I have been a little negligent on keeping up on our blog but I will repent. Two weeks ago Jennifer, Brett, Jordan and Eliot visited us for four days and we had a marvelous time. We were on the go non-stop, the weather was beautiful and we all enjoyed being together in this wonderful city. We had one work interruption, on Tues. Joyce and I had an appointment with the Ambassador from Kenya who turned out to be delightful and we made a good friend. As we met with her we learned she has visited Salt Lake, attended a Humanitarian Aid seminar there and was very impressed by The Church. We met Jennifer, Jordan and Eliot right after and went to Trafalgar Square, walked down Whitehall past 10 Downing Street and visited the Churchill War Museum or the Bunker. After that we walked around the corner to Westminster, took pictures of Big Ben and walked around the"Estate". Twenty two hours later the deranged Muslim killed people on Westminster Bridge and ran his car into the fence close to where we had been walking. Timing is everything. We were sorry to see the kids leave because we love having visitors. We also met that week with the Deputy Ambassador from India, we had a nice visit and it was fun to see the Embassy. The building is full of Teak Wood and the Security to get in is as tight as The Whitehouse. On Friday we caught the train to Chorley for a meeting of the United Kingdom Public Affairs Council. Chorley is a suburb of Preston and is where the Preston Temple is and the MTC also a big Stake Center. It is a beautiful campus and a great location. The other Public Affairs Missionaries in the UK, Ron and Marie Partridge met us at the train station and drove us around in their car. The Preston Area is very rich in church history and the Ribble Valley where Chorley is. We visited a little village called Downham which was featured in the Church News about a month ago and it is beautiful and quaint. There are no antenna's, overhead wires or any trappings of modern conveniences, it appears as it must have two hundred years ago, a lot of movies are filmed there because of that. Our meetings were good, we had people from Scotland, Wales and England there and it was conducted by an Area Authority 70, Cliff Herbertson. We can tell the difference between an English and Scottish brogue. Sunday, March 26 is Mothering Day or Mums Day in England but we decided we will celebrate on the US Mothers Day. We have also met with the Ambassador from Swaziland, who is a Christian, and very interested in Religions. We have spent a lot of time with Baroness Nicholson, a member of The House of Lord's, planning a summit she conducts in the fall. She is getting an Honorary Doctorate Degree from BYU at the end of April, she is not a member of The Church but very helpful in many ways. We have become very good friends with her. The work is going well, so far we feel we are making a difference and we are enjoying our mission immensely. We miss you all and the association we have enjoyed with each of you, but their is great joy in serving the Lord. Love to all, Joyce and Stan The Hyde Park Chapel and our office

Another week has flown past and we feel like we are in a fast forward mode. One thing that is a little concerning is that our flat is really starting to feel like home. It is amazing how comfortable 670 sq. ft. can feel. We have been able to get all around London on the tube system, we feel comfortable going anywhere and we also really enjoy the bus in non-peak traffic. We sit on the upper level of the two decker buses and use it as a sightseeing opportunity. We are getting our excersise we average over 8000 steps a day on the fitbit and yesterday we walked 13500, that is a little over 6 miles. We really enjoy the mission and working together. We finally feel like we are up the learning curve a ways and able to function effectively. We are required to write a lot of reports, document all of our meetings and what we do, and we have to cc about 8 different people. We were invited to go to a musical on Wed. night, An American in Paris, the old George Gershwin, play but it was very enjoyable. Two musicals in one month, not bad. We had a Zone Conference with our mission on Friday, Pres. Mark Stevens and his wife Sister Jean Stevens are remarkable leaders. We had our Area Authority 70, Andy Phillips, do the training, he is a dynamic young man. The theme of the conference was love and there was plenty of it there. Joyce and I really enjoy studying together, we are studying the Book of Mormon and Preach My Gospel alternatively. Both good reads, I would recommend it for everyone. We miss home, family and friends but we love what we are doing and we feel blessed to be able to do it and enjoy the blessings. Love to all, Joyce and Stan

It is hard to believe we have been on our mission for a month. We are starting to feel comfortable in the assignment and in the way of life. We take the tube or a bus everywhere we go including the grocery store, church or to appointments. Mass transportation is a good way to go and the system here is rather easy to use. The language is a little problem when you go to the grocery store or the cleaners. Pants is offensive because it refers to underwear, cookies are biscuits,raisins are sultanas and whipping cream is coddled cream. We are getting the programme down though. We have met with several Ambassadors and they have been very receptive to us. We are working with the Honduran Ambassador to host a 23 Latin America Country lunch to explain to them about our Humanitarian Aid programme, Self Reliance, Proclamation on the family and Education. We have made a new friend, Baroness Nicholson, a member of the House of Lords, who is receiving an Honorary Doctrate from BYU in April. We had High Tea with her in the Lord's Dining Room. We have met with Stake Presidents, Area Authority 70's and Regional Leaders to breathe some life into the London Public Affairs Council. We are really enjoying the work and the challenges. The Lord blesses us every day and opens doors for us, we are dependent upon Him for guidance. We try to make Sat. an adventure day and we have been quite successful,after we take our little "trollies", basket on wheels, to the grocery store for weekly provisions. Fortunately Coke Zero is popular here and in the office, so I don't have to smuggle it in. Yesterday we toured the North End on the top of a Double Decker bus, went out to Wimbledon, The All England Tennis Club, went to Leicster Square and bought same day, half price tickets for the musical "Half of A Sixpence. We walked through Chinatown, which is just off Leiscter Square, had a Gelato and enjoyed the play. Yesterday we walked 12,500 steps according to my Fitbit. All of this on a bus or the tube. We feel native. We love to hear reports from home, we pray for our family and friends every day and hope everyone is doing well. Love, Joyce and Stan

This past week we were very busy getting up the learning curve. We have a lot to learn and several reports to file and every email requires 5 or 6 cc's. We have to write the Queen's English because that is the programme they use here and teach at the BYU Centre. Our training in Solihull was very helpful and we are now outfitted with all of our technical tools, phone, wifi and computers. We start our social visits this week with receptions at two embassies and meeting with others in the community. We are very adept at getting around on the tube and buses. Joyce is struggling a little with the transportation because she does'nt have to find us a parking place and tell me where to park. Yesterday was an adventure, we took a bus to Knightsbridge and walked a short distance to Harrods Dept. Store, which is massive. The nice thing about shopping Harrods is everything is so high-end and expensive we just wanted to look. We had a delightful lunch of "fish and chips" in their Great Food Hall and felt we have arrived. We walked around Picadilly Circus and came home exhausted with 10,000 step on the Fitbit. Church at the Hyde Park Ward is very nice with excellent speakers and teachers and real diversity of members. We love you all and hope you are doing equally as well. Love, Joyce and Stan

We have had a wonderful first week in London. We replace Lee and Diann Burk from Logan and they have stayed and help us transition for a week. We have been made to feel so welcome here, the missionaries, the Mission Pres. and his wife, and all of the staff in the mission office. We have a nice, comfortable office which doubles as a lounge for hosting when we have guests. We have learned to navigate the tube and it is quite handy. Joyce has our flat all tricked out and cleaned up and it is starting to feel like home. It is very small but convenient to all of the shops and the the tube stop. We are doing a lot of work contacting embassies, meeting with them and informing them about the church. It is nice to be working together and we have divided up our duties and responsiblities so we both have plenty to do. Sat. we took our little trolley, which is a bag on wheels that you take shopping for groceries, did our shopping and wheeled our trolley home. it is very interesting to adjusting to no car, we either walk or take the tube or both to do anything or go anywhere. We navigated the bus and tube for all of our travels on Sat. from shopping and touring. We attended church at the Hyde Park Chapel, the same building our office is in, the people are very friendly and also very diverse. The Bishop is American and several others are expats but their is a mix of Europeans and Africans and some very interesting accents. Today is Wed. and we took a train an hour and a half North to Sulihall for some additional training. We are about 20 miles from Stratford on Avon and the Cotswalds. WE are learning a great deal about the use of technology and how to work with the media. We are also learning how to spell the English way, it is an intersting programme and very colourful. We miss our family and friends but we are really enjoying the work and the Lord is blessing us. Love, Joyce and Stan

MTC week of training

 We had a marvelous week at the Missionary Training Center(MTC) in Provo, UT. We checked in Mon morning, picked up all of our materials, got our missionary name tags, checked into our room and went to the cafeteria for lunch.  The routine at the MTC is: cafeteria, classroom, cafeteria, classroom , cafeteria and bed. The food is good and we ate our intimate meals with 2000 other missionaries, mostly 18 and 19 years old.  It was fun to see these excited and scared young people that are good looking, clean cut and  worthy to go on a mission. After an orientation and getting acquainted with the other senior missionaries in our cohort, about 50 of them, we started to study "Preach My Gospel", (PMG)  the workbook and guide for missionaries.
We spent most of our time studying the PMG workbook and then discussing the chapters and doing role playing. The second day we actually had to prepare and present a 30 minute lesson to another couple of senior missionaries and they in turn presented to us.  At the close of the lesson we presented  them with a challenge for the night and they presented us with one.  The challenge for each of us was looking at a church video and reporting back the next day.  The video we watched was a talk given by Brad Wilcox, a professor at BYU, entitled "His Grace is Sufficient", a story about forgiveness through the atonement of Christ.  It is worth watching.
Thurs. night we had a chance to visit our grandson, Ethan Ingersoll, who is serving a mission in Provo, Utah, Spanish Speaking.  He looked terrific, recovering from a broken foot, in a walking mission. We visited for about 45 minutes and then had good, affectionate farewell.  Friday we finished late afternoon, and we were happy to get back to our home. We enjoyed a wonderfully spiritual week, great preparation for the mission, made some wonderful new friends and toward the end got used to being call Elder and Sister Parrish.
Love,
Joyce and Stan