Week 4 - London with Mom

Mom came to church with me on Sunday! I mentioned this before, but it's about an hour tube ride to where we are assigned to go to church. I had a migraine Sunday and was REALLY struggling, but it was a beautiful church service. I was glad I made it.

In Sunday school, my mom shared this quote which I absolutely love. 

"May you realize that in you is the control of your life and what you are going to be, what you are going to do. Remember that your choices may control to some extent others whose lives will be a part of your life. Remember also that if you succeed, it isn’t because of luck. Success comes from faith and work and prayer and from constant righteous effort." (Spencer W. Kimball 1978 "Privileges and Responsibilities of Sisters") 

 

Then we went to St. Paul's Cathedral! By this point the nausea had really set in and I was basically just trying not to throw-up BUT STILL this Cathedral is gorgeous!!! You aren't allowed to take pictures inside, but I found a picture here. We went to Evensong and the choir sounds like angels from above in this Cathedral. I was able to appreciate it despite my struggling state. 

On Monday, we went to the Churchill War rooms and Phantom of the Opera!!!! The war rooms were interesting; Churchill has some entertaining quotes. Such as, "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." 

This was a jarring picture to see after just being in Paris. 

St. James's Park 

We had dinner at this adorable British place called Duck & Waffle and we had both duck and waffle. And ice cream. 

AND PHANTOM!!!! AHHH I LOVE THIS SHOW SO MUCH. Our cast was incredible and I am picky when it comes to Phantom, because I listen to the 25th Anniversary all the time - which has Ramin Karimloo as Phantom and I genuinely believe he has the best voice in the world. But I wasn't thinking about Ramin or Sierra (Christine in 25th)  when I watched this because our cast was so engaging! It's also a theatrical show that is just plain entertaining to watch. We loved it. 

It rained. This time I will have you know, we both had umbrellas, were wearing good shoes, and I had my stuff in a PLASTIC bag. #lessonslearned

Tuesday, we trekked out to the London England temple. So I know that the Paris temple isn't actually in Paris and apparently the church does this a lot, but the London temple is SOOO not in London. We had to take a tube to a train to the airport and then a taxi. The grounds are gorgeous as you can tell from the pictures. Of course, the inside was beautiful too. 

So the return journey. Ha. So you cannot just hail a taxi because the temple is in the middle of nowhere. We thought we would save money and just take a bus, so we walked down this SUPER narrow sidewalk on a busy road to a place that turned out not to be a bus stop. Also, I have a fear of death by car. I believe I will die by tripping uphill and rolling into the road and a car running over me. However, this fear did not even cross my mind on this busy road! It wasn't until we finished and my mom mentioned how dangerous it was that I realized it was actually very dangerous what we had just done. A miracle. So we were a little bit lost and my mom's phone wasn't working well and my phone doesn't work at all here. My mom thought it would be a good idea to ask these men washing a car for help but they looked sketchy to me, so I suggested we go to a nearby hotel. At this hotel, we met Victor. Victor is a saint. He welcomed us in, gave us water, and called a taxi for us. If it wasn't for Victor, we would probably still be wondering in the wilderness south of London. He also said that our bus idea was "very stupid." Agreed. Victor's from Nepal, and I have a new love for these people. Our taxi driver was awesome too! He was from Hungary and showed us a recording of this song that he wrote on his guitar. Needless to say, we were incredibly grateful when we finally made it to the airport and got on our train back to London. 

This is the super narrow sidewalk. This isn't at an angle overshadowing the sidewalk. It is really that narrow. 

That night we saw Witness for the Prosecution. I'm not sure I have ever been this invested in a show. I'm usually an engaged viewer, but I didn't even think about anything that wasn't currently happening on stage while watching this show. It takes place in a courtroom and we watched in in London County Hall. It felt so real; I felt like I was actually watching the court case unfold. This is an Agatha Christie mystery and she gets you SO good. They had a cool surround sound system that added to the noises and sounds you would hear if you were actually watching court. 

I loved having my mom here with me! So grateful she could make it out. 

xo

Rebecca