Oxford/ Sr.Couples

                      We flew to the mainland Feb. 2  to attend the Senior Couples conference in Oxford.

From the airport, we took a taxi to the Temple Accommodations Center.

Visited briefly with office missionaries, then did 2 temple sessions that afternoon.

Next morning we rode with other couples in mission vans to Oxford.

Were given a tour of Oxford University - lead by Bishop Tootle of the Oxford ward who works in Security at the college.

The buildings are amazing.

As was this very odd tree ... it's branches supported by posts.

It's probably very beautiful when fully adorned with leaves. 

And this large bush had unique flower strands ...

We got to go inside an ancient library; it is like a museum - you can't touch the books...there are electric sensors protecting them.   Only certain persons can "check out" the books and view them on special tables. 

The library ceiling was a work of art ..

Late afternoon we checked into our hotel, then met at the Oxford chapel for our conference.

We love being with these wonderful people.

Saturday morning we drove a short distance to tour the Blenheim Palace.

The palace was built in 1705.   It was the principle residence of the Duke of Marlborough.

It is the birth place of Sir Winston Churchill; there was one room that was a museum to his history and accomplishments.

Surrounding the palace are gardens and parks, lakes and forests.

Elders, etc.

The 10th of January, Elder Hart - after serving 10 months on Guernsey - was transferred to Bideford; his replacement is Elder Hernandez from Mexico, who speaks really good English, and just has 3 months left in his mission.

When the regular and Tri-Zone Meetings take place at the Stake Center in Poole England, our Elders watch via the church's Cisco System.  Sometimes the sound cuts out, or the picture fades away, and occasionally it stops all together...then they have to call in on a FaceTime connection.  But generally there is great teachings and helps for the work from these meetings.

                                                          Preparation Day hair cuts :)

Flowers now blooming in our front hedge  - in January :)

Buses, Christmas, Zone Leaders, etc.

Guernsey has a fairly good bus system that makes stops along the major streets around the island. We are amazed at the bus drivers, as they maneuver their bus around tight corners and down the narrow streets.  Often times, they have to "mount the pavement" (drive onto the sidewalk) in order to pass by oncoming traffic.  On the most narrow streets, even cars have to do the same to avoid crashing side mirrors.                            This is a picture of a bus on a wider main street.

On Christmas Day, in the evening, our doorbell rang; there stood Manuel - with a black plastic bag over his shoulder, his smile wider than ever - and he shouted "Merry Christmas."  He came in, and proceeded to reach into his bag and bring out a box of cereal for each of the Elders.

He's such a fun man; he is from Madeira, and speaks his own kind of  Portuguese English :)

His sweet wife is from Thailand, and her English is unique also.  They both have the biggest, brightest smiles, and are so kind to everyone.  The branch members love them a bunch.

Christmas Dinner with Elder Aguiar (Canada), Elder Hardy (St.George,UT),

Elder Albacite (Belgium), Elder Hart (Salt Lake City)

The Zone Leaders came to visit the 2nd weekend in January.  They trained and did splits with our Elders.   Sunday dinner was fun, getting to know them.  The tall Elder on the far right is 24 years old; joined the church a year before his mission.  He's an amazing leader.     

This is a couple we're working with; Mark is a member, and his partner Tina is being taught the gospel by the Elders.   We took them out to dinner on her birthday.   They both were born and raised in Guernsey.  They like Elvis Presley music, and a few years ago took a trip to America to visit Memphis and see museums, etc. of the history of his music and life.

Mark works in a wood manufacturing plant.   They are lovely, sweet folks.

Our "greenhouse"/ Ships/ etc.

The greenhouse connected to our house at one time was turned into a room; they call it a conservatory.   It has a wood floor, some cabinets, and a sink.  All the windows are single pane, and very loose fitting, so in the winter it is like stepping outside to go in there; but when the sun shines, the glass brings in the warmth of the sun, and it can be quite pleasant inside.  

    It's kind of like our "cultural hall," but since there's no basketball court, we got a ping pong table.
                                 It was a great room for activities during the warmer months.
                 The Elders enjoy it a lot on their P-day.  (They don't mind how cold it is in there)


                   Here is a picture of the ancient wooden warship "Victory" we saw in Portsmouth:

                            We were able to go inside, seeing everything from top to bottom,
                  being instructed about all the details by a navy guide in costume of the era.
                       You have to imagine what it looked like with all it's sails in place.



                                                A model of King Henry VIII

                       



                                      Reed, on the deck of another ship, the Warrior.

This one was a steam powered iron clad warship made in 1860.

  The middle of December I went to a local choir Christmas concert in the St. James church:

It was quite nice, and they invited the audience to sing-a-long with some of the carols.

They sing different words on some of the verses :)

"Tree of light" made on the old ship mast which is in the middle of the 

main round-a-bout in St. Peter Port.

Churches

This is the pretty stone church in the Foulon Cemetery where we held the funeral for Catriona:
                                                                         

The Island of Guernsey has 10 Parishes (cities), with St. Peter Port being the capital and largest with a population of about 15,000.  Two other Parishes have 8,000; the rest are smaller ...and all total  about 65,000 people on the entire island.   Each Parish has an old stone church, with a tall steeple one can see above the trees.

  

This is the Vale Parish Church:

We are told that attendance at these churches has declined over the past few years.  Several of the churches have been turned into other venues ... such as charity shops (used clothing)  or art and homemade crafts shops.  

This one in St. Peter Port - called St. James - has been restored/repaired and is now also used as a concert hall.  Last spring, we attended a performance of  the Messiah there.  The acoustics were great.  It is a favorite place for weddings.

  

House / Church

Having church meetings in the house you live in, is a unique experience.  It requires Saturday nights "quick clean up and vacuum," and Sunday mornings "limit the breakfast mess." :)
         
  This end of the long sitting room is our "chapel."

Our hymn # board is an old chalkboard.  If we could remove the built-in black cabinets on the left side of the room we'd have a bit more space in the isle, but we make do.

                    The partial walls create a divide in the long room; we slide the keyboard toward the middle so the sound can go forward:

Sunday School, and then Priesthood is held in the other end of the room, after

a quick rearrangement of the chairs:

And Relief Society is held in the dining room - with the table pushed to one side

and the chairs in a small semi-circle:

And this room has become the "nursery:"

It's where Elder Dame and I take turns hanging out with Libby and Niclas.

                                There is a multi-shelved library, which has been great to put all the missionary and branch supplies in:

New Members / Celebrations

                 Pictures of the two wonderful new young families that moved to Guernsey this fall:

Amrose and Caleb Holder with their daughter Libby.

He is a lawyer; they moved from Australia.

Daniel and Estrellita Guy with their son  Niclas. 

She was born in the Philippines; Daniel in England.  They had been working in Gibraltar previous

to moving to Guernsey.  

*****

Guernsey celebrates Halloween, too.  Brother Guy gave the Elders pumpkins to carve. So on Halloween - since they aren't to go out proselyting that night - they created their jack-o-lanterns.

November 5th is a unique day in England;  it's called Guy Fawkes Day (also called Bonfire Night).
It's history began with the events of  Nov. 5, 1605, when Guy Fawkes, a member of the "Gunpowder Plot," was arrested while guarding barrels of gunpowder the conspirators had placed in the cellar beneath the Parliament building ...with intent to destroy the King.  Celebrating the fact that King James had been saved from an attempt on his life, people lit bonfires around London.  Nov. 5th became an annual day of thanksgiving for the plot's failure, and is commemorated every year with fireworks and burning effigies of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire.

Since our Brother Guy grew up in England, he volunteered to organize a branch activity for Bonfire Night.   We had the traditional food: hotdogs, jacket potatoes, baked beans, and parkin (gingerbread). Since our yard is all either grass, shrubs, trees, or laid with brick or stone there's no open space for a real bonfire.  Manuel supplied an old rusty garbage bin which contained a little fire all right.  The Elders created a stuffed "Guy Fawkes" with an old pair of trousers and shirt for the 'burning.'  We warmed up with nontraditional hot chocolate :)  We had no fireworks to lite, but we could see and hear the neighbor's.  It was a fun night, and we had one investigator attend.

England has a day similar to our Veterans Day on November 11th, called Remembrance Day.  On that day precisely at 11:00 o'clock a siren is sounded and everyone pauses for 2 minutes of silence to honor the fallen soldiers from all wars.   The Sunday closest to the 11th, is called Remembrance Sunday, and cities hold wreath laying ceremonies at cemeteries and memorial statues.  The Poole Stake sent us a wreath to be laid at the Guernsey one to represent the church.  One of our members went to the event to lay the wreath, since it took place at 11:00. during our meeting.  He reported that it was very formally organized - with a parade of groups in uniform, representing the different military segments; after they laid their wreaths, then in turn, all other organizations and businesses laid their's on the monument.  Later that week I was in town, and went to take a picture of the display, but the wind had caused havoc so I managed a shot of one of the wreaths still in good condition.

In our kitchen with limited tools, pans, and an undependable oven, our Thanksgiving Dinner was a big job, but we enjoyed it with the Elders, the Holder's and the Guy's.  It's not a holiday celebrated by either England or Australia, so they had their first "American Thanksgiving"  :)