April 2019: A Busy Temple and Beautiful Spring Flowers!

The temple has been busy! We have had five weeks during 2019 where over a thousand endowments were performed compared to only one week during the nine months we were here during 2018. It has been wonderful to see these faithful saints come and serve. Many of the regulars have become dear friends and their stories of conversion and faithfulness are inspiring. As we watch many of them attend session after session for days in a row, we remember President Nelson's counsel last Fall.

"Now let’s turn to the topic of temples. We know that our time in the temple is crucial to our salvation and exaltation and to that of our families.

"After we receive our own temple ordinances and make sacred covenants with God, each one of us needs the ongoing spiritual strengthening and tutoring that is possible only in the house of the Lord. And our ancestors need us to serve as proxy for them.

"Consider the great mercy and fairness of God, who, before the foundation of the world, provided a way to give temple blessings to those who died without a knowledge of the gospel. These sacred temple rites are ancient. To me that antiquity is thrilling and another evidence of their authenticity.

My dear brothers and sisters, the assaults of the adversary are increasing exponentially, in intensity and in variety. Our need to be in the temple on a regular basis has never been greater. I plead with you to take a prayerful look at how you spend your time. Invest time in your future and in that of your family. If you have reasonable access to a temple, I urge you to find a way to make an appointment regularly with the Lord—to be in His holy house—then keep that appointment with exactness and joy. I promise you that the Lord will bring the miracles He knows you need as you make sacrifices to serve and worship in His temples." (Russell M. Nelson, "Becoming Exemplary Latter-day Saints", GC, October 2018)

We have offered to the members our assigned ward to keep their little ones, when we are not on shift, so the parents can attend a session together.  We have enjoyed spending time with these little ones and they have been very good. We call them our adopted grandchildren. This is Pippa--short for Phillipa (in the purple dress because purple is her favorite color), Eli - short for Elijah and baby Lara. They loved the tulips in front of the temple.

Tulips and Fall flowers in front of the Visitor Center with the Christus in the background.

One of our favorite bushes on the temple grounds in the Spring.

Spring in England has also arrived and although the weather continues to keep us guessing whether we need a coat, an umbrella, or short sleeves, the flowers have been beautiful around the temple as well as other locations that we have been able to visit this month. Our preparation day trips have taken us to:

STANDEN HOUSE - just a 15 to 20 minute drive from the temple and one of our favorite spots to go for lunch or just a nice country walk. It was built as a country home for a family with seven children so we have that connection also. The grounds are beautiful and it has a very nice Peter Rabbit type English vegetable garden. Follows are some of the Spring flowers at Standen House:

SCOTNEY CASTLE

The earliest record from 1137 gives the owner of the estate as Lambert de Scoteni.  Construction of the castle began as a roughly rectangular fortified house with towers in each corner.  The owner, Thomas Darrell, hid Jesuit Father Richard Blount, in the castle while he ministered to Roman Catholics from 1591 to 1598. Catholicism was then illegal in England, and during the second raid by authorities to arrest the priest, he fled over a wall into the moat and escaped.  

The Darrell family owned the estate for some 350 years. In 1778 Edward Hussey bought the estate and his grandson, also Edward, built the 'new' Castle in 1843 from sandstone quarried from the slope below. The hollow created was developed into a Quarry Garden and contains a 100-million-year-old impression of a dinosaur's footprint.

On Christopher Hussey's death in 1970 the estate was left to the National Trust. Several apartments in the castle and on the estate were let out by the Trust, with tenants including Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who rented the Belfry flat for a time during the 1970s and 1980s, when it served as a weekend escape for her from Westminster life. The castle grounds have played host to Shakespeare productions, notably A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Sister Bukinshaw standing in the front of New Scotney Castle or House.

Sister Burkinshaw by the front door of New Scotney Castle or House built in 1843.

Sister Burkinshaw on the back side of New Scotney Castle or House.

Elder Burkinshaw in the Courtyard of New Scotney Castle.

Scotney Castle, the original castle, with the garden as seen from the New Scotney Castle.

The original Scotney Castle and Moat. You can see the New Castle on the left.

In Victorian times and right up to the mid twentieth century, each year int he month of September, thousands of men, women and children from the East End of London would travel to Kent to pick hops. Often whole extended families would return to the same farms generation after generation. They slept sometimes ten to a hut and worked hard all day, but for many, their time hop picking was the highlight of the year. It was an opportunity to earn money, but was also a break from the grime of the city, and an opportunity for freedom and fresh air. This piece by Simon Conolly is priced at 4,000 lbs.

Close up of Hopping Down sculpture.

KEW PALACE 

Kew Palace is a British royal palace in Kew Gardens on the banks of the Thames up river from London. Originally a large complex, few elements of it survive. Dating to 1631 but built atop the undercroft of an earlier building, the main survivor is known as the Dutch House. Its royal occupation lasted from around 1728 until 1818, with a final short-lived occupation in 1844. 

When George III became king in 1760, aged 22, he almost immediately made arrangements to find a suitable wife. Charlotte was chosen because she was young, a protestant but above all, was considered amiable and not too intelligent, and she would also bear fifteen children.  King George III saw the relationship of Britain and America as that of a parent to a child and asserted his claim on the colonies strenuously, a strategy which did not serve him well. ;-)

Queen Charlotte's voyage to England from Germany was incredibly stormy and took fifteen days to complete. The fleet escorting the Queen was blown over to the Norwegian Coast three times. Charlotte was reported to have been so ill and lost so much weight that by the time she safely arrived, her wedding dress was too big for her.

Charlotte was queen and wife to King George III for 57 years. These were difficult years for the British monarchy, and Charlotte played an important pat in keeping the royal family relevant. She remained loyal to her husband, and though her patronage of industry, the arts and charity work, she reminded the people of the benefits of monarchy. Most importantly, she raised and educated 15 children, ensuring the line of succession. In 1837, 19 years after her death, her granddaughter Princess Victoria became Queen Victoria.

On the 11 July 1818 a royal wedding took place at Kew Palace. In fact, two royal weddings took place at the same time. The weddings had to be arranged quickly because there would soon be no more heirs to the throne, and all of George and Charlotte's sons were middle-aged. William, Duke of Clarence (later William IV), married Princess Adelaide. Edward, Duke of Kent, married Princess Victoria. As King George III was too unwell. Queen Charlotte had to be present at the wedding. She was not in good health herself and could not leave Kew or even walk down to the larger rooms on the ground floor, so weddings were held upstairs. Although William and Adelaide lost two daughters in infancy, Edward and Victoria had a daughter in 1819 who survived. This little girl was crowned Queen Victoria in 1837 and reigned for 63 years.

Sister Burkinshaw always appreciates the musical instruments, this is a pipe organ.

Living area in Kew Palace.

This Piano in Kew Palace is on loan from Windsor Castle and was located in the living area near the pipe organ.

Charlotte's bed chambers, appreciated the baby portraits on the walls.

Princess Elizabeth's bed chamber.

KEW GARDENS and PALM HOUSE

The gardens and and Palm House were amazing. We thoroughly enjoyed are walk around the grounds and got some awesome ideas for fall flowers with a mix of tulips in the Spring.

Very, very large tree on the grounds at Kew Palace - it was amazing!

What a tree climbers dream, I'm sure we have a few grandchildren that the fence might not be enough to keep them from trying out this tree.

The pictures of these flowers look good, but in real life they were just stunning. 

Sister and Elder Burkinshaw in front of one of the beds of flowers. The building in the background is the Palm House and the pictures that follow the plaque are inside the Palm House, which as you can see has been restored and opened again in 1990.

It isn't hard for us to find a reason to go out to dinner and on this particular occasion we are celebrating Sister Guenther and Sister DuToit's (2nd and 3rd on the left) birthdays. 

Sister Davenport, Brother Davenport, Sister Guenther, Brother Guenther, Sister Wolsey, Bother Wolsey and Sister Burkinshaw poses with the Holstein cows before our final dinner with the Guenther's at the Red Barn before they completed their mission.

Saying good-bye to the Guenther's. Left to right Elder Burkinshaw, Sister Day, Brother Day, Sister Guenther, Elder Guenther, Sister Wade, Bother Wade, Sister Freeman and President Freeman. The Freeman's are responsible for missionary transportation so they get to make lots of visits to both Gatwick and Heathrow Airports.

Easter dinner at Brother and Sister Wolsey's with the Linford's, Russ' and Davenports. Elder Burkinshaw wanted a picture of the delicious food, but forgot to get us in it. This was our second meal for day as we had lunch with Lewis and Bethany Smith and family.

Sister Davenport taking a picture with Bother Davenport smiling for our camera. Brother Davenport and Sister Burkinshaw discovered they were 4th cousins through the Erye line.

Easter bunny fun at the lodge - Brother and Sister Day (the B shift coordinators) put these two bunnies on the floor by the door of their flat again this Easter. Sister Nora Jensen decided she would have some fun with it. Obviously she figured the Day's needed at day off at the beach collecting seashells, which they haven't gotten yet.

She even brought in some recruits to take their place and as you can see from the pencil (always a pencil as changes are a fact of life) and a ROTA (worker schedule) for the day, for most of us reading glasses are also needed!

On Easter morning (Sunday) they all had time for hot cross buns and some herbal tea.

What a wonderful month it has been and we had such a nice Easter week in part because we followed the Come Follow Me outline (shown below) and studied the Final Week of the Savior's earthly life through scripture and the Bible Videos recently produced by the Church. So in case you missed that opportunity we encourage to take a few days or a week and read the passages below as well as watch the Videos listed under Final Week that correspond with the passages. 

Come Follow Me for Individuals and Families - Week of April 15-21, Jesus Christ has power to help me overcome sin, death, trials, and weaknesses. One way to focus on the blessings of the Savior’s Atonement this week is to spend time each day reading about the last week of Jesus’s life (a possible reading schedule follows). What do you find in these chapters that helps you feel the Savior’s love? What do you learn about His power to deliver you from sin and death? What do you learn about enduring trials and overcoming weaknesses? How are you exercising faith in His power of deliverance?

Sunday: Triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:6–11)

Monday: Cleansing the temple (Matthew 21:12–16)

Tuesday: Teaching in Jerusalem (Matthew 21–23)

Wednesday: Continued teaching (Matthew 24–25)

Thursday: The Passover and Christ’s suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26)

Friday: Trial, Crucifixion, and burial (Matthew 27:1–61)

Saturday: Christ’s body lies in the tomb (Matthew 27:62–66) while His spirit ministers in the spirit world (D&C 138)


Sunday: The appearance of the resurrected Christ (Matthew 28:1–10)

We share our witness also that He Lives, that He is real and we are so grateful for the opportunity to build His kingdom on both sides of the veil here at the London temple. Truly the most wonderful thing about Spring is the reminder that we too will LIVE AGAIN.

Cheers,
Elder and Sister Burkinshaw