Elder Watts' Web Page

"Thoughts"   The World is a Cultural Yarn Shop.  It's our opportunity to weave the ultimate tapestry.     Previous Posts: November 22-23 November 24 December 2-3 December 6 December 13 December 28 (lost for good)  :( January 18   London Missionary Experience 1 February 2009 Wow.... the weather is playing tricks -- it's snowing tonight.  Home from Lea Valley ward, which was truly delightful.  We've had an up and down week.  Our FHC Director, said that there are more errors in mis-located films now than prior to our arrival.  So..... her inescapable conclusion:  the Watts can't accurately replace films in numerical sequence.  This put me into a funk, and, needless to say, put mom into ... let's see, what's lower than a funk... she was there.  Oh well, after chewing on that little comment overnight and considering all the actions I might take, I simply told our friends, and they loudly proclaimed that it was not the least bit true, let it roll off, and don't pay attention.  They were very supportive and said that Sharon has successfully made all of the sisters cry and all of the elders angry.  They told us a litany of stories wherein 'off the cuff' comments were made that were offensive and/or insensitive. Now.... that said, please don't misunderstand.  Sharon is a very good person with a big heart.  She just comes from a big corporate world where shrinking violets don't make it, so she has had to adapt.  That adaptation now shows occasionally.  However, just to satisfy my mind, I have determined that her logic is faulty and unsupported by facts.  The written record of lost films indicates that the incidence of lost films has dropped by 32% since we came!  Now that's science, not guesswork and innuendo.  I'll likely never say anything though. We continue to meet and greet patrons some of whom are delighted to find an ancestor or two.  One lady was here visiting from Australia and came in to do some research.  She spent several days and found, I would guess, well over a dozen ancestors.  We have been very busy.  We encourage group visits from various Family History Societies (you can see the list of the FHC web site), and we had a group in the centre on Wednesday.  Every microfilm reader and every computer terminal was occupied, and we were bringing out laptops and spare readers to accommodate. We work late on Thursday and have a five-hour mid-day break after a morning staff meeting before we come in.  Mom went home to work on her gospel doctrine lesson and I went to the Royal College of Music instrument museum.  It's not very big, but it was interesting.  Some very old instruments. I struck up a conversation with a young man who was the museum docent and asked him what instrument he played.  He said piano and a little french horn.  I told him I played the trumpet a bit, so we looked at the cornet and trumpet display.  As we talked he asked me if I was just visiting.... and in a matter of minutes we were having a discussion about the church and family history.  He was very interested.  I gave him a pass-along card and think he may come into the centre. He then asked me if I'd like to hear one of the old harpsichords and, of course, I said yes.  He proceeded to play very beautifully on a beautiful instrument dated from the late 1770's.  He then played Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata on a pianoforte, which was from the early 1800's. Every day as we walk to the bus stop we walk past St. Philip's Anglican church on Earls Court Road.  It was built in 1857.  We finally took a minute and stepped inside one morning and ... we'll here's a picture (on the right). Also, almost every morning we pass a homeless man who 'lives' on the sidewalk in front of the Victoria and Albert Museum.  He seems to find lots of stuff, and from time to time has several sleeping bags, quilts, comforters, crates, etc.  He also laid out a red carpet (actually a carpet pad) on the sidewalk in front of him to make it more 'formal.'  Rarely he is gone but mom saw him on a bus one day, and occasionally we won't see him for two or three days.  He's often just sitting all day long on a red plastic crate sort-of-thing sipping a beer.  Here's a picture of him in his 'home.'  He's there rain or shine, always sitting.... (well except when he has to relieve himself, which he does around the block pillar at the right).        I've tried to get a few candid pictures as we walk and ride busses.  It's really hard to do that, but here are a few.   Mom just loves the computer....  We love you...... Mom and Dad                     This Web Page Created with PageBreeze Free Website Builder