A Friend in America and Pork and Beans

The missionaries came back and gradually took over the responsibilities of visiting the branches and preaching, etc. and our meetings became more interesting. My cousin, Ernest Capel, came to England on a mission. I think he was in the Sheffield area, I'm not sure. He attended one of our Bristol conferences. It must have been after his release to go home. My father loved the Capel family. Aunt Jessie was his oldest sister and took care of them after their mother died. Aunt Jessie and her family, that is those that were left here, emigrated to America just before the outbreak of war.

Many years passed since the end of the war and my brother, Walter, and his wife and son emigrated to Australia. He had been out of work for some time and the government offered to pay the fare of all who would go to Australia and colonize the uninhabited places. They had to have so much money on them as a guarantee for support until they were able to make a profitable living. I had been saving for some time in the hopes that I could emigrate to America (Zion) so I loaned Walter the necessary money instead. This was one of many times I had tried to save to go to Zion. Each time something happened to discourage me so I gave up the attempt, thinking that perhaps the Lord wanted me to stay where I was for a purpose. I made up my mind to be content and let the Lord direct my life which He surely did.



Ernest Joseph

Van Camp's Pork and Beans label

Clevedon

I must stop here in my narrative to explain a little about my mother so you will better understand about my personal problems. Mother was baptized the same day we were in the Roman baths. She was active in the church for awhile. Aunt Jessie Capel, who was president of the Relief Society, chose her to be her secretary. There were many factors contributing to mother's rebellion. She was a very proud and independent person and there was intense persecution against the church at that time. Then when mother took over the Relief Society books it was found that there was a discrepancy of several pounds in the financial records at that time. The church auditors came to audit the books and mother, not understanding church procedure, thought she was being accused of dishonesty. Then she happened to see one of the missionaries sporting a girl and smoking a cigarette, so mother became embittered toward the church.
A few years later Father was made Branch President and being war years he had to travel around to the different branches visiting and encouraging the members. Dad would have liked to have had mother go with him but she wouldn't go. She also very strongly objected to my father paying a tenth of his income to the church. As I have stated before, we were slowly recovering from a severe [economic] depression and mother was very conscious of money and what the lack of it meant. I had to help my father with his reading and writing because of his poor vision and sometimes she thought perhaps I was taking sides against her. We tried to include her in all our activities but she would have none of it. We tried to live at peace with her but she refused to co-operate and our house became a battle ground--divided against itself. I used to dread to go home from work and conditions became so unbearable that after a bout with influenza I had a nervous breakdown. My hair came out but it soon grew back again. After recovering I went away for three weeks to a sanatorium owned by my employers.
While at the sanatorium I made many friends. Clevedon is a little old-world town on the coast of the Bristol Channel. It's beautiful beach and walks are a delight and the old-fashioned gardens were something to see and remember.
It was a rule at the sanatorium that everyone should attend church and since there was no LDS church in the area, I went with some of the girls to the Church of England. The one we attended on that first Sunday morning was an old Seventeenth Century church on the top of Salt Hill overlooking the sea. It was a beautiful old church on the outside but cold and dark inside. 

St. Andrew's Church on Salt Hill, Clevedon

There were chains on the walls and pews. We asked the old Sexton what they were there for and he said they were used to chain the bibles to the pews so that no one would be tempted to take them away. He showed us a couple that were still there. I don't know why they thought people would steal them because most people could not read, and besides they were mostly written in Latin.The sermon that morning was a treatise on the personality of the Godhead. The minister did a good job of confusing the minds of the congregation--or so I thought. 

St. Andrew's Church, Interior

On the way back "home" one of the girls asked me how I enjoyed the sermon. I couldn't resist such a golden opportunity to tell them that I couldn't believe in a God such as the Minister had tried to describe, one without a body, parts or passions. I told them of our belief in a loving Heavenly Father, and that once we dwelt with Him before our existence upon the earth. I remember what a beautiful morning it was. The sun was shining, the sea gulls screaming, and the sound of the bells on the buoys in the harbour. As we walked slowly along, what joy filled my soul as I told those girls the Joseph Smith story. That night after lights were out we sat up in our beds and talked. There were four single beds in our room and the girls asked many questions and with the help of the Holy Ghost I was able to answer them and tell them many things about the restoration of the Gospel. I never saw those girls again after I left Clevedon and I often wondered if they remembered the things I told them.

Speaking in Church

A conference was called by James Gunn McKay to be held in Cardiff, Wales. Brother Fred Day and his counselors had hired a large hall to accommodate the anticipated crowd. The event had been well advertised. President David O. McKay would be there. This was the first conference of the Welsh and Bristol district since the beginning of World War I. The theme of the conference was the question that most people were asking, "Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going?" Just before the morning session started, President Day came up to me and said, "Will you talk upon the first subject as well as your own?", which was "Why am I here?" The girl who was given the first subject was ill and could not attend. I was very frightened but the Lord helped me and President McKay told me later that I had done very well. After the meeting a woman came up to me and asked what seminary I had been attending to have such knowledge of religious matters. I told her I had not been to any college. She was astonished and asked how I had gained so much knowledge. I told her that anyone can gain such knowledge through study and prayer and the help of the Holy Ghost.

I have really enjoyed studying the gospel through the years and have eagerly sought for knowledge with all the earnestness of my soul and the Lord has blessed my efforts. I have enjoyed my teaching assignments and any opportunity to share the gospel with others.

I spent many holidays with Ellen roaming those beautiful Welsh hills. Her mother was such a dear, faithful soul. I loved Ellen very much. In 1923 she emigrated to America. I visited Varteg a couple of times after that but it wasn't the same without her. She lives in Salt Lake City now and I have often visited her there and we often talk about those lovely days spent together.

I have mentioned before about the Thatcher family in Bath. It wasn't too far away from Bristol and I spent many pleasant weekends there going by train. There was Elsie, Lily and Jim, who were around my age. We had lots of fun together. They also emigrated to America in 1923 and lived in Provo. There was also the Bryant family I have mentioned before. Grandma Bryant, her daughters, Edith and Elsie, her Granddaughters, Nellie and Dora. Elsie was deformed with curvature of the spine. She was a lovely person and I grew to love her, especially after Nellie's death.
I might mention here some friends I made at work who became members of the Church besides Paul. There was her sister, Emma, a girl named Mabel Howe and her fiancée. They were all baptized by my father in the river Frome. Mabel died in 1927 of TB. I have been able to do her Temple work.

Sister Rosoer

One day the Branch President, Richard Thomas, received a letter from President George Albert Smith who was then presiding over the European mission, asking him to go or send someone to a place called Merthyr Tydfill to see if they could find a Sister Rosoer who had once lived there. (Some of the records got lost during the war years). So Brother Thomas asked Ellen and me if we would like to go.
Early the next morning we started from Ellen's home about 5:30 A.M. and walked over the hills a couple of miles to the railway station at Blaenavon, arriving there about 7:30 or 8:00 A.M. at Merthyr Tydfill. We asked the station master the way to the little town and we walked another two miles. I remember what a beautiful morning it was. The sun was shining, the birds singing, and we sang and talked as we walked along. We were wondering, too, how we were going to find Sister Rosoer. We did not know how old she was, what she looked like, or where she lived. We started up a hill, thinking we would stop at a cottage further on and make inquiries. Suddenly I looked up and saw the quaintest little old lady coming over the brow of the hill.

She crossed over and walked toward us. She looked a typical old fashioned Welsh woman, dressed in a long dark dress with a white lace collar and a spotless frilly white apron. She offered outstretched hands and a smiling face as she came towards us. We looked at her in astonishment as she said, "Good morning, my dears. I am Sister Rosoer. Are you coming to visit me?" We were speechless for a moment, then Ellen said as she took her hand, "Sister Rosoer, how did you know we were coming?" She replied, "Aye, that’s a long story. I’ll tell ye while we eat and visit." When we arrived at her quaint and beautiful little thatched cottage with a profusion of flowers in the little garden and red and white

A Thatched Cottage

geraniums in the windows, we noticed as we entered the cottage that the table was set for three people on a snowy white cloth. After a brief wash we sat down to boiled eggs and toast with jam, milk and welsh scones (they call them scons). When we finished eating, Sister Rosoer told us her life story. I will tell here only the part that pertains to our visit.

She was converted to the Church as a young girl. She married her childhood sweetheart. He never did join the Church but he never opposed it and was very good to her and never interfered with her church activities. One day the missionaries paid her an unexpected call, President Woodruff and three others. She was quite embarrassed because she had to excuse herself and go to the village store to purchase food for their dinner. After they had eaten and rested for a while they were about to leave when Sister Rosoer again apologized for not being prepared. President Woodruff said, "Sister Rosser, we appreciate your hospitality and would like to leave you with our blessing. Then he put both hands upon her head and among many other things he said, "Dear Sister, if you will live the gospel and remember your morning and evening prayers you will never again be taken by surprise by a visit from the Priesthood or those whom they send". She never was. That morning when we arrived she said that when she arose from saying her morning prayers she had received a distinct impression that someone was coming to visit her today so she decided to meet the early morning train. What wonderful things she told us that morning. It was a visit to be remembered. We saw her twice within the following year. Our third visit was to her funeral.

Friends In The Church

The Bryant family became quite active members of the Church. Nellie Wintle, a younger member of that family, was my special friend. The night of the reorganization of the branch, President [James Gunn]McKay and one of the Elders administered to Nellie. She had been ill for some time and the doctors diagnosed it as TB and advised sending her to a sanatorium for patients with that disease. In the administration, President McKay blessed her that she would be made well and become a mother in Israel. But he also gave them a warning that on no account were they to let her go to that sanatorium. If they did, she would die. Edith Bryant had already made arrangements for her to go and she was afraid that if she withdrew her application the doctor and others who had helped with the arrangements would be offended so they let her go. I visited her there several times and I could see what President McKay was warning her about. Even in winter the windows were always wide open and rain was beating in. There were several patients in Nellie's room in the last stages of the disease who died while Nellie was there. They had her brought home in three months and she died soon after. It surely pays to heed the counsel of the Lord's servants.

There was another family I might mention--the Day family--in Cardiff Wales. Wales at that time was included in the Bristol District or Conference and during the war young Fred who was barely 18 years old became President of the District. It was amazing how this young man took on the stature of a spiritual giant. His father, my father, and all older people as well as the young ones, listened to his counsel. After the war we used to hold our conferences at Cardiff. The Days had a large, three story house. In ordinary times they took in boarders but this first conference after the war their house was empty except for the family so many of us were invited to stay there. President and Sister David O. McKay also stayed there. How thrilled we were to sleep in the same house as an Apostle.

I had another special friend who belonged to the Church. Her name was Ellen Forward. She lived in a small mining town called Varteg, near Pontypool in Wales. When conference time came we always made arrangements to stay at the same place. I used to spend some of my yearly vacations at her home. There were five houses built of stone, the back going into the hill. They were in a row. All of the people living in this row were Mormons so the townspeople nicknamed it the Five Houses, or Mormon Row. The Forwards, the Biggs' the Thomas's, the Bendall's and the Griffiths'.

Gorse

We had wonderful times roaming those beautiful Welsh hills together. They were green all the year around. One would come upon waterfalls and small streams in the most unexpected places and wild flowers were everywhere. The yellow bracken or gorse in the spring covered the wild places and the purple heather in the Fall was beautiful.

Heather

Ellen's father was not a member of the church. At one time he was very opposed to it. He used to enjoy taking us for walks and showing us places and things we had not seen before. Sometimes when no one else was around he would ask me questions about the church. The Varteg branch had no regular meeting house so the Saints met in different houses. I think they used to go to the Jones house because it was central and a little larger than most. To get there we had to walk over the hills about 6 miles so we took a lunch and ate it between Sunday School and Sacrament meeting. Those were very delightful days. On the way to and fro we would sing the songs of Zion together or discuss some of the gospel principles.

An Angel

      How happy we were when finally the war was over. I remember the day the Armistice was signed. We were all given the day off and it seemed like everyone in town met at the center of town where the Mayor was to speak. There were thousands of people as far as the eye could see, jamming the streets that led out from the center itself. The Lord Mayor stood on a large platform with a megaphone in his hand, using it to speak. He called for three minutes of silence in honor of those who had given their lives. The hush went out from him and gradually went like a wave through the crowd. That was the most impressive silence I have ever experienced. It seemed like an hour. Finally the silence was broken by sobs from people who had lost loved ones and the buglers playing "Taps".

I was still teaching the adult class in Sunday School although I knew so very little of the doctrines of the Church. In looking back over my life I can see how the Lord has molded me to His Gospel pattern, guiding me, keeping me from yielding to temptations which sometimes were almost overwhelming. I was a very lonely girl, eager for love and companionship, and could easily have become attached to the wrong kind of person but I know that the Lord was watching over me.

My father's sight being very poor, I used to read to him from the Standard Works which helped me a lot in my teaching assignment and in explaining the Gospel to others. When I wasn't there he used a large magnifying glass which had been given to him by his nephew, Jim Capel.

My bedroom was upstairs at the back of the house. The small windows opened out like doors and on summer nights I often knelt by the open window looking out over the chimney tops and up at the sky and the stars, wondering what was in store for me. Like every young girl, I wanted to be married and have a home of my own but I could see no prospects in sight for that. There were no young men belonging to the Church in Bristol. Oh, there was Jim Thatcher in Bath, he was quite a dear friend, and there was Walter Smith in Stroud (I didn't care too much for him). As I knelt by my window I used to pray to the Lord to help me change my life, or be content with what I had. Sometimes a sweet peace would envelope me and I seemed to hear the Lord say, "In my good time, my daughter, have patience".

Well, the war was over and very slowly things began to return to normal. The missionaries started to come back into the mission field again. President David O. McKay became President of the European Mission with headquarters in Liverpool and his cousin, James Gunn McKay was President of the British Mission with head­quarters in London.

 I had been home from work for about three weeks recovering from an illness. It was in July or August and the weather was warm and delightful. I was dreading the thoughts of going back to work. One day father received a telegram from President David O McKay, stating that President James Gunn McKay and two missionaries would be arriving in Bristol at 1:00 PM and would someone meet them. So it was natural that I should be assigned to the delightful task since I was perfectly free to do so. When I arrived at Temple Meads Station the next day, the place was thronged with hundreds of people, either disembarking or waiting to embark on the dozens of trains coming and going. I never saw such confusion. Many of these people were American tourists visiting England and Europe after the war.

I stood on top of the steps leading to the overpass and looked down upon that milling throng and wondered how in the world I would be able to find or identify three Mormon missionaries. I leaned against the railings and offered up silent prayer for help. Once more I looked over the hundreds of heads going to and fro or just standing, then I saw them, three of them standing at the foot of the stairs. The tallest and oldest of the three looked up and waved. It seemed we recognized each other at once. They seemed to be set apart from the rest of the people, like angels I thought. I went down to meet them. President McKay came toward me with extended hand saying, "Are you Sister Neal?".

 Later President McKay told me that when he saw those crowds of people at the station and not knowing who would be there to meet them, he too offered a silent prayer that the Lord would guide them. Then he said to the two elders, "Let us go over there by the steps of the overpass and wait." As soon as they arrived at the foot of the stairs, President McKay said, "As I looked up and there you were, like an angel, I thought that must be Brother Neal's daughter". And so the Lord guides and answers, especially when we ask Him.

         President McKay and the two Elder Hanson's (not related) stayed in Bristol a week. They called on all members active and inactive and invited them to a special meeting for the purpose of reorganizing the Branch. That was one of the most spiritual meetings I have ever attended. My father was again set apart as Branch President. When I was being set apart I was given a very special blessing for the recovery of my health after my recent illness; also that the Lord would fulfill all the righteous desires of my heart. I became very close to President and Sister McKay while they were in England, accompanying them on their many visits to places around Bristol.