37A Lynford Gardens, Edgware, London

This is a picture of the first flat I lived in from February to March 1965. See the white door. The larger window upstairs was our bedroom and the small window to the right was the kitchen.  

Edgware is a suburb of West London and is predominantly Jewish. Nearly every door had a “Mezuzah” (A Mezuzah is a small metal container containing the Jewish Prayer “Shema Yisrael”) The words are taken from two chapters of the Torah or Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21 and are written on a certain kind of parchment in very small Hebrew characters. It must be written and presented perfectly and then scrolled and inserted into the container. The container is hung on the doorpost of their home. Every time they come into or leave their home, the Mezuzah reminds them of their god, that he is perfect and one. 

Old Testament: Deuteronomy 11:18-20

Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, always.

18 ¶Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: 

In two months, we did not teach one discussion in a Jewish home. It was a hard start for me. My companion’s mother had died not long before he left for his mission. He missed his mother and I missed by dad who had died a couple of years before. The Jewish people we met were not friendly. We did attend services in their Synagoge a few times and they tolerated us.  

Every morning the milkman would come up the street with his horse and wagon to deliver fresh milk, butter and bread. Most homes did not have a refrigerator or central heat. We did have a little gas heater we would put a shilling in to warm up our bedroom while we studied. The bathroom and water closet were not heated. And it did get cold. We ate a lot of canned soup.  We stayed in this flat for nearly two months and then moved to another flat. The Jewish people that owned the home decided they didn’t want to be associated with Mormon Missionaries.  I studied. I prayed. I cried at first. But I knew I was doing the Lord’s work and my testimony was confirmed in that little flat in Edgware.

All is Well!

Our radiantly beautiful mom and Grandma Carolee. 
Missionary work seems to be agreeing with her...All is well!

Picture of Hobble Creek Canyon, Fall 2013, taken by Julie Strong Biesinger.
Maybe made mom and dad a little bit home sick?

Medieval Dover Castle and Surroundings

Trip to Dover Castle and the TUNNELS

Greetings from the UK!  As you may have already seen the pictures on our blog, we would like to tell you a little of the trip. We were very impressed with the Castle, even more so than some of the others we’ve seen, because it was furnished with period furniture etc. The kitchens, especially, gave you a good idea of how the people lived and survived in that time. (1100AD)  They even had fires burning in the huge fireplaces and boy was I green with envy.  I would love to have one of those in my home someday.  The chalky hills of the coast were impressive. We have been told to go and visit a place called Beachy Head to really see how much more impressive they can be. Some of the tunnels were excavated prior to WW II and prior to King Henry II. We did a wonderful tour through the war-time tunnels, used in the defense of the country during WWII. I’m sure they were a god-send for the military, but it would have taken a bit of Vitamin Z (Zoloft) for me to stay down there day after day. We tried in vain to spot the coast of France, which is less than 30 miles away, but it was quite hazy that day. However, the view and watching the large ferry’s come and go to various points on the French coast was exciting. Maybe, someday, we will be on one of those, or maybe, riding thru the Chunnel too.  

We are on our way to visit with the Turners tomorrow. We will spend the Conference weekend with them in Nottingham. We are excited to see their renovated barn home (which is luxurious we are sure) and the drive up there will do us good. They have been so very kind to us. Hope Niel doesn’t get another ticket. Hopefully, Ian Turner will teach him how to drive and what to watch out for in the future. He thinks that he got another ticket because we got lost on our way to Costco’s in Croydon on Monday and stopped to work with the GPS, then realized that we were stopped in a Bus Lane. We quickly left and will just have to wait and see what happens.  (You live and learn.)  

Everyone have a good weekend listening to conference. I may be asking questions of my grandkids about it.  It will be a new and different experience for us, as we will be 7 hours ahead and can’t listen to it as it happens.

Love to All,  Carolee, Granny, Mom and Niel, Gramps, Dad

Dover Harbor

Dover ferries at dock

Tunnel entrance--no more photos

Ready to enter the tunnels

Entrance to WW II Bunker in Dover

Medieval Falconry exhibit

Housing and castle accommodations

Castle walls were a good 8 to 10 feet thick

Food prep material

Tower Brewery

Food and utensil storage, pantry, and laundry

Metal weave undergarment

Tiny children's beds

They must have been small people!

Tower bedroom

Dining room guest asking for dinner

Tower dining room 

Atop the tower

Tower view

Castle view facing channel. Roman ruins still standing dating back to 100 A.D.

View from castle tower toward front castle gate

View from castle tower towards France

View from top of castle tower

Dover Castle drop gate lookout

Some Dover Artillery

Working at the Temple Visitor's Centre

Greetings from the London Temple, which is not quite in working order right now.  As we go and spend a few hours each day in the parts of the temple not under construction, we are reminded just how much we miss being there as ordinance workers. It has been most rewarding to meet with and help all the patrons who come to the temple each day. We have worked with people of different races and colors, who don’t speak our language, who come from far countries, but who all have strong testimonies of the gospel.  I often wonder what it is like for them to believe in and support, with an arm to the square, men and women who don’t even speak their language, and that includes the British. These are truly saints of great faith and devotion.

Don't worry, Sister Morgan had not painted the seat of her bench yet.

Elders and sister missionaries bring investigator to the London Temple Visitor's Centre

Cleaning and repainting Temple garden benches

Sister Littlefield scraping, sanding, and painting

Beautiful autumn leaves in the Temple gardens

London Visitor's Centre display and testimonies of the prophets

This last week we have been helping out at the Visiting Centre. One of the center’s Missionary couples has not been feeling well. In fact, this poor Brother Terry nearly died because he thought he could tough it out with kidney stones and ended up in the hospital in kidney and other organ failure. We are filling in on their shifts in the center until he can get back on his feet. 

Visitor's Centre Missionaries for the day

Visitor's Centre missionaries. There are 4 pairs of sister missionaries who rotate in the Centre and 3 senior couples, including the directors, Elder and Sister Carpenter from SLC.

This is a picture of a first edition book of Mormon.  As you probably know, the Church had a printing press in Liverpool do their printing etc. because their own printing equipment in America had been destroyed by mobs.  The funding for this printing came from two sisters, very early converts of Wilford Woodruff and Heber C. Kimball, who were willing to give their inheritance to promote the printing of the book. Much later on an unidentified gentleman handed a very rare English fourth edition copy of the Book of Mormon to a temple security guard (found in his deceased mother's belongings). The SL Church History Dept insisted it be sent to the Church in exchange for this first edition copy, which is less rare, and is now on display at the London Temple Visitor's Centre.

While we are there at the Visiting Centre, we usually have the companionship of several Sister Missionaries. The one in the picture with us is a Sis. Wamsley from New Zealand. She is part Maori but doesn’t look like it much.  We also have another Maori, who serves with us at the temple, a Sis. Morris. I think we have included pictures of their ‘Bye’.  She is one of 24 children, where there are at least two sets of triplets (she is part of one set of triplets) and several sets of twins, all living children. She is a very humble and kind and loving sister.

Let me get up on my ‘soap-box’ for a minute now.  I really need to buy a new purse and my walking shoes are nearly worn through to the sole, but I can’t right now.  You wanna know why?  In the last week, Niel (your father) has received four tickets for illegal parking, driving through bus lanes and we don’t know how many more are going to come with speeding violations. Somehow, we need to take a course on how to drive here in England and not get ticketed by camera.  Our little Tom-Tom, which the Turner’s loaned us with the car, really does try to warn Niel when we pass by a police camera, but we have been blissfully driving around not heeding its warning.  Help!  These are expensive tickets and we are but poor missionaries, a little stupid, but getting poorer all the time. (Okay, now I feel better.)

Here is my quote for the week:

Pain stayed so long I said to him today,

“I will not have you with me anymore.”

I stamped my foot and said, “Be on your way,” 

And paused there, startled at the look he wore.

“I, who have been your friend,” he said to me, 

“I, who have been your teacher—all you know

Of understanding, love, of sympathy,

And patience, I have taught you, Shall I go?”

He spoke the truth, this strange unwelcome guest;

I watched him leave, and knew that he was wise.

He left a heart grown tender in my breast.

He left a far, clear vision in my eyes.

I dried my tears, and lifted up a song—

Even for one who’d tortured me so long.

Unknown

                                           AND

“Giving thanks make us feel good. It helps keep us in balance.”   

Good, huh?

Love to all of you, be strong and become stronger.  

Love You, 

Mom and Dad

Cornwall or Bust

We have just returned from a fast and furious trip down in the Cornwall (SW) area of England.  We are tired, weary, dirty, and soooo glad to be back home. Really, it was like coming home to see the old Accommodation Center. After a good night’s sleep in our own beds, we are up and doing laundry and trying to sort out all the mess we have accumulated. Honestly, how can two old “coggers” like us make such a big mess? 

But first—let me tell you about the trip while Niel is sending some of the many pictures we took. Cornwall is, like all of England, a beautiful and picturesque country.  There are a lot of rolling hills, covered with pristine pasturelands and farms, but the beautiful coast-line is the main attraction. We visited many coves and beaches, saw old castles and ruins, and drove through quaint little villages on narrow and windy roads. For the majority of the time we stayed in what they call, a self-catered B & B.  It was located on a tidal river in a town called Helford. It was named, Hope Cottage. 

All cottages and most of the homes and estates have their own names. That is how the Royal Mail delivers their mail to them, which is much different than in Utah, where everything is on a grid system of north, south, east and west. Anyway, there were quite a number of little cottages located all along the hills surrounding this tidal river. For those of my grandchildren who don’t know what a tidal river is, you had better look it up, okay?

A tidal river is a river, or more typically a stretch of a river, whose flow and level is influenced by tides. 

This cottage was equipped with a nice little kitchen (ergo-self-catering), and a dishwasher and a new type clothes washer/dryer all in one, which we were afraid to use. There were 3 bedrooms for three of us couples and at the end of the hall only one bath, which we all shared. The bathroom was a big worry for me as all my family knows what it is like to share a bathroom with Dad (Niel) and Ryan Strong! Needless to say, I brought along a big box of matches to cover up odors etc. and told all how to use them. I am pleased to say it worked out well.  However----I don’t think that I’ll be getting Niel to stay in B & B’s again. He didn’t enjoy the experience.  He would always rather stay in a motel, thank you.  One luxury we had did made up for all the inconvenience, we had a HD TV!  It’s the first time we have seen or watched TV since last June. We all could hardly tear ourselves away from it. You’d have thought we were all addicted to watching TV at some point in our lives, really.

So, each day for five days we ventured out from Hope Cottage and discovered Cornwall. Some of the highlights were: Stonehenge, Lizard Point, Port Isaac (where Doc Martin is filmed), devouring Cornish ice cream and Pasties (pronounced with a short "a" like cat) and climbing up to St. Michael’s Mount. 

Port Isaac

Stone Henge

Another highlight was going to a play at the Minnack Theatre. The play was an adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew”, which was played by an all-female cast. It got a little uncomfortable in the kissing scenes, but Niel said he’d rather watch two women kiss than two men anytime. For the most part the weather was beautiful, but we had on our rain gear for the play, which is in an outdoor theatre with the gorgeous sea as the backdrop. A little old lady built it, bit by bit and it is really amazing and beautiful.  

We attended an LDS ward in a city by the name of Helston, where there is a huge Marine Air Force base. It is located close to Helford and we enjoyed helicopters and fighter jets going overheard. Some of the time Dad and I were able to put the top down on our car and let the wind play willy-nilly with our hair (?) as we had the jets fly over us. He loved it!  But, true to form, Niel was ever so anxious to get back home, so we came home a day early.  On our way back, though, we visited the city of Bath, which is a place that I always enjoy seeing. We stopped for lunch at a little French Cafe’ and I had a great sandwich called a Croque Monsieur.

A croque-monsieur is a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with béchamel sauce. It originated in French cafés and bars as a quick snack. Typically, Emmental or Gruyère cheese is used. The name is based on the verb croquer and the word monsieur....Yum!!

It was quite the trip. We are so grateful to an English couple with whom we serve in the temple, the Curley’s, who did a lot of planning and preparing so that we wouldn’t miss a thing. Really, we couldn’t have done it without them.

Niel is getting better at driving all the time. At first, we were the ones who were passed on the narrow road ways (being in everyone’s way), but now he can almost keep up with the rest of them. In fact, we were greeted with a speeding ticket (done by camera on the roadway) when we arrived home. I can’t figure out how everyone can zip around at break-neck speed and we get the ticket. It’s not the first and probably won’t be the last ticket, though.

The prospects of not being in the temple each day are now becoming a reality to us. That will be hard, for we have such great testimonies of temple work and in “standing in holy places”.  Bro. Jay Allen, who was a high councilman in our stake once said in a talk that the church had a church-wide efficiency study done and the only thing they could find wrong, which they felt was a problem and needed to be addressed was that the church spent entirely too much money on people who were dead. He said, “It is our objective to save souls, not be efficient.”

Let me leave you with a quote from Mr. Charles Dickins: “Cheerfulness and contentment are great beautifiers, and are famous preservers of good looks.”  Keep smiling and projecting goodness in all you do.

Love, Mom, Carolee, Granny

p.s. And a very belated happy birthday to Holly Lambert. Sorry but wifi was limited and we did the best we could. Hopefully you got the email we sent. 

Dear All,

While on our trip to the Southwest, we did keep our eyes open for people we could approach about the gospel. I met one gentleman and his wife in Falmouth at the marina. His surname was Todd. He was a true English Sailor having even been the national sail boat racing champ in years past. His current vessel is 35’ long and sea worthy into the Mediterranean and European seas. He wasn’t a spring chicken but looked healthy and well. He welcomed our conversation and made some surprising comments about the LDS faith. He was aware of the huge effort to gather names of our ancestors through indexing. He asked if our church was growing and noted that the Church of England membership was falling. I told him our church was growing rapidly. He caught me by surprise when he asked “Why is that”?  I told him when people heard our message it just seemed to be right in their hearts and minds. He wanted to know what we do in our temples and I explained it has a lot to do with why we have a huge genealogy base from researching our ancestry. I told him all of God’s children deserve the right to receive the saving ordinances like baptism and that we baptize in our temples. Maybe too much but he wanted to know, and that’s what came to my mind. He said “When I was just a boy and went to church with my parents, the priest wore a tall hat, carried a wand and had a robe over his shoulders and went around swinging a pot with smoke coming out of it.” He said it gave him night mares and he refused to go back. He said he believes in a God who created all things on earth and that all things have a spirit or were created spiritually before they were put on earth. I told him his expectations of God resembled ours in many ways in terms of the creation. I told him to go to an LDS Chapel with a Family History Centre and have them type in his name and date of birth. That he might be surprised to see that they could come up with his recent ancestry which he said he knows nothing about prior to his grandparents.

Anyway, there is hardly a day that goes by that someone doesn’t ask us why we are in England and how long we plan to stay. (Many times because they know we talk like Americans) We are handing out missionary cards and hope these people will go to the church web site.

We have been on the road for two weeks in a row and I’m ready to get back into my own bed and live in our tiny little apartment. Never thought I would say that but now it is home.

Love to you, 

Dad and Granddad

Bath, Roman baths

Cornwall, Bath Abbey