The Savior's Second Coming
The institute lesson this week was "Living with Hope as We Prepare for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ." As we observe the signs of the times as recorded in Matthew chapter 1, it is easy to allow fear to enter into our hearts. But as we focus on the wondrous event it will be and the great promises that will accompany those who are faithful to Him, we begin to see that we can have hope in these days before His return. One of the most significant signs that His return is near is the Restoration of His Gospel, with Living Apostles and Prophets, as prophesied and the marvelous work of the gathering of Israel from many lands that is to occur before He comes again. We feel so fortunate to be on the front lines of the gathering and to observe the many miracles in the lives of those who find their way to His restored church. The announcement of many temples in many lands is such an inspiring event as well. The restored ordinances of the temple from biblical times is a sign of God's great love for us and His desire for us to return to His presence after our mortal sojourn upon this earth. Our favorite quote from the lesson this past week was by Elder Ronald A. Rasband, one of the Apostles:
… Yes, we live in perilous times, but as we stay on the covenant path, we need not fear. I bless you that as you do so, you will not be troubled by the times in which we live or the troubles that come your way. … I bless you to believe in the promises of Jesus Christ, that He lives and that He is watching over us, caring for us and standing by us." (“Be Not Troubled,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2018, 19, 21)
No Celery for Me, Thank you
For the institute meal we had made chicken salad sandwiches and as we were teaching, and the class was enjoying the meal, our newest sister missionary from the Philippines started to have an allergic reaction to something she had eaten. Her airway was shutting down and her tongue was swelling. Her heart was racing and her breathing was heavily labored and the paramedics had still not arrived after 10 minutes. By that time these faithful young Elders, missionaries who were also in the class, gave her a Priesthood blessing and within just a few minutes she had returned to normal. When the Paramedics arrived she was pretty stable and they were wondering why they were dispatched. They did an ECG on her in the clerk's office and then escorted her to the hospital in an ambulance because there was some concern with the other medical conditions she had. She was so patient with the process and was a bit scared already since she was so new to England. We determined it was probably the celery in the chicken salad sandwich that caused the reaction, since she had never had celery before in her life.
We counted the miracles in this process; they had at the last minute decided to attend Institute; at institute there are Priesthood holders with the ability to give blessings; she was surrounded by many people who could help, getting the ambulance to the right door etc. ; and most of all, Sister Holbrook her companion was a trained paramedic from before her mission, who totally took charge, dialed 999 (911), interfaced with the triage nurse and the paramedics when they arrived and was completely calm and in charge the whole time.
We finished the lesson and then went to the ER and helped her wait for 'her turn'. The medical staff were courteous and professional but it seems the hospitals and the health care system here are a bit overtaxed at times, so we expect wait times. We miss the luxury we had in our Washington home where we were surrounded by loving family doctors, who took care of us so willingly and expeditiousley. We got the sister back to her apartment and arrived home at 2:00 AM, a long and exciting day.
Walking Football
The Sunderland Stake does an annual 'walking' football (soccer) tournament each year. In walking football you do not run you can only walk. It levels the playing field somewhat between skill levels. This is difficult because when chasing the ball you WANT to run but you are not supposed to. It was a great tournament and lots of fun with 6 adult teams and 2 youth teams (younger than 12). It rained the whole time (and was very cold) from 4:00 pm to the conclusion at 7:30 pm. No one was deterred by the weather-- these Britts love football! Elder Betteridge was the event photographer and captured some great shots.
Transfer Day
This last week was transfer week and we drove our sisters down to Leeds, dropped off our sweet sister Zhang (from China) and picked up a new sister, sister Dorning. We are entering the longest transfer of the mission this year; it will be 7.5 weeks as we change from a Tuesday transfer day to a Friday transfer day.
New Car - Toyota Hybrid
We worked our way up in the queue and received a couple year old Toyota Corolla Hybrid and turned in our Hyundai i30. This comes with mixed blessings, we gave up a larger car but also received a car with better gas milage. In the end we are happy with the Corolla and its peppiness from dead stop. In the Hyundai, you really had to jump on the accelerator sometimes as you entered a roundabout and the Hyundai had always been slow out of the gates.
Sunday Sermons at the North Shields Congregation
We gave talks this last Sunday in the North Shields ward. Elder Betteridge talked about Forgiveness, which has been a big part of his life, and Sister Betteridge talked about giving others a break (giving others the benefit of the doubt or assuming the best about one another), which she has a done a lot of in her life from living with Elder Betteridge ;-) -- it was the perfect talk match up.
Keyboard Miracle
We had a wonderful miracle happen with one of our sisters missionaries, Sister Giannini from Italy. She has wanted so desperately to have a keyboard in her apartment so she could practice for various musical events. As we were visiting Laura Hansens, one of our young adults, her father Luc Hansens walked into the room. We noticed that he had 3 keyboards in his living room, so we mentioned that we had a Sister missionary who was looking for a keyboard, and did he know of anybody that might want to sell one. He said, well heck she could have one of his. We asked how much we could pay him and he said if it was for a missionary it is free-- a small miracle for sister Giannini who was very happy about it!
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