Neeley Mission Log: May 2016

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Temple Visit on Preparation Day

At was a lovely Tuesday to go to the temple. We took the tube to Victoria Station and bought tickets on the Southern Rail. With our 60+ Oyster Cards, all travel within Zones 1 to 6 is free, as well as most trains traveling after 9:30 a.m. We buy extensions on the East Grinstead Line to Lingfield. It is lovely to see the green hills and farmland as we get out into the countryside. We called Western Taxi to take us the 2.7 miles from the Lingfield Station to the temple.

We went to the 11:15 am and 1:30 pm endowment sessions. We were asked to be the witness couple in both sessions. There were just a few patrons in each session, it was peaceful and beautiful. It reminded us how important each one of God’s children are to Him.

We visited the couples and sisters in the London Temple Visitors’ Centre there and Pat walked around taking photos of the grounds. The gardeners were hard at work, planting flower beds and mowing the grass. The VC hosted a luncheon for some local friends and were happy to have 16. The roads in the area don’t all have sidewalks and are quite narrow. That makes it hard for people to just walk into the temple grounds to look around.

One of the senior Elders took us to the train station in his purple car:) We took some time lapse pictures on the ride back to London. We had dinner at Victoria Staton “Fresh Pizza Co.” It was a brilliant day!

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Dover Day

On a recent prep day we rented a car and visited the white cliffs of Dover. This was fun and adventurous for Pat and a bit nerve racking for Linda!

Our first stop in Dover was to visit the Dover Castle. Up on the hill, it was hard to miss.

Henry II's Great Tower

Entrance to the castle was via Colton's Gate, built in the early 13th Century

Colton's Gate

First stop was the Church of St Mary-in-Castro

Church of St Mary-in-Castro

Interior view of the church

Dover harbor viewed from the top of the castle

It was windy on top

Overlooking the harbor from the tunnels used in staging "Rescue from Dunkirk"

Dover homes as seen from the castle

Linda on one of the castle stairways

Recreation of a castle bedroom

Recreation of a castle dining room

Perhaps our favorite part of the castle was the 60 minute tour of the tunnels called "Operation Dynamo:Rescue from Dunkirk" where over 338,000 troops were rescued from France during WWII. Admiral Sir Bertram Home Ramsay directed the rescue from these tunnels in the early part of the war. He later helped plan and direct D-Day from the same location.

After the castle tour we ventured out for a walk along the white cliffs.

Our final stop was Canterbury. We drove, parked, and walked to the Cathedral just in time for Evensong. Beautiful!

We love to study the scriptures

We really enjoy companion scripture study these days. We find amazing gems every time we do. Today we read 1 Nephi 15:11--

"Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said? --If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you."

Everyday we have the opportunity to invite people who come into the Visitors' Centre to read the words of God found in the Book of Mormon and ask God if they are true. The Book of Mormon surely is "Another Testament of Jesus Christ."