mongolia, then to Hawaii….. the future is bright for her

Her mom and sister greet her at the airport.

OCTOBER 2022

Days go by steadily, but when I realize it has been a month since my last post, our mission service seems to be racing by.  We have enjoyed an unusually semi-warm fall in October.  We have tried to take advantage of every ministering and teaching visit to include scenic drives…but the real truth is that EVERY DRIVE IS A SCENIC DRIVE HERE.  

This is the time of year we feel nostalgic as we remember the stunning fall colors of New England and our years in Connecticut.  We have also found some beautiful colors this fall in Wales - but they seem to be on castles, cottages, and house fronts!  Possibly the most vibrant reds we have ever seen

We took a long ‘day trip’ via a ferry across the Irish Sea to Dublin, Ireland with Damien and Denise Halligan.  We enjoyed seeing the city, but especially being with them.  They are wonderful people and as we continue to teach Damien the gospel every single Monday night, we enjoy these times together visiting sites and the outdoors….more about his progress later.

Wales is often called the ‘land of the castles'... there are 427 of them!!!  We have been to 6.   This past p-day, we drove along one of our favorite scenic routes to Harlech Castle

As we were reading on the website about the castle, I had to laugh at the bottom line of the castle description...

Harlech Castle in Harlech, Gwynedd, Wales, is a Grade I listed medieval fortification built onto a rocky knoll close to the Irish Sea. It was built by Edward I during his invasion of Wales between 1282 and 1289

Architect: James of Saint George

Material: Sandstone

Function: Castle

Architectural styles: Medieval architecture, Gothic architecture

Condition: Ruined

(Yes it is ‘ruins’...so glad they told us!!!)

Returning home at the end of the day, we continually ooh and aah

We visited the charming village of Sandbach, England where my grandma, Estella Manwaring Brockbank’s family roots are from. Her dad was the youngest of 10 children in the Manwaring family who eventually emigrated to Springville, Utah.  We walked through the town cemetery to look for family gravestones.  The majority of both of our family roots are in England and Wales.  We ‘feel’ the connection to our ancestors, our love for their devotion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and their sacrifices for their testimonies.  Brockbanks, Manwarings, Parrys, Roberts…thank you

Our love extends to all the early pioneers of this area in the United Kingdom.  We spent a day in Liverpool with other senior missionaries couples, taught by a wonderful church history guide, Peter Fagg.  Most people think of the BEATLES when in Liverpool, but Liverpool docks were at the center of early saint sailings to America to help build up the church there.  They sacrificed much, leaving their homeland, but it was also a huge sacrifice to those Saints who remained to build the church here. 

This photo depicts a beautiful statue in a town garden.  Notice the engraved stone in front of the bench.

Our favorite sites?  Anywhere we are with the people we love here in Wales and in our Manchester Mission. 

We have resumed teaching weekly institute classes at Bangor University. Our numbers are smaller, but our discussions meaningful.  We enjoy our preparation together!

Our weekly meetings with Damien and Denise Halligan are progressing.  Sometimes I feel a bit frustrated with the slow progress (because Damien has been coming to church for 16 years!) but this time we were persistent in teaching the importance of making covenants through baptism, using 2Nephi 31.  Damien’s response lapsed back to his infant baptism, questioning the need for ‘another’ baptism.  Perhaps the most powerful comment of the evening came from Denise, who is typically quiet, when she said,  “Damien, when you were baptized as an infant, you didn't make that decision of your own free will and choice…your parents made it.  You can now make your own decision to be baptized…by the proper priesthood authority.”  

We invited them to fast this Sunday specifically about baptism and Damien’s desire for faith to act. 

As you fast, would you join us in praying for them?

HIGHLIGHTS this month:

Kev and Alicia Cooney speak in Stake conference

Michael ordained Kev to the Melchizedek Priesthood

Damien masterfully taught a self reliance course at church

General Conference, listening to living prophets

weekly teachings of Damien, Philippa Smith 

ministering to ward members 

ministering to young elders and sisters

doing all of the above with Michael