I have been thinking a lot about the blog and have decided to stop updating it. I don't like the way it looks. Like we're on this big vacation and all we're doing over here is playing.

Six days a week, Bill wears a suit and I wear a dress and heels. But, you're seeing us wear Levi's and sports shirts. And I don't think that it's what you want to see - the buildings and towns and beaches that we visit. You've probably all been here and seen them already. It's really not what's important about our being here.

We go to the Temple five days a week - we change into all white clothes - that are befitting the Holy place that we are serving in. We leave behind all the worldly things outside the Temple and concentrate on the things that will last for eternity. We work about 7 - 8 hours a day, Tuesday through Saturday. When we come home - especially on the late shift - we are so tired - partly because we're old and haven't worked a regular job in about 10 years - but it's such a good tired that we're happy with the way we feel. Like we've done the best we can for a worthy purpose.

Then of course, Sunday, we go to church and do good things all day. Monday is supposed to be our preparation day - we call it "P" day. We try to get our laundry and house cleaning and food shopping done during the week on the off hours so that we can go sightseeing on P day.

But, our mission would be a failure if any of you come away with the idea that we're over here playing. We are serious with our purpose.

I am so grateful to the Lord for sending us here to serve in the London Temple. We love being here, we love the people, and we feel that we are needed.

We will communicate with you through emails. We love you all. Jan

LONDON PROPER - 1ST VISIT

Our trip to London started off well. We were a little later than we planned. It was HOT all day and we just wilted along the way. The boat cruise took us a lot farther than we thought to go. Clear to Greenwich - where the International Date Line is. Well worth it. But that took so long that we didn't have enough time in London proper - so we're planning lots more trips. It was only 10 pounds to ride the train. Our tour bus and ride on the Thames was 25 pounds - each. But, we don't have to take the bus anymore.

When we got back to the train station about 8-9 o'clock, all the trains had been cancelled - a great big board on the wall and all trains everywhere were cancelled. They had a water main break further down the line and a mudslide covered all the tracks. But the railroad was so great they had a bus for us. It took us all the way home, stopping at each little station along the way to let passengers off. The British don't believe in air conditioning and we cooked. We got home about midnight and had to be at the Temple at 8:00 this morning.

So here are some of the pictures we took. Is this too many? I get carried away but I do want to use this as a journal, kind of, of the places that we see and our mission.

Next Monday, Clark and Dianne (Bill's brother and English wife) will be here and we plan to go to Canterbury and Dover. That will be awesome. And good to see them too. They're bringing me Goldfish!

We started in the baptistry today. It was OK - we have a lot to learn and it sure was busy there.

Parliament and Big Ben

Love it, Love it, Love it!!

This is King Charles I in Trafalgar Square. The mileage distance on road signs are measured from this point. Does that mean its the center of London?

Piccadilly Circus

St. Paul's Cathedral - we didn't get there in time to see it. Next time.

Fountains at St. Paul's

Streets of London

London Bridge the 4th. Someone (a bigwig Navy guy from another country) knocked the first one down. One was taken to Arizona. And I don't know about the other one.

Elton John lives on the top floor of this building - so our tour guide said.

.This one I love - The door on the left is one of the homes of J.K. Rowling

Tower Bridge

During the Black Plague - no one would come and help England for fear of getting the Plague. They needed food and supplies. The Dutch decided to help them by bringing in supplies. This is where they put the food - so they wouldn't have to be around people. The British were so grateful to the Dutch that for 300 years they didn't charge them taxes for bringing in their products to sell in English ports.

This was definitely low tide

Tower of London

This monstrosity is called the London Eye - in my estimation it should be called an eye-sore.

Parliament Building

Greenwich, London, England

We rode on the Thames and ended up in Greenwich - We are so glad we did. Our guide on the boat said hardly anyone comes here. They fly in see Big Ben and Parliment and the Palace - fly out and say they've seen London. I am so glad we did it. We never would have seen any of this if we'd have stuck to our original plan. And there will be other times for a closer look at London.

Greenwich observatory from the back of QA's house.

Bill standing in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres at the same time. He is standing across the international date line at Greenwich. (just in back of and up the hill from QA's house.)

Front view Queen Anne's house.

The entry floor from the balcony above.

Bill & I trying to decide where to stand for our picture in front of Queen Anne's House.

Look at the steps! It's not called a castle or anything that grand - but, what a huge, beautiful home.

Even the ceilings are wonderful works of art in this place. You can double click on this or any picture to get a close up view.

Walls - just beautiful.

The house was huge - set up on a round. With this big center entryway. We walked through all the rooms going around three stories up. They were big rooms, but no furniture. I told the guard that I was ready to move in and she said "With the ghosts?"

Queen Elizabeth I - I think!

Can't remember - Susan, you'll know, I'm sure.

This is Queen Anne - her house.

The back of Queen Anne's house from up at the International Date Line.

I just thought this was interesting. I love everything.

We saw so many wharfs. None still operating. They have turned them into apartments. Its so sad. The business just dried up. They used to use cranes to get the cargo out of the holds of the ships and then they changed to shipping containers and these docks didn't change with the times, so they lost the business. Where they got the word wharf was this: Ware House At River Front. I never knew that - kind of interesting.

This is the oldest artifact in London. Its Cleoparta's Needle. Given to London for a couple of wars they won by the ruler of Egypt, Muhammad Ali in 1819. But it was buried in sand for 2,000 years before that. There's a really interesting story about how they got it to London on the internet if you're interested.

We were told that the prisoners who were housed here - traitors, were hung here and when the tide came in they drowned. What a horrible way to die. They've cemented in the entryway.

On Sunday afternoon DeAne Bartchi and I went with two other sisters to Eastbourne - about 1 hour from here on the English Chanel. The older sister really wanted to go and had a car. We felt like she was lonesome, she's never been married and doesn't have much family - so we figured we were taking care of one of Heavenly Father's children. But we decided it wasn't the thing to do on Sunday and we won't do that again. It's called a pebble beach - right - rocky beach is more like it. Of course, the ocean is beautiful anytime, anywhere. There was a fortress - Redoubt Fortress and Military Museum. Really interesting. It was built to keep Napoleon's armies out of Britain and then was used during other wars including WW I and WW II. So it's been around for a couple of hundred years. Not too old by British standards.

It was a beautiful drive and a beautiful warm, sunshiny day. We've really had great summer weather. Well, we're off to London today. See ya!