VISITORS

We had a fun week last week with some special visitors. Bree came to spend a month with us, and one of our Sister missionaries who went home to Sweden a few weeks ago, came back with her parents and sister to visit.

Our missionary is the 2nd from the left...her name is Hanna Blomberg. We enjoyed her parents and her sister, Emily, so much. Fun, delightful people.

Sis. Blomberg (Hanna), Bree, and Emily

Two missionaries who needed to go home mid-transfer to get into school also came to the Mission Home for a farewell dinner...Sister Mitte from Germany, and Elder Dal Pozzo from Italy. We loved having a little time with them before they left. They were both wonderful missionaries!

TRANSFERS---ROUND TWO

This week was our second 'Transfers' experience. A little bigger and a little more involved than last time....this time there were 17 departing missionaries (last time there were 12), and 11 missionaries arriving (last time there were 6). Lots of excitement, lots of fun, lots of cooking for me, lots of prayer, interviews, and contemplation for President Ogden, and lots and lots of organization and just plain old hard work for our office couple, the Longs, and our Assistants, Elder Brower and Elder McOmber.

Our missionaries who have completed their 2 year service, and headed for home, are:

Sister Blomberg (Sweden), Sister Mitte (Germany), Sister Morris (California), Sister Cunha ( California)

Elder Sahlin (Sweden), Elder Larsen (Idaho), Elder Schilling (Germany), Elder Riggs (Utah), Elder Young (Nevada) , Elder Toolson (California), Elder Dixon (Arizona), Elder Batty (England), Elder Kunz (Idaho), Elder Napier (England), Elder Bodily (Utah), Elder Bearnson (Utah)

They are such a wonderful group of missionaries...we're really going to miss them. We know they all have such great potential, and should go on to many wonderful acheivements and adventures. We love them all, wish them much happiness, and thank them for their dedicated service.

Our new missionaries.....

...Sister Layton (Anchorage, Alaska), Elder Anderson (Grace, Idaho), Elder Breuer (Bremen, Germany), Elder Shrubb (Devonshire, England), Elder Pederson (St. George, Utah), Elder Brokatzky (Germany), Elder Mower (South Jordan, Utah), Elder Marks (Amarillo, Texas), Elder Stein (Ludswigburg, Germany), Elder Schmidt (Dresden, East Germany), Sister Strein (Ft. Collins, Colorado)Standing on "the wall" being welcomed by all of our missionaries who came in for Transfers.

After the grand welcome, cars, bikes, phones, flats, and companions are sorted out. Then they are ready to head out in the field. Some only travel a few miles to their areas, some an hour or two, and some go all the way down to Wales. But by that evening, they will all be having their first experience finding people to teach, or actually teaching people who are already investigating the church.

All of them... those arriving and those departing.... amaze us with their faith, dedication, and especially with their willingness to sacrifice this time in their lives to share the Gospel with the people of England and Wales.

AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE

Last week, from Wednesday til Saturday, we had the privilege of meeting in Preston, England, with our Area Presidency...as well as Elder L. Tom Perry and Elder Ronald Rasband. It was a Mission President Conference for all of the Mission Presidents in the Europe Area Missions. The days were full. We were instructed in many aspects of our callings. I think all of the wives particularly enjoyed the session the Area Presidency's wives, along with Sister Rasband and Sister Perry, presented to us. Many questions were answered, many ideas shared, and our spirits were buoyed up. We also spent one afternoon doing a walking tour of Church historical sites in Preston, and took the bus to the charming village of Downham...preserved to look nearly as it did in 1838 when Heber C. Kimball taught the Gospel to the people living there. The next morning we were able to go to the Preston Temple. For those of us who don't have a Temple in the boundaries of our Missions, this was a real treat....especially being in a session with an Apostle.

Pres. Clark Hinckley, Mission President of the Spain Barcelona Mission, shared an experience of his father's, outside the flat his father lived in when he served his mission in England.

On the streets of Preston, we ran into one of the missionaries who will be coming to our mission next week from the Preston MTC.

The River Ribble in Preston....site of many early baptisms.

The bus in front of us....taking us through the narrow lanes to the village of Downham.

Downham

The Preston Temple

We are so blessed to be in this beautiful country, engaged in this wonderful work.

INTERVIEWS

Our interview days are long and tiring, but its the time when we get to know our missionaries on a more personal level. We typically get to two Zones each day...one from 9 til 1, and one from 2 til 6...if all goes well! President Ogden gives a spiritual thought, then he starts individual interviews. While he's interviewing, I do some kind of teaching, then the AP's do training. When they're done, we have a snack and visit a little, then the missionaries who have had their interviews start leaving. When the last interview is done, we zip to the next Zone...hoping to have time for lunch along the way!

This time, I took a picture of each Zone. Sadly, I forgot at Nottingham...but Sister Kawakami and Sister Styles told me they'd get me a picture of their zone.

They are, from top to bottom...

Lichfield Zone, Birmingham Zone, Leicester Zone, Coventry Zone, Cardiff Zone, Merthyr Tydfil Zone, and Cheltenham Zone.

Aren't they wonderful looking missionaries!?! They come from Italy, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Africa, the Netherlands, Russia, Austria, Australia, Scotland, England, Canada, and the United States. What a privilege it is to work with them!

A little bonus of serving in this part of the world....We stopped for a little picnic dinner in Ross-on-Wye, sitting on the grassy banks of the Wye River...not bad!

OUR MISSIONARIES

During the last two and a half weeks, we've had Zone Conferences and Interviews. Its been a very busy time. We have eight Zones...they are divided into three days of Zone Conferences. Through the day, they hear from President and Sister Ogden, are trained by the Assistants, and hear testimonies from the missionaries who will go home next transfer day. We also have beautiful musical numbers from our very talented Elders and Sisters, recognize birthdays, and give awards for the cleanest flats in each Zone. In the middle of the day, we have lunch...Subway sandwiches...a favorite in our mission.

DAY ONE

BIRMINGHAM ZONE

COVENTRY ZONE

LICHFIELD ZONE

DAY TWO

LEICESTER ZONE

NOTTINGHAM ZONE

DAY THREE

CHELTENHAM ZONE

CARDIFF ZONE

MERTHYR TYDFIL

Well...I'm blogged out for now. I'll have the next installment...Zone Interviews...in a few days!

This past week has been a full one...but not as full as next week will be! We're about to start our week of Zone Conferences. We're so excited to see all of our missionaries during the week.

Last Saturday, we decided to visit some of our favorite places in the Cotswolds on our way to a baptism in Cheltenham. We went to Chipping Campden (whenever there is Chipping in front of the name of a town, it signifies that it was once a market town)...Upper and Lower Slaughter...Stratford upon Avon. It was much more crowded than when we were here ten years ago...it was Fall then, rather than Summer...but still a very enjoyable day.

The two pictures above are of Chipping Campden....President Ogden is standing in the market stall.

This is a picture of the stream in beautiful Lower Slaughter....(or was it Upper Slaughter???)

This is the home and garden of Shakespeare's wife, Anne Hathaway, in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The baptism that night was wonderful, as all of them are. The sister that Elder Ott and Elder Heller baptized was SO excited...especially because her teenaged daughter was being baptized with her. It was a great occasion.

On Monday, President Ogden, the Assistants (Elders Brower and McOmber), and the 16 Zone Leaders met in Zone Council Meeting. They all came to the Mission Home for lunch. I had made machaca beef for them to assemble into burritos, salads, etc. When I looked at that cooked meat, I just knew it wasn't going to be anywhere near enough. But, somehow we came out just right...I now refer to it as "the miracle of the machaca". But believe me, I was sweating bullets as they piled it on their plates.

The picture above is of our two Assistants...Elder McOmber on the left, and Elder Brower on the right. Elder Dixon from Scottsdale, Az., is between them.

This Saturday, we took a P Day with the Senior Missionaries in our Mission. We began in Ledbury, a town where Brigham Young preached the Gospel. From there, we went to the Benbow Farm and Pond. (While there, we met a gentleman who shares a hobby with my dad.) We ended at the Gadfield Elm Chapel...you should all google this important site in Church History. It rained almost the entire day, but we didn't let it stop us. Especially Elder Green...our tour guide for the day...who barbequed hamburgers and cooked potatoes in a dutch oven for all of us. It was YUMMY! (My hubby later admitted to me that he had 3 helpings of the potatoes.)

The Cables on the streets of Ledbury.

A motorcycle enthusiast who rents a small shop on Benbow Farm.

Gadfield Elm Chapel

As is our privilege every Saturday night, we chose a Baptism in one of our areas to attend. This night, we went to Rugby in our Coventry Zone.

Happy Elders...Sinclair and Israelson...happy mom and daughter!

Just another week in the life of President and Sister Ogden. Love to you all!!!