This week has been a busy one. We have been very busy serving in the temple on our shift,
late shifts this week. Saturday got busy as a coach (bus) arrived. We also were asked to give
the spiritual thoughts this week. The focus is on Elder Takashi Wada's conference talk,
"Feasting on the Words of Christ". He said,
I bear testimony that feasting upon the words of Christ can happen at any time and on any occasion if we prepare our hearts to receive them. Feasting upon the words of Christ will bring life-sustaining revelation, reaffirm our true identity and worth before God as His child, and lead our friends unto Christ and everlasting life. Let me end by echoing the invitation of Nephi when he said: “Ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life”
The temple was busy with a singles conference here for the week.
We met Edel from Norway. She is in the Bergen Menighet Ward in Norway.
She speaks great English, but likes to speak Norwegian in certain parts of the temple.
It sounds so beautiful! She came to church with the missionaries today and I had to pull out my FamilyTree app and show her my relatives from Norway. We checked her ward group on
Relative Finder to see if I was related to anyone in her ward. No, but she is a delight.
Hopefully we will see her again in October when she returns.
Last Sunday there was the traditional 'Hi and Bye'. It is when missionaries that are new
arrivals introduce themselves, but the highlight of the meeting is when those who are leaving
share experiences, stories and testimonies of their service in the London Temple.
Saying good-bye were the Wades (from England), Wolseys (from Canada), and Smiths (from
I can't remember, but Americans. In talking we discovered they are related to Hyrum and Ora Smith from Mesa who were in our ward ages ago.) Also the Russ' are leaving (from Wales) but they had taken a load of things home for the weekend so they were not at the meeting. We were the only Hi's.
Sister Wade said she counted the steps (stairs) in the temple and came up with 287.
That includes the stairs up to the front door and both the front and back stairways.
That includes the stairs up to the front door and both the front and back stairways.
It was an emotional and spirit filled meeting. As with any mission you grow to love those
you serve and those you serve with so much it's hard to leave.
but this was the result of the sun coming out after a shower.
On Monday there was a mini-bus trip to Sissinghurst Castle Garden. As with everything in England it is very old. It has a long history of owners and uses. The tower was built in the 1560's. The gardens were created in 1930's by the new owners Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson.
It is now a National Trust property. And we are National Trust property members.
This is a portrait of Vita hanging over the fireplace.
One shilling was the charge for entering the garden, paid at the garden gate.
Today they give you a plastic shilling to gain entrance to the gardens.
It was a bit of a wet day, but the gardens were so beautiful we didn't seem to mind the rain.
This is the tower, where Vita did her writing,
and this is taken from on top of the tower.
The buildings with the white cone tops are called oast houses.
It is where they kiln (dry) the hops to make ale.
Great views from the top.
Lots of variety of flowers and plants in the garden.
We bought some cherry curd in the gift shop.
Matt had bangers and mash (sausage and mashed potatoes) for lunch at the cafe.
On the way back we stopped at a stand and got some cherries from Spain.
On Wednesday morning our B shift did an endowment session in the temple.
We have been working so hard that was a nice treat.
On Saturday we got out of the temple at 5:00. We decided to walk the .6 miles to Tammy's Thai Restaurant. We walked along the pavement (sidewalk). The road is where the cars go,
the pavement is a sidewalk, a footpath is a trail, but not paved.
We really enjoyed the walk, dinner, and being out of our little room.
the pavement is a sidewalk, a footpath is a trail, but not paved.
We really enjoyed the walk, dinner, and being out of our little room.
Kind of a cool little place, furnishing are very Thai. It is very popular and it gets quite busy.
On the way back on our walk to the restaurant you are greeted with this sign.
