On December 1, 2018 the lights were illuminated on the grounds of the London Temple. The lights come on at 5:00am the following morning and go out about 11:00pm. The following photos were take during our morning walk at about 5:30am.
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| Entrance to the London Temple and Visitor Centre. |
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| Entrance gate to the London Temple grounds. |
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| Inside the London Temple grounds looking out the gate. |
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| Entrance gate, Welcome and Visitors Centre (now used for Temple Patron groups) and the Nativity on the London Temple Grounds. |
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| Visitor Centre and Nativity. |
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| Visitor Centre with Christus statue and mural of the universe. |
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| London Temple Nativity. |
For Sister Burkinshaw's birthday, we went into London to see the Christmas Lights and do a little shopping.
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| Sister and Elder Burkinshaw at the Train Station in Lingfield where we departed for Victoria Station in downtown London. |
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| Entrance to the outdoor skating rink at the Natural History Museum on Exhibition Road near the Hyde Park Meetinghouse, Stake Center and London England Mission Office. |
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| The outdoor Ice Skating Rink at the Royal Natural History Museum. |
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| Sister Burkinshaw in front of the Hyde Park Visitors Center and Meetinghouse. |
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| Sister Burkinshaw in front of the Giving Machine in the lobby of the Hyde Park Visitors Centre, where individuals can give unique gifts such as text books, teacher supplies, two chickens, box of nappies (diapers), etc. |
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| Elder Burkinshaw, who after a couple of tries, was successful in using the Giving Machine. |
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| Buckingham Palace had two small Christmas trees and a few lights around the front door - not overwhelmingly decorated. ;-) |
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| Sister Burkinshaw with the Ritz Hotel in the background. Again, the Christmas decorations were nominal. |
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| Sister Burkinshaw along Bond Street in the Mayfair district of London with the high-end stores. |
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| Elder and Sister Burkinshaw with a selfie on Bond Street in London. |
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| Fully lit Christmas lights along Bond Street. |
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| In the Mayfair district, the Stella McCartney store had the best Christmas display! |
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| Christmas lights at the Prada shop in Mayfair, London. |
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| Christmas decorations in the Mayfair shopping district of London. |
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| Christmas display in the Bond Street Dior store. |
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| Christmas lights and greenery in the Mayfair district. |
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| Sister Burkinshaw near Trafalgar Square. |
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| Regent street with Angel lights and colorful pedalcabs. |
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| Elder and Sister Burkinshaw with a background of the beautiful decorations and speeding double-decker bus! |
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| Christmas decorations in the Soho district of London. |
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| A toy store display with colorful critters. |
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| Gingerbread houses modeled after Big Ben and Parliament. |
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| Sister Burkinshaw and a fun gingerbread display |
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| London's famous Carnaby Street, a pedestrianized shopping street in Soho in the City of Westminster, Central London. Close to Oxford Street and Regent Street, it is home to fashion and lifestyle retailers, including a large number of independent fashion boutiques. |
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| Regent Street with Angel Christmas decorations down the road. |
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| Sister Burkinshaw in a light drizzle in front of Harrod's Department Store where she found a fun Christmas stocking ornament for our tree! |
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| Several dozen frosted star cookies baked by Sister Burkinshaw |
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| Elder Burkinshaw assembling the gift bags with the Little Star Story, lights and Christmas cookies. |
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| This is how the gift package turned out. Early one morning before we walked, we set out a gift package for each of our full-time temple ordinance workers. Sister Burkinshaw's cookies got rave reviews!! |
We now come upon him as he leaves the city, chuckling to himself in delight over the pain he will have caused children like little Cindy-Lou Who.
Three thousand feet up! Up the side of Mt. Crumpit,
He rode with his load to the tiptop to dump it!
“Pooh-Pooh to the Whos!” he was grinch-ish-ly humming.
“They’re finding out now that no Christmas is coming!
“They’re just waking up! I know just what they’ll do!
“Their mouths will hang open a minute or two
“Then the Whos down in Who-ville will all cry Boo-Hoo!
“That’s a noise, “grinned the Grinch,
“That I simply MUST hear!”
So he paused. And the Grinch put his hand to his ear.
And he did hear a sound rising over the snow.
It started in low. Then it started to grow …
But the sound wasn’t sad!
Why, this sound sounded merry!
It couldn’t be so!
But it WAS merry! VERY!
He stared down at Who-ville!
The Grinch popped his eyes!
Then he shook!
What he saw was a shocking surprise!
Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any presents at all!
He HADN‘T stopped Christmas from coming!
IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!
And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: “How could it be so?”
“It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
“It came without packages, boxes or bags!”
And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!
“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.
Maybe Christmas … perhaps … means a little bit more!”
(Dr. Suess, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, New York: Random House, 1957.)
Part of the purpose for telling the story of Christmas is to remind us that Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Indeed, however delightful we feel about it, even as children, each year it “means a little bit more.” And no matter how many times we read the biblical account of that evening in Bethlehem, we always come away with a thought—or two—we haven’t had before.
May we all remember the true meaning of Christmas.
Elder and Sister Burkinshaw
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