After checking out of the temple housing we attended the first temple session of the day and it was wonderful! It was so nice to be in the temple and to feel the wonderful spirit there. I loved sitting in the Celestial room talking to Lee about the gospel and the blessings that come from living it. Once outside it was raining with lots of wind so we didn’t walk around the temple grounds much. Instead we went to the distribution center and bought Family Proclamations and frames for two of Lee’s converts. Then we were on the road again.
On our way to Bristol we stopped in Gadfield where the oldest LDS chapel in England stands. It’s called the Gadfield Elm Chapel and it was originally built by the United Bretheren. Nearly everyone in their congregation was converted to the LDS church, and they decided to give the building to the church so all the new members had somewhere to meet.
It was raining as we pulled up to the tiny chapel, so Lee got out to open the door. When no one is there they leave a paper with several questions on it as a code to open the door. For the most part, only members of the church would know the answers and that way they protect it from being vandalized. We took a few pictures inside, read the history, and then we were off to Bristol.
Once in Bristol we drove straight to the S.S. Great Britain, one of the oldest steam ships that traveled from England to the United States. I really enjoyed learning about how my ancestors might have traveled across the Atlantic Ocean. They had a fun little museum with old anchors, propellers, and other parts of the ship, as well as descriptions of everything to go with it. Then they had refurnished the ship itself so that visitors could see what it had been like to travel across the Atlantic.
There were different types of accommodations, depending on if you were first, second, or third class passengers. It was fun to see where people slept, ate, walked and talked on the ship. We toured the deck, dining room, bedrooms, kitchen, stables, engine room, and the dry dock where the ship is kept in a stable condition. I’m not sure which ships my ancestors came to America on but I imagine they were similar to the S. S. Great Britain.
By that time we were both hungry so we walked around the Cabot Circus Mall in downtown Bristol and decided to eat at Nandos, a delicious Afro-Portuguese restaurant. We ordered chicken wings with a special Nando Peri-Peri sauce along with mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and garlic bread. Fue tan rico!!!!! Delicious!
Next we hurried to check into our AirBNB, where we left our things and headed out to visit people form Lee’s mission. First we met with John Galsworthy, an older gentleman who used to be a professional singer. His son Joe was one of Lee’s converts but he wasn’t there so we just talked to John about life and his family. He shared a great story about overcoming smoking and coming back to church after being inactive for many years. I was really touched when he said that he was only able to overcome his smoking addiction by telling Heavenly Father that he couldn’t do it on his own. Once he humbled himself and allowed the Lord to compensate for his weakness he was finally able to stop smoking and turn his life around. It was very inspiring.
We then headed to the Wabissa’s, an African family from The Congo. Irene, the mother, made us some typical African food, which consisted of large cornmeal dumplings that we dipped into different sauces and some grilled chicken. It was definitely different and I didn’t eat too much, probably because I was already full and the sauce was a fish mixture. Nevertheless, we talked for a long time and it was fun to get to know them better. Rachelle, the oldest daughter, bought me flowers and a card, and Irene gave us handmade soap that smelled really good. I felt like we were good friends after just a few minutes of visiting with them and it was sad to say goodbye.
It was late when we got back to the AirBNB and I really need to pee! So I ran upstairs and quickly shut the door to the bathroom. After I washed my hands I went to open the door and saw that there was no handle!!! I tried frantically to open the door for about 5 minutes before Lee heard me knocking and came to see what was wrong. Luckily we somehow got the door to open and I didn’t have to sleep in the bathroom. 😛 (Lee’s note: She was actually afraid that the people that owned the home were going to kidnap us and that they had done something to me :P)
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