Last Saturday, we drove with the Backmans into London. Our main purpose in going was to meet with our London outside counsel to get acquainted and go over open matters. But the secondary purpose was to have a weekend outing. Elder Backman drove our car since it is larger and more comfortable for a long journey. As soon as we started, there was a warning light and beeping from the dash. The manual indicated it was a warning that brake fluid was low. We drove for about 1/2 hour before we could take no more of the beeping and pulled over to buy brake fluid. Just as I was about to pay, Jim came in and said he found the problem. Something was under the hand brake and keeping it from going all the way down. Once cleared, the beeping stopped and we were on our way. I should mention that as soon as we pulled over, Kathy suggested we pray (which we did). Who am I to deny.
Driving in London is a trip, but Jim found our way (with excellent navigation from Lynn) to the Portabello Market on Notting Hill. Hundreds of open air booths with food, merchandise, and misc stuff. You could spend a month there.
We spent the first two nights at a hotel in the Canary Wharf area. Someone made a mistake in booking the rooms and they had us scheduled to check in Sunday rather than Saturday. So, the only rooms they had were in a section of the hotel they were expanding. The rooms were pretty sparse, but the hallways getting there were downright dangerous—like hardhat territory. Anyway, we had no alternative—so we stayed there for two nights. The second two nights, we stayed in the Hoxton area at the Premier Hotel. Much better accommodations. We got too late a start for church—which we really wanted to attend in the Hyde Park Ward.
On Monday, we took the underground to visit Parliament. Fortunately, we were able to observe both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Like turning the clock back with all the formality and tradition. Monday night Kathy and I took Tyler and Jess Woolcott to dinner at an Italian restaurant near our hotel. It was very nice to visit with them. Jess is a very impressive young lady and they seem very happy together—both artists and both very nice.
On Tuesday, Jim and I met with the Devonshires law firm. One of the most interesting parts of that visit was to go down in the basement of their building—which used to be an insane asylum. The basement was called “bedlum”. This is where the inmates were put in very small lightless cells with vault-like doors. The vaults are now used for storage and in the law firm’s vault are the original title documents relating to all the property the church has acquired in England. Original signatures of Brigham Young and all the original apostles. The church sent a couple of senior missionaries to microfilm all of the records. It took six months.
On the way home, we stopped at Coventry and toured the memorials of the cathedrals bombed to oblivion during WWII. I will not try to tell the story here—it can easily be found on the Internet; but what the church and the city have done to preserve the memories while forgiving the Germans is really quite remarkable. Below is a picture of what was a left of a large cathedral in coventry:
So, Thurs, I was back in the office and Kathy at the temple. The matters I deal with everyday are at once so interesting and yet, frustrating. Having to work with people who, in many cases speak limited English, and in others are in cultures where “hurry” doesn’t seem to be in the vocabulary. Things I should be able to resolve in a week go on for months or years. We have been trying tor 5 years to get a squatter off our property in Messina, Italy. The police remove him and he just goes back in. Today, it was reported to me that he now has three friends there “with the criminal face.” I can see them. In addition, he has dogs and chickens. When we put him out again, the police can put him on the street, but we have to make accommodations for his dogs and chickens (and maybe his friends). What a mess.
On the l4th, we got our phone and WIFI hooked up. It is alarming how dependent we become on technology and it is hard to retreat a couple of generations. In our area, we can only get a DSL line with speed of 1Mb/sec. Might as well send smoke signals. But it is better than nothing. Here is what our entertainment center looked like when the guy left:
We still don’t have TV, but we are not over-anxious about that. We are making good use of our evenings.
On Feb 16th, the Backmans brought us their favorite fish and chips food and we ate at our place. Kinda made us feel like newly weds again. After eating, we went out with the sisters to teach an investigator. A very nice young lawyer (whose wife is a nurse and works nights). He had a lot of questions and spent most of our time explaining the Godhead. We will continue meeting with him.
