Pam Gets Baptized!

Every missionary’s goal is to help others gain a testimony of the restored gospel and enter the waters of baptism.  Really, there is nothing like it!  And what makes this one even more special is that Pam Clarke is not just an investigator, she is my friend.  After 7 months of investigating the church, three sets of missionaries and a lot of prayers on her behalf, Pam got baptized on Saturday March 22, 2014.  She asked Terry to baptize her and me to give a talk on the Holy Ghost, which made it even more special for us.  She also invited SO MANY friends and family members.  There were about 40 people there and I would say about half were those that she invited.  The Spirit was strong and I hope that some of those people will want to know more too, but that would just be icing on the cake.  For now, my friend Pam is a member of the church!

It's hard to capture a picture of Pam smiling.
 I had to tickle her to get this to get this beautiful smile.

Right before Terry baptized Pam

With Elder Pond (left) and Elder Wright (on right)

Spring is in the air!

It was a cold, wet, windy winter.  Many people have said that it was windier than usual, but that the temperatures were more mild than usual.  Really?  I thought it was plenty cold, but it's true that we didn't get any snow.  Some areas had extreme rain and flooding, we weren't that bad here I guess, but still, it wasn't fun.  But it was probably because we were out it in a lot.  At home, when I wanted to go somewhere, I would walk out of my house into the garage, get in my car and drive to where I wanted to go.  Find a parking spot close to the door and run inside.  Coming home, same thing in reverse.  But here, I walk to the bus stop, wait, sometimes a long time, ride the bus for a bit, get off and walk to where I want to go.  The bus and train system is great here in London and usually they can get you with in 10-15 minutes of where you want to be.  But not always.  For us to get to the train station, it is a 20-25 minute walk.  We ride the train and then walk to where we want to go.  So what I am trying to say, I notice the weather a lot more because I am in it a lot more. 

BUT, I am seeing signs of hope!  Spring is in the air!  We have had some beautiful days with sunshine and as we walk around, I have noticed more and more flowers.  It is beautiful and does so much for my psyche.  Terry keeps trying to warn me that winter isn't really over yet, but I will enjoy this for as long as I can!  Spring is a beautiful time of year!

Not sure what kind of tree it is, but I think I am allergic to it.
It's ok though, it's beautiful all in bloom!

Daffodils are always a personal favorite.

Such a well manicured yard.
 Don't see many like this, but I was sure glad that I got see it!

Bicyclists

Someone posted recently something that made me laugh.  It was a list of things, that I mostly don't even remember now, but the one that I DO remember was: "When I drive my car, I hate pedestrians, when I am a pedestrian, I hate cars, but when I am a driver OR a pedestrian I hate bicyclists".  Now I don't really hate anyone, but this kind of rang true to me.  They scare me to death!  The cyclists zip in and out of traffic, (which is why they like riding bikes, I know, I know), and don't follow traffic rules like they should. 

 From our flat, we can hear the sirens of police cars and ambulances go by all the time.  Every time I hear a siren, I say to Terry, "another Cyclist just got hit".  He used to laughed at me until we heard that last December, 6 (SIX!) people died from bicycle accidents.  I have taken up grading every cyclist that I see.  If they are wearing a helmet and have good lights on their bikes and are wearing reflective clothing, I will give them an A or B.  Unfortunately, too many get F's.  Remember when I said that everyone wears dark clothing, for some reason it seems they also like dark colored bikes.  At night time it is so hard to see these people, especially if it is raining. Even when they have lights, they are usually too small and too dim.  Terry tells me I should be like a meter maid and give tickets to people who are not safe and give out little awards to those people who take bicycle safety seriously. I would if I thought it would help!

Tonight as we walked home from the train station, we saw a bus pulled over and an ambulance behind it.  Then we saw a bicycle on the sidewalk. No one seemed in too big of a panic so I am telling myself that they weren't hurt too badly, because I really don't want to think that they were already dead.

 

Lets just be safe out there, OK people!