Easter, Hard Egg Roll, A Gift, Institute Fur All

 Our Easter Celebration in the UK

We are grateful for this wonderful Holy Week which just concluded with Easter Sunday.  Each day we followed the "Come Follow Me" reading and were delighted when we awoke Easter morning with the same hymn playing through our minds, "He Is Risen."  We hadn't been listening to that hymn in the previous days but feel it was a tender mercy of "in-tune unity" that we experienced.  Elder Christofferson of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles, spoke of being one in Christ last week at general conference.  He said:

"Unity does not require sameness, but it does require harmony... It is only in and through our individual loyalty to and love of Jesus Christ that we can hope to be one-- one within, one at home, one in the church, eventually one in Zion, and above all, one with the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost."

The Newcastle missionaries were asked to sing in church on Easter, 6 of us, which, as many of you know is NOT something Elder Betteridge would volunteer for on any day of the week!  But the zone leaders had agreed and we wanted to be completely supportive, so we did it!  We sang  "I know that My Redeemer Lives", an arrangement by Rachel Mohlman-- it actually incorporated 2 verses from Gordon B. Hinckley's hymn "My Redeemer Lives."  Sister Betteridge accompanied on the piano and sang.

We then went to dinner at the Potts home -- this is the home where our young single adult Rachel lives with her grandmother, Carol.  Carol had just started reading the Book of Mormon on-line and asked for her own hard copy, which we brought with us to dinner.  She feels enlightened as she reads and will continue to read.  We encouraged Rachel to help her grandmother recognize that she also needs to pray to God and ask if it is truly His word to seek a personal witness from Him. 

Easter Egg Roll

We had the first Easter Egg Roll competition on English soil:  Elder Betteridge vs Sister Betteridge.  The competition was fierce and the outcome very close! (Did we just speak of unity? Well, we are working on it.) We didn't see each other naming our eggs but laughed our heads off when Elder Betteridge showed his egg's name:  "Freaky, Fantastic, Fast, Furious, Phenomenal, EGG" and then Sister Betteridge showed her egg's name: "Begin Again, He Is Risen" egg.  Well... Elder Betteridge just needs to get in the spirit of the season more!  So who won?  Yes, He is Risen, won.  This goes to show that the truth always wins!

Special Gift from A Senior Sister

We are always grateful when the members of the congregation want to share their love for the missionaries.  An elderly sister gave us a chocolate bunny tied to a card with a  special message that we share here.  The members here are so grateful for the missionaries and we joy in the expressions of their love for us.  

Lincoln our New Institute Student Lapped it Up This Week

We welcomed this week Lincoln into our Institute class.  He was pleased with the scripture we shared with him from 2 Nephi 26:33

"...and He inviteth all to come unto Him and partake of His goodness; and He denies none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and He remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile."

The Spring Flowers are Beautiful!

These flowers remind us of our beautiful Northwest Washington where we spent 25 glorious years.