It's a quiet Sabbath day here on the London Temple Grounds. It has been a quiet week in the temple also. We have worked shorter hours throughout the week, but truly, they seemed much longer as we have not had a lot of patrons. On Friday, we had a new patron and three of us were waiting in initiatory to assist her. We would hear the temple rumors....."she's in the building .....she's with the office staff......she'd getting dressed"......We were told to take our stations because she was on her way. Then, Sister Allen, my English friend, reported that she stopped to spend a penny.
My mind goes back into American mode and I wonder what costs so little at the clothing till. Then.....like magic, I remember! She went to the restroom. Do any of you recall my English lesson from an earlier post? Well, the sweet young girl finally arrives and we attend to our duties. After our work was completed, Sister Allen came in to talk to me and Sister Kelly, another English friend. She started her conversation, "The penny dropped. Now, I know who she is".
What in the world? She spends a penny......the penny drops.....I asked her to say it again. She repeated the same phrase to me. I finally had to ask how the penny dropped. "Oh, that means that I suddenly remembered who she is". Kind of like me saying, "the light came on". Isn't that cute? I can always count on Sister Allen to add a bit of English flavor to my day. I just love her and her fun personality.
Friday was the last day the temple was open and by Saturday morning, the parking lot was cleared out. The English workers all flew the coop for the holiday. The few Americans left standing have planned a few activities to do throughout the holiday. This dark, damp weather cannot help but make it seem like Christmas. I have loved it. We attended an hour long sacrament meeting of scripture reading and carol singing today. This little Haywards Heath Ward we attend can sing! We love that. And the amazing thing about singing is that I understand every word while they are doing it. All accents are gone.
So, on this quiet Christmas Eve, I think of my dear girls and their families so far away. I pray for their safety and spiritual well being. Besides the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, Christmas is about Family. I look forward to a happy reunion someday. In the meantime, we will keep looking, listening, finding, dropping, etc pennies til we get it right over here.
ALL MY LOVE,
Sister Seaman....aka Mom and Grandma
What is a Clark?
Are you ready for this. A Clark is a clerk. You know, like the "clerk of the court." We are just back from having Christmas Dinner with the Walters. They are such a nice couple and have treated us royally. During dinner they got to talking about a certain "Clark" that lived in Bristol (which is where they are from) and I turned to Kim and ask if she knew what a "Clark" was. She said that they were talking about a guy named Clark. I informed her that they were talking about a clerk not a Clark. Go figure. Anyway, besides running into words like "Clark" every now and then things are smoothing out for us. The driving is getting easier and we are starting to understand more and more.
At dinner today, the conversation turned to Bristol and the tin mines and how old they were. Poldark is near where the Walters live. And from there, we got to talking about how the tribes of Israel got up this for. Then Brother Walters says that Joseph of Arimathea and Mary, the Mother of Jesus, are buried in Avalon, a few miles away. I said WHAT? He said that Jesus and Joseph of Arimathea came to Britain often to trade for tin. I asked how he knew that and he said through well documented histories written and discovered here in England. Apparently Joseph traded for tin for the Romans and became known as the "Minister of Mines" for the Romans. . He said that Joseph had a church built here as well. Apparently, Joseph was Mary's uncle. Joseph of Arimathea became known in England as Joseph of Glastonbury. I am getting the feeling that it was not such a small world in those days, as I had originally thought.
Anyway, Christmas has come and gone here in England. We enjoyed our schedule of engagements and will now continue to party for a couple of more days. Then it's back to work for a few days and then off again for a few days. It is great. We have missed our family but they are busy having fun and barely remember us. We know that they are blessed because we are here and that makes it all worth it.
Love you,
Elder Seaman
What is a Clark?
Are you ready for this. A Clark is a clerk. You know, like the "clerk of the court." We are just back from having Christmas Dinner with the Walters. They are such a nice couple and have treated us royally. During dinner they got to talking about a certain "Clark" that lived in Bristol (which is where they are from) and I turned to Kim and ask if she knew what a "Clark" was. She said that they were talking about a guy named Clark. I informed her that they were talking about a clerk not a Clark. Go figure. Anyway, besides running into words like "Clark" every now and then things are smoothing out for us. The driving is getting easier and we are starting to understand more and more.
At dinner today, the conversation turned to Bristol and the tin mines and how old they were. Poldark is near where the Walters live. And from there, we got to talking about how the tribes of Israel got up this for. Then Brother Walters says that Joseph of Arimathea and Mary, the Mother of Jesus, are buried in Avalon, a few miles away. I said WHAT? He said that Jesus and Joseph of Arimathea came to Britain often to trade for tin. I asked how he knew that and he said through well documented histories written and discovered here in England. Apparently Joseph traded for tin for the Romans and became known as the "Minister of Mines" for the Romans. . He said that Joseph had a church built here as well. Apparently, Joseph was Mary's uncle. Joseph of Arimathea became known in England as Joseph of Glastonbury. I am getting the feeling that it was not such a small world in those days, as I had originally thought.
Anyway, Christmas has come and gone here in England. We enjoyed our schedule of engagements and will now continue to party for a couple of more days. Then it's back to work for a few days and then off again for a few days. It is great. We have missed our family but they are busy having fun and barely remember us. We know that they are blessed because we are here and that makes it all worth it.
Love you,
Elder Seaman
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