Here's What We Do....

We work in the office of the England Leeds Mission. The Mission Office is called the Lister House. That's its address. No number, just Lister House. Conveniently it sits on Lister Hill...and so that is the second part of our address. Here is a picture...lovely building isnt it? Not what you expected, wot? This was taken on a sunny morning just as we arrived. That's our Vauxhall on the left.

So, it does sit on a hill.

This picture shows the valley looking toward the River Aire.  

 The street coming up the hill is called Low Lane. I don't like to drive on it because there are lots of cars parked along it and so a busy street becomes a virtual one lane road.  Kind of like all the other streets around here.  But I will save the driving experience for another post.



So here are some pictures of our office and us doing the things we do

Opening up the office

Sister Barron at her work station.  She is the Executive Secretary to the Mission President.

Elder Barron at the door to his office holding the keys (they are the old keyhole type keys).

Here is Sister Barron working.  Out the window is the Vauxhall van.  It holds 11 passengers.

Meet Elder and Sister Jensen.  They are from Logan, Utah.
 Elder Jensen is in charge of  vehicles and apartments.  Sister Jensen runs the
bookstore and knows about everything.

Meet President Lindley.  He and Sister Barron are making sure 130 missionaries
are well cared for.  

The Assistants to the President.. Elder Wadsworth and Elder Turvey are
seen here plotting the take-over of Scotland (2 hours north).
So that's what we do--any questions?

Ya Alright?

We delight in the differences in the language. We were walking along the street today listening to the lady behind us talking Yorkshire loudly on her MOBILE.  I wish I could write the way she spoke--roughly:
"I wa' te taw te yeow."  (I want to talk to you.) 
When we hear someone speak we try to mimic the way it sounds but our mouths don't form the words properly.  They hold their face and bodies different -- it looks rather formal.  I wonder if we look too casual when we talk.
There is a delightful little waitress at the local carvery that I would like to record.  She has a sweet little voice that makes the Yorkshire accent such that we can just barely make out the thought.  We walked in the other night and she snuck up behind and sang, "Ya alrigh'?" That is the phrase that is equivalent to "How are you?" or "How ya doin'?" at home.  I like the way the maintenence guy at our building says it.  He says: "Ya alright!" without the question mark.  I feel like I am alright.
So sometimes when I am talkin' wi' sumun on the tele we both have to slow--down---real--slow to communicate.   T'is brilliant tryin' to learn the lingo!!! ;

Making the change

     There are so many things that are the same here and so many things that are different.  We love watching all that goes on around us. 
     We have moved into a small home in the Kirkstall area of Leeds.  We live near a 12th century abbey called Kirkstall Abbey.  There are marvelous ruins that are surrounded by a lovely park along the River Aire.  Our house is on a hill that has a view of the river valley.  Our upstairs bedroom window faces east and on clear days we get a spectacular sunrise.  Our house is attached to another house,  (we would call it a duplex), which is very common here.  The interior is small and neat.  We do have to dance around each other a little in the small areas like the kitchen and ...well, everywhere else.
     One thing that has been challenging is driving.  Largely because the driver is on the right side of the car instead of the left and we all drive on the opposite side of the road.  We have a Vauxhall Meriva.  It is a small deisel vehicle that seems sip fuel in an acceptable manner for around 8 bucks a gallon.  We, however, buy it in liters which confuses us enough to help us forget how much we are paying.  At any rate, we still enjoy driving around seeing this beautiful country. 
     We work pretty hard every day from 9 to 5.  Lorraine is the secretary to the mission president and the spark plug for the mission.  I am the financial secretary and see that the missionaries get there living allowances and that rent and utilities get paid.  It has been exciting working with the utility companies to keep things going for 54 flats.  It is fun to try to talk things through with our different accents.  I am trying to learn to use phrases and terms that make it easier for them to understand me.