After receiving my acceptance to the BSA MFA program, Melanie and I took account of all we had to do to get there. At the time, we were in Nauvoo and finishing up our participation with the Nauvoo and English Pageants, and were anxiously awaiting our return home to plan for the adventure. Once we returned home, we had a limited time to get Rachel’s passport, secure our visas, and sell all our possessions to make the trip. Getting Rachel’s passport meant going to the post office with Rachel the day we were leaving for Flaming Gorge. We left for Flaming Gorge the morning of the 7th of August 2014 after having been home only two days from Nauvoo. Melanie spent a night at girl’s camp that first night home at seven months pregnant, and as we left for Flaming Gorge, we quickly dropped off the passport documents to the post office and got everything expedited. They told us the process would take about three weeks, and that was cutting it quite close to our departure date of September 4th 2014. While I was in Nauvoo, Rich Wadley told me about a company he used with the Church to get expedited visas in a couple of days. The company was called Visa-bility. I gave them a call and left a message to call me. After returning home from Flaming Gorge, I received a call from Anna Martin at Visa-bility and we began talks to get our visas expedited for our trip on the 4th. We needed Rachel’s passport before we could do any of it, and we were really pushing it time-wise, but we knew that Heavenly Father wanted us in England, and had prepared the way for us to get there, so we trusted Him and proceeded with the moving arrangements. We now had about three weeks to sell everything we had and move into Margie’s house before we left for the U.K., and that meant posting everything we owned on KSL.com Classifieds. We posted all the big furniture and anything we thought we could actually make a return on, but most of the stuff we sold on KSL we sold for MUCH cheaper than we would have liked. It took about two weeks to sell most things, and we had loads left over, so we decided to have a garage/estate sale for all to come buy our things.
A couple nights before we had the garage sale, we posted Melanie’s car on KSL. We had a white 2002 Ford Focus with about 112000 miles on it. We had purchased it from another young couple when we were first married, and she told us there was an issue with the reporting of the odometer, but that it was all cleared up and not to worry. We had forgotten all this when we decided to sell it. I had a couple calls on it when I first posted it, but then a man called saying he wanted to come see it for his daughter. He came and did a thorough examination and then asked to use my computer to do a carfax report. When he did, all the problems came up, including an accident we knew nothing about. We were devastated! There was no way we were going to get the asking price we had; who knew if we could even sell it, but Heavenly Father sent this man to us and he was kind enough to overlook it all and give us $3,000 for the car; us knowing we would never get that much for a dinged title. It was one of the many incredible miracles Heavenly Father arranged for us. When it was time to sell the Lexus, I did some research online at NADA.com and Kelley Blue Book and found the ranges of the price of the car so extreme, that I had no idea what to list it for. It was a 2002 Black ES 300 with a beige leather interior and ran like a dream. Melanie and I will surely miss that car. A gentleman called who was a Toyota mechanic for over 40 years and came to inspect the vehicle. He absolutely loved it and gave us $4,500 for it! Heavenly Father came through again for us.
Then the garage sale came. This whole time poor Rachel was going crazy with boredom because Mel and I were on our computers all day trying to work out how to sell everything and start over in a new country. I felt for little Rachel everyday I saw her cry out of boredom. She’s the sweetest little girl ever. The morning of the sale, Mel and I got up about 7:30 knowing the early birds would come before the 8:00 posting we had. When they showed up, they began buying our things one after another for maybe 5% of what we paid for them. It was a gut-wrenching and painful feeling to see our beloved possessions be carted off by total strangers, but there was no other option. We needed whatever money we could get and we needed to get rid of our possessions so we could leave the country. After about seven hours or so, we had sold the bulk of our possessions and it was time to move. Our landlord had told us we needed to be out by that evening, because a new family was moving in Monday. Our only other option was to take the remaining possessions to the DI and give them away for free.
After Justin Bruse had helped me carry everything to the DI and after we had parted ways, Mel and I spent another three or so hours cleaning the house as meticulously as possible. Again, I felt horribly for little Rachel. She was such a trooper through it all. Around 10:30 p.m. Mel and I realized we were never going to get all the work done that night for the new family and decided we would go back Sunday night to finish the job. Monday was Labor Day and we knew the new family was moving in that day, so we had to get it all done before we left. Melanie and I went to 841 Hollow Ct that night to finish cleaning and shut the door for the last time. As we cleaned each room and filmed them for posterity, there was such a feeling of joy and peace that came over me. Mel and I had shared some amazing experiences in that home including Rachel’s first steps and words. It was a righteous home filled with Spirit and exactly what our family needed during the two years we needed to learn and grow before leaving to England. As we finished cleaning and shut the garage with Mel one last time, we offered a prayer of thanksgiving together and thanked our Heavenly Father for all we had been given there. Monday morning, I drove back to the house for my last time with Grandpa McKay’s truck and waited for Ben McKay to come help me load the bed and a few boxes to send to the Gathering Place.
Once Ben arrived, we loaded everything up and waved goodbye to our beautiful home in Lehi for the past 13 months. After heading up to The Gathering Place, Grandma and Grandpa had a party for Melanie and me. All the Kyle and Jennifer McKays came as well as the Barry and Julie McKay family. We had KFC and then a small talent show where grandma asked if Mel and I would share a little about what was happening and our testimonies. Afterward, Mel and I received blessings under the hands of Uncle Kyle. What an incredibly inspired and powerful experience that was for both of us. I have recorded what I could remember from both our blessings. It felt somewhat real now. Before, it had felt purely a dream that we were leaving, but having those blessings sealed in our minds, the real truth now hit us that we were leaving the country for at least two years.
Mel and I moved in to Margie’s house for the next two days until we left for England. It was nice to be rid of so much, and be close to family for a few days until we left, and Mel and I had received Rachel’s passport and birth certificate in about 10 days, which was unheard of. We had met with Anna at Visa-bility the week before and she had assured us our visas would show up that week, but they hadn’t. We spend two long and boring days at Ggie’s waiting for the visas, but the day before our trip they still hadn’t come. Melanie and I tried to get a hold of Anna, but to no avail. We had to cancel our trip to England and only got back about $230. We also found out it would be another week before we could leave. In all, we spent about $2,500 more than we thought. It was a terrible experience with Anna and Visa-bility, but we had to let it go. There was no point in holding anger or hostility against Anna; we were off to the airport and that’s all that mattered.
We were able to attend some call-backs for Savior of the World and say goodbye to many good friends. We also saw "She Loves Me" at HCTWV, and we absolutely LOVED it! So many wonderful friends... we had to just say quick goodbyes, because thinking about leaving for too long made us teary. We will miss our lives in Utah, but we are ready for whatever comes next!
When Mel and I arrived at the airport, we had so much stuff. We were moving our whole lives, and to take that all was quite a task. We unloaded the car and opened the stroller hoping to pack with everything while Mel carried Rachel. We were a sight to behold. We went to the international terminal and they turned us away saying it was only for arrivals. We had to go to the airline gate in Terminal 2 or 1. We gathered all our stuff and marched forth again to the gate check to check our bags. There was no one in security, so we got through rather quickly, but it was still funny to me to see the entire line of luggage going through the X-ray was all ours; all five bags and five crates of laptops, shoes, wallets and more. It was a pretty funny sight. It made me think of my parents trying to take six kids on a plane when we were young. True, the TSA didn’t exist then, but I’m sure it was still pretty stressful. I just wanted Mel and Rachel to have the best experience possible. We got to our gate and still had about two hours until our flight left. We were headed to Chicago, then to London and finishing in Manchester where Rachael Pratt would pick us up. I took little Rachel on a few walks back and forth across the airport to pass time and try to wear her out. We finally boarded our flight and there were only two seats on the side of the plane, so it was just us. Rachel was still under two, so she was a lap child, and was sweet enough to sleep the entire flight.
When we landed in Chicago, Rachel needed a diaper change. We had met another small family with four children heading to London to do a masters as well, and they went straight to the gate. We took a pit stop and when we went to the international gate to fly to London, we had missed the flight! The layover was only 30 min and we didn’t stand a chance. We had to exit the terminal to go to International and we had no idea. We had no phones since they were shut off on our original travel date, and our suitcases were still being shipped on the plane, so we were stuck in Chicago with nothing. While I was arranging our flight out the next day, I stood at the counter feeling completely deflated. There were no more flights to London that night, it was only 9 p.m., and they couldn’t offer us any hotel rooms or food vouchers. My wife was pregnant and was due in five weeks, and my daughter was running crazily around the airport. We had no luggage and missed the best flight for Rachel’s sanity. I then had the idea to call Darren Hill, one of our dear friends from England living in Chicago as an actor. I had the gate agent call him, but assumed he wouldn’t answer since it would be an unrecognized number and I didn’t have a number he could call me back at. Thankfully though, he did answer! I told him what was going on and he said he would rush right over and pick us up. He was so amazing to drop everything and come rescue us! When he arrived we felt so blessed to have such an incredible friend. On the way out of the airport Darren told us he had purchased us a hotel room outside town and drove us there. We didn’t have any toothbrushes or toiletries, and no change of clothes, but we tried to sleep in the hotel that night regardless. I set up a bed for Rachel about 11 p.m. and we all got in bed to go to sleep. After about two hours, Rachel was awake and completely wired. She climbed up on my bed and began jumping around and asking questions. It was one of those moments where I thought I wasn’t going to make it. I was so tired and Mel needed her sleep. I got up and got dressed at around 2 a.m. and dressed Rachel. I put her in the stroller and rolled her out the door. I asked Rachel if she was hungry and she said, “YEAH!” in her exciting way, so I thought about what to do. We didn’t have anything, so I grabbed some change and went to the vending machines. Rachel got really excited and shouted, “Cheetos!” so I bought some Cheetos for her and walked her outside into the chilled night. It was about 55 degrees or so, and she was all bundled up with blankets. I pushed her around the hotel a couple times and brought her back inside after about 30 minutes. I gave her another bottle and put her down to sleep. She did a solid three hours before we all had to get up and get ready to leave. It was a brutal night with no sleep, but we needed to get back to O’ Hare for the last leg of the journey. Darren greeted us that morning and we piled into his little Malibu on our way back to the airport. We stopped at a McDonalds next to O’ Hare and had our “last supper” in America. How fitting that the last person we would spend time with in America was our dear British friend Darren!
After we had got to the airport and said our goodbyes, I was able to arrange a shorter flight to Manchester. Instead of flying to London from Chicago then having a long layover and backtracking to Manchester to meet Rachael Pratt, I arranged a flight to JFK then direct to Manchester. As we waited in the airport at Chicago, we had about three hours until our flight. Rachel met a cute little boy named Jonas. They became super buds instantly and went on several adventures around the terminal. A sweet little girl who played games with them for about 30 minutes joined them later. It was so nice to see Rachel play with children she didn’t know. The flight to JFK went smoothly and we were lucky enough to have the only empty seat next to us on the whole plane! We were able to put Rachel in her own seat for the short 2.5-hour flight.
Once we arrived at JFK, we had the brief fear of a repeat to our missed connection and we quickly ran to the departures screen. As humor and luck would have it, our flight was leaving two hours later at the gate right next to the one we had arrived at. We were feeling somewhat upbeat knowing we had traversed the whole country and only had one more flight to go, but we were nervous knowing this flight was almost seven hours long—more than the time of the previous two flights combined. My biggest fear was Rachel’s sanity and Mel’s health. I worried about those two more than anything else. And if traveling for two days wasn’t bad enough, Rachel was now sick with a horrible cough. We boarded the flight to Manchester knowing this was the last chance to turn back. Once we left, we were officially strangers in a new land. (We jokingly sang the song from the British pageant "My native land, farewell!") When we boarded the flight, we were told it was completely full. We had to check Rachel’s luggage at the gate and pick it up with our other checked luggage. When we sat down, we were packed like sardines and there was only one empty seat on the whole plane… no it wasn’t next to us. We had a rabbi sit next to us who didn’t speak English. The poor guy was being thrown around the place because he didn’t speak English well enough. He sat in the wrong seat, was told to move his overhead luggage and eventually, we asked him to take the open seat on the exit row so we could have room for Rachel. He accepted and we got the only empty seat in the house just for Rachel. The next seven hours were not nearly as terrible as I would have hoped. She crashed out right at takeoff (I’m sure because she didn’t sleep at all the night before), and slept for five hours. We could not have been more blessed. Mel was able to get a bit of shuteye as well, and it was so relaxing to see my family finally getting some rest. Melanie and I watched The Monuments Men together on the iPad while Bean slept, and once she finally got up, we watched Frozen on the Nook and played with her magnet board. We breezed through the flight until the last hour when Rachel’s sickness kicked in and she was coughing and fussy. I still think we had the best possible seven-hour flight experience with a two year old. We were truly blessed by Heavenly Father. We are so grateful for His mercy to us in these incredibly difficult experiences.
When we landed in Manchester, it was a strange feeling I’d never felt before. It was becoming real slowly over time, not one big punch to the neck. I was about 88% positive I had actually moved to a new country. We got off the flight and headed toward customs where a very abrupt man stopped us. We showed our documents and he asked some very prying questions about Mel and the pregnancy and we answered. They then tried to tell us we’d have to go back to America to have the baby since NHS wouldn’t cover it (which wasn’t true. We’d done our research.), and we headed downstairs to baggage claim. Since we didn’t have phones, we had told Rachael Pratt to pick us up at 7:30 a.m. and figured she knew we’d have customs and baggage to deal with, but we didn’t realize it would take so long to get it all. Around 8:30 we still didn’t have our bags. I approached the bag help and he said they were checked in at Chicago O’ Hare. He told me they’d most likely get in that afternoon and we should expect them that night. I signed the form with all our baggage information and carted my little family through the exit into the arms of Rachael Pratt. She was such a wonderful sight—a friendly face in an unfamiliar territory.
When we got into Rachael’s car, she had told us how Dillon wanted to come to the airport so badly. Dillon was her son and we had spent time with him in Nauvoo doing the Nauvoo and British Pageants. He played our son on stage and had grown quite close to Rachel our daughter. Rachael his mother told us he wasn’t able to come that morning because he had school photos and could not miss them. When we were walking to the car, Rachael told us her husband had called and said Dillon went missing. Rachael had searched the car and not found anything and we started wondering if he had stowed away to come see us. Sure enough, when we opened the back door, we found him asleep under a row of seats in the back. He had hid away so he could come greet us and see his little friend Rachel. We took the hour drive from Manchester airport to Lichfield, and Rachael dropped us off at the Mace residence around 10:00 a.m. To us it felt like 3 a.m. and poor Rachel Bean had passed out in my arms in the backseat on the drive. Her carseat hadn’t arrived either, so we had no choice but to hold her. We put her down the second we arrived, and Mel and I crashed for about 4.5 hours until we were awaken by Becky Mace (WE LOVE Becky!), the youngest of the Mace family and the only one living here while the family was in Chile.
Becky was wonderful. She was so nice and was so eager to take us anywhere we needed that first day and help get us situated around the house. She was so content to just wait around for us to get ready and figure out what we were doing. She took us to the doctor to help Mel get registered, and we went to Tesco to buy a few groceries. I exchanged the cash I had into GBP and we finally felt like we could breath a little more. We were still so incredibly exhausted, and tried our hardest to stay up as long as possible, but around 9 p.m. we were all wiped out and crashed for the night. We had finally made it. No luggage, no car, no idea where we were or what was happening, but we had made the journey and there was no turning back now.
A few pics:
Flaming Gorge with the Cartwrights
Airplane time
Going for a walk in Lichfield
A farewell tea party with my Young Women!
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