Shropshire, England

We were told by John's sister...the genealogist...when we first came to England that there were family members born or living "somewhere" and could we find more out about them. After spending our first 10 months in London, I wasn't too successful. Following more research and digging around we found that they had owned land not too far north of us in Shropshire and I was anxious to see the area, because any virgin land either plowed or full of trees now was also that way 200 years ago!
So we drove up there; about 1 1/2hours from us. This first bridge is in Atcham where their 5th generation grandmother's birth was registered. I couldn't get a date off the bridge but it or another one may well have been right there! She was born just around a bend in the road in 1839. Eleven miles away is the first iron bridge built in 1799. I've been told people came for miles
to see it and I beleive some of them were John's relatives!

You can see our beautiful spring day...still cool enough for a light jacket or long sleeves anyway. The families then were farmers; as you can see the people round about still are. There are no shops, pubs or post offices between the next string of villages. Lots of sheep, cows and fresh air.

Here our car is situated by one of the village signs. At least we could tell where we were. John has always wondered WHO trims all these hedges throughout England's countryside? All are in a perfect straight line going on for miles.

We HAD to get this picture!

An old house and barn covered in vines. The one who owned the land called Pentrebach Estate was an 8th generation widowed grandmother who willed it to her children and grandchildren. I was snapping pictures of any old house I could find.

I believe this to be St. Mary's. It is on the road into and out of the town of Knockin. Here there actually was an inn and a post office (I am standing in the parking lot). All the photos and our drive was made from one winding road beginning at the brick bridge to here through areas called Alberbury, Melverly, Pentre, Edgerly and Knockin.

It's been easier getting the pictures taken than finding the records for people but boy do we have a bunch. Now we just have to find proof that they are all related...Plimley,Evans, Mansell, Stevens, Price, and several others. It's a huge puzzle.
John found this grave which I had walked right past. I thought the size was too large for farmers to afford at the time. But it has Thomas Mansell, wife Elizabeth and son Thomas. The men lived to be 70 years and the wife is 66. AMAZING to be half a world away and find family.

General Conference - Spring 09

Photo of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Twice a year our Church holds a General Conference that is televised, sent over the airwaves and can be seen on computer. It lasts several meetings over three days of the first weekends each April and October. It is a highlight for members (and many others) of the Church world-wide. We now have close to 13,500,000 members...most of whom watch either from home or at church.

The Mormon Tabernacle choir always sings on Sunday mornings....Heavenly!

Talks given by leaders of the Church are timely and cover topics as families, Temple attendance,
watching going into debt, keeping close to the spirit of the Holy Ghost, holding to the iron rod...all good advice.

This spring was wonderful. People fill the Conference Center in Salt Lake City to overfill. It holds
20,000 give or take. Comments from many people talked about the peace and answers they received leaving them with a feeling of comfort.

Conference talks can be watched on http://www.lds.org/ or http://www.byutv.org/ any time of the year. Come join in if you are interested during the year or in October.

Day By Day Time Just Flies By

Many have wondered what exactly it is that we're doing here in the mission field in the middle of England. Well, we started out in the offices in London which was very busy and exciting. Then in December we moved the offices up to the countryside near Shakespeare's hamlet. Our offices are now in Solihull. If you've been reading the blogs you saw all those green boxes? John and I unpacked all 80 of them plus more!

During the week we do office work: computers, powerpoints, training materials, posters, mailings, and organize small meetings. We are done between 5 and 7 pm most evenings and have the weekend's off, unless we are doing a training. Then we get to take a weekday off. So if we are training in Scotland, we get to take Monday off and see Scotland for three days...Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Training meetings take us to various parts of the UK and Ireland.

During this time of year we also supervise Mormon Helping Hands in all of the Europe Area that includes about 35 countries (see logo above). Unfortunately many won't do MHH this year while others have begun their training already. We shall see whether we get to do some photography or help sosmewhere on the continent. If we can go, we've already been invited to Denmark. We will keep you posted.The UK is in its fifth year of doing MHH. The above pictures were where we worked last year. It will generally fall on the last Saturday in June which this year is 27 June. The Saints here really dig in! Pun intended!!!

Another part of our job includes sitting on the London Key City Coucil that sponsors a Family Values Award every year. This year it was held in the Houses of Parliament and John and I were honored to attend. John wore his "photojournalist" hat and in taking pictures found them published in our church's weekly Church News with credits! That was exciting.


We are still working with Weathering The Storms of Life beginning in January. See blog posted earlier. It is great working with the Saints in Britain and Ireland...and we get to travel as an added bonus. It is very rewarding!

Marlene's fudge!

Our wonderful next door neighbor, Marlene Black, sent John a surprise treat this week...several pounds of her fabulous home-made fudge! Yummy!

Posting our Italy pics...so far so good!

We flew RyanAir into Pisa, toured the city, then the final night we returned and toured the Tower again. Here's our photo journal of the trip. (See the previous blog for more detail). First is Florence's Ponte Vecchio taken from the famed Uffizi Museum. Inspite of its natural beauty, local butchers would dump animal entrails into the Arno River! Years later, jewelers took over the bridge during the reign of the Medicis. Today it is still a place to buy beautify gold watches, necklaces, bracelets, pendants...what ever you want. We just enjoyed the beauty!Ludmila, our Russian/Italian friend, has been a member for 14 years. We're in the branch where our good friend's son, Rob Callister, served his mission recently. Everybody remembered him, too!
We told you there were lots of Santas...every day Christmas week!
Florence's famed Duomo from a hilltop outside the city.
John's favorite painting of the Transfiguration discovered in an obscure church in Florence.
We loved the beautiful, vibrant colors. A choir was getting ready for a Christmas program up front so no one objected to our photo op.

Ghiberti's golden Doors of Paradise at the Baptistry across from the Duomo.
Enjoying a great day of sun in Sienna!
Window shopping! Time for (herbal) tea or hot chocolate.
In St. Peter's Basilica "basement"...the famed tomb of the great apostle Peter. Swiss guards at the Vatican still watching over the Pope after all these years!
Bernini's last sculpture...a bust of Christ. Located in a small church along the Appian Way near the catacombs (1st and 2nd century Christians). No security! John was quickly making plans for it in our living room! Wouldn't you? Absolutely stunning!!!

I had been here 43 years ago...with my brother and some friends. I finally got my romantic kiss in the moonlight (from John, not a friendly Italian)!
Inside the Coliseum!

Inside the Vatican Museum on Christmas Eve Day...tour was 3 hours long! And every step magnificent! We're posed outside the Vatican Square on Christmas Eve Night...but we didn't hang around for the Pope at midnight mass!

OOPS...can't seem to delete it!
Pompeii ruins near Napoli. This is not a real person...just a cast of one who was caught in the cinders in 79 A.D. Residents didn't believe they were in danger...surprise!
Pompeii's excavation is now a huge area...their community was quite vast and more social than I ever imagined.
Swarovski crystals filled the dome in the outdoor shopping mall in Milan. It left us breathless!
Duomo, Milan...on New Year's Eve. It was COLD...even snowed that night. Yes, we think that's an angel on top!
The Flower Market in nice Nice, France...sunnier and warm. Our oldest son served part of his mission here years ago.
A much photographed hotel along the French Riviera.
Monte Carlo Casino, Monaco...at dusk..."the name is Bond...James Bond."
Monaco harbor where the mega rich gather for cocktails in the evening.
New Monaco train station...all underground. Best pizza! Found in an out of the way street in Pisa. John's second slice!
Gail and John the first hour in Pisa.
The final night in Pisa. Stayed nearby in a 400-year old inn.
Arrivederci!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles...err.. Taxis!

John had a long-time dream come true last year...timely, since his birthday falls shortly after the New Year. We were able to take a trip to Italy that was amazingly fun. I had traveled there 43 years ago with my brother and seen some parts of Italy but now to share it with my husband was a joy and a wonder to see it through his eyes. I will make another blog with lots of pictures to add to this...it will be mostly pictures and labels.

You may be wondering what kind of mission allows this kind of travel. Well, for one thing, we were called as Area Missionaries and are permitted to travel throughout our area which comprises 40+ countries. Since we were in transition with the move over the holidays, our Area Director said GO. She likes her missionaries to be able to see and bond with the countries and people we work with. In England, we get five "Bank Holidays" a year and everyone travels somewhere. So we plan for those. During one such long weekend last year we took a quick 4 day trip to Paris. Our work with Mormon Helping Hands will take us to parts yet unknown, mostly during the spring and summer. This is the first year we will cover the entire area as there was another couple in Germany helping and they have since gone home. Last year we covered three countries of the UK (England, Scotland, Wales) plus Ireland. Some parts we travel to and others we just conference with over the phone. It's remarkable how Father Time has preserved his history! Amazing to be a part of it! So many people, talents, reigns, wars and buildings...everywhere!!! I didn't realize until we arrived here that there were Roman ruins in the UK!

So first stop, Pisa. All John could say was, "Wow...it sure is leaning!," referring to the Leaning Tower. What is truly amazing is that the building hardly ever was standing upright and tilted nearly from its beginning!

Four glorious days in Florence. My personal favorite city! We both loved it. It helped being there during the holidays...Santas were everywhere...skating in the streets, motorbiking, and riding the merry go rounds (throwing candy to the children). Very Merry!!! There were crowds of people, who were buying a few things...but Florence was not NEARLY as commercial as in America which I like...less commercialism!

Our favorite day was Sunday. We attended a Branch (small congregation) where a friend's son had served...Robert Callister. They all knew him which made it fun! The spirit was really strong. One older sister, Ludmila, was from Russia and had been a member 14 years...we bonded instantly.

Sunday night there was a District-wide concert near the museum where the famous statue of David is housed, near the middle of town. Again...such a spirit. No outward decorations and just 20 singers...8 men and 12 women. They even signed for the deaf. The hall was packed to overflowing with standing room only. Two identical twin sisters sang in French or Swiss (a capella) and a couple of piano numbers that were primo! Several times throughout the evening audience members would shout out "Bravo!" and all would clap even louder!

At the end, the host gathered about 15 people (including John) to share in a foreign language "Merry Christmas to All and Happy New Year"! And, yes, they cheered after each one...about 15 different languages in all. John's version was in Portuguese.

It was wonderful! Then on to Roma...the Coliseum, Palatine Hill of the Roman Senate, the Sistine Chapel, Appian Way (catacombs of early Christians), and one pickpocket in town who unnerved John. Had his hotel key taken right from his velcro-shut pants pocket! And John never heard or felt it. He was ready after that! We went back to our hotel room to change our room key code. Do be careful when you travel. The best surprise of Rome was in the Appian Way. I remembered going there before, and when we finished one tour at some obscure church we discovered the art piece upstairs...Bernini's last sculpture...a beautiful bust of Christ. We almost missed it! It's large and magnificent but nobody paid much attention to it. To us it was like seeing the Mona Lisa!

Next stop...Naples. We saw Pompeii. We had the best and prettiest hotel room of the stay in the worst area! Go figure!!! It was roomy and warm and had a pretty good sized balcony which was too cold to use. There were street vendors all throughout the area and two guys working together did try to pick pocket John there, BUT he was ready this time. By contrast, with the street vendors in Florence we never felt unsafe. Theirs were mostly from Romania and spoke very good English AND they weren't pushy at all.

Pompeii was amazing. I never really cared whether I saw it in my travels; John was more excited about it. It wasn't on my radar screen BUT I was truly amazed how large it was and all they had built...a LONG TIME AGO! Another missionary ocuple had gone just before heading out on their mission and told us how much they liked it.

Milan was next. Much further north and therefore colder. It actually snowed on New Year's Day! Milan has a square with a large Duomo (cathedral) which reminds me of Temple Square...and the shopping area was mostly unchanged from 43 years ago...only updated by the quality of shops! This was the coldest hotel room. The manager got upset with his crazy Americans because no one else complained of cold rooms except us. We couldn't turn our radiators up. I simply refused to take a shower...and there were no tubs! The thing they had were down comforters in the wardrobes. So one night we burrowed under the quilts to watch "Mary Poppins" in Italian! We're spoiled living in England with all the news in our native language! I wished I'd remembered to take a picture of us; but I was really too cold to get the camera! We didn't get to see the Last Supper since it was booked up over the holidays. I had seen both it and the Sistine chapel before they were refurbished; but I had wished John could have seen it.

Then, because Venice was three feet under water (the tides had flooded, as they periodically do), we chose to go to Nice, France, on the French Riveria. Our son Brad had served part of his mission in Nice...so we felt close to home. It was a sunny day when we roamed through Nice and some people were actually swimming! I never took off my overcoat! BRRRRRRRR...so much for going south for the winter!

We ended up back in Pisa having only spent a couple of hours there at the beginning. We went back to see the Tower at night which was very pretty with lights on it. Great old hotel room on the river that had history for over 400 years as an inn. We only had one night there. And we found one of the best pizza places of the entire trip on the way back to the hotel along a back road...go figure. We sure find wonderful experiences in out of the way places!

What We've Been Up To This Year

Well, I am at a standstill, considering all the work done in January as well as the work coming at the end of February. Now, finally I get to catch everybody up on the details. We've been moving! We knew when we first arrived nearly a year ago that there would be a possibility of our moving northward...the entire office! We were told not to worry...that movers would do all the work. So I didn't worry. And, indeed, on January 5th, 8 hefty men came and cleared our offices of desks, and shelves and everything in the shelves in about 4 hours time! I thought it would take days! What I didn't plan on was the unpacking!!! There were four of us in the London office, but only two of us moved with the office...so it was just John and myself. Moving disrupts everything so, and I like to feel "up" about it. I ended up being sick the only time in a year; I had the flu or some stomach upset for 24 hours the day before, so I was very happy for the movers.

These are the infamous shelves reassembled in Solihull...


We were assured and again told not to worry, the movers were very capable of putting the shelves back together. Now these shelves are 14 feet long by 10 feet high and there were two of them that size. The interesting part is the crew who took it apart were not the ones to put them together and there were no instructions or pictures. In fact, they took every screw and hinge and threw it into a trash basket for safe keeping. Do you know how much hardware that is to unscramble? I decided right then that that is how life is...like a puzzle. No particular instructions on how to live...except for the scriptures and personal revelation.

Well, it finally took three different crews to get our shelves back up. They kept trying to rework them and would put the shelves in upside down and wrongways, etc. The first two crews complained and fussed a little amongst themselves. Till finally two men came and worked three days and so the shelves look normal and beautiful once again. The two kept positive at each turn and challenge...another lesson...there is a way to fix it...put your heads together and work it out! We couldn't unpack our over 80 packing bins till the shelves were in...and then the day came where we could move forward. I quietly laughed at how we'd been called to this mission...because we have moved so often as most of you know...I've am still in the process of learning to be flexible.

It took more than 80 of these bins and a few boxes to store all the materials and files...this was the view from the hall...John's and my office is in the back with the light on...

I couldn't even participate in our last move from California to Utah. But MANY of you did! This year I thought fondly of those who helped PHYSICALLY packing boxes and TRUCKS and CARS at one end and.or unpacking at the other. (This time, in England, was our turn and we learned much from your example!!!) It seemed very crazy making the move at the time to Utah, but it was the right move to make as we had to vacate our California home to put it on the market and thankfully it sold before the financial crunch. THANK YOU ALL, you're angels!

I was pleased that John and I worked so well together unpacking all the materials and restocking the shelves...It took a week and things are looking great. It even turned out to be fun!