Manchester Stake September 28, 2014

After the Career Workshop ended on Saturday afternoon, we cleaned up the office and went home to pack our bags. We had been invited to attend the Manchester Stake Presidency's 7 a.m. Sunday morning meeting followed by their PEC meeting. Manchester would usually be less than a two hour drive from B'ham but sometimes it's longer if the motorway gets shut down due to car crashes. We made it in the usual amount of time and checked into the Premier Inn. The next morning we were up and at 'em at 5:15 so we could get to the church on time! No one had made it into Manchester Stake before, so we didn't want to blow it! Elder and Sister Lee met us outside the gates at 6:45. Elder Lee had a key to the gate so we got through the doors before anyone else arrived. We also managed to set off the alarm... But we had the code so all was well.

(L-R) 2nd Councilor Jamey Gregson, President Daniel Liptrott, Exec sec Russell Taylor

L-R Jamey Gregson (2nd councilor), President Daniel Liptrott, Steve Scott (1st councellor)

L-R: Elder Lee (hiding), Sister Lee, Sister Judi Gregson (Stake Primary President and mother to Jamey), Sister Marie Viner, (Stake Relief Society President), Simon K. Viner (high council)

In the corner with Elder Jolley: Peter Robinson (high council), seated at table: Russell Taylor (exec sec),
Keith Vinel (high council), seated with big smile: Joseph W. Gilmore (Stake Sunday School)
Brother Gilmore is 89 years old and serving on the high council....what a guy!

The other side of the table: L-R Nigel Walker (high council), Ian Burgen (high council)
Elder Pew from Utah! (high council) One brother who missed being in the photos The stake clerk,
Ben Dixon came into the room late since he had duties to perform for President Liptrott.

Brother Peter Robinson next to Russell Taylor who looks all amazed at his iPad.
Brother Taylor was our connection with
the President. We talked to him on the phone and he got us into the inner sanctum. 

The Career Workshop Sept 27, 2014 The Queen's stamp

The Queen's stamp! Fliers we mailed promoting the Career Workshop.

We taught a Career Workshop to 4 candidates last Saturday, the 27th of September. The Career Workshop instructs each member of the class to create a Coat of Arms in their workbook where they describe themselves. From their descriptions, they formulate "Me in 30 Seconds" which includes positive power statements about themselves. These power statements become the outline for their profile when filling out a CV (resume) or, if they're going for an interview, it teaches them how to talk about themselves without rambling or making negative comments. Other aspects of the workshop teach people how to present themselves when applying for a job. Don't wear white socks with black suit pants. :-) Wear your best clothes; not worn out jeans and t-shirts.

First candidate to arrive was Rickie Griffith, who's 21, a convert who has been baptized only one month, who's a college graduate that made it through catering school. The bad news was that it should only take 1 year, but Rickie is autistic so it took 5 years...but he DID IT! Persistence counts. We helped him with his CV and hopefully convinced him to think more positively. (CV stands for Curriculum Vitae - fancy name for resume.) He's working part time now in a warehouse, but would like full time work. We'll work on his CV this week and re-send it to him so it's ready to accompany him to his next job interview.

We had Jamie Townsend who's 42, a husband and father of 3 children, who was converted to the church 10 years ago. He spent the past 6 years as the Bishop of his ward in Telford. A good man - willing to accept the calling to serve as Bishop after only 4 years in the church! He has been at the same job for the past 25 years, moving from one level to the next. But he's tired of it and would like a new career. We'll be meeting with him again this week to help him fine tune his CV, and have him practice his skills for interviews.

The third candidate was Ion Mihaiteanu from Romania. He has upgraded his job from one that involved hard physical labor to one with moderate physical labor. He's now working for Sainsbury Warehouse, restocking a huge freezer. It's a chilly job! He was a banker in his former country, so he's highly skilled and learns quickly...definitely over-qualified for his Sainsbury job. So we're his English coaches. Ion loved the workshop. Afterwards, he asked if we would be teaching more workshops like that. When we replied that we would, he said, "Good! I like this!" (His English is improving...)

We also had a nice surprise because our friend John Taroni, came  to the workshop. He's the SR specialist in Coventry. We've met him several times before and he's a very nice fellow. He's the eligible bachelor we mentioned in one of our earlier emails...if any of you single women are interested, we can line you up. :-) Get your plane tickets ladies!

Elder Jolley with (R-L) Rickie, Ion, Jamie, and John Taroni

John Taroni, Jamie Townsend, Ion Mihaiteanu & Rickie Griffith 

Stephen and Thomsena Anjum with Sharoon and Ray

The Anjums: Sharoon, Thomsena, Stephen and Reyshal (Ray for short)

Sister Jolley, Elder Jolley, and the Anjum family
We told you the Anjum's story in another blog. Elder Jolley continues to work with Stephen Anjum to formulate his business plan. E & S Jolley have been taking Thomsena to view flats closer to the SR Centre. These photos were taken near their flat in Smethwick.

Return to Benbow Farm Pond Sept 15, 2014 (Happy B-day Sean!)

Benbow Pond - so green with algae you can't tell that it's there...

Elder and Sister Lee preparing for a photo shoot at the pond.

Elder and Sister Lee - oops we missed the Pond.

Together again at the Benbow Farm Pond

Bringing in the Sheep (reminds us of a song)

The beautiful Malvern Hills where Wilford Woodruff loved to roam.

The Malvern Hills are near Ledbury, England.

There are two hikers with their dogs on the tip top of this hill. Can you see them?

Pretty weeds in the Malvern Hills

Ashton Stake/North Wales September 6-9

We traveled to Bolton on Saturday the 6th to meet with the stake self-reliance specialists there, Brother Paul and Sister Rachel Knight. (See photo in Sisters and Elders blog episode.) We had a nice visit with them over dinner, where they also got acquainted with the Lees. Elder and Sister Lee will be the SR missionaries for their area. On Sunday morning we attended the Knights' ward called the Bolton Ward, which is located in the Ashton Stake. After sacrament meeting we met with the Knights to review what they have been doing, and to assess what support they want in the future.

While in Bolton we spent a night in the Premier Inn.
The view included the Reebok Soccer Stadium.

After leaving Bolton Ward on Sunday, we travelled to North Wales and stayed Sunday and Monday night in a B&B there. The scenery was absolutely beautiful and the weather couldn't be better.

Amazing view of the pier near our B&B in North Wales.

Sunday night,  in North Wales

Gill, owner and operator of the Cleifiog B&B

Elder Jolley in front of Cleifiog (f is pronounced like 'v')

Look who we ran into in Beaumaris! And they're staying in the same B&B!

View of the tide coming in at Beaumaris

The amazing views never end in this corner of the world.

Sister Jolley at Conwy Castle in North Wales

Elder Jolley in his play clothes at Conwy Castle

Time for a "break" with the Guardian of the Castle

The view from Conwy Castle

A Bird's Eye View from the Castle

And here's the bird...Jonathan Livingston himself

In the book, Men With a Mission, the story of the early Apostles' missions to England in 1837-1841: "The Twelve had a healthy interest in the things around them, and considered it one of their responsibilities as Latter-day Saints to learn everything they could even if occasionally doing so meant taking some time away from preaching. They took seriously an 1833 revelation through Joseph Smith that concluded, "It is my will that you should hasten to translate my scriptures, and to obtain a knowledge of history, and of countries and of kingdoms, of laws of God and man, and all this for the salvation of Zion."

Glory Hallelujah and Amen...

Elders and Sisters

Dinner with Elder Parr (left) and Elder Steflik (office elders)

Sister Vicki Lee and Elder Mike Lee with Brother Martin Gardner
The new Self-Reliance missionaries for Manchester plus our "boss"

Ashton Stake Specialists met us in Coast to Coast for dinner.
L-R Sister Lee, Elder Jolley, Sister Jolley, Sister Knight, Brother Knight, Elder Lee

Elder and Sister Hilton from St. George, UT
There is also a St. George in North Wales

Elder and Sister Hilton invited us to their flat for dinner the first month we arrived. They're a fun couple who are over the YSA. They also get the pleasure of inspecting the young missionaries' flats. Couple missionaries are exempt from inspections. Whew! We finally reciprocated last month by inviting the Hiltons over for lunch in our flat on a P-day. They showed us how to change our light bulbs, which is another interesting learning curve over here. How many Americans does it take to change an English light bulb?...At least two!

Workshops July - August 2014

Sister Karen Gardner, Brother Martin Gardner's wife and stake SR specialist for Lichfield Stake, brought a sister named Rose into the office so we could help her with a business plan. Rose is from Jamaica and she's a traditionally built woman...those of you who have read the book series The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency will identify with that description!

We helped Rose go through the 'self-employment workshop in a nutshell'. She told us about her ambition to own a restaurant. Her business idea is to start a restaurant with healthy foods, a family atmosphere and no alcohol. She's looking at a location in Wolverhampton where she would be near the university as well as being near several other restaurants that are open only in the evening. She planned to go right to work and have the business plan finished within a week. That was over two weeks ago and we're still waiting to see her completed business plan. So, Rose's story will be continued...(In the meantime, Rose has found employment...so maybe that's the end of the story!)

Shangkun Wei is graduating August 2014 from Loughborough University (located in the East Midlands in Leicestershire) in Materials Science and Technology. He came into the office for help with job hunting. We helped him get his CV (resume) polished up. If he finds a job in the UK before January 2015, he can stay. Otherwise, he must return to China. He has one brother and one sister in China which is very unusual. Most have only 2 children there. (It turns out his sister was adopted.)

Shangkun Wei (David) and Elder Jolley

Adam Garner from Cannock Ward. This was his second meeting with Elder Jolley.                                                                         

Elder Jolley with Ion (E-on) Mihaiteanu (Me-hates-a-u) from Romania 

Ian Turner, Bishop of one of the Birmingham wards and local entrepreneur
with Elder Jolley. Notice E. Jolley's care-worn visage. Whew! This is one tough mission! :-)

The Royal Edinburgh MilitaryTattoo August 15, 2014

We flew into Scotland on Friday, and attended the famous Edinburgh Tattoo that evening. We didn't know it would take hours to get to the B&B on the bus, but the city was packed and the traffic was terrible. The B&B was decent, and the host and hostess were friendly and more than helpful. Ted and Dot Baigan own Aaron's Lodge.

Dot Baigan - very nice lady

Ted Baigan - Master of the House

Elder and Sister Jolley - the Brummies are ready to head back to Birmingham

The theme for this year's Tattoo was "Our Home, Friends and Family". The Commonwealth embraces 53 different countries, including many small states and island nations representing 2.2 billion citizens.
This year in a Commonwealth journey around the world, the nations who performed in the Tattoo included Malta, South Africa, India, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago. After the performance there was a huge fireworks show. Too bad the Jolleys forgot to charge up their camera battery! We need a secretary!

The Band of the Armed Forces of Malta. The drummers' precision movements mimicked toy soldiers.

New Zealand Rain Dance (fortunately it didn't work that night) It was the first dry night of the whole week!

The Lone Piper looking great in his kilt, escorting Major General Nick Eeles, General Officer Commanding Scotland, who is also Governor of Edinburgh Castle. He's the one who has his back turned to the camera.

If you can see past Sister Jolley's nose, notice the castle in the background.

During the performance, the castle was transformed with beautiful lights and patterns.

The Massed Bands of Her Majesty's Royal Marines 

The naked natives followed us here! These are not they, but there were Zulus who performed  for the Tattoo. We saw them perform in South Africa a few years ago when we visited President and Sister Brock in Durban. At least in Durban we had the option of topless or clothed. We chose to go clothed. (GONG! Lame joke!)