JOURNAL September 19 - 25

Monday, September 19

I love Monday's because it is FHE. We had the largest group we've had in a while - the YSA lounge was packed. Sarah H. remembered she signed up for the lesson and came prepared. More than once she's forgotten and we've filled in at the last minute. She has good intentions and is a wonderful girl. She just forgets. I made sure she had lots of reminders and it worked! After the lesson we had treats - an amazing lemon cake made by Camie, our culinary student from Wales. The kids usually buy cheap cookies and chips, so this homemade cake was a real treat and a very big hit with the kids. Lauren, from Australia, was in charge of the activity which was a game called Werewolves. One of those games where someone, the werewolves, "kills" off people and you have to guess who are the werewolves. Sounds pretty gruesome, but actually it was lots of fun.

Tuesday, September 20 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY CATIE

Finally was able to talk with JP. He is a very nice young man from India that joined the church about a year ago. He loves missionary work - goes out with the elders as often as he can, talks to strangers on the street about the church, and is hoping to serve a mission. He has had unexplained jaundice, itching, and epigastric pain for about the last 5-6 weeks. He was in the hospital for a few days and has had tons of lab tests, ultrasounds, and cat scans but still no diagnosis. I'm very worried about him. He has been too sick to attend things lately. I've called many times but was only able to leave a message. Today he picked up the phone and we talked. He is frustrated that he is not getting better and he is quite worried. He has to go to work or he will lose his job. He asked us if we could give him a ride to work tomorrow as he doesn't have the energy to take the bus which includes some walking.  It is against the rules for us to transport anyone but missionaries, but we said yes - he needs help! Besides if anyone ever fit "every member a missionary" he does. So, I'm looking forward to seeing him tomorrow.

Wednesday, September 21

Picked up JP in the afternoon and drove him to work. His eyes are bright yellow and he is drained of energy. Found out his mother is here from India staying with him. Apparently she used to be a physician in India. So glad she is here with him. He is very frustrated with the national health system and how long it takes to get care. He says, "they just don't care." It's hard for me to imagine as he is so sick.

The upside of today was that it was also the first day of the new Institute year. We started with a YSA Council meeting that went very well. Most of the ward reps were there. We had a good meeting and identified some inactive and newly baptized YSA we want to focus on. Hopefully, it will be a team effort to visit and fellowship them. There was a great attendance tonight. It started a little slow, but by the beginning of the second class there were about 50 kids there. Our room was totally filled. The activity committee organized some fun get to know you games for after class. I think everyone enjoyed the evening - many hung around until quite late visiting. There are quite a few new students, so that is great.

Thursday, September 22

Some of the YSA wanted to go visit JP so they arranged to meet him at a local Indian fast food shop close to his home. We also went. Not much has changed with JP, but he seemed invigorated just to have the kids come visit. He is planning to return to India for medical care as soon as he can work out arrangements for his visa. He has no confidence in the system here because things take so long. His doctor is suggesting he may need a liver biopsy and that is scaring him. His dad knows a liver specialist in India, so JP plans to go there for treatment. Probably is best for him to be with his family so they can help him during this illness.

Friday, September 23

JP called today and cancelled his ride to work. He says he has lots of things he needs to get done before work. He initially thought he would be here 3-4 weeks before his visa was ready, but now he says he is flying to India on Sunday. He also said he has something to tell us, but doesn't want to talk over the phone. We will meet tomorrow and talk before we take him to work.

Tonight was the baptism of Sister Blair - an 82 year-old grandmother of one of our YSA girls. Sarah H. is in the YSA presidency. She is also an attorney and returned missionary - a really sharp girl. Her cute little "granny" is adorable. She is a very spiritual woman - has studied the Bible all her life. Her daughters and their families have been members for a long time. I don't know what made her decide to get baptized now, but the family is so thrilled. Her son-in-law, Sarah's dad, baptized her with the help of Sarah's brother-in-law who stood on the other side to help support her going under the water and back up. It was so smooth and efficient - a really special event. "Granny" was all smiles!

After the baptism we drove the Sollihul sisters back home. Sister Baker, who was very involved with Sister Clark in teaching Sister Blair, was transferred to Sollihul about a week ago. She really wanted to be here for her baptism, so, with permission, the sisters took the train here. The baptism started late and lasted a long time, so they didn't have time to catch the train home before curfew.

After dropping them off, we drove back to Harborne for Friday Chill Night with the YSA. We arrived late, but there were about 25 kids having a great time playing games and visiting. It was tons of fun. I took a pan of K-squares which were gobbled up almost as soon as they were put on the table.

Saturday, September 24

Talked with JP today. He has decided to go to India for medical treatment and will leave tomorrow. He is quite confident they will be able to diagnose his problem and start him on meds for a cure. He will surely get quicker attention through private medical care there than the National Health System here. He plans to return to England on October 17th. Our prayers and best wishes go with him.

Sunday, September 25

Wow! Great Sunday! There were about four more new YSA students at Harborne Ward - all boys (which made the girls really happy). Bishop Desous called another Ward Rep for Harborne Ward and said he has plans to call two more. That will make a total of 7 Ward Reps! There are about 50 YSA in Harborne Ward alone, so the reps are really needed. The majority are active, but there are many who don't come to anything. We have such good support from the bishop and his counselor over the YSA.

In the evening we had a very productive YSA Presidency meeting. The new counselor over missionary efforts, Sarah, is going to be a real boost to the program. She has some wonderful ideas about fellowshipping and activities to increase the missionary/fellowshipping efforts of all the Young Single Adults. They all love her and can't help but catch her enthusiasm. She's very organized, and a "get it done" kind of girl. It is interesting - she has the same vision we do about training and motivating the YSA to be involved in the missionary efforts. They respect and love her, so we think they will step up to meet her expectations. Besides her new influence, it feels so good to have the full presidency back and functioning.

JOURNAL - September 12 - 18

Monday, September 12

We slept in a little this morning. We both were so tired from the physically and spiritually exhausting weekend. Then we decided to go to the Apple Store in city center and get a new IPad. I'm sure we could have managed without it, but we're really spoiled....so we bought a new one.

FHE was another winner! Camie, the new culinary student from Wales, gave the lesson. She took a scripture Elder Bednar talked about and had us break into groups and discuss it. It was very good and reinforced things Elder Bednar taught. We worked on the decorations for the big dance coming up on Friday, and then played a game called Bananagrams. When we were in London we played it with our friends, the Fugals, and enjoyed it so much I ordered it from Amazon (free shipping-yeh). The kids had a great time playing the game - didn't want to leave. We'll have to do it again.

Tuesday, September 13

Worked most of the day on the leadership training meeting we have scheduled tomorrow with the YSA presidency, ward reps, and activity committee. Also did about three loads of laundry. Our little washer dryer combo doesn't hold much and takes over 3 hours to wash and dry one load, so sometimes laundry really is an all day affair.

Wednesday, September 14

Leadership training meeting was tonight, and I think it went well - except some of the ward reps that need it the most didn't come. That is always the case. I think those that were there caught the spirit, and I think it was a good start for our new Institute year. For the activity the kids continued to work on the decoration for the dance - blew up a bazillion balloons and curled miles of ribbon. I'm anxious to see how this is going to turn out.

Thursday, September 15

Cleaned the flat and did all the ironing - feel so liberated! In the evening I went to RS activity at Harborne. It was scheduled to be about food storage and included a tasting table with things one of our YSA, Camie, made with food storage items. The only sisters that come were about 6 YSA, but we had a great time. Camie is from Wales and is the culinary student. She is an amazing cook! We had corn fritters with Greek yogurt dip, bulgar wheat salad with chick peas and carrots, homemade white bread, and a dessert made from puff pastry, canned fruit, and a homemade caramel sauce. YUMMY, YUMMY, YUMMY! Thankfully she is happy to share her recipes. They only problem is that she is pretty much a "add as you go" cook, but she says she will try to remember and write down what was in them.

Friday, September 16

This is the BIG day - Homecoming Dance 2011. Met Kezia and Lauren at Costco to do the food shopping for the dance. They are doing a great job of staying within the budget - hope we have enough food. I'm such a bad judge of how much to buy. They are hoping to have about 500 YSA attend - can't imagine where we will put them all! These two girls are great organizers and know exactly what they want and how they want things done. Makes it easy for me They have worked their "their fingers to the bone" for about 3 weeks to make this a success.

This is it - decorations in the cultural hall.

 

The cultural hall was absolutely stunning - beyond amazing!!! They hand tied strings of twine together to make a huge net. Then they individually tied the balloons, ribbons, and doilies to the net and carefully lifted it up with twine attached to metal loops on the walls. I've never seen anything like it! They also decorated the foyer, and set up one corner with a backdrop for photos of the couples/friends/groups that came to the dance. The digital photos are free to anyone who emails the photographer and gives him their email address. 

 These three girls were the organizers for the Prom - (l to r) Beth, from Coventry Stake, Kezia and Lauren from Birmingham Stake. They had lots of other helpers, but the ideas were all theirs.

We had about 460 kids officially sign-in, and many others that didn't wait in line to sign-in. I'm pretty sure there were at least 500 kids there and they ate every morsel of food. By the end of the night the cultural was a little disgusting. It was so hot and sweaty in there that the walls were actually damp! Devon's main job was directing traffic outside and I was at the sign-in table.

The final success for the night was that we had lots of Birmingham YSA stay to help with the clean-up, so it was over by about 1:00 am. The dance ended at 11:15 and it always takes a good 30 to 45 minutes to get all the kids out the door. They linger as long as they can. A couple of High Councilmen are good had "herding" them towards the door or else who knows how long we would be there. We left the building spotless and ready for a wedding scheduled for tomorrow. The bride saw the cultural hall and asked to leave the balloon ceiling up, but everything else came down. The YSA will take the balloons down tomorrow after the wedding.

Saturday, September 17 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREA

So tired today...wonder why?! We attended the wedding of two YSA. The groom has been inactive for years, and the bride is an amazing investigator. She has fallen in love with the gospel and is bringing him out to church! His mother is active and introduced the bride to the church. The wedding was performed by our cute Bishop Desous. He is from France and everyone loves him, especially the young people. He's married about 8 couples so far and has another one scheduled for December.

Sister Clark, one of our full-time missionaries in Harborne Ward is an amazing harpist. She was able to borrow a harp (how do you do that?) and played for the wedding. It was beautiful beyond words. Sister Baker, her companion that was just transferred to Solihull Ward, was also there and together they played Pachelbel's Cannon in D for the processional - so beautiful!!!

We hung around the building till the owner of the harp came to pick it up. Then we had dinner, did a little grocery shopping, and drove to Woodsetton Ward for a YSA baptism - a young man named Brad. Another YSA, Becky, was baptized in Kidderminister Branch tonight also. The Stake President attended that one. We hope they will be able to join us for YSA activities and Institute, but transportation is a huge problem for the kids that live in those little units on the outskirts. I hope the ward members will pitch in and help them with rides, but so far that doesn't happen. None of the few YSA's from those wards drive, so it will be a challenge for them to come.

Sunday, September 18

Devon had a High Council speaking assignment in Redditch Ward today. It is the only ward we haven't been to, so it was great to go there. Redditch is another very nice community on the outskirts of Birmingham. Love the area and the drive out there. Devon's talk was good and we enjoyed visiting with the YSA in the ward.

After arriving home from church, we had dinner and then short, but much needed naps. Then we went to Harborne to set up for the CES Fireside broadcast from SLC (we get it a week late). Elder and Sister Oaks were the speakers. We had about 45-50 kids attend and I can think of at least  10-15 more that didn't attend, but will probably show up at class. After the fireside we had Institute registration and refreshments (banana splits and pounds cake from Costco). The kids are all excited about starting a new year and so are we. Our new missionary counselor in the YSA presidency, Sarah, was sustained in church today, so Devon set her apart tonight with the help of President Wilkinson, and Josh and John from the YSA presidency.  It is going to be wonderful to have a fully functioning presidency again. Our first presidency meeting is scheduled for next Sunday - hooray!

The rest of our day was spent Skyping with family members - my favorite Sunday thing! Also got to talk with Aunt Wilma.

JOURNAL - September 5 - 11

Monday, September 5

Started the day with my exercises on BYU TV internet. I'm starting to get the routine down, so I don't think I look like a total dork following the steps. The instructor does a stretching routine after the aerobics that I especially like. I'm not sure how much it is helping, but it certainly can't hurt. Made a hamburger stew for dinner, so we could be ready to eat and run after Skyping with Emily and Marianne, and Stephen and Annily.

FHE was especially good tonight. We had a great turnout - the room was full! Yanos gave a great, informal lesson. He talked about a YSA Fireside he attended on Saturday with Elder Bednar. Elder Bednar began his talk by saying that he was there to answer their questions with words, and the spirit was there to teach them the things they needed to learn. Beautiful! Yanos suggested we take a minute and think about something we have learned recently through our personal scripture study or perhaps a personal experience. Several YSA and Yanos shared some amazing thoughts. The spirit was so strong and did teach us each just what we needed.

Madhi, our new convert from Iran, brought the treats. He works at a bakery and brought some yummy cakes he made at work. Lauren, our cute nanny from Australia, did the activity. She is an extremely talented, artsy kind of girl. She taught us how to make friendship bracelets by knotting strands of colorful embroidery floss. The girls loved it! The guys had a nice time visiting. It was fun to do something different.

Tuesday, September 6

This morning we made a home visit to a sweet widow in the ward. She and her husband moved their small family of two children from Scotland to Birmingham in the 60's because of his work. He got sick and died after only a couple of years. She's been here ever since, but now plans to move back to Scotland. She is so excited about the move. It was nice to visit with her.

I just didn't feel very good - sore throat and ears. So, after returning home I decided to rest and take it easy. Made myself a nice hot cup of mint tea, and had a long nap.  It seemed to help because I felt better when I woke up. I made phone calls to some of the YSA. One young man has been in the hospital. He has jaundice. He says they are doing tests, but so far no answers - or if he knows he is not telling. It is worrisome!

After a light supper we boarded the city bus and went to the Hippodrome in city center to watch a stage production of the old Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers movie "Top Hat". It was totally enjoyable - lots of dancing and great songs. The only down side was that the ladies on either side of us sang and swayed to every song! Oh well, glad they enjoyed it, too

Wednesday, September 7

Spent most of the day working on a presentation for our YSA leadership training meeting next week. I hope it's not over kill - we will see. We really want to get this new year off to a good start and want to remind them that everyone needs to reach out and fellowship. The active YSA have really strong friendships and sometimes forget or don't notice that there is a new person standing off by him/herself. I can welcome and talk with them, but unless the YSA take them into their group and befriend them, they won't keep coming. What YSA wants to spend his/her evening talking with the Senior Missionary Couple?

For our activity tonight at Institute we watched "My Girlfriend's Boyfriend". I think they enjoyed it. I always like watching it!

Thursday, September 8

The weather was a little warmer this morning, so we walked over to Cannon Hill Park. We took a different route down a street with some nice houses. One house on a corner was fairly new (by English standards) and very nice. Most of the building here are very old, so it's a bit of a surprise to see a new one. Basically the houses all look the same - very square and two story. There are a lot of houses that are connected. No one has front yards. The front area is usually paved and used to park cars, as parking is always limited. They do have small back yards, but they are fenced so you can't see them.

Friday, September 9

Busy day running errands - grocery shopping, Costco, Wing Yip, bank, and got our hair cut. As we were putting our purchases into the trolly (cart), someone nicked (stole) my IPad! We were purchasing a lot of food for the YSA BBQ tomorrow night and didn't even notice it was gone until we got back to the church. We have notified Costco, but I fear it is a total loss. I'm so bummed!!!

Tonight we went to the church to help clean it. Elder Bednar is in town for meetings this weekend, so there was a big push to get the building cleaned up. Lots of people came to help, which was really good. The building is very old and really needs remodeling and repairing. Generally, the members are not good about cleaning up after themselves. It is quite a problem. But I have to say, everyone really worked hard to get it looking it's best. We even had quite a few YSA come to help. They are so excited about Elder Bednar's visit!!!

Saturday, September 10

This morning was absolutely incredible. All the missionaries from the mission met at Harborne for a meeting with Elder Bednar. We took a group picture and all got to shake hands with him and his wife. We had seats on the front row directly in front of the pulpit. Can't begin to express how wonderful it was to be taught by an Apostle of the Lord. He spoke simple, thought provoking truths, and answered questions from the missionaries for about two hours. No one wanted to leave. Also amazing was the booming chorus of missionaries behind us singing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "Called to Serve".

This evening we met back to Harborne for the tri-stake YSA choir practice and BBQ. We had about 60 YSA come. Not all would sing, but they all enjoyed the BBQ. Unfortunately it rained off and on during the entire time. Devon and some of the YSA set up a tarp in the yard and just kept BBQing. Afterwards we met with the YSA president and counselor to do a "little" planning, but we ended up talking until 11:00 pm. The president has been gone all summer working, so he was really excited to discuss upcoming plans and goals. It was good! We put away the food and cleaned up the kitchen and finally got home around midnight!

Sunday, September 11

Today's the big day...tri-stake conference with Elder Bednar. It was held at a local convention hall and was attended by about 2,000 people. We arrived over an hour early to be sure to get good seats and be there for the YSA choir practice. I was so thrilled. We had about 58 YSA in the choir and at least 30 were from Birmingham. And, they sounded wonderful!!! It was another amazing meeting listening to the great talks from our area seventy, Elder Donaldson and his wife, the three stake presidents, and Sister and Elder Bednar. We came home and I crashed - so tired - had a very nice nap. In the evening we enjoyed watching the 9/11 special "Music and the Spoken Word" with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on BYU TV. It was a very moving tribute. Then I spent the evening typing up my notes from yesterday and today. Everyone here in Birmingham feels so blessed to have an apostle come talk to them. His words and testimony had a big impact on everyone. The cute African couple we have helped teach were there and thoroughly enjoyed all they heard. Bura, the dad, sat on the edge of his seat and soaked in everything that was said. I've attended General Conference many times, but it is much different to hear an apostle talk in a casual, intimate setting like yesterday and today. He had thoughts, but no actual prepared talked - really seemed to teach as the Spirit directed. It was concise, to the point, plain and simple, but also powerful and unwavering. I'm so grateful and blessed to have been there!

JOURNAL - August 29 - September 4

Monday, August 29

The weather has been cooler - Devon would say cooler, I would say colder! We've had mostly cloudy skies, and off and on rain. You can definitely feel fall in the air and the leaves are starting to drop. I bundled up (Devon laughed at me) with scarf and gloves for our walk in Cannon Hill Park. I was warm enough, except for my ears. I'm going to have to find some ear muffs! Today is a "bank holiday" - don't know why and neither does anyone else, but all are glad to be off work. Some of the bigger stores are open. There was a carnival in Cannon Hill Park with lots of the usual thrill and kiddie rides. The park was full of people enjoying the day. In one area of the carnival they brought in sand for the kids to play in, and placed beach chairs around for people to sit in. The area for the carnival was fenced off with a short fence. They charged a pound to even get in to the carnival area, so we just kept walking!

FHE was...interesting. This last weekend was a big YSA National Convention in Nottingham from Friday through today, so most of the YSA were on their way home from the convention. We didn't expect many to show up, and we were right. One girl, who has to ride the train and bus an hour and a half each way, was there. Also there were about 7 kids who don't usually come to our FHE as they live with their family and have FHE with them. They were at the church to help take down the big tent rented for the wedding last Saturday. They stayed and had FHE with us, so it ended up being a fun time.

Tuesday, August 30

I really enjoy my aerobic workout session from BYU TV - like it better than walking in Cannon Hill Park (my ears don't get cold). There are a couple of internet sites I have really enjoyed since being in England. One is BYU TV, the other is the Mormon Channel. I've only recently downloaded the Mormon Channel App on my IPad and I love it! Some nights, after I've crawled into bed, I'll put on one of the conference talks, or articles from the Ensign and lay there and listen to it. And if I wake up in the middle of the night and can't sleep, I'll plug in the ear phones and listen - love it!

I was able to catch up with paper work, emails, notes, and reminders to YSA and some of our stake leaders and others involved with the YSA. I am amazed at the amount of computer time that is needed to keep everything organized.

This afternoon we got a panic call from the Sheldon Ward Elders. They had a teaching appointment with an investigator (a woman) and couldn't find anyone to go teach with them. So we jumped in our car and picked them up. Much to everyone's disappointment, the investigator wasn't home when we got there. So we called one of our less active YSA from that ward and talked with him. His mom didn't want us to drop by, so that was out. Then we decided to just drop in on another less-active YSA that has very active parents - we knew they wouldn't mind if we just dropped by. When we got there he wasn't home, but while we were talking with his dad, the young man called home. I talked with him and invited him to our Institute activity tomorrow night. He said he "might" come, so we'll see. I've been trying to meet him for the entire time we've been here with no luck. He doesn't return my calls, but he did accept my friend request on Facebook. Facebook is the best way to message these kids!

Wednesday, August 31

The YSA from Birmingham, Lichfield, and Coventry Stakes have been asked to sing a musical item for the big tri-stake conference with Elder Bednar in a couple of weeks. Tonight at Institute was the first practice for Birmingham Stake. The other stakes are practicing on their own and we'll all get together to polish it up on the 10th - the day before the conference. I promised pizza after the practice, so we went to Costco and bought the pizza before heading over to the church. We had an Activity Committee meeting before the practice and it was great! It was pure inspiration to call this new committee, which is separate from the Ward Reps. I think it will really improve our activities. The practice was great. We had about 18 show up to sing tonight and others that came for the pizza. There will be many more for the actual conference in 2 weeks as many of the students will be back by then. I can hardly wait for us to get back into the full swing of things with all the kids back.

Thursday, September 1

Today was Zone Meeting in Coventry. We picked up the Elders from Harborne and drove about 45 minutes to the meeting. I am in awe of these young people. Their testimonies and devotion to the gospel are so inspiring. It is really fun to see them together. They are normal young men and women, and really have fun goofing off with each other, but also love being here doing missionary work. There is sadness in the hearts of those about to finish their mission and go home - they don't like to talk about leaving. Some would extend their time if they could, but our mission president doesn't encourage that. After the meeting we all went to a Chinese buffet in downtown Coventry - so yummy! I won't have to eat again today.

Friday, September 2

Busy day cleaning the flat and making a berry pie for the Senior Missionary pot luck tonight. Devon had his driving lesson in preparation for taking the driving test to get his license. There are a few things he needs to work on. They are very fussy about checking in your rear view and side mirrors every time you change lanes, or make a turn. It has to be done before you signal. He mainly needs to work on that. The instructor said to practice, and take another lesson in a few weeks. What a racket!!! She charges  £50.00 ($81.09) per lesson.

We had eight senior couples participate in our pot luck dinner tonight that was held at Wylde Green Chapel in Sutton Coldfield. It is on the same property as the mission office. Unfortunately, President and Sister Ogden couldn't attend - she had her knee "scoped" about 3 weeks ago and is having a lot of pain and problems with it - worse than before the scope. The rest of us had a great time visiting and getting to know each other better. I'm so grateful we are starting to have these get-togethers. We all need the sociality with each other! Oh...and the pie was a huge hit. I thought one senior elder was going to lick the pie pan!

Saturday, September 3

Woke up to cloudy skies after several days of beautiful sunshine, but that's okay. In the morning we rode the bus to city center. I had a question for the girls at the knitting shop - how to make a "3 whole buttonhole?" Cute little Clair turned on her computer, pulled up a tutorial on YouTube, and we both learned how to do it! Duh...why didn't I do that at home? Then we looked in a couple of stores for ear muffs (for me) but with no luck. The stores won't have any until the end of September. It was so crowded downtown we took the bus home as soon as we could. You would not believe how many people go shopping here on Saturday!

I wasn't feeling very well in the afternoon so decided to lay down for a little nap. No sooner had I fallen asleep than the sisters called in a panic needing someone to go teach with them. The member they had scheduled to teach with them apparently forgot, because they couldn't get in touch with her. So we quickly changed our clothes and left. It was a wonderful hour discussing the commandments with the cute African couple we have taught before. So far they have fully accepted and embraced every lesson and have set a baptism date. His boss has finally agreed to rearrange his work schedule so they can start attending church. Next week the Elder Bednar conference will be their first week at church - what a great way to start!

Devon was thrilled to be able to watch BYU's first football game live on the internet! The picture was a little blurry, but no complaints. They beat Ole Miss in the closing minutes of the game! GO COUGARS!

Sunday, September 4

Still cloudy and a little cooler. Church was wonderful today! We called a new YSA Counselor over missionary work - Sarah Hamilton. She is a returned missionary, law school graduate, and also currently the YW President in our ward. She accepted the call and is excited to be on the Council. She is going to be great to work with. We are so excited to have a full presidency up and running very soon!

We ended another great week here in England with Skype conversations with some of our families at home. What a blessing to be able to talk and and see them frequently!