Letters From London: Preparing for the Temple to close down...

THE BEGINNING OF THE END

The French have come and they are now gone. We had a delightful week with them. They came very organized and ready to do temple work. Their children were darling. Picture an adorable little girl, with long brown curls and a pixie face, dragging around a bedraggled, long-eared, stuffed rabbit. They were all over the place and we loved them. Most, however, spoke no English and having conversations with them was impossible. We really wanted to make friends and learn to know them better. On Saturday Dad and I helped a company of Portuguese saints in their own session. Boy, we were anxious and nervous, but wow did it turn out well. There were 4 new patrons in this session and in the Celestial Room a lot of smiles and tears and hugs all around.

By the title of this week’s letter, you can tell (hopefully) that this is the last week the temple will be open for two and a half months. Our leaders have told us to expect a huge crowd each day or to expect nothing. It has been busier than usual for the past two weeks and we even set a record of over a 1,000 endowments for last week. It is always a wait and see dilemma. We are really looking forward to a long rest, because Monday Aug.26^th is a ‘bank holiday’ and so the temple will be open for half of the day. That means that we will have worked 15 straight days (we don’t count Sunday as a day off).

We tried to visit a National Trust site last Monday called Leith Hill. There is a 1,000 foot tower there from which you can see the metropolis of London in one direction and the sea (channel) in the other. When we started out the skies were clear and beautiful, but by the time we were going to head that way, everything was clouded over. Apparently, the weather is very changeable here, kinda like Utah sometimes.

The planes (jets) are taking off over the temple today. Usually they are approaching to land over the temple. Dad has a new app that tracts every plane “with a black box” that flies over, what kind of plane it is, its altitude, how fast it is going, and where it is headed or came from. (www.flightradar24.com) He LOVES it. I often hear him exclaim, “Here comes a big one!” We’ve really gotten used to the planes and really don’t notice them very much, except, I do in the middle of the night. They never stop flying.

I forgot to mention one thing that all can file under ‘simply amazing facts’. If you will remember, the London Temple was built in 1958 and the business I worked at for 23 years was also built in about the same time (1953). I retired from Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe Co. (accounting dept.) where all the furnishings and furniture were vintage 1950’s. Well—things haven’t changed much for me because all the décor etc. is vintage 1950’s here at the temple. It is well made and nothing fancy like the Salt Lake Temple, but still well-stated and beautiful. We haven’t seen the new temple film yet, but are looking forward to seeing it in the Preston Temple in September. Our temple will be getting it or rather will be getting the equipment to show it during our shut-down. Something to look forward to, huh?

The picture of me (the old gray-haired lady) and the young dark-eyed sister were taken after the ‘bank holiday’ picnic. Her name is Jana Wilkinson and she has been working in the temple with us since we got here. She works 2 or 3 days a week. She graduated from a university in the Boston area and is over here getting her master’s degree in disaster and emergency management. She is originally from Manti, that’s Manni for you locals, and after she finishes with her schooling, she will go home (in Oct) and then on a hike somewhere in New Zealand. She has travelled all over the world, mostly doing research for her degree etc. We have really enjoyed getting to know her too.

We hope to hear a little blip from some of you. We know you’re hearing from us, so let us know in a quick message sometime.

Love to all: Carolee, Mom, Granny

London Temple landscape late August

Bank Holiday picnic

Interesting pinecones pointing up

Dear All,

I spent most of this week in a small room on the upper floor of the temple for coordinators. In this room is a print of a painting by Minerva Tiechert, a renowned LDS artist, of the Savior on a hillside in Galilee (I suppose) in a white robe carrying a little black lamb. The sun is setting and reflects off a pond or small stream of water. Following the Savior are a few dozen ewes with lambs and yearlings. Early in the week, the painting was just there hanging on the wall. But in quiet moments, I would gaze upon this beautiful masterpiece. It’s surprising how many thoughts came to my mind as to what Sister Tiechert was thinking when she painted this picture.

Here are a couple of thoughts that came to mind. The Savior was carrying a black lamb, not long in mortality. Maybe this lamb had been abandoned by its mother. Could it have been left behind or injured and He picked it up to comfort it? Obviously the Savior loved this little one. Our Heavenly Father sent us His Son to lead us, and carry us when necessary, through mortality. He is no respecter of persons. We are His spirit children. He loves us all equally.

Next, I noticed He was leading these sheep and they were following. Every one of them had their eyes on the Savior, their Shepherd. He was their protector. Today, many of us tend to be sheep herders rather than being kind and considerate of others, that they will want to follow our example. Likewise, He is our Shepherd showing us the way. But as you all know, it is not easy, at times, to keep our eyes on Him and His example. The promise is that through the Atonement, He will be our strength as we follow Him.

The calming effect of the small body of water and the lush hillside reminded me that the gospel of Jesus Christ sustains us. The gospel feeds us spiritually. It is our guiding influence. He is our protector and advocate. No matter our station in life, the trials that may come upon us, the challenges that are before us, we have the sustaining and calming effect of the gospel to help us through. He is with us through the power of the Holy Ghost. We are not alone.

Many more thoughts came to my mind and left before I wrote them down, but the painting lifted me spiritually. I felt the love of the Savior as one of his many lambs.

Love, dad and granddad