Sundays here in London are very different from my Sundays in the states. I have been attending church in the London North Ward, which is an hour and a half away. Church starts at 10am and we leave at 8:30 to get there on time! As different as our ward has been, it has been a great experience and an opportunity to serve. We are at church from 10-1 and then it takes until 2:30pm to get home. Yes, this is a 6 hour ordeal, but one that has allowed the 5 of us who attend this ward to grow.
Meet Mike: Mike is one of my best friends here. He is such an amazing person and we are constantly laughing together over little inside jokes. All the boys in the center are so great, but so different. I know Mike and I will be friends back at home and get together all the time. Mike and I have church together and were called to be nursery leaders!
Mike and I have learned to love our calling! so much! We have 4 kids in the nursery, one of which is down syndrome. Antalia is a sweet 4 year old girl that is the cutest little girl ever. She has a little sister, Victoria who is also in the nursery. Jack and Vincent are the boys in the nursery! They all could not be more precious, but it is busy! Talia keeps us on our toes! One of us has to be working and playing with her while the other watches the rest. Singing time is the most successful part of our time in nursery because Talia loves to sing. Time in nursery is so precious. The kids have changed the way I look at the simple things in life, and I have loved serving.
Two weeks ago, all of the parents picked up their kids before church ended. With the half an hour we had left, we decided to clean out the closet. Both of us agreed that the nursery needed to be redone. I wish I had "before" pictures to show you. It needed cleaning and redecorating. So with some hours spent doing arts and crafts, and shopping for supplies, we redid the nursery. It was a project that took some time, but it was great service project and we felt so much better when it was over! Yesterday, we also had the help of Kinsey, which was nice so that we could get everything we needed to done!
Here are some pictures of how it turned out:
Jack was not there yesterday, but we took pictures of our time with the kids during church. They are the cutest and make my heart melt! I love them so much. I can't imagine what the love for my own kids will be like if I can love other kids so much that are not even my own!
We were really excited to find out that we have one more Sunday to attend our ward. Stake conference is regional this spring, so the week after general conference, the last week we have here, we will attend our ward one last time! Attending church here in London has allowed me to grow tremendously. I have loved working with these little kids, they have such a special Spirit and so much faith!
Our month of March has been crazy. You have read all about our trips and how busy we have been these past few weeks. Saturday was one of our first days back in London where we did not have anything planned and we were free to play and do what we needed to.
Being exhausted from our Belgium/France trip, we decided to sleep in until 9 and then get up and go out. But, sleeping in longer than we all wanted to put us behind a little bit. Liz,Annie,Kinsey,Elise and I decided to all roll out of bed and go out on the town (sorry about the pictures)! For those of you who don't know, one of the most fun things to do in London is visit the outdoor markets every weekend. There are three main ones: Portobello, Camden and Borough! None of us had ever been to Borough market and it is in a super fun area with tons of food and in a great area of town we do not visit often. None of us had any idea what to expect, but we ended up having so much more fun than we anticipated!
We took the tube down by the Thames river and walked across the bridge to get to the opposite side of the river. It was a very cloudy and cold day, but bright at the same time? The weather is so strange here sometimes...we were just counting our blessings that it wasn't raining!
We headed for the market and it was very different than I thought it would be. It was super busy, but much smaller than I thought, which was kind of nice actually! We looked around, got lunch and enjoyed the fun atmosphere of markets. The outdoor markets here in London are a key part of the economy and very common. They have the best produce and we see super fun things to try.
After the market, we moved on and headed back towards the water. We came up on Tower Bridge, which is pretty far from our house and something we don't run into every day so it was a ton of fun! We decided to take some pictures even though none of us had gotten ready. It is just so much fun to be in downtown London all together! It is still really unbelievable to me. Even writing about this seems unreal to me. I live with some of my best friends in London, England, how cool is that?!
We walked across the bridge and headed to the Tower Bridge tube station. One thing we haven't done here in London is souvenir shop. We all vowed that we would see everything and shop at the end. We didn't want to go London crazy in the beginning! So we stopped in and it was the first time I have been in a shop for a long time looking around. The amount of "London" things they are selling is crazy-they thought of everything! It was fun seeing all the things tourists by when they stop in to visit our city.
By the time we finished it was late afternoon and we headed home to shower and get ready for dinner. Mike and I had some errands to run for church the next day, then dinner crew together!
Nights:
Because we have been gone our nights are usually spent in the library after dinner. We all gather together and all get on our computers and do "homework". Things get done, but mostly we just all chat, eat and Saturday night went way into the night. None of went to bed until 4am! These are the nights I am going to miss here in London. Random groups of people coming together to chat and bond for hours at a time. Our time is running out and so is our sleep! None of us go to bed early anymore because night time brings so much time to just sit around and enjoy! Mike and I worked on our project for Sunday and everyone else was blogging and doing homework. We call them parties in the "libs", short for library! When we are in the library things are never quiet. Not only are we talking and eating, but playing music and singing and laughing. I love the kids that are here with me abroad! I wouldn't trade this time together for anything!
I am going to miss our library parties all together. It makes the nights here tons of fun. Every part of my day was a ton of fun...not only is it fun to go out and see the city, but it is the people that you are with that make this experience memorable, and I am here with best friends!
This morning I woke up and got ready and got back in bed to write in my journal about what happened yesterday here in London, England. It suddenly hit me about how I don't have much time left here in London. I have been living in LONDON! Big Ben is right down the street?! I never want to leave this place...ever. I know when I go home I will miss it! There are so many things about London that I have grown to love. I have been living in Europe for the past 4 months, and it is just now hitting me. Hitting all of us...
A part of what makes this experience so wonderful is the people. Of course there are groups that are closer than others, but all of us get along so well. Forty of us in one house is a lot! But somehow we all have learned to put aside our differences and live and enjoy each other in such a small space. I live in a room of 13 girls who share three showers. All of the girls share three toilets! Bed times, the mornings, shower routines and daily life for all of us was different. We all continue these patterns, and have learned to embrace the difference in routines. All of us have learned how to sleep with the lights on, roll over in bed when it is noisy, live on no sleep, and share one shower because the others are leaking through the wall. I need to do a post about the center itself and where I have been living...soon to come! But I can't help but gush about the wonderful people I live and have shared this experience with. There are people here that have changed my life forever, and I know that we will be friends for a lifetime! I can't wait to see where life takes the 40 of us after this semester is over. So many girls have boys back home or are engaged. Others are going on missions. Some are graduating in April and have no idea what is in store!
We all hate to think about what is back home. It is hard to think about going back to reality. I was on the phone with my brother last night and he said to me, "Ash, I don't think your life in London is as busy as mine here."...and he is right. I live in a fairytale, I have since January 5th. I have grown so much in so many different ways over this past semester and as it gets light earlier and dark later, and the blossoms come out, time is drawing to a close and I am so sad about it! Can't this last forever?!
So, who have I been living with and growing close with these past few months?!
The entire group, all 40 of us including our professors:
Meet the girls: Annie,Liz,Kinsey,Carly,Elise,Kaylee, Paige and Sharon.
These girls are amazing. We are all so different, but together we have shared more memories, laughs, and tears than any other group of girls I know. There is something about the bond you share doing study abroad. I will love them forever.
Meet Annie Eichers: One of the most adorable girls I know. She is from Salt Lake City and goes to the University of Utah. The ways she does things so sweetly makes her one of the most special people I have ever met! She makes me laugh so hard and has a way of making everyone feel so loved.
Meet Liz Bevan: Liz just makes me laugh...constantly! She goes to Utah State and is not afraid to be herself and is so confident in who she is in such an inspiring way. She has such an enthusiasm for life and is a girl with optimism..love her!
Meet Kinsey Grant: Kins and I have had tons of hilarious moments together this trip. Her and I are so different, yet so similar at the same time. We die laughing together all the time! She is always so smiley and happy, I love it..and her! She is also a Sophomore at the University of Utah!
Meet Carly Flamm: This girl is the best! She is going to be my roommate in the Spring and I am so excited! She is so so happy all the time. Her positive attitude is such a lift and example in my life! She is also one of the most outgoing girls I know. Can't wait to live with this girl at BYU!
Meet Elise Hansen: This cute girl has such spunk for life. She is a go-getter and I would have gotten lost here in Europe a million times if it wasn't for here talent with directions. :) She is the sweetest. I loved our friendship before the trip, and I love it even more now. She is a Sophomore at BYU and won't be back for summer, but I can't wait to hang with her in the fall!
Meet Sharon Jensen: This girl makes me smile. She is so fun to chat with one on one and I have loved getting to know her! She is getting married in June, and I am so happy for her! I am so glad she came abroad with us to have some great girl time before the big day.(she is on my right and on the end)
Meet Kaylee Kimzey: Kaylee and I have church together and I love her to death. She is so smart and ambitious, I hope I will be like her someday. She always always has a good attitude, even about the hardest things! Her middle name is Joy and it fits perfectly!
Meet Paige Knudsen: This girl cracks me up. We have had so many funny moments together. She was the girl that was the first one to talk to me when I arrived and kept me from bursting into tears. Her kindness has continued throughout these last few months and this trip wouldn't have been the same without her! She is graduating from BYU in April--congrats Paige!
These girls are inspiring, loving, and an example in my own life. We have learned so much from each other and each one of us has grown so close! I am so lucky to be with these girls here in London!
