Fun Games at Primary Activity Day

Here are pictures of some of the fun games we played at the Primary Activity Day we held this Saturday at our home. In the top left hand picture the blindfolded child trys to discover who has taken the keys and hidden them on themselves. In the other pictures the children had to put their hands behind them and stand on one leg and pick up a cereal box with their mouth. It is much harder for adults, let me tell you!!! I think Ammon was the champ at this game because he is so agile.

Primary Activity Day

We didn't have all of our children with us this Saturday for our Primary Activity Day but for those that came it was a lot of fun. It was at our home and we had prepared some fun food and then played some great games. In the top left hand picture is Lisa Shambrook, our great Primary President, Joseph Greenhalgh, Caitlin Shambrook, Ammon Greenhalgh, Martha Williams and Joshua Greenhalgh. I have grown to love these children very much. In the bottom left hand picture are the three Greenhalgh brothers and such good boys they are. In the upper right hand picture is my special friend, Martha Williams and in the bottom right hand picture is Caitlin Shambrook, the Primary President's lovely daughter.

Our Great District Meeting at our Home

This week because there was funeral at the chapel where we usually hold our district meetings, we held our district meeting at our home. I am sorry the one picture is so dark. We had subs and goodies for them and we really felt like a family. It was a great meeting. Elder Hummer, our district leader had each of us tell why we decided to serve our mission and it was a very spiritual experience. We live these choice servants of the Lord.

More Beautiful Fall Folage

By the hospital was this beautiful tree starting to turn a lovely rust or orange color and there are trees and bushes everywhere now with these red berries all over them. It is just so fallish ( is that a word?) Oh well that is the way I feel, so if it isn't a word I just created a new one.

Fall is in the Air

My favorite time of the year is Fall until the first of the year. How I love the holidays during these months and will miss sharing them with my family but will share them with dear friends here in Wales. There is Fall in the air with the brisk, coolness of the weather, leaves starting to turn and heavy laden fruit trees. Here is a picture of Brother Dower in his apple, pear, plum and cherry tree orchard. He gave us some "English Apples" off of the tree you see in the picture. Isn't the foliage on the Pub beautiful??

Wonderful Llanelli Missionaries and Friend

This week we worked in Llanelli again and worked with the full time elders in visiting some less active members. We are here at the Harvester having lunch with a new friend, Martin Walters and Elder Stoddard from Idaho and Elder Benthin from Denmark. These two elders are really working this area like it should be done and we love being with them. We are so happy we have met Martin and that he is coming to the Llanelli Ward.

A Magical Correction to a Mistake

Elder Crandall and I were in England on Monday doing flat inspections and when we were in Yates we were only a mile from where his ancestor, Elder John Crandall originated from. Therefore we decided to stay overnight and see the sites. We have not taken a day off in 9 months and wanted to celebrate the half way mark of our mission. Elder Crandall had made hotel reservations but when we were telling the elders about them, they said. "Do you know that hotel is out of our mission?" Oh dear--wanting to be obedient, we canceled our reservation and opened the little phone book that we found in Yates. There were a two star and a four star hotel available within a few miles. We checked out the two star hotel and it looked like a hotel out of a horror movie. So we decided to go to the four star hotel. How about this converted CASTLE!!! Wow, see what obedience does for you. It was delightful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

The Tortworth Court Four Pillar Hotel

Here are the Prince and the Princess for one night at the beautiful Tortworth Court Four Pillar Hotel. The Tortworth Estate has been the ancestral home of the Ducie family for some 350 years. It was used as a hospital during world war II and now is a lovely Hotel. We loved our stay here and will probably go back before we come home.

Tortworth Court Four Pillars Hotel's Grounds

This is the sight we had on every side of us at the Hotel we stayed at when we went to see the Crandall sites in Westerleigh. It was heavenly!!!

Inside the Thornbury Hotel

Here are just a few views of the Thornbury Hotel. It was beautiful and very atmospheric. I felt like I was a princess just this one time in my life!!!

Westerleigh, England

Our immigrant ancestor, Elder John Crandall was born in Westerleigh, England believed on Feb 15 1617/1618. Westerleigh is a village nestling just outside of Bristol. Elder John Crandall is believed to be one of the founders of Westerly, Rhode Island USA. He is credited as being one of the few settlers who actually paid the Indians for their land. As a young man he embraced the belief that the Bible taught baptism by immersion as opposed to infant baptism. It was said of him when he died that he conducted regular Sunday services in his home, indicating over 30 years of worship in Westerly prior to the formal organization of the church.

St James The Great Parish Church

Here in the village of Westerleigh, England is the parish church where our immigrant ancestor, Elder John Crandall went to church and was baptized. The original church was a chapel of Pucklechurch and was consecrated by the Bishop of Worcestor on April 16Th 1304. It consisted of the present nave, chancel and sanctuary. The south tower and porch were added in the 15Th century. For over 700 years this church has stood as the heart of the village, Westerleigh, both spiritually and physically.

The Churchyard of St James the Great

We walked around the churchyard of this Norman built church from the 1300's. Graves of its former parishioners were in the yard--some sections well tended and others left to nature. The only ancestor we know that is buried here, according to official church records, is Elder John Crandall's mother, Eleanor, who died in June 1618.

Inside the Church Parish, St James The Great

Here is Elder Crandall at the door of the church parish, St James The Great. This is the parish in which Elder John Crandall our immigrant ancestor was baptized. That is the baptismal font where he was baptized on 15 Feb. 1617/1618.

More of the Insides of the Church Parish, St James The Great

Here we are inside the church parish, St James The Great. A picture of St James is shown here. St James was a fisherman and was one of the first followers of Jesus. He is called St James The Great to distinguish him from St James the Less, another of the twelve apostles per the information we found at the church. They also have a lovely organ.

Evidences of the Age of St James The Great Parish Church

Inside the parish church, St James The Great we found several evidences of the age of this church from the 1300's to the 1600's. Amazing and the church was still being used in this village every Sunday.

St James The Less Parish Church

In the village of Iron Action we found the parish church of St James The Less where Nicholas Crondall served as their vicar. Elder John Crandall was his great-great grandson and is our immigrant ancestor. The services held in this church are Anglican (Church of England).

Outside St James The Less

Here are Elder Crandall and I outside the small parish church, St James The Less, where Elder John's great-grandfather, Nicholas Crondall (there were a variety of ways Crandall was spelled in early England) had been vicar in 1577. We went inside and out and felt a part of our family's history as we viewed these awesome surroundings.

Awesome Garden at St James The Less Parish

Here is a Prayer Cross that they preached from in the 1500's. Imagine the stories that could be told from this graveyard. Most of the inscriptions on the grave stones were so old they were worn off but we did see some in the 1600's that you could barely read. It was very fasinating!!

An Interesting Tablet in St James The Less

We found this tablet in the parish, St James The Less, dated in 1897, commemorating Queen Victoria's reign of 60 years.

Beautiful Insides of St James The Less

More Beautiful Insides of St James The Less Church

The Church Warden at St James The Less

Here in the parish, St James The Less we met the church warden, Mike Wheeler and he was most helpful and told us much about the church. Here is where they christened the church members into the church.

Interesting doors in St, James the Less

The Churchwarden told us that the red door led up to the bell tower where they went to ring the church bells. The other door (look how narrow it is) was where they put the parishoners when they had gotten drunk or committed some crime. It was the jail for them in that day. The room was as small as the door and they had to stand up for part of their punishment. It was back when the church ran everything. I think it might have curtailed a few crimes because I know that I would have passed out having to stand that long and in that enclosed dark space.

St Michael's Parish Church

Here in Winterbourne, England, we found St Michael's Parish Church where Elder John's great-grandfather, Nicholas Crondall had been vicar in 1583. Something happened to the steeple back then and there were some disagreements with the way the repair had been handled. The local lore states that the steeple fell on "olde Mr. parson Crondall", killing him. I couldn't get very good pictures here and the church was locked and my battery died after a full day of taking many pictures.