This is a horse-drawn hearse.  I want one.  This is how they bury
you in England.




Winston and Clementine Churchhill's estate.  Chartwell. So
beautiful.  



Thanksgiving 2017.  We organized the feast for about 60 people.



Hever Castle.  Childhood home of Anne Boleyn.

Our First Thanksgiving Week in the UK

Our First Thanksgiving in the UK

November 26, 2017

     I am so thankful this week that we served a mission in Independence, MO a few years ago. It was easier for me to manage our first Thanksgiving out of the states. I was reminded that this is a temporary assignment to be away from Home for 18 months. We will return. We will have a big Thanksgiving meal with our dear girls and their families again. My life is not over. So, in the meantime, we celebrated Thanksgiving here last Monday, the day the temple is closed.
     We fed 60 senior missionaries in the downstairs dining room in the accommodation building. The meal seemed better than ever, since it was made in our typical rich American fashion. Mikie's To-Die-For Yams, Brother Lamoreaux's dressing, the Ludlow's mashed potatoes. Well, you can picture it. You all just had the same meal a few days ago in the comfort of your own country, I mean Home. I have felt so thankful for America and temples throughout the earth that bind us All together to our Eternal Home.
     Les and Linda, my Mikie's brother, popped in for a two day visit while they are on a whirlwind tour of the United Kingdom. It was so good to have our first company from Home! As time was very tight, due to our work schedule in the temple, we took two quick trips close to the temple. Our first visit was to Chartwell, Winston Churchill's home. The next morning we drove down to Hever Castle, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn. I'm telling  you now - both places were worth seeing for different reasons. Add them to your Bucket List when you hit England. Both stories involved love, with one ending tragically, due to choices made.
     It was a quiet, calm, overcast morning when we got to Chartwell. I can see why Winston and Clementine Churchill loved that place. The setting and surrounding countryside was as lovely as any spot I have ever seen. His art studio opened out to such a view. He loved to paint, but not as much as he loved his Clementine. Their love story is often ignored, yet she was his emotional rock and most trusted confidante. From his own words, the Second World War would have been "impossible without her".  On occasion he referred to her as "She-whose-commands-must-be-obeyed". Such a dear story of true love.
     On the other hand, the love story that came out of Hever Castle, could truly be classified as a "Head Over Heels" adventure that ended in literally Anne of a Thousand Days losing her head at the bequest of her husband, Henry the Eighth. After banishing his first wife, Catherine and her daughter, he took up with beautiful Anne thinking she would surely be his answer for a male progenitor. When Anne finally married him and promptly gave birth to another daughter, she instantly lost her charm. Now, how to get rid of her? Henry is the king so what Henry says, goes. A conspiracy was hatched to prove her infidelity in their marriage and then - it's all over but the crying. The only gift he gave her was to take off her head with a sword, which was considered more polite, than with an axe.
    There are lots of lessons to be learned from these two love stories. I am just so thankful that my love story with my Mikie is my own and it is eternal. Our lives may never be as exciting as kings and queens and prime ministers, but oh, it is so much richer. Thanks be to our ancestors who heard the message of the gospel, and through choices of theirs, we are blessed today.

My Love,
Sister Seaman......Mom and Grandma

English Lesson:
swimmingly - Things are going swimmingly (great)
gubbins - equipment; tools
docket - packed lunch
mardle - talk on and on.....My Mikie thinks I mardle about our family.


Turning Point

     I am a getting a little bit tired and bored of talking about England and how different and dangerous it is. So this post will take a different twist.
     There comes a time when you have to make a big decision. It will wait no longer.  For most of us,  that time is forced on us by our procrastination and/or fear.  I bet if you think about it, you can remember some of those times and decisions.  You can probably also remember the outcomes of those decisions.  For instance, who you decided to marry or when you bought your first house, or if you should join the Mormon Church and give up family and friends, a job even, and a way of life.  These are big decisions with far reaching and wide ranging outcomes.  For the sake of this post, I am calling these decisions Turning Points.
     I have reached one of these turning points in my life just lately.  After years of procrastination,  I have made the decision.  I have always been a member of the Mormon Church and have been active in it.  I have served in some form of leadership for at least 30 years of the 57 years I have been a baptized member.  I tell you this, not to brag but to make this point.  After all that time, you would have thought I was all in. I was not.
     In the last few years, since we have started to serve missions, and especially now, serving full time, 5 days a week in the London Temple, I am finally starting to see that I have not been all in.  I guess I thought I could keep just one small part of me domiciled in the world and that would be OK because the rest of me was in.  I was wrong.  I can see that it has been holding me back.  I have been afraid to commit all because I thought I would miss out on something good and worldly.
     This is my turning point. I am all in.  I hope I am not too late.  I don't think so, in fact I know that I am not too late. To my kids and grandkids, make the decision now, don't needlessly drag the weight of the world around with you.  Let it go now and save yourselves and your families in the process.

Sincerely,
Elder Seaman


   
   
   

The Real Peanut Butter is on top

Take a close look at this stuff.  See if you can figure out what
it is.  For instance, Trex is shortening. Sugar for butter cream is
Powdered Sugar and so on.

Make That a Peanut Butter Sandwich

Make That a Peanut Butter Sandwich

November 19, 2017

      We've had two different encounters with Peanut Butter this week. We were walking home from the temple and passed a group of young missionaries coming out of their district meeting. Sister Nielsen, from UT, was carrying a huge jar of Skippy peanut butter. We asked about it and they told us that for their meeting they had Krusteze buttermilk pancakes smeared with peanut butter. The best thing they've had since they got to England.
     My elder and I were doing sharing time in the Haywards Heath Ward Primary today - for a total of six children. Yes, that's the whole Primary for the day. We were doing a role play and I mentioned inviting a friend over to share a peanut butter sandwich. You should have heard the groans and moans. No one in England invites friends (or enemies) over for PBJ's. Isn't that something? All afternoon I have tried to visualize an English schoolchild's lunchbox. What is in that thing if there isn't an occasional PBJ?
      The history of peanut butter has been dismal over here. As far as we can tell, Skippy is the only brand that took the plunge and is sold over here in Costco. That is where our sister missionary friends got their big jar. We were gifted a small jar of Skippy from a couple that had completed their mission and were going home to the states. Now, before we received our treasured gift, we had bought English peanut butter that we had found sort of hidden on the shelves of the local market. It doesn't compare to Skippy. I assume that is why these English Primary children do not like PBJ's. They haven't tasted the real deal.
     The English diet has been an adventure and somewhat of a mystery since we got here. We have spent hundreds of pounds on products that look like they might be a bit tasty only to throw them away after we have given the product enough time to grow mold in our little frig. And that doesn't take long over here. Bacon (streaked rashers) HAS to be cooked the first day or that stuff goes bad. We have all but given up on bacon with eggs. Milk curdles quickly. Fresh vegetables are not fresh for long. There are crisps, biscuits, fairy cakes, bread pudding, Yorkshire puddings.......the list goes on and on. I am still not clear on what a cookie around this place is really called, As for us, we still call a cookie a cookie. Not a biscuit.
     Mikie and I are in charge of the traditional Thanksgiving meal for the Senior missionaries. We are holding it tomorrow, Monday, November 20. That is our P-day and besides that, not one English man or woman cares a bit about Thanksgiving over here. It is our American holiday. Looking for a turkey has been a real trick. All the markets told us to come back at Christmas - that's when a proper turkey is perched on their shelves. So, we resorted to frozen turkey crowns (breast.) As for cranberry sauce - our friend, Sister Long will be making it. This will be the day when the Americans can eat  all the fruit salad they want along with their regular meal. And, even better, pumpkin pie will be served without any English person turning up their nose. English eat their fruit for dessert. As a whole, pumpkin served in any form, is looked down upon. It will be a day of glorious feasting!
     I will let my Mikie carry on now because I think I will go make a peanut butter sandwich.

All my Love,
Sister Seaman

Proper English Words:
gobsmacked - shocked, surprised
shirty - "He got a bit shirty". (cross, mad)
Naughty - We know what this means BUT some of our friends use it all the time in place of Rude.
vitamins - Not Really vitamins as we know them. It's vit, rhyming with hit, sit, mitt....a short vowel I.

Thai Food

     We had one of our best meals the other night.  We were invited to go eat at a Thai Restaurant in Lingfield.  Lingfield is just up the road a couple of miles.  Thai Food is apparently Thai Food wherever you are.  Thank Heavens.
     As you can tell, one of the biggest frustrations we have had in England has been the food.  The beef is totally grass fed and tastes a little gamey.  The bacon stinks rotten even fresh from the store. None of their food is salted, peppered or even seasoned. It is very blah. They eat pastry bread with everything and call it pie.  Minced beef is hamburger.  The best hamburgers are chicken because they don't get the beef right.  It will be good to get an American hamburger again someday.  The English eat some kind of potato with every meal.  Jacket potatoes are baked potatoes, French fries are called crisps.  Don't even try to get spicy food unless it is Thai food.  I don't think they understand the concept of spicy.
     You would think that we would be losing weight, but no, we eat everything in sight trying to get it to taste good.
     They do have a couple of good food items we like.  The cheese is real good.  As are the custards, creams, double creams, ice cream, milk (it doesn't last long), and breads.  The eggs are always real fresh and are sold un-refrigerated (it was a little spooky at first.)  The strawberry jam is real good.  We can buy Old El Paso Mexican food products over here (figure that one out.)  They sell tomato sauce for salsa though. We love refried bean burros with cheese and cook them for lunch often.  They make a little soufflé with spinach that we like, but it is a little on the airy side, but great for lunch.
     If you ever read this, you may wonder why we are writing about food.  We are writing stuff like this so that we will remember how it was here in England years from now.  It has truly been an adventure.
    For those of you who care, I am doing better at driving.  I only had one incident this week where I turned right (instead of left) into on-coming traffic on a divided highway.  I immediately drove the car upon the sidewalk, which was, miracle of miracles, wide enough for the go-cart we drive, and waited for the traffic to go by and then made a U-turn. We had two old ladies with us in the back, both of which, swear it was a miracle.  They still even talk to me.
     Anyway, Bon Apatite!

Sincerely,
Elder Seaman

Our 2005 Renault Tin Can; we mean Car. Our world has opened up!! Pray for us.

Certain Women

Certain Women

November 13, 2017

Girls,

     This one is for you. So read along, please. You all know how much I adore and miss my mom. This December it will be 36 years since she graduated back Home. For some reason, I have felt closer to her over here in England than ever before in these past many years. Just as I think of you each day while we are in the temple, I think of her. What is she so busy doing in the Spirit World? Does she know what I am busy doing here in England? I have faith enough to believe that she surely does know My Mikie and I made the jump over the ocean to serve here. Wasn't it Joseph Smith who said, 

           "The spirits of the just are exalted to a greater and more glorious work;

         hence they are blessed in their departure to the world of the spirits.

         Enveloped in flaming fire, they are not far from us, and know and

         understand our thoughts, feelings, and motions, and are often pained

        therewith,"

  My mom is certainly one of those Certain Women that Sister Burton spoke about last Spring at the Women's Conference. Just as all six of you are Certain Women to me, your dad, and your family.

     I feel like I have had grand experiences with many wonderful Women this past week and I want to tell you about a few of them.

*Alexia is a 24 year old returned missionary from Moscow, Russia. She was out "traveling" and wanted to make sure the London Temple was on her itinerary. Now, picture a beautiful, blonde, fairskinned woman with a heavy Russian accent traveling alone. Her family joined the church in Russia when she was eight. She writes textbooks for teachers who teach English. She also really encouraged me to visit her country of Russia. It is beautiful, she says, and I would love it. I told her I grew up in the Cold War era and still believe the KGB would be after me like bees on honey if I went there. Alexia giggled and shook her head. She told me there are at least eight wards in her big city of Moscow. She was a Certain Woman from Russia.

*Eighteen Irish women flew down on Wednesday to spend three days in the temple. It was their ward's Relief Society activity. Picture fairskinned women with reddish hair and beautiful accents. There you have them. I made eye contact with many of them during their first session so when they came down the stairs afterwards, we were immediately drawn to each other. Emily brought her  mother, Mary, over to look at my hair because her mom wants my haircut. Ha! I told them my hairdresser, for now, is your father. But really, all she had to do was mess hers up and it would look just like mine. As the week continued on and I chatted with them whenever we met. I found out Mary and Emily are not just Mom and Daughter, but dear friends. I told them all about the six of you. They got teary eyed for me. How could I ever leave you all behind for eighteen months? I teared up also and told them I was still learning how to do it gracefully. After their last session on Saturday, we shared hugs and well-wishes. Emily prays I will have a Happy Life. I felt like I was sending Friends off. Certain Women from Ireland.

*Karen Smart is the 82 year old Nursery teacher in the Haywards Heath Ward. I got to help her on Sunday when I volunteered. She loves those four little darlings and they love her. She cannot count the number of times she has been called to serve in Primary and Nursery in her long life . She has a schedule she keeps to and the children were well trained to follow along. There is no sitting on the chair for her. Singing, dancing, chalkboard, lesson, snacks (from their own lunch-bags brought from home!), and games.  I really want to grow up to be like this Certain Woman!

     So Girls, can you see that your mom is learning and growing over here? I am appreciating our simple lifestyle more and more back Home in AZ. I still miss it like crazy but I am truly seeing this world is full of good women trying to live the gospel. When it is all said and done and I get to graduate to Home, I feel my mom will meet me with open arms and then, in our conversation, she will bring up that time when Mikie and I were serving in the London Temple. It will validate my feelings of today.

My fondest Love to Each of you,

Mom....aka Sister Seaman and Grandma

Language for the Week:

*stodgy - heavy on your stomach. (That was a stodgy meal)

*Make a Meal of it - Blow it; make a mess of things

*Spotted Dick - a custardy pudding

*jiving - dancing

Remembrance Day

     In my little naïve world, I did not know that other countries celebrated, what we, in the States, call Veterans Day.  In England, Remembrance Day is celebrated on the 2nd Sunday of November, specifically at 11:00AM (which was yesterday.)  Literally every adult I have seen for the past several days has been wearing a "poppy" on their lapel or dress.  In the states, the Veterans sell poppies, at the 4th of July and Veterans Day.  

     Yesterday, Sunday, Kim and I drove our own car to church along with another brave couple who has been taking us to church for several weeks now.  (I only ran up onto to the curb once. The roads are so damn narrow.)  When we get to church there is a table set up in the foyer with poppies for anyone who forgot to wear theirs.  When the Bishop announces the program for sacrament meeting it is a Remembrance Day program.  I thought to my self "Oh Boy" here comes the apostasy.  Was I ever wrong.  Our Temple President and his wife were most of the program. She read a famous Remembrance Day poem and he gave a great talk on Remembering.  He read 7 names out loud.  They were his ancestors who had been killed during the wars.  The last being his own father. He told a little bit about them all and then talked about how he felt about them.  At exactly 11:00 he finished and we were invited to stand for 2 minutes of silence.  We understand that all of the United Kingdom was doing the same thing wherever they were.  The Queen was pictured in the headlines with a tear in her eye.

     It was a very moving experience for me.  I remembered my Uncle John Seaman who was killed in the Battle of Bulge over here in France (France is about 50 miles from here.).  I never knew him but my Dad was sure proud of him.  I think it is part of the reason he flew the flag so often.  I am so thankful for this Remembrance Day as I remembered.  I also remembered what the Lord has given for me.

     My anxiety levels have been very high of late.  The "driving thing" is causing me to have nervous ticks  and I have sores on my head.  Kim wants to go everywhere and I lay in bed sweating in the wee hours of the morning planning how to stay on the left side of the road, entering and exiting the round-about and NOT exceeding the speed limit because they have cameras everywhere.  We only got lost a few times today because we exited the round-about on the wrong road.  There are no stop signs here.      Our car is a 2005 Renault with 128,000+ miles.  It runs good and only has a few scratches on it from close calls on the left side, which is the side that rests directly against the curb or hedge as you are traveling down very narrow roads, because the lories (semi-tractor trailers) are blasting down the road on the other side at breakneck speeds and taking ALL of their lane and a few inches of mine which I need so much.  Help me.

     Oh well, thanks for all your prayers, I need them.

Sincerely,

Elder Seaman

Windsor Castle trip

I always thought these guys weren't suppose to move, but when I walked up, his eyes were on me like flies on a dead horse.  Must be a security thing.


This is the Queen's sister sitting in the sunshine outside the Windsor castle.  She is 90 something. (JK she is not the Queen's sister, but she sure looked like it to us)

The Allen’s and the shopping van. My Mikie on High Street at 5:00pm. He’s shopping!

THURSDAYS

THURSDAYS

November 5, 2107

    Can I say that I have developed a Love-Hate relationship for Thursdays here on the London Temple grounds? Mainly, it is a day to look forward to. Yet, it can be very stressful for me. It is our van shopping day. Depending on the time our shift is working, the Earlies or the Lates, we meet at the accommodations center for our weekly van drive into East Grinstead. Our driver for our shift is Brother Allen and his wife sits up by him giving him orders along the way. Only English drivers are allowed to drive the temple van. They are wonderful people who give up a lot of their personal time each week to haul around a vanload of approximately eight temple workers, (mostly single sisters). The numbers vary each week. My Mikie and I  have held up the van on occasion when one of us has to run back to the flat for our shopping bags. They are a must to shop in England. Otherwise, the stores nail you to purchase a bag from their store. We are learning it's a pretty good idea because we really don't have room to wad up all those plastic bags we typically got from Walmart or Safeway at home. 

    The first stop is always at Aldi's. Missouri had an Aldi's but we didn't ever shop there. We have made it a habit to jump out at the Aldi's parking lot and hightail it down to High Street. Each English town has a High Street, what we consider a Main street. There are little shops up and down the street and we are finding that we are starting to make sense of all of it. One of our stops is often the phone store to "top off" our phone card. There are charity shops dotting the street. Now, this is where it gets a little dicey for me. A charity shop is like a thrift shop at home. It's in my blood to want to nose around and see if I can pick up a few finds. It's in my Mikie's blood to NEVER shop. ANYWHERE. I try to give him "assignments" to pick up this or that along the way while I please, please just look around. I am proud to say I have found a few little items in these fun stores.

    The other stress is knowing we are on the clock. That van leaves at the given time and I dread holding up the whole show. Can't find eye liner? placemats? Give it up til next week and get in that van! By the time we reach the appointed spot and climb back in the van I feel as if we have run a race collecting and gathering.
     After we leave High Street, the van makes one last stop at the big market, Sainsbury. This store reminds me of our Safeway at home. A big nice market, but what in the world do we buy to eat? We grad a trolley (shopping cart - isn't that cute?) and start down the aisles. Milk and eggs are sold off the shelf. Laundry soap doesn't smell like Home, a huge source of woe for me. Washing up Liquid is sold instead of dishsoap. Cans of green chilis are unheard of. The one brand of salsa we have found tastes a bit like tomato sauce. On the other hand, the cheese is wonderful. Custard is to die for. Little mince pies are quite tasty.  All the while, the clock is ticking. We are burning daylight. We race to the checkout line where the checkers all sit on chairs to service customers. I think Walmart and Safeway should follow suit. The money is kept in the" till" which is literally like a metal tin box. So quaint.
     This week, on our way home, it was dark by 5:30 pm.  Rain was splattering the windows. The radio was on. Brother Allen tends to listen to classical. One sister in the back asked for something more upbeat. Sister Allen took over radio duties. The songs were from the Olivia Newton John era. Now, who doesn't remember her? On the chorus', Sister Allen belts out, "Sing it, Sisters!" Now, who can sit quietly when you are ordered to sing? Even my Mikie hummed along. It was a good time.
     We will get our car this week. That means we can go shopping on our own, at our own pace. We can go where we want to. It will be wonderful. But, sometimes, we might jump in the van just because we have learned to love the missionaries who ride it regularly each week. I love the conversation of sisters who found this or that bargain. I love Sister St. John, who immigrated here from Grenada. She regularly buys a little treat and shares it with us. I have developed a taste for custard, persimmons, mince pies, and R. White lemonade because she was willing to share. There is a comraderie in the van. This week there were missionaries from Thailand, Canada, Grenada, Wales, England, and the US. What better place is there to get crash courses on food and customs of the world?
     I just read this rambly post and decided I better shut it down and get in bed. That's because the shopping van will turn into the travel van tomorrow morning at 9:00 as it heads out to Windsor Castle. I need a good night's sleep so we can be there early for a good seat. First come. First served.

MY LOVE, MY CHILDREN.
Sister Seaman aka Mom and Grandma

Your Proper English Lesson:  *****
*keen - Alfred was keen to say the prayer in Primary today. (The kid really wanted to do it)
*trousers - boys wear these, instead of pants  (pants are underwear)
*pantaloons - girls wear these, instead of panties or underwear
*If your shoes squeak over here, they must not be paid for.

******Language Disclaimer - If I repeat words from week to week, get over it. This may be due to poor record keeping on my part.

Windsor Castle

     Well, we made it all the way to Windsor Castle today.  It is about 40 miles from here and directly west of London right at the end of the Heathrow airport.  It took us about 2 hours to get there as the M25 ( the 5-lane freeway that circles London) was backed up as always.  The Queen was in, as indicated by her flag flying from the tallest and largest turret. Had she not been there, it would have been the Union Jack flying.  We tried for a picture, but it was a long ways off and can barely be seen in one of our pictures.  The castle and estate of the Royal Family is huge.  The castle alone dominates the sky line.  It is a fancy place. It was built in the 1500's and is in pristine condition.  It must cost a small fortune to operate on a daily basis.  She has 120 full-time servants and butlers and others that work there. The Queen lives in the private quarters section of the whole thing, but she uses parts of the rest of it to host visiting dignitaries and  shows off the possessions  and so forth.  It blows the mind to think of the cost to maintain the building and grounds.  At 500 years old, it is not showing its age.
     When I think about the long line of royal ancestors this family comes from and some of the crazy things that happened along the way (like wars, insanity, disease, etc.), and the amassed fortune that they have, due mostly to the plundering and pillaging by the old kings.  I believe that it is one of the craziest stories ever.  It is a story about white privilege.  About which a white man could win all the marbles.
     It was one of the unusually clear days today in England.  The sun was all the way out, but it was cold in the shade.  From the windows in the Queen's apartment, I am sure she could see a large part of her kingdom.  I could see a long ways from my view.  Her private garden runs 5 miles towards the north.  They say you can sometimes see her walking the dog with a scarf wrapped around her head and a long coat on.  They say she looks like any other 80+ year-old woman.  Her husband was reportedly out driving a horse and buggy this morning.
     The thought for the week is this.  All the Queen's money and all the Queen's men can not save her in the celestial kingdom.  When she dies, she will become like all who have gone before her.  I would like to think that she might sometime accept the Savior and his teachings, which will be somewhat different than she thought.  They say she is a good, God-fearing woman and does things for the poor.  That may count in her favor.
     If you are ever here, near London, Windsor Castle is worth the 40 pounds it cost us today.

Sincerely,
Elder Seaman