Dear family and friends,
Cheers!!!! It has
been another wonderful week in Cambridge—still very cold—but the buds are
showing up, the hyacinths are awake and the daffodils are profusely
beautiful! They are planted all over in
the middle of grassy areas. It is
stunning! We love our walks in the
morning, the sound of the birds and the smells of green and spring, despite the
fact that we still have hats, coats and gloves on! (In fact, today, it is
snowing!!!!!)
We got to help serve at a funeral for Barry Palmer this
week. His funeral was incredible. President Kenneth Johnson, the President of
the London Temple (he used to be a member of the Seventy) was a speaker. He spoke of the plan of happiness, our
pre-earth life and where we go after this mortal existence. It is just the kind of sermon I would like at
my funeral. It was so comforting and
full of the Spirit. Afterwards, a member
of Barry’s family who is not a member of the church went up to President
Johnson and said, “I had no idea that Barry is involved in a church that
teaches this!” President Johnson asked
him if he would like to know more and he said yes!!!! He got his business card, gave it to Brad and
asked him to contact the mission president to pass his name on to the
missionaries in his area. I love
funerals of righteous people! The
luncheon after the funeral didn’t consist of ham and funeral potatoes, or
chicken salad and salads, but rather,
salmon, rice salad, quiche, crisps (chips), potato salad and other stuff I had
no idea what it was. In fact, on the
sign up list for food, I had to ask a native Britianer what half the stuff was.
But the people came and ate it all up.
It was a lovely day. And like I
said in my blog last week, at the cemetery (they call them crematoriams) the
pall bearers lowered the casket into the open grave right onto the soil,
without being put in a concrete vault.
Members of the family would throw a handful of soil onto the
casket. The sound of the soil hitting
the casket was a little unnerving to me.
The day was cold, but beautiful, a fitting farewell for a very wonderful
man!
We had the chance to attend the temple last week. It was wonderful to be the witness couple and
rub shoulders with members of the church!
We were able to set up teaching appointments with two people
we have befriended in Cambridge!
Yeah! We are inviting them to
dinner and or lunch and to meet the young elders and sisters to teach
them. I’ll let you know how it turns
out, but we are really excited!
We are teaching Andrew Tilbrook as I have told you. He is an avid golfer and I said that he and
Brad went golfing last Friday with John Cook, a member of our ward and a dear
friend. They had a great time. What’s interesting, is that when they got to
the golf course, Brad saw our neighbor, Tony, a non-member and invited him to
join their threesome. They had a
fabulous time together and now Tony wants Brad to golf with him. Wow, who says they won’t play golf in
heaven!!!!? They played 18 holes and
they walked it. I know you are all in
shock that dad played 18 holes without a cart.
He did ok with the front 9, but said he fell apart the back 9! Poor guy, was in a world of hurt when he got
home! I just laughed and felt no pity
whatsoever!
We spent a lot of time with our YSA’s this week, which was
great! We are so proud of them. They seem to be getting more and more
comfortable with each other. We now have
a great committee who are working well together and reaching out to the other
YSA’s. We had a stake YSA institute this
week in Ipswich, and then went to dinner at the Red Lion, a pub in Histon,
where one of our inactive YSA’s is the chef.
I think he was really touched to have us there. The food was fabulous, by the way! Then on Sunday, we went by train to London with
some of our YSA’s to a devotional in Hyde Park chapel to hear our Stake
President, Simon Fagg speak! He was brilliant! He spoke on putting on the armour of
God. The thing that touched me was the
scripture he read at the end from Romans 13:12; “let us put on the armour of
light”. As I look at these young single
adults who we love so much, I see warriors armed with light. I have learned more than ever before in my
life, how the gospel fills us with light, a light of countenance. We attended the baptism of David Thompson on
Saturday in Bury St. Edmunds (I told you about him in my last blog). His happiness was obvious. The light in the eyes of the missionaries is
obvious! The light in the eyes of those
who embrace the gospel with all their souls is obvious!
Our time here in Cambridge is becoming more sweet! As we walk through the town, we feel that
this is home. Kent told us that while he
was on his mission, he felt the veil between the mission and home became very
thick as he became immersed in the work.
That is exactly how we feel, not that we don’t miss our family and
friends, but that this is our life and love it more every day!
Thank you for all your support and prayers. We feel them!
We love you more than we can say!
Happy Birthday to Kent (March 1) and Sherri (March 4)! We love you both! You have brought such happiness to our lives
and we cherish what we learn from you!
Have a great week!
The gospel is the only way to true happiness! Keep the faith and keep smiling!!!!
With all our love,
Papa and GrandmaDad and Mom
David Thompson's baptism--performed by Elder Nielsen. Elder Wood is his companion.
David's nieces, friend Keisha Cossette, Faye, David's daughter and her son and Keisha's mum
picture taken in the tube in London
Elder Arnold Palmer Jackman--a true English bloak! Isn't he adorable!!!
Making a mother's day gift for Isabelle and Alicia's mum (Mother's Day in the UK is on March 6)
Elder and Sister Jackman
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