Ray's Mission VI

Replacing Elder Richards, Elder Nairne Moore came to live in Leatherhead; and we enjoyed a relatively good relationship. He had been out in the mission field for about 12 months; and I found that we were pretty much ‘equally yoked’ regarding missionary work. He seemed well versed in his command of the discussions (as did I) and we seemed to be of a similar demeanor. Elder Moore was a person maybe an inch or so shorter than me and of a very similar build. We both seem to be well suited at engaging the work and continuing our studies. He did not seem to pay attention unduly to the landlord's daughter (which was a relief to me) and seemed focused on the work of the Lord. It was around this time that a mail strike Had taken place throughout England. This was of significant concern to us missionaries because we were fully dependent upon receiving funding from our families in the states. Thus in the midst of this strike no money was received by any missionaries at any time. Elder Moore and I began to experience significant financial difficulty as the strike continued for many weeks. We both had used up any money that we had on hand and had begun to eat rather sparingly - we had little money to buy groceries. Finally, we had been reduced to eating the popcorn that we used in our initial discussions as a treat. (We often popped popcorn because English people were not familiar with the behavior and found it fascinating!)  

Effingham

It was about this time that we experienced the miracle of being led to the Whitemans in Effingham occurred. I'll not go into the details of this event because it is covered in more detail among the Miracles occurring in this document. It can be found in the Miracles section and under the heading Led By The Spirit. 

Rescue

One evening on a preparation day, elder Moore and I we're washing our clothes in a laundromat in town. It was a fairly small laundromat that opened onto a fairly narrow street (It could only handle one car going either direction.)Aas we sat there with our clothes in a machine, we passed the time as best we could studying our scriptures. There was virtually no one in the laundromat with us and we had our choice of washing machines and dryers. Likewise we were not troubled by anyone watching us studying our scriptures. It was in the early evening; yet it had gotten dark outside. Both of us we're in our preparation day clothes. Suddenly we heard screaming from across the street outside the laundromat door (which was propped open). Both of us looked at each other wondering if we had heard correctly. Just as we were doing so we heard more screams from a woman coming from across the street outside the laundromat door. Realizing we were the only ones that may have heard the scream and the only ones in the area; we scrambled outside the door to listen more intently. There was a dark alleyway extending away from the laundromat directly across the street. We could hear the screams from down that alleyway. We both immediately sauntered down the alleyway, listening for more screams. As we got down the alleyway about 100 yards we passed a garage with a car in it and the screams word coming from in front of the car in the garage. I told elder Moore to go down one side of the car and I would take the other. Clearly I did not know the full extent of what we were getting into. As we both moved down the sides of the car, I called out 2 warn whoever was there that we were approaching. Just at that moment we saw the silhouette of a woman and a man tussling at the front of the car. (Both the woman and the man seemed to be in their early 20s) I surmised that we may have come upon a circumstance where a woman was being accosted by a man. As the young man recognized we were coming down the sides of the car, he rushed past me and I saw the flash of a knife in what light there was as he rushed by me. I was certainly grateful that neither elder Moore nor I had been hurt in the fracas. The young woman apparently did not realize we were there to assist her (and may have thought we were of danger to her also). She rushed past elder Moore just after the young man rushed past me. Both of them left the garage and went opposite directions. We lost sight of the young man; and we're particularly concerned that the young woman was all right. (we did not know whether she had been hurt by the knife or not and sought to a sister if we could.) she rushed between some buildings onto a main road. Both elder Moore and I chased after her 2 be of help. When we saw her cross the main road to a bus stop where there were a number of people waiting karma we watched her for a few minutes to ascertain whether or not she was all right. She seemed somewhat traumatized from the experience but made it known through her endeavors to remain by herself that she didn't necessarily want anything to do with us. (I suppose being dressed in our preparation day clothes we may not have been as readily apparent as we might have otherwise been.) seeing that she was now OK and protected by a large group of people at a bus stop, we left her alone and returned to our close at the laundromat. It all happened rather quickly; and I had plenty of time to think about it and discuss it with elder Moore as we sat there waiting for our clothes to dry. 

The Boy

Inasmuch as we had been led to Effingham, we proceeded to track the entire small village. Clearly we spent a significant amount of time with the whitemans as we taught the discussions in preparation for their baptisms. Nevertheless as we were tracting the rest of the village, we came upon a family that seemed to show genuine interest in the gospel. The father, the mother, and their several children display genuine interest in learning about the church and gospel. We were devoted to helping them understand and accept the six discussions that we presented. The entire family had displayed genuine interest in being baptized as we approached the final discussion. Both elder Moore and I thought that the entire family would be baptized. However this was not to be. As we arrived to present the 6th discussion and prepare the family for their ensuing baptism; we were informed by the father that the entire family was rather opposed to being baptized. This was unexpected and we endeavored to persuade as best we could all members of the family to reconsider. Oddly karma the youngest child (a boy about 9) wanted to proceed with his baptism. Both elder Moore and I were somewhat concerned that a boy so young should incur such a life altering ordinance. As we expressed our anxiety to his father karma he informed us that the boy had approached him and expressed his genuine desire to be baptized. Likewise his father expressed that his boy should be permitted to follow his own path in life - that is, be baptized! With that endorsement from his father (and a similar endorsement from his mother) we decided to proceed with his preparations for baptism. As the day approached, his entire family accompanied him to the Chapel in Epsom where he was baptized by elder Moore. Since then, I've often wondered if that boy was all right and watched over by our heavenly father spirit as he endeavored to remained true to this important ordinance! 

Ex Lax

While in Leatherhead we had kitchen privileges and often cooked our own spaghetti for our own evening meals. After elder Moore and I had been together for about six weeks, our zone leaders determined to visit us and notified us several days in advance. I knew these zone leaders and enjoyed their company. However, elder Moore and I decided to play a prank on these zone leaders. We determined that we would bake a chocolate cake that we would serve to these zone leaders; but in half of the cake (which we knew) would be included Ex-lax laxative. We didn't think it would have a serious affect on these two elders physical makeup. Rather we just thought it would be discomforting to endure such a loosening of their bowels. We proceeded to bake the cake with ex lax (in moderation) included in 1/2 of the cake. I was concerned that the half that included the laxative could be detected by the zone leaders, so I assured both our protections by icing the cake. When the elders came to visit us we shared a portion of the cake with them in our evening meal. Directions had indicated that their anxieties would not occur for 6 to 12 hours thereafter. They left the next morning without incident and elder Moore and I waited to hear what might occur. We did not hear directly that these two zone leaders had been subject 2 discomfort; and we thought we might never hear anything about it. However about two weeks later we arrived home to find our beds completely covered by toothpaste and other creams by these two zone leaders - they had gotten back at us rather well; they had also informed us (by their revenge) that our prank had had its effect! In retrospect I consider the event to be absolute foolishness on my part. 

Too Close

Elder Moore and I enjoyed a rather comfortable companionship. We'd had a number of experiences together and shared a genuine interest in one another's well-being. However we both experienced a very uncomfortable confrontation one afternoon. I had made it apparent that I did not like hugging anyone. by contrast, Elder Moore found hugging to be a very acceptable and even preferred experience. He took it upon himself that day to persuade me that I should be open two such hugging. I explained to him that I had never been one who hugged nor did I wish to be. He continued to press his position and finally approached me with the intent to hug me. I put my hand on his chest and tried to keep him from embracing me. (I had always deemed elder Moores approach 2 anything as somewhat effeminate. I had no reason to believe that he was anything other than an upright missionary! Nevertheless I did not want to risk anything of the sort and sought to remain my distance physically; though I had expressed verbally my regard for him as an individual. As he continued to press hugging me I finally had to respond more firmly. He was endeavoring to hug me in an open area of our bedroom at the foot of both our beds. As he moved forward toward me with both arms outstretched to hug me, I placed both hands on his chest and shoved him backward such that he slammed against the wall and fell to his bottom. Clearly the circumstance had escalated to a physical confrontation. Elder Moore then began to openly cry and express disappointment that I did not permit such demonstrative hugging! I endeavoured to express to him that I cared about him but was not willing to hug. He heard my words and reluctantly accepted my distant acknowledgement. We would go on to have a reasonably good relationship; but never tried to hug one another thereafter! I wish that such a violent thing had been experienced by either of us; but I remained thereafter aloof from any physical connection! 

Farnborough

After Leatherhead, I was transferred to Farnborough (in the Aldershot district) to perform missionary work with elder William T. Nelson. Farnborough was closely associated with the town of nearby Aldershot which was known as home to the British Army. Thus, as a military establishment. many of the people there were enlisted in the British Army and wore the customary British fatigues. Inasmuch as there had been an outbreak of the IRA (and their terrorist activities against the British Army) just prior to my leaving on my mission, a significant anxiety accompanied being associated with the British Army. They were a distinct target of the terrorists from the Irish Republican Army (who were actively seeking independence from British rule). Thus, we were always on our guard while in Farnborough. Farnborough displayed many of the idiosyncrasies of a military town. There was not a great deal of customary shops and the nearby town of Aldershot combined with Farnborough to surround the Farnborough airport. Our digs were located on the upper floor of a three-story home that had been converted into digs. We had kitchen and bathroom privileges and used them daily. One particular trio of fellow lodgers were students at a local university; and we got to know them a little bit because we shared a wall and could often hear them! There was an old separate ramshackle garage that we kept our bicycles in and a somewhat overgrown backyard. because we we're pretty much left alone to ourselves, we were pretty comfortable in the digs that we occupied there - albeit they sometimes devolved into a mass of unkempt clothes and digs that needed cleaning. 

Elder Nelson was perhaps the most difficult companion I had throughout my mission. He was really quite lazy; I often couldn't get him to go tracting until well after the morning hours (often after noon). Thus, our proselyting day was cut almost in half most of the time. He spent the morning hours lying in bed and sleeping or simply laying there without any visible thought. He virtually never participated in early morning scriptural study; and I had to study alone (which in this case was not a bad thing especially). when I did get him to go cross alighting with me, he didn't wear the customary dress jacket that was (and is) worn by virtually all missionaries. Rather, he wore an old army jacket that was left over from the Vietnam War! I was often embarrassed by his presentation of himself to the people we tracted. I'm confident that many (if not most) were significantly confused by his appearance and demeanor. He had not, as yet, accomplished memorizing our six discussions and could barely present even the first discussion adequately! This condition was even more pronounced; recognizing that he had been in the mission field for over a year. He was either mentally challenged or just plain lazy! Because his appearance and unkept part of the digs displayed his lackadaisical attitude - I deemed him to be just plain lazy! I suppose I succumbed to finding fault when I observed on a daily basis that he chewed his food with a wide-open (I'm not exaggerating) mouth. Observing him eat was truly disturbing and disgusting. Our district leader attempted to motivate him; but he just didn't respond to motivation. I spent the next six weeks wondering how an elder could get to this point; and dragging him along with me whenever I could get him to go tracting. I often wondered why he didn't just go home; because he was a detriment to anyone involved with him in a companionship. Recognizing that my district leader knew the situation, I did not burden him any further with complaints or comments. 

Sailplane

One day I remember observing a sailplane flying overhead near our digs. I had been rather enamored with gliding ever since I my experience in Auburn; and I watched as the plane flew to a nearby airport - which I was to learn was Farnborough airport. I learned that I could observe the airport’s activities and the main runway’s actions from the backyard of our digs. If I were to go to the very back fence, I could look over the hillside and down onto Farnborough airport. There I quickly observed the sailplane I saw; being hooked up for another auto tow into the sky. They could ‘kite’ the sailplane to about 1000 feet before they released and soared around the airport. Periodically conditions were such that they could fly over our neighborhood, and I quite enjoyed watching the Blanik sailplane soaring overhead. Because I was encumbered by Elder Nelson’s lackadaisical nature, I periodically spent an hour or so watching the sailplane; as it was towed skyward and flew over our digs. I was able to capture a few photographs and continued to be enamored by powerless flight! 

One of the things we dealt with as we spent most of our time tracting was responding to homeowners who had recently experienced the proselyting of Jehovah Witnesses. These individuals roamed throughout the British neighborhoods on a weekly basis; and we're often avoided by homeowners. They tended to be pushy and were considered nuisances by most homeowners. We understood that these individuals seemed devout in their intent to convert their neighbors; but we also thought that they were much too frequent as they repeatedly pushed themselves upon unsuspecting homeowners. Thus, the Jehovah's Witnesses were a thorn in our side as we could not avoid being mistaken for them. We were often associated with these weekly proselytizers because they were what most homeowners opened their door to. It was not uncommon for us to be accosted at a door by a homeowner who mistakenly associated us with Jehovah Witnesses! It became so commonplace that homeowners would open the door and immediately shut it stating “Oh, Jehovah Witnesses”; slamming their door to message that they not be troubled again! I did not particularly blame homeowners who took a moment to hear what little we had to say; recognize us as missionaries from the LDS church; and then shut their door. At least we had a chance to properly identify ourselves. However, it was particularly annoying when a homeowner would peek out their door; and immediately shut it; because they thought we were Jehovah Witnesses! We wouldn’t even get a chance to identify ourselves! In order to occasionally counteract this rude behavior, I would sometimes pry open the letter slot in their door and loudly proclaim “OK, we'll keep the money!”  We would then walk away.  Occasionally a homeowner would spring outside querying what it was all about! We would just keep walking; enjoying the homeowner’s obvious demonstration regarding extremely rude behavior. 

Elder Hunt

After about two months I was pleased to say goodbye to elder Nelson and hello to elder Roy Hunt. Elder hunt was a delightful person about a foot shorter than me and very well built. Elder hunt had gone to state as a wrestler in his high school; and he showed the build of a very successful wrestler. He was easy to get along with and well versed in his work as a missionary. He knew his discussions rather well and we both studied the scriptures in the morning together! He was well liked by virtually anyone in our district and displayed a very amenable personality! I considered myself fortunate to have him as my companion. We work together well; and he displayed a bit of interest when he discovered me in the backyard observing sailplanes. He had excellent hygiene habits; and kept his part of our digs tidy and clean. I would have to say that elder hunt was one of the best companions I had throughout my entire mission.