To the Rescue in Great Britain with the self-reliance toolbox

Just finished our Self-Reliance visit to the British Isles.  One of our special moments was last Friday as we were able to see the painting that President Monson has named "To the Rescue".  It is in the Victoria and Albert Museum which is almost next door to the Hyde Park Chapel where we were visiting with our Self-Reliance missionary couple.  The following is from President Monson's conference talk in the Priesthood Session of April 2001 with the title of "To the Rescue": 

“Please don’t forget those of us who are out here—the lost Latter-day Saints. I know where the Church is, but sometimes I think I need someone else to show me the way, encourage me, take away my fear, and bear testimony to me.”

While reading this letter, I returned in my thoughts to a visit to one of the great art galleries of the world—even the famed Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England. There, exquisitely framed, was a masterpiece painted in 1831 by Joseph Mallord William Turner. The painting features heavy-laden black clouds and the fury of a turbulent sea portending danger and death. A light from a stranded vessel gleams far off. In the foreground, tossed high by incoming waves of foaming water, is a large lifeboat. The men pull mightily on the oars as the lifeboat plunges into the tempest. On the shore there stand a wife and two children, wet with rain and whipped by wind. They gaze anxiously seaward. In my mind I abbreviated the name of the painting. To me, it became To the Rescue.

We heard that this painting was in this museum, so we made a quick stop on our way to the Hyde Park chapel.  The museum is so immense that we could easily get lost in it, so we went back to the office, looked up the talk and then the location of the painting.  With updated information in hand, we were able to find it and see the masterpiece first hand.  It is always better to see this type of art first hand.  You appreciate much more than can be seen by photos or understood by stories.

However, let's back up.  Our last blog ended while we were still in Ireland.  While at the airport to leave for Scotland, we had a fun missionary experience.  We were sitting waiting for our gate assignment when a person next to us started asking why we were called "Latter Day Saints".  He read it from our missionary badges and wanted to know if we were better than the earlier day saints.  It made for a fun discussion about the apostasy and restoration.   He told us he was going to look us up to find out more.  We only had a German pass  along card with us, but we shared it with him to show him access to mormon.org.  We obviously need to update our supply of English pass along cards.  Just wearing our missionary badges opens the doors to many conversations.

We traveled to Glasgow, Scotland by Ryan Air, a low cost air fare company.  It only cost us 9.99 Euros each for our one way ticket.  There are a lot of conditions, so we left one of our suitcases in Ireland with the plan on picking it back up after our return flight.  We were picked up at the airport by Elder and Sister Andrus and stayed in their flat, which has an extra bedroom.  After getting settled, we were on to a stake self-reliance committee meeting in Edinburg.  We stopped and had some fish and chips at a supermarket along the way.

We also had a self-reliance committee meeting with the Paisley stake the next evening.  Both of these committees had not been holding regular meetings but were willing to hold meetings for us to attend. So, our coming helps the stake committees to function.  In each case, they committed to hold another meeting in July and Elder and Sister Andrus were invited to participate.  We also noted the power and influence of a stake relief society president in the self-reliance committee.  In our first meeting, she took charge in the absence of the member of the stake presidency.  The photo below is of the committee in the Paisley stake, didn't get a photo the first night.

Stake specialist, stake presidency counselor, mental health advisor, stake relief society president and E/S Andrus and Sister Rueckert

In between "events' we usually take time for one on one conversation with the missionary couples.  This gives us a chance to learn how and what they are doing and share some of our insights and encouragement. it is also a great way to use the time in the car. when we travel  from location to location.  We had rain most of our trip, which is pretty normal for these countries.  The following is a photo of the windshield during one of our drives in Ireland. in pouring rain.

In Scotland, we had a few open hours before heading to the committee meeting on Wednesday night, so Elder and Sister Andrus showed us some historical sites in Stirling, Scotland.  This turned out to be a wonderful history lesson as we saw three sites that were all related to the establishment of Scotland as  an independent country in 1314.  The first battle took place in 1296 when a Scottish knight, Sir William Wallace, led a Scottish uprising against England.  This battle was the basis of the Brave Heart movie.  As a result of Wallace's bravery the Wallace Monument was constructed.  The following are photos that we took at that monument.  A highlight was a story telling knight that did an amazing job descriving the history in detail.

Wallace Monument 

Sister Rueckert with E/S Andrus at the monument

Wonderful monologue for 15 minutes with a delightful Scottish accent, we loved it!

Wielding the sword of the Scottish Knight

This battle gave courage to the Scotts who were clearly outnumbered by the English but the English did not give up.  By 1314, the English attached again, with the Scots clearly outnumbered.  This was known as the Battle of Bannockburn.  We went to the memorial of this famous battle that only lasted two days and resulted in the final defeat of the English.   They were led by Robert the Bruce, who became the King of the Scots.  

Outside of the visitors center around this battle site

By the statue of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots

After visiting these two sites, we visited the Stirling Castle which was the home of the Scottish Royalty for hundreds of years dating back to the 1100s.  This was the home of Mary, Queen of Scots and many other famous royalty.  The castle isn't as imposing from a distance but is amazing once you get inside.  You will see in the photos below, the inner courts of the castle, which includes palaces, living quarters, a Church and a great Assembly Hall.  Once again we had a wonderful Scottish tour guide.  I love their accent.  It was a delightful tour.  We had to leave before looking at very much of the interior since we had a meeting to attend, but the time spent was well worth it.  We feel like we have at least a beginners knowledge of Scottish History.  In the 1600s, the son of the King of the Scots married the daughter of the King of England and the two royalties were once again united.  They are still separate countries but under the same royalty ever since.

Approaching view of the castle, moat and all

View of the Wallace Monument from the Sterling Castle

The assembly hall, part of the castle complex

Elder and Sister Andrus inside of the courtyard, near the assembly hall

Elder and Sister Rueckert with the Royal residence and the Palace in the background

Other corner of the courtyard, with the royal residence and the Church in the background

Sister Rueckert inside the palace with a new friend

Our very Scottish tour guide

During our visit to Scotland we were told about Haggis, a very Scottish food.  It is made up of animal innards put into a stomach, sewed together and cooked.  It did not sound very enticing.  However, the next morning we went early to the airport and saw these Haggis specimens for sale.  We did not buy them but it validated what we were told.

We flew back to Dublin, Ireland on Ryan Air, were able to get our luggage back from Elder and Sister Pettit and then continued onto London, England by British Air.  We finally arrived in London and our hotel around 3:00 pm.  We then went to the Self-Reliance Center at the Hyde Park Chapel and met with Elder and Sister Vernon, self-reliance missionaries.

We spent time in the center meeting with those who come to the busiest self-reliance center in Europe.  As we talked to three individuals, each came to the center for help, but none had been involved in self-reliance groups.

Self-Reliance Center at Hyde Park, London with three patrons from three different stakes

After meeting in the center we had the opportunity to visit with three different stake self-reliance specialists.  We were very impressed with their understanding of the initiative and the process.  However, in each case, the stake committees had not been meeting.  We had delightful conversations with them and left them with the challenge to  schedule stake committee meetings. That way the committee can share their enthusiasm and council together to find solutions to move forward in a more effective manner.

Stake Specialist from Wadsworth Stake, incredible conversion story also

Two wonderful stake specialists from the Hyde Park and Romford Stakes

The next day we were invited to join the Regional Self-Reliance seminar that was taking place in London the same time that we were there.  We were invited to lunch which we accepted.  It was a wonderful experience to see Elder Gay and Mike Murray and the Area Self-Reliance and Operations managers  from the two Africa (West and Southeast)  and two Europe (Europe and Europe East) Areas.  During lunch we were able to sit with Mike Murray and enjoy his fellowship again.  After lunch we were asked to give a 3 minute report of our learnings so far.  As always, we left edified with these great people.

Door man at the building where the regional seminar was taking place.  He looked very British with his top coat and mustache.

Sister Rueckert near Green Park, just around the corner from the Regional meeting

That afternoon we once again met at the Self-Reliance Center with Elder and Sister Vernon.  Once again we met individuals who need self-reliance help but had not been exposed to Self-Reliance Groups and the new materials.  As we discussed this with Elder and Sister Vernon, we challenged them to start a self-reliance group right tin the Center with the people who come for help.  It will not only help the individuals but also will give the Vernons important experiences as they support the neighboring stakes.  As I had prayed that morning for guidance, this idea (which Sister Rueckert had mentioned the day before) was reinforced in my mind.  The Vernons agreed with the idea, so it became our primary action item for our London visit.

It was also during this afternoon that we took the opportunity to visit the neighboring museum that we mentioned at the beginning of the blog.

As we left the office that day, we once again saw the amazing street activity in London.  The following is a giant bubble blower and his street bubbles.

The next day, Elder and Sister Vernon picked us up at the hotel and we left for a training of the Crawley and Maidstone stakes.  The distance was only 40 miles away, but it took three hours to get there.  Amazing traffic in downtown London and all the way to Crawley.  It was quite an experience, one that we are not in a hurry to repeat.

Once we got there, we led a discussion about registering self-reliance activity and reporting.  We continued until 3:00 pm when we had to leave to go to the airport.  The training continued with Martin Gardner, our Self-Reliance Service manager.  The photo below is of those who were participating in the meetings.

Elder and Sister Vernon in front of the car that we traveled in on Saturday.

After delays at the airport due to weather conditions in Frankfurt, we finally arrived in Frankfurt and arrived in our apartment at around 11:30 pm, Saturday night.  We were exhausted and fulfilled and certainly glad to finally be home.

The next day we celebrated Father's Day.  Sister Rueckert was able to give me a wonderful card and a tee shirt that she bought in London.  We also heard from several of our children.  We love the Sabbath and wish we had more Sabbath time available each week.  It is certainly a delight.

Experiencing the Luck of the Irish (and miracles)

Welcome from Ireland.  We have just completed a wonderful trip to Ireland, visiting with our Self-Reliance missionary couple and participating in Self-Reliance events.  We were also able to find a Shillelagh and Elder Rueckert grew a beard.  This photo was taken near the cliffs and the ocean, but they were not visible through the clouds.

With our Shillelagh, which is an ancient Irish war weapon

Our week started last week with a senior missionary family home evening in the neighboring cemetery.  We learned a lot more about our little cemetery.  We learned the location of some holocaust type graves, a location for children of U.S. military serving in Germany, victims of the Heidelburg and much more.

Around a memorial for those who were mass murdered in Poland during World War II

As we went into the War memorial, we noticed for the first time that there is a round opening in the top of the memorial.  It made for a wonderful photo of the trees and sky above.

Beautifully framed photo from the circular opening in the top of the World War I and II memorial

Memorial for Alois Alzheimer who was the first to study what we now call Alzheimer's disease.  This  grave marker is for him and his wife Cecile and includes an image of the woman that he studied who did not remember her son.

Memorial for the American Children's Cemetery

 The rest of the week we got caught up on other work, held our finance self-reliance group and then prepared to visit the Kaiserslautern military stake committee meeting on Thursday evening.  Late Thursday afternoon, a half hour before we were about to leave, we found that the meeting had been canceled.  Too bad, but it did give us a little more time to prepare for our trip to Ireland and the United Kingdom.  We left for Ireland on Friday.

We flew through London and barely made it through the U.K. border control in time for our connection to Dublin, Ireland.  That is another story.  We arrived in Dublin and were greeted by our missionary couple, Elder and Sister Pettit.  We were treated to a wonderful home cooked meal in their home and then spent some time reviewing many of their ideas and approaches to Self-Reliance Services.  We also planned out the remainder of our visit.  We then went to the Church to participate in a young adult activity.  The activity didn't turn out, but we did have some good visits with missionaries and investigators, several who are from Brazil.  It is always fun for me to use my Portuguese with these great individuals who are far from their home.

The next morning, we started with a meeting with a non member who has been helped to work in the business of a local member.  This non member is from Zimbabwe and has an MBA.  As we talked with him it was easy to see how amazingly smart and wise that he is.  He is very involved with the Church and will be a great leader.  He is waiting for his wife to come this week and get her involved in the Church before he is ready to get baptized.  He is currently providing opportunities for many of the young adults who need work.  He is amazing.

As we headed out for the day, I couldn't pass the chance to photograph the signs in Ireland, all of which include the Gaelic language along with the English language.

Our first stop for the day was to visit the Newgrange and Knowth Neolithic sites in Ireland.  These ancient sites are the home to large burial tombs and astronomic structures that date back to 3,000 years B.C., 500 years older than the pyramids.  They have found cremated and charred bones inside the structures.  This has been archeologically uncovered in the past 60 or 70 years and reflect a structure that is perfectly aligned for maximum light impact on the Spring and Autumn solstice.  The base stones of the structure are full of megalithic artwork, comprising more than a third of all known megalithic art in Western Europe.

On the bridge to the site where we got the bus to take us to the Knowth site

With our friends, Elder and Sister Pettit, in front of the Knowth mounds that have been uncovered

Closer up view at structure, surrounded by stones covered with art

A sample of some of the ancient artwork on the stones

Another art sample

Inside the structure, old stuff!

A view inside the structure, this is the main hall where light would be maximized on the spring and autumn solstice

After the visit to Newgrange and Knowlt, we continued on our journey to the city of Cork where we had a My Path Devotional scheduled.  The Petitts were not sure what we would find.  They said that the average attendance at sacrament meeting in this small branch was only about 12.  However, when we arrived, we found 13 individuals in attendance.  The devotional was directed by the counselor in the district presidency and the district self-reliance specialist.  Elder and Sister Pettit also participated and Sister Rueckert was able to share her testimony.  At the end of a different kind of devotional than we are accustomed to, the counselor in the district presidency encouraged all to join a self-reliance group and had them move to different tables depending on the group.  He did it masterfully and all participants joined either an Education, Starting and Growing My Business or a Finance group.  Times were set and the counselor accepted the role to travel each Thursday and facilitate the small business group and E/S Pettit accepted to travel down each Friday and facilitate the other two groups.

As we left the devotional, the Pettits felt that they had seen a miracle occur.  The Branch President, who had not been very positive in the past, was fully supportive and ready to invite a few other members of the branch to join these groups.  The leadership of the priesthood keys (district presidency counselor and branch president) had made all of the difference.

We stopped for a dinner and continued home, arriving at about 1:00 am, a drive of 3 hours.  It was a long but wonderful day.

The next morning, Sunday, we left at 8:00 am to attend Church meetings in Northern Ireland, a completely separate country. The Belfast stake in Northern Ireland had struggled to get anything started in their stake.  The ward we  attended was the Holywood ward and they had a new bishop called the previous week.  The former bishop and his wife had been called as the new Stake Self-Reliance specialists.  The Pettits had been scheduled to share a lesson about Self-Reliance during the priesthood and relief society time by the previous bishop.   Before the meeting they arranged with the new bishop for the ward to do a full My Path devotional on the 29th of this month.  So after their presentation, which was excellent, they invited all of the adult ward members to plan to participate in the upcoming devotional.

After the meeting we had wonderful feedback from some of the members, including a counselor in the bishopric that had many ideas of resources available to help members that want to start their own business.  We also met a missionary, Elder Salinas, whose father is the Area Self-Reliance Manager in Mexico.  He already has a wonderful testimony of the self-reliance initiative and will be a great asset for this ward as they move forward.

We spent a little while discussing with the new stake specialists and then they returned a little later for more detailed training.  Their attitude is excellent, they were just wanting to absorb everything about their calling and responsibilities. They also know the ward well, so it was decided that we would begin their self-reliance journey with this Holywood ward.

Training session with the new Stake Specialists

Brother and Sister Moffett, newly called Stake Specialists

We left this training and Sunday experience feeling that the Belfast stake would finally begin their Self-Reliance journey.  We returned back to Dublin for a Stake Priesthood meeting where Elder Pettit was sharing a talk about self-reliance.  Within 24 hours we had been to all three stakes/districts on the island of Ireland (two countries), traveling over 10 hours by car.  However, we were so happy to see the progress that had been made and to work with such a great missionary couple.

The next morning we took a little time to explore Dublin, starting with our goal of purchasing a Shillelagh for our son Ben.  He has had a love for Ireland all of his life and always wanted a Shillelagh, which is an ancient Irish battle weapon.  It has large knots at the end of a stick.  Anyways, we found a large souvenir shop and found a  Shillelagh  and a souvenir spoon for our collection.

The Shillelagh

Pot of Gold at the end of the rainbow

Incredibly large souvenir shop with everything Irish you could ever think of.

We then walked down to the Famine ship and came by this monument to the famine of the 1840s.  At this time, there was little or no food in the country.  The English had confiscated all the food that there was and the residents were literally starving to death.  This monument was given to Ireland by Canada who had received many of the starving residents of Ireland.  It depicts those who were starving.  The sculptures are se descriptive of the looks of starvation.

Monument to hose who were starving in Ireland during 1840s.

Many Irish left Ireland at this time on what they called Famine ships.  Many went to the U.S. and Canada at this time.  Many died on the ships.  This ship below was one that took special care and was able to preserve the lives of those on the ship.

In front of the famine ship that was the most successful in preserving life.

We then had a very special experience visiting the Trinity College, a university that has been functioning since the 1500s.  In their library they have a first edition Book of Mormon which we were able to see and hold and turn the pages.  This was a spiritual experience to realize the origins of this book and to see the way it was published.  We felt strong impressions of the Spirit as we spent a little time with this incredible book.

Holding the original copy of the Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon and our permission to view from the Trinity College Library

Turning pages and examining the book

Opening page with 1830 print date and location

Book of Mormon with the date of July 1830 written and the name of Joseph P. Hayden.   Also some newspaper clippings from the 1800s related to Joseph Smith.

Preface to Book of Mormon

!st Book of Nephi, no verse breaks

Third Nephi, called the Book of Nephi originally

Book of Mormon with different volume and  numbering of chapters.

End of Book of Mormon right before testimony of three witnesses

We finished up that night with a concert for the young adults as a Family night.  This was a bit of a miracle of itself.  I will defer to Sister Rueckert to explain this occurrence:

"When I was in the souvenir shop, a man noticed my missionary tag and asked me where I was from and where I was serving.  His name was Kim Cooney.  He told me that he was in Ireland and had been invited to sing in several cathedrals and was disappointed that he had not been able to sing for any Latter Day Saints.  He told me that he was also there hoping to find some records of his family history.  He mentioned that Patrick, one of his deceased ancestors, had come to him and told him to do research on his ancestral line so that temple work could be performed.  I introduced Kim to Sister Pettit who happened to know Kathryn Lamb, who is an expert on Irish genealogy (also our stake self-reliance specialist).  While Elder Rueckert and I bought our souvenirs, Sister Pettit arranged for Kim to put on a concert for the Monday night English class and others that could be invited.  Among those invited was Kathryn Lamb.  Kim had the opportunity to talk to Kathryn about his desire to do his Irish genealogy and before the night was out, she promised to help him.  Kim said that this was an answer to his prayer since he had run out of time to do any research on his own.  He also was able perform a concert for a small group of Latter Day Saints, which was wonderful.  It is amazing to me that all of these miracles happened just because someone looked at my missionary tag!"

After the concert we went ahead with the English class with some Brazilians that are trying to improve their English.  One of them has been baptized, the other two are receiving the lessons.  I really enjoy meeting with Brazilians and speaking in their language.  This continually gives me a chance to use the Portuguese language that I have learned in productive ways, wherever we are.

Three Brazilians.  The first was baptized three weeks ago, the others are receiving missionary lessons.

English Class with Brazilians in Ireland

Before the devotional, we went to the cliffs to see the cliffs and the sea.  It was too cloudy to see much, but it felt like Ireland.

Above the Cliffs of Ireland, too much fog or clouds to see

Slowing down to enjoy reflections, fairy tales and spiritual food

We spent the whole week in Germany and it was a nice change of pace.  The week started out a little negative when we were notified that Elder Rueckert was issued a speeding ticket during our trip to the Netherlands in April.  This is done by camera and the photos confirm that it was Elder Rueckert that was at fault.  This ties to our weekly theme of slowing down, an essential step for Elder Rueckert.

This week we worked in our offices all week and were able to get caught up on many tasks that had been neglected.  It also gave us time for forward planning and preparations.

On Tuesday evening we were able to have a good video conference with the High Councilor and Stake Specialists of the Kaiserslautern Military Stake.  We will be joining them next week for their Self-Reliance Committee meeting and were able to review the current status in the stake, make preparations and provide training.

One of our favorite weekly activities is our Wednesday evening Self-Reliance group on Financial Management.  We have learned to love the members of our group and we are all learning so much about Financial Management.  We can probably sum it up with the statement that all that we have is from the Lord and we are only stewards of earthly blessings.  When you start thinking this way, your view of finances changes.  Even for us, living off of retirement and savings, we realize that we need to know how our Heavenly Father wants us to care for the finances that we have so that we can use His resources to bless others.  The course is wonderful and certainly helps us to become more temporally and spiritually self-reliant.

We just finished our 5th group meeting.  Being in an international ward brings some special experiences.  Below, the photo shows Kiever, married and born in Brazil, Natalia, single and born in Spain and Silvia, married with older daughters and born in Italy.  Of course Sister Rueckert and I are from the U.S.  Together we discuss, learn, commit and report on our personal finances.  This includes tracking our expenses and establishing a budget based on spiritual principles.  We have learned how these groups bring a closeness to the other individuals in the group.  We love working with each of these wonderful individuals who have become our close friends.

We also began using our iFit trackers which keeps track of the number of steps we take each day and the distance traveled.  We were inspired by Sister Healy last week as she explained how she uses it.  Even though we acquired it last year, we had not began using it until this week.  The photo shows Sister Rueckert walking in the cemetery amongst the graves from World War 1, with the War memorial in the background.  So far our experience has been good as long as the tracker works, it is a bit temperamental.

On Thursday, we had a special devotional for the transition of a new Director of Temporal Affairs in Europe.  Bishop Davies from the Presiding Bishopric came to honor Craig Hunt, who is retiring and announce our new DTA, Steven Maynes.  The program was very well done and full of emotion for the end of a long career of dedicated Church employment.  The meeting ended with an address by our Area President, Patrick Kearon, who gave an excellent talk on the value of reflecting in our own lives.  We left totally edified.

On Saturday, we decided to make a short trip to explore the site where the Brothers (Jacob and Wilhelm) Grimm were raised.  It is only 45 minutes from our apartment and had a little castle in the same area.  The area focuses on the Fairy Tale theme coming from the Brother Grimm.  We were able to see the castle, attend a puppet show, and tour the home of the Brothers Grimm with same amazing displays of many of their stories, including Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Puss and Boots and many more.  It gave us time to reflect on the many childhood stories that originated from these two brothers.

In front of the castle in the middle of the town of Steinau, Germany, built from 1525 to 1560 AD

Standing on the bridge over the moat area of the castle 

Since this is a fairy tale town, we decided to attend a puppet show.  It was quite well done, a one man show, with multiple levels of puppets to tell the story.  The puppet show was all done in German, but through some understanding of the language and the excellent body language of the narrator and the puppets we got the gest of what went on.  Overall an enjoyable experience.

One man actor of a puppet show that we attended.  He was quite good, not only showing the different puppets, telling the story of Captain Sharkey and Mickey but also showing a great variety of voices.

One of the street signs turned into a puppet stage

Closeup of the friendly sea dragon with Mickey and Captain Sharkey

After the puppet show, we went to the Brüder Grimm-Haus, house of the Brothers Grimm.  They lived here for about 6 years, beginning in 1791, while their father was the City Clerk and had to leave when he passed away.  The house has turned into a replica of the time that they lived there.  The upstairs of the house are full of memorabilia relating to many of their stories, with separate rooms for Snow White, Red Riding Hood, Puss and Boots and interactive displays, etc.  Unfortunately no photos were allowed inside.

Sister Rueckert in front of the house

Elder Rueckert in front of the sign of the House

Today (Sunday) we had a wonderful multi-stake conference which originated from Salt Lake City for about 73 stakes in Western Europe.  We were taught by Elder Randall K. Bennett, Quorum of Seventy, Elder Patrick Kearon, Europe Area President, Sister Bonnie Oscarson, YW Presidency,  Bishop Gerald Caussé, presiding bishop and Elder D. Todd Christofferson, Quorum of the Twelve.  What a treat!  Each spoke about different topics, all of which were meant for the people of Europe.  What a wonderful way for the members in Europe to be able to receive customized messages for them from Church leaders at SLC and in Frankfurt (President Kearon).  We surely do love our Area Presidency, we have the rare treat to see them often and to feel of their love and their testimonies.  Bishop Caussé gave a wonderful talk about temple work and Elder Christofferson spoke about the Savior and striving for Christ like attributes.

We were able to listen in one chapel which was dedicated to English, while most chapels had German or other languages available.