Mongolians, Missionaries, and Jolly Old England

In Hradec Kralove, we have many Mongolian investigators and converts. Last Sunday we met with them in their Sunday School classroom. Soon they will need to create their own branch!
We welcomed in this group of handsome young missionaries fresh from the MTC. We are excited to have them here. Their enthusiasm will only do great things for the mission.Sadly, we had to say good-bye to this group of wonderful missionaries. We will never forget them. It reminds me of a poem a student of mine wrote when I was leaving my job:

Friends may come and go
But never be apart.
They keep each others' smiles
Deep within their heart.

We had the opportunity to travel to Preston, England this last week. I fell in love with the beautiful country villages that are a backdrop to the church history that took place there.


While in Preston, we ran into missionaries who are still in the MTC in England. I took a shot of them during their first venture out contacting people on the street. I think they were surprised when they ran into a group of mission presidents and their wives; but we had a good time talking to them.
On the banks of the River Ribble is where 8000 people lined up to watch people be baptized into the church. We were there in August, and the water was pretty cold. These English ancestors must have been pretty sturdy souls!
We stayed at a beautiful country resort on 7 acres outside of town. It had been fully restored and updated with every modern day convenience. It was a great place for a Mission Presidents' Seminar.
One of the highlights of the trip was to attend the Preston, England temple. Here we are with our good friends who oversee the Poland Warsaw mission. We came out together 2 years ago, and we will go home together next year.

I just had to take a picture of this. My maiden name is Dickson, so when I saw that I come from a long line of "solicitors who care", well, I got pretty excited. I have found my roots!

Smiths, Matthew, and a Wedding--Oh my!

In the Czech republic, it is a requirement to be married civilly before you can be sealed in the temple; so we were able to attend a Czech wedding of a return missionary from Liberec in the Decin castle. It was so beautiful! These are a few scenes from the wedding.
Castle rose garden
The groom kissed the bride.
The happy couple coming out of the castle.
A foggy morning outside a different castle in the Czech republic.
Our friends, Rob and April Smith came to visit for a couple of days. It was so good to see them! Here they are in the METRO with President Slovacek on our p-day.
Oh these elders! We were looking all over for them so we could start our meeting, and President found them in the men's room painting on fake mustaches. They said it was Mustache Monday. They washed them off eventually.
Matthew came back to Prague today! We were so happy to pick him up from the airport. While we were walking in downtown Prague, we came across our assistants who were taking in the sights on their p-day. Matthew had a joyful reunion with the two. It's so nice to have him back.

The video is what we experience walking over Charles Bridge. The guy on the sax is pretty good. Notice the castle in the background.