London

Sunday, July 17, 2016

We are once again saddened this week by the horrific attack in Nice.  Our hearts and prayers go out to all affected by this senseless act.  

This week we headed off to London for a temple trip with our Branch and Stake from Monday to Friday.  There were 11 people from our Branch families and Cheryl and Neil also met us there.  

We took Frère Dampt with us and Soeur Dampt went with her daughter who followed us all the way.  For the first time we took the tunnel across the English Channel.  It was very different from the ferry.  At the departure point there is a huge snack/shopping/eating area.  You park there while you are waiting for your departure.  When your departure time comes you drive onto a two story train.  The crossing only takes 25 minutes and then you are in England compared to a 2 hour boat trip.  It was okay.  Lynn prefers the tunnel but Ed prefers the boat.

Boarding the Train

Inside the train.  Ready to go through the tunnel.

When we got to the other side we had a 75 minute drive to the temple.  This is mostly on a freeway but it gives you a good opportunity to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road.  The opposite side of the road is kind of cool for a change.  We just remember to keep the edge of the road by our left shoulder and it works well.  On the drive we passed some beautiful little towns and villages on the way to the temple.  We were in the English countryside and we very much enjoyed it.

Ed went for a run each morning.  He ran to one of two villages that were close by.  These runs were interesting.  He saw lots of scenery which was very peaceful and scenic.  The runs were a little hairy though because even the country roads are busy because of the proximity to London.  Sidewalks were there but were not always in the best of shape or were not very big.

As always the temple week proved to be very spiritual.  We stayed in temple housing.  We began each day with a spiritual thought in the Dampt's room.  We said an opening and closing prayer and a person was assigned to share a thought with us.  This was a great start to the day.

We did all of the ordinances available in the temple - initiatory, baptisms, sealing and endowments.  One of our members, Clara, took out her endowment.  This was special and all of the members of our Branch supported her.  We were happy to have been a part of that occasion.

On Wednesday evening there was a fireside in the Visitors Center.   Together we gave a talk on missionary work.  It went well.  On other nights there was a meeting and informal gatherings of the stake members.

Of course, we were able to take in some visiting, as well.  We visited a cool little village right by the temple where Cheryl and Neil were staying.  We saw a church, buildings and houses dating from the Middle Ages.  We also went to East Grinstead, a town 7 minutes away.  We had fish and chips one night and ate out at a Thai restaurant another night.  The other nights we ate in the temple with everyone else in the common kitchen.  We did some shopping.  Lynn bought some clothes and Ed bought a book.

East Grinstead on High Street

The picture right outside our room.

On Thursday we drove Cheryl and Neil to the airport for their return to Canada.  We had a wonderful time with them during their holiday.  Gatwick airport is only about 15 minutes from the London temple.  Later in the day we read a text from them that their plane was delayed by 5 hours.  If we had only known we could have gone and picked them up again.  Oh well!

While we were at the temple we found out that the missionary couple who were slated to replace us were sent elsewhere.  Consequently, the end of our mission is somewhat up in the air.  The Mission President and the Stake President are working through this.  It will all work out well.

We got back Friday near suppertime and had a meeting with the Elders right away to talk about their successes during the week.  It seems that all went well in Charleville without us.  We missed Elder Hein's birthday.  And we missed an emergency evacuation practise.  We're including some photos of each.

Happy Birthday Elder Hein.  Celebrating by having a Kebob.

Elder Asato and Elder Hein with their 72 hour stuff and all ready for an emergency getaway.

We put the Elders to work helping us get dinner ready.  Elder Asato wanted his picture taken making an Asian Stirfry.  It tasted great!

Yesterday we took advantage of some of the summer sales.  Ed bought a new suit,  a belt, some running stuff and a shirt.

Church was great today.  We had 23 people.  We had two good talks on the Temple and the Holy Ghost.  It was a wonderful day.

After church we went to the hospital to visit René.  He is the husband of a member and was scheduled to be baptised next week until he broke his leg.  We had a lovely visit with him and his wife and noticed that he was doing well and has felt the spirit on more than one occasion.

Well, as Porky pig would say, "That's all folks!" for this week.

Au revoir de la France,
Lyndi-lou and Eddie, too.