Bad Blogger...

Hey guys! Sorry I have been SO bad at blogging so far! I have been so incredibly busy that I just haven't had the time to do it. But I am going to be better because I am required to keep a journal for my classes, so this is considered my journal. :)

Well a LOT has happened since I last blogged. On Saturday we went to see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. We were a tiny bit late so we didn't see the whole thing, but the parts that I did see were very cool. Buckingham is amazing! Oh and the flag was up, so the Queen was in! It was fun to see. After that we went on a two hour walk around St. James's Park, Green Park, Hyde Park, and Kensington Gardens. I'm not going to lie, it was a long walk and got a little boring towards the end, but it was absolutely beautiful. Parks here are HUGE. Really. My feet were killing me by the end of it, but it was definitely worth seeing the endless green. Amazing. We then went to a museum and to a play called "The Woman in Black". It was fun. A two man horror show. If you are ever in London, you should see it. It was a fun show in a very intimate theater. I enjoyed it.

Sunday was church and we were put into our assigned wards. My ward is called the "White Chapel Ward" and it's about a 45 minute train ride away. A member of the Stake Presidency told us (there are 3 of us going to that ward) that most of the ward is from Nigeria, so I am really looking forward to going to church on Sunday and meeting the members.

Monday we ran errands - the post office and market, and then I had my first class: Creative Writing. It's going to be a fun class, but a lot of work. We have a lot of writing assignments, but a lot of it is "Wandering, Witnessing, and Writing" about London. So not too bad.

Yesterday was the second day of classes. The only one I had was the History of England which everyone has to take. I am excited for it. We learned about Stonehenge yesterday and about how the Romans came and conquered the British Celts. It's very interesting and a perfect setup to seeing Stonehenge which is what we did today! Last night we saw Chicago and it was sooo good!! The music and dancing was fantastic and I was so glad I went!

It was our first traveling day and I LOVED getting out of the city for a day. Don't get me wrong, I love London but sometimes it's nice to get out of the city and into the country. The countryside of England is breathtaking! We started the day at 6:30 am with breakfast, got on the bus and headed to Salisbury Cathedral. Such a cool building. The architecture is amazing and the interior is even better. The building is built on only 4 feet of foundation that's made out of little pebbles and water. Pretty cool. After Salisbury, we went to Stonehenge. It's a really fun place and so much fun thinking about how those people lifted those huge stones on top of each other...It boggles my mind. Stonehenge is fun and all, but after about 30 minutes it gets boring. haha not much going on, but easy to appreciate nonetheless. After Stonehenge we drove to Bath and saw the Assembly halls there, which was so much fun. It is exactly what I pictured it to be like in Jane Austen's time and it was just a surreal place. The ballroom was huge and we took pictures of ourselves dancing together. It was fun to imagine balls and parties going on there.

After the Assembly halls, we went to the Roman Baths and they were AWESOME!! It really is so amazing that they built that temple and courtyard around the baths. The water was way warm (Shh! We weren't supposed to stick our hands in the water, but I did...) and a nasty green color. The water was actually pretty gross. I will hopefully upload some pics so you can see them...We'll see. :)

I am living my dream and having a BLAST!! Thank you to you all for your love and support and for being such huge influences on me. I love you and hope you are having as much fun as I am, even though it's unlikely! ;) I will definitely write in the next few days...

Love,

Liz