London BT Christmas Concert December 15, 2014

Royal Albert Hall

Elder and Sister Jones

By the time the concert began, all the empty seats had been filled.

The papers were copies of Christmas carols for the sing-a-long.

Pre-performance candid photo shoot

Elder and Sister Jolley

London Concert Chorus, London Concert Orchestra, R.A.F. Squadronaires, John Rigby conductor

Amira Willighagen - a 10 year old girl, winner of Holland's Got Talent, was one of the guest singers. She sang Ave Maria and O, Holy Night. She has a beautiful voice that would put most grown women to shame. If you didn't see her you could not believe she was singing those songs!

The performers involved the audience to sing the 12 Days of Christmas. They had everyone taking part in actions for the song. The audience loved it since they could get up and move a bit - the actions were hilarious...sorry no video! Our camera went dead just before the end of the program.

Before the night was over, the whole audience was raising the rafters as they sang the Christmas carols. Even without the words, they seemed to know all the songs. The Christmas Spirit in that Hall was amazing. We were glowing with the realization that these people who claim not to be religious, for the most part absolutely LOVE the carols that sing praises to our Heavenly King!

This wonderful experience brought us a big dose of Christmas Cheer!

Who has a beard that's long and white?!

Santa? You found us in England!!!

Oh Christmas Tree! 

Santa the Wylde Green Ward loves you!

What would you like Santa to bring you this year?

George and Audrey...on the naughty list!

Next Year's Santa needs to eat more pudding!

Sharon with her two boys, Christopher and Alexander

Lots of good food!

The Yule Log

Alexander wearing one of the quality gifts Santa gave him.

Celebrations 2014

Sister Thomsena Anjum in their home, preparing to enjoy some carrot cake.
Elder and Sister Jolley came by to celebrate her birthday with her favorite treat..
She is wearing one of her beautiful Pakistani outfits.  

The Maloney Family Christmas Dinner
L-R: Nickie, Jake, Chris, Stephen & Nicholas

Elders Peterson and Farley join us for some Christmas cheer.

Nadia the Russian Princess out for Christmas 'Tea' with Sister Jolley.

Eliza Stilger's Baptism Day (Bishop & Anna Stilger's daughter)

Our camera battery died just as the Bishop and Eliza were posing in their white clothing. So we missed getting any shots of the main attraction. We'll ask the Stilger family if they can send us some of their photos to post soon. It was a special day for Eliza alone. They don't have the big stake baptisms here as we usually do in the U.S. When our granddaughters Aly and Lydia were baptized this year they each had their very own day, so it does happen - now and then! 

Elder Jolley got a few shots of the amazing food tables before the crowd hit...

Bread, Meat& Cheese Trays to feed the 5000...the whole ward = 100 people, on a good day.
See the grapes halfway down? E&S Jolley's 'healthy' contribution to the meal :-)

November 16th was Eliza Stilger's 8th birthday which happened to fall on Sunday. The baptismal service was held
immediately following church. The whole ward was invited and they fed us all with sandwiches and trimmings.
Bishop Stilger is a successful businessman who lives large. He and his wife Anna are very spiritual and loving people -
the backbone of Sheldon Ward. Sometimes the Bishop teaches Sunday School and then speaks in Sacrament Meeting!

Beautiful birthday cake and cupcakes with fondant frosting
A wonderful celebration for Eliza to remember...

Christmas Decorations 2014

 Our flat looks real "purty". It will be sad to take away our nice decorations after the holidays!

This lovely tree cost 5 pounds at Asda! It has batteries instead of electrical wiring.

So...Elder Jolley is turning into Ernest Gibson. He put the lights in the window around the Nativity. What do you think? Do you love it?

Sister Jolley complained. "This is how you're leaving the wires???"

Elder Jolley threw out the challenge, "You're welcome to do it yourself if you can do better."

"Behind every successful man is a good woman. Behind every successful woman is herself."

Sister Jolley took the bait. If you want something done right, do it yourself. That's what self-reliance is all about! (Pray that Elder Jolley hasn't caught the red neck disease! :-)

Our Costco Nativity looks perfect in our window

The Reason for the season: Mary, Joseph and the Babe, lying in a Manger

We will donate our 'sweet' Nativity to the ward after Christmas. They can decorate with it or sell it at their next fundraiser.

Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving Day in Birmingham, England 2014. We gathered with a few missionary couples we had met and a lot that we had never met before. We had a great time and the food was amazing! If you use a magnifying glass you can see those heavily laden tables in the background.

                       Closest to the camera - Elder and Sister Hilton who leave in December -                  
Heading home to St. George.  They're so fun...we will miss them!
The others at that table are unknown to us...

Sister Burt and Sister Gray who work next door to us. Oh! Look behind these
sisters and you'll get a tiny glimpse of our delicious feast! 

  Two sisters on this end of the table work in Solihull with the Jones.                                                                                          At the far end are Elder & Sister Gray& Brother & Sister Fell.
Sister Fell is one of Sister Jolley's visiting teachers.
Next to them are Elder & Sister Jones. Not sure who is in the purple.

In addition to the usual missionary meetings and conferences, Sister and President Rasmussen hosted a Thanksgiving luncheon for all the couples in the Birmingham area. We met over at the Wylde Green Ward next door to the mission office. Everyone brought something to the feast. Sister Rasmussen set up the tables and decorated them, and ordered the turkey and ham. She also made 3 gallons of gravy! Everything tasted yummy especially that pumpkin pie! :-)  You will notice that the cameraman did not take close up photos of the food! The most important thing about Thanksgiving - other than being thankful for our blessings! Sigh...Boring!

President Rasmussen had a rough week last week. He got very little sleep since he had a suicidal missionary on his hands. The poor missionary will be taken to board a plane for home tomorrow. We hope the young man will find help, since it sounds like he doesn't have a supportive family waiting.

The President gave a brief message on gratitude. Across the table, hidden by Sister Burt,  
sits the missionary who will be sent home the 1st of December. At the end of the table
is Elder Higham, head office assistant, who will be getting a transfer any time now.
We just start to like them and suddenly they're gone. :-(

Sister Julie and President Craig Rasmussen in early November 2014

Home Teaching Trials

When we last went home teaching, this harmless looking woman gifted Elder and Sister Jolley some Christmas pudding with brandy sauce. Sian Davies does counseling for a living, so she probably needs some of that sauce to keep her going! :-) She is coming to our home for a Christmas dinner tomorrow night - the 1st of December. What shall we feed her? She probably won't notice if we slip a bit of rum in her punch!

We missionaries have to be on our guard every minute! Even our ward members try to tempt us! And they usually succeed. We drank down that brandy sauce in a hurry...Oops! Were we supposed to pour it on the steamed pudding?

Sian Davis, Sheldon Ward

Standing in the line up...yes, SHE'S the one!

We've sent out photos of our other HT families in the past. But in case you have forgotten the Carrolls: Patrick, Marguerite and Timmy, here they are again...

Patrick on the right, Tim in the chair, Marguerite on left

Speaking of trials, we missed our monthly visit with the Carrolls in November, since Patrick got the chicken pox! He's in his 60s. That would be awful! These good people care for Tim although he's no relation to them. Marguerite was friends with the next door neighbor who cared for Tim before she passed away. Then Marguerite took Timmy in. Patrick is now Tim's official care-giver. Patrick had never been married when he met Margie. He was a drinker before he joined the church. She was divorced and had children to raise. They met and got along famously right away. They're a very nice couple - their faith is amazing. After they had married, Patrick was still having trouble with his drinking habit. One day, Margie asked him if he had prayed to the Lord to take that desire away. He said he hadn't. They prayed together and he never drank again after that day.

A couple of months ago, the Carroll family took a trip together and Margie left her purse in a restaurant where they stopped to eat. She didn't discover it was missing until they arrived at their destination. Patrick turned around and went back to the restaurant where they told him they hadn't seen the purse. So he assumed it was left at their first stop along the way. He wound up driving 4 hours, without a complaint, to try and retrieve the purse for her, but he came back empty-handed. When they returned home a few days later, Margie told Patrick she wanted to stop by the restaurant again because she was sure that was where she had left it. She had prayed about it. (She was more worried about her temple recommend than the bit of money in it.) When she asked the girl in the restaurant, the girl said that she remembered when her husband had stopped by but there was no purse there. Margie turned to go but felt prompted to talk to the manager who was standing near by. He said, "Oh yes! Your purse is right here!" It was under the counter the whole time. Happy Day!

Lydia's Baptism November 1, 2014

Lydia was baptized November, 1st.  She was pretty nervous before but I practiced with her a lot to boost her confidence. She thought people would laugh at her if her foot came up. I think I was the nervous one once we stepped into the water. All went well, it only took one dunk. 

A big shout out to some of the Jolley's who made her day special Uncle Troy (Pianist), cousin Rachel for her talk on Baptism,  Aunt Linh for her talk on the Holy Ghost, and Mark was one of the witnesses. 

We were glad Mom and Dad were able to attend thanks to technology! We missed those who couldn't make it.  We know you would have been there had circumstances allowed.  Love you all! 

On the Streets of London

Each poppy represents the death of a member of the armed forces from WWI

It has been 100 years this year since the start of WWI

We went to War Horse in the New London Theatre. It was an excellent way to commemorate armistice day! The 'boys' spent some time studying the map in order to get us there.

I don't care what these women say, I'm NOT asking for directions!

Elder Jolley with Elder and Sister Jones "Look! We're right here."

Cantilevered Trickery

The little guy is wondering: How is that possible?

Sitting on an invisible chair

The Talking Dog said to Sister Jones, I'll bet you were a teacher!
He's pretty good at guessing the profession of passersby. He also speaks dog.

Fireworks and the Moon/Guy Fawkes Celebration Nov 2014

The U.K. sets off fireworks for a week before and after Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Bonfire Night (November 5th). We're not sure why it's named after him since the celebration involves burning him in effigy. He was involved in a conspiracy to blow up Parliament in 1605 but the plot was thwarted and Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators were hanged, drawn and quartered...the chosen gruesome method of dispatching convicted zealots of the day. They have burned him in effigy every year for more than 400 years now!