Tuesday, November 25, 2014

MERTHYR GANG


There we were, enjoying juicy fillets, on a Saturday night, when coming down the hall, clanking and banging came this group of (Temple Missionaries??). What on earth? Seems they had decided to do a little celebrating of Guy Fox. Obviously, they had too much time on their hands and too many ideas to create from. (Did I really end that sentence with a preposition?) Guy Fox was an ancient character who was want to assassinate members of British Parliament.  But—he got caught and burned at the stake, after he was drawn and quartered. (Not a good thing.) Guy Fox Day is a big deal over here. Fireworks are set off just like it’s the 4th of July. Big bon-fires can be found all over the country, where an effigy of Guy Fox is usually burned. These people really love their bon-fires too.  Anyway, several of these sisters hail from Wales. We love our Welsh sisters! 


Sister Adler, our Welsh friend game for anything!


Merthyr gang

They are a fun-loving lot and great teasers, too. The only problem we ever have with them is that most all Welsh simply cannot whisper or even talk quietly whilst doing ordinance work in the temple. I guess it has something to do with the way they distinctly pronounce each syllable in every word they speak. Their accent is extremely strong. Whispering is not in their blood. However, we don’t know what we would do without them. You gotta to love the Welsh! A worker I am training currently gave Niel and me little Welsh Dragons to wear on our lapels and when I said that I would probably put them on the English wall I am planning to put up in our Springville home, she got quite distressed. She said: “Oh, don’t do that. If you put a Welsh Dragon on an English wall, he will just fly away!” Okay, okay.

Last Sunday, we attended church in the East Grinstead Ward. We happened to sit on the opposite side of the chapel from where we usually sit. What a choice experience! There, sitting behind us were two elderly gentlemen, one of whom, RELISHES the opportunity to really belt out the hymns. Honestly, he didn’t disappoint us. He sang so loudly that we couldn’t hear ourselves sing. But that’s not all. He slid from note to note. He trilled little trills on certain words and actually warbled and scooped his way through each hymn. It was great! My word, how can a little old man (must be in his late eighties or early nineties) actually do that? He also attends the temple every Thursday for the 3:45 session. Oh, by the way, his name is Bro. Mann.  Man o man!
We are preparing for our annual Thanksgiving dinner to be held next Monday. Thankfully, I have already prepared and frozen all the rolls. I’ll just have to thaw, raise and bake them on Monday morning. We will send pictures.
Also, we are going to collect our little French lady, who we have befriended at the local McDonald’s and bring her to see the temple and grounds and Visitor Centre. At first, she was hesitant because she said she wasn’t ready to change her religion. She is a Scientologist. When we promised her we wouldn’t, she agreed to come. In the past, she has asked a lot of questions about where the temple is and what we do there. We’ve given her a Book of Mormon with our testimonies written inside. So, no pressure. That’s as far as we will go. We’ll send more pictures of that too.


Our friend Fay (Fayrouse) at McDonald's

The prospects of cleaning out our flat and packing our bags is turning out to be a real test of how two people can stay happily married and not do each other in. It has been interesting, I might say, how to get rid of a “lot of stuff”. I dare say that it will happen, one way or another.
Love to all, Happy Thanksgiving!

Niel (Grumps) and Carolee (Gran)

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