May 16, 2010 - LONDON! (Oxford day 3)

Today is Sunday. :) We sang in the Oxford ward today. I feel the spirit so strongly in this place. The music was beautiful. I love hearing the testimonies of these different converts. They are all from different areas of the world and their accents are charming, and their testimonies are so incredibly powerful. We sang “I Stand All Amazed” and “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say”. The spirit was so strong today. During one of the talks, I thought about my life and what I’ve done in it. I had a lot of memories come to my mind. Some painful, and others wonderful. I began to tear up as I thought of some things. My friend Emily, who was sitting behind me, handed me a note basically telling me not to worry and the Lord is in charge of my life right now. I could not stop the tears from flooding. It was my tender mercy for the day. The Lord knew I needed a little bit extra emotional support. I was so grateful. However, the Bishop saw me crying and had his counselor hand me the kleenex from the podium. I was super embarrassed. It was a very kind gesture though. :)

After the meeting, they fed us dinner and I went and sat by all these little British boys. I asked them who their favorite football team was. They had very strong opinions about the English team. It was really fun. They also told me all about school and their families. After a few minutes, I don’t think they thought of me as an outsider anymore. It was really nice to talk to them. They wanted some of us to do a British accent. Then they laughed and told us we sounded like we were from New Zealand or Australia.. they couldn’t tell which for sure. When we wanted them to do an American accent, they refused. Finally one little boy held his finger up like a hook and said, “R” like a pirate. It was pretty funny. They can’t do American accents. It was fun.

This evening we sang Evensong with the different Oxford colleges. I sang with Corpus Christi. Our conductor was very very hard to follow. The people in the choir were very good sight readers... but lacking in other areas. I loved doing it because I felt like a really competent musician. It’s really difficult to feel that way in Europe! hmm.. I sound a bit like a music snob. Oh well. :) I enjoyed singing Mass because I love the music, and I loved being a part of something I have observed and studied so many times. We didn’t actually wear the robes. We did stand in the choir stalls and we quoted everything we were supposed to. We were very respectful and I learned a lot. I’m really glad we had that experience.

After the Evensong, we had drinks and then dinner with the choir. They were surprised that none of us drink and then they found out we were from Utah and they knew we were Mormon. :) That was awesome. The only really friendly people in the group were actually Americans. The Brits were a little rude to us. I was sad about that. We made extra effort to be kind and get to know everyone, and it seemed like they turned their noses up at us. The rest of the study group who sang with different colleges had extremely positive experiences. They got to know their groups really well and were impressed with their musical abilities. It was a very good experience for all of us I think. I’m really glad I am able to say I sang Mass with Oxford in England. :)

May 15, 2010 - LONDON! (Oxford Day 2)

Caitlin and I outside of the New College Boys Choir

Over by the Harry Potter Great Wall place

This place is gorgeous!

My friend Johnny and I... we are not really kissing. :)

Heather and me showing the cobblestone walkways

This is what you see everywhere you look! These buildings are incredible!

This is where C.S. Lewis wrote The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe. The story goes that he needed a new character and he walked out the door and saw this door. :) Do you recognize the character?

My friend Danny taking a picture of someone taking a picture of... well you get the idea.

One thing I have missed during this study abroad where we learn about singing is actually singing. We’ve studied these incredible pieces and I’ve wanted to sing along with the recordings but not mess them up. :) Anyway, this morning we finally sang! We will be performing a couple of songs in the Oxford ward on Sunday. We rehearsed “I Stand All Amazed” and “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say”. It was so nice! There is a unity that happens as we sing together and I’m so glad we were able to rehearse. It’s nice to have Dr. Staheli and Sister Hall get on us and tell us to sing in tune and cut off together and all those things. :) Really though, it was a wonderful morning just because we sang together finally.

We rode the coach to Oxford and when we got there, Sister Hall invited 5 of us to go observe a rehearsal of the New College boys choir. I was so grateful to be one of those 5. What a blessing! I can’t tell you how amazing these kids are!!!! They sight-read stuff that it would take me a week of rehearsal in Women’s Chorus to get. They sing in tune, they sing really high, they sight-read beautifully. It was so inspiring to go to their rehearsal. I was also really impressed with their conductor. He treated them like adults. There was an expectation that they act like adults while in rehearsal. And they did just that. They were very professional little boys while they were in rehearsal. The conductor also taught them organ theory during the rehearsal. He asked them if they were to play the accompaniment to one of the pieces, which stops would they use? The students told him what they would use and why. It was a very interesting discussion to listen to. I was very impressed and came away with the feeling that children meet the expectations placed on them. As adults, we should not be placing limitations on their progress. It was such a great experience.

After the rehearsal, we walked around Oxford and toured some of the buildings. We had a baguette with delicious stuff in it. :) I really love the sandwiches here. The bread makes the sandwich I’ve decided. European bread is amazing. mmm... yes.

Walking around Oxford really puts you back in time. It is a nice atmosphere. The roads and pathways are made of stone and cement. It’s like cobblestone except they are actual rocks and not bricks. During WWII, Hitler wanted to use Oxford as a headquarters of some kind so he made sure it was never harmed. It’s a beautiful campus. I’m really glad we got to go there today. A little later in the day, a few of us went outside of the Harry Potter Great Hall and we took a nap on the grass. It was so beautiful! It was a warm day and the sunshine on our faces was exactly what we needed. I loved it.

We listened to Evensong at New College. It was so heavenly. I wish I could remember all these things I hear forever. I pray Heavenly Father will help me to burn them into my memory. I love this place.

May 14, 2010 - LONDON! (Day 1 at Oxford)

Today was awesome! We drove about an hour and a half to Oxford. A few days ago, Dr. Staheli and Sister Hall asked us if we wanted to tutor some English children in music theory and other subjects in school or if we wanted to have a free day. Everyone wanted to volunteer. I love BYU students. :) Of course, if anyone had wanted a free day... there was a little bit of social pressure to serve. But I think everyone did it of their own free will. he he.

Anyway, so we were organized into different groups and sent to different schools throughout the area. I went to Heddington Girls School. It’s a school that focuses on music. It’s incredible!!!! I thought we were going to tutor these little ones, but instead they gave us a tour of the school and had us observe whatever classes we wanted to. The girls all wear uniforms and the ages are 8-16 ish. They just had a new building built especially designed for everything that goes on in the school. They have extra wide hallways for when you have cellos and double basses attempting to pass each other. They also have rooms that are sound proof. Seriously, they have groups rehearsing in there and you can’t hear them from the basement. They also organized it so that each of the rooms was named after a a composer and they had them going from the earliest composers to the newest on the top floor. Brilliant! The girls just need to think of the names in reference to where they are in the building to know when the composers lived. So smart.

The first class I observed was the elementary music theory class. We came on a great day because they were performing their compositions. ha! These girls are maybe 10 and they are composing. Some of the compositions were unimpressive, but for the amount of music theory they have had, I was impressed. The girls did a great job and it was fun to hear them announce their pieces in their British accents. The second class I observed was of the music director introducing the brass family to another class of girls. He took them apart as much as he could so the girls could understand how they make their sounds. He also had the girls that wanted to, attempt to play the trumpet. I really liked his approach. It’s a very safe environment for these girls to learn. I appreciated that a lot. Finally, I listened to a 17-year old girl talk about her newest project. For their final they are to take a song that is popular on the radio and copy it as much as they can without having the sheet music for it. They have to write it down, figure out the instruments, the computer effects, sing it, and find people to play so that it sounds as much as the original as possible. It was very impressive. Wow. After we observed the classes, the music director served us tea and biscuits and we chatted amiably for some time. It was a remarkable experience and I definitely learned some things that I want to take home to my own music classes when I teach.

After we went to the girls school, we got into our groups to rehearse with a few of the different colleges in Oxford. Actually, let me explain that for a moment. It’s similar to our system of education, but it is also a little different. They have their university (Oxford) and then they have colleges inside their university. So at BYU we have our university (BYU) and then we have the music college, and the math college, and the language college, etc... So, back to the topic, we got into our groups to rehearse Evensong with our separate colleges because we will be performing with them on Sunday. Please forgive me at this point because I will seem like a music snob - especially about conducting. :) The girl who conducted us would play our starting note on the pitch pipe and then sing a 1/4 tone under it to give us our pitch again. It was so difficult to listen to! She conducted using her pointer fingers, pointed them at each other and spun them in circles. That was her conducting. I’m not kidding! We were lucky if any chords were in tune and she didn’t stop us if they weren’t. It was a very different musical experience than any other I’ve had in London so far. :) Everything else has been out of this world. It was interesting. Dr. Staheli and our group of 4 had a good laugh after the rehearsal was over. I can’t wait until Sunday.

After rehearsal, we hopped onto the bus and headed back to London. A very interesting day. I’m excited for tomorrow!

May 13, 2010 - LONDON!!! (The Sixteen)

Greenwich (pronounced Grenich) Chapel

I ate something green... and it was really sour. But my tongue matches the ivy!

I'm currently in two hemispheres at once!

Walking around Greenwich with Logan, Andrew, Josh and Heather!

On the boat

Funny faces on the boat

We really like being on the boat

Me in front of the London Eye!!

This has been the most incredible experience I have had in London. If people ask me what my favorite part of London was, I will answer the concert where we watched and listened to The Sixteen. I’ll begin with telling about the day and then we will move to the concert.

Today was Chris Downard’s birthday so Heather and I ran to Mark’s and Spencer’s (It’s a classy Target - kind of) and got him a man-bag. He has been wanting a man bag since we got here. We ran back to get on the coach (bus in America) to take us to the boat to take us to Greenwich (pronounced Grenich) where we were going to listen to their rehearsal and then go to their concert. On the boat, we laughed and took pictures, sang Happy Birthday to Chris and gave him his man bag. It was a beautiful boat ride and I had a wonderful conversation with Jonathan Evans. I really meet some incredible people here every day. I love this!

When we got to Greenwich we walked around the market and I bought British Chinese food. It’s kind of funny, but it tastes quite a bit different than American Chinese food. Somehow, I don’t feel sick when I’m done eating. I think they put a lot less sugar and salt on their foods. It was delicious.

We went to the Prime Meridian today! I was in two hemispheres at once! I really didn't feel any differently but it was cool to see. They had this neat mirror thing that you could see what was going on on the street outside and it was broadcast through mirrors into this tiny room. I really don't know how to explain it, but I loved it.

Heather took a million pictures of me with my red coat. I think I will post those in another entry. I found my true love in London.. in the form of a red coat. :)

The rehearsal was beautiful. The director was extremely accommodating. He would tell us where to listen to so we could hear some of his favorite parts of the music. He told us the history of The Sixteen and why there are actually 18 of them. They sing mostly 16th century music and they used to have 16 members. Now they have 18 and they still since 16th century music for the most part. I was really impressed with the group. They are very warm and open. They have a really good friendship in the group and it just feels good to be around them. When I went to the Tallis Scholars concert, they didn’t really have the opportunity to make that impression because they were on a stage and we didn’t see a rehearsal beforehand. I really did love the camaraderie among The Sixteen though.

We had a short break for dinner where I bought some BEAUTIFUL scarves. Oh my goodness! I love scarves now. I wear them constantly. And I love them all. :) Happiness is a scarf.

The concert blew my mind. They began with a gregorian chant out in the hallway and then walked in together. The overtones were glorious. The sound resonated like no sound I’ve ever heard. They performed in the Greenwich chapel and it’s such a beautiful venue as you can see by the pictures.

The music filled my soul. I truly believe part of the reason I am here is because this music heals my every hurt. I sit and listen to this music and I want to pray and thank Heavenly Father for all the music I am exposed to every day. I pray and tell him about my life and everything I want help with. This music speaks to my spirit in so many beautiful and healing ways. Here are some things I wrote down while I listened to their concert.

The music forces me to feel. I have so many mixed emotions. Sometimes I feel extreme pain. Like my heart is going through and trying to release any pain I’ve ever experienced in my life. The next moment, my heart is soaring. I honestly feel like I’m in Heaven with the angels surrounding me and giving me Heavenly hugs. Music heals my soul. I feel like angels are here. I feel like this music is taking sad hurts out of my heart and releasing them and then filling those old hurts with new memories. My heart soars while I’m in this place feeling so much.

My soul is enveloped in the sounds of Heaven.
Soaring sopranos rise to lift my thoughts to Christ’s resurrection.
I turn my ears to altos who are not as easy to hear-
they remind me of promptings I need to focus on in order to understand.
The tenors are tender mercies of the Lord I experience every day in my life.
Basses are the reminder that I will one day go back home.

I loved today. So so much.

NOTES on The Sixteen:
The men have a deep, rich sound
The women are really light and free. They sound like they could stay up there all day.
I love the sound of chant in a venue like this.
When I listen to this music my soul is filled with the desire to pray and communicate with my Heavenly Father.

May 12, 2010 - London! (Free day... ha ... right)

Today I woke up early and got ready for the day. So... here is something way super awesome that we're doing this weekend. As a group, we're going to Oxbridge (Oxford and Cambridge). We're going to tour the school, hear the choirs and also volunteer to help the children with something (I don't know exactly what that means... but hey! They're kids so I'm all about that). We are also going to attend a concert by The Sixteen. They are incredible, or so I hear. Anyway, they have invited us to sing part of their concert with them and also sing Mass. So they send us the music like 2 days ago and it's so difficult. Like so so so difficult. The best singers are having trouble with it and we have only practiced 1 1/2 hours and by the time we sing with them we will have practiced about 2 1/2 hours total. Anyway, so we're all a little bit worried, but it will turn out all right. I mean... we're BYU... we can do anything, right? Right!

We rehearsed for that this morning. I am in Dr. Staheli's group. I'm the only soprano. ha! Talk about a little bit of pressure. It's all good though. I'm getting better. I really love the pieces we're singing. It's just a little bit difficult. Anyway, sorry I keep rambling! We rehearsed for about an hour and then had some lunch.

Today, we had multiple fails. We wanted to see Buckingham Palace first, but they weren't open for some reason. So then we went to Westminster to get the actual tour of the place, but they closed at 2:30 and we got there at 2:40. So then we decided to go to Parliament, but they weren't open today for some reason. After that, we went to the Globe to get our tickets to the Shakespeare show tonight and they had sold out the tickets. Then we were out of ideas of what to do because we kept getting shut down! Agh! We talked and walked around London for a while. A few of us went and saw the Modern Tate Museum while a few others of us tasted British food in the cafe of the Modern Tate. That part was fun. After we ate, we went to St. Paul's Cathedral and listened to the Evensong. Honestly though, the Evensong made the entire day worth it. I love those Cathedrals. I love hearing the music. It fills my soul in so many ways. I love it.

After the Evensong, we went to a Japanese restaurant and had some yummy food. We came home and now we're blogging about all of our London experiences. :)

Life is wonderful!!

And I love LONDON!!!!

May 11, 2010 - London! (Tallis Scholars)

Class was amazing today. We compared Byrd with Palestrina and there was some really good conversation. I felt that we were bashing Palestrina when we compared him with Byrd. Byrd has a lot more structure to his music. And when I say that, I mean there are more distinct patterns that you hear. He uses block chords and polyphony so there is contrast as well. Palestrina does not have contrasting ideas in his music. But both styles are so beautiful. And I really love them. Anyway, at the end of class, everyone started really trying to talk Palestrina up after spending the class period bashing him. It was rather amusing.

After class, Heather and I decided to come home and have some down time. There has been a lot of running around lately. We sight see and shop and walk everywhere all the time. It's glorious and wonderful, but we just needed some quiet alone time. We caught up on some journal writing and then Chris and I went shopping. I found my true love!! And it's in the form of a red coat. :) I love it. It's a lot of fun to have a beautiful, red coat from London.

When we finished shopping, we got ready to go to the Tallis Scholars concert. Oh my goodness. Talk about heavenly music. (Do you like how I say that about everything I hear?) I want to have the same sound as the soprano in their group someday. I was in awe the entire concert. Their intonation was impeccable. Their pitch was perfect. The moving lines were absolutely breathtaking. I totally and completely loved the concert. I will admit... two hours of Palestrina can be a little tough to sit through without falling asleep, but I did all right! I only fell asleep at the very beginning for about 30 seconds and then stayed awake for the rest of the time. I loved the choir!









After the concert was over we were very hungry so a few of us stopped off at McDonald's (I know, right??!! I totally didn't want to go... but everyone else did) and got some food. I did get a Mcflurry with British candy in it so it wasn't completely American. :) We had a ton of fun all together and it was good company.

I love LONDON!!!!

May 10, 2010 - London! (Southwark Cathedral and Wicked)

Southwark Cathedral (pronounced Suthick)

Josh, Heather and I at Wicked!

Monday!! We had class today. We discussed the pieces we heard over the weekend. Dr. Staheli was trying to get us to move away from the feelings we were experiencing and to focus on what about the music was making us feel that way. It was an interesting discussion. We have a lot of people here who know a lot of things about music. Now, I know a lot... but I feel like I don't know very much compared to some of these people. I love hearing what other people heard in the music. It's so incredible to me how our ears can pick up so many different things. We also discussed a little bit about what is going on politically in London right now. This is quite a momentous time in history! They have a stalemate in the election. They haven't had to dissolve the government like this in about 35 years. It's rather remarkable. We're supposed to learn all about it so we can speak intelligently to people about it when we go to Oxford. ha! I don't even completely understand what's going on in America, let alone Britain. Ah well.. I'll do what I can. :)

After class, we went to the Imperial College and had lunch there. We went shopping to different stores around London which was really interesting. The nylons here are much more durable than American nylons. Interesting, huh?

Immediately after we got home from shopping we went to Evensong at Southwark (pronounced Suthick and when we ask Sister Hall how to spell these places, she tells us you spell it just how it sounds, ha!) Cathedral. The Cathedral was gorgeous!! Oh man! All these Cathedrals! I didn't know I loved Cathedrals until I came to London. They are just incredible buildings. They are cold buildings, but they are incredible. Heather and I went and sat in the two benches right next to the choir while they sang. We were literally 5-7 feet away from the clergy who was giving the sermon. All the robes, the procession of them walking to the choir seats and back, the bowing to the statue of Jesus are all so showy. It's fun to see it in real life exactly like I've seen it in the movies. It's all very interesting. The music was beautiful. It wasn't my very favorite concert here but if I were back home it probably would be one of my favorite concerts. :) It was a mixed choir. They had little girls and old men singing. It was an interesting sound. I really liked it but it was different.

I talked to the man who was handing out books of prayer to all the visitors. He asked why there were so many Americans there today. I told him about what we are studying here and he was excited to have us here. He had a charming accent and welcoming personality. It was really nice to talk with him. He told us to come back when we have a chance. I might just do that!

After the service, we ran to see Wicked. Oh my gosh!!!!! I love that show!!!!! It was better than when I saw it in New York! We got in for about $32 American dollars or 25 pounds, if you prefer. We sat in row 11 in the orchestra section. Honestly, we could not have gotten better seats if we had tried. It was so incredible. The actors were brilliant. The company was perfect. I think all the people I went with on my row cried. :) Heather and I definitely did. Such a great show!

After all of that, we came home and laughed ourselves to sleep - pretty much like we do every night!

May 9, 2010 - London!

Oh what a glorious day today was! We woke up early and got ready for church. We initially were going to go to 3 services, but by the end of the day it was down to two. We went to Westminster Abbey first to go to Mass. What an overwhelming building. What an overwhelming atmosphere! Have you ever seen Westminster Abbey in person? It's HUGE!!!!! It's OLD!!! It's BEAUTIFUL!!! Ok, enough with the caps. :) Heather and I got there about an hour early and walked around the building, taking some pictures. The hallways of these old churches are crypts and we walked in the crypts and saw grave-markers of people from the 1300's. There were knights and ladies and inventors. I could feel the history of the place throughout my entire being. It was literally packed with history. Everywhere I looked I wanted to know all the stories of everything that happened there. Wow. I just loved it. I'm definitely going to go back there while I'm in London to get a full tour.

Mass was incredible!!! We walked into the chapel and there were all the graves of the composers they were about to perform. Ralph Vaughan Williams was buried there as was Henry Purcell. Some others include (but they're not composers so they don't really fit into this paragraph): Charles Darwin (1809-82) – naturalist, proponent of evolution, author of The Origin Of Species. Ben Jonson (1572-1637) – dramatist, actor and Poet Laureate. David Livingstone (1813-73) – explorer and medical missionary. Isaac Newton (1643-1727) – physicist and mathematician. Robert Stephenson (1803-59) – civil engineer, designer of railway bridges. What an incredible place huh? Anyway, so we walked in and saw the grave-markings of the composers we were about to hear. They sang Ralph Vaughan Williams Mass in b-minor and also also Birdstow's "I Sat Down". It was so amazing!! Here I was listening to this glorious music by the choir that is honestly just the same sound as all the CD's (except a million times better because it was live in the Cathedral) and I'm looking around at thousands of statues and stained glass windows and ceilings that go up forever. The sermon was nice and all, but the music... the music transcends anything earthly thing I have experienced. I left the service completely overwhelmed. My friend tried to talk to me about what he felt and what he heard, but I couldn't speak. I loved it all. My heart is healed more and more every time I listen to this amazing music.

After we went to Westminster, we went to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I can't say a whole lot about the music... :) but the meeting was warm and wonderful. The testimonies I heard were incredibly strong. I prayed and cried and thanked my Heavenly Father for the experiences I'm having in my life. The Spirit was so strong at Church. I have a strong testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know it is real and true. I know that we have the fulness of the Gospel on the earth today. What a great meeting. I love it.

While I was at the LDS meeting, I saw my friend Jeff who I haven't seen in about 6 months. He's living in London for about two years working on accounting. It was so fun to see him!! He invited several of us over for dinner and that was a lot of fun. I could totally see myself living in London. I love it here. After dinner, Heather and I came home and then had a good talk with my friend Josh.

I love this place.

May 8, 2010 London!

Saturday, I went a concert by the Belmont Ensemble of London at St. Martin-in-the-fields. It's an incredible venue. I walked in and was completely awestruck by everything I could see. The high ceiling, the gold ornate decorations, the statues everywhere. It all takes my breath away. I sat right at the front next to the orchestra in these very old benches. :) The choir performed some incredible pieces!!!! We heard Handel's "Zadok the Priest" and a newly discovered "Gloria" by Handel as well. They also sang the final scenes from "Dido and Aeneas" by Purcell. We had an 'interval' of 20 minutes and then heard Mozart's "Ave Verum Corpus" and his "Requiem". Everything was so beautiful I'm having a hard time describing how I felt.

Another thing I love about being here is that everyone is just as nerdy (if not more so) than me! Chris and I walked out of the concert wanting to sing. So we did. We sang through the streets of London. We discussed what we liked and didn't like about the concert. We talked about the conductors techniques. (London conductors are so completely different than any American conductor I've ever seen). We talked about how clear the sopranos were. I thought it was interesting that the choir had 8 sopranos and only 5 altos. At BYU, we tend to have twice as many altos (if not more) than sopranos to even out all the parts because the higher register is clearer and easier to hear.

Some notes on the music I heard and also how they performed it. :) I felt that even though there were many more sopranos than altos (same with tenor and bass, but someone else mentioned it. I tend to tune into female voices more), I didn't feel like the sopranos were too much. I really liked the sound. I was so impressed with the choir. Everyone was on top of everything. The pitch was impeccable. There weren't many choir members but their sound was full and loud and it surprised me. They also had very healthy voices. In the Gloria, I was so impressed with the soprano soloist. I want to be like her when I grow up!! She hit the high notes so effortlessly. She had a nice clear tone at the beginning and then let a little bit of shimmer in toward the end of the note. It was gorgeous. The instruments were wonderful. I loved the sound of the orchestra. In the Purcell, I noticed that not only did the singers have incredible voices, but their facial expressions were perfect for the pieces. When the music was sad, they were sad. When the music was joyful, they were joyful. I loved watching that so closely. Ok, so my favorite part of the concert was the Mozart Requiem. It was so incredible. While I was listening, I was so overcome with emotion. This is what I wrote on my program, "The Mozart Requiem takes me outside of myself. I feel like I'm in Heaven. The amazing sounds of the choir, orchestra and the soloists strengthen my testimony of Heavenly Father and the miracles He brings about in my life." Can you tell I really enjoyed that concert? :) It was amazing.

London May 8th :)

My very first blog entry! And I must say I LOVE LONDON!!!!!!! This city is gorgeous! It's packed with personality, history and culture. Wow. It's amazing!

I flew in Yesterday. It was a grueling flight. I took some sleeping stuff but it didn't work very well so I only ended up sleeping three hours for that entire flight. Heather and I met up and flew with several other people. We played 5 crowns in the airport while we waited for our flight. Then we arrived in London. We walked about a mile to our flat which was actually a rather amusing experience. We had about 10 of us with our BYU travel study backpacks and luggage, hauling them all over London. It was fanjollytastic!

When we got to our flats, we checked in and unpacked. I realized I have forgotten several crucial things - including my phone charger. :( I will only be able to take pictures until my camera runs out of batteries. Ugh! lol Good thing we have some super picture takers in the group!!

After we unpacked, we took a walk about London with one of our professors. We realized that we live right across the street from Kensington Palace which is where Princess Diana lived as well as many other famous royalty in England. Do you remember when Princess Diana died and they had all those flowers next to the fence near her home? We live right next to it!! Crazy!! We have an amazing location. During the walkabout, we saw TK Maxx :) as well as The Gap and Pizza Hut. They glorify them quite a bit and that's pretty amusing.

Heather, Phillip and I went to the Whole Foods Market to buy some groceries for a few days. Heather and I bought porridge, berries, yogurt, milk, bread, cheese and peppermint tea. Um... cheese here is amazing!!!!! As is the bread. I love it so much!

After we went to the market, Heather, Phillip, Matt, Logan and I went to a local pub to get some fish and chips. It was delicious. We were definitely very American in the pub. :) I was the third person in our group to order my supper and when I got to the front of the line the cashier said in a very british accent, "Let me guess, are you from table 16?" (all of us Americans were sitting there) It was really cute. We all got some juice and I thought they had put vodka in mine so I returned it and asked them to not put vodka in my juice and it turned out it was just grapefruit juice :). I was a little bit embarrassed.

We went to a YSA dance for a few minutes with the locals when we got back from fish and chips. It was super fun!

Last night I had a very hard time sleeping. I went to bed at 10:30 and then woke up at 1:30 and couldn't sleep until I took a whole bunch of melatonin for sleep, then I slept until 4:00 with a girl frantically knocking on the door because her roommate had had a seizure. She's diabetic and it was just a really hard night. We called an ambulance and they took her to the emergency room last night. She's doing all right now but we were quite worried for a bit.

Today!!! I walked around London with a bunch of friends. We went to the farmer's market where I had bread with all sorts of different tasting olive oils. I also sampled tons of cheese and mushroom patte which I love! I had fish and chips again! We saw Big Ben, Westminster Abby and walked on London Bridge. Tonight we are going to listen to Mozart's Requiem by candlelight at St. Martin's. Then tomorrow we are going to go to several different church services as well as our own.

London is gorgeous and I love it!

Mother's Day - I love you Mom!

Dear Mom,

I was supposed to make this into a book before I left for London, but I didn't have the time. I figured this was the next best thing. :) I love you so much!!

Love,

Em

My Dearest Mom,

I remember when I was little and you loved to read. Watching how much you loved reading made me want to read too. I called you Marmee after I read Little Women. I talked to you about Anne of Green Gables for days while I fell in love with Gilbert Blythe. I read on my bed that was next to the window during the summer and then at night when I was supposed to be asleep in bed, I crept into my closet, turned on the light and stuffed a blanket at the bottom of the door so you wouldn't be able to see the light from the outside.

Thank you for teaching me to love to read. It is still one of my most favorite things to do.

I remember...

when I used to call your name and you didn’t answer. I would look all over for you and finally would go into your room only to find you on your knees pouring your heart out to Heavenly Father. I wanted to know why you wouldn’t even be distracted by your young daughter, so I learned to pray. I learned to pray and pour my heart out to Heavenly Father.

I have never forgotten that lesson. And I pray I never will.

I remember love.

There was never a specific lesson. Everything you do is love, Mom. In every thought, every word, every prayer, every deed. You love me when I don’t love myself. You love me when I do! You love people no matter what shape, size or smell. You love unconditionally.

I am learning every day how to love because of you.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom.

I love you so much!

Love,

Emilie