1st Week in the England Birmingham Mission Office

Elder & Sister Willmore on Cornerstone of EBM Mission

President and Sister Leppard with EBM office missionaries

Walking in the rain to our fist day at the office

We are staying at the Ramada Hotel which is about a block away from our mission office.  We checked in on Saturday (17 Sept) and will be here until next Tuesday (27 Sept) when we will move in the flat where the current office couple is living.  They are flying home to California on Tuesday morning.  We have been training with them all week and we have a lot to learn.  Our young office Elders are amazing help so we are glad that we have them to help us after the Burt's have gone home. In the picture above are the office missionaries (left to right) AP's - Elder Wagner, and Elder Hellyer, Elder and Sister Burt (leaving), Elder and Sister Willmore, President and Sister Leppard, Elder and Sister Page (housing and vehicle missionaries who are leaving next month) and the office missionaries, Elder Turner and Cohen.  We know that we have much to learn but we know that Heavenly Father will bless us to comprehend and remember what we need to.  Elder Willmore will be doing the finances which is huge job and I will be doing the mission secretary duties which include taking care of arrangements for arrivals and departures of missionaries, handling their passports, keeping records of the missionaries updated and anything else President Leppard needs help with.

Elder Willmore's first day driving

On Wednesday night we were able to get a vehicle from the office to use until we get our permanent vehicle from the Burts.  Conley tried his first day of driving on the opposite side of the road and I have to admit it made us a bit nervous  The streets are very narrow two lane roads and it is a little unnerving.  I am trying not to be a back seat driver but I do jump when we get so close to cars.  Wednesday went to the Burt's to do a load of laundry and went out to eat at a little outdoor shop that sold fish and chips and kabobs.  We sat at the park, ate our dinner, and watched the people walk by.  It felt good to go out and see our surroundings.  On Thursday, we went to a eat at a restaurant nearby and watched a game of bowling (not what American's call bowling) out the window while we ate.  It was a lovely view out our window - I loved the garden and houses surrounding the green.   We are grateful to the Burt's who had us over to their flat most of the time to eat our dinner - it was nice not to have to eat out every night and it was wonderful to visit with them as they oriented us to the office and area.

Bowling green

Out for an evening

Senior Missionary Conference  - Friday - 23 September, 2016

On Friday, President Leppard held a Senior Missionary Conference, so we traveled to Cheltenham which is about an hour and a half towards the south where we were able to meet the other senior missionaries from all over the England Birmingham Mission and also listen to President Leppard talk to us.  He expressed the importance of involving our children and grandchild in our mission experiences so they can be blessed.  That gives me more determination to keep writing this blog so they can see and experience our mission with us.  The other missionaries that serve are public relations, family history, mission and leadership support, and young adult missionaries.  By March all the other senior missionaries will be going back home and we will be the one's that have served the longest - Scary!  After our conference meeting  we walked down the streets of Cheltenham and President Leppard took us all to dinner at Zizzi's -  an old cathedral that was turned into an Italian Restaurant and we had a very nice dinner together.

Walking down the streets of C

Old Cathedral restaurant

Lunch with all the Senior Missionaries

Gloucester Cathedral

After dinner, we drove about 20 minutes farther south to go on a tour of the Gloucester Cathedral.  It was massive and was first built in the 600's.  It was built to be this massive over the years and has remains of some Kings layed to rest there.  The architecture and stained glass windows are amazing.  A hall in the Harry Potter movie's was filmed in this cathedral.  Eric sent us pictures of this cathedral about eleven years ago, but it was amazing to see it in person.  We felt blessed to have this opportunity to go for a drive and see the countryside and meet the other senior missionaries so early in our mission.  The drive was beautiful - everything is so green and lush and the pastures are surrounded by hedges.

Sunday we attend our ward in Tamworth for the second Sunday - it is a very small ward of about 60 people (6 primary children and a couple youth).  Very kind and humble people.  There numbers have dropped almost in half since a few years ago.  We learned that the missionary work is very slow in England.   Our son, Eric, attended this ward when he served in this mission - we met a member of the ward that we met through Eric - Brother Dowling and his wife, Carol.  He stayed at our home about eight years ago when he visited America.  The Mission President assigns us a ward according to the needs of the mission - this is the same ward that the Burt's have been attending, they teach primary, teach a lesson in Relief Society once a month, and taught institute.  They have been kept very busy.  We will miss our traditional way of watching conference - We will watch Women's Conference Saturday afternoon and Saturday session of conference on Sunday since we are seven hours ahead of Salt Lake City.  We will watch Sunday session on the internet later.

What I have learned this week:
I have been touched by the young Elders and Sister Missionaries that come into the office.  Each one has had a smile, their light radiates and they are happy.  What wonderful missionaries we have serving throughout the world.  My goal is to be like them.

The good new and bad news:
We were thrilled to hear that Kaeli got a job in Logan while she is attending school and that Jairon sold THE VAN.
We were very saddened to hear about our brother-in-law, Ron and his heart attack and triple bypass surgery.  He will be in our prayers.  We were happy to talk to Nyla today and find out the surgery went well and he has started his recovery process, which will be a long one.  We love you Ron!
We are also praying for our dear friend, Jake Bryant, and his family.  You are continually in our thoughts and prayers.

Off to England

We finished up the MTC and loved every minute!  We loved the other senior couples and were so blessed to listen to three apostles speak to us in devotionals.  We had D. Todd Christoffersen, Marvin J Ballard and Quinton L. Cook.  Such a marvelous opportunity to learn from them.

On Friday September 16th we left Salt Lake City, Utah on a flight to Amsterdam, Netherlands and then on to Birmingham, England.  Nichol, Eric, Brandee, Payton and Brynlee took us to the airport but Eric started a group text and before we knew it we had our family from Idaho, Colorado, Washington and Utah joining in to tell us goodbye and add their comments and sending their love.  We loved having them with us!

We flew over part of the United States, Canada, the Atlantic Ocean, Iceland, Scotland and landed in Amsterdam.  Our flight was 10 hours to Amsterdam,   After a two hour layover we flew on to England, which took about 1 hour.

MY THOUGHTS AS I FLEW LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW OF THE AIRPLANE AT A FULL MOON AND THEN BEAUTIFUL SCENERY AS IT BEGAN TO GET LIGHT :
 They (Thomas and Ann Oakey) vs. We (Conley and Jolayne Willmore)

*They arrived from England to Salt Lake City - September 28, 1856.
We arrived from Salt Lake City to England - September 17, 2016.  (Exactly 150 years later to the month)

*They prayed to Heavenly Father at Benbow Farm with the United Brethren for truth and their answer was to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and go to America to build Zion.
We were concerned and confused and prayed to Heavenly Father to know what to do and were told to go forward with our plans to serve a mission and "Go Now".  He called us to England.

Thomas and Ann Oakey

*They looked upward to heaven with faith and courage.
We looked downward as we flew with gratitude and amazement.

*They left everything they had, except a few necessities.  They even left family members who they would never see again. They packed for 10 people, themselves and their 8 children.
We took 4 large suitcase and 2 small suitcases full of clothing, shoes, and everything we would need.  We took electronic devices that we could turn on and in an instant see and talk to our friends and family.

*They traveled 5512 miles from England to SLC by the Ship Thornton, steamer boat, handcart and wagon which took them 147 days(3528 hours).
We traveled  5234 miles from SLC to England by air which took 13 hours.

*They went through trials, death, hunger, fatigue, and freezing temperatures.
We sat in comfort as we were served hot meals, beverages, pillows and blankets.

*They were rescued in Wyoming with wagons, food and blankets and taken by wagon to Salt Lake City were they were cared for by the Saints.
We were greeted in Birmingham by President and Sister Leppard and drove to the mission home where they had prepared a wonderful lunch with some of the other missionaries.

We are so grateful for all the many blessings that we enjoy and are so grateful to be here and to begin our mission to spread the gospel in England. We are here for a purpose and that is to Invite Others to Come unto Christ.

WHAT I LEARNED THIS WEEK:
I was reminded of the power of prayer and how our prayers are answered.
As we were riding in the car from the airport to the mission office, we were talking to President Leppard and his wife who told us how last January, February  March and April they and the other missionaries were praying for someone to replace the Burt's who were leaving the mission in September.  At the same time, we were praying in the Ogden Temple and received the answer to "Go Now" on our mission.

Trivia:
Today at breakfast, we had a breakfast bar at the Hotel we were staying at.  I noticed Black Pudding, so I decided to try some.  Later Sunday night, when I was talking to Eric and told him the new foods I had tried, He said, "Mom, you are not supposed to eat that, - it is made with blood."  I looked it up on the internet and he is right.  Scott - you cannot say I do not try new foods anymore!

Notes from Conley:

   When we arrived in Amsterdam and walked to our next take-off area, Jolayne asked me if  I was having a hard  time breathing, because she was.  My chest had been feeling tight and I was also very nervous.  I went to the bathroom and while I was there had a prayer to take away out breathing issue and my nervousness.  When I arrived back where she was she was talking to a man in a suit.  His name was Elder Boom,  He was from the Netherlands and a member of the quorum of the Seventy.  My fears were quieted, then he told us that we were having trouble breathing because we were below sea lever and the air was very heavy there.  He was flying to Birmingham and in charge of Stake Conference in Nottingham.  I'm positive he relieved both Jolayne's and myself's nerves.

Time at the MTC

These are the pictures of the missionaries we spent the week with at the MTC.  There were 64 of us that arrived on Monday!  Two of them were single sisters - We was inspired by their faith to serve.  We spent a wonderful week going to classes and were taught by young returned missionaries - they were amazing teachers and taught us from the Preach My Gospel manual.  We were reminded of the simpleness of the gospel and the importance to invite others and ourselves to "Come Unto Christ".  We attended some inspirational live devotionals by two apostles, Elder Christofferson and Elder Ballard (what an  and recorded devotionals by Elder Bednar and Elder Holland.

Because of what we have learned this week we want to:
*Become more aware of the promptings of the       Holy Ghost.
*Achieve to gain more attibutes of Christ in our      life.
*Forget ourselves and serve the Lord.
*Testify of Christ
*Learn to appreciate more

     These are our          treasures!



I highlighted a scripture this week from our study - It is the Lord speaking to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon when they had been away from their families and felt concern for them (I will put our names in place of theirs).

"Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my friends, Conley and Jolayne, your families are well; they are in mine hands, and I will do with them as seemeth me good; for in me there is all power.

 Conley and I have faith our family will be watched over and taken care of while we are away.  We know they will receive blessings and will be watched over by our Heavenly Father.  President Jones also promised me this in my blessing when I was set apart.  There is nothing more important I can be doing right now and nothing that will be of more benefit to our children because He is blessing our family.

After our classes on Friday, we drove back to Salt Lake to spend Saturday and Sunday and were greeted at home with kisses and hugs from Payton and Brynlee.  We enjoyed seeing part of our family and going to a few of Tyler and Colby's football games and Colby's water polo game. We even got to see Madison leave on her Homecoming Dance!  We watched the BYU/UTAH game with Nichol and Kurk's family and Payton and Brynlee while Eric and Brandee attended the game.  Sunday morning we went to our Regional Conference, then had lunch with our family.  We loved seeing part of our family again, but we were excited to head back to the MTC in Provo and finish our next week of training.  We have had too many goodbyes and one of these times we really will not be coming back for a long time.  What a blessing it is that we can still facetime, email and talk to our family.

Conley and I are so touched by the wonderful Elders and Sisters we have talked to at the MTC - they are going all over the world and are anxious to serve the Lord with all their heart, mind, might and strength. They inspire us as we hear their stories and their love of their Heavenly Father.  It is a humbling site to see how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints  brings in thousands of missionaries, teaches them, FEEDS THEM, and send them to all parts of the world to testify of Christ.  We will always remember the angelic sound of the young Elders and Sisters as they sing to us in our devotionals.  There is nothing more inspiring or uplifting!

This week we will spend all of our time learning about the office systems in our classes.  Conley and I will be learning about finances and mission secretary duties and how they are performed on the computer.  We have a lot to learn but we have a lot of help!  On Thursday we will go home, SAY GOODBYE AGAIN, and on Friday at 2:20 p.m.  fly to Amsterdam and then England.





"No matter who we are - no matter our talents, abilities, financial resources, education or experience - we all can serve in the Kingdom.
He who calls us will qualify us for the work if we will serve with humility, prayer, diligence and faith."  (Elder Wirthlin, Ensign May 2003)

Beginning Our Mission

Sunday, September 4th
After 4 months of preparation of getting visas, passports and personal affairs in order Conley and I were set apart as full time missionaries by President Jones.  What wonderful blessings we received!  It was great again to be supported by our family both in our home and through face time and have them participate in our setting apart.  The scripture we had selected to be included in the title of our blog was referred to in my blessing, "that mine angels will be round about us"(D&C 84:88)( including Scott) and that I would love the land we serve in and that my personal family history would become more dear to my heart as we served in sacred places.  We are so excited to begin our mission tomorrow and help others "Come Unto Christ".  Last week when we spoke in Sacrament Meeting Madi and Dallin performed a beautiful song with that title.  We are so blessed to know that we have a Savior, Jesus Christ, that he is part of our lives and guides us through our journey on earth.


Monday, September 5th
 From the moment we walked into the front doors of the MTC I was overcome with a special spirit and became emotional.  We were taught that the MTC is a sacred place and angels minister in the halls - I know that to be true because I have felt it.  I cannot even begin to tell you how amazing the day was - you would have to experience it yourself, but I feel so blessed to be here and I want to absorb as much as I can.  What a wonderful opportunity it is to be here and be taught.  President Bednar gave a devotional a few years ago at the MTC entitled "The Character of Christ"and we were able to watch it tonight. The character of Christ is that he always turns outward, not inward.  He turns outward to others with love, service and compassion.  That is my goal as I begin my mission!

Arriving at the MTC - September 5, 2016

President Monson said,"Remember that this work is not yours and mine alone.  It is the Lords work.  And when we are on the Lord's errand, we are entitled to the Lord's help."
WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY!

The famous picture by the "map"

A moment with Elder Alles

We found Elder Alles in the cafeteria today and he bore his testimony to us in Korean.  So wonderful!


Notes from Conley
   Entering the MTC was a very sacred and moving experience.  My feelings and emotions are very
much on the surface, and after watching Elder Bednar's devotional on the "Character of Christ" I am
excited to serve even more.  It is wonderful to be here with this Senior Missionary group.  They are
a dedicated and humble group.  It is also fun to be with the younger missionaries.  They are fun to talk to and be around.  The MTC and Mission is a great experience.  Remember Who You ARE..

Elder Willmore writing on blog in our apartment

The Call

On April 21, 2016 we received our mission call!  We had our family and friends share this exciting moment with us both in our living room and through facetime.  We have been called to serve in the England Birmingham Mission and will be leaving for the Provo MTC on September 5th and then leave for England two weeks later. We will be serving in the Mission Office for 18 months.  Many of our ancestors came from this area in England and it will be a wonderful experience to serve where these special family members once lived. What a blessing it is to receive this call to serve in England.  We are so grateful for our family who support us and are also excited for us to serve a mission.  We chose the scripture in D&C 84:88 to put on our title of our blog because we know that our Heavenly Father has called us to this particular mission.  As we were preparing for our mission, many events happened that set us up to be called at this particular time and to this particular place.  We know that Heavenly Father will be guiding us wherever or whatever we are doing on our mission.  We also know that there will be angels to bear us up and inspire us as we serve.  There are many angels who are dear to our hearts that once lived in this area of England that we will be serving in and we know they will be with us.  As we have engaged in Family History over the years, we have been blessed with the Spirit of Elijah and have a great love for these people. Their stories of faith and love for their Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have strengthened us and inspired us as we read of their trials and joys they experienced in this life.   We know that this call is from our Heavenly Father and we have work to do there and pray that we will accomplish the task that Heavenly Father has entrusted us to do.  How blessed we are to serve a mission!