We returned to Lancaster for our Stake Conference and we met the new Elders who are assigned there. The Elder on Sister Luke's right is Elder Gibbs and the one on the left is Elder Hill. It being a very small world in the church, we discovered that Elder Gibbs is the brother of two sisters that we worked closely with on our last mission. One was the relief society president and the other the activities chair for the young adult ward in Westlake. They were wonderful young ladies and their brother is no different.
We also had our Thanksgiving feast yesterday and invited ward members, less active members and one investigator to share it with us. It was a touch of home.
Finally, we have added two new words to our vocabulary. Sister Luke is standing in a "ginnel" which is a small lane between homes that makes it easy to pass from one street to another. Elder Luke is standing in a "skipit", (not sure of the spelling), which seems to us to be also a small lane between streets. If anyone can tell the difference, let us know.

Dickensian Christmas

Today we visited nearby Ulverston where they were having a Dickensian Christmas Festival. Many of the townspeople dress in costumes of the time of Dickens and they hold a street festival- carnival. These were some of the folks we saw. I have also included a picture of the village church, which is so very typical of almost every village. There is such a sense of history here.

We have a new district now which meets in Workington, about two hours north of Barrow in Furness, in the north of the Lake District. The picture was from our first meeting. Seated from left is Elder Turner, Elder Runyan, Elder Whiting (Junior Zone Leader) and Elder Baldwin. The second row is Sister Runyan and Sister Luke. The back row is Elder Desir, Elder DiIulio, Elder Farrant (District Leader), Elder Farley and Elder Kimmerle (Senior Zone Leader).
The next picture is of our car repair shop. Don't worry, they also do car wrecking.
The final pictures were from our last ward activity which was a Trunk or Treat (Boot or Treat). We are standing with Katie, one of the primary children who loves all things Egyptian, and the Grim Reaper is the acting Bishop in the Ward (the Bishop is on leave at present). It was great fun and was organized by the YM and YW in the ward.

This was a fairly typical trip down the lane near our farm cottage. First is the view out the rear and we see a tractor on our bumper. The view out the front shows why the tractor is so close, namely the herd of cows walking down the lane for milking. You can just see the farmer herding them with his Quad. Then, a bit further down the lane we find the horse and rider blocking our way (remember we drive on the left). The road sign beyond the horse means I can now travel at 60 mph, which is crazy because the road is frequently just wide enough for one car and you just might meet a tractor or a lorry at any moment. The road hazards here are amazing and a source of never ending heart attacks. Notice the doorway of the house opens right onto the road in the horse picture. This is usual also as the roads were once walking lanes between cottages.
The final picture is from a recent trip to Grasmere in the Lake District with some Fall colors. We truly love the Lake District!

Holker Hall

Our latest "Hall" visit was in the picturesque village of Cartmel, complete with a city wall and gate. The Hall is called Holker Hall and was destroyed by fire in 1750. It was reconstructed in 1785 and is by far the most beautiful Hall we have seen. The rooms are spacious and wonderfully decorated. It was owned by the Lowther, Bagot and Cavendish family, who were all well situated at court (Chancellor of the Exchequer) and obviously very wealthy. As it happens we have seen several family members around the Halls whom we recognized from their pictures while on the tour, so we know they still live there today. Missions are such tough duty, but someone hast to do it. :) Seriously, we are visiting less actives and investigators as well as touring.
The last picture is of our taking Joan to feed the geese in Leece. As you can tell, she was less than thrilled.

Senior Missionary Conference

We attended a Senior Missionary Conference that was held at Eaves Hall, an old mansion that has been converted into a hotel near Clitheroe. The place is shown behind Joan and was lovely. After lawn bowling, croquet and golf, we had the conference. The next day we all headed to the temple. Next to Barbara and Larry in the picture of the group is Pres. and Sister Jacobsen on our left and Elder and Sister Jarvis on our right. Sister Jarvis was from Bakersfield and used to play duets with my sister, Marcia. What a small world this is.
The next day we did a zone conference tour of church history sites in the area. We started in Liverpool where we visited Albert Docks and the Maritime Museum there. Next we went to Preston where we were rained on (see the video) while trying to see where the first baptisms in England were done. Finally we visited a small town near Preston called Downham, where the early missionaries were quite successful. The village is owned by a Lord Ashton and he allowed us to use his restored village church for the conclusion of our conference. President Jacobsen is standing in front of the window where Elder Fisher played the violin. It was a wonderful day.
Finally, I have included a picture of a new Elder in our district, Elder Turner. He is Elder Di Iulio's new companion in Kendal. He is a wonderful Elder and we love him already.

Hall Hopping

With Joan visiting for three weeks, we tried to see some of the amazing old Halls in the area. First stop was Levans Hall which is well known for their wonderful topiary gardens. The other Hall is known as Sizergh Castle and again the gardens were spectacular. Both are still lived in by their original families, which have owned the Halls since medieval times.

Furness Abbey

While Larrys sister, Joan, was visiting, we made a visit to Furness Abbey, which is quite close to our Ward House in Barrow. It was an immense structure as can be seen in the pictures. I especially like the Choir seats. The structure was built in the 1300's and destroyed while Henry the Eighth was trying to do away with all things Catholic. At one time they ruled most of the Barrow Peninsula. The stream provided their cooking water as well as being their latrine. Nice, eh?

We had transfers this week and Elder Soule and Elder Durkin have moved. Elder Pimentel has come to Barrow as his first assignment since being in the MTC in Chorley. He appears to be a wonderful missionary with a strong testimony. Elder Tomita will be his trainer. His stake president was President Jacobsen's brother back in Fremont, California.
Joan, Larry's sister arrived also this week and we took a day trip and visited Muncaster Castle which is one of the most haunted castles in England. There were beautiful gardens and an amazing castle. The same family has lived there since around 1050AD and we saw the Lady of the castle on our way out of the grounds. After the castle we went on the La'al Ratty, a small gauge railroad that travels up into the Eskdale Valley to Dalegarth for Boot (they have interesting names for places). The scenery was amazing and we got close enough to the wildlife to reach out and touch them; it was quite an adventure. The picture with the stream is where we exited the railway. Words cannot describe the beauty we beheld this day.

A family, who are not members of our church, had a fire in their home that was contained to the kitchen. Unfortunately, they had no fire insurance and the kitchen was a total loss. We and the Elders volunteered some time to help them take down plaster and clean walls prior to redoing everything. It was a messy job but it felt good to serve them. Who knew a mission would be so varied.
The ward had a class on how to use wheat storage in case of a disaster. Elder Soule and Elder Tomita learned how to make cookies. They could not wait to cook them however.
Elder DiIulio and Elder Durkin had a baptism coming up so they had Elder DiIulio try on clothing to see if it would be large enough. The baptism was in Lake Windemere, which was cold but so very beautiful.

Natalie came to visit us from Germany, where Jason is stationed in the Army. She came for a month with Ilana and Jackson since her husband, Jason, has just been shipped back to Iraq and they didn't want to stay in Germany by themselves all of August. Natalie helped us look up less active members who she knew were active 8 years ago when she was in Barrow in Furness on her mission. She was a wonderful help and the members were all so excited to see her and her sweet little family.

We passed this garden wall everyday when we lived in Heysham. Flowers like this are blooming everywhere you look. We took a trip to Heysham with the kids to show them where we lived and to see our special friend, Joy, the lady who looks just like my mother.
Here are Ilana and Jackson at the beach just 300 feet from the Farm House in Goadsbarrow. Natalie and the kids enjoyed the butterfly house, this water fall is below the Butterfly house in Lancaster.
When cute little children are naughty, you just put them in a phone booth and tell them we'll call them later when they are good again.

Here is a picture of a few of the Geese from Leese. The others were on the water or around the other side of the pond.
They always follow our little blue car when we drive by because they know we feed them.
Here is a shot of the pig farm. There are about 150 pigs here now but most of them were behind the wood chip piles.
This is our local Pub/Restaurant where we can go for a nice meal that costs about $20.00 a person. They specialize in King Henry Lamb Roast, yum!!!
Here is our grandson, Jackson, (Natalie's cute son) on a little tractor in front of part of the Farm House. They loved visiting Poppy's Farm. That is Elder Soule hiking under the water fall on our Ward walkabout to Ingleton Falls.