This past Thursday it felt like we were playing hooky . . . to be touring and not serving in the office on a weekday. Still, it was a good experience for our two new office elders. They said that [a] Elder Potts was helped to answer questions by using Sister Hawley's rolodex; and [b] that nothing awful happened. We are glad they had a quiet day . . . because on Friday afternoon, when Sister Hawley and Elder Potts got started on the next batch of letters -- and there were dozens -- Elder Potts caught the vision of what a REAL PUSH-Day is like, and to his credit he hung in there and stayed until all the letters were typed, printed, signed by the president, franked and sealed. Elder Curgenven jumped in to help.
Sister Hawley wrote the following 'Training, First Week Update' to President Patch:
Dear President,
Elder Potts and Elder Curgenven are bright, agile on the computer,
seem to be able to pick things up quickly, and say they are happy to
be called to work in the office. We have spoken to them about their
responsibility to you and how they can support you; about how it may
be hard sometimes to say no to someone who asks to see files, etc.,
and that the information they handle is private. They appear to take
their responsibilities seriously. Today Elder Curgenven jumped in to
help when Elder Potts needed it. When Elder Potts finishes one job,
he moves on to the next job. Both act with initiative without being
asked. Both come ready to work. Both are pleasant, easy to work
with, and fairly mature. Elder Hawley and I both feel the week went
well. Neither elder has had a heavy-duty "push" day, so today was
educational, with all the letters we had to do. We spoke to them
about making mistakes being human and that it is one way we learn.
Making mistakes will also sharpen their motivation to listening better
to instructions. We don't want them to feel criticized; rather, we
try to build them up and compliment whenever we see the opportunity.
Next week they should not need to have as long a day as we had today,
and they should be able to leave closer to the goal of 3:00 p.m.
proselyting time.
If you see any areas where we can train better or add something more,
please let us know. We are enjoying the process and getting to know
these elders better.
Thank you especially for your help today, and for staying longer to
sign all the letters.
Sincerely,
Elder and Sister Hawley
And the mission president responded with:
Dear Elder and Sister Hawley,
Thank you so much for the way you are mentoring these good Elders. They seem to be optimistic and readily enjoying their work. You both are wonderful for helping them learn in a nurturing environment. Have a great weekend.
Warmest regards,
President Patch
Thank you so much for the way you are mentoring these good Elders. They seem to be optimistic and readily enjoying their work. You both are wonderful for helping them learn in a nurturing environment. Have a great weekend.
Warmest regards,
President Patch
WHY were we touring and not in the office? Our friends, the Harbrecht's, had received permission [MP + area authority Elder Kopischke in Frankfurt, Germany] to go on an out-of-mission-boundaries tour of Oxford, the Cotswolds area, and Stratford-upon-Avon. When they received permission they invited us to go along. So we too asked President Patch for permission, and he and Elder Kopischke gave us permission to go, in large part because both the Harbrecht's [who will be released February 3rd, next year] and we are close to the ends of our missionary service, and this is one way Church authorities extend thanks to senior couples -- through opportunities to tour around the areas in which they have served.
So off we went, early Thursday morning. Our group was small, less than 16, and we had a large van as our transportation, with host, driver and running commentary giving us information about the areas through which we traveled. It took us about an hour to reach Oxford, and although our tour was a brief walking tour [we were not able to go inside the colleges--each one has a fee and a long waiting list], we did enjoy the experience of actually being there. We have added some photographs, of course -- some we took, and some from guide books.
PS: This area is very close to Banbury, England, where our great-grandmother Mary Beers Hawley was born in the 1830's. In her time, it would have been a town of about 5,000 people and merchant or trading city of the times.
Christchurch Bell and Clock Tower
Christchurch Inner Quad
Oxford is the place of the famous Oxford University. It began in the 1100's and has been a major seat of learning every since. It has over 38 colleges comprising the university; each has a quadrangle of buildings surrounding a quad or grassy garden area in the interior. They are sort of individual entities, and are scattered about, some are located 30 miles distant from others, however, most are in the city. Since learning was associated with religion and the Catholic Church, most have a chapel as some quite elaborate. For instance Christchurch is such a college and has St. Mary the Virgin Cathedral as part of the quadrangle [below middle and right].
It also contains the large room and long tables that was used for the filming of the large banquet hall in the Harry Potter movies. The Bodleian library built in 1598 is the largest in the world, and also was used in the Harry Potter movies where the books are chained in. We were told that parts of the library are now under water.... Many famous people are noted in the pictures and memorials -- notice all the pictures on the walls. The buildings are all old and of the yellow Cotswolds soft lime stone. The famous Cotswolds hills are to the west. The rivers Cherwell and Isis join east of Oxford and form the Thames River which flows through London.
The older printings of our new L.D.S. footnoted editions scriptures were printed on the Oxford and Cambridge University printing presses.
X Marks the Spot where the Burnings took place
There is so much history here: Queen Mary I, oldest daughter of King Henry VIII was known as "Bloody Mary" because she ordered 15,000+ people burned at the stake for not recanting the new religion (Church of England, founded by her father) and for not going back to Catholicism.
Her half sister, Elizabeth I, succeeded her and was loyal to the Protestant ways of her father, so when Elizabeth became queen the pendulum of religious worship politically swung back to the Church of England. When we visited Westminster Abbey, where both queens were buried we noticed an oddity: this, it appears, is why Mary I is buried under Elizabeth I in Westminster Abbey and with no effigy or memorial plaque.
Ancient Drainage System
Regarding the narrow streets with drainage gutters, above. This is typical of 14th-17th century England. The streets were narrow with a gutters down the middle. The chamber pots with the sewage were emptied by throwing the contents out into the streets to the gutters from the upper windows (that's where the bedrooms were). It was a stinky, messy place to walk in the streets and the men always walked with the women on the inside so that if someone emptied there pot as they were walking by, the men got the brunt of the "stinky contents". Hence, the tradition that men walk on the street side of the women when walking down the road was born. The streets were only cleaned by the rain and natural means. This was why there was so much disease and illness among the people living in the cities during those times. Better sanitation would come to England later in history.
Oxford City Centre, Town Cryer, and Sister Hawley
We traveled by van with large windows, but crowded leg room, on to the Cotwolds which are just an area of rolling hills with colorful trees and plantings [luckily for us it was a lovely fall day, even with the grey skies and early rain], but picturesque with expensive old homes. Prince Charles' home, Highgrove, is located in this area. We stopped in the small town of Stoke-on-the-Wold and had lunch in a small pub on the main street, and looked at the old church there. The churches we see are Interesting, but after seeing so many they seen to look very much on the same design.
Elder Hawley standing by the "stocks" in the town centre
Choir Seats Baptismal Font, Inside Front Door
Memorial Plaque
Church Organ
Colorful Seat Cushions for Long Sermons....
Eagles are seen in many churches as symbols of the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit is not something taught with much, if any, understanding
Interior front showing vicar's chair, left....
Gothic Arches
Exterior of oxidizing copper exterior church window....
Painting inside church . . . common theme here in England
Sample of carved wood at the ends of each pew bench....
Stoke-on-the-Wold Church Cemetery
After lunch we drove hen on to Stratford-on-Avon. Avon is the river, hence ,Stratford-on the Avon river or Stratford-on-Avon, the birth and burial place of William Shakespeare. We saw the home in which he was reared and his wife, Anne Hathaway's, childhood home. Historians cannot account for a period of years when Shakespeare left Stratford-on-Avon until he became famous as an actor in London, but his wife and family remained in Stratford. Years later he returned to Stratford and his family with money and fame. There is a story here, but no one has been able find out the truth, and there are many rumors about what was the cause for him to leave, such as poaching deer on the king's land, rumors of illegitimate children, other law-breaking activities, etc. He was raised in a larger home with raised beds (most people slept on straw ticks on the floor), so they were in the wealthier class but not of the gentry and noble classes.
Status Symbol = Guest bed set up in living room
This bed was seldom used, but it showed the wealth and status of the people in the home
We enjoyed the smaller areas but they are all set up for tourists, yet, we had a very good time. The trip out and back to London was about 80 miles each way, and we arrived back home by about 6:00 p.m..
This week Elder Gustafson gave Sister Hawley a small pumpkin, which we carved and put a candle in today to celebrate a bit of an American Halloween in London. Halloween has a small following here in England, and we did see groups of people dressed in costumes walking along the streets as we rode the bus home on Friday night. We also saw children and their mothers entering [again in costume] the Hyde Park building, all excited for a children's Halloween party there.
Today is October 31st, and the time is moving fast. We are beginning the close-out process for council taxes, utilities and internet services. We've taken a load or two of donated-for-missionaries' items to the HP building, and have boxed up some items to ship home. It is a winding-down time for us as well as training time with the office-elder missionaries and we estimate that in two weeks we can transfer our responsibilities to them. There will be a few tasks that we will stay around for, such as payments of rents, and preparations for arriving and departing missionaries, but for the most part we will be letting-go and watching our "sons" learn and progress, as trainers call the ones they train here in the mission. It looks like we will have time for a leisurely flat departure [knock-on-wood], and perhaps some extra days to do some more touring in nearby areas.
P.S. 2 We have mentioned in previous blog entries helping Cookie and John Allred by hosting the Church's 12-Step Addiction Recovery Program when they need to be out of town. But we haven't put their picture into the blog, so here it is, taken while they were on a business trip to Portugal last year.
We also have enjoyed our time with Elder and Sister Green, who were released as Area Welfare Missionaries earlier this year. We had a fun evening one time going to see an Agatha Christie play in London's West End, and then having a fabulous Chinese dinner in London's China Town. Here is their picture:
The Green's and the Allred's join with other couples we've become friends with whose home is in Utah. The Green's live in the St. George area, while the Allred's have moved to London for a 4-year work assignment of John's, after which they will return to their Salt Lake City home. We hope to keep in touch with our couple-missionary friends.
We know we will leave a part of our hearts here in London, because of our service here for the Lord and the Church, and because of the "multiciplicity of blessings" we have received here.
Love to All, The Londoner's, Elder and Sister Hawley
PS: This area is very close to Banbury, England, where our great-grandmother Mary Beers Hawley was born in the 1830's. In her time, it would have been a town of about 5,000 people and merchant or trading city of the times.
Bolliol College Radcliffe Camera, St. Mary the Virgin Cathedral
Christchurch Bell and Clock Tower Trinity College
Christchurch Inner Quad
Oxford is the place of the famous Oxford University. It began in the 1100's and has been a major seat of learning every since. It has over 38 colleges comprising the university; each has a quadrangle of buildings surrounding a quad or grassy garden area in the interior. They are sort of individual entities, and are scattered about, some are located 30 miles distant from others, however, most are in the city. Since learning was associated with religion and the Catholic Church, most have a chapel as some quite elaborate. For instance Christchurch is such a college and has St. Mary the Virgin Cathedral as part of the quadrangle [below middle and right].
It also contains the large room and long tables that was used for the filming of the large banquet hall in the Harry Potter movies. The Bodleian library built in 1598 is the largest in the world, and also was used in the Harry Potter movies where the books are chained in. We were told that parts of the library are now under water.... Many famous people are noted in the pictures and memorials -- notice all the pictures on the walls. The buildings are all old and of the yellow Cotswolds soft lime stone. The famous Cotswolds hills are to the west. The rivers Cherwell and Isis join east of Oxford and form the Thames River which flows through London.
The older printings of our new L.D.S. footnoted editions scriptures were printed on the Oxford and Cambridge University printing presses.
There is so much history here: Queen Mary I, oldest daughter of King Henry VIII was known as "Bloody Mary" because she ordered 15,000+ people burned at the stake for not recanting the new religion (Church of England, founded by her father) and for not going back to Catholicism.
Elder & Sister Hawley, X-Spot, Broad Street, Oxford
Her half sister, Elizabeth I, succeeded her and was loyal to the Protestant ways of her father, so when Elizabeth became queen the pendulum of religious worship politically swung back to the Church of England. When we visited Westminster Abbey, where both queens were buried we noticed an oddity: this, it appears, is why Mary I is buried under Elizabeth I in Westminster Abbey and with no effigy or memorial plaque.
Regarding the narrow streets with drainage gutters, above. This is typical of 14th-17th century England. The streets were narrow with a gutters down the middle. The chamber pots with the sewage were emptied by throwing the contents out into the streets to the gutters from the upper windows (that's where the bedrooms were). It was a stinky, messy place to walk in the streets and the men always walked with the women on the inside so that if someone emptied there pot as they were walking by, the men got the brunt of the "stinky contents". Hence, the tradition that men walk on the street side of the women when walking down the road was born. The streets were only cleaned by the rain and natural means. This was why there was so much disease and illness among the people living in the cities during those times. Better sanitation would come to England later in history.
We traveled by van with large windows, but crowded leg room, on to the Cotwolds which are just an area of rolling hills with colorful trees and plantings [luckily for us it was a lovely fall day, even with the grey skies and early rain], but picturesque with expensive old homes. Prince Charles' home, Highgrove, is located in this area. We stopped in the small town of Stoke-on-the-Wold and had lunch in a small pub on the main street, and looked at the old church there. The churches we see are Interesting, but after seeing so many they seen to look very much on the same design.
Choir Seats Baptismal Font, Inside Front Door
Memorial Plaque
Church Organ
Eagles are seen in many churches as symbols of the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit is not something taught with much, if any, understanding
Exterior of oxidizing copper exterior church window....
Sample of carved wood at the ends of each pew bench....
After lunch we drove hen on to Stratford-on-Avon. Avon is the river, hence ,Stratford-on the Avon river or Stratford-on-Avon, the birth and burial place of William Shakespeare. We saw the home in which he was reared and his wife, Anne Hathaway's, childhood home. Historians cannot account for a period of years when Shakespeare left Stratford-on-Avon until he became famous as an actor in London, but his wife and family remained in Stratford. Years later he returned to Stratford and his family with money and fame. There is a story here, but no one has been able find out the truth, and there are many rumors about what was the cause for him to leave, such as poaching deer on the king's land, rumors of illegitimate children, other law-breaking activities, etc. He was raised in a larger home with raised beds (most people slept on straw ticks on the floor), so they were in the wealthier class but not of the gentry and noble classes.
Shakespeare family home back garden
Shakespeare family home, side view
Wm Shakespeare's parents also resided here, and his father had a leather-goods making business in the home as well
Inglenook fireplace, dining area -- an Inglenook fireplace is one
that is big enough to sit inside
Partial view of the Shakespeare's kitchen
This bed was seldom used, but it showed the wealth and status of the people in the home
Anne Hathaway's home was also a large one, and one with a straw-thatched roof; straw- thatched roofs can last 30 years or more before they need replacing....
The most beautiful and peaceful place we saw is this spot with a small river
amongst a tree-shaded area located across the road from the Hathaway home
If we lived here, this is where we would walk and sit and enjoy Nature's beauties
We enjoyed the smaller areas but they are all set up for tourists, yet, we had a very good time. The trip out and back to London was about 80 miles each way, and we arrived back home by about 6:00 p.m..
This week Elder Gustafson gave Sister Hawley a small pumpkin, which we carved and put a candle in today to celebrate a bit of an American Halloween in London. Halloween has a small following here in England, and we did see groups of people dressed in costumes walking along the streets as we rode the bus home on Friday night. We also saw children and their mothers entering [again in costume] the Hyde Park building, all excited for a children's Halloween party there.
Today is October 31st, and the time is moving fast. We are beginning the close-out process for council taxes, utilities and internet services. We've taken a load or two of donated-for-missionaries' items to the HP building, and have boxed up some items to ship home. It is a winding-down time for us as well as training time with the office-elder missionaries and we estimate that in two weeks we can transfer our responsibilities to them. There will be a few tasks that we will stay around for, such as payments of rents, and preparations for arriving and departing missionaries, but for the most part we will be letting-go and watching our "sons" learn and progress, as trainers call the ones they train here in the mission. It looks like we will have time for a leisurely flat departure [knock-on-wood], and perhaps some extra days to do some more touring in nearby areas.
P.S. 2 We have mentioned in previous blog entries helping Cookie and John Allred by hosting the Church's 12-Step Addiction Recovery Program when they need to be out of town. But we haven't put their picture into the blog, so here it is, taken while they were on a business trip to Portugal last year.
We also have enjoyed our time with Elder and Sister Green, who were released as Area Welfare Missionaries earlier this year. We had a fun evening one time going to see an Agatha Christie play in London's West End, and then having a fabulous Chinese dinner in London's China Town. Here is their picture:
We know we will leave a part of our hearts here in London, because of our service here for the Lord and the Church, and because of the "multiciplicity of blessings" we have received here.
Love to All, The Londoner's, Elder and Sister Hawley
