P-day in Lewes and more...

Last Friday we toured Lewes (pronounced Lewis) which isn’t far from Brighton. It has an old world charm and reminds me of the miniature villages people have on their mantels at Christmastime.

Lewes in relation to Brighton. The red dot is where we live and the blue dot is where the church is.

You can see Lewes lying like a box of toys under a great amphitheatre of chalk hills ... on the whole it is set down better than any town I have seen in England.
—William Morris (1834-1896)

"The Saxons built a castle, having first constructed its motte as a defensive point over the river; they gave the town its name.
After the Norman invasion, William the Conqueror gave Lewes to William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey. He built Lewes Castle on the Saxon site. In 1148 the town was granted a charter by King Stephen. The town became a port with docks along the Ouse River." (they pronounce it like ooze)

We had to check out the castle. This gate was built a little later, but it's still old.

The castle proper.

The Battles of Lewes in 1264!

Brewery on the river Ouse.

This was one heck of a flea market! Two stories and lots of rooms of all manner of stuff, old and new.

Back in Brighton we watched ice skaters at the Pavillion. Looks like fun!

An American Thanksgiving

The senior missionaries gathered at President and Sister Shamo's lovely home in greater London for a traditional Thanksgiving feast. They live in Cobham which is by Oxshott near Dorking. Sister Shamo had roasted three turkeys and the 20 guests brought their assigned dishes.

President Shamo is recovering from shoulder surgery. He slipped on a muddy path weeks ago and broke his fall with his elbow trying to protect his camera.

These lucky elders joined in also. The office elders get to join the senior missionaries on their fun excursions since they drive the van. The other set of elders are the assistants to President Shamo.

Can it be Thanksgiving without American football? Apparently not. On his iPad President Shamo shared a collage of classic football games. One was BYU-SMU where BYU got 4 touchdowns in the last three minutes.

Later we were treated to a visit from the tenth leper who shared his story of gratitude for being healed by Jesus. We were quite surprised when he walked into the room dressed as he would have been so long ago. We understand that Elder Cook has done this presentation many, many times.

One Year To Go!

It’s hard to think that ⅓ of our mission is history. We feel that our best days are ahead of us, although we’ve had some very good ones recently.

For example here’s my journal entry for last Tuesday:
It started off with a doctor’s visit for me. The doctor took my blood pressure and assured me that I’m fine. She said the brown spot on my jawline isn’t cancer. I really didn’t think it was.

We met with the elders for their district meeting at the church. It was much more upbeat than last week’s meeting which was unusual in it’s tenor. Nobody was in the dumps today.

After that we took a bus to Churchill Square and bought some Cornish Pasties and a drink and boarded a 700 bus bound for Worthing.

The bus is also called the Coastliner since it goes along the coast for quite a ways. The pasties are a meat/potato/onion mixture inside of a thick crust. They were still quite warm as we ate them on the bus. Bill enjoyed his and mine seemed okay, but I don’t think I’ll buy another one.

After we left the industrial areas by Shoreham-by-the-Sea the scenery got better. Around Lansing the tide was out and there were quite a few boats just sitting on the mud. That includes houseboats too.

We got off the bus at the pier in Worthing. It looks like the one in Eastbourne which looks like the one in Brighton but not as grand. The tide was so far out the pier was mostly out of the water.

We spent a fair amount of time walking around admiring the shops that were along a pedestrian only street. We visited every charity shop we could find, looking for a jacket for Bill and whatever for me. No luck.

We stopped for an ice cream which gave us a good excuse to sit down for a while. Just as we finished we saw a double decker 700 bus stopping so we hustled on. Of course we went upstairs and got seats at the front.

Arriving at Churchill Square once again, we quickly got on a 25 bus which took us to the church. We had an appointment with President McFarlane at 5:45. He had invited Br. and Sister Bishop also so we could talk about our various responsibilities. It was a very productive meeting and we settled a lot of things. He had invited the YSA president to come a little later so that we could let her know what our responsibilities are and also to address some concerns. Tactfully Pres. McFarlane talked about respect in the meetings which has been a real concern of ours. (end of journal)

On Wednesdays we have the centre open in the afternoon for the YSAs to drop by. This last Wednesday the elders came along and were working the street in front of the church. They brought a 40-ish woman into the centre to teach her and since I was already sitting there I was able to join in after a while. She had some questions that I was able to answer and I bore testimony to the truth of what the elders had been teaching her. It was the highlight of my day!

Last Monday we had the assignment for the lesson for the YSA FHE. It went okay, nothing great. They did a good job of paying attention. One young man started looking at his smartphone and I was glad to see his friend nudge him and he put it away. Sometimes peer pressure is good!

Bill made a goof and got lots of laughs when he used the word “pants” which here means underwear. They let him know it’s “trousers” which sounds like something my grandfather would say.

Remembrance Sunday

People throughout Britain gathered to commemorate the servicemen and women who have died in conflict. Our elders were late to church because of a parade through downtown Brighton that disrupted bus service. At 11 am in Sacrament Meeting all stood to observe two minutes of silence. One of the speakers said that in the London Temple on Saturday they observed two minutes of silence also. Red poppies sprouted on lapels everywhere. The Queen led a procession in Whitehall and laid a wreath on the Cenotaph (whatever that is). It’s good to see that it isn’t just royalty and leaders but that everyone participated in some way to show respect.

YSAs
As I sat in church I couldn’t help but reflect on how many of the Young Single Adults hold leadership positions in the Brighton Ward: second counselor in the bishopric, ward mission leader, Elders Quorum president, councilor in the Young Women’s presidency and for today anyway lead the music and played piano. Since we’re sort of grandparents to them we can be justifiably proud.

One of the projects they recently completed was shoe boxes for the Samaritan’s Purse charity. The boxes are filled with grooming items, hard candy, soft toys and colored pencils, etc.

These boxes go to children living in orphanages in Romania and it’s the only Christmas gifts they will receive. It’s sad to think about but it’s good that there are organizations that can help.

Trip to Eastbourne
Last week we took a bus to Eastbourne which is on the coast about 18 miles to the east of Brighton. We were looking for a viewpoint for a photo of us we can use for a Christmas Card. We passed some beautiful scenery along the way:

I placed the camera on a rock and set the timer then ran. Oh, well.

Eastbourne's pier isn't as long or garish as the one at Brighton.

A gold Rolls?

We've never heard of that word, but we get the idea.

Back in Brighton. This is where we change buses when we go to church. On Sundays it's nice to hear the church bells ringing from St. Peter's which is about a block away.

A baptism! Always a happy day.

Watch this Video!

I love this video and its simple message. We were delighted to meet Bishop Cook at the Zone conference last Wednesday. He is currently a bishop in the Wandsworth Stake (greater London) and the video has gotten lots of hits since it came out.

More about zone conference:

The missionary purpose:
Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end.

Much was said about inviting and teaching with power and then getting out of the way, so the spirit can testify. We need to make sure we aren't drawing undue attention to ourselves; it's not about us. The spirit is the teacher.

Senior Missionary Outing October 25, 2011

Every so often President Shamo gathers his senior missionaries for an outing of some sort. This time it was the Cabinet War Rooms in London. Since it was Bill's birthday the missionaries sang happy birthday to him in the middle of the museum. He was only slightly embarrassed.

"The museum comprises the Cabinet War Rooms, a historic underground complex that housed a British government command centre throughout the Second World War, and the Churchill Museum, a biographical museum exploring the life of British statesman Winston Churchill."

Construction of the Cabinet War Rooms, located beneath the Treasury building in the Whitehall area of Westminster, began in 1938. They became operational in August 1939, shortly before the outbreak of war in Europe. They remained in operation throughout the Second World War, before being abandoned in August 1945 after the surrender of Japan."

It's amazing that this location was kept secret until after the war.

It was great fun to visit with the other senior couples and compare notes on our Centres and the YSAs. Every location has their own particular challenges, it seems.

The Clarks from Oxford wanted to see some of London before they returned, so we walked with them down Parliament Street.
REMEMBER TO CLICK ON THE PHOTOS FOR A LARGER VIEW.

Downing Street is well guarded with a serious fence and stone-faced policemen with machine guns. I elected to not take their picture.

The Horse Guards were doing some sort of inspection.

Looking back from Trafalgar Square toward Westminster and "Big Ben" which is actually the bell in the tower.

We warned the Clarks that Trafalgar Square is often the site of demonstrations, etc. and we could see a crowd gathered and a very large screen. It turned out to be quite benign. Just a promotion for travel to Austria. Notice the London Eye in the background.

We had to show them the living wall of plants. It's quite fascinating and yes, they are growing in dirt.

They went into the nearby National Portrait Gallery while we hopped on a train back to Brighton. An excellent day!

Halloween Party, YSA Style

Our mission president said it was okay for us to dress up, just no masks. Using Bill’s Boise State sweatshirt and t-shirt we came as Bronco fans. Using watercolors that one of the group had brought, I did my best with Bill’s face. And he has a lot of face!

Rapunzel and ??? (I haven't seen "Tangled" yet) This young man is just days away from leaving on his mission to the Philippines.

What happened to the no mask rule?

The one with spiders has just returned from her mission.

Believe it or not, this YSA is the ward mission leader.

In the middle is Emma, the president of the YSA council. She's dedicated and hard working. I hope she doesn't burn out!

I voted for her in the best costume contest, but she didn't win.

Time to make mummies!

After that they played Mafia, which takes a long time. Finally they set up for volleyball and we understand they played until 2 AM. They really know how to party!