Bombs and Blessings

Today proves that I should probably have my own TV show.  I went to church on my own which normally would have been totally fine.  The Central line was closed to where my normal station was so I thought, "Cool, well, I'll just go on the Jubilee line".  Two stops along the way, I hear an announcement that my station was closed because of a "suspicious package."  Off Jubilee line, on to the Northern line, back to the Central line.  I get to the train station and I had a good long wait for the next train so I sat down to wait for it.  I had one of my completely random passing out moments.  I woke up with two security guys standing over me yelling at me.  I couldn't quite understand what they were saying because I was pretty out of it but one of them insisted on searching my bag for a bomb.  Well, you know me.  I usually keep a bomb next to my YW manual, Book of Mormon, and Personal Progress book.  Eventually the figured out that I wasn't lying on the floor for kicks and they helped me sit up, got me some water, and I headed for home.  I didn't quite make it to church today.  I just went back home and slept.

We had a meeting to get us ready for Paris.  We'll be spending the week there so don't be alarmed when I don't post.  Afterwards, I went and talked to the professors for a minute (I had to tell my Aylea the Train Station Bomber story) and then Matt gave me a blessing.  He said several things, one of which was to remember that he and Nick cared about me and would do whatever they could to help me.  After that they told me that if I ever needed anything to find them and I was welcome to hang out with their families while we were there if I felt uncomfortable... or wanted to babysit their kids so they can go to fancy restaurants.  It was so comforting to be able to receive a blessing for both the reassurance that I've got people on my team and also that Heavenly Father is looking out for me.

So.  Good Memories of the Day.

1. Already mentioned, but the blessings.  A very big one.

2. I got a nap today.  That is truly a good thing.

3. I'm almost done with Tale of Two Cities.  If I finish it before we go to Paris, I won't have English reading for at least a week after we get back, so for two weeks!  I could for sure use a less frantic homework load!

Now, with more peace of mind than I've had in a while, I'm going to go to bed early to try to get myself feeling better.  Maybe read a few more pages of good ol' Charlie Dickens.

Or maybe I'll go blow something up.  Because I'm totally a suspicious person like that.

Alone No Longer!

Yesterday was catch up on homework day.  So nothing exciting to report.

Well, that's not true.  Because EVERYONE'S HOME!!! :D

Just in case you couldn't tell, I am ridiculously excited about this.  The purple is a clear indication of my excitement.  Yesterday morning when I woke up and saw Caity, Courtney, and Christi in their beds I started to grin.  When I had to be quiet, I still grinned.  I grinned all the way through my shower.  I grinned when I couldn't turn on the light.

Y'know, I think I missed them.  

I can't express how wonderful it was to not eat breakfast and lunch by myself.  It's so nice to stay up a little later talking and laughing with the girls in my room even it means I don't get as much sleep.  It's so wonderful to hear screams and loud laughter from various parts of the house.  The Masons asked me how I felt about having it so noisy again and I just beamed and said, "It's amazing.  I love it."  They've said they're going to ask me again in a few days.  My answer might be different.  But for right now at least, I am so happy to have everyone back!  It's not that I was exactly lonely because I loved being by myself and hanging out with the Masons.  It just feels like home again.

It's been fun to be here while everyone was coming back.  I was able to stories before most other people.  The most surprising part for me was that several of them said they were jealous of me and all the things I got to do!   I was so jealous of all their Spain/Italy/Prague/Switzerland/who knows where else adventures.  And they were coming back envying me for my adventure, for being able to be alone and maneuver London and see the things here.  That was quite a shock.

I was also touched by their willingness to hear about what I did.  They were all off on crazy adventures but still wanted to know what I did here.  Also, I had written a note on the whiteboard that said, "Welcome back!  I missed y'all!" then signed my name.  As I went down to lunch today I saw that someone had written, "We missed you too!" and someone else had drawn a Facebook Like button.  A particular highlight was when I first saw Kaylee.  She came out and handed me a small bag.  She had bought me a beautiful necklace while she was in Rome because I wasn't able to be there.  We'd had some discussion about how much I love necklaces before.  I was so touched that she was in Italy and somehow managed to remember me.  

It's fun because having them gone for a few days made me appreciate how awesome they all are.  It made me wonder how hard it is going to be when we go our separate ways never to live together again.  But I refuse to think about it.  I'm just going to enjoy this while it lasts.

Have I mentioned that I'm so happy they're back?  

Today at church I had some interesting experiences.  I don't want to write about one in particular in detail because I know I'll cry.  It just made me realize how blessed I am to have the life that I do.  I owe my parents and a lot of other people a huge thank you for everything they have done for me.

Also in YWs I felt so bad for the new president.  She's a girl not too much older than me from Vietnam.  She's here on her own trying to figure out a new culture and how things work.  She kept looking at me for help during the lesson when things would happen but I'm a clueless kid.  I had no idea what to do.  Afterwards we talked in the hallway for a minute and she just looked at me in desperation and asked, "What do I do?  Did I say something wrong?  I don't know how to be a good leader for these girls."  I had no idea so all I could do was assure her that I would help in whatever way possible and that she was doing fine and would figure things out.  YWs today was a very eye opening experience.   I don't know what to do.  I hope Heavenly Father lets me know how I can be a help while I'm here.  I don't know what a clueless kid on the "small side of tiny and lacking in perpendicular" (from the Tigger Movie) can do but I'll do whatever I can.  But wow.  I've gotten a whole lot of things to think about today.

Oh yeah, and I spoke in Sacrament Meeting.  I don't think I really did that great but I had half the ward coming up to me to thank me for it.  A senior missionary who used to teach at BYU eagerly pumped my arm and said, "Now I know all about Zion!  Thank you!"  So that turned out pretty good I guess.

And everyone's back!  Yay!

I'm Still Me

Today I didn't go to my ward because we got several inches of snow and the whole transportation system was having issues.  Rather than being stranded somewhere or something like that we just went to a nearby ward, the one the professors go to.  We got lost when we went the wrong direction but in the end we managed to make it just in time for them to bring the Sacrament to us in the hallway.  We went in, found seats, and all was well.  The building here is being remodeled so they only had two hour church so we went to Relief Society with the professors' wives and then came back.

So.  We're a month into this thing.  January 5th was my first day in London and here we are, February 5th  and still going strong!  I wanted to do a quick recap, mostly for me to see the progress and all the things that have happened.  It's been a lot to take in so if I don't do things like this I forget it all!

The Ups:
-Personal TVs on the flight
-Um, being in London, hello!
-The first time I ever saw Big Ben.  :D
-Dover Castle! <3
-Wicked
-London Museum, British Museums, Tower of London... anywhere with lots of armor and swords!
-Starting to learn my way around instead of getting lost all the time
-The ward loving us
-Funny things on the Tube
-Holland Park
-London Walks class... being OVER!
-Chipping Campden
-Starting to get to know people
-Nando's and Primark
-Kitchen duty not being the torture I expected
-Fun classes
-Cadbury chocolate
-Playing with the Professors' kids

The Downs:
-My ankle, getting sick, other heath problems that made things more difficult
-Missing St. Paul's
-Not going to Travel Week
-Warwick being a bit of a disappointment
-Taming of the Shrew
-Having to feed myself
-Homesickness
-Struggling with being in the group

The Trips:
Runnymede and Windsor Castle
Hampton Court
Chipping Campden, Warwick, Oxford

Hooray for more ups than downs!  There's a lot more that I could mention but that's a pretty good start.

The biggest surprise is me.  Well, sort of.  I guess part of me was hoping to come here and have another personality transplanted into me.  I kind of imagined myself turning into one of the girls from movies when they visit London and there's groovy music in the background and cute boys show up and every turn and they end up wearing gorgeous ball gowns and are surrounded by friends by the end of the movie.  I was hoping that I'd come and suddenly be all grown up and wonderful, and if not here, that I'd go home and have become grown up and wonderful (still time for that, I guess!).

But that didn't happen.  As it turns out, I'm still me.  I still struggle with all the same things.  I still feel self-concious being around so many girls and worrying about what they think of my hair/clothes/makeup and that I won't be accepted by them.  I still get homesick every now and then.  I still have the same laugh and sense of humor if I get comfortable enough to share them with people.  At the beginning I was on my very best behavior trying to make everyone like me.  Now I realize that I might as well just be me because if they don't like me there's nothing they can do.  They're stuck with me anyway!  Ha!  It's okay that I prefer T-shirts to blouses and I dislike skinny jeans.  I'm allowed to have my opinion--if other people in the group loved Taming of the Shrew, fine, but it's okay that I didn't.

The biggest difference I see is how confident and capable I feel.  I never did things on my own back them.  Even going to the store to grab a thing of mascara would freak me out.  Now I'm comfortable enough to ride the Tube or go get food by myself if I need to, or even if I just want to be alone for a while.  I can handle things.  I don't need someone to hold my hand and help me along.  I can do hard things.  I can solve problems when things don't go as expected.  And if I don't feel like I belong and I don't have any good friends here, it's okay because I can do things by myself and be just fine.  It's a glorious feeling.

I knew coming here would change my life forever.  It's fun to see it starting already!  So there's what I think so far about how things have gone.  It's been awesome!

HA! I Didn't Get Lost!

Yesterday was a landmark day.  I'll get to that.

First thing that morning was going on one of the walks.  It was fun to go out on a bright and crisp Saturday morning with fewer people out.  I think this was probably my favorite of the walks.  The buildings were so cool.

After the walks I headed to Portobello Road Market.  If you've seen Bedknobs and Broomsticks, you've heard of it.  There were no beds or singing, but there was a lot of everything there.  I bought the biggest donut I've ever seen in my life.  We hung out there until it started raining hard enough that we got tired of it.  We headed back, went and got lunch, and then I went shopping so I can eat some real food for lunches.  Actually, so I could actually eat lunches.  I went shopping by myself though, and the amazing this is, I didn't get lost on the way back!  Hooray!  I was too tired to do anything else so I Skyped with my family, did homework for the rest of the day than finished everything up with movie night in the classroom.

Royal exchange

Cookies of some sort

See the cute little tower?

The building used for Cruella's office building in 101 Dalmatians 2

Great fire monument

Also today I went to church and met the Young Women I'll be teaching for the next four months in the Stratford Ward.  They are a very lively bunch.  After church I finally made it to Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.  Beautiful.  

Sorry for the lots of pictures and little to read.  I'm exhausted.

Me in front of Marble Arch just outside of Hyde Park.  It used to be the entrance into the palace until the carriages were too big to go through it.  It still looks pretty big to me!

Church

Please comment!  It makes me feel like I have an audience.  I also love getting questions because it will help me remember to write things.  I'm using this as my main journal.  That's why there are so many random details that no one else probably even cares about.  I want to remember!  To answer your questions, Sister Black, I'm in the left side of the room, far corner on the top bunk.  My closet is in the middle.  Looking out the window takes a little bit of leaning over since I sleep with my head to the wall but not too much.   I haven't eaten the Turkish Delight because I want to take my camera and get a picture of it first.  I did eat a Mars bar though since I bought a package of five of them for a really good price.  Maybe I should eat real food instead of candy...

I finally managed to figure out my alarm clock and it went off around the time that I actually wanted it to. Hooray!  Breakfast this morning was yogurt, fruit, and juice.  In honor of Bryn, I selected a lemon cheesecake yogurt.  It was sour and actually had pieces of cake in it.  That was not what I was expecting! It wasn't bad.  Just very different.

We left for church around 8:45 so we could get there at ten.  I'm in the London North ward and this morning we had to go through three different tube stations and a bus to get there.  It's a good thing the tickets cover bus fare as well.  I was glad when my ticket actually worked today!  There was lots of confusion trying to learn which way to take, especially with several line closures and confusing directions, but one of the girls in my group figured it out and led the way.  To our relief, at the bus station we met a senior missionary couple from Orem who are doing family history here.  They also go to our ward and were able to let us know where to go.  We missed the bus we needed to get on and had to wait twenty minutes or so.  We were late for church.  There were probably about thirty people there.  The testimonies were interesting because you never knew what accent the person speaking would have.  Irish, British, American, African...

Everything was canceled but Sacrament Meeting because the water in the building stopped working.  We went and talked to the missionaries for a few minutes and then headed back to the Centre.  Now I have all afternoon to do whatever I want.  Hyde Park, maybe?  :)

(Also, today I will be adding pictures into past posts.  There are a lot of them so I've only managed to get a few in so far)