We Can Do This!

On a recent P-day Monday we went to London to try and find some autumn color.
We walked the Broad Walk through Regent's Park.

It is a tree lined walkway that goes all the way up to Primrose Hill.
It was a beautiful sunny morning and the trees were beautiful colors of green and gold
with lots of brown leaves on the ground.

This section of the park is called Avenue Gardens.

 

This park is huge.  We only walked the Broad Walk so we will have to go back
to see more another time.

 St Mark's Church Regent's Park is just north of the park. Love these beautiful old churches!

 Running through the northern end of the park is Regent's Canal.
The canal was built in the early 19th century.  Little Venice is on this canal and today is used by narrowboats, waterbuses and kayaks.

 The Turner's went with us on this trip and we walked along the lovely pathway along side the canal.

This path along the canal is part of the Jubilee Greenway which is a walking and cycling route in London.  It was completed in 2012 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth.  It is a 37 mile route that links 2012 Olympic venues with parks, waterways and other attractions.

We then crossed over the street and climbed up Primrose Hill.
Unfortunately it had clouded up a bit. It is famous for it's views of the city of London
and although the sky was cloudy, the view did not disappoint at all.
The hill is only 213 feet high, but the view is beautiful.

We got photo bombed by pigeons, this photo looks like we're being attacked by pigeons.
Don't worry, no pigeons were harmed in this photo shoot!

One without the attack of the birds!

After the climb up the hill it was time to find some lunch. From the park we walked down to
Regent's Park Road.  It is lined with quaint little shops and cafes.

We stopped at Anthony's Deli and had some delicious sandwiches. 

We hopped on the tube and rode to Shepherd's Bush to go to a movie at the Westfield Mall, Maleficent.  Then it was back to Victoria Station for some dinner and a train back to Lingfield and the temple. It was a really fun day.

But we don't have to go to London to see fall colors, there is plenty right here on the temple grounds.

There was a really windy afternoon that blew all the leaves off this tree. The Manor House is 

looking beautiful in the background. The groundskeepers work so hard to keep the leaves 

cleaned up that leaves on the ground is a rare sighting,

We are loving the fall season.  The air is, as they call it, fresh.  That means it is cool and crisp and seems to be especially fresh when there is a sunny day following some rainy days.

We have had quite a bit of rain, but it makes those clear sunny days more lovely and appreciated!

The clouds however, make for beautiful sunrises over the temple we can watch from our window.

We had another Hi & Bye.  It is always a difficult time to loose missionary couples that you have worked with and grown to love so much.  These are the couples going home with the temple presidency who have also left.  This was a very emotional evening, and one of the better Hi & Bye meetings we have had.  All who spoke bore strong testimonies, their love for working in the temple and how they will treasure the relationships made here with workers and patrons.

Two of the Bye's with a Hi.
There was a mixture of black badge missionaries and white badge
(people from England serving full time in the temple) coming and going.

 A group of us on another Monday P-day went on a tour of St Paul's Cathedral.

 It is a beautiful cathedral that sits at highest point in the city.
The current church was built between 1675 and 1710 and was designed by the famous English architect Sir Christopher Wren.  He is entombed in the crypt of the church along with many others including Admiral Nelson. There were churches on this site prior to this one.  The prior one was burned in the great fire.  Many famous funerals have been held here: Admiral Nelson's, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher, also this is where Charles and Diana were married.  It is a working church and the seat of the Bishop of London.

Baptismal font

The geometrical staircase leads to the library.

From the top looking down.  The church has been in many movies, and this staircase in 

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

 Duke of Wellington memorial.
 The commanding officer hero of the Battle of Waterloo defeating Napoleon.

These flags are hung in the church and will not be taken down.
They stay until they literally disintegrate. Most have been hung here for hundreds of years.

 It is beautifully decorated with mosaics depicting Adam and Eve, the creation of the birds, fish and animals, The Fall of Man, Expulsion from Paradise, the Annunciation, and Christ's Crucifixion, Entombment, Resurrection and Ascension; along with many other Biblical scenes.

 These mosaics, woodwork, murals and lighting are beautiful and took many years to create.

 Beyond the High Alter pictured here is the American Memorial Chapel also known as the Jesus Chapel. In the chapel is a 500 page leather-bound book that has the names of 28,000 Americans stationed in the UK who died in WWII.  Each day they turn a page in the book.  It is a beautiful tribute to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for freedom.  There are three stained-glass windows that have the state symbols of every state in America.  We have an annual pass to the Cathedral so we are going to go back and get a closer look at this chapel.  We didn't have time to see it when we were on the tour.

 This is the inside of the dome. It is decorated with paintings depicting events in the Apostle Paul's life. The triangle shaped spaces between the arches were decorated with mosaics of four Old Testament Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, and four New Testament Apostles: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

There is a painting called Light Of The World  by William Holman that forms an altarpiece in the Middlesex Chapel.  The painting depicts Christ knocking on a door that opens from inside, suggesting that God can only enter our lives if we invite Him in.  It was painted around 1900.  This painting has been seem by millions as it went on a world tour between 1915 and 1917.  It drew huge crowds wanting to view it.

This was our tour guide, Jane, she was fantastic!

 The last part of the tour was going down into the crypt.  This is the Duke of Wellington's final resting place although his memorial is upstairs he is buried down stairs in the crypt.

And this is Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson's tomb.
We happened to be here on Trafalgar Day, October 21.  There was a ceremony laying wreaths at the tomb.  Lord Nelson is best known for his victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, but he was already a national hero before then.  October 21, 1805 is the day the British defeated the French and Spanish fleets and the day Lord Nelson died from wounds he received during the battle. He was shot by a French sniper while pacing on his ship HMS Victory...the ship we saw while in Portmouth last September.

After our tour we went across the street to have some lunch.  The mall we were at had this mirrored ceiling.  This is a picture of us looking up at the mirror.

We ate at Byron Burgers...they were really good!
After lunch we headed across the Millennium Bridge.  We walked around the Tate Museum for a while before most of the group headed home.  We took a walk along the Thames River up to London Bridge.

We walked passed Shakespeare's Globe and lots of other interesting places.  We stopped for some hot chocolate and also passed this beautiful Winchester Palace.  This wall and rose window is all that is left of one of the largest and most important buildings in all of medieval London.  It was built in the early 13th century.  It was mostly destroyed by fire in 1814.

November is when temple presidencies change every three years.  President and Sister Otterson are headed home to Bountiful, the Peel's to a new home in northern England and the Freeman's back home only an hour away. They are such great examples of service and dedication.  

They worked tirelessly and have taught us all about serving with kindness and love. 

 They will truly be missed.  We have grown to love them deeply. There was a lovely devotional on Sunday evening to say good-bye to the old and welcome the new presidency at the Crawley Ward building.

This is the Freeman's, Peel's, Otterson's and the temple recorder Brother Doughty.

 

After the devotional we had 'afternoon tea'.  Finger sandwiches and sweets.

Full time workers and periodics (workers who come periodically working 1 week in 8, or 2 days in 14...or any schedule they can) were invited.

 Us with Valerie Ann Peel...

and Sue Freeman.

Evidence that we had a busy Saturday in the temple recently...when you see mini-buses and coaches parked in the car park you know it's going to be a busy day!  This coach had come from Bristol.

Everyday we acknowledge and thank our Heavenly Father for the great blessing it has been for us to serve here in the London Temple.  Several times in the last few weeks Elder Dale G Renlund's general conference talk on family history and temple work have been quoted in sacrament meeting and classes.  We love this work as we participate in the gathering of Israel.  Elder Renlund said that as we participate in this great work we can lay claim to "healing" blessings promised by prophets and apostles.  He said,

"These blessings are also breathtakingly amazing because of their scope, specificity, and consequence in mortality."  He then lists 11 specific blessings for doing family history and temple work:

1. Increased understanding of the Savior and His atoning sacrifice;
2. Increased influence of the Holy Ghost to feel strength and direction for our own lives;
3. Increased faith, so that conversion to the Savior becomes deep and abiding;
4. Increased ability and motivation to learn and repent because of an understanding of who we are, where we come from, and a clearer vision of where we are going;
5. Increased refining, sanctifying, and moderating influences in our hearts;
6. Increased joy through an increased ability to feel the love of the Lord;
7. Increased family blessings, no matter our current, past, or future family situation or how imperfect our family tree may be;
8. Increased love and appreciation for ancestors and living relatives, so we no longer feel alone;
9. Increased power to discern that which needs healing and thus, with the Lord's help, serve others;
10. Increased protection from temptations and the intensifying influence of the adversary; 
11. Increased assistance to mend troubled, broken, or anxious hearts and make the wounded whole.

 Everyone around here was very excited that RootsTech was coming to London!

Elder and Sister Bednar came and spoke and we streamed it live here after our shift. 

There were a few that went up on Saturday afternoon to see it in person.

Elder and Sister Bednar were very powerful in teaching that we CAN do family history and temple work for our ancestors.  At the end they played clips of prophets extending blessings for participating in this great work and he re-invoked those blessings previously given as we participate in gathering our families. The thought came to us that doing these essential ordinances is important for our ancestors, but just as important is our own exaltation...that we do it to also help ourselves stay on the covenant path.  There are lots of large trees on the temple grounds.  Each tree has many branches, but without strong sturdy trunks and roots, the tree would not survive.  These branches of our family are important, but so too is keeping our trunk, ourselves, strong to withstand the storms of life.