Missionary Journal
England (Finally)

Monday, 15 December 2008
This morning we were up at 3:30 am to be ready to leave the MTC at 5:00 am after coughing most of the night. Boy, I wish Walt wasn’t so sharing with his cold. Our bags were packed and we just stuffed the last minute dirty clothes into a bag and hung our “We’ve Left on Our Mission” tag on the door.

When we got to the place where the bus was to meet us, there were about 30 elders and two sisters waiting. The majority (19) were going to North Carolina. We climbed on the bus and the next step of our adventure was ready to start. Delta was wonderful – we left Provo when we were supposed to and arrived a little bit early in Atlanta. Then we had lunch and a hop on the tram to the international terminal where we boarded our plane.

Tuesday, 16 December 2008
The flights were uneventful except that I coughed most of the way and couldn’t sleep. When we arrived at Gatwick Airport we were about one-half hour early and no one was there to meet us. You know Walt! He was anxious and got some shillings so he could call the mission home. Just as he was starting to put the money into the pay phone, a cute young man came into the airport and waved his missionary badge at me. I stopped Walt and I was really glad we hadn’t been forgotten.

After a twenty-minute drive we pulled into what looked like an old English manor house, the elder driving rolled down the window and pressed a button on post at the gate. When the gate opened, there was a lovely manor house with a gate house, what looked like an apartment building, and in the distance a temple with a whole bunch of scaffolding around the steeple. He parked and we got out and went into the mission office. There we met the two single sisters who are working in the office (Sisters Hanson and Walton). The two young elders who picked us up are also working in the office. We chatted for a little while and we were told that President Swinton was in meetings and would probably meet with us sometime later in the week and that we would be staying in the apartment building where the temple ordinance workers stay until we are transferred to where we would be working.

Just a note about the scaffolding and the temple steeple: Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the dedication of the London Temple and they put in place the signature statue of Moroni. I guess there were big doings yesterday. Sister Swinton said they stood outside for 2 hours and she wasn’t sure she would ever be warm again.

Since I couldn’t breathe and was in a sleep-deprived fog, I asked if we couldn’t please go brush our teeth and lay down for a while. The room we are in is bigger than the MTC by a kitchen with a fridge and freezer, stove and oven, and microwave. As you can see, we have twin beds and Walt would stick out both ends if there wasn’t a headboard and footboard. As it is, he sleeps in a fetal position. Everything was just recently renovated and it all looks brand new.

We didn’t even stop to brush our teeth, just got on our knees and thanked the Lord for safely getting here and to help us do what needs to be done. Then we made the beds and collapsed. I asked Walt to set his watch alarm for noon since I didn’t want to sleep all day and be totally off sleep/wake hours.

About 1:30 there was a knock on the door that woke us from a stupor. Walt put his pants on and made it to the door where I heard one of the sisters say, “President is here and would like to have lunch with us.” We told her a half hour and stumbled around the room looking for things in the luggage. (In order to get Walt’s two new suits and the

books we had picked up at the MTC into our luggage, we had to do some reorganizing while packing this time and, with my mind only working at quarter speed, I couldn’t even remember where the tooth brush was.

We got showered, dressed, and down to the office in not too much more than 30 minutes, where we met President and Sister Swinton. He asked us if we had brought our temple recommends with us. We said, “No” (I had brought my scriptures and a notebook and pen, but no recommends). While President and Sister Swinton walked toward the temple we ran into our room and got our recommends. They were used to get into the temple for lunch. It seems that the cook at the temple is a 5-star chef who has been with them 3 years on a mission. The menu looked like a 5-star restaurant and tasted the same: lovely.

At lunch we spoke of why we were here and where we would be serving. We are going to Weymouth, which is down on the coast, to a small struggling branch for leadership and reactivation. The Weymouth Branch has about 40 members attending and has an 85-year-old branch president with one counselor. President said he told the Branch President he could call us to any callings he needed, suggesting that Walt could be called as a counselor and I might be called into the Relief Society.

They’ve found us a semi-detached two-bedroom house (duplex) fully-furnished (which means we can have guests) that we can move into on Saturday. Since the dollar has strengthened against the pound (it has gone from $2.10 for one pound to $1.58 per pound) it will cost us about $1,100 per month rent, “Council Tax” (President says that is for rent-subsidy for those not able to pay rent), and utilities. That’s not bad and it just came up for rent this morning. It looks like the Lord is smoothing our pathway. Right now we’re both feeling a little displaced after living in the mountains (where we were very comfortable) for 36 years. Our address will be 64 Lodge Way, Wyke Regis, Weymouth, Dorset, England DT4 9UU.

We will also have a car (from the mission and costing us 30 pounds per month plus petrol (gas)).
We will attend church in Weymouth on Sunday and come back toward London to Surrey to the Mission Home for a Christmas dinner and party on Monday evening. Sister Walton googled the directions. For example, starting at step 16, it says:

16. At the roundabout, take the 2nd exit and stay on A31 heading to Verwood/ Dorchester/ Poole/ A39/ W Moors, Go through 2 roundabouts.
17. At Merley Roundabout, take the 3rd exit and stay on A31, Go through 2 roundabouts.
18. At the roundabout, take the 3rd exit onto A35 heading to Tolpuddle/ Dorchester/ Puddletown, Go through 1 roundabout.

OK. I hope we get there in one piece. It was suggested that we get a Tom-Tom. I think it will be a necessity.

While I am writing this, Walt is out with the missionaries getting some food (milk, etc.) and I am trying to stay awake since it is not even 6:00 pm. Walt (bless his heart) just came in with extra large (about a foot by a foot) soft wipes for my nose. What a wonderful companion!!

Wednesday, 17 December 2008
This morning we struggled out of bed at 7:00 am (very slowly). My head aches from stuffed sinuses. We took a walk around the grounds this morning. I don’t know how many acres of grounds the temple has, but they’re extensive. I took the following pictures: Here is the apartment complex we are in. There are also “flats” in the gate house and another complex just like this one that house the Mission Office personnel, Visitor Center Directors (a senior couple), and temple workers.

This shows both the manor house and the gate house from the temple grounds.

Other pictures of the grounds:

Picture of the London Temple from the Front Gates

This evening Walt went out to the Visitor’s Center and got the following picture on the temple grounds:

Thursday, 18 December 2008
Walt drove around yesterday and today. He’s getting better at shifting with his left hand. When we were here years ago visiting Leigh and Allie, we had an automatic, which made things much simpler. The issue is that after a year, he will have to get an English driver’s license (not easy) and they are given out by transmission. If you get your license on an automatic, you cannot drive a manual transmission, but if you get your license on a manual, you can drive an automatic.

We are sitting here waiting in our room for 1:30 pm to come so that we can call President Swinton and get an OK to go down to Weymouth tomorrow (Friday) rather than Saturday. Yesterday, we went to town with the Financial Elder to get our bank account at HBSC open with the cashier’s check we brought with us. Unfortunately, even though they thought everything was OK, it wasn’t and we will have to open an account when we get to Weymouth.

Sister Hanson (the housing director) has arranged for us to pick up the key tomorrow and move in a day early. It’s a two or three- hour drive to Weymouth from here, and I don’t want to have any deadlines to get that bank account open.

We were at the temple visitor’s center this morning (a very small one) and took this picture of the Christus:

The visitor’s center directors said this was “up close and personal.”

Just came back from lunch at the temple. Wow, lovely lamb chop and roasted potatoes.

We got our OK from President Swinton and will be heading out to Weymouth tomorrow morning about 9:00 am. I will try to get this posted before we leave and update as soon as we have an internet carrier. My love to you all!