Staying Alive

Most mornings, we have until 10 a.m. before we need to be in the office. So Elder Jolley goes out for a wog = walk + jog. Sister Jolley packs a lunch or does whatever she does...and when Elder Jolley returns, they do their scripture study. Once at the office, Sister Jolley ties on her walking shoes and goes for a walk on the lovely path just past the Wylde Green meeting house. This is a beautiful walking or biking path and along the way there are wild flowers, daisies, forests, fields and a stream. There are even flowers growing IN the stream. This great path goes for miles. Sister Jolley usually takes a 40 minute walk, if there isn't a workshop to teach in the office, and if the rain is not pouring down. This has been a nice spring/summer so far - lots of sunny days, or partly cloudy days.

        Morning Glories in the Wildwood                                                       Walk-a My Soul    

                           

                   Queen Anne's Lace

                             More QAL

                     Daisies Galore

                     Flowers in the Stream





First Prize!

                               Thistles are Scotland's national flower but they also grow in England.

                 
                     The Holly berries are green. Imagine how beautiful they are once they turn red!

The Royal Flat

Front of Flat

Back of Flat

Our flat is on the ground floor - the three windows to the left of the entrance. The first night in our flat, we were exhausted. We were sleeping when we heard someone banging on the door. Then we heard a chime, which was the doorbell but we thought it was the phone. Finally, more knocking on the door. Dean pulled his sweats on and went to the door. There stood the young couple from next door, alerting us that we had left our keys in the door! (Imagine Psycho music...shower scene)

Here I am outside the back door..don't I look happy? It makes me think of the Tongans & Samoans performing at the PCC in Hawaii. One of my favorite lines is when a 'native' says, "we are the happy people" but he's scowling. So don't believe this photo. We are VERY happy. Really! :-)

Our apartment has one full and one half bedroom. Since Elder Jolley doesn't want to listen to snoring, he sleeps in the half bedroom in a twin bed. He never gets lonely since he has the ironing board, and a drying rack, for hanging any clothing that can't tolerate cooking.                        

                                             comfy twin bed                 Trusty drying rack

                                                             Beauty of an ironing board

The clothes washer/dryer combo is in the kitchen. It actually 'cooks' the clothes because there is no vent for it and no air circulation. Anything dried in the dryer comes out about the same as if you had put it in the oven, hence the ironing board is usually up and ready for duty!

Elder Jolley also has his own private bathroom. He has placed small LED lights around the mirror so he can see how to shave. There is only one bare light bulb hanging from the ceiling.

                                                             The Man's Room

Sister Jolley has the Queen bed in the LARGE bedroom AND in her bathroom, she has a toilet paper stob to stack the TP rolls on! Ahhhhh the luxury!

                         The Pigmy Shower




     
                                 

                                                                         

The Queen's Throne with awesome                Hot & Cold Running Water    
TP stob                                                              But not at the same time!



We have two dishwashers -the professional kind...us! Our refrigerator is about 1/2 the size of a fridge in the U.S. but we could have had an even smaller one, so we're grateful! There's a Costco here, & an Asda, which is the U.K. version of Walmart. We're getting our flat furnished with a few items that make it more livable...new dish towels, extra sheets, and new curtains - the old ones were icky, ragged and droopy. We also bought some serving utensils and extra eating utensils. Today we had our first guests over for Sunday dinner. Elder and Sister Jones had invited us to their home at least 3 times in the past month so we wanted to return the favor. We made a plan to celebrate Elder Jones' birthday on the 4th of July. What a great day to be born! Could one of our future grandkids try to be born on Independence Day? Hope you all have a great holiday this week! We love you!

Here's a 4th of July joke from Brock...What did the big firecracker say to the little firecracker? .......My POP is bigger than your Pop! :-)

                                            Elder Jolley - trying to get out of his chair :-)

                                                                The Living Room
                               


                                  side window





                                                                               
Stove 350 degrees = 176 Celsius


                                                          View into kitchen from table

England, home where our fathers lived

We hope the journey to England wasn't as long for you as it was for us...it might have felt that way to you when you read that last longggg blog! :)

                                                   Birmingham Self-Reliance Centre

                                                Mission Office and Self-Relaince Centre

We're on a hamster wheel now and we're really way behind on posting anything! Still waiting to hear if Casey's wife, Amber had her baby yet???? If not, our next granddaughter will arrive on Monday the 23rd! And we're thrilled that Kimball's chemo has been working to shrink the tumor! Our prayers are being heard!


Mark and Linh have been keeping tabs on our house and they found a few moths flying about. Then Ryan and family came up for a visit and found ants in the kitchen. They grabbed the bug spray and made short work of the critters. As soon as we moved out, the bugs moved in! Luckily we have kids around who are in and out, and the neighbors across the street, Evan and Carol Love, who are keeping their eyes peeled too.


We're helping with a family history open house tonight (June 20th) at the church (Wylde Green Ward) next to the Employment Office where we work. We're taking some of the names of our ancestors to see if we can find anyone to "visit" at the cemetery or perhaps some long lost cousins from the maternal or paternal lines. I met a sister today who has Jolley ancestors but she said she had never met a Jolley in England. Maybe they all migrated to Scotland or Ireland. These are pictures of the church and the office where we work. The employment office is connected to the mission office.

                                                     Wylde Green Ward & Stake Centre

The weather has been mostly nice here ever since we arrived. There have been only a few rainy days. Perhaps it's because I brought an umbrella that my sister Judy gave me, and since I arrived coat-less, I bought 2 raincoats. If you're prepared...the sun will shine! :)

We're busily preparing to teach workshops and learning the new self-reliance program so we can teach the stake presidencies once all the pegs are in place. We don't want to make a move ahead of the Area authorities. The changes will come to the stake presidents through the ecclesiastical lines before being taught through the Self-Reliance Services. There are new lesson materials coming in August. We can't wait to get those!

We went to Nottingham last night to visit Stake President Jonathan Gray and his presidency members. They are some very sharp men and they're excited to learn more about the new program. They have some "SR specialists" in mind whom they can call. President Gray asked why we were here. Elder Jolley said, "we don't know" but he went on to clarify and to say because we love the Lord and want to serve etc. I have been thinking that the real reason we were called to this particular mission is so we could learn to work together. We have always worked at our individual work but not as a unit. This calling will force us to learn to work together instead of being so independent. It's also something we LOVE...self-reliance is a soapbox where we feel comfortable!

In Nottingham, we saw lots of Robin Hood attraction posters. We'll probably get back that way to do more training so we will visit some of the sites and take photos for the grandkids to see.





Nottingham Area/Stake Building






We're assigned to a ward in Sheldon instead of the one closest to us. This building is an old Methodist church that the LDS church bought and converted for local members' needs.  It's a very old structure.  The Sheldon Ward needs more help than the other wards in the area.  The Bishop is a wonderful brother who moved to England from Germany. His wife was originally from Switzerland. They are valiant souls but what a JOB they have! We have been asked to home teach 6 families. And from what Elder and Sister Jones tell us (they are in the same ward and have HT families too) it will be memorable. We actually did HT for Brother and Sister Martin at the church today because they leave town tomorrow morning and will be gone all week. The Martins will be leaving the ward in August to fulfill a mission at the Preston Temple.

                                                        Sheldon Ward meeting house

We just mailed postcards to each of our kids' families so they will have to tell us how long it takes for the mail to arrive from here. It's definitely more expensive to mail a postcard across the ocean.  :-)

We will tell you about Warwick Castle in the next blog...we have some fun photos to add to that one!

Time to Pack & Fly Away Across the Pond

After the training week beginning May 12th at the MTC we came home on Friday, May16th and began to wash laundry and pack for our mission in England. I really wish I hadn't packed my pillow. I could have packed a coat. I wasn't getting much sleep, so that may have influenced my thinking. I did pack at least 12 pair of shoes/boots, while Dean arrived with 4 pair of shoes, but lots of coats. :)


Sunday through Tuesday (May 18-20) we were in SRS training, with Monday and Tuesday of that training conducted in the LDS church office building in SLC. We had all day Wednesday to finish packing. It became an all day/all night job for me. Actually I had a one hour nap that night.


All went as planned on Thursday morning (May 22nd). Our son Mark came to take us to the airport at 5:45 a.m. right on time...he waited patiently for at least 10 minutes and then helped load our bags into the back of his Evco truck and dumped us out at the airport at 6:30. Actually he gave us a lovely send off to start our journey across the pond...an English flag, biscuits & tea etc. :) (We'll see if he actually reads this blog - ha!)


Upon entering the airport, we began the longest two days of our life. My bag...the one with the scriptures in it...was too heavy. I had to unpack a few things, mostly the scriptures, so it passed muster. Dean said it was still overweight but the lady was just being nice. I had weighed the bags at home and they were under the 50 pound limit but by the time we got to the airport they had gained weight...


When we arrived at our gate, the other couple from the MTC, Elder and Sister Blaire were already there. They were worried that we might not make the flight. But it didn't even feel 'close' to us. We had at least half an hour to wait around. :) We were scheduled to fly to New Jersey Newark Airport where we would make our connection that evening to continue on to Birmingham. The flight from SLC to Newark was a long one, so we were thrilled when the pilot told us we would get in early.      But...we began to circle the airport until finally we were getting low on fuel.




Then the pilot gave us the bad news. Due to poor weather in the area around Newark, we were being diverted to Raleigh-Durham N.C. airport...our son Nate's old stomping grounds where he served two years as a missionary. We landed. Then we began a nightmare of waiting on the tarmac...and finally...we were given a gate. We could get off the plane if we stayed close by in case we were cleared for take off. For several hours we played a game called "get on the plane!...get off the plane!".


We became well-acquainted with the Blaires (Boyd and Marilyn) while we all suffered through the on and off the plane and 'now we have to leave this gate because someone else needs it'...'oh no we don't'...'never mind'...and in the terminal bathroom, a sudden announcement caused panic 'get on the plane for immediate takeoff!'




And then? The pilot announced that the Newark Airport had closed down for the night. We disembarked and waited in a long line with the other passengers to have new tickets issued for the flight to Birmingham that would be leaving the following evening as well as new tickets for the flight from N.C. to N.J. early the next morning. The airlines booked us a hotel for our overnight stay, but first we had to retrieve ALL our checked luggage.




We and the Blaires had a trolley loaded with a dozen bags. We went to the curb outside and waited for a shuttle to the hotel. We waited at least 20 minutes but when the shuttle finally arrived the driver abruptly decided that the hotel was full. He had started loading our bags but without talking to anyone at the hotel, he removed them, said the hotel was full, and drove off. We wondered if he recognized our badges and decided he didn't want to take us to the hotel. This was N.C. What do you think Nate? :)




Elders Jolley and Blaire went back into the airport (it was now 11 p.m. or later) and requested a new hotel voucher while we sisters stood guard over all our earthly possessions. We were very relieved when we finally saw the Hilton Inn shuttle arrive. After loading and unloading all that luggage, we were in a room and in a bed by 1 a.m. AT LAST! I'm not sure if we were ever more grateful for a comfortable bed with clean white sheets! We had at least a 4 hour nap before our wake up call!




The plane departed as scheduled for Newark. We arrived there with many hours to kill before our evening flight to Birmingham, so Sister Blaire and I had a beauty treatment. She had a mani and I had a pedi. It felt great and helped to while away the time. We ate lunch and had many walks about the terminal. We were relieved when we were called to board the plane to Birmingham. There had been rumors that it might not take off.


We were SO looking forward to our lovely economy comfort seats that we had paid an extra 125 bucks to purchase. They usually recline and have extra leg room. We had extra leg room but no recline feature so we sat straight up all night. That was one long, miserable flight! Whew! We were happy campers to get off that plane. And no one was ever happier to see those young Elders arrive in the mission van!

Self Reliance Services Training

For 3 days following PMG training, we spent with the great men leading the Self Reliance Services Group in Salt Lake City.  We were able to spend many hours with Elder Gay (Seventy), Elder Sitati (Seventy) along with many exceptional business men who have been called to full time positions.  These brother include Elder Falabella, Geoff Davis, Rex Allen, Tim Sloan, Bro. Gardner, Bro. Hunsaker and several others.  There job for past two years is to rethink the areas formally known as welfare and employment services and revamp these programs for the world church of today.   The coming significant revolution of thought is truly a "NEW DAY" as the brethren call it.   The new self reliance approach is coming forth the end of 2014 and teaches in a new way (through the priesthood channel...not separate departments) with brand new methods to help make people of the church "doers" and "workers" thereby help each of us reach our potential as children of God and leaders in our sphere.

The "new day" folds the perpetual education fund (PEF),  employment and self employment effort into one seamless priesthood operation.  Thus, the assessment of ones needs, career education, helping one get a good or better job and/or starting a new business will be taking place at the stake/ward level where the people of need are.  The methods that will be taught to bring this about is using focused SR committees, help groups and one on one mentoring and significant revamped training materials.

This will be our task while in England.  To help with the stakes/wards as they learn, embrace and execute the "NEW DAY".

The MTC

We arrived at the MTC on May 12, 2014. The first morning was registration and badges. Then we had lunch in the cafeteria...the excitement was high since we had heard all about the wonderful food there...gas inducing and fat filled...it lived up to its reputation. 

We had orientation in the afternoon in the chapel next door to the MTC. There they divided us into districts of 4 or 5 couples. These district couples became dear friends in the few days we were there.



Days 2, 3 and 4 were spent in classes where we learned how to teach from Preach My Gospel (PMG). We enjoyed using role play on one another and then we taught local resident volunteers from wards.  

the first two lessons from PMG. Each day the classes were taught by young RMs and sisters. Their spirit and enthusiasm kept us old people awake.


After several days of practice and role play, we taught couples from the other groups as they became investigators and we became missionaries. Then we were investigators with a new couple. We had a great time with that and made some more friends. Our "missionaries" were the Allphins. It turns out that Elder Allphin's uncle was Dean's mission president! Elder David Allphin also played football at BYU with some of Dean's old teammates from Payson High School.

Much to our surprise, we stayed in the married housing Wyview West (just across the street from the apartments where Amber and Casey met).  Wyview apartments are the overflow living quarters for both seniors and missionaries


On Friday we picked up our Visas and passports and extra badges for backup. For the next year we will wear those badges everywhere...even to bed and in the shower. Not! :)


We expected the MTC to be grueling so we were pleasantly surprised that we enjoyed ourselves. :) 

Can you find Waldo?????

Cheers!

Surprise!

When we put in our mission papers in January, we signed up for one year, so we were pretty confident that we would be called to serve in the good old USA.....even our stake president thought so as we met with him. He reviewed the locations where other seniors in our stake were serving for a year or less.  So in our minds, we'd already loaded up the back of our Yukon so we could drive there when the call came.  When we got all the family together on Thursday night, January 30, 2014 (via internet and home), we had all the grand kiddies and adults join in guessing where we might go.  We got some very thoughtful guesses and reasons why.  None of those foreign places mentioned seemed right.....only the USA spots!!!  When we opened the call and Celia read the location, we were both dumbfounded.  Emma (Sean's oldest) had guessed England, so she won the 'raffle'!  In fact, our home base was to be Birmingham (which is in the area called the Midlands shown in the UK map in yellow).  Suddenly,  panic set in as the Yukon load of stuff was immediately whittled down to two suitcases each.  We were asked to serve as Perpetual Education Fund Missionaries (PEF) which we later learned was to be called Self Reliance Services which included PEF, Employment and Self-employment.

WHAT A SURPRISE!!!