"This is the short and the long of it" (William Shakespeare)

Happy Birthday to Nichol on the 6th of November

Born: April 1564, Stratford-upon-Avon

Died: April 23, 1616, Stratford-upon-Avon

Education: King James VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon

Plays:  MacBeth, A Midsummer Nights Dream, Othello, Romeo and Juliet and more

"What 's done is done" (William Shakespeare) 

On Thursday I looked over at Elder Willmore and he was sitting back in his chair.  I said "Elder Willmore, are you done with your work?"   He said "Yes, Sister Willmore, Is there something I can help you with?" This is the first time in six weeks that I have seen Elder Willmore caught up with all the work he has to do.  Of course, it only lasted for a short while - it will never be "Done".

 It has been a great week at the office - we feel like we are finally getting an idea of how things work.  Of course, we acknowledge the amazing help from our Heavenly Father to help us understand and comprehend.  We are very grateful!

We loved President Uchtdorf's talk in General Conference.  He taught,  "It seems to be human nature: as we become more familiar with something, even something miraculous and awe-inspiring, we lose our sense of awe and treat it as commonplace." May we always acknowledge the hand of God in our lives and his tender mercies towards us.

"Blow, blow, thou winter wind! Thou art not so unkind as man's ingratitude" (William Shakespeare)

Elder and Sister Willmore with Elder and Sister Page

"Parting is such sweet sorrow." (William Shakspeare)

Elder and Sister Veater were able to move into their flat which is in our same neighborhood.  Elder and Sister Page left on Friday - they have served for two years and were so much help as we came to them with our many questions????  They live in the mission boundaries and were Service Missionaries but they lived in a flat near us. We will miss them - They served with great love.

"The most effective missionaries always act out of love." (Elder Dallin H. Oaks)

Stratford-upon-Avon

On our Pday this week we went with Elder and Sister Veater to Stratford-upon-Avon - the birthplace and home of William Shakespeare  We went through his old house and walked the cobblestone streets of Stratford-upon-Avon. Then walked by the river full of Swans and ducks.  It was a town that took you back in time and we enjoyed our day out discovering England.  It was so lovely walking in the old shops.  

HERE' HARRIS

This is "Harris".  He has a hat just like Elder Willmore.  He is going to spend the rest of our mission with us - so we hope you will look for him in one of our photos each week. (Here's Harris - not Where's Waldo) We found him in Stratford-Upon-Avon in Edinburgh Mill Shop and brought him home with us. 

Elder Willmore purchased his first Harris Tweed Flat Cap.
Grandpa George Willmore (Elder Willmore's great great grandfather) was a tailor in Birmingham.  They sailed for America in October of 1877 (139 years ago) - perhaps he made hats and suits out of wool like we saw in the old shop. 
Hint: Ok our children, look it up for a great Family Home Evening lesson. (George Willmore (KWVC-WYN) history under memories in familysearch.org)
Quote from George Willmore's history:  Arriving in Ogden, Utah before traveling over the mountain to Logan - "I was approached by an old friend who had immigrated earlier.  He attempted to rationalize keeping some of the commandments arguing that others, even seventies, were doing it.  I answered him 'I don't care a begger, I came here to serve the Lord and I'm going to serve him."
"To be or not to be (Faithful).  That is the question."
(William Shakespeare)

Elder and Sister Willmore in Stratford-upon-Avon

Shakespeare's Home

Inside Shakespeare's home

Elder Willmore with the Swans

BRILLIANT - Fall in England

"True is it that we have seen better days" (William Shakespeare)

Brother and Sister Fell

Sister Fell is my new visiting teacher.  She comes into the office and visits with three of us Sister's.  What an amazing lady.  She is from Germany and she has Seen Better Days in her last years of life.  She grew up at the time of Hitler. 

"The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool" (William Shakespeare)  

She walked 300 miles with her mother trying to get to safety - walking from Berlin to The Baltic Sea.  Her father was part of the White Rose Resistance to Hitler's Regime.  He took truck loads of fourteen year old boys to safety so they would not have to fight in Hitler's army.  He would not follow Hitler - and saved many young men's lives. 

"This above all: to thine own self be true" (William Shakespeare).  

 He had his wife and young girl (Sister Fell) walk so they would not be killed in the war.  A few years later, she was one of the young girls that received candy from the Candy Bomber.  She is hilarious and we talked for two hours and I didn't want to stop.  So full of history and wonderful stories about her life.  She is a flat inspector for the mission and the young missionaries love her.  She is STERN, but loving and they call her "The Gestapo".  

"It's all Good" (Williams Shakespeare - just kidding, that was from Scott Willmore)

Thank you for all the sweet reminders of Scott this week.  It was so fun to wake up to Jamie's video and then Melissa's post on Facebook.  It is wonderful to see remembrances of our dear Scott.  Thank you for your letters and emails.
"All the world 's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts" (William Shakespeare)
We are so grateful for the part Scott played in our lives.   Scott, "We will cherish our times together and love you forever." 

Door of Letters

Our "Door of letters" - we love them all


"Can one desire to much of a good thing?" (William Shakespeare)

A Dream come true - our visit to Gadfield Elm and Benbow (Hill) Farm

Happy Birthday to Payton on the 26th and Scott W. on the 29th

Mission Conference with Elder Quinton L. Cook
What an amazing week!  We started out the week on Monday with a Mission Conference with Elder Quinton L. Cook.  We traveled to Solihol (about a half hour away from the mission office) and helped make sack lunches for 200 missionaries.  It was fun to meet so many Elders and Sisters that we had not met before and put some faces with the names we are learning.  As Elder Cook entered the chapel, we all stood and he went to the front of the chapel to shake hands with all the missionaries.  As I shook his hand and introduced myself, he remembered the talk about Scott, Leon, Ellen and I and when he went to the pulpit to talk he told the story that he had used in General Conference eight years ago.  It was amazing to me that he remembered the details and he asked all the missionaries to go home and read the talk. It was another tender mercy for an apostle of he Lord to talk about our experience, remind us of Scott and again it was in the month of October which is Scott's birthday and the month of the accident.
 It was a wonderful conference and as he concluded his talk he bore testimony of the Savior - that he knew His face and knew His voice.  We were so touched by the spirit and testimony of an Apostle of Jesus Christ.  What a lovely day!

Arrivals and Departures of Missionaries - Oct 18th and 19th
We did make it through our arrivals and departures and it really wasn't as bad as we had anticipated.
We were lucky that there were only eight missionaries arriving and four departing this month.  It helped to have our first time through this with such a small number of missionaries.  Thank you for all your prayers on our behalf - we know we are being blessed.  We were able to greet a family picking up there son from the mission office - as the mother saw her son and ran and hugged him, I started to cry because I remember the feelings and emotions of seeing our son, future son-in-laws, and grandson returning home from serving their Heavenly Father.

Departures  Elder Henare, Elder Stevens, Sister Pascula, Elder Smith

A Dream Come True - our visit to Gadfield Elm 

Elder and Sister Willmore at the Gadfield Elm Chapel

and Benbow (Hill) Farm

Gadfield Elm Chapel
First LDS Chapel in the church 

Preaching from the pulpit at Gadfield Elm Chapel - just like my great great great Grandfather, Thomas Oakey

Inside the Gadfield Elm Chapel

On Pday this week Elder Willmore and myself, along with three other senior couple missionaries went to Gadfield Elm Chapel and Benbow Farm.  It has always been my dream to visit these places were Wilford Woodruff taught the United Brethren including the Thomas Oakey Family.   Sister Haw met us there.  Sister Haw and her husband are from this part of England and have served at the Gadfield Elm Chapel for about 8 years and have researched the families who were part of the United Brethren.  They have visited Paris, Idaho in America where Thomas and Ann lived after coming to America.

  Thomas was a preacher with the United Brethren and was baptized by Wilford Woodruff on April 5th 1840 in Leigh in a pond.  (He was not baptized in Benbow Pond).
This account was taken from Wilford Woodruff's journal: (Thomas was one of the preachers and Ann was baptized in this account also.)
"Sunday I met for a prayer meeting in Leigh.  After meeting we went to Brother Daniel Browetts for the purpose of baptizing 10 persons.  Got ready, But before we got ready or closed praying and singing a desperate mob gathered together about 100 in number and the owner of the pond would not let us baptize while their was such a mob present fearing that serious consequence would ensue.

I went in search of water in other places for about an hour with the mob following me and calling out you American where are you going to wash your sheep?  But as I could not find water we had to omit until afternoon.  The mob commenced fighting among themselves and the people sent for constables to clear the ground.  

I went to Norton and preached and then returned to Leigh immediately and the man gave his consent for me to baptize in his pool.  We went immediately to the water and as I commenced to baptize the mob began to gather, but I baptized 9 persons 3 of which were preachers while surrounded by the rabble, but I performed the ordinance without any insult or injury accepting the tongue o slander and throwing a dog into the pool where I was baptizing."

Sister Willmore and Sister Haw who serves at Gadfiled Elm Chapel

Soon after the United Brethren congregation was baptized, many of them left England and came to Nauvoo.  Thomas and Ann Oakey stayed in England and Thomas was ordained a Branch President.  They remained in England for another 15 years until 1856 when they found out they could come to Utah if they came with the handcart companies and used the perpetual immigration fund.  Thomas and Ann and their 8 children sailed to America.

It was such an amazing experience to see the land they lived on and walk the places they walked.  In November, we are meeting the Haw's again and they are going to show us where Thomas and Ann lived and show us around the area.  Can't wait for that one-one-one experience with them and have them share there knowledge.

I am looking up Thomas' siblings who did not come to America - They stayed in England and I want to find their descendants while I am here - It would be wonderful to meet them.



Faith - The Musical
I am trying to get a copy of the production that was performed in the UK in 2013-14 and then came to the Conference Center in Salt Lake City.  It is a musical about the Oakey Family.  These links tell about the musical but Sister Haws told me she would try to get me a copy of the production.
http://www.lds.org.uk/faith-the-musical
www.lds.org/media-library/video/2011-08-66-faith-the-musical?...

Hill Farm - A working Farm

Benbow (Hill) Farm and Benbow
Pond

Benbow Pond (or should we say Benbow Puddle)

Gate into Benbow Pond

Ken Bryant sent us this corn maze sign and we passed this sign as we walked - Is someone trying to tell us something???

I really did go through a corn maze last year with Caden, Hannah, Jaxon and Alli and 
we did have a hard time getting out (or at least Caden had to show us the way out). I think
I could find my way around this one!  

Wish us Luck - Transfers and Departures coming

 Happy Birthday to Scott on the 18th
             and Allison on the 22nd




Our Adorable Primary Class

Alfie and Zac

We would like to introduce you to our primary class - Alfie and Zac.  We enjoy teaching them and they brighten our day.  Today in the primary program practice, Alfie said he wants to serve a mission to Tonga with Elder Willmore - they melt our hearts.  If you could only imagine how cute they are speaking with their english accents.  Total number of children in our primary - six (when they all come).  Sister Willmore went in the nursery to help during the second half of primary and we had one little nursery girl.  She loved singing primary songs with me.

Artwork from Ashlee - What an artist

Love letters from home - Thank you so much Ashlee.  We hang all our wonderful letters on our living room door so we can see them everyday.

Elder Willmore, Sister Knudsen, Sister Willmore, Sister Jones

We Finally Met Sister Jones
We were so excited to finally meet Sister Sydney Jones who is serving from Rigby, Idaho.  She is one of Kaeli's high school friends.  We called her last week and found out she was coming into the office on Tuesday for a Zone Conference. We could tell in just the short time we talked to her how much she loves her mission and what a wonderful missionary she is.  We also were able to meet her companion Sister Knudsen, also from Idaho.

Our New Senior Office Couple Has Arrived

We were very excited to have a new senior couple arrive in the office yesterday (Saturday, October 15th).  They will work in the office with Elder Willmore and myself and be in charge of housing and vehicles.  They are from Farmington, Utah and we met them a few months ago when we found out we were serving together.  We already feel a bond with them and feel so blessed to serve with them.

Elder Willmore enjoying FALL

Looking Ahead to Next Week
On Monday, we found out that this Monday, October 17th, we are having a Mission Conference with Elder Quinton L Cook.  There has been a lot of preparation in the office getting ready for it and arranging transportation for all the missionaries to travel to Solihull, where Elder Cook will speak.  We also had transfers on Friday - which we had to do a few days early because of the conference and we have both departures and arrivals of missionaries on Tuesday.  It will be a very busy week this week.  Mission Conference with Elder Cook then transfers and departures the next day - wish us luck!  We certainly will need it.  On second thought -  please pray for us.  Seriously!!!

Busy But Happy

We would have to classify this week the most stressful so far.  Elder Willmore and I have been putting in long hours at the office trying to accomplish all that needs to be done and learned.  Everyday brings new challenges and something new to learn.  We are certainly being blessed to comprehend and retain the programs and procedures - there are a lot of them.  We are amazed at what it takes to run a mission and watch in awe as we see the many hours President and Sister Leppard spend taking care of the missionaries and their responsibilities.  They are a wonderful example of commitment and dedication to their Heavenly Father.

We had one of our Senior Couples serving from the Salt Lake area find out the husband has leukemia and only has a few months to live.  He thought he had pneumonia but when he went into the hospital, the tests came back that he has leukemia in the late stages.  He is too ill to fly home.  Our hearts and prayers go out to Elder and Sister Creer and their family. Life can change in an instant - we met them at our Senior Conference two weeks ago, and also when they came in the office last week and you would never know something was wrong.

We had our first Zone Conference at the Mission Office so we had the opportunity to meet more of the missionaries and put faces to the names we are learning.  I also called Sister Jones from Rigby, Idaho, who is a friend of our granddaughter, Kaeli. We will be able to meet her this next week when she is coming to the office for a meeting.  We received a special card from two of the Sister missionaries welcoming us into the mission - so sweet of them.  The missionaries are wonderful.

We have been catching up a little on what we missed of conference due to the time difference and have loved the talks and music.  It really felt different to be on a different schedule than the live broadcast times.  It was great to see Sister Seminario on the screen and to see the outside pictures of the Conference Center.  We both looked at each other and said, "There's our home".

Elder Willmore at Baddesley Clinton Moated Manor

By our Pday Saturday, we were ready to go for a drive and get some fresh air.  We went to an old moated manor home about thirty minutes south in Warwickshire called Baddesley Clinton. We spent a few minutes reading up on the history before we went - for a time the home was used to hide persecuted Catholic priests.  The home was built in the 13th century and has a beautiful garden around the home.  It was a lovely sunny day and it was so wonderful to walk around the gardens and watch families enjoying their days together.  We loved watching children playing and laughing.  I was touched by a young mother explaining to her child in her English accent that "in the spring the flowers will be yellow and pink and they will be so beautiful".  A young girl walking through the vegetable garden asked, "Where are the strawberries" (also in her darling English accent).  It was revitalizing to see children and families enjoying time together.  The National Trust of England has acquired 300 homes and 41 castles throughout England, Wales and Ireland and many of them are within our mission boundaries.  They have restored the homes and gardens and made beautiful, peaceful places for people to visit and enjoy.  We certainly were revived by the gorgeous scenery and time spent in nature.  I especially love the pastures with the sheep.  They remind me of Grandpa and Grandma Sorenson and the sheep we used to play around and feed with a bottle in their pasture.   I remember one that we fed milk with a bottle was named Pompi.  The pastures in England are a gorgeous green color with hedges around them for fences.  It is breathtaking to see and I even was emotional as we entered - it felt like we stepped back in time.

Sister Willmore in the flower garden

Vegetable and flower garden with scarecrows

Sheep in the pasture

As of today, we are now Primary Teachers in the Tamworth ward.  We travel about 25 minutes to go to our ward which we have been assigned by the Mission President.  It is a very small ward and their numbers have dropped by half in the last few years.  We teach three boys ages 7 and 8 and we were touched by the love they had for The Burt's (the couple we replaced in the mission office) who have taught them for the past year.  They prayed in both prayers that the Burt's would be happy in America with their family.
The boys each have some challenges and they have learned respect and reverence from the Burt's - it was touching to watch them.

What I have learned this week:
Life is fragile - the only way to get through life is to have faith.  Both to accept things we cannot change and have faith that Heavenly Father is in charge. I loved President Uchtdorf's talk in the General Women's Meeting - Fourth Floor, Last Door on faith.  One I will read and reread.

Our Surroundings

Our Flat at 87 Elm Road, Sutton Coldfield

Elder Willmore at work

Sister Willmore at her desk

This week we wanted to show you some of our surroundings, both at the office (where we spend most of our time) and at our new flat.  On Monday evening, after working late at the office, we went to our hotel and packed up our suitcases in our car that we were also given that day.  We now have our own car and our own flat to call "home".  It is wonderful to not be living out of a suitcase after a month of doing so between the MTC and our first ten days in England.  When we arrived at our flat from the hotel - Elder Griffin and Elder Decker were at our door to help us carry our suitcases up to our flat.  We were so thankful to Elder Cohen and Elder Turner for notifying them to ask for their help.  The missionaries are amazing and we are enjoying getting to know more of them each day.  We spent the rest of the week organizing and getting settled in and we now feel at home.  It is so wonderful to come home after a day at the office and have a place to relax and feel comfortable.  We even put up pictures of our family, so that completed our furnishings at our flat!

Elder Willmore relaxing in our living room

Our kitchen

New Hall Castle (Now a hotel)

Each morning or evening (whichever works best) we go for a walk out our side garden (English word for yard).  I am sure on our walks we have seen Malificent's crow, Lord Grantham's dog from Downtown Abbey, and Cinderella's castle (or at least it sure looked like them).  They say a picture is worth a thousand words so here you are:

Moat around castle

Old cottage along trail

Our walking trail

Our first new arrival - 27 September 2016 - Elder Claboux




WE GOT MAIL!  We received our first letter this week with wonderful pictures from our Grandchildren.  We also appreciate all the wonderful pictures and emails that we are receiving from our friends and family.  We love you all!
We loved conference yesterday evening and today.  We have a delay because of our time difference so on Saturday afternoon we watch General Women's Conference from last week and Saturday at 5:00pm our time we watch Saturday morning session live at the church.  Today, Sunday, at 10:00am is the Priesthood Session for Conley from last night, 1:00pm our time we will watch Saturday afternoon session and at 5:00pm our time we will watch Sunday morning.  The other sessions we will watch online - we are still waiting for internet at our flat.

What We learned this week:
I loved the talks at conference but I was especially impressed with the song by the choir "Take Time to be Holy".  I loved the words and need to take more time to by holy.  I have a tendency to be more of a Martha and get distracted - a great reminder for me.  Elder Willmore liked Pres. Uchtdorf's talk and related with him on learning the computer systems.  Actually Elder Willmore is doing amazing with learning all he has to learn and do.  He stays very busy and is getting help from Heavenly Father to learn what he needs to learn.  He gets an A+.  A testimony that whom the Lord call, he qualifies.

We also learned that the young Elders are wonderful but not invincible.  We had two bicycle accidents this week.  One Elder was looking at his iPad while riding his bike and crashed.  He broke out a lot of his front teeth and has to have major work done.  Another Elder decided to take his bike over a jump and crashed and cracked his helmet, hurt his back and has a concussion.  Oh Elders, be wise.   What more can we say.