Goodness! I thought I
was a relatively religious person, but I have now gone to church or the temple
for 13 straight days. I wish Uncle
Antone Romney were here because he could set me straight. The first time I met Uncle Antone Romney (Marion
G. Romney’s brother [Marion served in the 1st presidency of the
church]) he was sitting in the corner when he looked up and said, “Damn it to
Hell!” Aunt Gretta gasped and said,
“Antone what are you doing?” He
answered, “I was just feeling so spiritual that I thought I should ground
myself before I was translated! I dearly
loved that man!!!!
Words for the week:
hob cook top on your stove
pop socks Knee high stockings
squash sugared drink concentrate
bonnet car hood
Words for the week:
hob cook top on your stove
pop socks Knee high stockings
squash sugared drink concentrate
bonnet car hood
1. Connections and
measuring spoons.
The alarm went off way too early. I could not believe that I was getting up to head out to church again. Church was again a very nice experience. Sister Marsh taught the Sunday School lesson and used the experience of how a lady from California now in Nebraska served a mission in Tanzania with a boy from Idaho and is now serving in London with the Idaho boy’s parents. Then everyone else told their crazy connections and how the church is the common link. So right on cue this lady comes up and asked if I was from Idaho. Yes. “Oh,” she grabbed me hugging and crying and said, “I am Florence Bowman’s friend.” We bonded immediately. That was so much fun.
After church we fixed a sandwich and then actually put a meal in the oven. It was our first real cooked meal. It was quite good. Then I needed to make our treat for the ‘hi and bye.’ Okay, I found a bowl, but then I couldn’t find a pan so we called and borrowed one. Then I found the measuring spoons but there were no measuring cups. I wondered what to do but we borrowed again. The butter was not in cubes but I guessed rather well. Then the oven is in centigrade so I didn’t know how hot to bake the cake. It was a miracle and I was a bit late but the cake turned out pretty good.
No one was leaving for a bye but they had Brown’s and us do our ‘hi’. I talked about our 4 children and 11 grandchildren and just a comment or two about Brad and my time was up. Brad took way more time than he should of and talked 100% about me. I was rather embarrassed.
So we were beat and then they announced there was another meeting talking about the building and rebuilding of the London Temple. It was great but boy were we exhausted.
The alarm went off way too early. I could not believe that I was getting up to head out to church again. Church was again a very nice experience. Sister Marsh taught the Sunday School lesson and used the experience of how a lady from California now in Nebraska served a mission in Tanzania with a boy from Idaho and is now serving in London with the Idaho boy’s parents. Then everyone else told their crazy connections and how the church is the common link. So right on cue this lady comes up and asked if I was from Idaho. Yes. “Oh,” she grabbed me hugging and crying and said, “I am Florence Bowman’s friend.” We bonded immediately. That was so much fun.
After church we fixed a sandwich and then actually put a meal in the oven. It was our first real cooked meal. It was quite good. Then I needed to make our treat for the ‘hi and bye.’ Okay, I found a bowl, but then I couldn’t find a pan so we called and borrowed one. Then I found the measuring spoons but there were no measuring cups. I wondered what to do but we borrowed again. The butter was not in cubes but I guessed rather well. Then the oven is in centigrade so I didn’t know how hot to bake the cake. It was a miracle and I was a bit late but the cake turned out pretty good.
No one was leaving for a bye but they had Brown’s and us do our ‘hi’. I talked about our 4 children and 11 grandchildren and just a comment or two about Brad and my time was up. Brad took way more time than he should of and talked 100% about me. I was rather embarrassed.
So we were beat and then they announced there was another meeting talking about the building and rebuilding of the London Temple. It was great but boy were we exhausted.
Florence Bowman's dear friend, Joyce Osborn,
she activated in 1991.
(Notice my lovely sweater)
she activated in 1991.
(Notice my lovely sweater)
2. Bank Holiday =
Working Temple
England has what they call bank holiday’s every so often on Monday and this was our first. When it is a bank holiday we open the temple but only one shift works. I am not sure that I mentioned that there is an A shift and a B shift. We took Anderson’s spot (but not place) on the B shift and it was B shift’s turn to work the holiday. Brad was to open the temple so he headed over early. Then he calls in a panic because he thought I had missed prayer meeting. I hadn’t but I was up and dressed by the time we figured it all out, so I just went on over.
It was a pretty busy day for us. There are people on my list who are not members of our church and do not know what goes on in the temple other than what they saw at the Gilbert Temple Open House. When you come into the temple, the first thing we do is to change in all white clothing. We have the clothing for sale in our distribution centers and online, but some people would rather just rent it. We do charge a small fee to cover the cost of buying the clothing and washing and caring for the clothing. My new job is to learn to run the till and make change in English money. English money is in £20, £10, £5 paper money. There is no £1 paper money. The do have a £2 coin that looks like a Canadian toonie. It is silver outside and gold inside. The £1 is a gold coin a bit bigger than a nickel. Then there is a 50 pence silver coin about the size of our 50 cent piece but with octagonal sides. Next is a 20 pence piece that is about our nickel size but again with octagonal sides. They have a 10 pence piece that is about the size of our quarter. Next is a 5 pence piece which may even be a bit smaller than our dime. They also have a penny which looks likes our, copper and all. They also have a 2 pence piece which is copper and a bit bigger than their 10 pence piece. If I get yelled at one more time for saying dollars, dimes, nickels and cents I may explode. That was my main job Monday and it went rather well.
I pulled out a few cans Anderson’s left us and made a tuna casserole. Boy was it good. It was so good Brad decided to give some to Sister Marsh since she took such good care of Neil in Africa.
England has what they call bank holiday’s every so often on Monday and this was our first. When it is a bank holiday we open the temple but only one shift works. I am not sure that I mentioned that there is an A shift and a B shift. We took Anderson’s spot (but not place) on the B shift and it was B shift’s turn to work the holiday. Brad was to open the temple so he headed over early. Then he calls in a panic because he thought I had missed prayer meeting. I hadn’t but I was up and dressed by the time we figured it all out, so I just went on over.
It was a pretty busy day for us. There are people on my list who are not members of our church and do not know what goes on in the temple other than what they saw at the Gilbert Temple Open House. When you come into the temple, the first thing we do is to change in all white clothing. We have the clothing for sale in our distribution centers and online, but some people would rather just rent it. We do charge a small fee to cover the cost of buying the clothing and washing and caring for the clothing. My new job is to learn to run the till and make change in English money. English money is in £20, £10, £5 paper money. There is no £1 paper money. The do have a £2 coin that looks like a Canadian toonie. It is silver outside and gold inside. The £1 is a gold coin a bit bigger than a nickel. Then there is a 50 pence silver coin about the size of our 50 cent piece but with octagonal sides. Next is a 20 pence piece that is about our nickel size but again with octagonal sides. They have a 10 pence piece that is about the size of our quarter. Next is a 5 pence piece which may even be a bit smaller than our dime. They also have a penny which looks likes our, copper and all. They also have a 2 pence piece which is copper and a bit bigger than their 10 pence piece. If I get yelled at one more time for saying dollars, dimes, nickels and cents I may explode. That was my main job Monday and it went rather well.
I pulled out a few cans Anderson’s left us and made a tuna casserole. Boy was it good. It was so good Brad decided to give some to Sister Marsh since she took such good care of Neil in Africa.
Here is a front and back of everything but the ten pence.
From left to right is £2, £1, 50p. 20p, 10p, 5p, 2p, 1p
3. Emails and Calls
and Up & Down We Go.
Tuesday was a rather ordinary day. Things went basically well until we came home. Brad was bound and determined to get something going with insurance. We still can’t call or email from our flat so we go down to the basement room. We get an email and need a picture of something. We come up to our flat (3rd floor) take a picture or get out a record and then back to the basement. Sometimes we need to go to the car and get a picture. Anyhow it seemed like a long night. We finally gave up and watched ‘Cast Away’ on our computer.
Tuesday was a rather ordinary day. Things went basically well until we came home. Brad was bound and determined to get something going with insurance. We still can’t call or email from our flat so we go down to the basement room. We get an email and need a picture of something. We come up to our flat (3rd floor) take a picture or get out a record and then back to the basement. Sometimes we need to go to the car and get a picture. Anyhow it seemed like a long night. We finally gave up and watched ‘Cast Away’ on our computer.
4. 40 – 60 – 93
We got up and made it to the temple early. I was supposed to give the spiritual thought in prayer meeting but the temple president, President Johnson, trumped me. They announced today that one of the B shift couples is moving to the A shift to be the Shift Coordinators (the couples that organizes us in our jobs and duties). I got a headache and had to run home for a pill but handled it just fine. That afternoon we went out to walk and Brian Mulholland told us about the exercise room in the Lodge. We went over to have a look and did a little there. They were collecting money for a young temple worker that is getting married so they came to pick up our donation. I lost it. We looked forever. It was our last English money because we can’t get our bank account yet. Then I was doing the wash and it just looked awful. I had washed everything before and it had been fine. Well, the washing machine has 2 temperatures: 40 and 60 degrees centigrade. I hit the 60. The screen showed 93 but I thought that was telling me how much 60 degrees centigrade would be in Fahrenheit. It was not. Somehow there is another temperature that I was not aware of and I washed my whites with 2 pair of white athletic socks that have black heels (which I have washed twice before here) and the entire wash was a bit green, a couple of articles covered in green spots and a sweater so out of form that it is a complete goner. I was just sick. I rewashed everything in Mulholland’s bleach and all but a couple of things are going to be fine, but it was a very long and sad night. But I found the five pounds the next morning!
We got up and made it to the temple early. I was supposed to give the spiritual thought in prayer meeting but the temple president, President Johnson, trumped me. They announced today that one of the B shift couples is moving to the A shift to be the Shift Coordinators (the couples that organizes us in our jobs and duties). I got a headache and had to run home for a pill but handled it just fine. That afternoon we went out to walk and Brian Mulholland told us about the exercise room in the Lodge. We went over to have a look and did a little there. They were collecting money for a young temple worker that is getting married so they came to pick up our donation. I lost it. We looked forever. It was our last English money because we can’t get our bank account yet. Then I was doing the wash and it just looked awful. I had washed everything before and it had been fine. Well, the washing machine has 2 temperatures: 40 and 60 degrees centigrade. I hit the 60. The screen showed 93 but I thought that was telling me how much 60 degrees centigrade would be in Fahrenheit. It was not. Somehow there is another temperature that I was not aware of and I washed my whites with 2 pair of white athletic socks that have black heels (which I have washed twice before here) and the entire wash was a bit green, a couple of articles covered in green spots and a sweater so out of form that it is a complete goner. I was just sick. I rewashed everything in Mulholland’s bleach and all but a couple of things are going to be fine, but it was a very long and sad night. But I found the five pounds the next morning!
My lovely sweater after 93 degrees Centigrade
We had a great day at the temple and then headed to East Grinstead in the temple van. We went straight to the bank because we still had not heard a word from the bank. Sure enough, we were denied. That is super weird because our friends here applied two days ago and already got their confirmation in the mail and they were randomly selected for a terrorists watch. It is now 3 weeks for us. They said the main problem was that we did not live at a registered post address. We think the problem came when the temple letter of introduction for us listed our address as 36 Accommodation Center and not just London Temple. Evidently, no one living at #36 has every applied for an address and so the back cannot trust us. We got it all taken care of and they assured us it would be fixed in a day or two. I mentioned that the first day we were told there was a problem with our address and she would fix it but it was all a mute point because we were not getting approved there and then. ‘Can we deposit our money?’ ‘No!’ ‘Can we change some money?’ ‘No!’ ‘Can we withdraw some money from our American bank?’ ‘No!’ By the time I left, I was very sad. We saw President Johnson on the sidewalk and explained our plot. He wanted to take us in his bank and get us an account but we didn’t have time and our bank had assured us it would be fixed in a couple of days. As we were walking we passed a window that had some cell phones and I asked if we could get internet there. No, another store that was too far away. Then I saw a Boots store where- believe it or not, it is a type of drug store. I asked if we could buy Brad a razor there. No, this one was just an optical Boots. We didn’t have time to go to the other store. President Johnson looked very sad for us. We caught the van to Sainsbury’s, bought our groceries and headed home. As we were carrying in our bags, President Johnson walks out and sticks a razor in Brad’s bag. That was very thoughtful and rather cute. I mean it was lovely. And by the way, the ATM at Sainsbury’s let us withdraw English money with no problem. We now at least have a pound in our pocket.
That night the Curley’s came home teaching. It is rather amazing that we had a Curley family on the Rez and now a Curley family in London. How lovely but their pale white faces and blond hair just seem all wrong.
Our gift razor from President Johnson :)
And Annette Rick's Soap!
Do you like my mirror holder and my toothbrush holder?
Do you like my mirror holder and my toothbrush holder?
The English Curley's (Grant and Margaret)
The Navajo Curley's : Kelsey, Kenya, Kayla, Grace, President Marvin and McKay
6. Curley tails and
Wishes come true.
Friday had an amazing start – Brad gave the spiritual thought in prayer meeting and he was wonderful. It was on loving kindness. The day started out rather normal but had a few twist s and turns. I started out in one area and was called to help in clothing. Then I went back and was called to the nursery. A family had come to see their brother sealed and the babysitter they arranged had fell through so we took her baby and 3 year old. Sister Basten (English Sister) came to help. She taught us a little English Tale.
“Do you know how the little pig got his curly tail?
“The lightning cracked, the thunder roared,
“The land was just a crackin’.
“The little pig curled up his tail,
“And ran to save his bacon!”
The parents came so I returned to be asked to go to laundry. Somewhere during the day I helped a dear sister that was very emotional. I heard her say that she needed to be finished by 3:00 PM so she could be with her son doing baptisms for the dead.
After our shift, Brad sent me out to take a picture of our license plate for another attempt at getting insurance. As I was returning, I saw this mother with her son, a daughter and her husband. I asked if this was the group that had done baptisms for the dead. “Well, our son did and his father baptized him, but his sister is too young.” (You need to be 12 years old to do baptisms for the dead.) I said that I had a granddaughter in the US that would love to play with her. “Well, we are actually from the US.” Really, where? “Spanish Fork.” Wow, what brings you to England? “Our son was granted a ‘Make a Wish’ and he chose to bring his family to England. His first desire was to come to the temple to do baptisms and next we are going to a soccer game. Isn’t he a wonderful son?” The hugest lump ever choked somewhere between my heart and my throat but I keep my smile and congratulated him and hoped they would have a wonderful time and wished them all the best. I took a pix. The next day I told President Johnson and he asked me to get the details so they can write it up for the temple historian book. Neil is trying to find them to help me with that.
Friday had an amazing start – Brad gave the spiritual thought in prayer meeting and he was wonderful. It was on loving kindness. The day started out rather normal but had a few twist s and turns. I started out in one area and was called to help in clothing. Then I went back and was called to the nursery. A family had come to see their brother sealed and the babysitter they arranged had fell through so we took her baby and 3 year old. Sister Basten (English Sister) came to help. She taught us a little English Tale.
“Do you know how the little pig got his curly tail?
“The lightning cracked, the thunder roared,
“The land was just a crackin’.
“The little pig curled up his tail,
“And ran to save his bacon!”
The parents came so I returned to be asked to go to laundry. Somewhere during the day I helped a dear sister that was very emotional. I heard her say that she needed to be finished by 3:00 PM so she could be with her son doing baptisms for the dead.
After our shift, Brad sent me out to take a picture of our license plate for another attempt at getting insurance. As I was returning, I saw this mother with her son, a daughter and her husband. I asked if this was the group that had done baptisms for the dead. “Well, our son did and his father baptized him, but his sister is too young.” (You need to be 12 years old to do baptisms for the dead.) I said that I had a granddaughter in the US that would love to play with her. “Well, we are actually from the US.” Really, where? “Spanish Fork.” Wow, what brings you to England? “Our son was granted a ‘Make a Wish’ and he chose to bring his family to England. His first desire was to come to the temple to do baptisms and next we are going to a soccer game. Isn’t he a wonderful son?” The hugest lump ever choked somewhere between my heart and my throat but I keep my smile and congratulated him and hoped they would have a wonderful time and wished them all the best. I took a pix. The next day I told President Johnson and he asked me to get the details so they can write it up for the temple historian book. Neil is trying to find them to help me with that.
I promise I wrote their names down but I lost them. Help Neil!
They are the Berger Family from Spanish Fork Utah
They are the Berger Family from Spanish Fork Utah
7. Inconceivable !
So Saturday comes. Wowsie! Our sixth straight day and this one seems to be a truly busy Saturday. There are people everywhere. We have every part of the temple functioning to near full capacity. One point I should make is that this is the first day of nice weather as it rained nearly every other morning. That point is soon to be a blessing.
So, I decided I might like a sweater on and I go to the locker room to put on my sweater. Low and behold, the fire alarm goes off. REALLY! I say! REALLY! Sister Strong is with me and she says we have to evacuate. The entire temple I say. “ Sure enough.” She finished putting on her white dress but still had on her red shoes and off we go. Door after door is opening and people in all white clothing are pouring out into the parking lot. It really was a beautiful sight. We had wet youth in their white coveralls from the baptistery and hundreds of people in their white dresses and suits all standing against the back drop of the flowers and the green grasses of the temple yard. As we are all standing outside, people are coming in car after car. Two huge buses drove in and were trying to back around it all to park. If the fire truck had come, it could have never got in. It seemed to take a very long time; which was only about 35 minutes to determine that a youth doing baptisms for the dead had sprayed hair spray into the fire alarm so this whole ordeal was a prank. Finally the temple was given the okay to let people back in. We all started where we left off which meant that some were on the 3rd floor. Since the elevators turn off, there were some that had to be carried back. Let us just say it was quite the experience.
Brad and I were just about to lead an instruction session. That is a wonderful experience which is rather calm and yet extremely uplifting. Well, they decided to combine our session with another one and have the other people lead it so we were free. FREE did I say? I have no idea where Brad went but they told me to go to baptistery. When the youth are baptized we give them a heavy white coveralls and some white underclothing. Then they get a big white towel as they get out of the water and another white towel to shower with. Plus each name needs to be taken upstairs to be recorded. I start by walking the names upstairs (19 stairs) and stand and watch as they are recorded and stamped. Then I head back downstairs and collect a pile of towels and take them to the washer. We need to separate the towels from the coveralls and underclothing and then start filling the washers. After they are washed we take them to the dryers and after that we fold them and return them to their proper place. So guess what I do all day. I do the stairs and record and then head for the towels and the machines. Then back to the stairs and back to the towels. It only last about 4 hours so I guess I am lucky.
Curley’s told us they would take us to Costco so they pick us up immediately after our shift. If it wouldn’t have been Costco I would have cancelled. I was way too tired to shop. We head to Costco which is about 25 minutes away. Curley’s are not members so we don’t know where anything is but we do our best in our limited time. It feels good to get some familiar items. We have to top off our experience with a Costco hotdog! Brother Curley has a turkey sandwich and she has mango slush.
We rush back to New Chapel and unload our food and rush back to the car to head to conference. Seriously, another church meeting? It was a very nice meeting but I wonder how my tired old body is staying awake. Finally home and rest.
So Saturday comes. Wowsie! Our sixth straight day and this one seems to be a truly busy Saturday. There are people everywhere. We have every part of the temple functioning to near full capacity. One point I should make is that this is the first day of nice weather as it rained nearly every other morning. That point is soon to be a blessing.
So, I decided I might like a sweater on and I go to the locker room to put on my sweater. Low and behold, the fire alarm goes off. REALLY! I say! REALLY! Sister Strong is with me and she says we have to evacuate. The entire temple I say. “ Sure enough.” She finished putting on her white dress but still had on her red shoes and off we go. Door after door is opening and people in all white clothing are pouring out into the parking lot. It really was a beautiful sight. We had wet youth in their white coveralls from the baptistery and hundreds of people in their white dresses and suits all standing against the back drop of the flowers and the green grasses of the temple yard. As we are all standing outside, people are coming in car after car. Two huge buses drove in and were trying to back around it all to park. If the fire truck had come, it could have never got in. It seemed to take a very long time; which was only about 35 minutes to determine that a youth doing baptisms for the dead had sprayed hair spray into the fire alarm so this whole ordeal was a prank. Finally the temple was given the okay to let people back in. We all started where we left off which meant that some were on the 3rd floor. Since the elevators turn off, there were some that had to be carried back. Let us just say it was quite the experience.
Brad and I were just about to lead an instruction session. That is a wonderful experience which is rather calm and yet extremely uplifting. Well, they decided to combine our session with another one and have the other people lead it so we were free. FREE did I say? I have no idea where Brad went but they told me to go to baptistery. When the youth are baptized we give them a heavy white coveralls and some white underclothing. Then they get a big white towel as they get out of the water and another white towel to shower with. Plus each name needs to be taken upstairs to be recorded. I start by walking the names upstairs (19 stairs) and stand and watch as they are recorded and stamped. Then I head back downstairs and collect a pile of towels and take them to the washer. We need to separate the towels from the coveralls and underclothing and then start filling the washers. After they are washed we take them to the dryers and after that we fold them and return them to their proper place. So guess what I do all day. I do the stairs and record and then head for the towels and the machines. Then back to the stairs and back to the towels. It only last about 4 hours so I guess I am lucky.
Curley’s told us they would take us to Costco so they pick us up immediately after our shift. If it wouldn’t have been Costco I would have cancelled. I was way too tired to shop. We head to Costco which is about 25 minutes away. Curley’s are not members so we don’t know where anything is but we do our best in our limited time. It feels good to get some familiar items. We have to top off our experience with a Costco hotdog! Brother Curley has a turkey sandwich and she has mango slush.
We rush back to New Chapel and unload our food and rush back to the car to head to conference. Seriously, another church meeting? It was a very nice meeting but I wonder how my tired old body is staying awake. Finally home and rest.
So there you have it; another week in England. Not much has changed: we still do not have a
bank account, internet or car insurance.
We are still in our little squeeze as Steve Biddulph calls it. The Brown’s got to move but our place isn’t
ready yet. (Yes Anderson’s – they are in
the beloved 13) When do we move – they
will not say. We still have not found a tennis court. On a brighter side we have been cooking and
loving our good food. The temple work is
wonderful but at times most exciting and others very exhausting. We have made wonderful friends and love them
dearly.
Till we meet again,
Temples bond heaven and earth!
Our love,
E/S Parkinson
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