From left to right Elder and Sister Murdoch and Elder and Sister
Whitehouse.  Hampton Court on a cold winter's day.  Summer
home of Henry the VIII.



This is the clock courtyard of Hampton Court and only a small
part of the entire building of Hampton Court.  The great hall is
on the left and the entrance to the palace is the center door.

An Old Friend Has Died

An Old Friend Has Died

January 8, 2017

*Let us relish Life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love."

*Unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives."

*Don't save something only for a special occasion. Every day in your life is a special occasion".

*Whether it is the best of times or the worst of times, He is with us. He has promised that this will      never change".

This whole post could and should be covered with quotes from President Monson. I, like so many of you, feel that an old friend has died. It has been a bittersweet week. But mostly, sweet - thinking of the grand reunion he has had with his wife. I am so happy for both of them and feel a great peace that the Lord's work will carry on. We will all learn to honor, love, and revere our next prophet. There is such beauty and order in this gospel. Before we heard the news about President Monson's passing, we had had on the American news. It was rich with announcements about the mental instability of our president from one side. The other side was actively slamming all the liars and cheats that were still crying in their milk about the outcome of the 2016 election. It's enough to make my head spin. What a morning of contrasts as I felt a peace and happiness for our dear prophet.

We were able to facetime our whole family on New Year's Day as they were all together for a celebration. To see them all at one time reminds us that not a lot has changed at Home. Yet lots has changed as those grandkids continue to grow up while we watch from afar. Teeth have been lost, driver's license tests have been passed,......the list goes on. We continue to have faith that our serving this mission is and will bless our dear family's lives. 

Besides the passing of President Monson, it has been a quiet week. I was home for three days with a cold and cough. It seems that all of England has a cough or illness of some kind. And everyone has their remedy to get well. As for me, it was to lay low, drink Emergen-C and ponder the meaning of life.

MY LOVE,
Sister Seaman...aka Mom and Grams

Proper English Lesson:
*colour - color
*zed - in the alphabet "z" is pronounced "zed"
*a misery - a pain........(have I told you this one?)
*feeling like an oily rag - Feeling like I just don't fit

Henry the VIII

     We visited one of the Palaces of King Henry the VIII today. It is called Hampton Court.  As we toured this giant mansion and grounds, the thoughts of how the very rich and powerful have lived through the years of history have become more in focus for me.  England, of all places, has been the seat of some of the most powerful rulers in history.  And one family, in particular, has had that power.  How does a monarch rise to power and his family remain in power through generations of time?  It is a serious question to me and one that amazes me.  Just because you are born into a certain family does not mean you are fit to rule.  Sometimes this was evident and a weak King would inherit the throne, which caused a lot of problems.
     King Henry was not a weak King, but he was a little crazy.  He was a doer and a shaker.  He was also a very smart politician.  There was a little mental illness in the line of succession which didn't help matters.
     King Henry did hire a few bright men to design and build Hampton Court.  It is awesome and must have been really awesome several hundred years ago.  It is located a few miles southwest of London on the Thames River.  It was not built as a castle or a fortress but a palace for entertaining. (See pictures)
     The English people are very proud of their kings and monarchs.  It amazes me a little.  Our tour guide today was an English Temple worker.  He and his wife were kind enough to drive the van and tell us all about the palace (he is very knowledgeable about all things English.)  One of the sisters in our group ask him if he had spent anytime in the USA and he said about 4 weeks total.  She ask him if he would consider living in the USA  and he said no.  She was shocked.  She said that she didn't understand, surely if he had been in the states that long he would want to stay.  He said that he was glad to wake up every morning and look in the mirror and see a proper Englishman.  He is also a lot of fun.  I haven't laughed like that for a long time.  His name is Jim Whitehouse.  I will remember him as I think of the English people and their history.

Sincerely,
Elder Seaman
   
   
   
   

     

The is an area on the south coast of England, on the English channel,
known as the Seven Sisters. They are white limestone cliffs and are
not far from the Cliffs of Dover.  It is beautiful.



These are the two Sister Missionaries from the London Temple Visitor's
Center that gave us the final tour of the Temple grounds.  The oak tree in
the background is the Memorial David O McKay Oak Tree (not the original
as it rotted out several years ago.)  Sisters Neilson (R) and Leavitt.



Elder and Sister Seaman at the Seven Sisters on a windy, cold
winter day in England.



English Lesson for the week, "No fly tipping." I don't know how they
get there, but it means no dumpster diving.

A New Year

A New Year

January 1, 2018

                           A new year is upon us. What will it bring? 

These have been my thoughts this week. Over and over again. To be straight up honest, I was feeling quite smug, proud of myself that I got through Christmas without the sickening feeling that homesickness can bring me. It wasn't until the day after. I was putting my three Christmas decorations away in the closet. It was late afternoon and dark outside. It hit me like a ton of bricks. 

"You will be pulling these same three decorations out of this drawer next December......and it will be dark then, just like it is now". 

      This dark, dreary land has become a weight on me. I am looking at it as a challenge. How can I conquer it? What strategies do these English people use when they don't see the sun for weeks on end? Exercise? Eat? Sleep? Shop? Explore? Just to let you know, I'm trying all of it. When I lose it, my Mikie 

is so kind to me. He knows what I need and I know what I need. I need the sun. And when my head is on straight, I know I will see it again. One little trick I have found is to open the window. We have birds living in the beautiful bare trees outside our flat. They chortle and peep most the day. I just absolutely love them. We have taken to putting bread crumbs on our ledge and wait for them to fly over for a bite. They are my friends in England. 

    The London Temple Visitors Center closed its doors for good on December 29. It is a sad day for patrons who bring their families with them when they come to do temple work. The missionary department from Salt Lake has determined that the center has not had enough traffic to warrant keeping it open. We will miss it. We have attended presentations and concerts there on a weekly basis since we arrived. We will miss our friends who have manned the center. The two couples from America that were serving there have been reassigned. Our two young sisters will go out to fulltime proselyting.  My Mikie and I and our friend, Sister Long, took the last temple grounds walk available with the young sisters this past week. We have loved these beautiful 29 acres of grounds surrounding the temple and now, we have a better vision of the landscaping, plants, trees, etc. Even if it's the dead of winter and the sun was not shining. It is still such a quiet, beautiful, peaceful spot.  Rain or Shine. 
     So....as I look back on 2017, I ponder my personal growth. Did I make a difference anywhere along the way? I think of my dearest companion. Did we live up to the Lord's expectations of us? I think of our dear, dear girls, their spouses, and our most precious grandchildren. We have five grandsons now holding the priesthood - Ethan, Kyson, Noah, Zane,  and now, Cash. Do they understand the magnificence of that? Probably not, but hopefully, with time, it will matter. We watch from a long distance as all our 22 grandkids grow up into their own person. Oh, we are proud of them! 
We feel humbled that we have such a precious family. We will expect lots of growth from all of them over there in sunny AZ. in 2018. We will continue to do our small part from this end. Come rain or shine. But seriously, go get a sunburn and think of me. That sounds wonderful.  

My Love,
Mom, Grandma, and/or Sister Seaman

The London Temple

     I may have mentioned this before, but I have wondered why, on earth, the London Temple site is where it is.  It is an hour's drive from London.  It is in a remote, rural area, made up of farms and tiny villages scattered around, that has not changed in centuries.  The people who visit this temple usually drive by car, bus, taxi or train to this site and arrive after a several hour trip.  The buses don't actually stop here anymore and the train station is about 5 miles from here.  So why here in Newcastle?
     I didn't know this, but the English people were encouraged to emigrate to the USA, particularly to the Salt Lake area, until the outbreak of the war in 1939. One of the major factors was that the saving ordinances of the temple were not available in England.  In 1945, then counselor in the First Presidency, David O McKay instructed the members to stay in England.  In 1952, President McKay announced that the church was searching for property in England for a temple.  The spot chosen by President McKay was a beautiful 29 acre site, which  had a large lily pond at the exact site of the temple building.  The architects tried to discourage the President McKay from building on this site, but he insisted.  It was later discovered that underneath the lily pond, at the depth of the foundation of the temple, was a natural shale platform.  The project engineer reportedly said, "You could build the city of London on that site."
    The lesson here, at least to me, is that this is where the Lord wanted his temple in London built, for whatever reason.  It is a most beautiful spot.
     After reading Kim's message above, I thought I might add a thought or two.  
     Last night, as I was just going to bed, sitting on the couch thinking, a thought came to me out of nowhere.  I remembered several occasions when I was a young boy, as my family was leaving my Grandpa John L Davis' home, to return to our home, he would stand out by the gate of his front yard and wave good-bye to us and cry. I have thought about that through the years and wondered why he cried.  He knew we just lived a couple of hours away.  And we came to see him and Grandma on a regular basis.  
     I might have realized it all along, but last night it came to me that he cried because he loved us.  And I mean really loved us. 
     I think what Kim is experiencing lately is all about love.  I know that she dearly loves her children and grandchildren.  She misses them.  I can see her standing at the gate waving goodbye to them and crying knowing full-well that she will see them again in the not to distant future.
    I am profoundly thankful for that kind of love.  It has made such a difference in my life and will in yours.

Sincerely,
Elder Seaman 

Christmas 2017 - Hever Castle Christmas light displays.

Christmas 2017 breakfast at the Wallace's Flat.  Sisters Leavitt and
Neilsen from Utah. Elder Palmer (far right) from Canada and Elder
Nuerndorf from Germany



Brother and Sister Walters, our dear English friends, invited us
to a traditional English Christmas dinner.

Christmas Eve 2017

Christmas Eve 2017

     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