Church

Our experience with church here in England has been fantastic.  Of the many things that I love about the gospel and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, one thing that is so wonderful is that it is the same wherever you go in the world.  The meetings are run the same, the gospel being taught is the same, and the love that you feel the minute you walk in a building is the same.

For a little bit of FYI - in the Mormon church, you attend a congregation based on geographical location.  So when we moved here, we went on the LDS Church website to find out which ward we would be attending.  Our house in Chilton ended up being within the Oxford Ward boundaries.  Our first Sunday there happened to be Easter Sunday.  At home, I usually have new outfits for the kids for Easter and make a fun and fancy Easter dinner.  We had only been here a couple of days; I didn't have any pots or pans or dishes or anything and that made me feel like I was failing my little family on this special day.  I really had no need to worry because by the time we left our church meetings, we had been invited to Easter dinner by a kind couple in our ward - that's what you call a ward family!

Tanner has loved attending all of the youth activities with the boys and girls of the Oxford Ward.  This past weekend, he was able to attend a Regional Youth Activity in Portsmouth.  Since we had never been there before, Colby and I decided to drive to the South Coast and check in out for the day.  Here are a few photos of the things we visited and saw:

Eastney Beach, Portsmouth

We visited the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.  Amazing ships!

HMS Warrior 1860
The world's first iron-hulled warship powered by steam as well as sail

There was a little carnival set up at the beach near Southsea Castle.  Annika & Arik had a great time enjoying a few of the rides!  

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This past week, we were visited by a member of the Stake Presidency and our Bishop telling us that they were going to realign the geographical ward boundaries.  You see, just south of Oxford, is this great town called Newbury.....  this is where Colby works and this is where we thought we would be living.  For a number of reasons, we didn't end up living there.  In Newbury, there are not very many members of the church so instead of a ward, they have a branch, which is significantly smaller.  Colby and I had visited months before - there were only six children in the primary then, with just a few teenagers in the youth program.  The Stake Presidency wanted to strengthen the Newbury Branch by extending it's boarders in order to make it a ward.  We were going to be included in the boundaries and they were wondering if we would be willing to change wards and begin attending the new Newbury Ward.  Of course we said yes and began attending on May 27th.

Once again we felt completely at home.  The members in the Newbury Branch as well as the few families all around who had been asked to change wards were so kind and friendly.  The change has not been difficult at all, even for the kids.  Just a testament to me that the gospel is the same everywhere and that it is easy to settle in with other people who love the Lord as you do.