Dear family and friends,
It has been a wonderful week for us!! We have done some really fun things this
week which make us appreciate British life very much!
We were able to attend an outdoor rendition of Shakespeare’s
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. It is good
I took a warm blanket, but the play was one of the best I’ve seen of this
production. All of the characters were
either double or triple cast which was hilarious! We went with our YSA’s, about 31 of
us!!! What a blast to be with our dear
friends. We told them to bring snacks or
treats if they wanted. One of them
brought a layered chocolate cake!!! It
even got consumed in a quick hurry!
On Friday, we had an experience of a lifetime! We were invited by one of our YSA’s, Sam
Dearden, to attend his graduation from Queen’s College as a Master of
Philosophy. He had two extra tickets and
we were so honored that he would invite us with his mom to attend! All the attendees had to be in their seats 45
minutes before the graduation ceremony.
There was no pomp and circumstance music, or applause, or picture taking
in the Senate Building. We all entered quietly
and were ushered to our seats by men in tails and top hats (some of them). The seats were a plank of wood with no backs
which lined the big room. The graduates
paraded down the street in front of King College. (But because we had to be
seated we were not able to see them parade down the street!) They entered the building and stood in line
during the whole ceremony. (That’s one
way to shorten a graduation!!!) It
lasted about 50 minutes. The important
people entered and some carried in a silver candle-stick like torch about 5
feet tall. The most important person,
either a master of mistress of the college entered with a red and white fur
robe and bowed to all the people with the torches. It was very somber, sophisticated and regal! One of the men gave some instructions on
etiquette during the ceremony. Then he
started reading in Latin! As the
graduates proceeded toward the mistress who was seated in a throne-like chair,
they were announced in Latin, their names were read and they went forward, and
kneeled before her and she clasped their hands and said something in Latin to
each. Sam told us later that she
basically said she proclaimed them graduates.
The graduates had the choice to have her proclaim it in the name of the
Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. After the proclamation, the graduates stood
up and bowed to the mistress. There
probably were 80 graduates and it really went quite quickly. However, when they got toward the end, one of
the graduates almost went down. She must
have been locking her knees and so they had her sit down and then one of the
distinquished gentlemen ushers helped her to the mistress and escorted her
out. It was really tender. So after the graduates were all escorted out
of the building after they were presented, all the important people bowed to
all the other important people and left the building. We then were escorted out and met up with the
graduates outside. It was really a cool
experience. We were so proud of
Sam. What an accomplishment for this
outstanding young man!
After the graduation, we were walking down the street in
front of King’s College, when a woman called out, Elder and Sister! We turned around and were met by Clayton and
Christine Christensen. He is a professor
at Harvard University, has written books on business as well as missionary
work. They were in Cambridge to
participate in a wedding of a former student of his at Harvard. We have never met these wonderful people, but
in the short time we spent with them, we feel like they are life-long
friends. We were able to take them to
church with us. What a tender mercy for
us because before we left them at their hotel, Brother Christensen asked Brad
if there is anything he could do for us.
We have some dear friends, the Budds!
Their son, David, has graduated from Oxford and has gotten a master’s
degree from a London University, and is looking to get a PHD possibly at
Harvard, but needs some work/intern experience first. So David has come to us asking if there is
any suggestions Brad could give him.
What a miracle to suddenly meet an incredible Harvard professor who
would do anything to help a young man succeed!
I can’t tell you how touched we both were to just happen to meet this
wonderful couple in the middle of a very busy city center street in Cambridge,
UK!
Saturday, Brad and I spent an incredible day with some other
dear friends, the Haskins! They wanted
to show us some real UK country villages.
We were blown away! We headed to
a village called Lavenham, where the city center was a row of crooked
houses. You know the poem: There was a crooked man, And he walked a
crooked mile, He found a crooked sixpence, upon a crooked stile. He bought a crooked cat, who caught a crooked
mouse and they all lived together in a crooked little house!!! Well we stopped in this little crooked house
and it was set up for tea!!!! Our
friends had their coffee, Brad had a mineral water, and I had elderflower
juice! (this is incredible, by the
way!!!!) We went into some of the little
shops—a lot of beam and plaster ceilings, crooked and slanted floors, short
entryways! I felt as if we had gone back
into time to about the 1400’s! (actually, most of these buildings were built
then!!!). We then passed through other
little villages Kersey, Hadleigh, and ended up in Flatford, a gorgeous country
where the artist John Constable painted his English countryside pictures. The day was warm and clear and absolutely
beautiful. People were having picnics on
the grassy slopes of the River Stour, rowing up and down the river, and walking
on footpaths which meandered through the countryside. I WILL be going back to do some meandering of
my own!!!! We had some lovely lunch, and
wandered around a beautiful church before heading home. The best way I can describe the day is mesmerizing! I was so overwhelmed with the calm, the
beauty, and the peacefulness of this magnificent country!
Needless to say, we have had a wonderful week! We appreciate our study time everyday and our
exercise time each day to walk around this lovely place. We have met some wonderful new friends this
week, and each day feel more and more connected to the people here! We were able to talk with our friend Ank this
week. She is the Vicar of the Anglican
Church down the street. We have become
good friends. We asked her about her
vicarage and how many people they have.
She said, 15,000 in this area.
How many would you say attend Sunday services each week. She said, maybe 30 to 50 people! It made me feel so sad! How empty life would be without God in our
lives. I am so grateful for the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. It is what fulfills and
completes us! Perhaps this is what I
have felt most of all from this mission—how much I have grown in appreciation
for a loving Heavenly Father, and His Beloved Son, and the gift of the Holy
Ghost in our lives. We are truly
blessed!!!
We love you all!!!
Happy Birthday to our big 4 year old Tucker Royal Jackman on July 19th. How we love you Tucker! You are so precious to us!! Have a wonderful day! Also, Happy Anniversary on July 18th
to Scott and Sherri on 2 wonderful years of marriage!!!! We are so grateful that you two discovered
each other! What a blessing you both are
to our family! Also Happy Anniversary to
Dad and Mom Glauser on July 23rd.
If I do my math right this is #64!
Wow! That is fantastic! What a miracle your lives together have
been! We are sooo grateful you two got
married, and what a posterity! We love
you both dearly!
With all our love,
Dad and MomGrandpa and Grandma
Brad and Vicki
(I'll send pictures later!)
No comments:
Post a Comment