There he seated us on a little bench and explained some of the expansive view before us. It was glorious. And then, he told us to listen. You could faintly hear the Sunday bells from some church in the valley below.
Elder Meese took a number of photos, but none will capture the feeling of being in the quiet of that morning overlooking that glorious Lancashire vista.
Richard said he probably wouldn't be able to make it to the combined ward party (I'll tell about that later) Wednesday, and he wanted to give us this gift before we left.
On our way down toward town, he stopped to pick us a souvenir.
Luckily, he's a cyclist, in great shape. He hopped across the dry stone wall and was back with the prize in no time.
It's now pressed under several copies of the Book of Mormon. Thank you, dear friend, for a morning we'll never forget.
So people ask if we've started to pack. Haven't even thought about it until today. We still have 'places to go and people to see'.
Elder Meese is still holding Family History training sessions for both Preston and Lancaster Districts.
Here are some interesting facts! Elder Nelson (right) has his lineage traced back past the 1200's. By the way, his beautiful 'ginger' hair is evidently not so sought after in England. They have more 'ginger' jokes than we have blonde jokes! Interesting.
His companion, Elder Pape, (second from right below) is a descendant of Bro. Martin...of the Martin handcart company!
I don't think I mentioned that we held a sunday school class party a couple of weeks ago. Elder Meese thought it would be fun to let the kids hike up the tower on St. Wahlberg's church.
This picture doesn't do it justice, but looks taller than the Preston temple spire! There are 189 stairs, which the class bounded up in less than five minutes. Then we went to our house for lunch and a couple of games. It was a good time.
We're going to miss this group. For a mixed group of twelve to eighteen year olds, they have become quite united and focused in class. So different than a year ago!
This last week, Elder Meese also found an 'old friend'. Last year he wanted to go see the oldest lady in Preston Ward - Ellen Huntriss. She was 101 and lived in assisted accommodations. Well, he wanted to say good-bye to her before we left. And even though she'd been moved to a new facility with more care, he found his 102 year old friend. She was just as bright as ever, and seemed quite excited to see him again.
Talk about longevity! I guess all her years of hiking English peaks and 'pot holing' down into the caves kept her in pretty good form. She now has a walker, but she still gets around!
Okay, earlier in the post I mentioned a combined ward party. Both South Ribble and Preston are gathering tonight to say good-bye to us. I was originally pretty embarrassed by the idea, but then realised this will be what we've hoped for! We have really wanted to see our two wards mix together . They don't seem to have any activities that throw them together, and they both need to shake hands across the borders once in a while. They are doing desserts and drinks, and word has it that there might be square dancing. Anyway, I'm excited. So I will close this post and get ready for the evening....leaving you with another gorgeous view, this one from Ribchester near Bro. Wellington's beautiful home.
Love you all!
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