Happy Pancake Day! Tomorrow

 The days here seem to go by so fast.  It is Monday - again - already.  And the hours in the day seem to melt into the past before I gain control of the day.  We took our 2-mile walk, through a scenic area and by the River Thames.  We had a heat wave today.  It was in the 50's!  We wore our coats, but could have done with lighter jackets.







How would you like to live on the banks of the Thames?



It has been one of those days, where I have been busy the whole time, plodding along through various tasks, yet I feel like there just wasn't time to get all the important things done.  I wonder how I ever got anything done with four kids and various heavy responsibilities elsewhere.  I have the luxury here of just taking care of myself and a very small apartment, and I'm just slow!

The sun has broken through the clouds and predicted fog a few glorious times.  The interplay of the strong shadows and gleaming surfaces is breath taking.

For Family Home Evening tonight, Harry demonstrated how to make British pancakes.  He did a good job explaining how to make them.  I believe we would call them crepes.  They don't seem to be quite as thin as a crepe, but the texture is a the same.  They roll them up, dip them in lemon juice and sugar or anything else that looks good - fruit, cream cheese, Nutella, peanut butter, whipped cream.  I don't think they are supposed to be health food.

There were about ten there including us....not a great turnout, but a good time was had by all.  It was fun to watch everyone make their pancakes.  The dorms here are all coed as far as I know.  So a person may live in an apartment with 5 other students.  They each have their own bedroom and bathroom, and there is a common room and a tiny little kitchen which is shared by everyone.

Emma, a young woman from the U.S. was making the pancakes along with the rest of us, and two young men (her room mates) came in - attracted by the smell.  So they got in on critiquing the pancakes.  They are Americans, so they weren't highly complimentary about them.  Just like the Brits are disdainful of the things we call pancakes.  There was a lot of good-natured teasing.  It turned out to be a good thing.

Elder Bricknell, our South African elder on the right is getting ready to flip his pancake into the air.  He did a great job of it.


Kristina is an old pro at making pancakes and she and Cameron were having a grand time.

You can see one of the young men behind Emma looking for something good to roll up in his British pancake.




Harry is giving instructions.  He is so funny.  He would be a great comedian/cooking show host.  He gave the instructions and when it came to cooking them, went through a whole batch without getting a single good pancake.  Totally nonplussed, he whipped up a new batch, cooked them and then sat down and began enjoying the fruits of his labor - after we had all finished!

Tricia whipped up a batch, cooked them all, served them to her family, cleaned the kitchen and was enjoying one before most of us were done cooking!


We had a zone meeting right after that, which lasted for about an hour.  None of them really knew about Roots Tech.  So I gave them a good overview.  It is such a wonderful thing this year.  They will be sharing with people about how to access it, and they need to know how interesting, entertaining and sometimes funny it is.  Along with being a wonderful way to get into family history.

There are so many things on the calendar these days, I am hoping we will be able to get a few of the classes in each day.  The good news is that it can be accessed for the next year.  So perhaps we can see every one that we are interested in.

The Lord said “Verily I say unto you, that all things unto me are spiritual..." (D&C 29:34)  Every day has its share of mundane things, yet there are always ample opportunities to feel the spirit too.  This mission in Oxford seems to have been far more spiritural than our previous one in Denmark.  I think then I "was cumbered with much serving."  This time around, with the lockdown and much more flexible time on our hands, I have found that almost everything is truly spiritual, and my heart is lifted when I observe the world and the individuals around me.


Comments

melissa said…
That is really neat that you get to focus on the spiritual...even if it’s pancakes sometimes. 😁
February 19, 2021 at 6:06 PM
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