Mold

We have had a mold problem and finally called our nice landlady for advice. She suggested Dettol's Mould & Mildew Remover. Dave sprayed it on some main areas ... and now it is gone! So, if you need to get rid of mold, go get some Dettol!

p.s. In England they spell mold, mould.

Paracetamol and other drugs

Last night Dave said he had a headache and that he had taken 2 aspirin an hour earlier, but wanted to take 2 ibuprofen. I then had to explain to him that aspirin, ibuprofen, advil, and aleve were all the same product. Then he said he would just take some paracetamol, which I had to tell him that paracetamol is the same thing as the others.

Paracetamol is acetaminophen and is the basic ingredient in all the aspirin like drugs, but then they add other ingredients, such as an anti-inflammatory. The purpose of paracetamol is for pain relief and fever reduction and is REALLY cheap here in England. However, there are side effects when taken in large amounts; liver damage and stomach bleeding. Tylenol does not have the stomach bleeding side effect, but does not have the anti-inflammatory ingredient. When I have an athlete or dancer that sprains their ankle or another simple injury, I always advise them to take ibu, advil or whatever is in their house and read the label to know how much to take. This helps decrease swelling and increase the healing process.

Hope this helps if you were confused too.

Jane Benson Perkins PB

I ordered Jane's PB on the church's website and it arrived today. It was done in Manti, Utah 4 June 1896. She was working in the Manti Temple at the time. I checked the 1900 Census and she is living alone in Manti. John died in 1870 and she never remarried.

Jane was born 4 July 1824 in Wrightington, Lancashire, England. Her family joined the church in 1837 when the first missionaries went to England. About 1847 she married Amos Fielding and a year later they had a son, Amos Hyrum.

They finally left for Zion to join all the other saints. Amos was the PEF (Perpetual Emigration Fund) officer, so he left on an earlier boat. Jane and her son arrived later in St. Louis, Missouri, where they found Amos had taken another wife. When they arrived Brigham Young immediate granted a divorce for the abuse Jane and her son had to live through while crossing the plains. Jane became the second wife of several men at different times, but eventually ended up in Parowan living with her brother's family.

In 1860 John Perkins was sent by Heber C. Kimball, three days after he arrived they were married. John died 10 years later, Jane wrote in her journal that John was her favorite husband. After all her children were married off, she moved back and forth between Mancos, Colorado and Monticello, Utah, until she went to Manti to become a temple worker. She died in Mancos on 5 December 1900.

After emailing a copy of the PB to another relative who has been doing research on this family he told me that Jane had 4 PB, which I didn't know you were allowed to have. I thought you could only have one, but I guess in the Pioneer days they let them have more than one. This one is #3. When I get a copy of the others I will post those. I will warn you if you try to read this, there is no punctuation, it's just one long run on sentence.

Dave has gone coupon crazy

Tonight Dave and I went around to different Morrison's grocery stores and picked up 26 jars of pasta sauce because Dave found a coupon for £1 off.

The pasta sauce was 99p, so we bought other things, like the palmolive shower gel (it was on sale for 70p), to get a discount on the discount.

Dave found a coupon for free Campbell's soup, I think because it is a new product here in England. There are only a few flavors, but we mostly get Cream of Chicken to make Yummy Potatoes.

Dave also got a coupon for Honey Shreddies (they are like Chex) and Tesco had a sale on them, so they were free.

The tv show Extreme Couponing has finally come to England on the Discovery Channel. Dave signed up on some forums that tell you which stores are having sales on specific products. Then he either gets emails about coupons or sees them on other websites, so he prints them off. We have a good start on our food storage, but it will only last for two years, then we will have to start over when we get back to America.

The problem is that couponing is new here in England, so most of the time you can only use one coupon per transaction. One thing we have found that works is if you get to know which checkout ladies will let you use more than one coupon and which don't.

If you are in the States here are some blogs that have great couponing: The Krazy Coupon Lady and Living Rich with Coupons.

Mormon Humor

Sistas in Zion have this funny blog post where they asked their followers to finish this sentence, "You might be a Mormon if..." Go read the answers here. One of my favorites is, You might be a Mormon if...you can quote Princess Bride word for word! =O)

cake flavors

I saw this cake on Pintrest and it is from Martha Stewart.

But of course I did not want to make the cake from scratch, so I just got a yellow Betty Crocker cake and used food coloring.

Well, I learned my lesson. If you want the colors to look like the picture, then you need to follow the real recipe. It was still yummy!

Dave's been sick, so I had to add this picture of him hiding under the covers.

9 September 2001

Since this is the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, everyone has been talking about where they were and what were they doing 10 years ago. But I would rather say where I was two days before. I had the privilege of attending a CES Fireside where President Hinckley spoke at the Conference Center in SLC.

As quoted in the November 2001 Ensign: He encouraged young people attending the 9 September fireside to be faithful and optimistic. “I am suggesting that as we go through life that we try to ‘accentuate the positive,’ ” President Hinckley said, asking “that you turn from the negativism that so permeates our modern society and look for the remarkable good among those with whom you associate, that we speak of one another’s virtues more than we speak of one another’s faults. … “No matter the circumstances, I encourage you to go forward with faith and prayer, calling on the Lord. You may not receive any direct revelation, but you will discover, as the years pass, that there has been a subtle guiding of your footsteps in paths of progress and great purpose.”

My impression from the fireside was that things are going to be hard, but if you do what Heavenly Father asks of you, then you will be blessed. It was actually a short fireside and we got out before the hour was up, which is unusual. Afterward, most people gathered at the reflecting pool to talk about how strong the Spirit was; peaceful, calm, and excited.

Then two days later I understood. My testimony was strengthened that we do have a Prophet of God on Earth that receives revelation from God and was warning us about the hard times that were about to happen. He didn't promise us protection, but I do remember feeling peaceful about what was to come. Needless to say, my life has not been easy since that time, but I have felt that I have been doing what Heavenly Father wants me to do, which is where the peace comes in.

John Perkins Genealogy-Bath

Last week I went to Bath to get some info on John Perkins. After going to Shepton Mallet I decided to email the Bath Records Office to see if they had any info on John's dad George. The 1841 Census had George living at 82 Avon Street in Bath.

Copy of the 1841 Census Record

Avon Street is still there and has the same name! But now it is a University.

John's christening was on 12 August 1821 and his birth date was 28 June 1821.

This record shows his parents were living at 1 Skine Place when he was born.

When I asked, turns out Skine Place was basically an alley across the street from St Swinthin's Church were he was baptized. But that area was completely redone since the 1960's. None of the alley's are labelled, anyone of the following pictures could be where they lived.

Behind all the alley's is a parking lot.

John was baptized at St. Swithin's church in the Walcot neighborhood of Bath.

This version of the church was built in 1742.

The window was added in the 1840's.

There use to be an organ on the opposite was than the stained glass window.

This is where the organ use to be.

This is not the baptismal font used for John's christening,

it was added in the 1860's.

St Swithin's is a famous church because William & Barbara Wilberforce were married on 30 May 1791 and George & Cassandra Austen were married on 26 April 1764. George Austen was also buried at the churchyard. William Wilberforce is known as the member of Parliament that started the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. George & Cassandra Austen are the parents of the famous author Jane Austen.

And the records office found George Perkins and Sarah Peck's marriage record at St James Church in Bath. It was 13 June 1821, 15 days before John's birth. The big news was that it shows that George was a widower. So now I need to find his previous marriage record.

St James church was bombed during WW2, so it's now a Marks and Spencer.

Reverence

Alright I need help. There is this family in my ward that lets their kids wander all over and do whatever during Sacrament Meeting. It is totally disruptive, so much so that I and those around me cannot hear the speaker. I have broken up fights between the siblings, shhhhed them (using the shhh noise and a finger at my mouth), snapped my fingers, reminded them not to run in the chapel, and made them put their shoes on previously. When I did the shoes, more than once, I always told the mother (she is a convert to the church) so she is not surprised when/if the kids say something and she always tells me she has told the kids to keep their shoes on in church. So to me it sounds like the mother is trying to teach her kids good behaviour, but failing. The oldest just turned 11 and will be going to YM's next year. His behaviour is the worst of all the kids, so how do I help teach these kids reverence?

BTW, the husband comes from a family that has a history of letting children behave in this manner.

I found this quote by President Kimball:

“We are a richly blessed people. The Lord has given us everything: the gospel of Jesus Christ, the light, the priesthood, the power, the promises, the covenants, the temples, our families, the truth. We should be the happiest people on earth. We should also be the most reverent people, but here I think every individual and every family should take a look at themselves. Are we a reverent people? Do our actions in the home and at church show reverence for our Creator?

“Sometimes we wonder. We attend sacrament meetings and conferences where children wander unrestrained in the aisles. During the service, we notice adults talking with their neighbors, people dozing, and young people gathering in the foyers. We see families coming late and filing noisily to their seats, and groups engaged in loud conversation in the chapel after the meeting.

“Our thoughts turn to investigators, friends, and those whose testimonies are fragile and developing. Are our meetings the powerful missionary tools they can be, where the Spirit of the Lord reigns and penetrates hearts? Or to sense the Spirit must we first block out many needless distractions?

“Let us examine reverence, not only its meaning and importance in the lives of Latter-day Saints, but some possible ways we can teach reverence to our children and improve our performance.