Blazing New Territory

Traveling through the countryside of Southern England is a treat.  The pastures and farmlands are surrounded by well-trimmed hedges and beautiful but sometimes unfamiliar flowers.  I love the small quaint villages we pass through.   Noticeably absent are the flashy and obnoxious billboards so prevalent in the United States.  Outdoor advertising is carefully controlled, and even in the cities the signs are rather small and unobtrusive. 

Because of government regulations, we can’t put up billboards or erect signs inviting people to the London Temple Visitors’ Centre.  As a result, most people are unaware of its existence.   Consequently, we are working with Salt Lake to put a Visitors’ Welcome sign at the temple gate, and we have made a formal request of the Surrey County Council to approve some directional “brown signs” to guide motorists to the temple grounds.   We’ll let you know what happens in a future blog.

In the meantime, we have had some success in placing articles about the Centre in local newspapers, most notably in local Mantra Magazines (circulation 70,000) and in the East Grinstead Courier and Observer.  The Courier carried a brief article and picture about the Visitors’ Centre two weeks ago, then last week published an amazing, full-sized, accurate article on the Church and the history of the temple.  The Church has had some biased negative coverage lately from the sensational London press, so this article was refreshing and much appreciated.  In fact, it was even picked up in the Mormon Times section of the Deseret News.  You can find the articles in the following links: 


http://www.thisissussex.co.uk/Mormons-temple-place-special-events/story-15791343-detail/story.html


http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865554019/Odds-and-Ends-Temples-and-the-Osmonds-in-England-temple-in-Conn.html

When we were called to direct the Visitors’ Centre in January, it changed from being managed by the England London South Mission to being supervised by the Church Missionary Department in Salt Lake City, which oversees all 16 visitors’ centers and also historic sites operated by the Church.  We were asked to promote the Centre in ways not previously attempted and have had to be creative and use our own best judgment in attempting to blaze new territory.   At times it has felt overwhelming to work in uncharted territory in a foreign country where we don’t know the ropes, but we are learning.  We are now working to invite teachers in the area to bring their students to the Centre to learn about the Church as part of their curriculum in religious education.  We have established a Sunday fireside series, planned Monday night activities at the Centre, and now have a Facebook page.  We travel to a new ward each Sunday to speak in meetings and encourage members to bring their friends to the Centre to learn about the Church.  An added blessing is that this gives us the opportunity to travel throughout southern England.

We enjoy welcoming people to the Visitors’ Centre and getting to know them – members and non-members.   I love to stand next to The Christus and testify of Jesus Christ and the atonement.  We have excellent exhibits on The Book of Mormon, the temple, the current apostles, and the family.  We have more than 60 different films to show in our 60-seat theatre.  There is much you can learn in a visitors’ center.

The best thing about our London Temple Visitors’ Centre, and the most powerful tool we have to bring people to Christ, is our sister missionaries.  We’d rather watch them teach than teach ourselves.  They do a better job – they are just terrific, and we love them.   Most investigators who now come to the Centre are brought by the missionaries or by members of the Church.  We have found that investigators taught at the Centre on the temple grounds feel the strength of the Church and the influence of the temple.  They take the lessons more seriously, and they are more likely to keep commitments.  ~Don~

Sisters Burrows, Corbett, Jones, Cabrera, Barber and Maughan

  

On The Street Where We Live

It's been awhile now since we moved into our amazingly wonderful flat in the Lodge, but we are not taking it for granted. We are soooo happy to be here!!

This is what the Lodge looks like now, in April.
Our flat is on the top floor on the left.   So  nice!

You might remember that we spent the first month of our mission in a rented house in Ardingly, about 20 minutes south of Newchapel, where the London temple is. It was a great blessing to live there, but a difficult commute in to the temple grounds early every morning and late every night. It is really dark in the winter, at night, on the foggy, icy, winding, narrow roads of southern England. 

This was our commute from Ardingly to the temple grounds.
Well, it didn't look like this for very long, but even without the snow
it was a crazy adventure for two senior Americans learning how to drive
on the left side (not wrong) of the road!  Thank heaven the British
are really respectful on the roads. Only got honked at once
during all our trips back and forth to Ardingly....

We got word on Friday, February 17th, that there was a two bedroom flat (apartment) available for us in the Lodge on the temple property. We were surprised and grateful! Since we didn't have time to write about it earlier, here's a little photo journal essay of what has happened in the past two months:

The Lodge - about a week before we moved in.

It was a great day when our shipment of belongings arrived from the U.S.
We hadn't seen our stuff since it was packed and shipped (slow boat) from Draper
two months earlier, on December 16th.  Thankfully, it all arrived a week before
we moved into the Lodge. 

Don was happy to help the movers unload the truck :)

With the help of a few do-it-yourself bookshelves, a couple of trips to Tesco, Costco, and the local mall, along with some furniture from a mail-order catalog, we got our flat whipped into shape.

View from our living room (called a "lounge") to the kitchen

Living room/dining room area

Moving into our sunny kitchen!

The view from our flat. The Visitor's Centre is on the left, London Temple on the right.
At night, it's even prettier when everything is lighted.  Some mornings, though,
when we wake up, it is so foggy we can't even see the temple at all.

We are quite content to have our "home" just across the parking lot from the Visitors' Centre and the London Temple. We still pinch ourselves every once in awhile to see if it's really true.

Living Room/Dining Room

The finished kitchen

A view of the Lodge from the east side of  the Visitors' Centre.

Planes overhead on approach to Gatwick at all times of the day and night.
I don't mind a bit. It reminds me of growing up near LAX.
Interesting that we lived right under the flight pattern in Washington, D.C., too.

Now that it's spring, we love watching all the changes to the landscape of the temple grounds.

The Manor House on the temple grounds - built before the Church purchased
the property 60 years ago. It is also used for housing.

We're so glad that Spring has arrived on the temple grounds!

Our home away from home.

Thoughts from the Visitors' Centre on Good Friday

Two experiences we have had in the Visitors’ Centre this week have made me stop and ponder what is really important and how I should be spending my time.

First, we met Bayo, from Nigeria. Bayo joined the church 14 years ago when, as a reporter, he was asked to write a story from a press release he had been assigned about a large conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that was going to be held in his city. After writing the article, something kept telling him that he should go to the conference and see what it was all about. When he went, he had a spiritual witness that what he was hearing was true. After investigating the church and being taught, he joined. He is now in a Branch Presidency in his hometown in Nigeria.

Bayo’s Elders Quorum was having a temple day together while he had to be on a business trip to London, so he found a way to “join” them while in London by traveling an hour south on a train to attend the London Temple for the first time. We met him and got to know him in the Visitors’ Centre. What a sweet man. Since he didn’t have a camera, he asked if we would take his picture by the temple and email it to him. Of course! A simple kindness that only took a minute or two, then we emailed the photos to him later in the day.

The next morning, we received this email response from him:
            Dear Elder and Sister Carpenter,
            Words cannot express adequately enough how grateful I am in
            your selfless effort to help me capture in pictures the memories of
            my experience at the London Temple and sending same to my
            email. I forwarded the pictures home to my wife and 3 kids and the
            joy they expressed was spiritually electrifying. This couldn't have
            been but for your love and kindness. May Heavenly Father meet
            you always at the point of your needs.  Thank you.
            Brother Bayo O.

Oh, that we could all be that gracious and humble. The world would be a different place….

The second experience was on Tuesday morning this week, when a group of Primary children and their leaders and moms came to the Visitors’ Centre. They had gotten up early, dressed in their Sunday best, and traveled an hour and a half in a car caravan to spend some time on the temple grounds. They were on their very best behavior.  Fortunately, it was a beautiful, warm day and the temple grounds were in their Spring glory.  The one remaining little white duck on the grounds was happy to see them. So were we.

Their first stop was the Visitors’ Centre.   They came in and enjoyed running around to our different kiosks to see what videos and pictures each had to offer.  After they got their fill, their Primary president brought them all together and sat them down quietly on the benches, facing the Christus.  The president asked one little girl of about 7 to give an opening prayer. Her prayer was a simple, heartfelt expression of everything she could think of for which she is grateful to Heavenly Father. Nothing more. Two of our sister missionaries talked to the children and asked them questions about Easter and what they knew about Jesus. They had thoughtful answers. Then, the sisters played the beautiful two minute recorded narration of the words of our Savior to us. As I watched the faces of those little children as they looked up at the statue of the Savior and listened so intently to his words, it brought tears to my eyes. These were not doubting children. They were children who lived with him not so long ago, and they recognized his voice. They were children of simple faith.

We often have the opportunity to watch as little children interact with the statue of Jesus Christ. The babies and the little toddlers are the ones I love to watch. Yes, it’s only a statue of someone’s interpretation of the Savior, but it is amazing how often little children stop whatever they’re doing and look at the Savior and listen to his words with complete attention and reverence. Many of them gaze into his face intently for a long, quiet time. Often children go up to the statue to touch it and wrap their arms around it. I always wonder if there is something familiar in what they see or hear that they recall from before they came to earth.

On this Easter weekend, I express my heartfelt gratitude for the life and mission and death and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He spent every part of his life showing us the path and providing the way for us - all of us who have ever lived on the earth - to return to live with God again after this life. Through his magnificent, personal atonement for each one of us, he gained an understanding of everything we have ever suffered or ever will suffer on earth. He is always there to help us through our pain and sorrow and inadequacies and disabilities because he already took them upon himself. He has been there before.

Elder Holland once said, "Considering the incomprehensible cost of the Crucifixion, Christ is not going to turn his back on us now." All he asks of us is to come unto him with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, with full purpose of heart.

Only days after his death and resurrection, Christ told the Nephites (and all who would listen):

      “Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto
me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of
mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will
come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who
come unto me.

      Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I
created the heavens and the earth, and all things that
in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning.
I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me
hath the Father glorified his name.

      I am the light and the life of the world. I am Alpha 

and Omega, the beginning and the end.

      And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken
heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me
with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I
baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost….

     Behold, I have come unto the world to bring
redemption unto the world, to save the world from sin.

     Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me
as a little child, him will I receive, for of such is the
kingdom of God. Behold, for such I have laid down
my life, and have taken it up again; therefore repent,
and come unto me ye ends of the earth, and be saved.”   
                                   III Nephi 9: 14-15,18,20-22

He has extended his arms to us with an invitation to come unto him. He is waiting for us.
                                                                   
                                                                           ~Pat~

General Conference: London Style

      What a joy General Conference is! I've been looking forward to it for weeks. Time to recharge my spiritual batteries. Time for the healing words of modern-day prophets on pertinent issues - in real time.  And no matter where in the world we are, if we have Internet access, we have General Conference. I'm not taking that for granted.

Our experience the last two days has really made me appreciate how easy we have it in Utah, though. Pajamas, a bowl of trail mix (or Skittles), and a TV. That's all we need in Utah. Washington, D.C. proved a little more difficult, but we just hooked up the computer to an LCD projector and watched it on the "big screen" (wall) of our townhouse two hours later than usual. Not too hard. Not so in Europe.

Because of the seven hour time difference, the first session of General Conference is broadcast here from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m Saturday evening. The second session is from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.  Priesthood is from 1 a.m. - 3 a.m. Sunday morning, but is shown Sunday morning at 10 a.m. at local stake centers. A little more challenging.

Thanks to our laptop, Don and I could watch Conference in our "flat," but our sister missionaries don't have access to computers except for brief email privileges on P-Day (Preparation Day), which is Monday. In addition, the stake centre is quite a trek, so we decided to show Conference in the Visitors' Centre theatre. It turned out to be a great idea, albeit challenging.

London Temple Visitors' Centre
The flowers are sure beautiful right now!

We broadcast the morning sessions of General Conference at 5 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. Without any publicity, we had about 25 people show up to watch Conference with us, including several who are investigating the church. I found it impressive that all of them came, both Saturday and Sunday, dressed in suits and ties (for the men) and dresses and skirts (women). Nothing sloppy about that. Everyone showed great respect and reverence. It was a wonderful experience, though our Internet access was a little temperamental. We never lost the sound, but the picture faded in and out every twenty minutes or so. Just enough to annoy us :)

Joining with the Conference Center to sing a hymn
halfway through the Saturday morning session

 The Visitors' Centre closes at 9 p.m., so Don and I went home and watched the afternoon sessions between 9 and 11 p.m. on a laptop in our own flat.

Watching Conference in the living room of our flat in "The Lodge"

After looking forward to the coming of Conference for several weeks, it's always sad when it's finally over. So much to contemplate and put to use in my life. Isn't it great that it's already available on the Internet???       http://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2012/04?lang=eng    It is a privilege and a blessing to be taught by prophets and apostles who hold all the keys of the Priesthood and who are special witnesses of Jesus Christ in our day.   I have plans to reread several talks that I felt had messages just for me. Only a few years ago I would have had to wait at least a month for the printed copies to come out in The Ensign. What a joy it is that General Conference is now available no matter where we are - any time, day or night!                                             ~Pat~

PHEW!

It'll be two months on Sunday since the last time we wrote anything on our weekly blog. Our cold, wet winter has blossomed into a glorious spring already. The forsythia and the heather are in bloom. Daffodils have exploded everywhere. In England, huge clumps of daffodils are planted in lawns all over the countryside. The combined view of green grass and yellow flowers is stunning. What a brilliant idea! When the daffodils have finished blooming during the spring, the first mowing of the lawn levels them until next year.

To be honest, we've thought about our blog nearly every day that we've been here, but writing between midnight and 6 a.m. was about our only option until today. Somehow, we just didn't have the energy to do that, but we're determined to turn over a new leaf! We'll write shorter posts, but we will write. So many stories to tell and photos to share....

It has been astonishing - and exciting - to learn how much work it takes to launch a Visitors' Center for the Church. To be fair, it has also been astonishing to learn how much work it is to move from one country to another. It's been quite a ride. Both the launching and the moving have been equally demanding of our time, but now that we are finally settled, we are having the time of our lives.

We hope that we've finally crested the learning curve about how to survive in England, including:

• driving through endless roundabouts on the left side of the road from the right side of the car's front seat
• taking trains into London 
• setting up internet access, cell phones, and international communication with our family
• finding housing
• learning where to shop for what we need (thank heaven for Tesco, Costco, Staples and Ikea - but that's just the beginning!)
• putting together an entire household with furniture, kitchenware, bedding, etc.
• finding our way in and out of the villages around southern England
• dealing with insurance in two countries
• establishing a "surgery" (medical clinic) with new doctors (we haven't even dealt with dentists yet...)
• banking - which may be a whole separate blog in the future. What.a.challenge.
• figuring out substitute products for things we're used to using in the states
• haircuts - my personal nightmare on both missions. (Don still has the same barber - me.)
• measurements - miles/kilometers, dollars/pounds, fahrenheit/centigrade, grams/ounces
• and more....

Not surprisingly, our learning curve with our Visitors' Centre duties has been just as steep. I'm fairly certain we haven't reached the crest of the curve yet:

• Meeting everyone living on the temple grounds and figuring out what they are responsible for and how we work together. We love them all! (London Temple presidency, temple recorders, temple missionaries, engineers, London South Mission Office staff, Accommodation Centre staff, and more)
• Working with our Visitors' Centre sister missionaries - establishing schedules, teaching visitors who come to the Centre, training meetings, learning procedures and policies, as well as getting acquainted with the kiosks, exhibits and movies that we use.
• Working with the Missionary Department and Exhibits Department in Salt Lake City
• Becoming familiar with monthly reporting forms
• Building a program of Sunday night firesides and Monday night activities at the Visitors' Centre and working to make them successful
• Establishing a communication network to get the word out about all our activities - and learning proper British spelling and terms for our flyers (called leaflets), such as "programme," "honour," and "centre" 
• Meeting and working with stake presidencies, bishops, and Public Affairs councils in the area.
• Working with local media to introduce them to the idea of coming to visit the temple grounds
• Working with local government to create directional road signs to the temple and Visitors' Centre

O.K., you get the idea. You can see where our blog-writing time has gone. Phew! It has been a challenging, stressful, sometimes discouraging, but completely rewarding experience that we would do all over again in a heartbeat. To quote the British, we have been absolutely shattered (exhausted, worn out), but it has been a brilliant (dazzling, fabulous) opportunity, and we feel extremely blessed to be here. We are learning new things every day and beginning to see many successes. Things are getting easier - that is, until some new challenge pops up (daily!).

We have so much more to tell you. Stay tuned. We'll be right back.                     ~Pat~

A Whole New World

     Well, we're learning the lay of the land - grocery land, that is. We've tried Waitrose and Sainsburys and Co-op and Tesco. They all have their own versions of interesting new foods. It's an educational experience just to wander up and down the aisles to see what's for sale. We've noticed a few things already.

1. London is a melting pot and you can find almost every kind of food here. Interestingly, curry is the most popular dish in England.
2. If you're looking for a restaurant, check out the local pub. They are everywhere and the food is usually very good. Pubs serve standard British fare and a variety of ethnic dishes also.
3. If you're looking for meat, cheese and potatoes, this is the place.
4. If you're looking for a big variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, this is also the place

     This blog isn't going to do the subject justice because I feel rather clandestine walking around a crowded grocery store snapping photos, but here are a few of the new foods we've encountered since we've been here:

Squash - a very popular drink in many countries, including England.
It's basically a fruit juice and sugar concentrate that can be mixed
with water, club soda, and a number of strong drinks....

As opposed to ???

Huh?

One of our family's favorite concoctions. You can never
have enough Nutella :)

A British breakfast staple - kind of like shredded wheat but more
hearty, healthy, and versatile. You can eat it as cereal, hot or cold,
or toast it and serve with cheese or jam.

The most popular dish detergent.

We are in heaven! A whole store aisle of the best yogurt
this side of Switzerland.

Lots and lots and LOTS of different kinds of cheeses - common,
exotic, and downright strange. These are just a few.

Couldn't even begin to describe the variety of meats...

British pasties (pronounced "past - y") are hot meat pies in a 

light, crispy pastry. On Monday mornings when we have a few hours off, 

we head for our village bakery to try a new flavor. They are divine! 

This one's for you, Colin! Scotch eggs have become a favorite Christmas tradition
at our house, thanks to our son-in-law. I was amazed to find Scotch Eggs in the
frozen food  section in grocery stores here. They're delicious with white sauce.
Looking forward to Christmas already, though I think we'll make our own.
I'm not so sure about frozen eggs....

Yup, that's ham.

Some things need no translation.

A favorite from Clog America tours in Europe, they're a popular biscuit/cooky.

Brits love their "chips" (french fries).
Another entire aisle - in the frozen food section.

One tired and hungry shopper outside the British equivalent of Walmart.