December

December has been a slow month at the employment centre; the same is true for the family history centre and the visitors' centre. Londoners celebrate Christmas beginning the first of November and, since there is no pause for Thanksgiving, it continues until the new year. Many Brits leave the city or even the country for a couple of weeks during the holidays and it seems to us that for every one that leaves, two tourists come from Europe to spend Christmas here! We've used the slow time at the centre to outline our tasks and duties for the new year: whom we need to see in which stakes and what we need to do to serve them. Since we have stakes in both the London Mission and the London South Mission, and our responsibilities differ in the various stakes according as which mission they are in and whether they are close to London, this planning has helped us organize ourselves.

Even though it has been slow, we have been of help to several who have come in. Though employment concerns bring them in, we often find out that other concerns are even more important, and we end up being sounding boards and even advisors. One sister who has been inactive for several years has made some changes, just based on Kaye's encouragement to pray, read the scriptures, and attend church. When we saw her at the chapel one Sunday, she seemed so much more happy and hopeful and reported that she had prayed and read the Book of Mormon, and that day's Relief Society Lesson was exactly what she needed to hear. As we parted, she said, "This is a magical place!" These are some of the benefits of serving a mission.

Another time, two young people from the St Albans Stake came in for employment help. He is not a member but has been coming to the YSA activities. During our conversation, Lynn asked him if he had a copy of the Book of Mormon. He said no, but his roommate (a member) has an old set he could use. We told him it was OK to have his own and when he left, he took a copy from the stack we have on the desk. He also told us it was well worth the trip to come to the centre.

The Sunday before Christmas, we went to the "live nativity" presentation at the visitors' centre, performed by the Primary children and narrated by missionaries, with lots of carols sung by the audience. As we entered, we were given a little slip of paper that said, "This year my gift to the Savior will be _______." We filled in a gift and put the slip of paper into a decorated box. At the end of the nativity enactment, the wise men brought their gifts to Mary and Joseph and the Christ Child, one by one, to the accompaniment of the missionaries singing "We Three Kings." Then another child entered and walked slowly to the Christ Child, carrying the box containing our slips of paper! It was very personal and touching as she set the box beside the gold, frankincense and myrrh. It made our gift very real.

Another thing that helped bring the Christmas spirit to us was planning for and purchasing gifts for a young sister from Hong Kong serving a mission here. Our granddaughter Sarah helped teach her the gospel on her mission and was present at her baptism; a year later, this sweet sister was serving her own mission in London. This sister has no family support and had received no gifts. Purchasing gifts for her from our daughter, our granddaughter, and ourselves brought us a lot of joy.

We had a nice dinner for the senior missionaries at President and Sister Jordan's flat and then attended "Carols by Candlelight" at Royal Albert Hall. Christmas morning we got to help cook breakfast for the young missionaries. We were invited for Christmas dinner by our neighbors, a missionary couple from England. It was a proper British Christmas dinner and was delicious and beautiful!

Christmas breakfast with the missionaries

The setting for our British Christmas dinner

Here is a picture of our Christmas Tree and our Christmas cards arranged on one of our clothes drying racks. Thank you for the cards! They meant a lot to us.

The best part of Christmas for us was Skyping with our children and grandchildren.

When Nelson Mandella died, there was a great outpouring of honor here in London because of the close ties over the years between England and South Africa. It was interesting to be here watching the BBC as they interviewed people who had known him. As you know, he was imprisoned for 27 years because of his efforts to gain rights for the blacks in South Africa. When he was released, his dignity and goodness enabled him to work with the government of South Africa to overcome apartheid and, later, to become the nations' first black president. In one interview, his daughter quoted him as saying that if he had not been able to forgive those who had imprisoned him, he would not have had spiritual freedom, even if he did have physical freedom. The next p-day after his passing, we visited the statue of him in Parliament Square. It was entirely surrounded with flowers and other remembrances and there was a South African flag draped over his arm. We then walked to Trafalgar Square, where across the street, at the South Africa House, there were more flags, flowers, and tributes to Mandella.

 

One p-day in December, we visited Windsor Castle, which dates from the time of William the Conqueror. It is still used as a residence and as a place to entertain foreign visitors, making it the oldest "working" castle in the world. It has been the home of 39 monarchs. It is said to be Queen Elizabeth's favorite residence and she often goes there on weekends. It is large, beautiful, and opulent beyond belief. The pictures show the entrance to the castle, a view of one of the quadrangles, the chapel of St. George, and a few of the residences for servants and clergy, guarded by one of the queen's own guards. It is impossible to get any idea of its grandeur by taking snapshots.

On another p-day, we visited the Dickens Museum in London, which is in a house that he and his family occupied around 1840. He wrote Oliver Twist and Nicholas Nickleby while living there and two of his ten children were born there. He had a very difficult youth and modeled some of his characters after his own experiences, though this was not revealed until after his death. Here is the entry but we didn't get the whole building, which is four stories high.

To see how London celebrates New Year's Eve, google "London new year fireworks" and watch the video. You've never seen fireworks like these! At midnight, we were watching on TV but earlier in the evening we went to a senior missionary party with four other couples in one of their apartments in Watford, just north of London, and had a wonderful time eating and visiting.