YSA Errand, Balls & Pudding, KISS - Keep it Simple Sweetie, Conversion Story, Leona Says See you Later

We were pleased to receive news this week about our assignment here. We received confirmation from our Sunderland Stake Presidency that they want us to primarily work with the YSA  (young single adult) age group.  They had started us down this path when we arrived in December but had wanted some time to confirm this.  It is now confirmed;  our errand from the Lord will be serving the YSA by teaching institute and reaching out to these lovely saints.  We will also take on MLS (member leader support) assignments as we have time.  

We have full-time young sister missionaries supporting the Newcastle Mandarin branch here and they had 4 friends at church on Sunday and our full-time young Elders in the Newcastle English-speaking ward had 3 friends attend.  It was a great day for friends at church.  After church we made rice-balls with Jade, one of our visiting Mandarin friends .  She taught us how to make rice balls with roasted sweet sesame filling and sweet red bean filling-- really good stuff!  Here we are making rice balls with the Mandarin branch. 

Speaking of desserts, we had 'sticky-toffee' pudding this last week with yellow custard vanilla cream sauce over it-- a real treat!

We taught Primary sing-time this last week. The song, which most of the 15 attending had not heard of before, was fun to teach.  We (Heather) taught them "I Know that My Savior Loves Me." 

We are very fortunate to have a park that abuts our flat complex.  We are now just beginning to explore it for our morning walks.  

This last week we taught institute on the subject of "Finding Pure Truth in the Teachings of Jesus Christ". President Nelson taught that one of the plagues of our day is that too few people know where to turn for truth.  We had about 10 people in attendance.  We found two favorite quotes, one from Daniel Judd, former counselor in the Sunday School general presidency, and the other from Sister Holland, which she shared at the YSA devotional last week. 

“While the gospel of Jesus Christ embraces all truth, not all truths are of equal value. The Savior clearly taught that His gospel, first and foremost, is His atoning sacrifice. His gospel is also an invitation to receive the blessings of the Atonement through faith in Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring faithfully to the end … It is vital that we nourish those we teach and lead by focusing on the fundamental doctrines … instead of spending precious time on subjects and sources of lesser importance.” (Daniel Judd “Nourished by the Good Word of God,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2007, 93–94)

Sister Holland said, “As I look back at my life, and if I could live any part of it over again, I would do one thing differently—very differently: Simplify! It seems to me that everything is better when it is simplified—our food, our clothing, our furnishings, and our schedules. What I regret most in my youth is that I didn’t see the simple beauty of the gospel; I made even the gospel too complex. I felt it was too overwhelming, too difficult, and sometimes even too mysterious. It seemed to me that even as a young adult I had to climb a mountain of righteousness, go through a fiery furnace of purification, and unravel every doctrinal controversy known to mankind if I were ever to be acceptable before God…” (YSA Devotional January, 2023)

During our running around we learned to watch for the big "L" posted on motorcycles and cars, which means "Learner".  Elder Betteridge feels like the big L should be stamped on his forehead to warn others that he is still learning and is highly likely to offend or make mistakes.  Sister Betteridge says she will try to give him a break 😜.

On one of our trips this last week we stopped by Seeham, a small shoreline town and had some world famous fish and chips.   (No picture of the fish and chips we ate it before taking a picture), But, here is the shoreline right across from the fryer's shop.  See the light house and the full moon?

One of the Elders in our mission posted a conversion story on our mission facebook chat.  Fun to be in the very same mission where this happened:

"A conversion story from the Leeds mission.  My grandfather, James William Betteridge, served a mission in the Leeds area of the British mission  in 1901-1904.  He met a girl (born in Scarborough in 1880) named Emily Ness.  Emily and her family had moved to Leeds in 1894 where my grandfather was serving a mission in 1902.  One of Emily’s brothers, John Ness,  had joined the church and so my grandfather as a missionary visited the Ness family and taught other members of the family including my grandmother-to-be, Emily, who joined the church in 1902 with many other members of her family.  Emily emigrated to the states in 1904 and subsequently married my grandfather, the returned missionary, James William Betteridge. 

I share this with you because this is a conversion story from our mission that led to me being who I am today and came as a result of a faithful missionary serving here in the Leeds mission visiting a part member family.  We cannot know the impact of our missionary service on future generations. Thank you all for your service here in the Leeds mission and remember your influence and efforts will be felt for generations to come.   

I have felt the love and influence of my ancestors as Sister Betteridge and I have started our senior mission here in England.  They are praying for us as missionaries, that other members of their posterity might be found.  I am 86% of UK ancestry.  If you come across anyone with the following last names, we may be distantly related so I am happy to help in making a warm connection with them:  Betteridge, Coulson, Burbidge, Ness, Jones, Paskett, Pidding, and Thornton.  Signed,  Elder Betteridge"

We enjoyed a visit on Saturday to the Tynemouth Castle and Priory.  This historic site dates back to the time period 1090 AD and has a lot of history involving Viking and Scott invasions and even defensive fortifications during WW I and II.  A small 13th-century Percy Chapel has survived all the invasions and remains intact to this day.  (Archaeological excavations on the site indicate that this site was used and occupied during the Iron Age, which started between 1200 and 600 BC; old sacred ground indeed).

The last bit of news from this week is the most significant. My dear mother Leona Fae Blocher Betteridge passed peacefully at the age of 92 on February 4th, 2023 into the world of spirits, to greet her many ancestors who she loved so much.  She was so anxious to move on and we are very happy for her, though we will miss her greatly and her humble, loving disposition.