June part 3....finally getting caught up.
This is it.... last of June playing catch up...however, it is really the last post?...I think not. June was just a great busy month after-all.
One of the fun things about being a mission is that we have such great experiences with people. Members from the church, people we interact with at the Commissary or while we volunteer -- each interaction is a wonderful opportunity to share our badge and who we represent.
We are now official Red Cross Volunteers. We are not allowed to wear our badges...yet. We are praying for that to be able to change. While at the "newcomers" brief we attend, we were sitting next to the ITT department table and Elder Gurr kept hearing "the Book of Mormon". They were promoting tickets to see the play in London. Elder Gurr leaned over, uncovered his badge and said to the lady, "the book is better!" 
We had a Senior Couples retreat the 21/22 of June. We started near Birmingham which is about a 2:45 minute drive from us. We got a room at a really cool place called Bromwich Castle Hall. Our room was in the very top ---what would be basically the servants' quarters. Thank goodness it has not been really hot here in England. The mattress was lumpy and the stairs where steep, but how cool was that.
On Saturday, we all meet at Stratford-upon-Avon, which is William Shakespeare's birthplace and home. It was a beautiful day, and we had a great time with the other Senior Missionary Couples who joined us. I kept thinking, my dad would love seeing this.
I kept thinking of the passages we had to memorize in 10th grade English class for my dad.
"Let me have men about me that are fat, Sleek-headed men and such as sleep a-nights. Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look, He thinks too much; such men are dangerous.”
“Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It seems to me most strange that men should fear;
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come.”
And of course, "Friends, Romans, Country Men, lend me your ears......"
Thank you Mr. Moss (Dad) I had a great appreciation seeing the sights here.
While in the birth home, they had two actors reciting Romeo and Juliet. Juliet stood above in the window, with Romeo below. It was so much to listen to the words recited by these two actors. Sorry, I couldn't get the video to download.
Next stop after the birthplace home was the New House where William and Anne lived after they were married. In the gardens of New House are sculptures of some of the plays of William Shakespeare. I kept guessing when I looked and couldn't get the right play without the info. plaque. I don't know my Shakespeare well enough.
It was such a wonderful day. I love seeing new things, but it was so much fun to make these new friends within the ranks of such wonderful Senior Missionaries. Don't miss going to Stratford-upon-Avon if you come to England....it was a great place.
So, to end our month of June two big events happened. I will cover one of the events next blogs for July, but the BEST event was that the Cambridge sisters had a baptism. Vivian Sophia is from Kenya. She came to England hoping to find better employment opportunities. She got here and a cousin back in Kenya told her she needed to find a church. She tried a few churches, but nothing felt right, until her cousin then mentions the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She then contacted the sister missionaries. It took her just 1 month to commit to baptism. She was baptized on the 30th of June. I was privileged to give the talk on the Holy Ghost at her baptismal service.... what a tender moment for me.
As Willam Shakespeare would say: There is a history in all men's lives (Henry IV, part II)
I will do better about blogging.... I am not sure what my "hang-up" has been but change for the better is always a good step forward.
Thanks be to the goodness of our Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ.
Elder and Sister Gurr
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