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.

:)

My Month in Europe: Preston, England

From Ireland we ventured on to England!

We drove our bus onto a ferry and took the ferry across the Irish Sea to Wales.

It was a beautiful ferry ride, but what awaited us on the other end was beyond beautiful!

I was in heaven as we drove through Wales to get to Preston, England, our next destination.

I wish I could describe Wales, but it's something you just have to see. Let's just say that it definitely made my list of places to return to and explore later in life! 

Once we got to Preston we headed straight to the Preston temple to do some work.

They aren't accustomed to such big groups at this temple, so it was quite an adventure getting over thirty of us through the baptistry!

Afterwards we were fed a traditional meal in the cafeteria. 

There were some parts of it that I wasn't such a big fan of, like the rhubarb pie, but everything else was pretty delicious!

The temple workers were all so welcoming, and it was a truly great experience.

The rest of that day was spent back at the hotel resting up from jet-lag and a crazy two days we spent in Ireland.

A big group of us took over the lobby with some fairly intense games of Egyptian Ratscrew and Catch Phrase.

It was a great day :)

The next day we met a church historian, Peter Fagg, who took us on a really incredible walking church history tour of Preston!

We saw so many amazing things, including the home where Gordon B. Hinckley stayed on his mission in Preston, and the River Ribble where the first church members were baptized.

It was an amazing experience to spend the day learning about the early Latter-day Saints in Preston.

River Ribble, Preston, England

This is the home where President Gordon B. Hinckley stayed on his mission in Preston.
He was sitting in his room in the top right hand window when he was feeling a little discouraged about his mission and why he was there spending so much of his family's money for such little reward.
He opened a letter from his dad and in it read, "Forget yourself and go to work," which we heard President Hinckley quote so many times throughout his time as a general authority for the church.

That is such a powerful lesson that we can all learn no matter our situation, whether as a missionary, a mom, or a mechanic.
Just forget yourself and go to work.
Serve one another.

Our stay in Preston was an unexpected surprise and I am very thankful I had the opportunity to visit a city so rich with the history of this gospel! 

May 8: Advice

Day 8:

A piece of advice you have for others.

I could have decided to write my own hopefully inspiring post, but I feel like I've done a lot of those lately, and I hate to bore you.

So, I'm keeping it short and to the point!

My advice comes from two incredibly wise men, and the graphics come from this article from Time Out For Women

I felt that these two went hand in hand really well, and I couldn't agree more with them.

My advice is to think about those two incredibly wise quotes, but more importantly, to apply them to your lives.

I promise you'll see a change for the better :)

For Times of Trouble

  Thank goodness I have the Gospel in my life to cling to when the waters get rough. I finally put forth the money to buy a book I've been wanting for a little while. I've spent an entire day reading it and watching segments from the accompanying DVD. To say the least, it's kept me sane and kept me focused on the fact that this isn't the end of the world. 

Life moves on. I'll move on, too. It means a new job, it may mean a new major, and maybe even a new school. That's the beauty of life. Time moves on and drags you along with it. You may as well make the most of it, because the time will pass either way.

"One of the unfailing facts of mortal life is the recurring presence of trouble... When these difficult days (and nights!) come - and they will - it will help us to remember that 'it must needs be,' that in the grand councils of heaven before the world was, we agreed to such a time of challenge and refinement. We were taught then that facing, resolving, and enduring troublesome times was the price we would pay for progress. And we were committed to progress eternally." 

"An old Baptist preacher told me once in a BYU meeting I was in with him, he said, 'What I've learned in this life is we can all have what we want, or something better.' I think that's the way God sees it. The only time you wouldn't get what you want, is if He has something better, and as a good parent, would overrule for your good."

 "First of all, foremost, you will not be tested, you will not be tried, you will not be pushed beyond your ability to withstand and endure and prevail. Now that's a promise, it's God's promise, so I just work here. You won't be pushed beyond hope, you won't be pushed beyond faith, you won't be pushed beyond what the future has in store for you."

 For Times of Trouble - Jeffrey R. Holland

"My convictions and my feelings for the Savior of the world have been born in the most desperate hours of my life, when I wondered whether the sun would ever come up again. It seemed to come up for other people, it seemed to come up every morning for everybody else I could see, but not for me. Now it isn't always like that and it's not supposed to always be like that, and we're a little self-pitying if we act like it's always like that, but some parts of the discipleship require that walk, basically His walk."