They've Arrived!

The Mission Home sent an email today:

Hi Family,

Just wanted to let you know that Elder and Sister Warnick arrived yesterday afternoon but it was so busy I didn't get their picture taken.  We are sending you a picture of them in front of our transfer board.

We are very happy to have your parents here.  They are very nice and very capable.  We look forward to getting to know them over the next 18 months.

Very best regards,
Sister Lana Stewart
England London South Mission

First Letter- Tales from the MTC

Below is a condensed version of the letter Elder and Sister Warnick sent this week.  They are at the Salt Lake airport today, and will arrive at Gatwick Airport around 10:00am local time tomorrow (January 29th).

"We have just completed a little more than a week in the  MTC.  It has been very busy but also very informative and uplifting.  We were so busy getting ready to go that we hardly had time to stop and think so in some ways it was a little settling to just focus on the MTC and what we can learn and experience here.  

When we arrived our bags were taken to our room by some helpful young elders and we went through the initial orientation and getting acquainted with the MTC.  During the introductions we discovered that Dad's second cousin Laurel Ostergard Cranney and her husband were also going on their third mission, this time to Colombia.  They had previously served as Mission Presidents in Bolivia and another mission to Guatemala.  They are old hands at this senior missionary stuff.  Actually many of the couples have been on other missions.  This is the fifth for one couple.

This first week mainly focused on Preach My Gospel and we have studied and prepared lessons and done a lot of role playing with other senior missionaries and invited "investigators".  Throughout this entire week we felt very strongly the influence of the Spirit testifying to us of the truthfulness of the church and the work we are engaged in.  We had a wonderful devotional with Enrique Falabella of the Seventy.  He spoke on the importance of eternal families and charged us to do all we could to convert families, not just individuals.  We were reminded of how much we love our own family.

On Wednesday morning the members of the missionary committee of the church conducted a worldwide broadcast.  We heard talks from Elder Bednar, Elder Oaks, Sister Oscarson, Elder Anderson, and several members of the Seventy.  It would be impossible here to relate all the messages but highlights were Elder Bednar's instructions on the Holy Ghost in the conversion process and our need to be worthy to have the Holy Ghost with us.  If any of you are interested in the details the broadcast is probably available on the church website.

Wednesday night we went to the new Provo temple open house and were highly impressed with the beauty and great care given to building and preserving the cultural heritage of the Provo Tabernacle.  Brock Merrill from our home ward is here learning German for the Berlin mission.  He says he is doing great and his mother is glad to have someone he knows here although he doesn't seem to need it.

Saturday morning we drove up to Cedar Hills to visit with Elder and Sister McBride who we will be replacing in Plymouth.  They said the southern coast where we will be has many castles and gardens well worth seeing and is known as the British Riviera.  Our flat is rather large with 2 bedrooms and enough space to accommodate the gathering of young single adults as well as family and friends who may want to visit us.  It was very informative but a bit overwhelming as there was so much to absorb.  They clearly loved the young adults there and were loved in return.

We had to make a quick trip back up to Logan to get our temple clothes as they thought we would have more opportunity to go to the temple than we had previously been told.  We didn't get to see Daniel and it was a little strange going back.  We know we don't belong there right now.  Our trip was a little tense as it was raining or snowing most of the way but we made it without incident and it would have been worse if we had waited a day to make the trip as the snow continued and we awoke to a very white world.

Sunday morning we attended Stan and Linda's stake conference and then Stan took us back to the MTC in time for the fireside with  Stephen Allen who is the managing director of the missionary program for the church.  His talk was mainly directed toward the younger missionaries who were reminded to put worldly concerns behind them and devote their whole energy to the work.

This morning we shifted gears a little bit into 3 days of training for those who will work with young single adults.

We want all of you to know we have greatly appreciated your love and support of us in going on this mission.  Each of you have made a significant contribution to our preparation and we are extremely grateful.  We don't think we could have done it without you.  We will write again once we get to our flat in Newton Abbot (near Plymouth). We love you and miss you already but look forward to our arrival in England."  


They also got to visit with family on the weekends.  Pictured, are Elder Warnick with his brothers Dick and Stan.  Thanks to Stan and Linda for hosting and transportation this week, and all the others that came to visit!

MTC and Provo Temple Open House

Elder and Sister Warnick entered the MTC on January 18th.  They spent the week training with other senior missionaries, then spent the beginning of this week in Institute training.

On January 20th they were able to attend the open house of the new Provo City Center Temple with three other missionary couples.  Pictured, from left to right, are Elder and Sister Jarvis, Elder and Sister Warnick, Sister and Elder Clark, and Sister and Elder Gowans.

More information about the new temple can be found here:

The History of the Tabernacle

Temple Interior Photos

They head to London on January 28th!

Welcome!

Al and Helen Warnick will be embarking soon on their mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!  After their time in the Missionary Training Center, they will be serving with the young single adults in the England London South Mission.

The dark green areas on the map below show the cities where they might be serving.  The mission covers all of southern England, including the Channel Islands.

If you'd like to know more about what things will be like in their (temporary) new home, check out some of the links below!

The LDS Church in England


The London Temple

England's History

The Climate

English Traditions

Food

This page will be updated roughly once a month with pictures and letters from Elder and Sister Warnick.  Check back soon for more!