2/16-2/22

Our ward asked us to do a musical number. I know that I do not sing but figured I would suck it up because there are four of us. Well it ended up being one girl playing the piano, one girl flipping pages, and two of us singing. I was one of the girls singing. I was so nervous but it ended up being a great experience. We sang a version of In Humility Our Savior. It was a good experience to practice throughout the week with the other two girls. Primary was again crazy. The kids are so sweet and come from a variation of different home environments. I have learned a lot by teaching the older class. I get to know the scripture stories real well. Today in class we did an object lesson. We had a big zip-lock full of dirty water. We then put a little zip-lock inside the dirty water. In the little zip-lock was clean water. We discussed how even though the clean water is in the dirty water it stays clean. We live in a sometimes bad world with bad things, but we can stay pure and clean when we follow the commandments. Well, I don't know how well the object lesson went because in the middle of the demonstration one of the boys shouted "Africa has dirty water just like that!" Another boy from Africa said, "Our water is NOT like that." I explained that even in the United States you can find dirty water and how in the world there are many places that may have dirty water. After church we walk to the bus stop. We saw something fly by and then heard a huge bang. We looked at the side of the bus stop and an egg was splattered everywhere. We were so glad that it didn't hit any of us. It was scary and so unexpected.

Memorable Moments:

We went grocery shopping this week and had so many groceries we could hardly carry them onto the bus. I was balancing my groceries around my fingers (almost cutting off my circulation) and the bus driver slammed on the breaks. I slammed into this elderly lady. It was not funny...but it was. She was okay, and I apologized to her.

We went to go get dessert (McDonald's Mcflurries) and when we were walking back a man yelled "Nicole Kidman get back here". It was three of us girls, and none of us resemble Nicole Kidman. We started walking super fast.

We have started to do P 90X and we all can hardly walk up the five floors of stairs to our flat without stopping on every floor. I think we like to be dramatic about how sore we are....makes us feel like we worked out so hard. While doing it on Saturday we had a surprise visitor....one of our Professors. We were a little frazzled but told her she could join us! She didn't, instead she wanted to meet with us about homework.

We have learned how to sneak toilet paper into our room from the hallway so we don't run out.

We also have learned how to take off our jackets in outside pictures so we don't have every single picture looking the same.

We decided that our room needs a little decoration so we bought some tulips. Every time we look at them they are taller. They were getting a little out of control so Hali saved them with ribbon.

Monday we went to Platform 9 3/4 (King's Cross Station). 

They had a line of people waiting for pictures. They had people there taking pictures that you could buy (they are the ones who supplied the scarf). 

Wednesday we left at 7 a.m. for our South trip. All of us boarded the bus and took off right away. We made our first stop at Glastonbury Abbey, legendary burial place of King Arthur and his Queen Guinevere. The abbey is located in Somerset. The Saxons, who had been converted to Christianity, conquered the ancient county of Somerset in the 7th Century. Their King was, Ine of Wessex, he boosted the status and income of the Abbey. The Norman structures were consumed by fire in 1184 and many ancient treasures were destroyed. During the reign of Henry VIII many religious buildings were seized by the Crown, to be sold off. Glastonbury Abbey was one of the principal victims of this action by the King. 

King Arthur's

We got back in the bus and headed to Tintagel. You will be able to see in pictures how beautiful it is. I was dying. It felt so weird to be able to see out. I love London, but where we spend most our time is 100% city. We always have big buildings around us, and people everywhere. It felt nice to be able to see for miles. The weather reminded me of Bodega Bay. It was chilly and the wind was blowing (as you can see in the pictures). We got to climb up to the Tintagel Castle. We were on the North Cornwall coast. Tintagel Castle is steeped in legend and mystery; it is reputed to be the birthplace of King Arthur. The views were amazing!

This is from the internet...but wanted to show what it looks like from above.

We walked down this trail and had no idea what we were in for! 

We hadn't climbed to the castle yet and were thrilled with the view.

This is when we had gotten to the castle on the top.

(Me & Hannah)

I never was a huge fan of selfies...well I think we all have taken lots at this point. 

The weather reminded me of Bodega Bay. Even the scenery and the colors.

This may be my favorite day so far

A little cave to explore.

We then headed to Newquay where we would stay for the night. We checked into our hotel, and then a group of us went to a Pub. This was not a typical pub. It looked like a California Beach restaurant, with light colors on the walls. I forgot to take pictures, but we did capture a picture in the bathroom. After we ate we went back to the hotel and went swimming. We had a secret plan to sneak down to the ocean and go for a polar bear dip. Once the plan was mentioned, we knew we had to follow through. We snuck out of the hotel around 11. We weren't really needing to sneak because curfew is 12. We did have to sneak the white hotel towels out with us. For some reason we thought the ocean would be close to the hotel. It was close but we had to walk through the town to get there. We all weren't prepared with swimsuit cover-ups or shoes. We had our white towels wrapped around us and looked so silly. As we left the hotel the man at the lobby said something to us. We just rushed out and then felt bad after. We made our way down to the ocean...and we all touched the ocean. I can't say I fully went in. I did put my legs in and walk out into it. We heard people coming so got nervous to stay to long. I can say it was a good memory. The next morning we headed back to the beach to take some more pictures. We saw a seal out in the water! It was so fun.

It was a cute hotel right along the ocean.

Here is the lobby...but also the only place with wifi as you can see below.

The bathroom in the pub we thought was fun. Wondering what the seats are for, I guess if you don't want to eat at a table you can come in the bathroom. 

Before we jumped in the water

(Me, Abbie, Hannah, Hali, & Lindsey)

We weren't prepared with shoes...rainboots and swimsuit....new trend setter. 

At night

The next morning we walked back down to the shore

We boarded the bus and headed to Land's End. Land's End is the most westerly point of mainland off of Cornwall. It again was beautiful! It started raining hard as we left...the rain was pounding on our faces.

(Lindsey, Hali, Hannah, Me, & Andrea)

(Me & Tiffany)

(Me, Hannah, Andrea, Hali & Saren)

After Land's End we went to St. Michael's Mount. James and Mary St Levan live at the castle today. It is amazing to think that people actually still live on this island. James is the 12th generation of the St Aubyn family, who has occupied the castle since the 17th century. Some of the people who live in the cottages around the island can trace their roots back 300 years.

So there is a Causeway behind us leading to the Island/Mount. 

Bachelor reference: Yes, we all watch the Bachelor as a group. I don't know if it is the actual show we like (I hope not) or just all being able to talk about it. Anyways, on one of the dates they went in a car and then suddenly Juan (The Bachelor) drove it into a lake and it became a boat. Well, since the causeway wasn't clear we got to take this car/boar. We all were thrilled making Bachelor jokes. 

This is the view from the Island of shore.

(Hali, Hannah, Linsey, Me, Abbie, Jillian & Andrea).

View from the inside

We then went to Exeter Cathedral. This cathedral is one of the finest examples of gothic architecture. It is the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter at Exeter. The building was complete by about 1400. The cathedral suffered during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and then again during the English Civil War. In 1942 the cathedral was hit by an explosive bomb demolishing the chapel of St James. Repairs have been done since that. Some of the cathedral's most important artifacts include ancient glass, the bishop's throne, and the Exeter Book.

Old English manuscripts from the Exeter Library.

Saturday we went to Portobello Road. There were so many booths set up with things to buy: clothes, jewelry, art, produce, & food. It is the street Notting Hill was filmed on.

(Andrea, Briona, Me, & Hannah)

I am loving every minute here! I am so happy I have met such wonderful people here. The days fly by! We constantly are busy with activities, and when we aren't out doing something we are busy talking, laughing, and getting to know each other more. I love seeing the sites, and had no idea that there were places that really look like they do here.