My Month in Europe: Lake District, England

This day started off by attending church in Chorley right near the temple housing in Preston.

We went to the Chorley first ward and I loved it!

In Relief Society the sweetest little woman sat in front of us, named Audrey. 

She's almost 90 years old and is such a proper little firecracker! Audrey is a recent convert to the church and her son is the bishop of the ward.

We complimented her on her scarf and she immediately lit up and kept saying things like, "I just love pretty things!"

At one point she told us about the skirt she was wearing and said, "I went to adjust the waist of my skirt this morning and I wasn't sure if it was my skirt or a skin flap, so I just left it alone!" We all laughed so hard and she was just soaking it up. 

She kept telling us that she loved that we were smiling, happy, and "sparkling" girls.

She was just such a sweetheart!

My other favorite part of church were the men...

Let me tell you, European men know how to dress, and they definitely know how to dress for church.

Every single man was wearing a full suit, jacket and all.

It was so odd coming back to the states and seeing men wearing oversized white shirts without a jacket. I'd move to Europe just for the perk of the well-dressed men ;)

After church we headed right off to Lake District for the rest of the day.

It was beyond words how beautiful it was!

The first lake we stopped at was very obviously a wealthy vacation destination.

The shopping reminded me a little bit of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, but still with that English charm.

The second lake we went to was where William Wordsworth lived a lot of his adult life.

Once I heard we were headed there I knew that I had to look to see if I could find something for my dad, who has quite the affinity for poetry. 

I spent the majority of my time in this district at the gift shop right next to Wordworth's home looking for the perfect gift.

I was lucky enough to stumble on a rare first edition copy of poetry that Wordworth collected and assembled as a gift for a "lady friend" painter that lived in the town. 

I couldn't wait to give it to my dad :)

I snuck away for a little bit of time alone walking through the grounds of Wordsworth's home, Dove Cottage, and around the lake.

It was so peaceful.

I loved the contrast between the busy touristy feel of the first lake we visited and the serene countryside of the second lake.

I would love to bring my parents back here and let them experience Lake District!

One day.

:)

Settling

I had a thought today while I was at church. 

A woman bore her testimony (click here for further information on what in the world I am talking about!) about Joseph Smith and how he sought out many different churches and church leaders to find what he felt was the right or true church. 

As she was talking about this I realized how grateful I was to him for not settling. Instead of going to a few different churches and then weighing his options and deciding to go with the best fit, he was honest with what he was feeling and did not settle for "good enough." 

He didn't think to himself, "Well, I guess this is the best one out of the five I've been to, so it'll do." 

He knew it didn't feel right. 

He didn't stay in his comfort zone, but instead, he sought growth, he sought a challenge.

Being the word lover I am, I looked up the definition of "settle," and this is what I found:

"Adopt a more steady or secure style of life."

Now trust me, I know how wonderful that sounds, particularly now as I am going through so many changes and uncertainties.

But we know that it is times of uncertainty, times of trial, that allow us to grow. 

"The stuff of growth was never made of ease..."

-Elder Dallin H. Oaks

(Full talk here)

So this is where I had my thought:

How often do we settle?

Settle for knowledge, truth, relationships, education, blessings, service, and on?

How often do we allow ourselves to stay in a "more steady or secure style of life," because that is just it, it is more comfortable, more sure, and more steady?

How much are we missing out on by settling and not reaching our full potential, the full potential that our Father in Heaven has had in store for us from the very beginning?

There is always a good, better, and best.

I am so thankful that Joseph Smith refused to settle with good or better, but went for the best.

Yes, it brought on more trials than he ever could have imagined, but without those trials he would never have been able to bless the lives of millions who have accepted the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, all because he refused to settle.

Think of the possibilities of what you could do and experience by never settling, by always aiming for the best.

I am going to try my hardest to stop settling and allow those times of uncertainty and discomfort to work to my advantage.

(Quote made by yours truly!)

Perspective

A couple of weeks ago I read a blog post where the girl shared a suggestion that would (hopefully) help others to be less critical of their appearance.

(For the life of me I cannot remember which blog it was and I have searched endlessly and still can't find it. So if you know who it was, or if it was you, tell me so I can link it and give credit!)

She said that when you look in the mirror, look at yourself as if you're looking at a stranger. I read some of the comments and one girl mentioned that she knew she would be fooling herself so there's no way it would work. Some others mentioned that they had tried it and it completely changed their perspective of how they think they look. 

So I tried it for the next couple of days. I generally don't like to let myself get critical of my appearance because I look how I look, and who cares if people are critical of that? But being honest, I am hard on myself a lot more than I would like to be. The first time I tried this I felt like I was having a particularly bad hair day, and lo and behold, when I took on that perspective and looked in the mirror, I was surprised at what I saw. (I hope this doesn't come across as conceited...) I didn't notice all of those little things that I am so typically critical of, and my hair suddenly didn't look as bad as I perceived it to be.

Fast forward to a few weeks later...

I had forgotten about the advice I read in the blog and the experience I had with it. 

Today in church a member of the bishopric spoke about perspective. His advice was to look at ourselves and others as our Father in Heaven does. I realized that my little experiment about seeing myself as a stranger does was a step in the right direction, but it was purely physical. It was a way to boost my confidence regarding my physical appearance, which our society places so much emphasis on.

When I think about looking at myself as my Heavenly Father does, that's about my divine nature, my infinite worth, and who I am as a person, not who I appear to be on the outside. This can not only change how we feel about and view ourselves, but when applied to others, it can change everything. 

Perspective is a powerful thing, especially when we apply it personally. Taking on the perspective of another person or of our Heavenly Father can allow us to have compassion, love, understanding, or just the opportunity to be a little less critical of ourselves or others. 

So do yourself a favor, for me. Give yourself the opportunity to have a little more perspective. It's an amazing thing.

Reflections of Christ