Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Wrong side of the road, buddy!

Elder Koehler has now been in the mission field over 6 months! He spent most of it in a suburb of London called Stratford. He loved it there for the friendly people, the interesting places in London to visit on P. Days, and the diversity of the residents. He believes he has met someone from just about every country in the world while serving in Stratford. Just ask him...name a country, give him a few seconds to think, and he can probably come up with someone he met from that country. We tested him on Mother's Day when we spoke to him and couldn't stump him with any country we came up with. He also learned to greet people in 7 new languages.

 
Stratford was a walking/big, red, double decker bus-riding area. He put a lot of miles on those pretty new shoes! 

 
He also learned to eat a lot of new foods. Things he would previously turn up his nose at such as lettuce, broccoli, tomatoes and cauliflower turned out to be quite good to a missionary! He had African food for Easter, and Jamaican food after a funeral. And one cute little old member lady cleaned out her cupboards to send food home with him...candy bars, chips, canned tuna fish...all the while bemoaning the fact that she couldn't give them more.



Elder Koehler has now been transferred to a smaller town called Huntingdon. It's near the top of his mission boundaries and has an American military base in it. This area is a driving one, and Elder Koehler has suddenly found himself behind the wheel of a car, on the wrong side of the road! As his companion doesn't have a driver's license, Elder Koehler does all the driving. He loves the beautiful countryside they pass through, and he is getting used to both the steering wheel and the cars being on the opposite side from what he is accustomed to. 

 
Dreaming in a member's Porche!
In Huntingdon the missionaries do a lot of service. He says he has a new appreciation for the movie quote, “We trimmed the hedges of many small villages!” (From The Three Amigos) There are a lot of hedges in England, and Elder Koehler is doing a lot of trimming!

If anyone wants to send a letter to Elder Koehler, just get in touch with me. He can read email once a week, but snail mail would be especially appreciated. Letters & cards can be mailed with a generic “global” stamp, available at any post office. They cost $1.

Thanks for supporting Elder Koehler. He loves his mission and loves serving as a missionary!

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Bon voyage, Elder Koehler!!!

The adventure has begun! Elder Koehler left for the England London mission on January 28, 2015.


He cheerfully embarked on his long flight to Paris, France. From there, his flight to Manchester, England was delayed by snow, which left him on the tarmac for and extra four hours. After 15 hours of travel with no more than two hours of sleep, Elder Koehler was still cheerful in his message home to report that he had arrived safely.

Stay tuned for the next anxiously anticipated update.