Top Photo: Brother and Sister Masih in from to of their home at 82 Alder Road, Coventry, England. Their home runs from their front door where they are standing to the outer wall of the window on the right. The window on the left is the neighbor's house. You can see it is narrow, but runs deep. They have a backyard, or garden as they call it, the same length and width of the house and a garage at the end of that.
We went to church with them and met their daughter and the rest of her family. Pictured, left to right: Dad, Me, Sister Hale, Sister Masih, Aniyah age 7, Aron, Ammon, Ajay, Serose (They call her Rose), Amrit age 2 1/2, Billa, Akaash age 5 mo, and Brother Masih. They are such wonderful saints, faithful in living the gospel. We were treated with Ammon being a youth speaker; talking about FSY and the mini mission he just completed. Then, Rose was a speaker and talked about her Book of Mormon hero, Ammon! Go figure that one! She talked about the courage it takes to be a missionary, the support of family and friends, and a testimony that Heavenly Father lives, loves us, and is there to guide when we are humble and listening for the spirit.
We had a great gospel doctrine lesson and the teacher facilitating the discussion. After the class, he asked Dad if he was the missionary at the London temple that received a fedex package in June? He said he was and the brother said he is the supervisor over the lady that assisted us on the phone when we got our package! It is a small world in the church.
The ward has 5 sets of missionaries, four elders, and one sisters. We met most of them and enjoyed conversation. Sister Hale found an elder from Oregon and I found a sister from Arizona; Tucson to be specific. Her dad, Brother Gardner was the institute director at the UofA a couple of years ago and then they moved to Utah. It was so nice to talk to someone from Arizona!!!!
We all gathered at the Masih's after church for a family dinner. Sister Masih was so excited for us to meet her daughter's family and then her other daughter, Karen, showed up for dinner. The table was set for the guests, Ammon, Ajay, Aniyah, Brother Masih, and Billa. The women, including Aron, waited until we were all finished and then they ate. Although, they said they had eaten while preparing the meal. This is their custom: Guests and Men of the family eat first.
Rose brought an Indian chicken dish and rice. Sister Masih prepared an English meal of roast lamb, gravy, mint jelly, steamed carrots, roasted potatoes, green salad, and peas. The Indian food was very tasty and the lamb was delicious. I liked the mint jelly on it.
Little Aniyah was the chatty one. She sat next to Dad and wanted to know where we were from. He told her and that we have snakes and lizards where we live. She scrunched up her face. I told her we have cactus, but she didn't know what that was. We described them and another scrunch came up. She likes English food and not Indian food. She is looking forward to her baptism when she turns 8, and is not excited about starting back to school on Tuesday.
It was time to leave, we loaded up and were on the road at 3 p.m. Brother Masih led us to the motorway entrance, which is a round about, and we were on our way with Sister Hale. It was motorway all the way to the Preston temple, but we mistakenly took an exit before we got there and traveled the last five miles on country roads through a couple of towns. It was very picturesque and we arrived safely at our distention just after 5:30 p.m.
It seemed the closer we got to Preston, the countryside opened up even more than before. We could see for some distance and noticed fields, livestock, towns, and hills. It felt so open! I have really missed the wide open spaces of Arizona, that is for sure.
We checked in at the accommodations center, unpacked, and left to find supper. Dad is feeling much more confident in driving, just has to remember to drive on the LEFT side of the road. We stopped in at a Fayre & Square, didn't find anything on the menu we wanted, so I did an Internet search for McDonald's. Bingo! Are we sad or are we sad. Yes, we drove to it and had supper.
The temple is in the town of Chorley. It is much more modern in construction than the many other towns we have driven through. We drove around the mall and found a grocery store we can stop at tomorrow.
When we got back to the temple, we got the camera and took some pictures. Brother Shaftoe, the security guard, was locking the gates but let us in and visited with us as we took photos.
Dad remembered a childhood poem about Bobby Shafto, and asked Brother Shaftoe if he knew it. Not only did he know it, he recited it for us!
He said: "Although I am not Bobby Shafto, my brother is Robert Shafto, hence 'Bobby Shaftoe,' and he did go to sea!"
BOBBY SHAFTO
Bobby Shafto's gone to sea,
Silver buckles at his knee;
He'll come back and marry me,
Bonny Bobby Shafto!
Bobby Shafto is bright and fair,
Panning out his yellow hair;
He's my love forever more,
Bonny Bobby Shafto!
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