Elder Hawley had been to several Hyde Park building meetings representing the mission. The building is to have some renovations to be finished by the 2012 Olympics which are to be held in London. Part of the renovation is a major change to the entrance to the building, with a new stairway from the front walk and the addition of a Statue of the Christus in the immediate entryway.
In the main large hallway has been a visitor's panorama which was in the NY City World's Fair (I think circa 1963-64--see the picture, above right. This panorama is well known to Mormons and was a gift to the Hyde Park Chapel when it was finished in the early 1960's. The mural will be removed and taken to the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City. In it's place will be a modern, interactive Media/TV panorama using the latest technology. Other enhancements are to be made, but the building will function and operate the same. Of note, it will have air-conditioning installed for the first time.
This past Tuesday morning we played hooky, with the President's approval, and went to see Westminster Abbey. This is the place where all of the kings and queens of England have been crowned, beginning with William the Conqueror in 1066. The current Queen Elizabeth II was crowned there in 1953.
It is a working abbey of the Church of England, but is mostly a memorial to famous and wealthy people who are buried there. Many of the kings and queens are buried there, such as King Henry II, III and the VII, Elizabeth I and under her, Mary Queens of Scots, with no effigy (there is a story there).
So many of the famous and noteworthy have memorials there also. The funeral for Diana, Princess of Wales was held here. There is a "Poet's Corner" with Shakespeare, Lord Byron, Charles Dickins, Tennyson, Jane Austin, Louis Carrol and many others. Some musicians, like Handl; and actors, such as Sir Lawrance Olivier.
Many of the Clergy, Regents, and politicians of note are their also. Oliver Cromwell was buried there for two years, but when the royalty came back to power about 1663, they dug him up, re-hung him, behead him, and got rid of his remains from the Abby.
The Abbey is located across the street from Westminster, Big Ben and Parliament. We were interested, but found that it was both an active religious dwelling and a memorial [with many ornate monuments and actual tombs] to/for those who are buried there or who are remembered there by brass floor and wall mounted plaques. The Tomb on the Unknown Warrior from WWI is also there, much like our Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington. There was no photography allowed inside, so the pictures of the inside have been scanned from pamphlets to give you a look inside. Sir Christopher Wren the famous architect, was responsible for the renovations done in the Abbey in 1698. He is also famous for his work renovating St Paul's Cathedral. We had a good time for about two hours and then headed via the "Tube" back to the office and by 1 p.m. were back at our posts and taking care of the mission office.
Saturday, we were to take a train to Norwich for the day, but decided to stay in London and see some more of the downtown/political parts of the city.
London bridge is just a regular new modern bridge--no towers, not a suspension bridge but more like a highway overpass . . . just passing over the Thames River. [3rd photo above.] The bridge that "looks" like a real bridge is indeed one: the Tower of London Bridge [#4 above]. Buildings can be old or modern skyscrapers [#5 above]. All jamed together or sharing walls. Flats, buildings renovated into flats, or houses that share walls are called "terraced" flats or houses. Two houses that share a common wall are "semi-detached."
We passed "bobbies" guarding the entrance to Parliament [#2] and Waterloo Bridge [#5].
We saw the outside of St Paul's Cathedral, but will return another time to go inside. St. Paul's was one of the building studied when they build the Utah State Capitol and you can see the resemblance in the pictures. Tourists can climb several hundred stairs to the top of the dome to get what is called the very best view of London, [the London Eye, below, not withstanding].
Trafalgar Square is impressive and we went past the New Scotland Yard [glass and stone modern build] and stopped at the famous Liverpool Street train station. There is more to see in London than anyone can see, even if they have lived here for years and years. London is full of people and the tourists come here in large numbers daily, no matter what the weather.
Here's a picture of Elder Hawley in the Liverpool Train Station. Also shown below are pictures of some rather unusual telephone booths: [1] in Liverpool Station]; [2] Liverpool Station phone booths; [3] lone black [all other phone booths are painted red] telephone booth located close to St. Paul's Cathedral. The phone booths in the train station have large, long pins all over the tops of the booths . . . since each side of the station contains large open doorways, pidgeons and others birds can fly in easily, and London is the home base for pidgeons. So the needles are there to keep the pidgeons from landing on top of the phone booths.
We are beginning to train our replacements starting on Monday. Two young elders have been assigned to the office. Elder Tyler Potts and Elder Joshua Curgenven. We will say more on that as we train and make the transition to young elders in the office. We have given notice on our flat to move out and are beginning the process of closing out everything in preparation to go home. Things like notifying utilities' companies, TV and internet providers, Council Taxes, etc.; and we will need to talk to the HSBC bank about our account soon. We even looked online at new Nissan Murano's to see if we still like them. Sister Hawley wants the new blue one! So we must be coming home in about six weeks or so.
P.S. When we told our son Rob that we were down to 6 weeks left on our mission, and that we might be getting a "little bit" trunky, his comment was: "If you are counting the weeks, you aren't just a little bit trunky, you have MOVED INTO the TRUNK. So be it! We are so busy each and every day that the time just flies by, and it has amazed us how fast our mission time here has passed. If we really think about leaving, we will tear up and the feelings we have here will overflow. We have put our hearts and all our talents and our faith into this wonderful calling of service for the Lord, and we will leave a portion of our hearts here in England, the land of our ancestors. We are more grateful than we can say for this whole experience, including learning to live the "English" way. How blessed we are. We wish every retired couple who could would choose to serve a mission together. One of the greatest blessings to be learned is how tailor-made this mission has been for us, and how well the Lord knows us and loves us. We wish these same blessings for everyone.
Love to all from London, The Hawley's
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