What? London Again?

 Today was another "first time in a long time" kind of a day. We joined the nine of the ten other senior couples in London for Family Home Evening in person. We were never able to do that before COVID, before lockdown, because it was always held on a Monday evening, and there was no way that the couples working with young adults could get away for the evening. This group of seniors was a little more sympathetic to our plight and declared that henceforth Senior Family Home Evening would be on the second Friday of each month.

Tonight's was a special one, since the Sumkos are leaving this coming Tuesday. They have been here a year and a half, arriving less than three months before COVID hit. He is a retired physician and pleaded to stay, knowing that he could be of great help to the mission. They were given permission to stay and he and his wife have been amazing.

Dave said tonight that Elder Sumko would bandage up a wound and then fix the broken toilet seat. He healed broken vacuums as often as he healed an ear infection. The young missionaries found great comfort in knowing that he was only a call away.

He will still be only a call away. His mission was extended another six months, but they will serve from their home in northern Utah and will still be answering all phone calls for missionaries with concerns. I guess he won't be fixing broken toilets or vacuums that have gone haywire, but he will be doing the important stuff.

For the third time this week, we waded through London traffic. Friday afternoon getting out of Oxford is tough. Between that and getting into London on a Friday night, we were on the road 2 1/2 hours. Coming back was a breeze - one and a half hours.

It was a potluck dinner, so there were a variety of dishes there, and I can honestly say there wasn't a single thing there that wasn't excellent. The mission office couple promised to send out all the recipes. I took a BBQ Chicken Salad. I pondered what to take that would make the nearly three-hour trip. We were assigned a main dish (I need to talk to someone about that the next time we do this - it is too difficult to transport a hot dish that far.)

I made plenty. I combined the lettuce and tomatoes in one large bowl. In another bowl I combined black beans, corn, red onion and chopped red pepper. In another bowl I had diced cooked chicken with a light layer of BBQ sauce. In another Ranch BBQ dressing, and finally in the last one I had crushed corn chips. I think about half got eaten. I didn't feel bad, because there was so much wonderful food there, nothing got completely eaten.

After goodbyes were said, and there were just a few of us couples cleaning up, in trooped 6 tall young elders - the APs. We were delighted to have them load up their plates and munch away contentedly. We also had a couple of delightful young sisters come in. I hugged them. How can you not at this point?

The result was we came home with empty dishes. That was good. And we had a grand time with the seniors, ending the day with those cute young missionaries.

Well, not quite. We walked over to Dave and Deb's small cramped flat. They were moved out of their flat four weeks ago so that remodeling could be done for the incoming president and his wife. It seems like such a ridiculous thing to do to an outgoing president. They have no air-conditioning and it is on the ground floor. Forget trying to fix meals and have meaningful gatherings as outgoing and incoming missionaries come to the President's home. But they are happy and moving ahead.

We had a lovely visit for an hour and then came home. And since it is now June 12, I'll close by saying goodnight.