Going Forth to New Fields of Labor

Lift up your heart and rejoice, for the hour of your mission is come; and your tongue shall be loosed, and you shall declare glad tidings of great joy unto this generation.  Doctrine and Covenants 31:3

And now, behold, I say unto you, that the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father.  Doctrine and Covenants 16:6

Transfer! 

We have been called by our mission president to move by the first part of February north to the Chorley/Blackburn area.  Chorley is where the center for the Young Single Adults meet, which is what we shall be overseeing.  I'll post more about the program later.  

We are assigned to the Blackburn Ward, which is about 20-30 minutes west of Chorley (depending on the traffic).  The bishop will probably want us to work with less-active members as we have done in the wards in our current area, but we are not sure yet as to our specific assignment in the ward.  Again, we a juggling two different assignments in two different areas, which isn't unusual for couple missionaries.  More couples are needed everywhere in the world!!  

The couple leaving the YSA assignment (after two years and their third mission) is the medical couple.  Not only did they travel all over helping the missionaries stay healthy, they served at the Missionary Training Center to give health presentations to the new missionaries, served Saturdays at the Preston Temple, helped fellowship in their assigned ward, taught investigators, and supervised the Young Single Adults program.  WOW!  That is probably only half of what they actually did.  Missions are busy places and senior missionaries stay young and healthy thus engaged with the Lord's work, though naps are in order at any given time--ha, ha!

Our feelings are mixed as we prepare to leave those we love and who have blessed our lives so abundantly.  It won't be a goodbye when we leave, just a "see-you-later."  Then, it will be off to a new adventure and meeting more wonderful people who again will richly bless our lives.  With the Lord's help, we shall also bring something to their lives.  A least we know we go there with love in our hearts, our testimonies of the truth and God's Plan of Happiness, and a willingness to serve in whatever way we are needed.  I always experience some trepidation that comes with change and meeting lots of new people, but things will be fine once I get past the initial stress and learn the ropes of our new calling.

The fields are ripe all ready to harvest . . . We shall soon be saying goodbye to our current missionary field of labor (Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-Under-Lyme)

Men in black.  We found this storage shed to rent for extra household goods left over from transferring flats out and the office Elders came to give their seal of approval.  They looked a little suspicious going into the back yard.  These men in suits looking at an old garage made the neighbors wonder what they were up to.

There are a lot of  places we didn't get to see while in our present area--here's Little Moreton Hall, which was closed when we drove past it the other day.  The sign said to stay out as there were security guards and guard dogs, but I mustered up the courage (or stupidity) to go in to at least get a picture!

This is for the horse lovers so they can paint their horse transports cool like this one.  All the horse transports identify themselves with "horses" on them so people will be careful.

Leaving an area means leaving great people like these two.  We had tea with them and they told us of their world adventures, showed beautiful photographs, and shared their stories of life and how they found the Church. 

Here's an area we are checking out--the strange figure seems to convey what we are feeling--which way to go?  Where shall we live?  Chorley or Blackburn or somewhere in between?

We'll let you know where we are living as soon as we know.