This morning we went to Harvington Hall near Kidderminster with the Morgans and Elders Morrissey and Eppel. It is a moated medieval and Elizabethan manor house that now belongs to the Catholic Church and is famous for it's seven priest holes. It also has an interesting malt house and small chapel.The priest holes were hiding places for the priests during medieval times. The Church of England hunted down and killed any priests they found and the people who were aiding them. The malt house is where they roasted the grain used to make beer. Since it was a bank holiday here in England, it was Living History day at the hall and many volunteers were in period costumes telling visitors about life in Harvington Hall.
Front entrance - Harvington Hall
Side showing moat.
This priest hole was located under this wooden staircase. Two stairs were lifted up to provide access to the hole.
Delightful musical ensemble playing in one of the rooms.
Sweet volunteer showing Sister Morgan and I how to spin wool.
Medieval toddler walker.
Chapel
Organ in chapel
We got home in time to fix a big pot of taco soup. Elders Christiansen, Ensing, Zundel, and Kramer came over for dinner. Today is Elder Kramer's birthday so we also had some angel food cake with strawberries, ice cream, and a candle. After dinner the missionaries rushed on to their appointments and we rushed to FHE. We had a good attendance and lots of fun - taught them how to play Shanghi. Boy were we tired after our very busy day!
Tuesday, May 8
Finished my lesson and made the power point to go with it for tomorrow's lesson. Also ran to the bank and post office. After dinner we went to the church to help a couple of YSA get ready for tomorrow night's activity at Institute.
Wednesday, May9
Today is our last District Meeting and the last one before transfers next week. Elder Christiansen is going home, so we will be getting at least one new elder in our district. Elder Hopkinson hopes to be transferred to fill his space, but we'll see. Everyone always speculates on who may be changed, but they never know for sure until Monday night before transfers.
Sheldon District
Left to right: Elders Christiansen, Choi, Merrill (Zone Leader), Zundel, Kramer, Hopkinson, Ensing, Tufts, Sisters Turnbow, Shorters, Tufts.
The lady in the picture is "Dorothy." It's a picture Elder Hopkinson found in the rubbish. Don't know how to explain why he even has it!
Stourbridge District - they meet right before we do and we all eat lunch together.
Left to Right: Elders Querubin, Collins, Merrill, Patch, Oakey, Morrissey, Pauly, Eppel, Morgan
Sisters Louis, Nelson, Morgan
My lesson at Institute went really well. The activity was so much fun. One of our YSA used to do fencing so she brought some nerf sabers and taught fencing moves to the YSA. They had a really good time!
Thursday, May 10
The Morgans went with us this afternoon to finish flat checks for this transfer. I'm going to call it a tie between the two sets of sisters. Both flats were excellent! We turned over all the extra supplies to the Morgans who will be taking over the task next transfer. They came back to our flat afterwards and we had left over taco soup, salad, and rolls, and then enjoyed a little pinochle.
Friday, May 11
It's time to type up notes for the couple that will be replacing us. Typing it all down makes me realize why I'm so tired! We really do a lot of stuff! Tonight was our last multi-stake dance, so we made a Costco run to get the food for the dance. We had about 270 YSA in attendance - pretty typical. There were three other couples there to help, although the YSA are always so well behaved we could handle it ourselves. Their biggest help is getting the YSA to leave after the dance and then cleaning up the building. For that, I am very grateful!
Saturday, May 12
Sun, beautiful sun! Perfect day for a baptism! We drove to Kidderminster for the Livvy's baptism. We met her a couple of months ago when she was first taking the missionary lessons. She is a professional jazz singer - beautiful voice and very talented. More than that, she is a beautiful person. She has had her trials, but she says the last few months since she started investigating the church have been the happiest in her life. She has met and made friends with several YSA who really love her. Her aunt and cousin are also members and good support for her.
Friday, May 11
It's time to type up notes for the couple that will be replacing us. Typing it all down makes me realize why I'm so tired! We really do a lot of stuff! Tonight was our last multi-stake dance, so we made a Costco run to get the food for the dance. We had about 270 YSA in attendance - pretty typical. There were three other couples there to help, although the YSA are always so well behaved we could handle it ourselves. Their biggest help is getting the YSA to leave after the dance and then cleaning up the building. For that, I am very grateful!
Saturday, May 12
Sun, beautiful sun! Perfect day for a baptism! We drove to Kidderminster for the Livvy's baptism. We met her a couple of months ago when she was first taking the missionary lessons. She is a professional jazz singer - beautiful voice and very talented. More than that, she is a beautiful person. She has had her trials, but she says the last few months since she started investigating the church have been the happiest in her life. She has met and made friends with several YSA who really love her. Her aunt and cousin are also members and good support for her.
Left to right: Sisters Turnbow, Shorters, Livvy, Elders Querubin, and Patch
Sunday, May 13
Another nice day! Church was good, but the biggest treat was the unexpected visit of one of our YSA that graduated from university last May. Miro is here for about a week. He finished his military obligation in Finland and will be leaving for his mission to the Alpine (German speaking) Mission. He is a convert of four years and will be an amazing missionary!
After church, Devon took me out to dinner as it is American Mother's Day. We went home for a little while and then came back to church for the CES broadcast. It, too, was wonderful and we had a nice turnout. Then we came home and finished Skyping with our own kids. We talked with almost everyone and even got a FaceTime tour of Daryn and Catie's new home. It has been a very nice Mother's Day!
