Edvalsons in England: March 2018

I wish I could capture this picture out our front window. It’s a blizzard out there. It’s been doing this all day, but then it melts and then it starts over again. We thought the weather in Oregon was crazy. It’s got nothing on Leeds. We just never know what will happen next. It was sunny and warm earlier today - between blizzards that is. I know I saw daffodils in front of the church last weekend. I’m still wearing my really heavy winter coat.

We were supposed to be down in Hull this weekend cheering one of our YSA in the Hull YSA Convention hot chili -eating contest. Oscar from El Salvador has been training on hot sauce for about a month so we thought it would be good to support him. Hull is about an hour east of here and we know the Senior Couple down there because we were in the MTC together. We thought it would be fun to see them and - also William Wilberforce’s house is down there. We like that movie, “Amazing Grace” about his fight to end slavery in Britain back in the 1700s. So it was all planned and then I got COLD #3 since I’ve been here - meaning all the cold things - chills, headache, cough, runny nose and laryngitis .Elder E. actually gave this cold to me - but I probably gave his to him originally too. A bit frustrating. So we couldn’t go to Hull - although we heard from the group down there that Oscar won the contest so that’s pretty exciting. We’re also supposed to speak in church tomorrow - not going to happen since I can’t talk for one thing.

We’ve been here long enough that some of the missionaries we know are finishing up and going home. They refer to it as “dying” Our good friend, Sister Melgarejo from Spain is leaving next week so we had a goodbye breakfast district meeting with her last week. You can see some pictures of her and some of the other missionaries as well. Our district has been together for a long time, but no longer. Transfers came though and Sister Lingalinga from New Zealand was transferred out along with the other sisters - except Sister Barnett who will get a new companion. Our good friend, Elder Raicevic from Serbia was transferred out and our district leader, Elder Saylin as well. Just lots of changes. We never move. We never change. We just get colds. :)

Back to “YSA Conventions”. They have a lot of these over here in Europe. It’s the way YSA meet each other and strengthen their testimonies by being together. There was one in Coventry a couple weeks ago, one in Manchester in two weeks and we are holding an international Chinese Mandarin speaking Convention here the first of April. We are just support since we don’t speak Mandarin. Where are you Biancardi Chinese speakers? We are in charge of finding accommodations for everyone and ordering food (of course) Angela and Rachel - the two Chinese girls who are the masterminds are doing a great job. They are peeved that the Chinese students take so long making up their minds so we’re not sure of numbers as of now. There are lots of Chinese students around England. They choose English names - like Angela and Rachel and our good friend, Wilma. Once they return to China, they have a hard time finding the church so this convention will help them with some skills to do that as well as giving them a chance to get together and make dumplings and play laser tag and eat Chinese Takeout. (not kidding) Our YSA will be on Easter Break so it’s a good time to hold this.

We are halfway through teaching our wonderful class and everything else that we’ve instituted here continues unabated. I went to the Northern Ballet’s original production of “Jane Eyre” a week ago with my YSA friend, Isobel. It was absolutely beautiful. Elder E. was our chauffeur who dropped us off and picked us up at the very classical looking Grand Theatre in downtown Leeds. We love you…we miss you…Cheerio from Elder and Sister Edvalson

Izzy and I at the ballet

Guest Chef Andy making Chinese noodles.

Some of our usual Wednesday dinner and class members

Sister M. On her way back to Spain. She will be missed.

Edvalsons in England—March 5, 2018

Today finds us in thaw out mode following 10 days or so of unseasonably cold weather courtesy of east winds out of Siberia. We were in the mid 20’s with several snow days in a row. We probably had about 4 to 5 inches of snow accumulate and there were many snowball fights and a snowman constructed by the Institute students who found us a warm port in the storm. Institute was cancelled on last Thursday as the director was stuck at his home on a hill outside of Leeds. We still cooked our dinner on Thursday evening and hosted an extra credit Institute night by showing “Meet the Mormons”. A lot of the students live within walking distance so they were happy to hang out here for most of several days.

We had a movie night on Friday with the showing of one of our favorites…."Tangled”. Everyone likes to wrap up in a blanket on one of our 7 or 8 sofas in our lounge and settle in for a movie with snacks and treats. For some reason, breaded mozzarella sticks are very popular along with Sister Edvalson’s peanut butter balls among the many choices.

We had a YSA age baptism of a mid-20’s man who was first introduced to the Church 18 months ago. His name is Mike, although he used to go by Spike and his father is a member of the Hell’s Angels and his mother is a gypsy. He had a rough childhood and has a difficult time reading having dyslexia among other issues. He used to have a Mohawk spikey haircut but was at Church with his white shirt and tie. He still sports a lower lip ring but loves the chance to start with a clean slate and have a better life. Sister Edvalson hopes to work with him to develop some reading skills but he seems a bit reluctant to want to start. He repairs electronics (phones and computers) to make ends meet. He has attended Institute classes the past 2 Thursdays and made some new friends with some of the locals. One of our other Institute students, a returned missionary from South Africa and a “gamer” says that the Church is the only place where you can find a lawyer and a laborer having a genuine conversation with each other.

We also had a new student come a couple of weeks ago who is here as an exchange student from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. Charlie is a member from Arizona but hadn’t been attending for a while. She told her mother that she was depressed and her mother said that she needed to find and go back to church. She ran into the Sister Missionaries that same day who put her in touch with us. She came to Church the next day and was immediately swept up into the group and invited to dinner that afternoon after church with some other YSA sisters. She hasn’t missed a Sunday now and is regular at FHE, movie night and started attending our Institute class and dinner this past week. She even gave the FHE lesson on family history last week. Her mother was right! Being involved with a group like this is what she really needed and we need her contributions too! She’s happily connected with a home away from home that we provide here.

We received a lovely thank you note from a YSA’s mother from California this week. Her daughter Melissa is working on a Master’s degree in American Literature. In late December her apartment was robbed while she was in the shower and her computer, phone, and purse were stolen. Her roommate wasn’t home and she was naturally upset by the experience. It took several hours for the police to come. The police told her that her neighborhood was in a high crime rate area. She didn’t feel safe being there anymore so we put her up here for a few weeks until she found another flat. Her mother sent such a lovely note saying how glad she was that we were here to help her daughter through the difficulty of getting settled in a new place and being able to reconnect her with her family with our computers and phones, since hers were stolen and needed to be replaced. At least we know we’re making a difference for a few people! Melissa is one of a number of our stalwart Institute students and was able to bounce back much quicker than she otherwise would have.

Our Wednesday night dinner cooked by YSA’s was very popular this week as a recently returned missionary (Evan) who had served in Mesa Arizona cooked Fajitas. Everyone seems to love Mexican food here and the dishes are always quite popular. Our student prepared dinner this coming Wednesday will be made by Andy, a returned missionary physical therapy student from Hong Kong. We’re told he’s a great cook and he’s graduating this year so we’re happy he volunteered to cook this time for our group. He’ll be returning home to Hong Kong to practice after this spring.

We had the first engagement since we’ve been here announced. Sophie is a beautiful young woman whose fiancé teaches at the MTC in Preston. They’re being married in August and will live here next year as she has one more year of university to complete.

We’re attaching a few pictures from last week’s baptism and snowy adventures. We were scheduled to have an interview with the Mission President last Wednesday but he advised us not to come as our car is pretty small and lightweight and the roads were packed with snow and ice. It took the other missionaries who drive about 75 minutes to arrive at the interviews in what is usually a 15 minute drive. So it felt like a snow week back in Oregon where you just stay at home and enjoy. Fortunately, our commute of 56 steps downstairs was not a problem! Our mission president said it is the coldest he’s ever seen it stay for an extended period of time, and he’s a UK native.

Wishing you all a great week!

Elder & Sister Edvalson