The Jones LDS Mission to the UK: Hints of Spring

Hints of Spring

These Victoria Gardens are just below the Royal Crescent in Bath overlooking the entire city.

The flowers are beginning to become radiantly colorful.

Even the walkway outside our flat is lined with evidences of the spring which are upon us.

Splashes of colorful crocuses are a welcome surprise as they push through the grass along walkways. (It's interesting how the English plant patches of flowers in their lawns). Lining the entrance roads to Solihull, we see daffodils beginning to bloom.

The daffodils are pushing...

Malcolm and the 'sick' day

Recently Malcolm Adcock (as well as others) has been struggling with a nasty cold and congestion. Though delighted to welcome him back to the office, we decided we needed a bit of "extra" protection to ward off the "bug" which seems to hang on for weeks! Joyce is the one on the left with the 'cute' nose just in case you didn't recognize my 'schnoz!'

Malcolm at the fountain laughing at our silly antics.

175th Anniversary Commemoration at Benbow Farm

Wilford Woodruff preached in this barn 175 years ago. Converting 599 of the 600 United Brethren who resided in the beautiful Malvern Hills, the Benbow Farm is now owned by the gracious Manning family who are friends to the Church and its members. John and Jane Benbow were 'baptised' on 6 March 1840. (Notice the British spelling as well as the date where the day always appears first without punctuation). Highlights of the commemoration included a special video from Elder Holland (who has family ties to the Benbows) followed by several speakers who addressed the generational significance of this historical Church event.

Louise Manning and Elder Jones visit before the event. More than sixty attended in what is affectionately called 'the preaching barn' by the Manning family.

Sister Labutti and Sister Jones prepare for the service. Joyce gave the invocation while Sister Labutti (a current missionary in the area and a direct descendent of one of the United Brethren converts) spoke and accompanied a choir with her harp.

The Town Crier vigorously opened the commemoration with a call to meeting and a greeting to the participants.

Elder Holland recounts his experiences at the Benbow Farm and Pond as a young missionary and as a member of the Area Presidency some twenty-five years later. The Benbow experience is a major part of the early convert stories of the Twelve Apostles sent to England by the Prophet Joseph in the midst of challenges faced by the young Church in America.

The pastoral Malvern hills are beginning to green and the sheep are about to be shorn in the next few weeks as the weather begins to warm ever so slightly.

'WHOA, GO' and 'GO, WHOA'

Our crossing guard just next to the 'roundabout' on School Road waves and greets us each day on our way to the office.

But before we receive the charming greetings from the crossing guard we risk our lives at the corner of Haslucks Green Road and Green Lane. As you can see by the 30 MPH speed warning sign(just above the grey car) which is almost always lit, most of the traffic is going a wee bit above that speed. Combine the speed with a hill, a blind corner, a vehicle with absolutely no power as it delays accelerating and the fact that we have to turn right... what do you get? Fright in its most fundamental form. Every morning you get Joyce looking left and Dan looking right to avoid the oncoming, speeding cars. Joyce will either say, "WHOA" or "GO" to indicate I should press my foot through the floor boards to 'beg' the Meriva to move. Occasionally, I get a "WHOA" followed immediately by a "GO!" Or I hear a fearful "GO" followed quickly by a "WHOA!" Needless to say, our morning prayers include petitions for safety while traveling as 'our hearts are in our throats' on a number of occasions while traveling to the office. Thank goodness for the wonderful British drivers who are watchful and courteous.

Bath, Stonehenge, Salisbury and Lacock

John Wood Sr and his son, John Wood Jr were the principal architects of Bath. Wood Sr. designed these homes called The Circular which form an entire circle around a lovely courtyard. The honey-coloured (originally white) stone was quarried by Ralph Allen's masons and was used on all the great houses in Bath.

View of Bath from the garden of the Paradise Hotel where we stayed... truly a break in Paradise.

The Royal Crescent was designed by John Wood the younger and is comprised of nearly 30 homes currently worth about five million GBP each and considered Grade I Heritage buildings meaning they have to look exactly like they did when initially constructed. Some of these have changes made by the Victorians (as opposed to their original Georgian owners). Current owners cannot modify or update anything on the exterior.

The Georgian architecture of The Circular and The Royal Crescent included elements of the Greek columns on each floor.

Doric, Ionic and Corinthian with Acorns on top of the building. Add windows that became smaller on each floor... pretty eclectic, huh?

The Roman Baths (yes, from 2000 years ago) gave rise to the city due to the warm mineral waters cherished by the 'ultra-clean Romans.' Later the Bath Cathedral in the background was started, but the medieval church ran out of money. The citizens of Bath rallied 'round the half-built structure and looted every stone from it. Queen Elizabeth was so concerned that she instituted a national tax to build churches due to the devastation and the Cathedral was magnificently rebuilt.

Jane Austen wrote about the daily activities in the Assembly Rooms of Bath. These rooms were the social centre of the the community (and perhaps England during some times of the year) and were controlled by 'Beau' Nash, the Master of Ceremonies, who effectively ran Bath by his social rules.
Nash became the benevolent dictator of the Assembly Room with its balls, tea rooms, gambling and eventual 'civilising' (British spelling) of the entire community of Bath.

The river Avon courses through the centre of Bath and the old city was connected with new sections of Bath in 1774 by the Pulteney Bridge. The bridge is functional as it houses shops which paid for its construction and it continues to support a dozen or so small 'tea shops.'

This ancient hotel's roof tells the story of life's possibilities to the citizens of Bath. If one worked hard and was blessed you could have a humble cottage as illustrated by the roofline on the left. With a little more effort and fortune you could own a town home as seen in the box window just to the right of the cottage. With more work and blessings from God, you could possess a Manor Home (in the middle with the pitched roof and two stories of windows). Ultimately, through toil and massive good fortune you could own the castle located on the right of the hotel's roof. Interesting architecture throughout Bath...

It is a magnificent site to see and archeologists are still debating who, why, what and how these stones were brought to this site 8 miles from Salisbury. The wind made this day a very cold visit to the ancients...

It's almost impossible to believe that these 40 tonne (British spelling) rocks come from over 100 miles away and were first brought here 4500 years ago or before recorded history. The large bluestones could be as old as 3000 BC.

Salisbury and its Cathedral

The spire on the Salisbury Cathedral is the tallest in England.

Joyce holding a copy of the Magna Carta at the Salisbury exhibition. Inside the display guests may see one of the four original documents still in existence. (Joyce holding a replica, with the original in the darkened tent behind her).

Elder and Sister Jolley as well as Dan just outside the Magna Carta exhibit.

The arches in the Salisbury Cathedral are magnificent.

Dan outside the Salisbury Cathedral which also has the oldest clock in the UK. Notice Dan on mobile (Cell Phone as we call them in the U.S.) answering Public Affairs questions.

Lacock (Wiltshire) is where Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Emma, and Cranford were partially filmed. It is preserved just is it was in the mid-1800s.

Joyce and Dan enjoyed the sun... a rare thing this past few months on the visit to this historic town.

Note the crooked wall and barn that Elder Jolley and Elder Jones are standing next to.

This country manor was actually a monastery and nunnery in medieval times and more recently provided some of the interior shots for Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Professor Dumbledore and Ron Weasley in the popular films.

Primary Activity and 'Mothering Day'

Joyce organised (British spelling) a Primary activity where the children framed letters for their mothers for 'Mothering Day.' She found the frames at a craft shop and the children decorated them with 3D sponge flowers and ladybugs, stickers and ribbons. The letters were very tender as each child, no matter what the age, expressed love and gratitude for their 'Mum.'

So, So Solihull

So historic
So beautiful
So convenient (airport, bus, train)
So upscale
So progressive
So friendly
So accesible

Solihull is home to the Land Rover production facility and headquarters.

There are beautiful homes and very fashionable gates on many of the mansions located in the town.

Our little block of flats (Eversleigh Court) has gates... not as fancy as those in this photo above.

Notice the front yards are almost all used for parking cars in the United Kingdom. Cars behind gates... English gardens (yards) are almost always behind the home.

The beautiful Solihull chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is conveniently located about two blocks from the High Street off Hampton Road.

High Street on Saturday (Main Street in the USA) is now completely pedestrian without the buses and cars.

Our favourite corner on High Street is the Flower Shop just across from the Touchwood Mall.

St Alphege's Church (1560) is the parish church whose construction contributed to the name of Solihull. According to legend, St Alphege's Church was positioned on a hill which was where the stiff red marl (loose, crumbly dirt) turned into a sticky mud in the wet weather. Thus 'soil hill' became known as Solihull and has since become one of the most prosperous towns in the English Midlands. In fact, it was named the "best place to live" in the United Kingdom last year.

Note the lack of flowers on the Solihull High Street lamp posts... Wait for another month and these will look like flowering trees.

The Merry-Go-Round in front of Marks & Spencers where President Hinckley would go to buy 'the best shirts in the world' according to those who remember visits to Solihull by that great prophet.

Humanitarian Auction on Red Nose Day

Alan Tong was a great Master of Ceremonies and Auctioneer. He got the very most out of each donation as he threatened to sing or continue to tell jokes until the item was sold!

Each year the British wear red for a day to raise funds for Comic Relief on Red Nose Day with charity auctions, donations, etc. We celebrate it just a bit differently by raising funds for the Church Humanitarian Aid. There were all kinds of donated items to auction and Dan bought every single 'chocolate' treat. He even outbid Joyce on several Cadbury Chocolate Easter Egg boxes!

Alan trying to auction his jalapeño bread with few takers until he started telling jokes. Then the bidding was furiously engaged... not for the bread, but to stop the jokes!

Everyone wore red on Red Nose Day. Pictured: Pauline from Church magazines and Sisters Banner and Russell in front of the auction table.

Note the donation trail of all our spare change that will go to Humanitarian Aid for the Church. Those in the office raised over 110 GBP to be donated for aid in the Europe Area.

Great Britain National Public Affairs Council Conference - 14 March 2015

Leaders from throughout the UK traveled great distances. Preparation for the day includes Dan as the technological guru, photographer, and creator of the 2014 Year-in-Review Video.

Elder Herbertson delivers a most inspirational message as he explains multiple evidences of the "hastening" of the work in Great Britain.

Martin Cook, the National Director of Public Affairs for Great Britain, did an outstanding job preparing the agenda. With his inspired vision the day was a grand success.

Joyce and Sisters Banner and Russell attend to hospitality by greeting at the door

as well as presenting a tasty continental breakfast later followed by a beautiful luncheon.

Multi-Stake Directors arrive from Scotland in the north to Bath in the south.

Between sessions, everyone takes advantage of the grand opportunity to network and socialize.

David Eaton, Community Outreach Coordinator, identifies many service opportunities.

Muti-Stake Directors collaborate on upcoming initiatives.

Stake Presidents and Priesthood Advisers discuss how to effectively lead their

stakes in media opportunities.

Eclipse of the sun in the UK

Today we experienced an 85% eclipse of the sun here in Solihull which was partially obscured by the cloud cover, making it an interesting 'eerie' experience.