Dear family and friends,

Cheers to all of you beautiful people whom we love so very much!  The missionary work goes on and we are loving it!!!

Our week started out with a dinner with our dear friend, Alex Allen, our Tesco checker (grocery store)!  We were introduced to him when we got here and he has become a very dear friend.  He works 2 jobs and is in law school, so he is very busy, but when we asked him if we could share a message with him about what we believe as missionaries, he was very anxious.  It has just taken us months to arrange a time with him.  He came over for dinner and has quite a story to tell.  He is the father of four adult children, very successful, by the way.  He is divorced and discovered religion about 3 years ago.  He is putting himself through law school.  He spent 2 years living on the streets.  But he is the kindest man.  His experiences have really softened his heart.  We invited the full time sisters, Sister Lawler and Sister Bader to dinner and to teach him.  They introduced him to the Book of Mormon.  He wants to learn more, but it will be a trick to schedule appointments around his schedule.  We are praying for him!

We visited a lovely family in our ward, the Flake family.  Their ancestors along with Erastus Snow were the founders of Snowflake, Arizona!!  I never knew how Snowflake got its name, but now I know!!  We enjoy these family visits because we teach a lesson geared to their children.  They have 4 very busy children.  We told them the story of Joseph F. Smith standing up to the ruffians to tell them he was a Mormon, yes siree, dyed in the wool, true blue, through and through!  Then Brad told them the story of how when as a teenager he was on the ski bus going to Minnesota.  His so called buddies pinned him down on the floor of the bus, and tried to pour alcohol down his throat.  He had one friend on the bus who was not a member of the church, who stood up for him and told the guys to leave him alone because he doesn’t drink, and they did!   We talked to the boys about having courage to stand up for their beliefs, and they would be blessed. These busy little boys were so intrigued by his story, that they told their mom they want us to come back and visit again.  These family visits are so wonderful for us because we have been able to bond with so many members of the ward, and when we see them at church, they know us and are comfortable talking with us.  I’ve decided that missionary work is the art of being friendly and interested in people!  It is something everyone can do.  Often times we think that to be a missionary is to give someone the first discussion or give them a Book of Mormon.  That is what we do as missionaries, but the first thing we do is to smile and say hello and become a friend.  So to all my little grandchildren, you can all be missionaries!!!!!  It is really fun, because you can make a lot of new friends!

We are finding that one of the most delightful treats for FHE is root beer floats!  However, it is really hard to find root beer in the UK.  We found a store in a local mall that sold it.  We became good friends with the clerk.  We asked her about the church, and she is already a member!!!!  She would call us when she got a new shipment of root beer in.  Well, the store is closing, so she is going to not work for a while.  We told her that now she has more time, we will be excited to see her at church!!!!   We have yet to see her, however!   We have been able to find another store that sells American products luckily for a lot cheaper!!! 

We have great news!!!  Our dear friend, Lucy Weddeburn, wants to be baptized!!!!  The baptismal date is scheduled for Saturday, March 26!!!!!  We are soooo excited for her because we have seen such a great change in her, like a light has turned on in her countenance!  What a miracle this has been in our lives to see the power the gospel can have and can endow us with to become the type of people the Lord wants us to be!  She is the sweet lady who showed up at our door and asked us to teach her the gospel.  She has heard about it before, but this time, she was ready!  We are so very grateful for this tender mercy, and this lovely friend!

Saturday, March 5, Brian blessed Jordan Bradley Jackman at their home.  They arranged it such that we could witness the blessing over skype.  Scott and Sherri and family, Nate and Avery, (Becca was in Texas with her mom and sisters and Charlie), Justin and Amber and family, and Kent and Heather and Asher, and some of Heather’s family were there.  What a beautiful blessing!  This is the last of our little grandsons that has been born these past months to be blessed.  We are so very proud of all of you and want you to know you are in our prayers every day.  All you grandchildren, please watch for a letter from Grandma!  You will be surprised when they show up!  I just won’t be sending a letter to the six new babies, not for a while yet!!!

We hope you have a great week.  Our missionary challenge this week is to smile and be friendly to all the people you meet, at school, at the grocery store, at church, and at work.  So many people here who have been to Utah say the Mormons are some of the happiest and warmest people they have ever met!!! 

We love you all!  Jesus Christ lives!  It is our responsibility to prepare the world for His second coming!  What a great opportunity!

With all our love,

Grandpa and Grandma
Dad and Mom

It's amazing, how you can give away a Book of Mormon at a bus stop!

Brad and Vicki