DECEMBER
December 3, 2017
December is upon us. There is a feel of Christmas everywhere. The land seems dreary and the days grow shorter, It is dark by 4:00 pm. It is just as I pictured an old fashioned Christmas in England. We have just returned from our Break-the-Fast meal that is held with all the temple missionaries each month. So far, there has been a variety of delicious food each month, mostly potatoes. We are learning to love the missionaries we serve with.
We have been serving in the baptistery for the past two weeks. Now, that has meant we served down there only on Friday nights and Saturdays. That is when people typically schedule. We are seeing that this temple is located "out"; meaning it is difficult for saints to just get in their cars and drive to do a session. It's a big deal to get here. As a result, I so admire the youth and their leaders who give up a lot to get here.
Our first stake on Saturday came from central London. I have forgotten the stake's name. But not the kids or the leaders. One of my assignments is to get name slips prepared for each participant that is on a list which was sent in earlier. Now, can I list some of the names? Brothers Shatimehin, Aidoo-Antwi, Ford, Iguasnia, Onyeme-Campbell.....The young sisters sported the same type of names. Now, picture all these youth filing into the little reception room where I sit at this big desk. I pride myself on being pretty sharp on phonograms since I taught them so many years. So, here I go ......"Brother Onyeme-Campbell?" No one replies. I repeat it. Someone might pipe up and point to a boy and say, "That is you". I jump in questioning the youth. I get a puzzled look, so I ask him what his name is. He replies, "Mutter, mutter, mutter". I am stumped. So, now what? Trying to act like I have a bit of authority, I ask him to spell it. After he spells it two or three times, I find his blue name slip that, all the while, has been sitting right in front of me. It was exactly like playing The Match Game where one of my grandkids turn over cards until a match is found. After more quizzing, sweating, and almost playing charades, I finally felt confident that each youth had been identified and sent them on their way to get clothing.
President Otterson, our temple president, wanted to observe in the baptistry that morning. He was up by the font helping out. As the boys were baptized, it became apparent that there were only three boys left with four name cards left. President called the three boys over and asked them to identify who they were as he pointed to the cards. He finally figured out who three of the names belonged to. So, here he is, one extra card - no live body to claim it. Finally, one youth spoke up and, pointing to the name, told a boy that is was "him". He nodded that ,yes it was him, so President questioned him who the other named belonged to. It was his, he replied. So......to make a rambling story shorter.....We discovered that Brother Adoo-Antwi is also known as Brother Kojo Adjie.
We found out that morning that this stake has 128 dialects among its members. I believe they brought at least that many dialects to the temple on Saturday morning. The leaders were so kind and helpful as I kept apologizing to them over my ignorance. I was in awe of these sisters and brothers that came with these kids. Some of them were new converts, just as the youth were. Some had been members for years, migrating to London from countries in Africa or even, South America. We are seeing the fulfilling of Joseph Smith's prophecy that the Standard of Truth has been erected and will sweep every country and sound in every ear. It has been a humbling experience to see so many different nationalities come to do work in this temple.
So, My AZ Family, know that the Lord's work is truly throughout the world. He knows and loves each one of us. I believe that with all my heart. It is a typical day in the temple, when three workers are from England, Spain, and America and the patrons are holding a French or even German card. It is becoming a joy to have even a tiny, tiny role serving people and pronouncing promises from the Lord on their heads. How did a little girl from Show Low, AZ get to be here?
Sending all my Love,
Sister Seaman......Mom, Grams
YOUR ENGLISH LESSON:
centre - as in "leisure centre". Could this be a recreation center? All their "er" words are spelled "re".
This one has not been clearly explained to me.
fayre- I am going to the county Fair or craft Fair. Again, I have no clear answer for the "ai" missing
in the middle of words, with "ay" replacing it.
The "phone went". - The phone rang. (Isn't this phrase cute? Can you picture a phone walking off?)
SETTLED IN
People keep asking us if we have settled in. We have settled in. We are here and we are staying. I guess we still look a little lost or maybe we are supposed to still look a little lost. Either way, the honeymoon is over.
We are getting around a little better in the Temple and out on the roads. Kim gets to go anywhere she wants. We do have to go around the round-about more than once occasionally to get straightened out, but we get there. The roads are even looking a little wider than they did. We buy what we want to eat and now have several good choices. The routine is becoming clearer by the day.
I will say that we are exhausted by the week's end. We both sleep about 8 or 9 hours a night. I sleep more than that if you count my naps (I had 2 yesterday.) By the way, there is only 21 sleeps left until Christmas. In the states, we would say, there is only 21 days left until Christmas. The same thing but from a different perspective.
We have arrived officially in winter here. It has been cold and dark. It feels real cold but it hasn't frozen real hard yet. I suppose it is the humidity that gives the cold it's bite. The leaves have mostly fallen but the grass is still green (they say that the grass will stay green all year long), so weird.
Life here is actually becoming good. We are happy working in the Temple and being around a lot of very good people. We can even understand what they are saying now, some of the time. I noticed in church yesterday, for the first time, that I was hearing what sounded natural to me, which surprised me because they were speaking with the same accents they always have.
On a different subject, guns are an interesting subject here. The English, especially the women, are very anti-gun. They believe that they are right in not letting their citizens own guns. They have a hard time with the fact that we can openly carry a gun with us all the time. They are scared of them.
But then they have socialized medicine here too, and it doesn't appear to work that well. They wait for several months for a free appointment with a doctor and about the same for a surgery. It kills me that they call it free. They are taxed to death over here.
Well, I'll be glad to get back to writing about something good or funny one of these days, but it may not happen. Be good.
Sincerely,
Elder Seaman
SETTLED IN
People keep asking us if we have settled in. We have settled in. We are here and we are staying. I guess we still look a little lost or maybe we are supposed to still look a little lost. Either way, the honeymoon is over.
We are getting around a little better in the Temple and out on the roads. Kim gets to go anywhere she wants. We do have to go around the round-about more than once occasionally to get straightened out, but we get there. The roads are even looking a little wider than they did. We buy what we want to eat and now have several good choices. The routine is becoming clearer by the day.
I will say that we are exhausted by the week's end. We both sleep about 8 or 9 hours a night. I sleep more than that if you count my naps (I had 2 yesterday.) By the way, there is only 21 sleeps left until Christmas. In the states, we would say, there is only 21 days left until Christmas. The same thing but from a different perspective.
We have arrived officially in winter here. It has been cold and dark. It feels real cold but it hasn't frozen real hard yet. I suppose it is the humidity that gives the cold it's bite. The leaves have mostly fallen but the grass is still green (they say that the grass will stay green all year long), so weird.
Life here is actually becoming good. We are happy working in the Temple and being around a lot of very good people. We can even understand what they are saying now, some of the time. I noticed in church yesterday, for the first time, that I was hearing what sounded natural to me, which surprised me because they were speaking with the same accents they always have.
On a different subject, guns are an interesting subject here. The English, especially the women, are very anti-gun. They believe that they are right in not letting their citizens own guns. They have a hard time with the fact that we can openly carry a gun with us all the time. They are scared of them.
But then they have socialized medicine here too, and it doesn't appear to work that well. They wait for several months for a free appointment with a doctor and about the same for a surgery. It kills me that they call it free. They are taxed to death over here.
Well, I'll be glad to get back to writing about something good or funny one of these days, but it may not happen. Be good.
Sincerely,
Elder Seaman
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