A Week in the Life of a Senior Missionary

Dear family and friends,

What a fabulous week we have had in the Cambridge area!  We even had 2 days when the weather was warm enough that we didn’t need to wear a coat!  We are hearing birds that we have never heard before.  The blossoms continue to explode around us and as always in the Spring, we feel the hope and immense miracle of new life!  I love this season of the year!

We started our week with a p-day with the young missionaries!  We played 4-square, (I haven’t played that since gradeschool!), chair football, and ping pong, (all played in a dress I might add!!!)  We had a blast.  I think the missionaries were quite surprised that we were so competitive!  We love spending time with them.  For a few days we have been in a threesome!!  We have Elder Wood from Mississippi staying with us while President Stevens is juggling around some extra missionaries preparing for transfers.  It’s a pleasure to have him here, but we have to have him home on time, so we’ve had to tweak our schedule somewhat!  (Now I can say what so many young missionaries say, well, me and my companions. . . . . . . .!)

Tuesday, we attended a Zone Conference in Ipswich with our zone and one other.  As is the case, it was a spirit filled day with training from these wonderful young missionaries, and President and Sister Stevens.  They are magnificent.  We feel such love for them and the work they do.  (We jokingly told them that whatever they are getting paid, it is not enough!!!)  The conference was focused upon the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  We are on an accelerated reading schedule to finish the Book of Mormon again before Easter.  We heard a talk by Elder Holland given at a new mission president’s seminar.  I wish I could send a link because it was so inspiring.  Basically, Elder Holland asked the question, why is missionary work so hard?  Why don’t missionaries have pneumonia from being in the baptismal font all day?  Why, if the Lord wants us to bring the gospel to every living person, aren’t these people flocking to us to be baptized?  Then he showed a video of the Savior’s suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, and his crucifixion on Calvary and said, “Because discipleship isn’t easy”.   Jesus Christ, the only perfect man who ever lived on earth, didn’t live an easy life.  Anything of worth, is hard.  It made me think that we may be not baptizing billions, or hundreds, or even a few, but He is building character, faith in Him, and strength in ourselves.  He is building strong sons and daughters of God, strong and committed disciples!  It was a truly inspirational day for us!

We were able to teach the law of tithing to Andrew this week.  We asked Gail, his wife, what her feelings were about tithing.  She said, when she was a little girl, (she was raised in the church), her mother often testified of the miracle of tithing, but Gail said, they were always very poor, which I think made her wonder where the miracles were.  One Saturday, she remembered they paid their tithing and they had about 60 pence left in their budget.  Her mother promised her a sweet bun for a treat, and said with that 60p they would have a party.  Well, they went to the bakery to buy what they thought might be 6 sweet buns.  When they got there, the baker told them, he had two full sheets of buns that were a day old so he would sell her the two full sheets for 60p.  (I'm thinking Gail said, there were over 100 buns)  Gail has never forgotten the experience.  They had tons of buns, so invited family and friends for a party.  Her mother turned to her and said, you see, Gail, the Lord blesses us in many ways when we pay our tithing!

We had a delightful get together with our dear friends Mike and Sandra Budd this week.  They told us of a fabulous pub, The Dog and Duck!  (We have renamed it the Woof and Quack!)  We had fish (a mild fish called Brie sp?), without the heads, Brad had haddock, and Mike had duck and we had a fabulous apple and cranberry crumble with ice cream and custard.  For two hours we ate, and laughed and enjoyed our friends!  That night we had been asked to take dinner to our friends, Marcus and Dayloni Bateman who just had a new baby.  We had planned to pick up Dominoes pizza, make a salad and eat dinner with them.  I was so full from lunch that I just got to hold and cuddle dear little Westin while they ate dinner and we visited.  Brad and I are so grateful for the wonderful friends we have found here!  They are so very dear to us and really feel like our family away from home!

We were able to take a friend to Colchester (about an hour and a half away) to our Stake President’s home, so she could have an interview to get her temple recommend.  We were able to teach her the temple prep classes (in an accelerated course!), because she is heading to LA to receive her own endowments and then with her siblings, be sealed to her parents.  This was a real special experience for us as we were able to visit with Sister Fagg, the Stake President’s wife.  They are the parents of 7 children and we were able to have her share with us how it was to raise a family in the missionfield.  She said, well, it really is quite simple.  One just has to teach and live the gospel in the home and make the home a safe place to be, and children will learn.   There was a real spirit of peace in their home.  They haven’t had experiences with rebellious children, but her testimony of strong families was evident.

Saturday, we met with Lucy and reviewed the baptismal interview questions.  This sweet friend is so excited to be baptized.  As I said, it is scheduled for Saturday, March 26.  We discussed with her what would take place and talked about the program.  Sunday, when she came to church we showed her the font, found her a white dress to wear and explained the process.  This truly is a miracle!  She told her oldest son about her baptism, and he is very supportive of her and wants to be there.  We have really seen a change in her and her children have as well.

Saturday night we headed to Ipswich again for the Stake Roadshows!!!!  Yeah, I LOVE roadshows!  And Brad was in an entre act, can you believe it!!!!  I was so proud of him.  This was really out of his comfort zone, but he did great!  The man announcing their act didn’t know him, so kept calling him Elder Jackson (but we are used to that!!  He answers to both!)  Hopefully I can attach the video.  These roadshows were so fun.  Professional, they definitely were not, but there was such a feeling of fun, of support, and comraderie that my heart could burst!  Church events in the missionfield are so bonding.  I was truly inspired and filled with love for these wonderful, humble saints! 

Our hearts are full of gratitude to Heavenly Father for sending us here!  I feel my life has really been blessed to learn things that I could learn no other way.  This has truly been a humbling and joyous journey!  We love you all!  One of our YSA’s has a blog on facebook called I Mormon.  He has done a segment on senior missionaries.  If you want to see us, go look it up!  Of course, I hate to see pictures or videos of myself, but it’s a chance to see some of our YSA’s.

Have a great week.  Happy Birthday to David Bishop on March 20!  We love you David and are so grateful for the blessing of you being a part of our family!!!!

With all our love,

Grandpa and Grandma
Dad and Mom

a view during our morning walk!  We love the fog

the Woof and Quack!!!  one of our favorite pubs!!! Thanks Mike and Sandra

Brad and Vicki

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

 

Spring has sprung, the grass is riz, I wonder where the warm iz?

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 Grandma
Dad 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

What a fantastic week!!!!

 Dear family and friends,

What a fantastic week!!!!!  It started out with a FHE with Bishop Sanz and his wife Mila, and their 7 year old daughter Andrea.  They shared their dating and courtship story.  This was very appropriate for Valentine’s Day.  The young adults loved it!  One of our YSA’s is just coming back to church.  He told Sister Sanz that he wanted what they have.  He was so inspired, as were all who attended.  We had a group of 21.  After the discussion we had treats and a game of “signs” and we had a blast.  (I haven’t played that game since girl’s camp!!!!)  It gave the Bishop the opportunity to mingle with the YSA’s and relate to them as friends.

We experienced a miracle this week.  Our missionary district meeting was held on Thursday.  I had planned a girl’s outing with our sweet neighbors, Elizabeth Steen and her two daughters, Alicia (age 7) and Isabelle (age 5).  We went to a nearby park, then to see the girls school and then to Costa to get hot chocolate and cake!  I have grown to love these little girls like my own.  Elizabeth is so kind, knowing how I miss my grandchildren so much, so she includes me in things!  Well, Brad had to go pick up the Bury Elders at the train station for the district meeting.  They were so excited to tell him all about a new baptismal candidate in their area, a man named David.  He showed up at church about a month ago and wanted to learn about the gospel, so they taught him.  One Sunday, the priesthood lesson was on priesthood blessings.  After the meeting, David approached the Elder’s Quorum President and told him he had a knowledge and testimony of priesthood power.  Quite surprised, for someone just introduced to the church, the EQ President asked him about it.  He said he had been in the hospital visiting a friend of his (he was the landlord).  She was pregnant and suffering from pre-clampsya and was very ill.  Then he said this tall American came in and asked if he could give her a priesthood blessing.  The American explained what a priesthood blessing was and how it was administered and invited David to stay in the room while he gave it to her.  After he left, David said, Keisha was miraculously healed.  He had never seen anything like it, and knew it was truly a miracle.  After the Elder’s finished the story, Brad asked if David was at Addenbrooks Hospital and if the mother was Keisha Cosette?  Yes, to both questions.  Brad then said, I was the tall American!  We had been asked to go the hospital that day to visit a young unwed mother who was very ill.  She lives in another village and in another ward and the Bishop couldn’t get there to see her.  We waited there that day (probably in October) for several hours.  The nurses kept putting us off, I’m sure for Keisha’s safety because she didn’t know who we were.  Well, we were almost ready to leave, when for the last time we stepped into the room and asked Keisha if Brad could give her a blessing, as we were missionaries from her church.  She finally agreed.  We left shortly thereafter.  We did go see Keisha a couple more times and did see her after she had the baby.  A miracle, yes! We thought we had wasted nearly a whole day waiting, and yet apparently, the Lord knew what needed to happen.  This touched David’s heart.  Whether it had anything to do with his conversion, we don’t know, but he definitely felt and witnessed a miracle that day.

Well, this was our big week!  We taught the Word of Wisdom to our two investigators, both Andrew and to Lucy.  Lucy is so close to baptism, in fact we challenged her to be baptized in March.  She is praying and thinking about it.  We can see the change in her and she can feel the change.  We had a sweet member of our ward with us during the discussion, (Fiona Boston).  She was wonderful and shared her testimony of joining the church and having to give up her tea, and what a blessing that has been in her life.   Andrew didn’t take it so well.  He is a dedicated coffee drinker and likes his glass of whiskey every other week or so.  He has never gotten drunk, and doesn’t see the reason to quit drinking.  We told him, it is obedience!  He said, this is going to be a hard one!  I thought of the Savior’s words, that this one goeth not out but by fasting and prayer.  I think it is going to take some time with him. 

We have become very close to both of these families!  Andrew loves golf and he and Brad have set up a tee time with another member of our ward to play this Friday.  You would think that Andrew just discovered King Tut’s tomb!!!  He is so excited to have a friend to go golfing with him.  He has two sets of clubs.  He is about Brad’s height, so the clubs will work for Brad.   Who would have thought that golfing is part of missionary work!!!!!!  (We are thinking that maybe they can strike a deal about giving up the alcohol)

We try to meet each week with inactive members, kind of on a regular basis.  It is amazing how much we love them and have gotten very close to them.  Mike and Sandra Budd and their son David have become wonderful friends.  Mike is not a member and Sandra and David are not active.  They are some of the kindest people I have met in this country.  They are so welcoming and we enjoy their friendship so much.  We also met Fabiola a lovely lady from Brazil.  Her son is one of our YSA’s who is just coming back to church.  She is a member, but has gone back to the Catholic faith. The longer we talked, the more she warmed up to us and just before we left, she pulled out her computer and showed us on facebook a picture of the missionary who baptized her.  We invited her to come back to church!  With her son’s encouragement, we are hoping she will return.  There is a lot of work to do, and WE LOVE  IT!!!

My thought for the week is from President Howard W. Hunter.  How I loved this great prophet.  “The gospel of Jesus Christ is the divine plan for that spiritual growth eternally.  It is more than a code of ethics.  It is more than an ideal social order.  It is more than positive thinking about self-improvement and determination.  The gospel is the saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ with his priesthood and sustenance and with the Holy Spirit.”   

I know this to be true.  Every day, I cherish more and more my membership in this glorious church, and I am so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  May you all know of our deep love for you all who have been such a strength to us.  We love you all!

Happy Birthday this week to Scott Miles (February 23) and Avery Jackman (February 27).  We are so grateful for these two very special members of our family!  They have brought us such joy and happiness!  We love you both!!!!!

With all of our love,
Dad and Mom
Grandpa and Grandma
Elder and Sister Jackman

Bishop and Mila Sanz and Andrea at FHE

Our FHE "signs" game

Alicia and Isabelle Steens at Costa for girl's day out

funeral of Barry Palmer--the pall bearers lower the casket into the ground with straps.  There is no concrete vault.  It is lowered right onto the ground.  Then the family throw handfuls of soil on the casket.

Vicki with Westin McCoy Bateman--3 days old.  I had to snuggle this little guy because I miss my own little grandsons so!  What a blessed experience!

Happy Valentine's Day

Dear family and friends,

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!

Roses are Red

Violets are blue

You are wonderful

And we love everybody!!!!!

Our FHE!!  We love to play games!!!

 

So funny!!  I get laughing so hard, the tears come!!!  Can you believe it?

 

Sister Nebeker's and Elder Tamilarason's farewell  front row Sister Nebeker, Sister Lawler

from left to right: me, Emily Anderson, Chris Matthewman, Cheryl Li, Elder Tamilarason, Lindsay Lucas, Elder Aurus, Carl Hutber (ward mission leader) back row; Will Baistow, Dan Lucas, Kalil Studier, Sam Dearden, Madeleine Ary

 

Sister Nebeker and Sister Lawler

It’s funny, but as I start writing my weekly blog, I have to look at my planner to see what has happened!  It’s amazing how each day just rolls into the next day, and the week flies by.  In talking to one of our Elders today, he made the comment, I can’t even remember what I did each day unless I look at my planner, so it isn’t just an old age thing!!

Our highlight this week was a baptism in Bury St. Edmunds, a village about 25 miles from Cambridge.  Our sweet Elders, Elder Nielsen and Elder Wood were responsible for teaching Nicole.  All the missionaries in Cambridge along with the Zone Leaders participated in the baptism held at the beautiful Bury chapel.  The little chapel was full.  We had two non-members from Cambridge attend.  They were both very inspired by the meeting.  We are hoping that they will soon enter the waters of baptism as well.  I got to accompany the missionaries as they sang, “Because I have been Given Much”, and “I Believe in Christ”.  Sister Nebeker played the violin.  As they sang, the tears just coursed down my cheeks, as I felt the Spirit of these incredible missionaries.  Brad sang with them as well!  It was magnificent!  Following the baptism, a buffet was served and everyone munched and mingled.  There was such a sweet feeling of love.  I told Chris and Lucy (the investigators) that no matter where you go in the world, when you walk into a “Mormon” church, the feeling is the same, a feeling that you have just come home!  They loved the feeling they felt there!

We taught the Tilbrooks the third discussion this week, which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It went well, but we still feel like Andrew is just not filled with a desire to believe.  He is such a good and kind man.  We wonder if he is just listening to the gospel because of his wife Gail.  He made the comment that all churches feel as if theirs is the right church, so how do you know?  We told him again about Joseph Smith, that he had the same question.  Andrew needs to ask.  The Lord will tell him!  We reminded him about the priesthood authority restored to the earth.  We also told him that our job is to invite him to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ, by teaching him, but it is the Holy Ghost that converts and testifies.  This week in our planning and study, we feel very strongly we need to teach him the Word of Wisdom.  He enjoys his liquor on occasion and his coffee in the morning.  So this discussion might make or break him.  Our feeling is if he has faith to live the word of wisdom, the Spirit will testify to him of the truthfulness of what we are teaching.  So we’ll let you know how our next visit goes!!

Brad had the opportunity to help dress Barry Palmer, (the dear man who passed away) and move him into his casket.  He went with two other brethren in the ward.  It was a very sacred experience for him, one for which he was very grateful.  He had never done this before and it was a holy experience.

We are teaching a sweet lady in our ward the temple preparation classes.  She is preparing to go to Los Angeles and with her family be sealed to their parents.  She is so anxious to complete the lessons, so she can receive her own endowments.  Because she is going soon, we are giving her an accelerated course!  She has had a very hard life, and we are so very excited for her to be with her family.

We had our last day of cleaning the Methodist church for the homeless housing project this week.  We have come to love these people we serve with!  They asked us if we would be available to help next winter.  Of course!!!!  We feel this has helped us build a bond and friendship with  these wonderful neighbors.

One of our own, our dear Sister Nebeker will be leaving us.  She has served valiantly as a missionary and has made such a positive impact on the members and non- members alike here.  She will be very much missed.  We were able to have an open house Sunday night here with members and investigators here to wish her well.  We love her like a daughter and have learned so much from her enthusiasm, her strict obedience, and her love of the gospel!  Too bad we don’t have any more sons!  She’s a good one!!!  In fact, yesterday, Monday, we went with Sister Nebeker and Sister Lawler to a teaching appointment to a man named David.  As she testified of Joseph Smith and shared the First Vision experience, I think all four of us were emotional.  She even challenged David to baptism, and he was put on date!!!!  What a way to leave the mission!  We are so very proud of her.  David agreed to say the closing prayer, his first time in a public setting.  He was so willing, humble and honest.  He said, “I’m thankful for these sisters and these other two people I don’t know!”  Brad and I were so touched and grateful for this sacred experience!

We love you all so much!!!  We know all of you have been challenged with health issues.  We pray for our babies every day and their parents!  We hope that warmer weather will be just around the corner!

We know our Heavenly Father is mindful of each of us and our needs and desires!  He lives and cares intimately for each one of you.  We pray that you have a great week!  Stay warm!

Love you all,

Grandpa and Grandma

Dad and Mom

Elder and Sister Jackman

Brad and Vicki

Wow! All we do is eat!!!!!

Dear family and friends,

I wrote up my blog yesterday and tried to insert pictures, and the blog disappeared so I guess I’ll start all over!!!  Sometimes this technology makes me crazy!!  It was a great blog too!  So here goes nothin’!

As I looked over our last week, it seems like all we did was cook and EAT!!!  Now that’s not so terrible, because we have some great memories!  I will just need to up my exercise regime.  Oh brother!  The curse of the Battle of the Bulge!

Monday night is our YSA FHE!  (these acronyms are only decoded by members of the LDS church) We had invited a young man to dinner and several YSA’s came early and we couldn’t let them starve, so luckily I had made a lot of dinner.  After FHE we of course have to have treats.  It’s amazing how much food triggers the vocal chords and the young will really talk!  So I’ve learned that if you want information, just fill the mouth with lots of carbs and sugar!!!!! 

Tuesday we invited dear friends, the Hutbers, for lunch.  We went to Wimpole Hall (say that with an English accent!)  It is an English Trust Estate with acres of lush fields, orchards, and barns.  There is a gorgeous home on the estate and the servants quarters have been turned into a lovely restaurant.  It is here that we had lunch.  Brad had lasagna and I had salmon surrounded by fabulous steamed veggies of every color.  It was wonderful and the company was superb!

Thursday we host our YSA institute and serve dinner before.  You would think these kids have never seen food before!!!  I fixed some CostaVida sweet pork burritos.  I had to explain to the English what they were and how to eat them.  They inhaled them.  And of course after the lesson, the treats come out.  So we all crowd into our little kitchen and watch the chocolate cookies bake.  They devour them as fast as they can come from the oven.  We also buy a lot of milk.  I don’t think these single kids ever drink milk except when they come to our house.  I feel so sorry for them!  Ha ha ha!

Friday night we had two of our YSA’s over to our house. They love to cook and experiment with new recipes, so Justin and Arianne fixed us gourmet mac and cheese with lamb mince.  It was really good.  And of course, Dad Jackman, we had to end the evening with a rousing game of SkipBo!  This was a new experience for them and they loved it.

On Saturday morning we invited a dear friend of ours, Chris, an investigator, over for an American breakfast.  We served him fruit, hot chocolate, ham, eggs, and pancakes.  I had to ask him if he knew what pancakes were.  Well he found out and loved them.  He took all the left overs with him to eat later as a snack!  One thing you need to know about this wonderful young investigator is that he is a graduate of Cambridge Unversity.  He is very smart.  But for an Englishman, he is also very clean and smells nice.  He is kind and very appreciative and he is homeless!  He works at a jam factory.  He has been investigating the church for a few months now and seems to question everything.  He studies religiously all the material the sisters give him and much more.  We worried that maybe he was wanted by the law, so we asked him.  He is not.  We have shared our testimony with him many times.  We told him how President Hinckley was such an advocate for education and improving our situation.  We challenged him to do that.  We had a 3-hour breakfast, and again the power of food loosened his tongue!  It was a delightful morning!

Saturday night we had another YSA come and fix us a Chinese meal with a pork belly roast and all the fixins!  It was also very yummy!  So needless to say, we were grateful that it was Fast Sunday on the Sabbath!!!

We met some wonderful interesting members of our ward this week—a little lady who sailed around the world with her daughter in a 42 ft. boat.  It took them a year!  We were blown away that this little lady did that!  She also got her pilots license and would take her friends flying, but she said, they would only go with her once, so she doesn’t fly anymore!  She is 72 and to look at her you would think she would be the kind that stayed at home to knit!  We were instant friends, and when we saw each other at church it was like old home week!  These people love company and visits!

We had the chance to go to Ely Cathedral with the couple we are teaching, Andrew and Gail Tilbrook for a Candlemas.  The cathedral was filled with 5000 candles which was gorgeous, but I think also provided the heat for the cavernous building.  It was freeezzzing inside, but we sat close to each other and kept fairly warm.  We heard a recitation from the former Arch Bishop of Canterbury and then beautiful choir and organ music.  The acoustics were phenomenal and it was an inspiring evening.  Afterward we introduced ourselves to the Arch Bishop as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I don’t think he was overly impressed until we mentioned that we knew one of his choir members at a Cambridge college, one of our YSA’s.  He immediately opened up and was very cordial and kind.

On Saturday night as well, we were able to participate via Skype with our family to witness the baby blessing of Russell William Jackman, son of Justin and Amber.  Justin gave a beautiful blessing, filled with wonderful council and blessings on this valiant little stripling warrior.  Brian, Nate, and Kent from our family and members of the Bertram family participated along with a member of their ward bishopric.  We were so very touched by this sweet and tender ordinance.

It has been a glorious week!  We love and appreciate you all and are so proud of you and the love you show each other and to us.  We want to wish our Julie a very Happy Birthday on February 12!  We love this beautiful daughter, the mother of 4!  Julie you are a blessing in our lives and we are so grateful for you and noble way you love and care for your sweet family!

A closing thought for the week, one I read from President Uchtdorf, which really resonated with me; “I learned in my life that we don’t need to be “more” of anything to start to become the person God intended us to become.  God will take you as you are at this very moment and begin to work with you.  All you need is a willing heart, a desire to believe, and trust in the Lord.”  I know that to be true!  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is magnificent!!!!!

With all our love,

 

The Bishops; Maddie, Lily, and Bailey holding new brother Sam

 

Brad was so excited to find a road in the UK named after him!

 

Ely Cathedral Candlemas--Brad even got to blow out some of the candles because he was tall enough

 

Brian, McKinley, Heather and Jordan

 

Jordan Bradley Jackman

 

Jordan's first smile--what a cutie

 

McKinley with baby brother Jordan--how precious

 

this is a friend of ours in Cambridge; Marcus Bateman--he is a dentist serving in the airforce here.  To let you know how small the world is--Marcus grew up with Heather's brother, Tyson Ferguson.  Heather used to babysit him.  He said he was a terror!!!!  Who'd have thought?

 

Baby Russell William Jackman on his blessing day, 6 Feb, 2016

 

Baby Russell

 

Baby Russell with his Grandma Bertram!  She kissed him on those fat little cheeks for me!

 

Little Samuel Spencer Bishop

 

Baby Sam's first grin caught on camera by Maddie--so cute

Dad and Mom

Grandpa and Grandma

Brad and Vicki

my first solo flight!!!

Dear family and friends,
Each week brings a new wonder of adventures, challenges, testimony opportunities, and happiness!

 This week, I want you to know that I took my first solo flight--I drove home from a Relief Society activity all by myself!  Wow!  That was awesome!  I told the sisters in the ward that I was doing it and they said, they would leave 10 minutes earlier so to be sure to be out of my way.  I felt so confident;  I went to get into the car, opened the door and sat down and realized I had gotten in on the passenger side.  Well, that wasn't a good sign, but I got home without a hitch.  I felt like I could do anything from now on.  I felt so proud of myself.  Brad, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck at home!!!

Just a recap of some of our adventures this week;
* we are working with a new convert and feel that she would benefit greatly from doing family history.  We took her to the ward family history library to work with one of the experts who was so nice, but the poor little gal was so overwhelmed.  So we will try it again and explain to the family history person to start at the VERY beginning for our dear friend!
* we visited with a young couple in our ward who met each other at YSA, fell in love and got married, a true success story!  They gave us some great suggestions on how to run a successful YSA program--lots of food!  Jonathan and Aimee Smith are dear friends and we had a fabulous evening together visiting.
*our dear friend, Barry Palmer passed peacefully away on Wednesday, the 27th of January.  This has been expected, but we are so sad just the same.  He and his wife Yolande have become dear friends.  She is a rock and has been a true inspiration to us all.
*we were able to visit with a single mom who is just going through a divorce.  We read from the Book of Mormon together and shared testimony that the Lord is in charge.  As we turn to Him, we can find peace and happiness even in very trying times of our lives.  Brad was able to give her 7 year old son a blessing of health.  I think she was very touched to see the priesthood in action from a worthy priesthood holder.
*we visited another sweet widow friend, Joan Inwood.  She was telling us how much the gospel has enriched her life.  Many years ago after joining the church, she and her husband listened to the prophet tell them to get our of debt, so they worked really hard to buy their own home and pay off their mortgage.  Because they listened to the prophet, she is now in a very secure financial situation as a widow.  She was young when they married and they had 5 children, so she said she wasn't as educated as she had wanted to be, but because of RS lessons early on, (especially Cultural Refinement lessons) she was inspired to expose her children to many cultural things, and encouraged them to be educated.  She was a good mother and attributed her strengths to the church and the gospel of Jesus Christ!
*went to help teach a young lady with the young elders.  The young lady didn't show up, so we needed to do some finding.  I approached a young lady at the bus stop and asked her about the church.  We had a sweet conversation.  I bore my testimony of the Book of Mormon and gave her a copy!  It made my day!  Wow, I love missionary work!!
*we had a combined Stake Institute class at our home this week.  We had 35 people there.  We were pretty crowded, but it was an incredible evening.  We got to know some new YSAs, had some fun food and played a really fun game (Family Feud--they call it Family Fortune in the UK)
*got to go on a RS bus trip to the London Temple--fabulous--We were able to hear from the temple president, President Kenneth Johnson, and attend an endowment session as the witness couple.  It was a very tender day for us.
*Sunday night we were invited to Skype with our home ward combined Priesthood/RS 5th Sunday lesson in Orem, Utah.  We got to share a little bit about what we are doing on a mission, answer a few questions, and share our testimonies of Senior missions and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It was so fun to see our friends from across the ocean.  I hope they know how much we love them and how much we love what we are doing!
We just gave a brief summary of some of our week!  We love you all and pray for you every day.  Happy Birthday to Heather (Fergie) this week on Feb. 4th!  We sure do love you!
Stay strong! Remember prayer, and scripture study and service every day!!
Love,
Dad and Mom,
Grandpa and Grandma
Brad and Vicki