We’re still “Singing in the Rain”

Am I sounding like a broken record? (Some of you will have to ask your parents or grandparents what that means.) The rains may not be stopping, but they certainly haven’t dampened our spirits. The temple has been busy for the last week. We are not sure why, but we are so happy to have patrons come anyway. We have been studying from the dedicatory prayers given both in 1958 and 1993 in our prayers meetings, which we have prior to our “shifts” each day. There is an article in the Ensign Magazine, January 1993, London Temple Dedication that tells a little about it. What it doesn’t tell you, though, is that President Hinckley, then a counselor in the presidency, was in the basement of the temple, with many others, bailing out the water from the rains before the open house or was it the dedication? Now, I don’t feel so bad about all our little floods. Life and temple work goes on despite what nature throws at it and that is a truth.

Crocus's bring hope for spring

I have included a picture of one of the things we like to do on our Mondays, which is our prep day (or day off). We generally go to the local McDonald’s for a quick breakfast before setting off on an adventure. That means we are going shopping for groceries, usually, and maybe, sometimes to see a Castle or Palace etc. Over the months, we have made friends with one of the workers we always see at McDonald’s. She is French, but lives here. She seems to have be drawn to us, as she always greets us with a smile and wants to talk. (She loves our American accents.) A few weeks ago she asked why we are here in England, so, we took the opportunity to tell her about the church and the temple. Very courteously, she informed us that she has her own religion and that it is nice for us to all worship in our own way. She finally told us that she is a Scientologist. Oh! Well, we have left it at that, but, I have been wondering why she ended up here in England. Then someone told me that the Scientologists have a huge headquarters here in East Grinstead. I can only guess that she has followed her religion here. However, we are still friends. 

When we took this picture, I put my arm around her and after, she commented that it felt good for me to do that and it was what she really needed that day. When we left, she came over and gave me a nice hug back. I needed that too.

I forgot to share pictures of the lovely nativity that Sister Hyde sold to me a little while after Christmas. I was willing to pay about anything she asked, but all she wanted was a measly 5 pounds to give to charity. I paid her 20 pounds, which was a steal. All the hours of hard work that went into knitting it make it quite ‘dear’. I’ve been looking around for something to collect that represents merry olde England. And what better than something knitted and using wool from England. Seems like everyone does a lot of knitting around here and, of course, wool is found in great abundance too. I am going to enjoy it for many, many years.

Okay, I need to leave you all with something I learned this week too. I have been reading a book I found in the temple worker’s lounge, here at the Accommodation Centre. It’s called “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak. It’s about a young German girl, who is given away by her mother to a foster family, just after her brother drops dead in front of her. Kind of tragic, huh? She is a survivor, though. Sadly, there are a lot of swear words in it, but the majority of them are in Deutch (German). I takes place during the WWII, about the time when the Nazi’s were burning books on a regular basis, and is told by a character who is the angel of death, but he fancy himself as the “Grim Reaper”. It is very well written. Anyway, I have learned a new German word whilst reading it. 

Zufriedenheit

It means: happiness or enjoying pleasure and contentment. And so, I wish you all Mach Zufriedenheit!

Until next week, love to all of you.

From: Granny (Carolee) and Grumps (Niel)

Pictures from the latest "Hi's and Bye's"

Hi to Elder and Sister Dewsnup from SW England

Bye to Elder and Sister Kiddle from Calgary Canada

Hi to Sister Mertle Campbell from Scotland

Hi to Elder and Sister Pinegar from Provo Utah as the new London Temple

Visitor's Centre directors

Hi to Sister Smith from New Zealand/Australia

The latest "Bye" in the London Temple mission

Brother and Sister Anderson from Cache Valley and Lyman Woming

Brother and Sister Callaghan, English temple workers

Sister Adlar from Wales

Visit to a real country manor

And still it rains! The south of England is virtually being washed away by the high tides, winds and waves. The Thames (pronounced-“Tems”) is at flood stage and going over. We still cannot walk on the lawns here at the temple or we will sink into the ground and disappear. Every morning we wake up to more rain washing down our windows. However, I’ve started to think that this is a normal winter. Even if the Brits tell me it is really unusual to see SO MUCH water, I won’t believe them. Truly, I was planning on a lot of rain, so I’m certainly not disappointed.

Let’s see—what else is new? Oh yeah, we spoke in Sacrament Meeting last Sunday. Once again, I took some of Niel’s time. Honest, I try not to do that, but it just seems to happen every time. How on earth am I going to give a talk on the purpose of Jesus Christ in the Godhead in only twenty minutes? It’s impossible, I tell you. Anyway, we must have made an impression because before I could even get up off the pew, there was a lady right there, wanting us to come to her house for dinner and give the talks to here two inactive boys. Seriously, I’ve never been put on the spot quite like that. We will send her our outlines etc. in an e-mail and hope she will take it from there. Sounded like they are a ways away from being active again. Boy, you never know who or what is going to jump into your life and get you involved up to your ears.

On Monday, Sister Littlefield and several of the other temple missionaries took what we call a “Van Trip” in the temple van to a wonderful country manor located on the other side of London. Even though it rained for most of the time, we enjoyed it immensely. Kenwood Manor was built in the 1600-1700s. At one point a wing was added (the library) and remodeled by a Robert Adams. May I say, it was beautifully done. 

Snow drops

Kenwood back entrance

Kenwood front entrance

Then in 1924, it was purchased by Sir Edward Cecil Guinness, first Earl of Iveagh, of the Guinness brewery in Dublin. This fellow was best known for his art collection. He used the manor to house his large and very expensive art collection, where it is today.  People, we’re talking about Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Dyck, Gainsborough, Reynolds, Turner and many other great artists. Part of his philanthropy was that anyone could come to Kenwood to see it and the art and not have to pay even a pence. Can I tell you how wonderful it was to stand in front of paintings worth millions of dollars, much less take pictures of them? 

The pictures included with this blog are something that we have never been allowed to do in any other manor, castle, or palace we have visited. Usually, no pictures are allow. As long as I didn’t use a flash I could take all the pictures I wanted to, which ended up at almost 100 snapshots. This is as close as anyone who would like to see the interior of a manor will ever get. It just isn’t done. So please enjoy them. I wasn’t able to attach dialogue or explanations with the pictures that I e-mailed. So I’ll try to tell you about some of the things you will see in this blog. Remember, I couldn’t use my flash and they kept the rooms fairly dark to protect their contents, so they aren’t the best quality.  

Two of the paintings I’ve included are a self-portrait of Rembrandt and a painting by Vermeer (he’s my favorite) called “Girl With a Guitar”. There is a painting of the old London Bridge, which now resides in Arizona, which was very interesting. I hope I put in some darling dogs etc. I took some pics of a beautiful needle point rug. And then, if the English Heritage Org. didn’t want you to sit on the old chairs, etc. they put a couple of thistles on them. Kind of cute.

Hope you enjoy them half as much as I did. By the way, Dad stayed back at our flat, relaxed and worked on the computer. He was in seventh heaven, and stayed in his underwear all the day through. What a life.

We loved reading the talk our granddaughter, Ashley, gave in her Sacrament Meeting on Sunday too. We love her so much and were very impressed with her testimony.  I have a great quote about sacrifice for all of you. 

President Spencer W. Kimball once said: “There will come a time when everyone will have to lay everything on the altar of sacrifice.” Brother John Hafen added to this that everyone who is willing to offer their all in sacrifice and do it willingly will find in the end that what they thought was sacrifice really isn’t. 

We love you all, Happy Valentines. Niel enjoyed his 68^th birthday this week and passed the UK Theory driving exam!!

Also, a big Happy Birthday to our daughter-in-law, Lezlee on the 15^th!

Niel and Carolee 

a.k.a. Granny and Grumps 

What Happens in Temples?

Follow this link: What Happens in Temples?

SHOULD WE PRAY FOR THE RAIN TO STOP?

This is just plain ridiculous. I’m beginning to wonder if we are going to float away or become water-logged swamp rats. Where does all this water come from? In our lives, it has been common for us to pray for rain or more snow, but we’ve got a whole other problem here. Right now, it is past my bedtime and I can’t sleep because the wind and the RAIN won’t stop. From what we hear from the local Saints, January of 2014 has officially broken all and any records in the history of England for the amount of rainfall that has taken place. We are the Baptistry Coordinators tomorrow and I’m pretty sure that the temple basement will be flooded---again. I’ve lost count of how many times we have experienced flooding in the temple and in the Accommodation Centre.  I just checked my toes to see if they are starting to web. Duck Dynasty here we come.

-Next Day-

Yup, the women’s dressing room in the Baptistry was flooded and unusable. We had to use the children’s nursery room for their dressing room. No mirrors, toilets, or hair dryers etc. The patrons still came, but not at the time they were scheduled, they came in a stream. It was like being in Victoria Station (Jill and Steven Lancaster know what that is like). Both Niel and I ran around in circles the whole time. It was a mess in some ways, but, you know what, we got it done. Everyone who came to be baptized and confirmed were able to do it.  Then---we staggered to our apartment! 

However, tomorrow will come and we will persevere. All will be well. Even if the temple is flooded, I couldn’t think of a better place to be. Have we told you lately how blessed and happy we are to serve the Lord’s House? Every day, we drag ourselves out of bed, straighten out all the creaks and bends, stagger into the bathroom, where the mirror does absolutely nothing for our morale and hopes, fumble to put on clothes, eat the same porridge, and reel to and fro as we descend three flights of stairs, put up an already water-soaked brolly (umbrella) and shuffle into the temple. And then the miracle happens. We become as good as new, ready to work and serve and so very happy to be there. With God, everything is possible!

Niel has been taking fly-fishing classes during the last week. One of our temple co-workers is an expert fly fisherman and guide. (See http://breakingrods.blogspot.co.uk )He has very generously offered to help anyone who might be interested. Niel is hoping to do a little fishing, here, from time to time and a whole lot when he gets back home. Fishing in the UK is rather expensive. You are always fishing on privately owned land and can expect to pay L25 to L50 pounds ($40 to $80) for the privilege. There is also a fee for each fish caught. You cannot catch and release these Rainbow Trout. Against the rules for some reason.  These would be trout ponds or streams. Carp, Catfish and other non-edible fish are found in public ponds and I don’t know if there is a fee to fish. But of course I would rather fly fish while I’m here.

On our days off we look for little charity shops on the high streets of small villages. People and estates clean out their “stuff” and give it to these shops. We have found beautiful furniture, display cabinets, tables and chairs, paintings, jewelry, books, crystal and clothing. Some of the stuff is to die for it is in such good shape, fashionable and very well built. Well worth the asking price and I have even made 50% offers on some paintings which they have accepted to my surprise. No, I (Niel) didn’t purchase because we have no way to bring it home. Good thing I guess. 

By the way, Niel takes the UK driving theory test on February 12^th. He is confident he will pass. Then comes the driving test. His driving skills have improved tremendously. We need to be legal by the time we have been here for one year. If not, we will be in violation and could end up in the local constable’s office.

I have been working on a crocheted alter cloth for the temple. It’s something I have wanted to do for a long time. I’m about ¾ done. It’s a pattern that I down-loaded from the internet and figured out. I’ve looked and tried a lot of other patterns, but always had trouble interpreting the directions etc. This one worked great for me.  

On Monday, (P Day) we ventured to a town called Horsham. It is one of the few villages in England to retain its Saxon name. (410AD to 1066AD – following Roman Rule)  It is close by so it wasn’t a long journey. The town was a wonderful surprise. It was quaint and different, with lots of darling shops and quite a few charity stores to peruse in. We had a very expensive (but not too good) Italian lunch and wandered around until the cold wind drove us back to the car and home. Now is the time to vacuum, mop and do the ironing, for tomorrow is the start of another week in the temple.  Next Sunday, Niel and I will be speaking in the Crawley Ward. We are speaking on the Godhead. I’m speaking on the role of Jesus Christ and Niel is speaking on the role of Heavenly Father in the Godhead. Wish us luck.  

We enjoy seeing your posts on face-book, etc. and would love to receive e-mails when you can jnielstrong@gmail.com Let me end by saying we are doing well. Our aches and pains are manageable and not keeping us from serving faithfully.

Love to all, Carolee and Niel aka Granny and Grumpa

p.s. Here is a great quote I heard this week:  “God whispers to us in our pleasure: speaks to us in our conscience; and shouts to us in our pain.  It is His megaphone to arouse a deaf world.”  C S Lewis

This is a painting that hangs in the Accomodation Centre. 

It is by a friend and client, David Lindsley