WEEK 8 already????

This was a fun week. The Sisters had an accident with one of the mower trailers. They thought they were just in a mud puddle and tried just revving their way out- but the ramp on the trailer was stuck on a low hanging branch, and the tree won! We spent half a day straightening things, but one small piece was not repairable so we had to order it. It could take weeks to get here so we have to be creative with scheduling the remaining trailer.

Elder Foy taught me how to “tingle and tag” repair an ancient slate roof. The slate back then came in a different size than what is sold today. We salvaged original tiles from the damaged roof on the yard side and used them on the street side.  Then we cut new synthetic tiles for the yard side, I took before and after photos. While we were there I repainted the shed doors.

Some of the tiles have to be pushed up under good secure tiles and can't be nailed in place.  To hold them, we use "tingle" and "tag" pieces to repair them.  The tingle is a narrow strip of lead or copper. (About 4”x 1/2”) and is nailed to one of the stringer boards under the tile, then bent up over the bottom of the tile once it's in place. You may be able to see them in the photos. It was strange to ask the young lady clerk  at the roofing store for a tingle. 

 Saturday we drove on down to Norfolk in East Anglia and toured the Norwich Castle which now houses the Norfolk Museum. Built in 1067,  it's 70 feet tall and set on a man made hill hundreds of feet high.

In the foreground is one of the local beauties XOXO. To the right of the Keep is an addition that was added when the building was used as a prison in the 1800's.  This looks like a walk way which I guess it is but we made a wrong turn and couldn't turn around so we drove up to the top. Luckily there were other cars there and the nice greeter likes the funny Americans and told us we could park off to the left of the castle. That was fantastic because there is never any place to park and if you DO  find one there is always a charge. 

This is the door to the Keep. Our tour guide Mike is standing in front of it. It's located high on the side of the building with a narrow stair case leading to it. It is the only way in and anyone trying to attack would have to single file through a gauntlet of defenses.

We next drove to the city Great Yarmouth which is at the mouth of the River Yar.

(Clever these English!)

This a wall around the old city built in 1260. It's 2200 yards long and had a moat. 

I also found the local NHS surgery office.

From there we went to Loddon where some of Elder Foy’s ancestors came from. We visited the church they most likely attended and walked through the grave yard. We stopped at a local Fish and Chips place run by a husband and wife and their young daughter. The place was the size of our bathroom and the line was out to the street. This is the menu, very reasonable prices. Remember you have to add 33% to convert to dollars. 

We took our food to eat at the Church near the River Chet. You can moor there for free, for 24 hours and there is a nice public restroom with a shower even! There are so many beautiful little villages here. Everyone is like a post card. 

Today we spoke in church. It went okay but it's hard to tell because the people are so nice. I love hearing the Sacrament prayers in the original English tongue. There was a ton more stuff this week but this is already too long. Love you!

Steve

WEEK 7: Another Great Week!

                                     17-18 August 2018

We had a wonderful weekend!  It began on Friday after working at the Grange Farmhouse for a half day.  We traveled to the London Temple and checked in at patron accommodations as we were spending the night there.  Then we enjoyed a very small but lovely endowment session. Both the Foy's and we had more family names needing baptism, so we asked about getting them done.  President Freeman, of the temple presidency, invited us to join the youth group coming in 15 minutes to perform baptisms.  He told us that circumstances had greatly diminished the size of the group they were expecting, but he told the bishop to send whomever could come and the Lord would provide enough priesthood to complete the work.  We were quite literally provided by the Lord!

It was fun to participate in baptisms and confirmations, something we haven’t done in quite a while.  Elder Foy and I were baptized for our family names.  Then Elder Foy was voice for some baptisms and confirmations, and Steve acted as a witness. He then did some confirmations.  Sister Foy also participated in the confirmations.  We met a lovely family, the Ahmanson's from Fort Collins, CO who were just finishing their tour of England and France, and took time to come to the Temple.  They are a convert family of just three years. Daughters Asalyn 17 and Liesel 13, and brother Julian 15 and their parents. We really enjoyed hearing their conversion story, of how their mother felt the need to be baptized by a specific date in October.  It turned out they had been members for a year and a day when the Fort Collins Temple was dedicated and they were the first family to be sealed in it!  Such a delightful family. We were well fed spiritually. But since we hadn't eaten for a long time, we needed physical food too, in spite of the late hour. So we had dinner at 9:00 p.m. at the Peacock Lodge, just around the corner from the Temple.  It was delicious, and they rushed our order, as the kitchen was closing in five minutes! 

Saturday, we traveled to Canterbury to explore. The Canterbury Cathedral is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. This 1,400-year-old building is massive, beautiful and had much history there. The archbishop, Thomas Becket was martyred in 1170, by knights of King Henry II,  who had frequent conflicts with Becket and is said to have exclaimed in frustration, "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" Four knights took it literally and murdered Becket in his own cathedral.  Through succeeding miracles, Becket was proclaimed a saint, which made the cathedral a place of pilgrimage. 

                                                              

On the walk from the car park to the Cathedral, we passed "The Canterbury Tales" attraction and popped in for a delightful retelling of many of Chaucer’s famous tales, set in 14th-century England and housed in the beautiful St. Margaret’s church.  

Our “extended P-day” finished up with a trip to Costco and a long ride home!  Work wise this week, Sister Foy and I were able to finish painting Grange Farmhouse, except for the master bedroom.  The 100+ yr. old structure is cracking in one corner, so the engineer needs to strap it back together.  But it’s wonderful to have so much accomplished!

Steve and Elder Foy working on the tile

Elder Foy and Steve continue to resolve problems and mend concerns.  Some corrugated cement fiber panels were replaced around the fuel tank at Grange Farm as were several on the  chemical storage barns in the office yard.  They had to make some additional repairs on the grain storage at another farm and were called out one night to cover holes in the roof of the grain storage shed, as they expected (and got!) rain the next day. That was loads of fun for them climbing up the hills of grain to repair the top!  The men also took care of some water leaks at Hungary Hall as well as replaced the garden tub surround.  They mowed more farm patches of weeds, fixed the sliding door on the van, and hung a new gate at a little cottage.  But the neatest job they did was to repair the tile at Grange Farmhouse where the plumber had ripped it out looking for the source of a leaking toilet.  They rocked that job!

WEEK 5: We still love it!

We we had another busy week! Steve and Elder Foy have been doing repairs on the floors of some of the storage barns, that hold all of the grain that has been harvested. They worked on the Safefield and Salmon farms, and did such a good job, they were asked by our boss, Ben Conway to continue doing more on Safefield, Pitt Deanne and Tibbett’s Bridge barns. The bosses were very happy with their work!The harvest is ongoing. They have finished the rapeseed, which is what they make canola oil out of, and now are working on the wheat.  I was talking to some of the farm workers, and they said the load they just placed in the barn was 17.5 tons of wheat!

Combine, mowing the wheat

They have 3 John Deer combines and 3-4 tractor/trailers going for 16-18 hours a day!  Steve and Elder Foy have also been doing some mowing of grass/weeds in between the floor repairs.

Sister Foy and I have been assigned to cleaning and painting the Grange Farmhouse, which is a very large 100+ yr old house with 6 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a large kitchen, 4 fireplaces, a large hallway, laundry room and 3 other smaller living areas. We are getting it ready for new renters.  The last renters left it pretty clean, but it will still take us awhile to get all of the painting done.
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Grange Farmhouse                 

 Cool pond by the house

Wednesday, we had the honor of being “judges” for the Conway girls’ annual ‘school holiday bake-off’.  They made wonderful sweet treats that we tested and they were Delicious! Strawberry shortcake with fondant frosting that Alice artfully made, and delectable brownies with a caramel layer that Esther made, and fabulous fudge that had a slight pink tint to it, made by little Cecile, and the yummy cream puffs that Eliza made.  Fortunately, we didn’t have to pick a winner, they just wanted to share the experience with us. We were definitely over sugared and decided to skip dinner.  Just drank lots of water, hoping to dilute the sugar
rush!

School Holiday Bake-off

Friday was Steve’s birthday, and the Foys treated us to a movie, “Mission Impossible: Fallout” with Tom Cruise, and it was full of excitement! We then went to dinner at Steve’s favorite Irish restaurant, McDonald’s. He’s been wanting to try it out since we got here! Yes, it tastes the same.

Us and the Foy's waiting for the movie

Saturday, we took a fun trip to Ely.  We toured the  Ely Cathedral with a good guide and learned a lot about the history of this quaint little town.  There was a large wedding there that afternoon and we enjoyed seeing the groomsmen in their tails and top hats as well as the vintage Rolls Royce looking cars parked out front for the wedding party.

Cute English Wedding Party (of course I asked! They're posing!)

We ate lunch at the nearby Minister Pub then took a short riverboat ride on the Great Ouse River.

    
Riverboat Ride

Back to Keeler Farm to get ready for a BBQ with a family in our ward, John & Pam Flattley, her sister Janet, three of their grandchildren and our local young missionaries, Elders Henrie and Stock.  We set up the BBQ grill for hamburgers and “Foy chicken”, which was yummy!! I made a potato salad and had fun finding “dill pickles”, which are called “Soured Gherkins” here. I also made some snickerdoodles for dessert.

Sunday we met our new primary class. They are the oldest Valiant class and there were 4 boys and 3 girls there today. Had a good lesson learning about Samuel the Prophet and ways we can listen to the Lord and to have the Holy Ghost with us. Great kids! We love it!!

WEEK 6: Finally RAIN!!!!!

This week it finally rained! We were repairing an exterior wall on a shed barn that houses a diesel fuel tank. We just got two new panels in place when it started to pour. We had to scramble to get our power tools and portable work benches back in the van. By the time we did we were soaked! That was the first real rain since we got here. The ground on the farms have cracks so big you can put your hand in them. The UK hasn't been this dry since the mid seventies. Most of the farm worker weren't even born then and have never seen a summer like this.  The wheat needs to have a certain moisture content. The storage sheds here are designed to dry the wheat with elaborate fan and propane systems. Now they are wondering how to add moisture!   

A Picture of the ground cracks

 We have a lot going on.  Bishop Waddell, Second Councilor in the Presiding Bishopric, is coming to visit in September. We have a huge list of things to get done to make the farms...... pretty?  The farms are very productive and efficient but some of the buildings are hundreds of years old. We do a lot of painting and mowing as well as repairs to the the forty plus rental homes on the farms. The Foy's are fantastic. The church should find a way to keep them here and never let them go home.   Today we went to Cambridge and went "punting" on the River Cam. This is a picture of the Bridge Church in St Ives. It's half the size of our bedroom and was built in the 1400's It's on the River Ouse which means river so it's the River River.

This was a cool street in Cambridge typical of many streets there. (yes, cars actually drive down it! It's a 2-way street!)

This is Elder Foy working on a storage barn door. I made the metal guide cap at the bottom of the door. We repaired and painted three of these.  Like most things here they are quite old, like Elder Foy and me!

This is a bridge on the Cam River where we went punting. Punting is the gondola boat ride shown in the picture. The boat is called a Punt. The ride was two miles long past five of the 30 plus colleges at Cambridge. The gondolier is also our tour guide and in that short trip there was more history than the ride could handle. Cambridge is kind of close to Wood Walton where we live, we are part of Cambridgeshire (county).

This is Robyn's new concealed carry. Actually it's by Westminster Cathedral and the Tower of Big Ben in London that we visited last week. 

WEEK 4: A Visit to London

A busy week, rewarded by a fun adventure!! We did more painting, repairing, cleaning and work.  There are LOTS of farm properties here, we haven't even seen them all yet!  But we enjoy serving. The profit for the farms we are serving on go to the missionary fund and the humanitarian projects around the world, so when we get tired and say, 'we signed up to do what?' we just think of what we are doing it for, and we are happy!  We painted more barn doors. Steve likes to do the top, high places, and I prefer to paint the lower bottom half.  

Steve painting more doors!

It's fun to go exploring this country after working hard all week! This weekend, Sister Pat Foy's 3 sisters and brothers-in-law came to visit, so they invited us to go explore with them!

This is the group!

We rode the train to London, as it's easier than driving and finding places to park! For 17 pounds, we got an all day pass, which reminds me of the subways we rode in New York, only this is much bigger! We hopped on and off trains to get us to the different sites, but we had to go UP and DOWN, UP and DOWN, UP and DOWN stairs- like 3 levels up and down! very exciting!

Tower of London

The Tower of London is a tower that was built in like the 1100's or 1200's, by William the Conqueror, for protection against all of the people he conquered! Or something like that- but he fortified the tower by building 3 additional layers of protection, the castles, ramparts, and the moat. It was all pretty intimidating! The iron gates guarding the entrances are still working and weigh 2-3 tons! 

Tower gates


I thought the whole thing was fascinating! They also have long holes at the gate, to pour hot oil down upon the intruders. Lots of good and evil went on at the palaces. There were kings/queens to dethrone, children 'heirs to the throne' to get rid of, and the many "off with their head!" scenarios. It must've been a very hard time to live! The warnings from the Book of Mormon, about having an unrighteous king have been played out over and over here. But it is beautiful to look at now!  I can't even imagine how long it must've taken to build these massive places! We had a very entertaining and interesting guide to take us around and enlighten us with what happened here.  This gentleman is called a "Beefeater", a name given by the  peasants to the royal guards. they were feed beef, to keep them strong. the peasants didn't have beef to eat.

Our guide

Here is a picture of the outside wall. Notice the rectangular slits around the outside wall? If an 'undesirable' got too close, a sword would come out of those slits to greet you!

Castle with moat

We also went to see the HUGE cathedral, Westminster Abbey, which is so big and beautiful!  It was amazing! It's right across from the big parliament buildings. I guess that's enough for our report for that. There was SO much more! I felt like this is a part of our history too, as our forefathers and mothers lived here during the time of the fighting Kings and Queens. Next time we come, we'll visit the "Royal Jewels", still kept in the Tower of London. The line was like 3 hours long, so next time we'll go there first!

Westminster Abbey

Who says work can't be fun too??  :)

A Miracle.

We love serving here!   As a reminder that our loving Heavenly Father loves and watches over even His 'old' missionaries, I want to share what happened to us on Thursday.  Sister Foy and I had to drive way across town to the Grange Farm House. I still have no idea where anything is, but she felt confident that she could remember how to drive there. Her husband needed the GPS, so we were left with just our memory. We drove around and around the other side of town, which was about 20 minutes away, and everything looks the same, a few houses, on small, twisty-turning roads, surrounded by yellow grain fields, either harvested or getting ready to be.   We had a 'TomTom' GPS system with us, which would not work. Just froze up and mocked us for trying to use it, in the lovely male English accent.
We were lost!

I had an impression to use my iPhone map system, even though we do not yet have service, other than while connected to wi-fi at the house.  I turned on google maps, and "NO SERVICE" popped up, as expected. What I did NOT expect, is that the maps started working!

I put in the name of the town we were looking for, Hamerton, and Siri started giving us directions!  It was a lot of "go 1 mile...turn right..go 2 miles,..turn left..etc.." and it took us right to our farm!  Sister Foy said, "I would never have found that!"     All the while, my phone, (we had discontinued our Verizon service the night before, as there is no Verizon service in the UK) read "NO SERVICE".  We went inside and said a prayer of thanks! 

A short time later, Sister Foy received a phone call, saying we needed to return to the office to bring a key.   I tried to use my phone again for directions.  It read, "NO SERVICE", and wouldn't work.  We found our way back, (singing, "we drive by faith") and tried to use it again a few more times, and it still read, "NO SERVICE", and didn’t work.
  
I know that miracles happen every day, but I'm thankful that our Lord was mindful of us this day.  I feel so blessed and honored to be here, in His service at this time.