A Trifle ?

 The sunshine was radiant today, spilling itself lavishly down over the landscape.  We took a lovely walk in the afternoon and found a new walk by one of the Thames tributaries.  I think it will be awhile before we exhaust this city for unique walks.  How I love this city, this land!


Aren't these signs charming?











Trees around here are amazing.




Looking out the windows today was an ever-changing display of beautiful skies and clouds.  At times it was dark and threatening, and then the sun would break through, the clouds roll by and a glorious blue would reign over this fair part of the world.  It is breathtaking.

We had four young people over for Family Home Evening...all Brits.  They were wonderful.  Don't roll your eyes or laugh, but I served - BBQ Pizza!  In my defense, none of them have ever had it before.  Only one of them had been here for dinner, and I didn't serve that.  One was here for his first time.  He is from Canterbury (how cool is that - to say you are from Canterbury England?)  He is 18, and attending Oxford because the mission must be put on hold for a few months with COVID.  He lives at his college, and had eaten at 5 p.m. with the rest of his fellow students.  

The pizzas I make are fairly good-sized, but still something a normal person could handle.  He asked for only half, and then had another half, and when I asked if anyone wanted to take one home, his hand shot up immediately.  He was the last to leave and expressed his appreciation so warmly that it melted my heart!

After dinner, I gave a brief message about scriptures and then we had a couple of fun activities.  One was Mormon Mad-libs, where one person reads a phrase out loud and the others try to guess what it is by the way he butchers it.  For example, the phrase was "Sure itch pass kit Paul."  He read it a couple of times, and someone yelled out "Church Basketball!"  Another:  "Versed core him off thus heaven tee." = "First Quorum of the Seventy."

Then we did SK's Books of the Bible, which was great.  They all LOVED it.

Two of them brought "Exploding Kittens."  It is a card game.  I played it with three of them (the fourth is in our bishopric and had to leave for a meeting.) while SK tuned into the mission zoom call.  I came in second even though I didn't quite understand it all.

We had something I dubbed "English Trifle" - a concoction of chocolate cake, chocolate pudding and whipped cream.  I should never use an English term when I make up dishes - it begs for comparison.  I should name it something like "Apache Heaven" -- and everyone will think it is an exotic American dish. I'll try it out next time.  But I think I've tried the pizza out on each YSA and young missionary so perhaps I had better come up with something else.  But I think it will always be a winner....so I will keep ingredients handy.

This was our first "In person" Family Home Evening.  Two other houses held a Family Home Evening with dinner, a message and an activity.  I'll be eager to hear how the others went.  I think the young people are hungry to get together like this.  We host another one Thursday for the ones who couldn't make it on Monday, which will bring the total of young people attending to 18 or 20. which isn't bad at all.

It seems like a small thing, but being able to meet, to connect, to get to know one another and to find people who believe as you do, that is no trifling thing.  Now, if the English government will just continue to allow us to meet in groups of six, this could be a wonderful weekly event for all of our YSAs.


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