Runcorn & Tidbits of Cool Stuff Happening

That ye may be the children of your father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun and to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Mathew 5:45

This card came today and it brought a jolly, "Ho, ho, ho!" because we are some of the few who actually are frozen---almost.  The message is, "May you feel the warmth of the Spirit this Holiday Season?"  The love of family and friends, the blessings we receive daily, and the miracles we continue to experience is how our hearts are warmed.  Spiritually we are warmed, but physically I am cold challenged.  Six layers kept me warm today, so it is warming up a bit.

We drove to Runcorn today to find a flat for missionaries.  We had only two properties to see, since no one else had appointments available until next week (I had called a week in advance and still couldn't get bookings).  The two places didn't work out, but I was prompted to call this place I had been bugging for a slot, and the lady said a small window had opened up for us to see a flat.  The flat proved perfect for our needs.  There is no way it would have been available by the time our appointment was scheduled.  We rented it!  The Lord makes sure his missionaries are placed where He wants them.  Not only that, He seems to delight in placing a person near the flat we are renting, or in the parking lot, where he can be introduced to the gospel because we got a referral to teach there at the apartment building.  This is the third referral we have obtained this way.

The lost lamb we found is a young man of around 18.  He was there with a crew doing yard maintenance and walking the dog they had with them.  He is from a city about an hour away, so we called the missionaries with the information they need to teach him.  If you could have felt the Spirit and seen this person's face when the message about the restored gospel was presented, you would have cried.  I left with him asking me, "What happened next?" as I told him the story of Joseph Smith going into the woods to pray to know the truth.  He kept begging for the rest of the story, but he deserves the opportunity to hear the First Vision taught to him through the Spirit Formula.  This is a powerful method used to help investigators feel the Spirit bear witness of the truth of the restoration.  I promised him he would have an answer to that question and others he has about where he came from before this earth life, why he is here now, and where he can go after this life.  He was so excited to know more!  I was so gloriously happy I could hardly contain myself.  Elder Blain would say I didn't--contain myself that is.

On another happy note, it rained all the snow away today!  It is now safer for everyone to walk on the sidewalks.  There was a dangerous accumulation of snow and ice because most people don't have shovels to remove snow from walks and stairs.  Snow is lovely this time of year to make the season seem like a traditional white Christmas, but I like a green and safer (and warmer) England.  I almost felt like we were driving in Utah with the white everywhere, except for the bone-chilling deep freeze it has been here the past week.

Santa has come to our house!  Below is our tree with the ever-growing pile of presents from home.

See the two Christmas angels on the top of our tree?  Do you see where Elder Blain opened one of his small presents?  He had been given permission to do so throughout the holiday season.  He is strictly obedient and thus shall never be seen breaking a holiday or mission rule.

Here's a close up so you can truly appreciate our bounty.  Christmas morning will be SO FUN!

This is Cuddlez.  The "Z" is for the Elder from Armenia who gave him to me.  He is very thoughtful and generous.  He tried to give all the missionaries Christmas cards, but he didn't know he couldn't give them to the sisters.  His cards to the sisters were returned and he was sad about the waste of all the cards.  I think he wanted to give something so badly that he figured I'd be a safe sister to give something to because I am a senior missionary with a husband.  He shows how much he loves us in many ways.  He is the Elder who always opens doors for Elder Blain and I and carries all our bags and books.

Of all the things to take a picture of today, I only got this.  Sorry.  It sits on the top of four grain storage towers and it is BIG!  I know, it doesn't look all that impressive.  I had to take this picture through the car window as we sped along.  I missed getting a picture of a castle, a big river that goes out to sea a few miles away in Liverpool, and a really old church on the top of a hill.  I keep wondering if we will get back to any of these areas to see all the things we don't have time to stop and enjoy.

Here is meal #2 of four I told you about that is working on turning me into a blimp.  One event tonight was canceled, so I have a reprieve where I'll just eat junk food all evening to be sure the transformation takes place.  I'm resigned to it, since it will happen anyway.  There's no controlling it!  By the way, this group consists of the nicest folks you'll ever want to meet.  We laugh ourselves silly when we are together.  They don't look all that dangerous do they?  Looks are deceiving.  They are TOO nice.  They keep taking us out to dinner, giving us presents, and feeding everyone chocolate mints and chocolate covered almonds after large meals.  Devious.  Elder Blain took home a bunch of mince pies to finish him off.  It didn't work.  He is still alive and ready for more.