SPRING IN ENGLAND

The spring flowers in England are amazing. Everywhere you look there are tree and flowers in bloom.
I ordered the book London Garden Walks, by Tom Turner.  IT WAS ONE OF THOSE RARE FREEBEES on Kindle.  He also has a website: Gardenvisit.com.
A few points from the book:

• How did London become the world's garden capital?. Geography provides the best explanation.  A steady stream of immigrants and invader brought horticulture from Europe and Asia.  It is a group of islands that are peculiarly suited to gardening:  it is rarely to hot, too cold, too wet or too dry.  
• He gives examples of ancient Roman parks, hunting parks, like Richmond Park, Castle gardens and Cloister Gardens.  There are Baroque parks like Kensington Garden and St James Park. Serpentine Gardens such as Hyde Park. Another type, is Mixed Victorian like Buckingham Palace.

WE'VE BEEN TO

BUCKINGHAM PALACE GARDENS

 ST JAMES PARK 

BIKING AT REGENTS PARK

       WALKING AT REGENT PARK

HYDE PARK











HERE ARE JUST A FEW MORE FLOWERS....   ENJOY!

AN AMAZING ZONE CONFERENCE

HYDE PARK CHAPEL/VISITORS CENTER

On Thurs 16 May, we went to our first zone conference.  It was amazing. 

President Jordan gave two instructions.

1. The importance of how we present ourselves:

He talked about “verbal ticks”.  They make you less effective as you teach and interact with people.

  Examples are the following:  Like, Sort of, I guess, Kind of, just.  They marginalize your message. 

Example:  We are just members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Like, we would appreciate it if you would give us just a few minutes of your time.

He told the missionaries, ye and yea are reserved for scripture, they are acceptable.  Ya is not, it is a poor way of saying yes.  Don’t use it.

2, He gave a very good talk on the Holy Spirit and teaching with the Spirit.  

The highlights of President Jordan's message:

·        The only way to return to our Heavenly Father is by being sanctified through the Holy Ghost.

·        On the missionary’s side: The Holy Ghost makes it so we are not “confounded by men”. 

D&C 100: 5

·        On the investigators side:  The Holy Ghost touches their hearts and testifies of the truth of the message.

·        The Spirit is the most important element in missionary work.  You will never succeed without it.

·        President Jordan likened the Holy Ghost to a light bulb that is controlled by the switch. He said it is not like a light with a simple on or off.  It is like a light with a dimmer switch.   Because we have agency, we are at the controls of the switch.  When we make the wrong choices, the light becomes continually dimmer.  By making good choices the light is increased.

·        D&C 50:24  That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light growth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.

·        Look at the picture of Christ at the door.  He is waiting to enter but there is no knob.  It has to be opened from within. 

·        Agency is the difference between unto and into.  The missionary takes it unto the investigator.  The investigator has to take it into his heart.

·        How to distinguish the Holy Ghosts’ promptings from our own thoughts. 

We feel it in our heart and our mind

Don’t over-analyse it.  If it is good, act upon it.

·        D&C 11:13

President Jordan had invited a young lady that had been baptised 5 days ago and the missionaries that had converted her.  

    It was amazing to hear her describe her feelings as she was converted.  The missionaries talked about how they helped her identify the whisperings of the spirit.

   President Jordan, ask questions that, as she and the missionaries answered, made you understand the importance of “the testifying of the spirit” in conversion.

Example:  How did you feel when you came to church with us, what did you think.  Her reply, “It was like a family.  No one judged, everyone accepted and made me feel welcome. “ 

    We all laughed when they told us that the first official meeting with her was at the Kentucky Fried Chicken.  They said the place was packed.  They ask her if they could have an opening prayer, and they did, right in the middle of the fast-food restaurant.  They ask her if she felt the truth of their words as they talked about the restoration…in the middle of Kentucky Fried Chicken.  She said she knew it immediately.  

    The one missionary had been out only two weeks when they met her.  He said he wished everyone’s mission could start that way. 

Sister Jordan talked about the importance of keeping journals.

  It is a good way to remind ourselves of experience’s that strengthen our testimonies.  Again, record your thoughts as we feel the holy spirit.  This is my effort to record my feelings during a very special zone conference.

 

MORRIS DANCING

Bill and I were on our way to Westminster Abby.  We love to walk and look, so we took the long way.  We came on a beautiful building.   It was Westminster Cathedral.

 Your religion lesson for today:

• Westminster Cathedral- The Catholic  church
• Westminster Abby- The Anglican church (Church of England)

There was a large crowd and music, so we stopped to see what was going on.  We found that there was a  Morris dancing festival.

Now here is a English culture lesson.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_dancing

There were the following- In this order on the video

• Cotswold morris: dances from an area mostly in Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire; an established misnomer, since the Cotswolds overlap this region only partially. Normally danced with handkerchiefs or sticks to accompany the hand movements. Dances are usually for 6 or 8 dancers, but solo and duo dances (known as single or double jigs) also occur.

•   Border Morris from the English-Welsh border: a simpler, looser, more vigorous style, traditionally danced with blackened faces.

• Molly Dancing from Cambridgeshire. Traditionally danced on Plough Monday, they were Feast dances that were danced to collect money during harsh winters.

                               hit the right hand corner to get FULL SCREEN

• North West morris: more military in style and often processional, that developed out of the mills in the North-West of England in the 19th and early 20th centuries.










• Longsword dancing from Yorkshire and south Durham, danced with long, rigid metal or wooden swords for, usually, 6 or 8 dancers.

BILL MET A FRIEND AT THE EVENT

IT WAS GREAT FUN TO WATCH.  WE BECAME SO ENGROSSED WE MADE IT TO WESTMINSTER ABBY JUST AS IT WAS CLOSING…OH WELL, MAYBE MONDAY.

A 96 YER OLD SISTER WITH AN AMAZING STORY OF WORLD WAR II

SISTER EVELYN MAYNARD - 96 YEARS OLD

Evelyn Maynard

Sister Maynard is a member of the White Chapel ward.  She does not attend now because she is 96 years old.  She is almost blind and hard of hearing, but she is one sharp lady.   We were contacted by her home teacher because she had some concerns about her Family History, which she had worked on a few years back.  She was struggling with an ancestor in the 1700’s. 

 

In visiting with her, we found that she had spoken to schools about living through world war II.  She was

Twenty-three years old.  She also had recorded her story on tape.  We have been encouraged to help ward members with their personal history.  This opportunity was handed to us.  WHAT A STORY!

A few points from her history:

·        Her brother was in the Navy hit by a torpedo.  The life boats were dropped with men, but because the sea’s were so rough, many were washed out of the boats.  After watching this, some made a decision to stay with the ship (which did not go down).  They were the only ones that survived.

·        Sister Maynard told of not being able to get nylons through the war.  Being 23, this was a bitter-cup.  They improvised by colouring their legs.   If you are old enough you know that nylons back then had seams up the back.  She describes it:  “If the seams were not perfectly straight, you were considered very messy,”   There solution to the seam problem was to take a crayon and colour a (very straight) seam up the back of their leg.

·        The “blitz” was fearsome.  They were bombed 57 nights straight.  In one night thousands of people were killed.  They went to a shelter the first night, but the conditions were so miserable and bombs so close (one shelter had a direct hit next to them) that they decided to tough it out at home.  Evelyn, her sister and mother moved their beds in together and prayed for safety.

·        Stories of food shortages, clothing shortages, (she dyed a blanket and made her own coat) lack of electricity and heat.  They cooked at times in the fireplace with a little coal that also kept them warm.

·        She tells of the Battle of Brittan being the turning point of the war.  When the war was declared over, she tells of a great celebration.  Bells ringing all over England, GI’s and English girls dancing in the streets.

If your interested, I’ll get it transcribed (I hope- trying to do it from a recorder is pretty tough) and send it to you.  Bill and I sat fascinated while we were recording it.   I feel like we’ve caught a bit of history that will no be with us much longer.  

WHITE CHAPEL WARD, WALTHAMSTOW ENGLAND

Mission Sundays in England

       We have been assigned to the White Chapel ward.  We travel by two different underground lines and walk 20 min.  A total of  about 1 hr, 15min.  

White Chapel ward is a fun amazing ward and very different from Perry 1^st Ward.   There are about

25 % English, 25 % Americans, and 50 % Saints from African or Caribbean countries.

    Each Sunday there are lots of hugs and visiting.  Everyone seems happy to get back to ward members.  You really feel that they are a ward family.

    You have to listen carefully in class.  Many members have learned the “Kings English” (which is sometimes a struggle for us) as a second language.  In other words, we are two accents away from

what they have to say. It is  well worth the effort to listen carefully.  They are wonderful people with stories of conversion and leaving their homes. 

  We have it pretty easy as members in the States.

This Sunday we going to help a 90 yr old Sister with her Personal History and Genealogy.  Just think! She was in England during World War II.  I’ll bet  she has a story to tell.  I’ll let you know next blog.

OLD BROMPTON CEMETERY

Found this awesome cemetery (what do you expect from a morticians daughter).

It has a huge amount of history...











Read about Old Brompton Cemetery

http://www.victorianweb.org/art/parks/brompton/history.html

and its Catacombs

http://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2010/07/19/visiting-the-catacombs-under-brompton-cemetery/

This was an amazing place.....hope you enjoyed our walk through the cemetery.

CARS....this doesn't have much to do with missionary work

           

                HELP BILL                     

DECIDE....VOTE FOR

      YOUR FAVORITE     

            FERRARI

     

         SORRY, ANYONE VISITING

     THIS IS A TWO SEATER, YOU'LL

          HAVE TO TAKE THE BUS.

    ROLLS ROYCE....MAYBE
     FOR A MATURE GUY.

JUST KIDDING.....but you knew that.   We are amazed at the expensive cars around here.

We see lots of Lamborghinis , Mazerattis and Porshes.   The cheappies are Mercedes Benz.  

A WORD ABOUT THE ENGLISH DRIVERS....They are kind, considerate, wonderful people.....until they get into a car.   It is scarey.

They screech around corners when  your half-way across the road.  I think they must have a point system for pedestrians.  
 To complicate matters, they are coming from the wrong side of the road.  I look right and they "gun it from the left"....or do I look left and they come from the right.

(Oh Well, you know how I am about my left and right)

I only have one hope, and that is to be run down by at least a Mazeratti

I know this is not a very humble, missionary type blog.  So I will do another blog about cars...the more humble sort.  (There are some really funny little cars.