Epsom Branch

Hello Dear Reader,
A short time after we arrived in Epsom Grandpa (Wesley) Carter was made Sunday School Superintendent of the Epsom Branch and Grandma (Mary) Carter was called to be Relief Society President. The Epsom Branch met on the top floor of an old Co-op hall; the accomodations left much to be desired. There was no heat in the building and there were no classrooms. Basically the room we met in was a big open hall with wooden floors. We clattered up wooden stairs to get to meetings. Literally, on Sundays, the cigarette butts had to be swept out of the room and the empty alcohol bottles had to be disposed of before church could begin.

In the winter we all huddled together so we wouldn't freeze. We could see our breath when we sang or spoke to each other. Nathan Eldon Tanner, later a counselor in the First Presidency, was in our branch. He was an assistant to the Council of the Twelve at the time and was president of the Western European Mission.

He and Sister Tanner and the sister missionaries who worked as secretaries were always seated on the front row (wooden folding chairs) by the time most of the rest of us arrived. They drove from Leatherhead where their offices were located. Sister Tanner and the secretaries sometimes brought hot-water bottles along and we saw them take off their shoes and put their feet on the bottles or pass the bottles along under their lap robes to try to keep warm.
Love,
Aunt Genni