We Are Here! 16 May 2014

Thursday seemed to slide right into Friday and we felt a bit tired and worn out when we landed at Gatwick airport, England.  It was nice to see daylight and green landscape.  The weather was a little warmer than Salt Lake and the light sweater I was wearing became a little too much.  We made it off the plane and down to customs, filing into the "other country" line.  Our turn came and we approached the agent desk to find a very pleasant young woman who took our passports.  She began with Dad and right off he was shifty as his fingerprints she took there did not match what was coming up in the system.  She had him try it again without success.  She said not to worry; she would take care of me and then go to the office and check to see if Dad's photo matched his application they had on file.  I went through with flying colors.  She took Dad's passport to check in the main office, returning in about five minutes saying everything was in order.

We proceeded to baggage claim where we rented a cart and Dad began to hoist our baggage off the carrousel.  The Parkinson's got theirs and we were out the door to be greeted by Brother Atkins, the temple recorder.  He was ever so kind in helping with the baggage and lead the way to the temple mini bus in the parking lot.  The three men took time and effort getting all the baggage loaded in the back; we climbed into the seats and were on our way.

And on our way we were, traveling down narrow one-lane roads with minimal shoulder surface and lush green trees growing tall and in some places arching over the cars forming an arbor.  Driving on the other side of the road and the car was very different.  I just kept reminding myself it was okay and Brother Atkins knew what he was doing.    The traffic was thick, bumper to bumper, and making turns here and there.  The closeness to other cars was the greatest concern.  Arriving at the Temple grounds, we unloaded at the Accommodations Center where we will be staying in room 46.

Brother Atkins has been temple recorder for 17 years.

Accommodations Center and Moroni!

What we found in our flat when we entered.

We were greeted by President Crossland, counselor to the temple president, and given instructions to unpack and get settled, but not unpack everything as we were first on the list to move into a larger flat come next week.   We were to meet at 3:30 p.m. for the temple mini bus to take us to town and shop.    We worked at unpacking without unpacking everything but soon learned that was a challenge.  We did the best we could but knew we would  be getting back into the bags for various items.  Thinking about a shopping list was a bit crazy because we did not want to buy a bunch in anticipation of having to move it all in a few days.  We hurriedly threw one together, took a breath and were out the door to catch the mini bus.  We were informed it would be best to try to get on this time schedule as soon as we can, thus we did not try to take a nap, just waited for regular bedtime to come.

Front Door and Kitchen

The trip to town was most interesting, again driving on the wrong side of the road and van.  Brother and Sister Mulholland, from Canada, were our escorts and the Parkinson's were along as well.  We arrived in East Grinstead with buildings very close to the road.  He drove to the church to park to avoid parking fees.  We walked to a section of town close by that had  a store that sold mostly frozen foods, a street produce stand (He hollered out, "Strawberries, get your fresh strawberries here, 2 for 2 pounds 50.!"  He sounded just like the venders in My Fair Lady.), and a 99p store.  The "p" stands for pence and is equivalent to our dollar stores in America.  The men went down the street to check out the bank, of which we will open an account in next week.  We did not go into the frozen food store, but I did buy produce at the stand; apples, oranges, strawberries, bananas, carrots, and potatoes.  The oranges are delicious as well as the strawberries.  I was surprised at their quality.  Sister Mulholland gave us a tour of the 99p store.

Bathroom

We all met back together, loaded up, and traveled to a supermarket.  Brother Mulholland took us around and Sister Mulholland took the Parkinson's around for us to shop.  They were great to point out products to us and explain how to look for deals and bargains, and where to check the prices.  We exited with having spent  £45.  Upon leaving the store we noticed free wi-fi and I sent off a couple of quick texts to let family know we had arrived safely in England.

Living Space and Bedroom

Back at our flat, we unloaded the bag and put things away.  We made our way over to the manor house to have dinner with the Mulholland's.  They served a delicious meal of tossed salad, shredded beef on a bun with cheese, and a dessert of ice cream served on top of piping hot custard and mince pie.  The Parkinson's were there also and we all had a wonderful time in conversation.  We discovered that Sister Mulholland is a cousin to President Toone of our Arizona Tempe mission!

Back at the Accommodations Center, we located the Reading Room where there is free wi-fi.  We posted on the blog, sent some texts, and caught up on email.  We were tired and definitely ready for bed.

Reading Room