December 28th- Jan 2nd

Family,

It was great to hear from you on Sunday and I am glad that things are going well in Mexico. I talked to someone who had been to the ruins there and they said it all sounded a little far stretched…not enough evidence supporting the commentary given. Tell me what your thoughts are.

All right so we just had transfers today and it has been really busy. We just finished the finalized plans for this transfer and it is jam packed with all sorts of events. Because of all the things going on I have a feeling this transfer will go by faster than desired. However, we will make the most of it.

So I inquired a little bit about the travel logistics from London to Manchester. I was told that driving all depends on the traffic and flying is okay but can sometimes be a hassle with all the bags, checking in, waiting, etc. I think your best bet is to take the train. They have ones that go quite fast and will get you here in a little over two hours.

Okay so Wednesday night at nine o’clock you are going to come to the mission home and meet the Preston’s and me and have desert with all the other missionaries that are going home. Then I will go back with Elder Moss and spend the night at a flat whilst you go back to the hotel. Thursday morning I should be ready to go at about 9am.

About hotels... Manchester is about 45 min from Liverpool and Chester. From what I understand we are planning to go to the isle late Saturday night? My question is would you like to stay in one hotel the whole time in Manchester or would you like to move to Chester on Friday? Chester is also about 45min from Liverpool. Any hotel for Manchester in the city center is great. I know there is a nice Hilton only because it’s massive and can be seen from my flat. In Chester there is a nice hotel in the centre I think it’s called the Grosvenor hotel but I am not positive. On the isle we can stay at sister radcliffes I am sure or the hotel that the bullocks stayed at was called the sefton if I remember correctly.

My thoughts were…

Thursday- show you around Manchester/ Bolton sis unsworth for lunch, take you to the church history sites in Preston, take some missionaries out to a nice meal in Manchester for dinner

Friday- spend the day in Chester and go see some of the recent converts. Maybe go to a castle in Wales. Show you the beautiful country.

Saturday- take you to Liverpool see the docks and the cathedrals. Spend some time viewing the city. Travel to the isle.

Sunday- Church on the Isle. Sales for lunch or maybe dinner they already told me they are feeding us. Then off to explore the isle. Lots of places only a little time. Tell me, are we flying from the isle to Manchester to home or have you no booked any travel from the isle? We can fly to the isle or we can take the ferry. In the winter the ferry is about 4 hours and sometimes delayed because of bad weather and doesn’t travel that frequently. The only reason why the ferry might be what you want to do is because we will want a car for the short time we are there and if you wanted we could take the car on the ferry. I don’t know if that is cheaper or more convenient but I am sure you will be able to figure it out. My preference would be to fly but that is only because last time I travelled I on the ferry I almost lost my cookies. Yikes!

Hope this helps.

This week one of our recent convert fellow shippers was asking us about miracles. He wanted us to tell him some of the experience that we have had on our mission that was consider miraculous. Elder Boswell and I both shared a few stories and that was the end of it. However, as the day went on I continued to ponder on his question about miracles. I have been thinking a lot about it and the conclusion I have come to is that God is playing a major role in each of our lives but only sometimes we recognize it and when we do recognize it we consider it a miracle. I have found that as I spend more time thinking about all the blessing I have received in my life the more I see the miracles in everyday life. One of the greatest miracles I have come to recognize from this is that God loves us each so much that He is willing to help us constantly whether we recognize it or not.

A quote that I really like is “Memories are a testimony of the past, Faith is the testimony of the future.”  

Have a great trip!

Love, Elder C

All right so no package has come in the mail yet and the talk that Patti sent is from 09. It was a good talk but not the one I think you intended to send me. You can just send it when you get back no rush.