Mother's Day Moment

Just taking a break form the ironing to write this post.  I'll tell you what caused the Mother's Day Moment!  

So, I was ironing while listening to a talk by Dieter F Uchtdorf ready for our discussion in church tomorrow. You can watch it here!  The talk was given to young adults and reminds them how important they are to God and how by being true to him and to themselves he will guide them through this adventure in mortality.  Suddenly I could hear the piano playing a beautiful tune, well not on its own obviously!  Martha had come downstairs and was practising for a surprise gift for someone.  I was brought to tears by the beauty of her music.

I pondered then as I listened to her and thought about all three of my young adult children.  They amaze me everyday with the way they live their lives, making decisions that those around them would mock them for and making choices that make them stand out from the crowd, that's not easy, but they do it and they do it with grace and love.  I add to my children those that they choose to associate with and those that they have brought and will bring into our family.  Young people who have been prepared to take on the shared responsibility of raising the next generation with the same grace and love.  These young people are full of promise and have a bright future ahead as do all of God's sons and daughters.  If only they could all see it.

I am so proud of all of my children, their talents and skills, the way they adjust to changes, the way they love and support each other, the way they welcome new family members.  

As we have all welcomed the first of the next generation into our hearts this year I know that he,  and those siblings and cousins that follow him, will be loved and blessed by great parents who know who they are and why they are here on the earth right now.  They are charged with such a great responsibility to raise children in these times but I know they can do it.  As they continue to remember that they are loved by their Heavenly Father and their Saviour they will be guided in their role.

the role of mother is the best thing in my life, I love to watch them grow and change and love and learn.

Love you all forever xxxx

 

Joy + Spiritual Survival

Do you know when you just happen across something that is the answer to what you have been puzzling over?

I am very grateful for this little video, its a talk I've heard before but it was meant for me right now.  

I love my family,  I love my Saviour and I love how the way I live my life makes me feel.  I have been preparing a talk for Church this weekend, its about becoming as a little child and accepting Heavenly Father's plan.  

A big lesson to me this week has been the reaction of a group of faithful Missionaries in Australia to the passing of one of their fellow Elders.  

Their pure testimonies of their love of the Lord and their faith in his plan has strengthened me.  Their absolute faith that they will see their friend again and their outpouring of love for the things he taught them.

Finding Joy everyday in whatever situation we find ourselves in is vital, having hope in His plan can allow us to do this.

My Audience

So here I am after another huge gap.  Who knew I still had an audience?!?

So much has happened sine I last wrote but writing is what I feel like i need to do now.  Before I became aware that someone out there still looked for new posts on my blog, I had this feeling that I wanted to write more.

I believe my last blog was when Ross had his mission call.  Well soon after that he fell in love and brought a beautiful young lady into our lives, Harriet, more on her later.

Ross continued on though with his progress towards his mission and left us on July 4th 2017, our silver wedding anniversary. He loves his mission and we hear from him each week, he is not a big writer but we hear enough to know that he is safe and happy, learning and growing.  We have had two of our FaceTime calls, Christmas and Mother's Day, and he looks well.

So seven weeks after he left we welcomed Gareth home from California, in the two weeks preceding his homecoming I spoke with him about the beautiful young lady he met before he left on his mission. (can I just add here that there is a certain pattern to this in our family as Calvin and I met just before his mission too!)  He said they were thinking about meeting up when he got home.  Well to cut a not very long story short they met up in September, October, December and February and got married in April.  Karo is from Iceland so their meetings were spread apart and took place in different countries but they got engaged in Iceland at Christmas and married here in our beautiful chapel in Wales, before being sealed in the London Temple where they had first met back in May 2015.

We spent the time from September to April supporting Gareth at University in Telford and getting to know Harriet and Karo better.  Its been so much fun outnumbering the boys!!

A few short weeks ago we waved goodbye to harriet as she left for her mission to Temple Square in Salt Lake City, she will spend her 18 months giving tours and testifying of Jesus Christ to people from all over the world.

So here we are now, Calvin, Martha and I living in Wales, Gareth and Karo have settled for now in Shrewsbury and we await the return of Ross and Harriet next year.

I guess you might like some pictures of all that?

Ross and Harriet July 2017

Farewell Elder Ross Williams

Welcome home Elder Gareth Williams

The wedding of Gareth and Karo

Ross down under in the outback

Mother's Day and Ross Birthday 2018

Family time

Sister Harriet Woods, ready to go!!

So the last year and a bit has been quite an adventure and the experiences of motherhood just keep on going and changing.  It seems like such a short time ago that they were all small and now we are almost doubled in number!!  I am really looking forward to the experiences to come in the next chapter of our life.

Thanks for being there reader, you know who you are, thanks for always thinking of us and remembering our special days

xxxxxxxxx

No Way!

Huge gap, I know, but I have exciting news to share

Ross made the huge decision that serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is what he wants to do to show his gratitude to his Saviour.

With Gareth shocking us all with California, Roseville Mission two years ago, we decided to have a board for guesses this time.

We assembled a group of friends and family, both live and over the internet!  And ............

NO WAY!  Australia Sydney South Mission!

He begins on July 6th 2017.  

Flying Further Afield

Ross' flying is really taking off now (pardon the pun)

Last week he flew to Gloucester and Cardiff with his instructor.

I am still blocking out the fact that my 17 year old son actually flies a plane, in the sky, and at times on his own!!!!!!

I will have to get used to it as he will soon qualify for his Private license and then he heads off to America to build some flying hours.

Watch this space........

I wonder which license will be first, driving or flying?

All Change Again

Transfer week again and Elder Tout moved on.  Elder England is Gareth's new companion and we look forward to hearing all about him.

Garden Party

Calvin and I went away for the weekend and left Grandma and Grandad in charge.  As usual Martha and Ross had a full calendar so Grandma and Grandad became the taxi service (although to be fair Ross drove himself but he needed co-pilot)

One of the planned activities was the birthday party of a family from our Branch.  they combine their party when the weather is nice, great idea.  Martha and Grandma had the best time on the space hoppers and playing snakes and ladders and i think there was some kind of water fight!!!

Thanks for a lovely party and happy memories made.

New Friends and Big Blessings

Pictured here are Bill, Brayden and Ruthann, who came to Wales to search for some family history sites of Ruthann ancestors.  Ruthann and her grandson Brayden are members of our church and they had contacted us to let us know they were coming.  They were staying just down the road from us and we were able to meet with them and take them out looking at graves and places where her ancestors had lived and worked.We shared lunch and got to know them a little more.   It was a fascinating weekend and we were so grateful to have met them.  I asked one small favour of Ruthann and that was to mail Gareth a package when she got home, he needed new shirts (again!)

On their return they mailed the package (and some extra things which were an answer to prayers from our end!)  One of the things they sent was a copy of this picture.  They also sent us a package with photos from their trip and a lovely book and CD plus their heartfelt thanks.  We are so blessed to meet people like this who go the extra mile to lift and to serve.

Thank you.

This is the photo Ruthann took, Ross is holding the said package.

American Mother's Day and Gareth's birthday

It would be unusual to get to speak to your missionary on their birthday but as Gareth's fell on American mothers day we got to spend a little of his 19th with him.  We even had him blow out his candles!

It was a special day as both sets of Grandparents were able to be with us and talk to him.

The sounds of laughter coming from the dining room as these three joked about our parenting skills could be heard in the next village! 

They talked of a particular day when something got broken.  Quotes such as "don't play with things that aren't toys" and "That was a special gift!" could be heard as they joked that the said special gift looked like a charity shop reject!

Roseville Mission Companion 3 and Mount Shasta

Elder Williams moved on to pastures new in April.  Here he is with Elder Tout and the amazing Mount Shasta which dominates the skyline of most of his photos!

Such a contrast to Loomis but he loves it.  The scenery and the amazing hikes he gets to take on his P-Day.  Always smiling and being taken great care of.

Receiving Service

This story starts a few weeks ago here.....

Calvin was called in last minute to have his hernia operation.  After being called in by the nurses to rescue him them from his morphine induced state of delirium, I 

brought him home to recover.  Fortunately Grandma and Grandad were home from their Temple service and were able to take up the 24 hour care for the first day.  Then poor Ross who was home for a few days had to take over performing duties that he stated no 16 year old should have to do for their father!

Once I reached the Easter holidays Calvin was beginning to feel a little better and was more mobile.  We headed up to Birmingham for the NASUWT National conference.  We had a really lovely time and ate great food and watched lots of aeroplanes!!

Anyway, getting back to the point of my story.  Due to the recovery time for his operation Calvin was unable to help with all the usual Easter Holiday garden projects etc.  To our rescue came Elder Zollinger and Elder Bellen.  These two young men from Washington State and Manila, Philippines were willing to come and help us in any way they could.  We had them over for two days and were able to get many jobs done that without them would have taken me weeks!

I took them to school to move chairs and clear the garden, they helped clear our hedges, and cleared garden rubbish for our neighbour.  They washed the car, dug out a tree stump, cut wood for a vegetable bed, they even did the dishes after tea!

They smiled all day, both days and really lifted our spirits.   They made it possible for us to achieve that which we couldn't have done alone.  We miss Gareth like crazy but we know that he is out there helping people and teaching people.  We know that he, we and the people he works with are being blessed by his service. 

Missionary service brings people to a knowledge of their Saviour and allows them to lean on Him, He makes it possible for us to do things that without Him we would not be able to do. 

Flying High

Ross has begun to take solo flights to perfect his take off and landings and his next step is to work on navigation ready to fly further afield.  Just imagine he is almost old enough to drive a car too!

Moving on

Sad day leaving Loomis.

A view of the beautiful Mount Shasta in Gareth's new area

Goodbye and Hello

Gareth has changed companion this week and so we bid a fond farewell to his trainer and great friend Elder Ford.  They have had the best time together and the people of Loomis have loved them.

And say hello to Elder Lewis.  We look forward to hearing of their successes as they serve the Lord together in Loomis in the California Roseville Mission.  I am sure the people will continue to love and support them because they are doing the right thing.

It looks like its going to be great fun!

In the Hollow of Thy Hand

It's Valentine's Day and almost 6 months since Gareth left to serve his Mission. Feeling all lovey today and just wanted to share this with anyone that wants to watch. 

I know that my Heavenly Father holds me and all those I love in the hollow of His hand.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy New Year

It's our annual  Williams family photo at New Year!

Star Worker

Just before New Year Ross was rewarded for all his hard work at his new job.  His efforts were recognised by the managers and he was awarded the title of

Employee of the month and Employee of the Quarter.

Well done Ross.

Simply, Having , A Wonderful Christmas Time

Christmas Eve at President and Sister Marston's home.  We are so grateful to know that Gareth had such a wonderful Christmas season.   He was taken care of by many different members and families and new friends. 

We receive regular news letters from the Mission President and the following is an exert from his New Year Message to the Missionaries 

Traditionally New Year’s Day is a time to reflect on the past and resolve to improve in the new year.  Elder Holland has taught “every day ought to be the start of a new year and a new life.  Such is the wonder of faith and repentance and the miracle of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”….The past is to be learned from and not lived in…..and when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead, we remember that 

faith is always pointed to the future.”

Let’s look forward to 2016 with FAITH, with PURPOSE, and with GREAT EXPECTATIONS.