The old fisherman delves into the positive side of dying!

Who is this man? Read on!

We are all dying, but when you have been told you are on the fast track measurable in months or if you are lucky a few years it does focus the mind. In some ways this is helpful because it allows you to start putting your affairs in order. There are the practical things like making sure your wife knows the cost of running the house and what needs to be paid when and how. Then there are the things that worry your conscience, people you might have upset or offended years ago to whom you would like to apologize. So far I have apologized to two people and both have been very magnanimous in their response and have helped me feel better and I can mentally tick them off the list (it's a short list).

Being religious I do believe in miracles but I also believe in a loving Heavenly Father who has a plan for all of us and sometimes either because we don't have enough faith or because it's not part of our plan a miracle is not an option.  However, I do believe it is possible to have a miracle especially with people all over the world mentioning me in their prayers and my medical team trying their hardest.




I find the discomfort and pain can wear one down a bit so it is important to regularly top up the attitude batteries. Receiving support and encouragement from family and friends is a great help. One of the great blessings in my life is the support I get from my church and religious beliefs. When at the age of 16 I moved on from the Church of England and was baptised into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints I had no idea of the positive impact it would have on my life. Not only has it helped me "stay on the straight and narrow" but it has given me a wonderful life, wonderful wife and a wonderful family. I have also had some amazing experiences and adventures such as running a Scout Group, managing a Church farm, starting a branch of the Church in Gibraltar, taking sixty young adults from London and Paris camping on the beach in Normandy (lots of marriages came about from that). Also being a lay minister in the Church and also a school governor for twenty three years kept me out of mischief! My former employers will be asking "How did he ever find time to go to work?"




When I feel a bit low because of the pain and the inability to do things, I visit one of the Church's web sites and listen to or read a talk given by one of the Church leaders. The video link below is to a talk given by Jeffrey R Holland one of our Church leaders (pictured above) who I have met and talked to and who is an interesting and inspirational speaker. I recommend the talk to you. Please try the link and share your thoughts with me it certainly gave me a boost..

http://media2.ldscdn.org/assets/general-conference/april-2013-general-conference/2013-04-5010-elder-jeffrey-r-holland-720p-eng.mp4?download=true

If you have trouble with the video link you could always try https://www.lds.org/?lang=eng and have a look at the Church's main web site. For information on what we believe try www.mormon.org

Family History Research Brings Rewards!

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints we (my wife and I) believe in the eternal nature of family relationships. As well as trying to keep our immediate family (all seven children, their spouses and our twenty three grandchildren) together as a team in this life we  also want to include in our "team" our ancestors. We believe in life after death and that "families can be together, forever".  This belief involves trying to search out and identify our forbears.  Family history research (or to give it it's posh name, genealogy) not only helps you build a family tree (and the posh name for that is pedigree chart) it also can get you in touch with lost or distant living relatives.  

 

My wife Rosalind is our genealogist and she has some amazing and interesting things happen through doing genealogy.  Our family tree is on the web and a lady in Ohio researching for her great grandfather found his name on our family tree. She then contacted Rosalind and together they confirmed it was the same person. Rosalind then sent her a written family history.  The lady in Ohio then traced one of the people mentioned.  Margaret is still living and is 95 years old and is still at the same address.  She is Rosalind's mothers cousin and we have a photo of them together in Ireland when they were young.   To cut a long story short, whilst baby sitting grandchildren near Seattle, we got a few days leave of absence and met up with Margaret and her family at a place called Maple Ridge near Vancouver, British Columbia.  These distant relatives were most friendly and hospitable and we had a delightful couple of days in their company all thanks to doing family history research!

Rosalind with Margaret her mother's cousin and the carer

 Ann, Margaret's daughter and her husband Jim, our delightful hosts

 Jim's latest toy (Ann and Jim are snowbirds)!

 Inside the motor home (RV) with the sides extended. Just amazing!

Yours truly in the driving seat (dreaming)!

 

So as a result of doing family history research we had a wonderful time in BC with some delightful distant relatives.  You should try it, you never know where it will take you!

 

 

Carter Family Christmas Newsletter 2013

Christmas greetings from Rosalind and Alan to you.

It is that time of year again when we count our blessings and remember all our extended family and friends. As I haven't had the chance to fish or post recently I thought I would share our usual Christmas Newsletter via the blog.  So here are the big events for us this year.

Washington State, USA.  We took the plunge and went to stay with Daniel and Holly for 6 weeks at Redmond, near Seattle, during June and July.  The trip involved babysitting of Erin, Harrison, Rose and Kate, some fishing and a lot of decorating!  However, we did manage to fit in some trips and we stayed at two lovely B & B’s and two amazing Church camp sites. We also saw a huge black bear in their garden!!!

The Move!  No we didn’t move, it was Lorraine and John and their boys, Samuel and Seth who moved after living with us for 2 years.  John had given up his job in central London and taken up a training contract with a law firm at Oxford so they moved to a bungalow near Bicester.  This had a big impact on us as we were able to redecorate, re-model and re-carpet parts of the house!

WelshTrips.  We spent a wonderful holiday in South Wales as guests of Lorraine’s father-in-law, Mark, who kindly took us to see the amazing Roman Baths at Caerleon, the brilliant St Fagan’s Welsh Life Village and a concert.  Alan also went on a long weekend fishing trip in Wales with his pals Rowland, Ian and Andrew.

Most spectacular event!  We were invited to attend the Lord Mayor’s Show by Rosalind’s cousin Fiona Woolf.  Fiona became the second woman to take this role as head of the City of London in 686 years!  Within the City of London only the sovereign (the Queen) takes precedence over the Lord Mayor. Fiona actually arrived at the event in the Queen’s row barge Gloriana. Having had drinks at a reception in the Mansion House, we sat in reserved seats on the balcony and watched the 3 mile long procession of bands, charities, Worshipful companies, soldiers etc.  Then having watched the Lord Mayor arrive in the gold coach and take the salute from her own personal bodyguard, a company of Pikemen and Musketeers, we all had luncheon in the Mansion House.

Autumnal Holiday.  For a reason that will become apparent, we decided to treat ourselves to some sunshine in October.  So we consulted our holiday travel expert, my brother Chris.  He recommended a small, un-spoilt island called La Gomera.  It is the Canary Island, in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa, that mass tourism forgot. Chris also recommended that we stayed at the Hotel Jardin Tecina located on the cliff top overlooking the tiny port of Playa de Santiago. We were not disappointed. I arranged the holiday through Thomson and we flew out from Gatwick in the UK to Tenerife South and then aided by a lovely couple, Muriel and John, from Scotland, caught the Fred Olsen ferry from Los Christianos to San Sebastian on La Gomera.  The hotel consisted of a main building housing the reception, restaurants, bars, sports facilities etc and the 460 bedrooms and suites were arranged carefully around the pools in the beautiful grounds along the cliff top.  My favorite feature was the two modern Otis lifts that took you down to the beach and the salt water pool and another restaurant.  Alan’s favorite activity was his SCUBA diving trip, Rosalind enjoyed the flamenco dancing and the whale watching.

Irene Moe – (Alan’s Mum) is still with us at 93, soldiering on, mainly in bed but a few hours a day propping up a chair in a nice care home. She doesn’t respond much but we do get the occasional smile.

Voluntary Service.  On the 11^th November Rosalind and Alan started working fulltime for 6 months as volunteer Ordinance Workers for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the London Temple.  Although the Temple is only 15 miles from our home (near East Grinstead) we decided to live on site and just spend Sundays and Mondays at home.  Those reading this who are not members of the Church may be interested in knowing more about our roles in the temple and might like to copy the following link into their browser and have a look:-

https://www.lds.org/church/temples/why-we-build-temples/what-happens-in-temples?lang=eng

The London Temple

 

 

Most of the activities mentioned above are covered in earlier posts on the blog, if you would like more information please use the index on the right to find them.

 

So let us close by wishing you a wonderful Christmas and a happy, healthy and comfortable New Year.