22 March 2015

We had a very enjoyable outing yesterday with the Backmans and the Stevens.  Craig Stevens is the mission medical advisor for England.  They have only 4 months left on their mission.  Two of his brothers are also serving missions. We visited Skipton–home of one of the best preserved castles in England.  A portion of it is still inhabited by the family which purchased it in 1956 (for 20,000 pounds).  Portions of the castle were built in the thirteenth century. It is where much of the Battle of the Roses was fought (between Lancashire and Yorkshire).IMG_0182

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In the City, we found the LDS chapel (on Alma Terrace).IMG_0192

This morning, we attended the services of the Buckshaw Village Church at the invitation of our friend, Lachlan. It was a very friendly and relaxed service. It starts with coffee and tea and they start their service when they are through–whenever that might be. It is interesting that their congregation has grown to probably 100 people just from folks that move into Buckshaw Village (which is only about 12 years old). They meet in the Community Center. We had not previously met Lacklan’s wife, Karen. She was very nice and hospitable. Their minister, James, seems like a bright young man–a former actor–doing what he can to lead people to Christ. Near the end of the service, he invited the congregation to text him questions that had been troubling them. After a few minutes, he said, “I’m not receiving any texts. Have you no questions?” Several members said they had texted him questions–he was not getting them. So much for technology. So, he took questions in voice. Many very interesting questions, but we had to leave to make another meeting before he got to the answers. I committed Lachlan to take careful notes and fill me in.