Sunday, September 30, 2018
The London Temple will open on Tuesday, October 2nd and we will start out with the early shift this week - 8:30 to 3:00.  We have scrubbed every "skirting"(mopboard at home), every wall, door, window, window locker and every room from top to bottom!  I have holes in my knees from crawling on the carpet.  We went through drawers and looked on Family Search to see if patron's family cards still need work - or if the work was done in other Temples - because they were in the drawers for 10 years!  It was crazy the hours of work that we did and now they will be sent back to their families so that they know what we found on Family Search about their ancestors.  Many had work done from all over the world because they were stuck in a drawer and had no work being done on them.  Some family envelopes had 100 cards in them and only 2 family cards were viable. 

We are ready to get back to the Temple - where the days go so fast!  We have new local "periodicals" who have been called by their Bishops to come and work at the Temple.  Some are here full-time and live in the accommodation center and some who will come for a week a month and will stay in the accommodation center.  It is always fun to hear their stories and meet them.  The sad part was that we had to say good-bye to other locals who finished their mission, and full-time ones from America who finished their mission.

During the shut down, and while Launa and Reece were traveling with their kids, we would call a cab and have them take us shopping.  Then when we were done, we would call them and they picked us up.  On our last cab ride, had a young man who was talking about faith.  It gave us a great time to talk to them about our Church.  The cab drivers around here are very familiar with the Temple because they will pick up numerous people from the train station and drive them to the Temple for 7 pounds.  So for 20 minutes we talked about Jesus Christ, the Restoration of the Gospel, always being guided by a live prophet and apostles.  Then as we arrived, I took a pass along card from my purse and gave it to him with instructions for him to go on-line and find more information.  We paid him and he drove away - but what a sweet spirit in that taxi as we talked to him.  He was from Italy.

Every morning I wake up early and see if anyone sent an email .  

We rode the train to Preston and stayed in their accommodation center for 2 nights and did some names in that Temple.  Then we went to the Lake District to see where Beatrix Potter (who wrote Peter Rabbit) lived and it was so beautiful and interesting.  We had to rent a car to drive there because it was quite a distance.  The area around the lake district is absolutely beautiful.  It was like looking at a beautiful painting. I tried sending a picture electronically - but not sure if it worked.

Kelsey and I are going to take the train to London for the next two days and ride the "hop on hop off bus".  We are just 30 minutes away by train and it doesn't cost too much, so we will come home every night.  For 30 pounds a year, we puchased a "two ride together" card for the train which gives us a great deal on train tickets and driving here is crazy!  The roads are so narrow and every road has bikes and horses on it and there isn't room for the cars!  We don't have a car, but we ride with my cousin and her husband.  

We saw blurbs about the horrible fires in Utah and I'm so glad I'm not there for the smoke as it really takes a toll on my asthma.  Our kids keep telling us that it is so good we aren't here with the smoke.  In order to see the news here, you have to purchase a TV license - which we don't have - so all we see are the headlines on our phones and ipads.  If we try to see it - it gives us this long legal message telling us we can't see the news.  So glad that Stephanie and her family are doing good in the storm.  Every area of the world is affected one way or another by the weather or natural disasters.  There isn't a perfect place any more.

 Launa & Reece Murdoch and Kelsey outside Beatrix Potter's house

 Inside her house - just as she left it

 Later in life she married and she and her husband then lived in that far "white/yellow house"

at the Lake District - it is beautiful there.

To celebrate pioneer day, the periodicals and the missionaries had their picture taken on the steps of the London Temple after "walking our trek" around the temple grounds (which is on about 50 acres of land).  We were divided into groups and each group left a minute after the other group.  At one point on the Trek, we stopped and listened to Elder Faust's talk, "A Priceless Heritage". 

Prior to the walk, we met in the accomodation center for breakfast and a talk by President Freeman about the saints in Great Britain and the church.  Sister Ludlow gave a presentation about what it was like to be a member at the time the London Temple was announced, built and dedicated in 1958.  She married a return missionary from England and they live in Layton.

Kelsey isn't in the picture as he had to run back to the apartment and didn't make it back in time.

August 2, 2018

Today I met a women in the Temple from Nigeria.  She was visiting her daughter in Gloucester, England and she and 2 other women from her daughter’s ward drove down to the Temple and spent the day.  Her name is Sister Martin.  I was sitting in the main lobby area and she was filling her empty water bottle with water.  I asked her if she had a good day in the Temple, because I saw her there all day.  She said she was taking her grandchildren “Temple” water to drink.  They loved drinking “Temple” water.  She came over to the couch and sat down and so I asked her how long has she been a member and she told me her story.  She joined the Church about 30 years ago in Nigeria – she said she was a pioneer there and has seen the Church grow – and now they have a Temple in Ghana and Nigeria.  She has two grandsons and a granddaughter who have served missions.  She comes to spend about 6 months with her daughter in Gloucester every year.  This time, she is going to stay here for Christmas to celebrate her granddaughter’s birthday who will turn 11.  She was very said, because her daughter is not active.  We talked about never giving up hope – and to be an example.  She is an ordinance worker in the Nigerian Temple and loves it.

We can’t believe that we have been her for 1 month already!

 Here we are with the Murdochs outside the gate of the Temple

 Here we are on our first bus trip to East Grinstead - all alone

 I hope you can see the picture - it has a picture of a very old couple walking with canes and says look out for the "disabled people"

Here is our family on our front lawn flying the British flag.  Cami and Jana made me a British hat that I couldn't bring because of our "lack of space".  They said we will fly the flag when we get home

We finished our first week at the Temple, working Tuesday through Saturday; we were on the afternoon shift - starting at 2:20 for prayer meeting and beginning our shift at 2:50 and working until 9:00 or Friday night until 10:00.  Today, Tuesday, July 10th, we started the AM shift having prayer meeting at 9:10 a.m. and working until 3:00.  The morning shift goes quicker and has more people attending.  We are getting used to finding our way around the Temple - still getting a little confused, but not all the time in a state of confusion!

We have Mondays off so we decided to try taking the bus to East Grinstead which is about 7 miles away.  They have the grocery stores and other small stores - such as the "pound store" which is equivalent to our dollar store - only their store is more organized.  The stops outside the Temple gate twice a day - 6:45 a.m. and 1:10 p.m.  We caught the 1:10 bus - it cost us 4.90 pounds each for a round trip ticket.  Each pound is equivalent to 1.30 or thereabouts. It took 20 minutes to get to East Grinstead.  We were the only ones on the bus going and coming back.  We walked through every store for 3 hours and then sat at the bus stop for an hour.  We returned at 5:45.  We were very tired by time we got home.

There is a couple here, the Lamoreaux's from Orem.  They have 14 children and this is their 7th mission!  They sold their home and they keep going on missions.  They've been to Romania, Mongolia, Samoa, Nova Scotia and some I can't remember.  They go home for 2 months staying with their kids until they tire of them and then on to another child!  They usually apply while they are still on their mission but this time they have to go home for physicals.  They were in our Stake when we were in the Orem Stake and Gene Gibbons was our Stake President.  Small world.

Kelsey and London Temple

Today is Friday and this will be our 4th day in the Temple.  Today will be a long day in the Temple, because they have an 8:00 p.m. shift - so it will be late especially for the men.  They are the last ones out of the Temple.  Last night we had a large group doing baptisms - which made it later.  Next week we will do the morning shifts.  We love the people here and love being on the Temple grounds.  We hear many planes overhead as we are about 20 minutes from the Gatwick airport.  It is a very dry spring and early summer and the grass is drying out.  They say this is very, very dry weather.  We took a walk around the Temple grounds - which is about 50 acres.  Here is Reece and Launa Murdoch - our cousins and best friends.  Finally serving together on a mission.