2015 Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas and a Glorious New Year to you our dear friends and family,

As we look back on the year 2015, we are amazed how quickly it has gone by, and how gloriously we have been blessed!  We find ourselves overcome with gratitude for the tender mercies the Lord has showered upon us.

In February, we had a fabulous get-a-way with Brian, Heather and McKinley as we spent 6 days on the beautiful island of Oahu.  We were amazed at how well Kinners did!  She was so content and she loved the walks, the swimming, and eating in the restaurants.  She was a show stopper as well!  Also in February, we went to Houston to spend some time with the Bishop family.  For Christmas, they gave us tickets to go to NASA with them.  It was an incredible experience.  We came away so inspired and amazed and loved to be with Dave and Julie and their family. 

 In March we went to Las Vegas to watch the BYU basketball conference tournament.  Unfortunately, BYU got beaten by Gonzaga in the final game, but we sure have a good time with friends there!  Also in March we were able to have a girl’s retreat in St. George with all six of our daughters.  Julie flew in from Houston and we had a blast together.  Heazy was expecting her first baby and we thought it would be so fun to have a girl’s get-a-way before the baby came.  Then at the end of March, Brad and I had the glorious experience of going to the Holy Land with dear friends from Orem on a Daniel Rona tour.  It was an absolutely incredible experience for us.  As we walked where Jesus walked, we felt the sacredness of the places He lived, served, gave his life, and was resurrected for us.  This was a trip we will always cherish as a highlight in our lives. 

April, we stayed home and welcomed the arrival of grandbaby #13, Asher Nathan Brown, born on April 28 to Kent and Heather.  The sweet thing about his birth was that Vicki was able to participate and watch the delivery.  What a sacred experience for all four of us in the delivery room.

Also on April 26, Brad finished up his nine year calling in the Heatheridge Stake Presidency with much sadness and appreciation for the experiences he shared and the love he felt for those for whom he served and with those he served.  As we contemplated his release, we felt it was time for us to seriously consider serving a full time mission.  We knew Nate and Becca were expecting a baby boy in July, so we put our availability date in August.  Little did we know that all 6 of our daughters would be having babies within a 9 month period, 4 of them after we left.  And what is more amazing, all 6 babies would be sons!  I call them our little stripling warriors!  So on April 28, we turned in our mission papers and waited…….On May 30 we received the call to serve as YSA missionaries in the England London Mission, the same mission Brad served in 42 years previously, and my parents served for 18 months as well .  We were to leave on August 30, 2015 for a period of 18 months.

In June we went again to Houston to spend time with the Bishops before they moved into their new home.  Also in June we held our annual Jackman family reunion with all of our children and grandchildren.  By this time, we knew all of them were expecting except Heather, who just had Asher.  We rented a cabin in Timberlakes above Heber City, Utah.  We had a blast, playing games, eating, swimming, 4-wheeling, and just being together.  Unfortunately, at the end of the reunion, Heather (Brian’s Heather) experienced excruciating pain and went into the hospital.  The Lord’s tender mercies were with us as a friend of ours had had a similar back problem recently.  She got in touch with her doctor and Heather got into him in 2 days and he performed her surgery to repair a ruptured disc.  The miracle was that she was far enough along in her pregnancy that she could have the surgery without hurting the baby.  Also, luckily, Brad and I were home so we could help care for Kinners during the 6 weeks that Heather needed to recover.

On July 14, our little Charlie Ryder Jackman made his entrance into our family!!  He was a miracle baby and another incredible blessing for Nate and Becca and for us. 

The month of August was a whirlwind of mission preparation!  We were amazed at how much work is involved in going on a couple’s mission.  We had to get our home ready to leave, automatic bill payment arrangements, new bank accounts, mail redirected, etc.  We wanted to spend as much time as we could with all of our children and grandchildren.  Thankfully, our children were so willing and helpful, we couldn’t do it without them. 

Finally, on Sunday, August 30, we spoke in church and were so grateful for the family and friends who were so supportive of us.  We reported into the MTC on Monday morning, August, 31.  We spent one and a half weeks in the MTC while living at home.  During that time we were able to have a FHE with all of our children except Dave and Julie.  Those were tender times for us.  On Monday morning, Sept. 14 we left from SLC to Heathrow airport in London, arriving on Sept. 15.  Our adventure had begun!  Please refer to our blog for all our missionary adventures!  Since we left, on October 24, Grayden William Jackman Miles was born to Scott and Sherri.  On November 29, Russell Jackman was born to Justin and Amber.  Samuel Spencer Bishop arrived a few weeks early on December 21 to Dave and Julie.  These little boys are perfect!!!!  We now are waiting for Jordan Jackman to arrive in January of 2016! 

It has been a year of increase in a lot of ways for our family, an increase in bodies, an increase in testimony, an increase in love!  Brad and I have now been on our mission for 4 months.  Never have we experienced such an adventure!  We have been filled with an increase of love for family, for each other, for England and its people, for the gospel and for Heavenly Father, His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost.  We know They are real!  The gospel of Jesus Christ is upon the earth.  Jesus Christ is at the head of the church and He has called living prophets to prepare us for His second coming!  We love you all and know we are involved in an inspired work.  May the peace of the Spirit fill your homes and your hearts this day and throughout the coming year.

With all our love,

Brad and Vicki

Grandpa and Grandma

Dad and Mom

Merry Christmas

Dearest family and Friends,
Well, if one has to be away from family for Christmas, I think the best place to be is in London!!  The highlight of our holiday was skyping with all of our children and grandchildren and chatting with our parents on the phone!  It did our hearts good to see you all and feel of your goodness and love.  And we were especially grateful to be able to see our little Sam!  He is doing well and Julie looks great!  We are sooo very grateful that everything went well for them.

We had a wonderful week of visits and then we took off early Christmas Eve morning to head to London.  We arrived in quick fashion as most businesses were closed and very few people were on the motorway.  We enjoyed a fabulous lunch at President and Sister Stevens beautiful flat with almost all of the senior couples who are serving in the England London Mission!  In fact, we met the Baxters.  They are serving as Self Reliance missionaries.  Sister Baxter is Steve Bentley's sister!  (Steve and his wife Kris are in our Orem ward and are serving a mission in the Dominican Republic!)  We also met up again with Elder and Sister Cardall.  They are serving as the directors of the Hyde Park Visitors Center and will be leaving next week.  (Sister Cardall is a very close friend of Scott Rackham's mother! also in our Orem ward).  It was so fun to mingle and chat with Senior missionaries!  It's like old home week even though some we have just met.  There is an instant bond and connection with these lovely people who are doing the same thing we are doing!  Then we were able to attend a Christmas Concert at Royal Albert Hall, an absolutely gorgeous building where we were entertained by a choir and an orchestra all decked out in white wigs, knickered trousers and tailed coats.  The director played the harpsichord as he directed the choir.  Every few numbers, the whole audience arose and sang along for Christmas carols, such as, Oh Little Town of Bethlehem, Good King Wenceslas, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, and such.  It was inspiring to me to be singing about the Savior with a building full of  Christian people not of our faith!  We were able to go with several of the senior missionaries which made it even more special.  Following the concert, we checked into our hotel, The Rembrandt (very beautiful by the way), and then walked down the street to see Harrod's Christmas window displays.  They were brilliant!  Brad especially loved the window with a white Bentley in it! (In fact, other than the Hyde Park Chapel, Brad's favorite things to see in South Kensington are the Ferrari dealership, the Lamberghini dealership, and the Bentley dealership!) We topped our evening off with pizza!  Most of the people in the restaurant were Indians or Muslims.  I guess the Christians were home with their families for Christmas!  It was a lonely Christmas as we missed all our littles, but we felt the love of the Savior!

We missed our teaching evening with our friends the Tillbrooks, but they were in the emergency room with their two year old.  But we had the tender experience to go to the hospital and Brad was able to give their little boy a blessing.  You know sometimes the service seems very small, but we feel the love of the Lord and are so happy in our service!  What a blessing this mission has been for the two of us!

On Sunday, we got to teach the Sunbeam class.  What a treat!  I'm going to have to record these littles speaking in an English accent.  Our lesson was on the Christmas story.  We had the kids act out the nativity and they wanted to do it over and over.  Leila Johnson was playing Mary and Brad was the innkeeper.  When she looked up into his face with her beautiful brown eyes and said, "Please can we live with you?", Brad turned to me and said, "She is just so cute, I can't say no!"

We love and appreciate all of you so very much.  We appreciate your love and your support to us.  Family is the greatest thing there is and it is because of the Savior, Jesus Christ, that we can be together forever.  What a blessing it is for us to teach this to the Heavenly Father's children here!
With all our love,
Dad and mom
Papa and grandma

inside Royal Albert Hall in London

the choir and orchestra in Royal Albert Hall

outside of Royal Albert Hall

Leila Johnson and Nate Lyon playing Joseph and Mary.  Nate insisted that he be Joseph and Leila to be Mary.  Hmmmmm, could there be a budding romance in the primary?

Another Addendum

I am not very good at this!  I keep forgetting to post certain pictures!  So here are the ones I forgot to attach!

Our Cambridge District from left to right, Sister Lawler, Elder Tamilarson, Elder Jacobsen, Elder Nielsen, Elder Botta, Elder Kendall, Sister Nebeker, Elder Jackman, Sister Jackman and Fernando St. Nick

With President and Sister Stevens in our Christmas jumpers

Another Baby Boy!!!

Yes, it is true!!!  We have another baby boy!  Samuel Spencer Bishop was born early Monday morning, December 21, 2015.  He came about 3 weeks early.  Julie was doing fine, but couldn't feel the baby moving, so decided it would be wise to go to the hospital to get checked out.  The doctor was concerned and so they took the baby caesarean section.  The cord was wrapped twice around his neck and his foot.  Samuel came in weighing 6 lbs and was 19 1/2 inches long.  He spent a few days in the NICU to warm him up and get his blood sugar levels where they needed to be and get some food in him.  He and Julie have been given the go-ahead to home today however and he is doing great!!  We are so very grateful for this sweet little boy and that he arrived safely.  We are grateful for the wonderful Bishop family who has stepped in to help and will be there for Christmas!

We will share just a few notes from our past week!  We have been given the assignment from President Stevens to help with flat inspections (apartments).  So we get to do 14 of them, all the ones in our zone.  We do them once a quarter, which is good, because we have to drive so far to get to all of them.  But what a blessing because we get to meet all of the missionaries in our zone.  We are so impressed with the caliber of young men and women who have been called to this mission.  Their parents should be so very proud of them all!

Last blog post, I told you about our dear friend who met with the Bishop to see if she could be restored to full fellowship.  Guess what!  She received all her blessings back!  Sunday, we got to sit with her in church and participated with her as she partook of the sacrament for the first time in 8 years.  I have always loved the Sacrament, but Sunday, I experienced a very deep understanding and extraordinary love for the Savior as I felt her joy, her relief, and an exquisite peace that only true repentance can bring.  I am so grateful for the Savior's atonement!  I can't wait to respond to her husband's questions about "how does the Savior relate to me personally 2000 years later?"

We had a great zone Christmas conference with missionaries from 2 zones.  We have come to appreciate more than ever the role of a mission president and his wife!  Their celestial glory is guaranteed we are sure!!!!  We have been on a mission Book of Mormon reading schedule to read the Book of Mormon from Oct. and finish on Christmas Day.  It has been a very tender experience.  Then, of course, we had white elephant gifts, goofy skits, food, Christmas jumpers, lots of visiting and laughing and pictures.

We had a visit on Friday night!  A sweet and lovely woman called and asked us if she could come and meet us.  I had met her the first Sunday we got in the mission field, but I couldn't remember her.  I was still in jet lag mode at the time I guess.  Well we chatted for a while and she asked us if we would teach her the gospel.  She is not a member and feels as though she needs some direction, some purpose in her life.  Now that is one for the books.  How many missionaries are blessed with someone who just comes to their house and asks to be taught the gospel?  What a blessing.  So she came to church with us as well on Sunday.  My heart felt as though it would burst!  We will keep you posted on our sweet Lucy!

Just to let you know the diversity of what we do in the mission field, on Saturday, we helped one of our YSA's put together a wardrobe she had just bought and then we went with a sweet teenage boy to the Imperial War Memorial.  We asked him to take us to be our tour guide.  We wanted to start building a relationship with him.  He was amazing as he had such a knowledge of all the planes and tanks we saw.  We even saw the Concord!  Brad was in heaven! I was intrigued with the history.  I bought a book about the Battle of Britain, but will have to wait till I get back to America before I read it.   A mission is an amazing experience.  We feel so blessed to be here.

We love you all.  Thank you for the Skype call on Sunday night.  It was amazing to talk to you all in one place.  Thank you Dad's and Mom's for the time you spent with our children and grandchildren.  That was such a choice experience for them to be with you.  I'll send a Christmas letter by my blog post probably on Boxing Day! (the day after Christmas) 

Quote by Sister Linda S. Reeves: "....the reward is so great, so eternal and everlasting, so joyful and beyond our understanding that in that day of reward, we may feel to say to our merciful, loving Father, "Was that all that was required?" 

Have a very Merry Christmas!  Our thoughts, and prayers will be with you all this wonderful week!
With all our love,
Dad and Mom
Papa and Grandma

Samuel Spencer Bishop

 

Sam with his proud dad and two grandparents across the ocean

Our fabulous Christmas Tree with all our 18 treasures

at the Duxford Imperial War Museum

a proper burger from Cambridge, UK

walking home we ran into a familiar face!!! It's a horrible picture of me but pretty good of the Grinch

Missionary Moments

Dearest family and friends,
This blog is really late this week as we have been very busy!  I'll tell you about that next week!  So the trick is remembering what we did last week!!!  I can't even remember what I had for breakfast this morning!!  Luckily, I have a daily planner which helps me remember!

But the news of the day is HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARLEE NOEL (SUE) NELSON!!!!!  She is 11 years old today.  Oh, sweet Carlee Sue, we love you, so I will write you a poem........
Roses are red,
Ivy is green,
You have the most exquisite eyes,
We've ever noticed!!!
(This is a family tradition--mom's rhyming poems!)
Love you Carlee!  Have a fabulous day!

This week we got to serve with the Methodist church and the Church of England Church!  There are some very lovely people in this city.  They have set up a program during the winter months where 7 churches combine to house and feed the homeless (12 to 15 men) every night of the week.  We are helping the Methodist church across the street.  Our job is to show up at 6:45 a.m. to clean up the church following the night the homeless are hosted.  It reminds us of the homeless shelter service we have done in Provo.  We have met the nicest people!  Then we got to help clean up on a local cemetery project.  This time, just Brad and I went because our YSA's have mostly left or are involved in exams and essays, and we didn't schedule the missionaries soon enough.  So when we got there, the gardner was very glad to see us, but wanted to know where are those fine young people were who helped last time!

We had our ward Christmas party and the YSA's were in charge of decorating the cultural hall!  We did a great job, I must admit!  The YSA's wrapped a bunch of empty boxes to arrange on the tables and I must say, it looked really good!

The highlight of our week was teaching our dear friends who live in Littleport!  The husband is not a member and his wife has had church discipline and we have been working with the Bishop in her behalf.  She has been so anxious to return to full fellowship in the church and has been waiting for 8 years.  The Bishop wants her to return as well.  So we told her Wednesday night that the Bishop wants to meet with her and begin the process.  She was very excited, but her husband was the one that was deeply touched!  She has had some health issues so Brad asked if she would like a priesthood blessing before we left.  So I took the two year old into the other room while Brad and Carl the ward mission leader gave her a blessing.  Her husband was in the room with them as well.  She wept during the blessing and I think the whole evening was one of those miraculous experiences one prays for on a mission!  There was such a spirit of love in their home.  The husband had two single spaced pages of questions for us that he had written down during the past week from his reading we gave him to do.  Because it was so late, we only worked on the first one, about Adam and Eve and the Fall!  He is very well read in the Bible and his questions are very thoughtful and deep.  As missionaries, we have been taught in  Preach My Gospel that we need to ask questions and teach in very simple and short doctrinal statements.  I have such a testimony of that concept and the more we teach, the more I see the wisdom in that.  We gave him some more to read from the scriptures and we are all anxious to meet again!  In fact, tonight, the wife has a disciplinary council scheduled to determine if she can have her blessings restored.  While I host institute tonight, Brad will wait with this wonderful husband at the church while his wife is meeting with the council.  I can see why they are called councils of love!  This has been a very tender experience for both of us, and I have felt the love of the Savior in an incredibly personal way I've never felt before!  This is why I love this mission.  I love the Savior so very much and appreciate His infinite love and atonement for everyone of us!

We were able to take one of our full time missionaries to receive his patriarchal blessing.  He is from Malaysia and was not able to get his blessing before he came on his mission.  We met the newly ordained patriarch in our stake who is a wonderful man as all patriarchs are.  He invited his parents-in-law over to the church to meet this missionary as they served as senior missionaries in his stake.  They brought a journal of their missionary experiences with pictures of this missionary and his family from about 7 years ago.  Elder Tamilarasson remembered the missionary couple and they had a wonderful reunion!  We also had an incredible visit with them as well.  We were instant friends!

We met up with two senior couples (Elder and Sister Blackham--YSA missionaries in Norwich and Elder and Sister Parkes--military relations missionaries) for dinner this week and had a ball!  It is so fun to compare notes (like how to use English ingredients to make American cookies, and YSA meal ideas) and be with other senior missionaries.  We feel like family!  Because we are way out in Cambridge which is the furtherest most part of the England London vineyard, we don't get to see other senior couples as often as  we would if we were in London, so we decided we must do this more often!

Well, I'd better close this epistle as I have to get things ready for institute tonight!  We love you all so much!  We have decorated with your wonderful decorations you sent!  We love it and so do all the YSA's!  We have played Heather's new Christmas CD which is fabulous and even features Brian with a solo and Kinner's saying Merry Christmas!  I just cried!  In this very old English village, I have not seen one nativity set or scene anywhere! (and there are a zillion churches everywhere!!), so I ordered a sweet, and simple set from Amazon.  Now I feel like it is Christmas!  I now just need you all to pop in for dinner on Christmas Eve and it would be complete!  We love you all!  Keep the faith!  Jesus Christ is real!  His gospel is on the earth today!!!
Love you all,
Dad and Mom, Papa and Grandma J

Pictures--Addendum

Grayden's blessing day

Grayden William Jackman Miles born October 24, 2015

Sister Jackman with Gillian Taylor a dear English friend

A precious family!!!!!!

 

 

We LOVE the British People!!!!!!!!

We had a great week!  We spent time with the British this week, duh!!!!  And we are finding that we have fallen in love with them all!  I never seem to find time to post my blog on Mondays as things always come up, so Brad went with a single Elder (they are in a threesome) and that gave me time to let you know how very much we love this place!  We seem to be getting into some kind of rhythm here.  At first, I felt we had to be filling every minute of every day, but as we have gone on, I don't feel as though I have to be so fast and furious.   Our prayer every day is that we will feel the spirit and know what the Lord would have us do.  We were really excited about our schedule this week because we had dates with non members and part member families and dear friends that we have grown to love so much.  Our dear friend Callum (our Cambridge law student) is heading home for the holidays.  We met him for lunch to say good-bye for nearly a month.  He is progressing well with the gospel and has promised he will go to church with his sister to the ward in Birmingham!  We went out to dinner with our dear ward mission leader and his non-member wife to a lovely Chop House for lamb.  It was fabulous!  We have grown to love them so much and pray that her heart will soften to hear the gospel.  Carl (her husband)  wants us so badly to teach her, but it needs to be on her time.  We had bought tickets to Handel's Messiah, a concert given at one of the Cambridge University colleges, St. Johns.  We had invited a non member couple to go with us, but Amanda got really sick and they couldn't go.  We love them as well and will get together with them next week.  We tried to invite another part member couple, but they couldn't go, so we did get a couple of our young single adults to go with us.  I have never seen the whole Messiah, and we were blown away!  It was magnificent, and to be performed in a cathedral that was 1200 years old made it even more spectacular.  The acoustics were phenomenal, but Dad I thought of you as we sat on what amounted to a 2X6  board, a very very hard pew!  Despite the uncomfortable seats, we were so inspired!  The next night we spent with the young adults who are our pride and joy!!  We are getting so comfortable with them, they are like our own children.  Then Friday, we went with dear friends from the ward to an Italian restaurant!  Yeah, it seems like all we did this week was play!!!  We did spend time with the Methodists at their tea and cakes event, we taught temple prep lessons, and visited shut-ins and non-members.  We also were able to spend a few hours with Gillian Taylor, a sweet woman who loves my Dad and Mom from when they were here in the missionfield.  She told us some hilarious stories about all the missionaries she has listened to, fed, transported, and taken to a midnight mass!!!  She is still not a member, but is so lovely.  I told you she didn't want a Book of Mormon, so I took her the Ensign, Conference Report issue.  She was so excited to get it.  We told her about the changes in the Quorum of the Twelve and about President Russell M. Nelson, whom she loves.  We told her about his talk, on a Plea to the Sisters, which I love!  She was so anxious to read it.  We are sending her a subscription to the Ensign and hope to meet up with her again in a few weeks to meet her daughter Kate and her 4 grandchildren.  Her oldest granddaughter , Lucy is getting ready to apply for university, and I told her to tell her to come to Cambridge and we would look after her, but she didn't think she could make it into these universities.  I wish she would change her mind! We have been able to show the people we have visited this week the Church's new Christmas video, A Savior is Born. christmas.mormon.org #ASaviorIsBorn.   Please watch it if you haven't already done so!!!  The children will love it.  Gillian loved it.  What a sweet woman!  Maybe something will convince her to join the church!!!
     Sunday, Dec. 6 was an incredible day for us as we were able to Skype with Scott and Sherri, some family and friends to witness the blessing of Greyden William Jackman Miles.  They blessed him in their home, so we could Skype in and hear the blessing.  Scott gave a beautiful blessing.  Greyden is a very special young man and the Lord has something magnificent in store for him.  We are so grateful for this incredibly special family!
We love the Lord, we love our mission and we love each and every one of you!  In reading Elder Bednar's conference talk (which was incredible by the way!) he quoted President Boyd K. Packer (whom we love) who said, the purpose "of all activity in the Church is to see that a man and a woman with their children are happy at home, sealed together for time and for all eternity."  Our family is so very dear to us.  We can't express enough how very much you mean to us and how much we are wanting to spend eternity with you all!!!
Have a great and happy week!  Please kiss all those precious little cheeks for us! (I'll send some pictures as an addendum)
Love,
Dad and Mom,
Papa and Grandma
Elder and Sister Jackman

Answers to last weeks language challenge!!!  By the way, Grandpa and Grandma Glauser got them all right except for two!  But the cell phone wasn't invented yet when they were here!
trousers-pants; you al'right-hi, how are you, trolley-grocery cart, jumper-sweater; bin-garbage can; rubbish-garbage; flat-apartment; scrappy-grumpy; boot-car trunk; bonnet-car front hood; wonky-unsteady, wobbly; jab-shot; bert-a funny guy; buttery-a cafeteria; plaster-bandaid; tablets-pills; sharps-shot needles; hoover-vacuum; mobile-cell phone; car park- parking lot; lorrie-semi-truck; motorway-freeway

Another Grandbaby Jackman has arrived!!!

Wow!!!  Happy Thanksgiving!  At this time we are most humbled and grateful for the addition of a new grandson, Russell ___________ Jackman, son of Justin and Amber.  Little Rusty was born on Sunday, November 29, 2015 at 2:42 p.m. in the American Fork Hospital.  He came into the world weighing 9 lbs and 7.2 oz, 20 1/2 inches long.  A middle name has yet to be decided upon!  We are glad that he came a week early, as he is a BIG little guy!  We are so very excited for this precious little boy.
     As we look over this past week, it has given us a chance to reflect on the many, many blessings we have received.  I love Thanksgiving as it is filled with food, fun, family, and friends.  This year was no exception.  We invited the Young Single Adults and full time missionaries to join us.  Also, it just so happened that our hometeacher from our Orem ward, Dennis and Karen Madsen's son just moved to Cambridge to work for a few months, so he was able to join us.  And yes, a 10 pound turkey was able to feed them!  It was so fun to have a housefull!  I think they have found their favorite game, SPOONS!  Of course, we missed our children and grandchildren immensely, but having a house full of people made the day a little less emotional for me.  And no, I did not make zupfe bread!  I ordered rolls that were delicious.  Bread making is too hard here with our little oven and crummy flour!
     We are having some incredible experiences in teaching and meeting with part member families.  One family we are teaching, we felt that we wanted to teach them and this week at our lesson we realized why we felt that way.  There are some issues that we think would blow young missionary's minds.  The spirit was very strong, and the couple opened up with us in a way that was very touching.  This sweet sister has been inactive for about 8 years and she is starving for the gospel.  I'm reminded of the scripture in Amos 8:11, "Behold the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord." We saw with our eyes and heard with our ears her anxiousness to hear the gospel, as though she was starving.  We were emotionally exhausted at the end of the visit, but also very buoyed up with hope and love for this wonderful family.
     We were able to meet also with another part member family whom we have grown to love.  They invited us for lunch and we had such a delightful time with them.  Brad asked the husband (not a member) if he would allow us to teach him the gospel.  He said, "no, I don't think so"!  So we just asked if we could just be their friends and stop in to visit them regularly.  Oh, of course!  That is the way these British people are.  They are very friendly, but typically not interested in learning the gospel.  They are content with their own religion.  Having grown up in Utah, I'm having a first time experience in talking with people who have no idea about God, and believe in Jesus Christ as a good man, but nothing else.  And these people belong to the Church of England, a Christian church!  So I feel that I am learning a lot about the church and about myself.  President Monson said, "As we make Christ the center of our lives, our fears will  be replaced by the courage of our convictions."
     I feel that my testimony is growing in a way I hadn't expected!  As I listen to people's questions and doubts about the existence of God or the need for a church,  I have found myself studying more and praying more intently to feel that what we are teaching is the truth.  As I have done so, I feel my testimony expanding and my desire to open my mouth to testify increasing.  For this, I am so grateful, more than I can adequately express. 
     I also realized the great importance to do the simple things every day the prophets have told us to do, prayer, personal and family, scripture study, FHE, and attending church.  They keep us safe and focused on eternity.  We love you, our dear family and precious friends!  You mean so much to us.  We pray for you and we feel your prayers in our behalf.  Have a great week!  Keep the Faith!!!!
With all our love,
Dad and Mom,
Papa and Grandma,
Elder and Sister Jackman

For a fun FHE game, play this matching game:  match the British word to the word that it means in English!
trousers                                    gasoline
you al'right                               shot
trolley                                       apartment
jumper                                      semi truck
bin                                             car hood
rubbish                                      parking lot
flat                                             cell phone
scrappy                                      sweater
boot                                            hi, how are you?
bonnet                                       vacuum cleaner
wonky                                       pills
jab                                             cafeteria         
bert                                            shot needle
buttery                                       pants
plaster                                        grocery cart
tablets                                        car trunk
sharps                                        windshield
hoover                                        wobbly/unstable
mobile                                        a funny guy
car park                                      garbage can
lorrie                                          garbage
motorway                                   grumpy
windscreen                                 bandaid
petrol                                          freeway
                                                   windshield

Have fun and I will tell you the answers next week!  Love you all!

How we love our kids and grandkids!!!!!  We are so very proud of you all.

                                                   

A Great Learning Week

     Good morning!  I think winter has finally hit the UK!  We wear our winter coats, gloves, scarves and boots everywhere.  The English people look at us and wonder why we are so cold!  The sun comes up around 7:30 and goes down at 4:00, and it isn't even the shortest day of the year yet!  But these stalwarts still continue to ride their bikes.  I am so very impressed.
     It has been a week of learning all aspects of missionary work!  Most of our appointments fell through this week.  Brad said, welcome to missionary work!  We spent most of the day on Tuesday with one of our Elders in the E & A (that's British for emergency room)  They were playing basketball at the church with an investigator.  The basketball hoop is one of those mobile ones that is supposed to be weighted down with sand or water.  It sits on the stage so they can have a 10 foot hoop.  Well, when they were finished, Elder Botta pushed the bottom of the stand back away the edge of the stage and because it was not weighted down, it fell.  The ring hit him on the head, cutting his head open and the glass hit him on the head, neck and upper back.  It knocked him out.  We met them at the hospital and waited a couple of hours before seeing a doctor.  Brad and Elder Kendell gave him a blessing and promised full recovery.  The investigator was at the hospital as well.  I think he was pretty shaken up, but I think he also saw and felt something quite extraordinary about the priesthood.  But I learned that even in challenging situations, the Lord puts opportunities in our way.  I happened to sit next to a very nice man, a Muslim named Mohammed.  He asked about my name tag and for the next hour, I was able to give him the discussion on the Restoration, and also about the role of Jesus Christ and explain to him what "gospel" meant and what and why the purpose of baptism.  He told me of the Quran and we became very good friends.  Brad went to the car to bring me a Book of Mormon and he took it.  Amazingly enough, when we were just finishing our conversation, he was called back to see the doctor.  I don't know if anything will ever come of it as he was a Muslim, but I felt the Lord put him in our way.  It's amazing how the spirit can be felt in a waiting room of the hospital.  After he left, there was a man sitting a few chairs down, so I slid down and struck up a conversation with him.  I think I could detect a look of relief on his face when his name was called to go in to see the doctor!  Well, we can't convert them all!!!!  Well, end of story.  They put Elder Botta on a back board and strapped him in to take x-rays and a CT scan.  They found no breaks which relieved us all.  They glued up his head, gave him some pain meds and sent us home.  He also chipped his front tooth which was probably the most painful thing.  He was able to get into a dentist the next morning.  It will take about a month to get his dental work done.  But despite the fact that he is sore, he will be just fine.  As senior missionaries, we do a lot of work with the young elders and sisters.  They are like our children!  We love them and have gotten so close to them.  Transfers are hard for us, because they often take our missionaries, but then we get to love new ones!!!
     We have met with some of our YSA's this week for lunch and we love the one on one time with them.  One of the YSA's is now in the MTC in Provo, so Heather was able to send him a care package!  Goodness, how small the world gets in the church!!!
     We got to go to the London Temple this week.  As always we were inspired and motivated to work hard.
     We were able to attend a Europe Area Ward Council meeting with Elder Ballard and the Area Authorities.  It was by video link from Germany.  Elder Ballard told the Bishops to work your missionaries.  He said, I've never heard of a missionary dying from overwork yet!  I wanted to cheer.  We love it when the Bishop gives us people to visit and work with.
     Well, however, I was tired after Sunday though.  I was asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting, Brad and I teach the Temple Prep class in Sunday School and I was asked to teach Relief Society!  I think the ward was sick of me after the block meetings.
     We are looking forward to Thanksgiving this week!!! My favorite holiday.  We will probably have a housefull, so I hope a 10 pound turkey will feed the 5000! (That's an x-large turkey too!)
     The answer to my riddle--we went to boots for a jab--is we went to the pharmacy (Boots is the name of the pharmacy-looks like a Walgreens) for a flu shot!  If you got it right, maybe you will get a million dollar check in the mail!  Or maybe not!
     We love you all.  We got a package in the mail this week from all of our children--a Christmas package.  Dad opened it and I went through it all.  Thank you so much.  I have never been so touched by a gift in my whole life.  We got a garland with all our babies pictures on a separate ornament, even the womb-babies!  There were bells, hot chocolate, bingo cards, our favorited cold cereal boxes, and hand printed Christmas stockings--so many of our Christmas traditions from home--and especially notes from each of our children's families.  We can't thank you enough for your love and support.  We feel your prayers every day.  We love what we are doing and we love the people we are serving and those we are serving with.  We love our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  We know They live and care for each of us!  Our testimonies of the Restored Gospel grow stronger every day!
     Have a great week,
With all our love,
Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma, Elder and Sister Jackman

P.S.  I forgot to tell you that we met some people at church who are from South End, an area in England where Dad served as a missionary 42 years ago.  Dad asked them if they knew the Ebbs family, a family he had baptized when he was here.  They knew them well.  They were very good people, still members, but not currently active in the church.  They also knew the Duprees, another husband and wife Dad had baptized.  They had both passed away, but were very active and
committed members of the church when they died.  Your dad was very emotionally touched as he often wondered about these people and wondered if he had had any success on his mission.  We are hoping to be able to go see the Ebbs, as they are still in our mission!
We also got hold of Gillian Taylor.  We are going to see her next week, but she told us not to bring a Book of Mormon as she already has several copies.  I asked her if she had read it.  "Some of it" she said. " How did you feel", I asked. " I am happy with my Church of England" she replied!!!!  So I'll take her a Conference Report instead!!!!!!

Wow!  We had an incredible week!!!  I told you our experience of meeting with a couple, the wife an inactive member and her husband is not a member.  So on Wednesday night we had our first experience of a solo discussion!  What an awesome thing!  We taught the Tillbrooks the Restoration lesson.  I put a lot of prayer and faith in the Lord that when I opened my mouth, He would tell me what to say.  What was miraculous, was I was able to quote the scriptures from memory.  It was a very humbling experience for me.  Both Brad and I were nervous, but as we got started, the spirit took over and Andrew and Gail were very kind to us.  They want to learn more.  We were trying to set up the next appointment and we were having difficulty trying to find a time good for all of us.  I told them we could send the young missionaries and they asked that we come back, not that they didn't like the young missionaries, but that they are more comfortable with the old ones!!!  Gail was born and raised in the church and bore testimony of the Book of Mormon and the truthfulness of the gospel.  As we meet with them further, I think she will open up to us to let us know what her issues are.  Andrew was born into the Church of England and really doesn't understand who God is.  He believes in being kind and loving, and in the Beatitudes, but finds that the miracles in the Bible are just stories. They are lovely people and are so very kind to us.  We are anxious to teach them and pray that they can feel the spirit.
We continue to teach Callum.  He is like a sponge and wants to know everything.  He is inquisitive and asks some very thought-proking questions.  When we asked him how he felt about the first vision, he said, it is so incredible, it just can't help but be true.  The spirit is working on him, I can tell, but he has a ways to go before the conversion is there.  We love this young man and feel such a bond with him.  He is also in our prayers every day.  This week we've invited a beautiful YSA to join us in our discussion with him to share her conversion story with him.  I think she can really touch his heart, not because she is lovely, but that her spirit is on fire!
I am finding as I meet these valiant spirits in the young adults, I am amazed at how many are the only members in their families.  They don't have a foundation of gospel strength from their homes or close associates, and yet they are so very strong and faithful.  We pray for them and hope we can be a source of support for them.
We had a zone conference this week and came away inspired and motivated to be better missionaries.  President and Sister Stevens are inspired leaders and so full of love.  And as we look at these wonderful young missionaries, we are amazed at their spiritual strength and the light in their countenances.  I wish I could describe the sense of comradery we feel with this England, London army of stripling warriors.
 Missionary work is very challenging here as the people are mostly Church of England and agnostic or apathethic toward organized religion.
And yet, on the other hand we meet the most Christlike committed people on the planet as well.  We visited with an older man yesterday who has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. (not caused by smoking), Barry Palmer.  He is a long time member of the church and is so pure and full of faith.  As we visited with him in his living room, (he was in a bed there) he expressed his gratitude for the gospel and the blessing of the knowledge we have of the plan of salvation.  I am finding that the longer I am here, the more I feel the strength of my testimony growing.  Perhaps that's why they say that we are our own greatest convert on a mission!!!
We were able to meet with a wonderful director of the local homeless shelter here in Cambridge to find out about opportunities for service here.  We were inspired by her enthusiasm and genuine love for these sweet people.  We are looking forward to regular service starting in the new year with the shelter.
Brad and I teach the Temple Prep class each week in Sunday School.  We have some great people attending and we've had some wonderful spirit filled opportunities.  I called a sweet sister that has not been there for a couple of weeks, so I called her to find out if she is ok.  She told me that she was fine, just had family issues, but she doesn't feel she is ready for the temple.  I was worried that she was done with the church as well.  She said, no, I will still come to church.  I'm not ready to go to that level of commitment.  I had to respect her honesty and her feelings.  As we've thought about it, we thought how the temple has added so much to our lives in every way.  It hasn't been a source of more to do, but a source of strength and power in every aspect of our life which has only enriched our existence.  Somehow, we need to convey that message to these wonderful members!
     We went to Boots to get a jab!  Now, to all you Americans, try to figure out what that means?  Try to figure out the riddle, and I'll tell you next week what it means!!!!!
We cherish you all!  I've been doing ok to be away from my little ones, but this week, Becca sent us a picture of our 3 youngest stripling warriors and I cried!  My heart ached to love and hold them!  Please hug them tons every day and thank Heavenly Father for all your precious little ones, even on the hard days!  We love you and know we are doing the Lord's work here!  I feel my life is changing in good ways.  I feel such love for my Savior and His gospel.  I love your Dad more and more every day.  He reminds me more and more of his dad!!!!  I love that!  He constantly makes me smile!  Oh, by the way, I drove for the first time this week and I'm still alive to tell you about it!!!  It will take some getting used to!
Love you all,
Dad and Mom
Grandma and Papa

Our walks along the Cam River watching the rowing teams practising

People dock their "houseboats" along the Cam.  Some even live in them I guess all year around

Our favorite swans on the Cam

Our three little stripling warriors, Asher Brown (7 months), Grayden Miles, (3 weeks) Charlie Jackman (4 months)

Guy Fawkes Day/ Remember, remember the 5th of November

Remember, Remember the 5th of November:  Guy Fawkes Day!  in 1605 a group of Catholic terrorists wanting to teach the Church of England Royalty a lesson, planned to blow up the House of Parliament.  36 barrels of gunpowder were placed in the cellar under the House of Lords.  When some members of Parliament heard about the plot, the King sent guards into the cellar and found one of the terrorists, Guy Fawkes hiding among the barrels.  He was tortured and executed!  So, since that day, every 5th of November, bonfires are lit, some with effigies of Guy Fawkes or the Pope are burned and fireworks are set off!  It is quite a celebration! (And to think they don't celebrate Halloween because it is a Pagan holiday!!!)

It has been a great week! Our miracle of the week is the opportunity we've had to teach Callum the 1st discussion!  He is an outstanding young man.  He is very smart and is wanting to know the "why's" of the gospel.  He has two areas of concern about the church, the nature of God, and Joseph Smith, just small matters!!!  So we and the sisters have our work cut out for us!  He is inquisitive and anxious to learn and read anything we can give him.

On Saturday, we had a mission fast.  It started with a conference call from President Stevens to the whole mission. (190 missionaries).  He spoke to us and said, we need to increase the number of people we are finding.  Can we open our mouths, increase our faith, and find ways to find God's elect.  Use the Book of Mormon--there is power in it.  God will help us be successful!  We then all knelt in our individual flats and he offered a prayer to begin our fast.  I can't describe the power of the Spirit that was manifested to us as we knelt in prayer!

As we went about our day, we did some service that afternoon for Remembrance Day (Veterans Day) collecting funds for veterans.  This is a big deal in the UK.  We felt really prompted to revisit a sister we tried to reach last week.  We had tried to phone her several times with no success, so we drove to her home!  Yes, there were cars at her house.  I was praying all the way there that she would be home.  We had a prayer and knocked on her door.  The whole family was there!  They warmly welcomed us in and even invited us to stay for dinner and fireworks!  Because we hadn't made an appointment, and other family was coming, we didn't feel we should stay, but we did visit for awhile. I invited her to come back to church, and Brad while talking to her husband, asked if he was a member of the church.  He isn't so Brad asked if he would like to be taught and he said, "I would"!  We were so excited!  They were so accommodating and we have an appointment to teach the family tonight! (I'm late in writing my blog this week, so you'll have to check in next week to find out what happens!!!)  In speaking with the high priest group leader today, he said when asked before if they wanted to learn about the gospel, they said no.  I believe in the power of the fast!!!

Another miracle this past week.  We have been working with a single man named Will.  He has been investigating the gospel for at least a year, with several missionaries.  Sunday night he came over, and the Sisters taught him about the importance of trusting God.  They were inspired!  They challenged him to baptism and he accepted for Nov. 29.  Now, he has accepted before and then fallen through.  The thing that touched me so much was that Brad asked him if he would like a blessing.  He came earlier to talk to us about his job and issues he is having at work.  He really connects with Brad.  So Brad explained about priesthood blessings and he said, he would like one.  The blessing was also inspired!  I was so touched by the spirit, but guess what, so was Will!  After the blessing, he said, I don't know what that was, but I've never felt it before.  We told him that was the Holy Ghost.  He looked like a different man when he walked out of our home.  He is very anxious to be baptized.  We pray every day, he will continue to feel the same way!

Guess what?  We had visitors on our p-day!  Mike and Michelle Breitenbeker just happened to be in London on business and came and spent the day with us in Cambridge on Monday!  We picked them up at the train station, walked down town Cambridge and took a tour of King's College with one of our YSA's as a tour guide.  Then we took them out into the country for a fun lunch at one of our favorite pubs!  It was so fun.  We didn't want them to leave!  I really wanted them to stay and talk to our young adults about the Lord's timing in our lives! But Mike had business in London the next day and then they were heading to Rome!  Oh, how we love them both and it was sooo fun to spend the day with them!

Well, we have got a busy afternoon and evening, so I will sign off!  We love you all so very much and think about you and pray for you every day.  We love the skyping!  Brian, we would like to Skype this weekend!  Also, Dad and Mom Jackman, we will call you probably on Sunday afternoon to visit!  Thanks for your fabulous emails!

Love, and kisses and hugs,
Elder and Sister Jackman

this is above the entry way of King's College.  Students would play pranks on the college and climb up and steal the scepter, so the college got so sick of replacing it, they just stuck in a broom handle!

These are pictures of King's College

The Kings College church

Mike and Michelle--the river Cam behind

The four of us!  It was windy that day!  My hair is the challenge of my mission!!!

Brad and I in front of Buckingham Palace with Woolley's cinnamon bears!!!

Addendum

Here are some pictures I forgot to post I think you would enjoy!!!

changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.  A band played and they played Barry Manilowe music and John Wayne cowboy music of all things!  They did play Elton John at least!

so fun to meet our dear friends, Richard, Sherilyn and Jan Wooley!  They brought an American treat, cinnamon bears!!!!!!

we shared our treat with some very nice German people!!!

photos of YSA mafia game!!! YSA's are so weird.  I guess that is why we get along with them so well!!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Happy Halloween!  Can you see Dracula or a werewolf lurking among the spooky Cambridge Fog?

     Hello, all of our friends and loved ones!  It has been a wonderful week.  Halloween here is not a big deal.  A few children will go trick or treating but a lot of people believe that Halloween is a pagan celebration, so they don't participate!  But the early morning fog is a sight to behold!  We did carve pumpkins at FHE and had a blast.  There were several young adults who had never carved a pumpkin, so it was fun to see them so intent on doing so!

     We had some repairs to do on our car this week and some repairs on the plumbing and washing machined done, so we had to work around our scheduled repairs.
     One of the highlights of our week was to meet the parents of one of our young single adults.  His name is Lewis Mancer.  He is a convert of 2 years and has just left for the Provo MTC preparing for the Belgium/Netherlands mission.  He is the only member in his family, and he wanted his parents to meet us.  They are incredible.  They are a very loving family and live in a lovely home in the country.  It's a thatched roof home and the front of it looks like what I would consider a hobbit house, with the low ceilings, wooden beams, and plastered walls.  The floors are tilted and squeaky, but it was the coziest home you could imagine.  It was built around the 1850's.  Several years ago, the owner added on a very modern kitchen, laundry, dining room/sun room, and two bedrooms, another bath and a TV room.  But the thing that was so wonderful about it was the feeling we had in the home.  Lewis's parents were lovely, well educated, and so genuinely kind. (I felt they would make a great Bishop and RS president!!!!)  We are planning to take opportunities to meet up with them again.  We just felt like long time friends after the evening was over!  Sorry, I didn't get any pictures of this wonderful family, or their fabulous home!
     We had our first real play day since we have been here on our mission.  Some dear friends from our ward in Orem were traveling in London and going on to Italy.  We met Richard and Jan and Sherilyn Wooley at Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guards.  Jan brought me some cinnamon bears from home!!!! Thank you so much!!  We visited and then walked to Winston Churchill's war room museum.  It was incredible.  We were only able to spend an hour or so in the museum and then had to catch a train back to Cambridge, but the time with these dear friends was so sweet!  How we love them!  Chloe, we did see trainstop 93/4 and a Harry Potter store with real magic wands!

We aren't supposed to use candles, so the kids used the lights on their cell phones!  Who would have thought?

Our institute this week was held in Ipswich, a village about and hour and a half away.  We met with two other area YSA groups.  We had a wonderful lesson and then the activity was food and a mafia game.  The YSA's loved it!  Yes, that's all we do is play!!!!

We did have some wonderful visits this week with less actives. So many we visit don't really have a knowledge of what the gospel is all about.  So we try to leave a message, especially of Joseph Smith and the restoration and our testimonies.  It is really a tender experience for us. We were trying to find a sweet sister and ended up finding her sister instead.  She is a member, but she said the church isn't for her.  Brad asked if we could teach her so she could rethink her attitude about the church.  We bore our testimonies to her.  It was a very sweet visit.  So we are going to try to get hold of her sister and together we hope to visit them both this week.  We also were able to teach some discussions with the Elders to a lovely family here.  We are praying for the Nyasembi family that their mother's heart will be softened to the message of the gospel.  We were able to have a visit with the RS president here, a wonderful single woman from America.  She teaches school at the American airforce base here.  I felt such a desire to hear her story.  She's had a really hard life, but is so optimistic.  Where it would be so easy to be bitter, she instead has made lemonade out of lemons.  She reminded me so much of my sister Janet!  And speaking of Janet, I could use some counsel from you on what to say to some of these women that are in some really awful situations and are so depressed with their lives.  Our hearts go out to them and we pray that they can feel our love,

We love you all!  We appreciate the time we can Skype with you and drool over our sweet grandbabies!  Have a wonderful week.  Please know that you are all in our prayers every day.  We cherish our dear family and friends, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.  "It is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come!"

Love,

Elder and Sister Jackman

mom and dad,

grandma and Papa

This picture of Kinney talking to Papa and Grandma is priceless to us!!!!!!