Our flat is located in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is quite a modern building, compared to so many of the old, character-filled buildings in England:
Both Kensington and Chelsea date back to Saxon times, with the name Kensington thought to be derived from "Chenesi's Tun", [tun being Anglo-Saxon for homestead or village]. Royalty did not arrive until 1689 when William III moved into Kensington Palace, an event that acted as a springboard for the area's development. Kensington Palace further secured its place in royal history when the future Queen Victoria was born there on 24 May 1819.
Henry VIII acquired the manor of Chelsea in 1536 and Queen Elizabeth I lived there for a time. Kensington Palace is where Princess Diana had apartments and where her sons also live part-time.
By the 1830s Chelsea was part of London. Kensington rural atmosphere changed in 1851, the year of the Great Exhibition. Following this the area was developed as a centre for institutions dedicated to the arts and sciences, including the now-famous Natural History and Victoria and Albert Museums [next door to both is the Hyde Park Chapel building where we serve, built in 1960-61].
Notting Hill, an area made famous on film, lies north of Kensington and Chelsea, and is another pricey place to live. It is also the home of both the street market in Portobello Road and the largest carnival in Europe.
The Baden Powel House, on the corner of Queen's Gate and Cromwell Road, is of course named after the famous military man who was the "father of the Boy Scouts" organization. The Baden Powel House serves as hostel, hotel, and convention centre.
The Borough is home to other well known sights, museums, shops [High Street Kensington, Knightsbridge, King's Road and Sloane Square], such as Holland and Hyde Parks, Prince Albert Royal Hall, the Royal Hospital [for veterans] where the Chelsea Flower Show is held each May, and Earl's Court, where Olympics' volleyball will be held in 2012.
This week in the office was not so busy. We are enjoying have another senior missionary couple's help on Tuesday and Thursday. We are gradually getting on top of things as related to flats and vehicles. We will swap out three mission cars this coming week for new cars. The Church policy is to replace the cars at about the 60,000 miles mark.
We sometimes get requests for letters from former ELM missionaries about their time in the mission, for education-related recommendatons and other such needs. This week a call came from Germany. The bishop of the Esslingen Ward, just outside of Stuttgart, called to get a letter to help him clear up something about his drivers' license. He was a missionary 20 years ago in this mission. Sister Hawley told him that I served a mission to southern Germany and he immediately wanted to talk to me. We had a good chat and discovered that we know several people in common, as 45 years ago I was a missionary in Esslingen. I tracked out a man and his wife and two small boys who later were baptized sometime after I was out of the mission. Brother Madrejefski and his wife visited me in Orem some 20 years ago. His two little boys grew up and both served missions in Germany. This bishop from Esslingen knew one of the sons and we made some good connections, one also with the Jedamschec Brothers who were still in Esslingen and were strong members of the Church. The world of Mormondom is so very small. We have some very strong missionaries from Germany serving here in England. This has brought back a few memories from so very long ago.
Sister Hawley is fighting a good head cold and we are hoping for her to get over it soon and not pass it along. Elder Hawley is fighting the effects of arthritis and is finding it hard to get going in the mornings and also to walk or stand for very long periods. Oh, the joys of growing older, since we are required to sign up for Medicare this summer. I never thought I would get so old . . . to be required to sign up for Medicare. We are looking forward to spring and summer and are planning to get to see some of the sights in and out of London. the high the other day was 45 degrees and the lows are in the mid to high 30's, so winter must be waining. Most days in London are cloudy and we are happy to see the sun now and again. It never really rains hard in London, but it drizzles a lot, most days for the last two weeks. We saw a program on the TV the other day that described parts of the United States and we remembered all of the good things about home and suffered a little nostalgia. Elder and Sister Watts and Elder and Sister Scott both returned home this past week. This also got us thinking about home, which is not good for us. Sister Hawley prepares all of the travel plans for the returning missionaries and so she gets to think about this type of thing regularly. The difference is that she loves London and I tolerate it as a big, noisy metropolitan city.
This week we met Elder Joe Worthlin and his wife. He is the son of Elder Joseph B. Worthlin who recently passed away. He is over all of the physical facilities in Europe and is based in Frankfort, Germany. He was here to discuss and review plans for a remodel of the Hyde Park Chapel building. We has a short moment with them alone when they first arrived. They are very nice, warm and welcoming type of people.
We are reminded of the need for the gospel in lives of the people of the earth as we see all of the faces and lack of happiness all around. People trying to get ahead and seeking the worldly things and not knowing who they are and what they should be doing . . . the important matters. I noted that the Pope recently spoke about there really being "right and wrong". The world is in trouble if they do not accept that right and wrong exists. This is humanism which is the philosophy of our day. The missionaries are great and find many people so prepared by the Lord to hear their message. The other day the APs taught a young lady for the first time and she said, "What is this that I am feeling? I know what you are telling is the truth." Such is the power and effects of the Holy Ghost. If she pursues it and stays true, she will accept the message and be baptized and follow Christ the rest of her life. This evening, Sunday, there was a fireside at the Chapel for the young adults of the area. There were over 250 present. Strong young people in the gospel. It is a problem for them to find spouses to marry in the temple. So these activities are crucial for the future of the Church in this area, as the hope is that they will find a mate, marry in the temple and start gospel families to build the Church here. Elder and Sister Little, our YSA missionary couple, work very hard and are very dedicated to these kids.
Love to All. We miss you and are rapidly coming up on having served for eight months.
This week in the office was not so busy. We are enjoying have another senior missionary couple's help on Tuesday and Thursday. We are gradually getting on top of things as related to flats and vehicles. We will swap out three mission cars this coming week for new cars. The Church policy is to replace the cars at about the 60,000 miles mark.
We sometimes get requests for letters from former ELM missionaries about their time in the mission, for education-related recommendatons and other such needs. This week a call came from Germany. The bishop of the Esslingen Ward, just outside of Stuttgart, called to get a letter to help him clear up something about his drivers' license. He was a missionary 20 years ago in this mission. Sister Hawley told him that I served a mission to southern Germany and he immediately wanted to talk to me. We had a good chat and discovered that we know several people in common, as 45 years ago I was a missionary in Esslingen. I tracked out a man and his wife and two small boys who later were baptized sometime after I was out of the mission. Brother Madrejefski and his wife visited me in Orem some 20 years ago. His two little boys grew up and both served missions in Germany. This bishop from Esslingen knew one of the sons and we made some good connections, one also with the Jedamschec Brothers who were still in Esslingen and were strong members of the Church. The world of Mormondom is so very small. We have some very strong missionaries from Germany serving here in England. This has brought back a few memories from so very long ago.
Sister Hawley is fighting a good head cold and we are hoping for her to get over it soon and not pass it along. Elder Hawley is fighting the effects of arthritis and is finding it hard to get going in the mornings and also to walk or stand for very long periods. Oh, the joys of growing older, since we are required to sign up for Medicare this summer. I never thought I would get so old . . . to be required to sign up for Medicare. We are looking forward to spring and summer and are planning to get to see some of the sights in and out of London. the high the other day was 45 degrees and the lows are in the mid to high 30's, so winter must be waining. Most days in London are cloudy and we are happy to see the sun now and again. It never really rains hard in London, but it drizzles a lot, most days for the last two weeks. We saw a program on the TV the other day that described parts of the United States and we remembered all of the good things about home and suffered a little nostalgia. Elder and Sister Watts and Elder and Sister Scott both returned home this past week. This also got us thinking about home, which is not good for us. Sister Hawley prepares all of the travel plans for the returning missionaries and so she gets to think about this type of thing regularly. The difference is that she loves London and I tolerate it as a big, noisy metropolitan city.
This week we met Elder Joe Worthlin and his wife. He is the son of Elder Joseph B. Worthlin who recently passed away. He is over all of the physical facilities in Europe and is based in Frankfort, Germany. He was here to discuss and review plans for a remodel of the Hyde Park Chapel building. We has a short moment with them alone when they first arrived. They are very nice, warm and welcoming type of people.
We are reminded of the need for the gospel in lives of the people of the earth as we see all of the faces and lack of happiness all around. People trying to get ahead and seeking the worldly things and not knowing who they are and what they should be doing . . . the important matters. I noted that the Pope recently spoke about there really being "right and wrong". The world is in trouble if they do not accept that right and wrong exists. This is humanism which is the philosophy of our day. The missionaries are great and find many people so prepared by the Lord to hear their message. The other day the APs taught a young lady for the first time and she said, "What is this that I am feeling? I know what you are telling is the truth." Such is the power and effects of the Holy Ghost. If she pursues it and stays true, she will accept the message and be baptized and follow Christ the rest of her life. This evening, Sunday, there was a fireside at the Chapel for the young adults of the area. There were over 250 present. Strong young people in the gospel. It is a problem for them to find spouses to marry in the temple. So these activities are crucial for the future of the Church in this area, as the hope is that they will find a mate, marry in the temple and start gospel families to build the Church here. Elder and Sister Little, our YSA missionary couple, work very hard and are very dedicated to these kids.
Love to All. We miss you and are rapidly coming up on having served for eight months.
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