Brilliantly Serving the British: "Time is of The Essence"

Hello there!!

I am doing wonderful, and I just love being a missionary. I'm sure I have said that before, but this is the greatest thing in the world! Being in England is just so surreal, and probably one of my favorite places to be is.. the train station!! Yep, I love it there. The rolling green hills, which little sheep roaming is very picturesque. I think that is a word? Something I noticed that is quite funny is the names of all the various pubs. Here are a few of the names; "George and the Dragon", "Spinning Jenny", "Boar's Head". Yeah, you get the picture... drunks obviously name them. Hah, there are also some silly street names like.. "Hardybutt St." or "Lovers Lane". You'll never know what you find here in England.

One thing that I shouldn't complain about, but it is a tad bit annoying is the tea/dinner appointments. Typically at home, the food is on the table and you take as much as you want. However, over here.... they dish it up for you? Some people think my stomach is the size of a sumo wrestler or something! Kid you not, I pray to have my gut expanded sometimes. I feel so bad.. because I am so grateful to be fed, but just please, let me choose the portion? I have only gone to one place that let me dish it up, and the drink, haha, they drink they had for us was like fizzy cough syrup. Oh goodness.. come what may and LOVE IT. Which I do.

So lets see, we had a district meeting, and someone shared this.. and I loved, so here it is. "If I knew this would be the last time I would watch you sleep, I would hug you tighter. I would plead with the Lord to protect you. If I knew this would be the last time I saw you walk out the door, I would hug and kiss you and call you back to hug and kiss you one more time. If I knew this would be the last time I would hear your voice in prayer, I would record every gesture, every look, every smile, every one of your words, so that I could listen to it later, day after day. If I knew this would be the last time, I would spend an extra minute or two to tell you, "I love you," instead of assuming you already knew it. If I knew this would be our last time, our last moment, I would be by your side, spending the day with you instead of thinking, "Well, I'm sure other opportunities will come, so I can let this day go by." Of course there will be a day to revise things, and we would have a second chance to do things right. Oh, of course there will be another day for us to say, "I love you." and certainly there will be another chance to tell each other, "Can I help with anything?" but in my case, there isn't one! I don't have you here with me, and today is the last day we have - our farewell. Therefore I would like to say how much I love you, and I hope you never forget it. Tomorrow is not promised to anyone, young or old. Today might be your last chance to hold tight to the hand of the one you love and show all you feel. If you are waiting for tomorrow, why not do it today? Because if tomorrow never comes, you certainly will regret for the rest of your life not having spent some extra time for a smile, a conversation, a hug, a kiss, because you were too busy to give that person what ended up being their last wish. Then hug tight today the one you love, your friends, your family, and whisper in their ears how much you love them and want them close to you. Use your time to say, "I'm sorry.", "Please.", "Forgive me.", "Thank you.", or even "That was nothing.", "It's all right.", Because if tomorrow never comes you will not have to regret today. The past doesn't come back, and the future might not come!"

Okay, I am sorry I do not know the source. I know it can sound quite sappy or sad, but. With all my heart, whoever you are, no matter how well or not well I know you, if you read this, I love you. I wish there was words or actions enough to show, but there simply isn't! Time is of the essence, and you simply never know. Now is the time. Regrets are tough, so make every day a good one. I'll share something more usual next week, but please, tell someone that you love them.

All of my love,

- Elder Bennett