CAMBRIDGE!

Kings College--Gorgeous!

All the girls huddling together to keep warm!


CHEESE!!! Its freezing!!!!

Roman Bath!

WWII gravesite

We had our first day trip as a group. I was excited to actually learn and see things! We started out going to a city that starts with a V and saw a roman bath. It was pretty neat. It was FREEZING! We were in a cloud pretty much. The fog was so think that we couldn't see 10 yards in front of us. We attended a Roman museum in the same place too. There was a stop off to a Cahtedral that has a stained glass window that I fell inlove with! It is called the ROSE window! We then got back onto the Bus and headed toward the World War II gravesite. The huge wall with all the names of bodies not found and then all of the other graves. It was really cool to see and be there, but oh it was so frigid! I ran in place just to try to get some heat starting. We were then off to Cambridge! It was so great! Kings College is where we were really located and it was Gorgeous! I went to a museum there and saw a Van Gough painting that I've never seen before, Pissario, Monet, and Dali. We shopped around at all the little shops there and a nearby market. It was fun. As a group we went to Kings College Chapel for the young men's Evensong. They were great but it felt like another hour of church... still cool though! It was a great and tiring day!


Dr. Crisler and Me outside the Cathedral


The ROSE window that I fell in love with and want in my house one day...
Erin, Mishon, Me, Kate, Janna


Me outside Kings College... SO SO SO PRETTY!!!!



Photo Shoot in the gift shop!

Chelsea, Molly, Alyssa, Kate, Me, Erin

The Orangery: Kensington Gardens

Abby, Me, Erin, Kalie, Chelsea

Abby and Me

Me, Chelsea, Erin, Alyssa, Abby

The Restaurant

The Dessert Table

The girls and I were excited to go to The Orangery in Kensington Gardens accross from Kensington Palace for tea and desserts. We went at high tea time. It was so pretty! I got peppermint tea and it was fantastic. I added the exact amount of sugar and it was yummy! Most of the table (of 20) got desserts and we just passed them around and took bites. There were some really good ones, like the Orange Cake, and some okay ones. I really enjoyed everyone and espeically the picture taking afterward outside the building. We really had a fun time!

Les Mis

Me and Kate

As a group of about 25 we saw Les Miserables. I have never seen it before. It was obvious that I have not adjusted to London time yet, because I kept dozing off in the first act. I remembered there was candy in my purse, so I chomped on that to keep me awake! The first act was really long and figured maybe in London they don't have intermission. So I aske my friend if there was going to be an intermission and she said "I don't know, its almost over." So soon after that they had a big powerful number and everyone on stage marching and then the curtian closed. So I packed up my things and put my coat on and stood up waiting for the group to pack thier things. It took me a good 5 minutes to realize that it was only intermission at that point. It was quite funny. I enjoyed the musical, although Cosette's mom was TERRIBLE! I was like "Oh Erin is a million times better!" Also, playbills are free in NYC, they are 3 pounds 50 pence here! Not going to happen! Although it could have been useful for my intermission confusion and also for with the charachter eponine, which I thought they were saying Ebony and during the play thought to myself "why are they calling her Ebony...she's white... why not Ivory?" Later that night my friend Kate informed me of my mistake! It was fun to go with all the girls and I'm glad I saw it once in my lifetime. I will be sure to see more!

Mishon and Me

First Sunday... Not what I was picturing!

Today I attended the ward I was assigned to with my "ward mate" Maryanne. We were advised to leave 1.5 hours early to get there in time. We take the tube to the British Rail trainstation and head over to the CRYSTAL PALACE ward. Sounds elaborate... but we go to church in the Ghetto of East Pinge. Our meeting house is a Primary School (elementary). We stay warm with space heaters (barely), and listen with a loud speaker put infront of the stand. The people in our ward are amazing and so happy to have Maryanne and I there. We are excited to serve in every possible way and they are excited to put us to use. I was very touched and humbled. I began to cry during the opening hymn by seeing the dedication these members have. It was refreshing and I'm grateful to be in this great ward. Maryanne and I received callings. I am called to teach Primary! I can't wait. I'm not sure what age group yet... but there are only about 10 children in the ward. I hope to do well! I just can't forget reading materials for my 3 hour train ride to and from!

BYU London Center

I MADE IT!!!!

Yea! Almost painless! Dad is the best for driving me so early in the morning, parking and walking me in. It kept me settled. Everything went so smooth. It's all I could ask for. There were 3 other girls on my flight, so we stuck together. My flight to San Fran was next to a pilot who loved to chat. He was nice and lucked out with my knowledge of his crossword puzzle.

It was fun to make phone calls during my layover. Sad to say but it is weird to adjust to life without a cell phone to text, call, or even look at the time and put tasks in my calendar. But I'm adjusting. Back to the flight! AMBIEN is amazing! I don't have nails to break them in half. So I bit it and a 1/3 came off. So i decided to take a third. I slept for 3 hours. Woke up for pretzel time. Took a second 1/3 and slept for 4 hours and by that time I only had 1 hour left of flying. So I was very pleased.

As we arrived in Heathrow, we got our luggage with no problems. Then all of the sudden the emergency fire alarm came on and we had to evacuate immediately! It was funny because we were all pretty much out of it and didn't really realize what was going on. Our shuttle arrived just a few minutes later (the Dot-to-Dot) and it was great!

We arrived to the BYU center and it was weird arriving realizing I'm here for 3 months. I got my room assignment. We are in the best building and I got the best room with the highest ceilings which are beautiful! I grabbed the top bunk, made my bed with the given bedding (motel 6 quality) and got my computer out to e-mail about my safe arrival. But each click to get my e-mail I'd fall asleep. Then I'd wake up hit the mouse to wake my computer up and as it booted back up I'd fall asleep. I kept falling asleep til my computer died. So I just finally shut it and fell asleep for a while. I was so excited when my friend Kate Eckersley arrived! My homesickness went down to a minimum when she got here!

I'm happy to be here and can't wait to BLOG about all of my adventures! Give me time to catch up! Love you all and missing you more than you know!!!!!