Konold Chronicles

Last weekend we took a drive through the Yorkshire Dales.  Many of the villages don’t really qualify as such–they are more properly “hamlets.”

The Dales are full of pastures and, this time of year, they are full of lambs.  You can watch them for hours as they “gambol” about.  That is when they do these hops with all fours leaving the ground.

There are a lot of streams–meaning some nice rock bridges.  Here is one in Buckton.

Here is the train version.

We spend all day on very narrow roads which are bordered by craggy rock walls like this.

Nice play between rocks and pastures.

It’s been awhile since we have reported on our Church History assignment.  We recently interviewed an 85 year-old sister who moved here to Chorley 18 months ago to be near the temple.  We went at our appointed time and after small-talk, I set up the recorder and explained it to her.  She moved away like it was a king cobra.  I explained how it worked and demonstrated by speaking and playing it back.  She would have none of it.   She wanted to tell us her story and didn’t want it recorded.  So we sat and listened to 3 hours of her story (her whole life).  It was fascinating, but completely unrelated to our project.  We left on very comfortable terms, but at the door she said, “that’s not what you came to hear was it?”  “No, but we really feel privileged to have heard what we did.”  She asked when we could come back to do our thing.  We made an appointment for the next week.  We got what we went for (her account of why she moved close to the temple and whether it has met her expectations).  She is the sweetest lady with a most interesting life.  About 6 years as a refugee after WW II.  Living in abandoned industrial kitchens and so on.  But, a wonderful story about moving all by herself, at age 85, to be on, what she calls, the “doorstep to heaven.”  She walks about 4-5 blocks to the temple at least 3 times a week through some bitter cold and a lot of rain–without a word of complaint.  Interestingly, the last two people we have interviewed are both converts who met the missionaries randomly (not referred by anyone).   Both were left a Word of Wisdom pamphlet on the first visit and both believed the Church was true after reading that pamphlet. Maybe we should move the WofW to the first discussion.

We are leaving for Paris on Tues. to take care of a couple of legal matters.  On the way back, we will meet Ryan and Heather in London for a couple of days then explore the Cotswolds on our way back up here.  Should have a good post in a couple of weeks.

Love to all.

I have been warned about the last few months of missionary service–that time flies like never before.  I am in the middle of that and trying to figure out why.  I think the primary reason is there is so much to finish and, clearly, not enough time to do it.  Today was especially stressful as I was updating my reports to indicate the expected completion date of the matters assigned to me.  I began to realize that, realistically, many cannot be completed in my remaining time. Another factor is the uncertainty of what is ahead. So far, I have not really given much thought to what I will do with my time when I return and I would just as soon put that off indefinitely. So, those are some of the factors that make me loose track of time until I am forced to look at it and see what little there is of it remaining.

On April 14, Kathy and I went to Paris so I could take care of some legal matters there.  While there, we hooked up with Steve and Karen Maynes from Frankfurt.  As soon as we got back, it was announced that Steve will be the next Director of Temporal Affairs in Europe–a tremendously responsible position–for which he is very well qualified.  We enjoyed getting to know them.  Steve has self-taught himself French and does quite well.  They have spent quite a bit of time in Paris so it was nice to have a guide and translator.  Around my meetings, we did get to see some of the beautiful sites of Paris.  Versailles is just a short distance from the Paris Temple (under construction)–so we took a quick look.  Kathy spent the day there and I joined her in the afternoon.  I was in suit, dress shoes and with briefcase–which I carried for most of the 10 miles of walking.  You heard it right, actually 10.67 miles like this:

The Paris Temple is nearing completion.  No Moroni on this one because of height limitations.

When we finished in Paris, we met Ryan and Heather in London for a couple of days and then brought them up home for a few more.

On our way home we drove through the Cotswolds (an iconic symbol of English country living). This picture was taken at the most photographed location in the Cotswold, the village of Castle Combe (which is not a castle at all).  This type and color of stone distinguishes the area.

During our time in the north, we took them to Conwy, Wales.  The below picture was taken at the Conwy castle.

We had a wonderful time with Ryan and Heather.  They are easy company, of firm faith, are raising a remarkable family, and they have a strong relationship after 16 years of marriage.  It was fun to share some of our favorite spots with them and see them enjoy the experience as much as we.  I believe they left with an warm memory of this land and its beauty and heritage–not to mention that we had 4 days of beautiful weather.  They are sure we have been lying about the crummy weather in England.