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.