Letters From London: 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"