BOBBIES ON BICYCLES?

A friend from the US asked us if we had seen any bobbies on bicycles yet. The answer is no.  We live on a fairly busy street, which we are set back from quite a bit, but we very often hear screaming sirens as police cars and ambulances race by at breakneck speeds. You had better get out of the way if you hear a siren!  Elder Adams almost got hit in a zebra crossing the other day, as he didn't hear the sirens til the last minute.  Of course, the police may have thought they were encountering the Unajogger.

We had a great day at the London Temple Visitors' Centre with Shu Jye our Chinese friend.  She is a visiting professor here from Mainland China.  She has been studying the lessons from the missionaries for a few months, and while at the Visitors Centre decided she wanted to be baptised. What a lovely person she is (and she cooks amazing Chinese food!).  It has been good to polish up our rusty Mandarin a little too.

Shu Jye, the Elders and Sister Adams

We took a stroll around the south bank of the River Thames the other day with another senior couple, and ate at a waterfront cafe.  There is always plenty of walking to do and always something to see.

The London Eye.  It is 443 ft tall. It is currently Europe's tallest Ferris wheel, the most popular paid tourist attraction in the UK with over 3.5 million visitors annually.  Did we ride it?  At almost $50 a ticket; no.

We attended this chapel for a baptism.  Quite a few of the chapels here seem to be 2 storey.  Our chapel is the Stake Centre and it is also 2 storey.  Real estate is so expensive here with an average flat in our neighbourhood costing about $680,000 and a detatched house costing over $2,606,000.  These are averages - nothing too fancy.

We had cleaning duty at the chapel this morning.  Oh how we love to clean - no seriously!

We buy these at the grocery store for £1. It is so fun to watch them open - almost like time lapse.  We sure hope they were ethically sourced!

We continue to visit less active or lost members - its funny how they all seem to live up a hill! We also go teaching with the Elders.  On Monday we are taking one of the Elders' golden investigators to the Hyde Park Chapel Visitors' Centre.  It is on the other side of the River Thames in the London Mission, and the Elders are not allowed to leave our mission.  Duane Cardall is the Director of the VC.  Some of us may remember him.

Headed down into the Underground (subway).

Dr Who?

Pancake Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday was last Tuesday.  It's kind of a fun day to celebrate in England.  It is the day before Lent starts and a traditional meal is pancakes, as people usually give up butter or eggs for Lent.  The YM/YW met together and played pancake games and races, and consumed numerous pancakes.  Lots of fun for all.

This is the traditional way to eat pancakes in England.  They are more like crepes and they are rolled up with lemon juice and sugar.  Pretty delicious.

We are still loving it here, and thoroughly enjoying the work.  We have been asked by our Mission President to study the missionary lessons in Mandarin.  It is really hard, just like it was the first time!  We are not sure how or where we will be using this Mandarin, but time will tell.