Hampton Court

Another Monday has come and gone. I went on another van trip with some of the other sister temple workers and Niel went----you guessed it---fishing. We both enjoyed what we did, though.  I can’t get over all the history in this country. Everywhere one looks there are buildings, parks, monuments, estates, palaces, and castles. They all have a story to tell and it’s all a part of this country’s history.

This trip took us to Hampton Court. It is located near London, right on the Thames. (Pronounced "Tems.") The place is more than huge. Several wings and extensions have been added by a succession of Kings and Queens. Henry VIII lived here with two or three of his wives. William and Mary, several King Georges, and even Elisabeth I took up resident at Hampton Court.  I thought that the best part of it would be the apartments and rooms, with all of their finery, etc. but visiting the many gardens was spectacular! I’m so glad I got to see them and experience the outdoors of the monarchy. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Entering into the front of Hampton Court. It's so big!

Each room has it's own fantastic chandelier. This one is made of rock crystal

This is one of the reasons why Hampton Court was such a special place to visit.

They provided plenty of toilets for all the crowds.

The brickwork on the chimney is a treat to experience

The outside was what was really fab!!

More of the outside...lots of school children.

Okay, here's a picture of me...

More of the beautiful gardens

We are starting to see a little color in the trees. The weather has been wonderful, too. I keep thinking that it will soon be the rainy season and we will have to try to enjoy the rain. (Is that possible?) It is getting cooler at night. I even got out my winter jammies last night. My body is getting to be so very arthritic that I find it best to keep warm and not let the cold get to my bones. 

We are still teaching Primary. Niel thinks it’s Sunday School, so I have to remind him often that it really is Primary. Actually, this is his first experience with Primary age children and teaching them has been a great blessing for both of us. We have Ella, Myah, Jerome (investigator), Flynn, Mikey, J J, and Oliver in our class. They try to talk with American accents from time to time and it sounds horrid. (Are we really that bad?)

The temple has experienced a surge in attendance the past couple of weeks. (roughly one thousand endowments in a week) We’re not sure but think the new carpet may have influenced that a little bit. President Johnson, the temple president, is making a push for British ordinance workers with the hope the need for “black badge” temple missionaries, from around the world, will be reduced. He has received commitments from several members that will start their service shortly after we complete our mission in December of this year. We hope he is successful. We have served with many wonderful couples from this temple district including England, Wales, Ireland and France.

London Temple workers, August 2014

We are looking forward to visiting and watching General Conference with the Turner’s in Nottingham during Conference weekend. They have done so much for us. We will really miss them after we are finished here.  We hope you are all ready to listen to the Prophet and others. We surely are. It’s a great time of the year, one I really look forward to.

All is well.  

Love to all, 

Niel (Grumpa) and Carolee (Gran)

Bye

Elder and Sister Adams (West Point, Ut)--Mission Office

Elder and Sister Murdoch (Logan, Utah)--Temple missionaries

A Higher Practice of the Law of Sacrifice

As a London temple ordinance worker, I often reflect on certain gospel principles that are key to our understanding our position before the Lord. One of them is the Law of Sacrifice.

Elder M Russell Ballard taught: “Although the Law of Moses was fulfilled, (in the sacrifice of the Savior) the principles of the Law of Sacrifice continue to be a part of the doctrine of the Church…. While the primary purpose of the Law of Sacrifice continues to be that of testing and assisting us to come unto Christ, two adjustments were made after Christ’s ultimate sacrifice. First, the ordinance of the sacrament replaced the ordinance of [animal] sacrifice; and second, this change moved the focus of the sacrifice from a person’s animal to the person himself. In a sense, the sacrifice changed from the offering to the offerer…. After his mortal ministry, Christ elevated the law of sacrifice to a new level….Instead of the Lord requiring a person’s animal or grain, now the Lord wants us to give up all that is ungodly. This is a higher practice of the law of sacrifice; it reaches into the inner soul of a person”  (The Law of Sacrifice) M Russell Ballard 

This quote really enlightened my understanding of this principle. It is one thing to hear it discussed and taught. It is another to invite it into your life and practice it. 

Hope it influenced you like it did me.   

All is well………Niel  (Elder Strong)

Lovely Blenheim Palace

The last two weeks we have been watching the dedicated “temple carpet layers” doing their best work at the temple. They flew in from working in a temple in Brazil and worked almost day and night. 

They were not able to complete the whole temple, but on the second weekend flew off to somewhere in South America to start another temple job there. They said the next shut-down they will be able to finish here in London. Tomorrow we will get to see the finished product. 

May I say that it will be wonderful to be in the temple, again? I really miss it. I am worried, though, that Niel and I should have been working out in our little gym to keep in shape. We’ll certainly be tired and sore this week. No one realizes how physical our shifts are. We often think it’s funny that we actually thought this would be an easy mission, physically. 

Not so. 

On the second week of our break, I visited a place that really caught my fancy many years ago. Blenheim Palace is the home of the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. They let us common folk visit parts of it. Really, it is a divine treat, but one that Niel decided to forego. Alas, I went on my own. 

Blenheim Palace from a distance. Beautiful grounds.

The Duke of Marlboroughoro's Landrover

The birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill

Now, this is a piece of solid silver!

The Palace servants setting up for a large banquet

The temple sent a van with only seven of us there, and did we ever enjoy ourselves. Niel, on the other hand, spent the day on Bewl Water, fishing. He brought home four fine trout. 

Bewl Water fishing buddies. Caught a few fish, had a good visit!

I was able to see many fine paintings, tapestries and gorgeous furniture. Someday, I hope to show you a few of the pictures I took.

This last picture I sent is of a home on the way to East Grinstead. This lady must love flowers. She does this every year. It should be witnessed in person to get the total effect of how may flowers she grows. We are just glad we got to see it, again, this summer. 

Yes, this is a urinal flower pot

She happened to be out dead-heading flowers as we passed by the other day and we were able to thank her for the lovely flowers. She was really grateful we told her. Sort of made her day, I think.

I do have a good quote that I want to share with all my family and anyone else who might be interested. It came in our ward newsletter. 

Elder Bednar reminds us that “…each family prayer, each episode of family scripture study, and each family home evening is a brushstroke on the canvas of our souls. No one event may appear to be very impressive or memorable. But just as the yellow and gold and brown strokes of paint compliment each other and produce an impressive masterpiece, so our consistency in doing seemingly small things can lead to significant spiritual results. ‘Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.’” (D&C 64:33)

Well, that’s all for this week. We will write soon. 

Love to all:  Niel (Grumpa) and Carolee (Gran)

Taking the Bitter With the Sweet

It’s too late now, but I shoulda brought a tube of waterproof mascara to England. Putting on my makeup this morning, I couldn’t help but think how—oh, what’s the word I want?—fruitless, silly, needless it was to even wear makeup on the day we send out kids (grownup kids) home to America. I go from being so grateful that they came to despairing over them leaving us behind. I guess it will be an “up and down” kind of day. Holly and Brad have been real troopers. They have accomplished a lot in their 10 days here. We sent them into London whilst we finished at the temple. They tramped around for two FULL days, not coming back to the flat until late at night. 

We travelled to Stonehenge after church on Sunday and then visited the Salisbury Cathedral close by. We ate at a wonderful little French restaurant in Salisbury called Cote’ la Brassiere. Very good dining I must say. We were able to visit with Ian and Maggie Turner, where Holly gave Maggie a foot rub that I hope she enjoyed. We drove them down to Beachy Head and the Seven Sisters. The weather couldn’t have been finer. And finally, we visited Windsor Castle. I could send a million pictures, but the ones Brad took are so much better. 

Holly doing yoga at Stone Henge

Mom and Holly at Windsor Castle

Holly at Seven Sisters

There are many, many times in our lives when we have to take the bitter with the sweet. Saying goodbye to our kids is one of them. We are so thankful for such a wonderful family. We love each and every one of you. 

The temple is in its second week of being re-carpeted. The good weather was arranged by someone really big “upstairs”. They laid out all the carpet in the car park to measure and cut it before taking it into the temple. I was a little disappointed that it was brownish. The carpet that was taken out was a lovely apricot/peach color. I was hoping that it wouldn’t be just brown. Oh well.  

We are thinking of driving over to Pembrokeshire in Wales this week to investigate some of Niel’s family tree. If we don’t go there, we just might visit the Cotswolds again. I really should be doing a lot of heavy cleaning in our flat in preparation of the end of our mission. I can always fit it in, in dribs and drabs later on though.  

Love to all. ‘Til I write again.

Carolee (Gran) and Niel (Grumpa)

Ireland’s Ring of Kerry

Our first week of the temple re-carpeting shutdown was spent in Ireland. We flew into Dublin and traveled across country by train. The City of Dublin (and from what we hear, Ireland in general) was obviously a step backwards from England. And we had to convert to the Euro to boot. We met several American couples that were in Dublin for the Penn State vs Central Florida football game.  Evidently forty thousand fans came to Dublin to support their team. 

The scenery in the heart of Southern Ireland is beautiful with lots of pastures full of sheep and a few field crops. We traveled through Newbridge, (northern boundary of the Curragh of Kildare) which is famous for its racecourse and home of the Irish Derby. There are many stud farms in the vicinity but we were not lucky enough to see any of Ireland’s finest bloodstock being put through their paces. 

We traveled through Limerick Junction, which is where Elder Rulon and Sister Marylou Condie spent the first year of their mission. Beautiful landscape, and not a drop of rain fell on us. At our final stop in the Town of Mallow, we changed to the connecting train to Killarney where our scenic tour was to begin by coach.

Ireland’s highest mountains (standing at 1041 metres) are located in Kerry and Carrauntouhil – and can be seen in route. We stopped at the Kerry Bog Village Museum, which gives an insight into how people of this area lived and worked in rural Ireland in the 18^th century. One feature I enjoyed was learning of the peat bogs that Mother Nature had generated over the centuries which provided fuel and a source of income to those living in this area at that time. I assume they still harvest this peat.

The tour circled the magnificent MacGillycuddy Reeks and runs through its many passes and valleys along the shores of Dingle Bay and Kenmare Bay. There is an unspoilt nature to Ireland’s most beautiful region and the Ring of Kerry provides many unforgettable memories as it passes through the many picturesque villages. We stopped in one village to watch a sheep and Border Collie demonstration. 

This dog tandem were brilliant and carefully followed the commands of the Shepherd as he directed them by whistle and voice. Each dog was independent of the other and listened only to his own whistle sounds. The shepherd also brought at least eight different breeds of sheep as living examples of those in this area in the 18^th century. (And even today) Some breeds were used for food and others for wool. We stopped in a woolen shop in one of the villages and Carolee purchased an Aran wool sweater. It is beautiful. (The bus almost left her while she was trying to make her choice of which sweater to purchase) 

Farmland

These photos just don't do the views justice

Ring of Kerry

Brad and Holly at Ring of Kerry

A typical home in Ireland

Most all the rocks on this beach were PURPLE!

At the coast at the bottom of Ring of Kerry

Loved this place! Don't know why?

This is our B&B. The bigger door on the right

Eating at a pub in Ireland near the B&B (with the Littlefields)

Words cannot describe the beauty we experienced in our tour of the Ring of Kerry.  The remains of the Celtic occupation can still be seen in rock foundations and other historical artifacts that dot the tour. We enjoyed this experience and I have now removed it from my bucket list……Niel

Hi's and Bye's

Hi to Sister Daniella Pilgrim

Bye to Elder Brent and Sister Chris Wade

Hi Sister Powell from England

Hi to Brother and Sister Ibbotson from Perth Australia