26 August 2018

I notice our last blog was the first week of August.  In fact, I had to go back and make sure because it’s now the end of August.  This month we’ve settled into a kind of easy going type schedule spending time with YSA, young missionaries as well as our Senior Missionary friends. 

Every Monday night we hold Family Home Evening.  Every Wednesday night we cook dinner and hold what has become Family History Workshop/sit around the table in the kitchen chatting until 10pm when we start showing everyone the door.    No - we do not have to keep that 6:30am rising time that the young missionaries do.  Hallelujah for that.  Friday morning we serve pancakes and a devotional and then a 7:00 pm movie night as usual.

Let me just mention one of  the blessings of this summer schedule.  Most of the students have gone on Holiday along with the official Institute staff.

That makes it easy for some who are just coming back to church or who perhaps felt uncomfortable in the big groups, to come, learn and socialize with us and become familiar and comfortable with the Institute setting.  We have enjoyed getting to know and help them feel welcome.  Our movie last Friday was Star Wars, A New Hope chosen with one young man in mind who happens to be a Star Wars Nerd.  He was very excited and came complete with robe, extra Light Sabers and a Storm Trooper mask for great effect.   This more open schedule allows us to more easily follow the Savior’s teachings of loving the individual in whatever way we can.

We have also spent more time with the missionaries as we executed our “Inspecting the flats” assignment.  We spent two days inspecting all 10 of the flats in the Leads Stake which means a checklist of things to do to keep their flats clean, sanitary  and uncluttered.  Definitely a challenge for some of the 19 year old missionaries.  Sometimes the schedule works so we can take them out to lunch or dinner. We helped teach an investigator with one of the Sister companionships.  That was wonderful.  We have become experts in taking care of mold and mildew - a big problem here and of course, we always bring them peanut butter balls.  One of the Elder companionships treated us to chocolate cake (as bribery they put it so we would give them excellent marks).  The cake was delicious and the bribery was on.  Their flat looked pretty good so they got good marks in spite of the cake, but we certainly appreciated their extra efforts. 

One Saturday we traveled up to Durham with our Senior Missionary friends, the Flockharts.  We spent the afternoon in Durham which is a beautiful Cathedral city.  We had been there once before in the winter time so it was fun to walk around the city more as well as visit the amazing and beautiful Norman Cathedral.  Then we drove down to the village of Bishop Auckland to see a pageant about England.  Here is the advert:

Kynren - An Epic Tale of England the action-packed live blockbuster performed by a cast and crew of 1,000,  taking you on an amazing journey through 2,000 years of history, myth and legend. Kynren, a world class show brought to life with magnificent sets, combat, stunts, horsemanship, stunning pyrotechnics and amazing special effects set to a thrilling original soundtrack. Kynren is a captivating experience for all the family, it really has to be seen to be believed! - complete with fantastic fireworks and flag waving to “Land of Hope and Glory”.

Try to see it if you are ever up here in Yorkshire in the end of August through the beginning of September.  It was very enjoyable.  My favorite part was when the gaggle of perfectly trained geese ran through the set with several darling little English lasses.  Can you train geese?

We also spent the day with some friends from our Stake who used to teach here at the Institute.  They gave us a lovely English lunch and then took us to the Bronte village of Haworth for the afternoon.  Lovely.

Last weekend we took two of our Senior Sister Missionary pals to the spa town, Ilkley.  The day was gorgeous and we enjoyed walking through the market and taking tea and other goodies at Bettys. 

Yesterday we drove up to the middle of the Dales - which just has to be seen to be believed.  Some of you, I”m sure, have heard me rave about it before.  Miles of stunning rolling hills covered in rock walls and sheep.  We stopped at the Wensleydale Creamery for lunch and visited the beautiful Aysgarth Falls where we had visited before.  We drove by our favorite restaurant The Wensleydale Heifer, but didn’t have time to go  in.  We were checking out the time it takes to go into and out of the Dales for when our cousins, Mark and Tami come to visit in a few weeks.

Lest you think we never have to suffer, I should mention last week when the Fire Alarm went off at 2:45am.  We got up and I trolled through the many rooms of the Institute checking for smoke while Elder E. Climbed up into the attic and finally  went down to check on the fire alarm itself.  For about two hours we fought with that alarm - turning it off only to have it start again after a couple minutes.  We finally called the Institute director who lives about half an hour away.  He drove down and he and Elder E. Figured out how to shut it down completely.  We retired to bed about 5am. It was repaired a couple days later.   Not having an early morning class or meeting the next day, we were able to sleep in a bit the next morning.

I really cannot begin to list the many blessings, miracles and tender mercies that have attended us here on this mission.  The lessons we’ve learned and those we’ve taught have helped us understand how we can make a difference in the world by embracing the beauty of it and loving the people in it.  The Lord is in the details of our lives and we are so grateful.  We often think of you and pray for you at home.  God bless you.  We know He is.

With Love,

The Edvalsons

River in the Yorkshire Dales

Enjoying kynren with friends

Curtain call. Land of Hope and Glory

Elder E. Lived at Kings Arms ay BYU.   Memories. 

Visiting Haworth with friends

Enjoying Star Wars

Can you spot the Jedi?

Aysgarth Falls

Aysgarth Falls

My favorite place