A Grand Day in Portsmouth

 On official mission business today, we traveled south to Portsmouth.  We spent the day getting there, touring flats for incoming missionaries and getting back.  It was a very pleasant day, and we enjoyed it, but agreed that the next time we are asked to do something like this, we will take the day, and plan accordingly - possibly even staying overnight so that we can spend some time touring this beautiful land.

One of the first things you see when you enter the city is what looks like a modern art sculpture, which as it turns out, is something you can go inside of and see the coastline.  How lovely would that be?


If you would like to just look at their home page, it gives you an idea of the view:

https://www.spinnakertower.co.uk/

We made one stop on the way down to deliver chocolate cake to a couple of elders, and then pressed forward to Portsmouth to meet a driver and car in the church there.  He was a very kind man who had a shiny clean  cab.  It was boxy but the inside was very comfortable.  He was separated from us by a plexiglass window.  There were three seats in the back and three fold-up seats facing us.

He had the itinerary for us.  He was not a realtor, but worked for the agent who helps the mission find flats.  We have a senior couple coming in on May 1, and they will be in Portsmouth working with Young Adults and need a place to live.  We were to look at five flats, but by the time we met him, one had already been rented.

The driver, Darren, was talkative but not too much, and so pleasant.  We were with him about three hours looking at the remaining four flats.  Three of them were very nice, and were on several levels.  The best one has four floors!  It only has two or three rooms to a floor, and narrow staircases that connect them.  That could be difficult for some older people.  

SK seems to be enjoying being able to sit and watch the scenery go by for once.


We agreed that we have got to go back and explore, for instance this is one of four fortresses in the city that look so interesting.  There is also the Isle of Wight.  You take a ferry to see that.

But if I could transport that one here to Oxford with a wave of a magic want, I'd do it in a heartbeat.  It has 5 bedrooms and 4 baths!  It is a little older, but it would be perfect for what we do.  I nearly drooled at all the space in the kitchen and all of the storage, not to mention the fact that it would be so lovely to have our family come stay with us.

A back yard is generally called a "garden," and this private little garden is so sweet.  I think I would sit out here a lot if we lived here.

I can tell you that our kitchen here in Oxford would fit very neatly into this space...into the floor space, refrigerator and all.  And the storage space?  Incredible.

Darren dropped us back off at the church, and I told him about FamilySearch, and a little bit about the church.  I had a card in my purse and handed that to him.  Both SK and I needed a rest stop at that point, but the church wasn't open.  It was a big lovely stake center.

Just then a car pulled up with four young elders in it!  One of them was our dear young Elder Hill, who was here in Oxford when we arrived a year and a half ago, and who helped us so much.  They had been on splits together (they exchange companions for a day for training purposes) and had come back to pick up the other car.

Elder Hill talked to Darren for a few minutes and gave him his telephone number and told him he would very much enjoy helping him with family history.  I think he would be quite open to talking about the gospel as well.  In the short time I talked to him about it, he was very open....and so kind.

We headed home, stopping for gas and for a bit to eat at McDonalds.  Note to self:  Nothing they have is good.

We arrived home in plenty of time for me to make a batch of cookies, and then report to our zone meeting in the evening.

We played a game of "Guess who this baby picture is."  It was funny like all of the other games have been.  It was pretty easy to guess SK, me and Dave.  But we had a difficult time guessing the others.  It ended up being a lot of good fun.





Tomorrow - a long awaited day, on two counts:  We get our second vaccination shot, and I get my hair cut!  I can hardly wait.  Between those two great events we will meet the Young Adults in the park for a picnic.  I will get up early to make chicken wraps, and assemble everything else we will need.

It will be another great day....I hope.

Comments

melissa said…
Absolutely next time stay overnight. That apartment looks great!!
May 1, 2021 at 11:55 PM
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