church in bristol.

we had a great church meeting here in bristol this morning. the building was actually open and not at stake conference! we arrived 30 minutes early and the ward was thrilled to have us. 
it was so fun to sit in the meeting and have the teachers teach us with their cute accents. the relief society ladies were glad we were there and singing. 


peter (a different peter) gave the sunday school lesson on the Atonement. 
sacrament meeting was awesome. quite a few people went up to bear their testimonies and they made a note of the fact that "there were people here listening to their accents so they better be careful of what they say". the word must have gotten out that we are here in the UK to study english. 
isn't it so reassuring to know that church is always pretty much the same no matter where you go? (well maybe it will be different in africa, he he he can't wait to get there!).
i love family wards, but this one was one of the loudest i've ever sat in and there weren't even that many kids! there were two kids specifically that were doing everything possible to disturb the meeting. screaming, crying, banging, hitting, yelling, running, you name it, the kids did it. i was completely shocked. all of us sat there thinking "what in the world??" it must have been normal because the parents never once took the kids out. 


after church we made some lunch and tried to eat what we could from our peanut butter, brown (wheat) bread, ritz crackers and apples and oranges. great food, eh? 
a few of us took a stroll down the riverside down to the U.S.S. Great Britain (a ship, obviously). we had no idea how to get across the river so we photographed from the other side. 


it's been a chill sunday so far. it's nice to relax. all the walking and business is still stuck with me and i get tired so quickly!
we have a busy day tomorrow. leaving bristol (i will miss it) at 8 am, heading to stonehenge and jane austen's hometown while we travel to london. we are to arrive in london by 4 or half 4 tomorrow for our orientation and all the jazz. 


can't wait to get to london! i hope the 4th celebrations were fantastic for you. mine will be nothing fancy. think of me, would ya?

remember when i had chicken pox??

oh, and when the foot pedal brakes on my bike gave out while i was going down a hill? and t-ball pictures were the next day?

you can feel bad for me, it's okay! 

and remember how i've talked to my family maybe three times since i've been gone? sweet.

a few days.

here are some shots from the last few days. 

cardiff castle.

house at the st. fagen's natural museum. 

one of the many houses at the museum!

tintern abbey.

medevil manor house at cardiff castle. 

natural history museum. (welsh history)

tintern abbey. 

our current hostel! i am much more comfortable here than the first one. this is great! ;)

day in bath. 

the bricks were all this color, i loved it. 

crescent building. 

drinking "the water".

bath abbey. 

wallpaper at jane austen museum. do i know anything about jane austen? nope. 

i liked the wallpaper.

candy store!

hilary and me.

i apologize for there being so many photos, but our internet is going to stop soon and i had to get them all up! 

habla english.

it's great to be in the land of the english speakers! i love hearing the different accents. it's so fun. 


the past few days have been a total blur. the days seem to do that lately. it's hard to keep track of what we have done and when we did it! 


we arrived in cardiff (still in wales) and stayed at another hotel. it wasn't as nice as the previous nights stay, but still nice to be there! our hotel was in the business district, not close to anything, so our professors gave us some money and we decided at the very last minute to head to the city center to walk around and get dinner. it was so confusing trying to find the bus stop, we had no idea where we are going - we had just arrived in cardiff like an hour before. we eventually made it to the city and ate at zushi, a japanese sushi place. the sushi traveled around the whole restaurant on little conveyor belt things. really good price for good food! it was a crazy time getting back to the hotel, but we made it eventually. 

we saw the cardiff castle, st. fagen's natural history museum and tintern abbey. all of these places were so beautiful! we've seen so many castles and abbey's that we all are kinda getting sick of them, but these surprised us! the natural history museum was so interesting. there were houses all across the landscape from the 1500's of welsh history. 

at the cardiff castle, there was a house on the property that was by far my favorite part. people lived in it up until 1942. the inside design was absolutely beautiful! the ceiling and paintings. all of it was just gorgeous. it took years to design and finish but it was so amazing to see. 

i took some awesome pictures of these places but the internet (here at mcdonald's) isn't the best. i will load them when i can! hate technology sometimes. 

after the cardiff festivities, we arrived in bristol. i loved bristol right off the bat! our hostel is totally cool. a new and modern design. only 4 girls to a room and there is a shower and bathroom in our room! i am loving it. the only downside is that the internet isn't free - hence the reason we are at mcdonalds, about a 15 minute walk. it was a free night for dinner out on the town and most of us just walked around and saw all the shops and people! our hostel is right on the river so there are yacht boats close by and lots of people just hanging out by the water. lots of drunks of course. the coolest band was playing in the little square. the music was so different and i was loving it. i bought their cd. 

today, we headed to bath for the day. man, was bath cool! i didn't know anything about it before, but we went on a phenomenal tour through the city and learned about the mineral water there. the people in the past went there to bathe and be "cleansed". supposedly, it worked and people kept going back. you should read up on bath. from my experience, it's totally worth it! it was packed with tourists and little shops, so fun to walk through. 

hilary, brooke, and i are at mcdonalds. my time is running out on the internet but i am especially loving england! and so pleased with the hostel here. it's much much better than the past one. 

tomorrow, we are off to church about 9 am here in bristol and have the day to ourselves to walk around and site see. sundays are fun because we can walk around and enjoy what's here! p.s. the weather has been great. we must have brought the utah sunshine with us? 

on monday, we will head to london! finally!! i cannot wait to get there! we got an intro email about the flats we will be staying in and all the orientation things we need to know about and it got me much more excited. we will be in london for 3 weeks. it will be so nice to actually empty my stuff and not have to switch sleeping arrangements every night!

i am bummed i missed/am missing all the fun things at home for the 4th. that's one of my favorite holidays! uncle varlin's birthday and the family party is my favorite. have fun for me back in the states! i am missing you all!

oh yes, africa in just a few weeks!!