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Thursday, January 31, 2008

Poem - Prophetic Passing

Wanted to share this sweet poem about our dear prophet...

Prophetic Passing

I imagine he's running to Marjorie now,

Yes, running, not waving his cane.

I see him embracing his father and mother

While they keep repeating his name.


I see him now meeting his forebears,

Brother Brigham and Joseph are there.

Sweet reunion of prophets, united by service

That only such noble men share.

I see him embraced by the Savior

While Father says, 'Good and well done.

So faithful in stalwart endurance, I welcome

My noble, most excellent son.'

I then hear the ripples of laughter

As he says the reception's just fine,

But he hopes that he'll get an assignment or two

Since there's no need to waste any time.

I can hear his clear voice in the stillness

At the close of this sweet Sabbath day,

Have faith and move forward - there's work to be done.

President Hinckley would want it that way.

Anna M. Molgard

January 27, 2008


Monday, January 28, 2008

Foggy England is here today!

Dear friends and family, It is a very foggy English morning. We woke up early to a phone call from the Zone Leaders telling us that President Hinckley had passed away during the night. What a surprise. He had seemed to be so vigorous lately. He was a great prophet and will be sorely missed. It is so wonderful though to see the great order in the church. I'm sure President Monson will be set apart as the new prophet in the next few days. I guess we will be getting together as a mission to watch the funeral via satellite. The gospel is true and the Lord is in charge. What a comfort that is. We are doing well here. Yesterday was Sunday and so another busy Sunday it was. I was called as the new Gospel Doctrine Teacher, played the piano for both Sacrament Meeting and Relief Society, and am going to working in the YW Organization. It will keep me busy, but that is what we are here to do. The ward is great, but they need leadership help so badly.
They are already putting Kenneth to work organizing all of the Sacrament Topics and speakers for the year. He will be very good for this new bishopric. We have been busy visiting inactive members systematically. We get a list of all the inactives in a certain area, then walk about 1/2 mile to the bus, ride the bus for about 1 hour, then walk the neighborhoods until we are too tired to do more. At least, we are getting into good shape with all the walking. We have had several great welcomes and some warm receptions where we think we can really make a difference and then we have had a couple of doors slammed in our faces. So goes missionary work. I'm still not used to that kind of a reception, but I'm sure that I will get more used to it. We are going into London tonight with another couple here from Prescott, AZ. They have a car so they will pick us up and we are going to the play "Wicked". I am so excited. The London Temple also opens up again this week so we are going with the Bishop and his family to the temple all day on Wednesday. Life is good and we are adjusting.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Hope you are all well!

Dear family, We are doing well here and finally getting adjusted. We went out on Saturday with the Bishop and bought us a few things so that we can live in this flat for 18 months. We got a small microwave, small TC, a CD player, telephone, etc. We will have our landline telephone installed on Thursday. Then it will be much simpler to call home and for you to call us. Brooke called last night. It is always so good to hear your voices. Kenneth got called to the Bishopric of this ward on Sunday. He will be a great help to these people who have so little experience in the church. Our bishop is from Ghona. He has been here for about 15 years. He is a great man. I would say that about 90 % of the ward is black, mostly from countries in Africa. We spent yesterday with the missionaries going over the ward list and locating less active members of the ward on the map, then we will start systematically visiting all of them. There are about 500 members on the ward list, but only about 150 of them come out to church. We have our work cut out for us. We spend a lot of time with the Elders. They are always looking for a good meal and some tender loving care. They get cold and wet and love to come to our place. We are also working on the discussions with them. Today we are going to a member's home for lunch. We are finally seeing the sunshine for the first time in about a week. It feels good. Hope you are all well. We love you all and miss you a lot. Give the kids kisses and hugs for us. Send us some mail at this address if you want. 2 LLANTHONY ROAD, MORDEN, SURREY SM4 6DX. LOTS OF LOVE, MOM AND DAD

Saturday, January 12, 2008

We're finally here!

Hello everyone, We arrived here safely on Wednesday, January 9th, after a few mishaps. We missed our plane for London in Dallas, Texas so we had to spend the night there, but we finally arrived. No one was there to meet us so after a few phone calls we finally found someone who knew we were coming. We spent the first night at the mission office, and went to find our flat in London. Unfortunately, the landlord was in the hospital so we were essentially homeless for a few hours. I managed to get a hold of my cousin, Judy, and she thankfully took us in until Monday, when my other cousin Donald will come down and take us to London for another try to get into our flat. So far it has been a series of mishaps, but I'm sure it will get better. We will be stationed in a London suburb called Morden. It is about 3 miles from Wimbledon, so our boys are thrilled about that. Our address there is 2 Llanthony Road, Morden, Surrey, England
SM46DX. I will not have a phone or internet hooked up for a few days so I will email again when that happens. It has been pouring with rain for the last three days, but today the sun is shining, so it feels really good. Hope all is well with you. Love and best wishes, Ken and Barbara Beckstrom