Elder and Sister Warnick wrote an email to their grandchildren with more detailed information on the castles they have been touring recently.
"We got to visit a castle and learn more about what they were like. Castles looked cool on the outside, but really they were cold, damp, and poorly lit. The only heating was provided by fireplaces in each room, and castles had to be lit by torches because they were very dark inside.
People tended to spend much time outdoors to get away from the dampness of the castle. Tapestries were hung on the wall to help brighten up the halls and keep in heat.
The main furniture in the great hall were wooden benches and large tables made by laying wood planks across other benches. At night, the table was taken down to make room for the servants who slept on the floor. The floors were covered year-round with reeds, bones, and scraps of food. When the room began to smell, the servants added more reeds and sprinkled spices to help get rid of the odor. Once a year, the servants replaced the soiled reeds with new ones, and the whole process started again. The king and his family often shared a single room where their sleeping quarters were separated by curtains.
The king's kitchen staff decorated most of the food before they served it. Sometimes when the meat was served, the servants put the fur or feathers back on the meat to make it look alive! On the other hand, because there was no refrigeration, the food spoiled quickly. Sometimes when the food was spoiled, they just dumped extra gravy on it and served it anyway. One of the only ways to preserve and season the food was to salt all the meat.
In fact, since salt was so important at the medieval table, it began to be sort of a status symbol. Most great halls had only one large salt container, and where you sat in relation to it told people how important you were. The more important people sat "above the salt", and those that were less important sat "below the salt". During the evening meals, the lord and his family sat upon a raised platform and watched court jesters who sang, juggled, and told stories.
Castles had no modern plumbing, but the garbage disposal presented no problem. The servants dumped it into the moat. Bathrooms in castles often emptied right into the moat as well. Since people in the Middle Ages believed that washing too much could make you sick, bathing became a once-a-month affair. Most didn't even bother with soap, because the soaps were so strong that they could eat holes through cloth. The royal family preferred dirt to holes, so wash days were few and far between.
From now on you'll want to notice where the salt is at your table, but we wouldn't advise only taking a bath once a month."
"Since our last update we have continued our travels throughout Devon and Cornwall. We attended Harold's baptism in St. Austell. Harold is a fairly intellectual man, whose first impressions of the missionary discussions were that it sounded logical. He talked about not doing "feelings", but the missionaries explained that the Holy Ghost can speak to us in different ways, and that his impression that it was logical was his answer about its truthfulness. We often fail to recognize the Holy Ghost's influence in our lives, much as in 3 Nephi 9:20. "The Lamanites... were baptized with fire and the Holy Ghost and they knew it not." Recent convert Rose was in attendance, and another recent convert family who have attended every Cornwall baptism since their own baptisms this summer. They say they really feel the Spirit at baptisms, which has been our own experience as well. Their daughter is joining our YSA group when she turns 18 next month.
The next day we returned to St. Austell to speak in sacrament meeting on overcoming our doubts and choosing to believe in God. The topic was requested by the bishop. One quote we particularly liked and shared is: 'We as members of the Church tend to emphasize marvelous and dramatic spiritual manifestations so much that we may fail to appreciate and may even overlook the customary pattern by which the Holy Ghost accomplishes His work. The very "simpleness of the way" (1 Nephi 17:41) of receiving small and incremental spiritual impressions that over time and in totality constitute a desired answer or the direction we need, may cause us to "look beyond the mark". (Jacob 4:14) ... I have talked with many individuals who question the strength of their personal testimony and underestimate their spiritual capacity because they do not receive frequent, miraculous, or strong impressions. Perhaps as we consider the experiences of Joseph in the Sacred Grove, of Saul on the road to Damascus, and of Alma the Younger, we come to believe something is wrong with or lacking in us if we fall short in our lives of these well-known and spiritually striking examples. If you have had similar thoughts or doubts, please know that you are quite normal. Just keep pressing forward obediently and with faith in the Savior. As you do so, you "cannot got amiss". (D&C 80:3) (David A. Bednar, April 2011)
We have been working on our Plymouth Stake YSA convention which takes place in September. It will be held at Dragon Archery, owned by a church member who is also the branch president in Bideford. He has 3 YSA children of his own.
We made food and taught at Institute last week. The subject was Joseph Smith Matthew and the signs of the coming of the Savior. Last Sunday we traveled two hours to the Bideford branch located on the north Devon coast. We spoke once again in sacrament meeting, this time on the promises the Lord has made, and that He has all to fulfill them, with counsel from two good sources:
James E. Faust quoted Dr. Arthur Wentworth Hewitt as saying: "If on a basis of strict personal return here and now, all the good were always happy and all the bad suffered disaster (instead of quite often the reverse), this would be the most subtle damnation of character imaginable."
Henry B. Eyring said, "God makes it attractive to choose the right by letting us feel the effects of our choices. If we choose the right, we will find happiness- in time. If we choose evil, there comes sorrow and regret- in time. Those effects are sure. Yet they are often delayed for a purpose. If the blessings were immediate, choosing the right would not build faith. And since sorrow is also sometimes greatly delayed, it takes faith to feel the need to seek forgiveness for sin early rather than after we feel its sorrowful and painful effects." (April 2014)
Speaking in church so often is a great opportunity to study the scriptures and the words of the prophets by topic. We are most grateful for their guidance and feel deeply of their truthfulness.
After the meetings in Bideford we were invited to Peter and Maureen Smith's for lunch, which was very kind of them. They told us the stories of their own conversions. He was shocked to be called by then Elder Hinckley to be a bishop of a large ward after being a member less than 3 years. He and Elder Warnick shared with each other their feelings of inadequacy accompanying the call to be the leader of a congregation. Now his son is a bishop in Scotland, and feeling the same desires to serve to the best of his ability.
Yesterday we took the ferry to Dartmouth and on to the castle at the mouth of the estuary. It was built for defense, and had multiple cannons. Originally they employed a huge chain they could raise to prevent the French and pirates from traveling upstream. The castle is rumored to be haunted.
We had local crab sandwiches, and decided we will stick with fish and chips. Many people were crabbing right off the pier, which involves lowering a line with bait on a small net, which the crabs grab and won't let go. There ought to be a lesson in there somewhere."
"We have had several baptisms in our stake and think we have outstanding missionaries in this zone. On the 23rd Titus was baptized in Exeter. We spoke in the ward the next day and were able to see his confirmation. He is from Nigeria, which would interest Grandma and Grandpa Miller. (Sister Warnick's parents served a mission in Nigeria.)
On the 30th we drove to Redruth to attend a baptism, but when we arrived the font had overflowed and flooded the whole chapel. As a result they postponed until the week following, but we were able to drive to St. Austell and attend Rose Boyd's baptism. She bore a sweet testimony and told how she had believed in paganism bordering on witchcraft, but realizes now she was so wrong. It is wonderful that the Lord is able to accept us no matter what our past has been if we are willing to change and follow Him.
Yesterday we attended Harold's baptism in Helston due to the ongoing drying out of the Redruth chapel. While there we met Ellis, a soon-to-be YSA, who was baptized with her parents in July. She really wants to go to BYU but has a year before she can apply.
In the midst of all these travels we have been transporting missionaries and doing flat inspections. Some of the flats are in quite nice shape, but others are old and run down. The Helston elders have gotten permission to look for another flat as their landlord claims the privilege of coming in at any time of day or night. Their flat is a dump, besides.
We have also been attending Institute and YSA activities. On Friday night we prepared food and met at the church before departing for Spitchwick in Dartmoor National Park. We returned to our flat on the way to pick up some sports equipment, thinking to meet them there, but we were never able to find them with the directions we had been given. It reminded us of the old hide and seek game- we drove around the area for two hours. They were very apologetic, but it was all right, as they had enough food without ours. Next week they plan to go to Teignmouth Beach. We will make sure we stay in the middle of the pack this time. There ought to be a lesson there somewhere.
We also had the opportunity to visit Coleton Fishacre, the home of Rupert and Dorothy D'Oyly Carte, built in the 1920s. They owned the Savoy Hotel, and the theatre in London famous for Gilbert and Sullivan operas, which they produced, and ended up wealthier than the artists themselves. The home and gardens were beautiful, with a view of the southern coast.
Elder Warnick passed his written driving test with excellent scores. The hardest part was a computer hazard perception test, as they have their own way of deciding how soon you should see it and what exactly might turn into a problem. We fasted beforehand, and he got higher scores than he ever had on the preparation tests, so we are most grateful for the help. The next part to pass is behind the wheel, and we are paying a church member to get him ready for that and present him at the test, as that is the way it is done here. It is not scheduled until November. Through it all we have felt sustained by Heavenly Father and know of His interest in the lives of His children."
