Young Women's

For the past few weeks I have been serving in the Mitcham Ward here in London

I have had the opportunity to work with the Young Women. Here they are--all but one! They are all such sweet girls and it has been a lot of fun getting to know them. When we were leaving, it was funny because a few of them gave me their e-mail address and made me promise that I would e-mail them. It is so fun to have these friendships!

This is my church that I have traveled to for the past few weeks that I have been here in London. The Mitcham Ward has so many great people that have influenced my life for the better. I am so grateful that I have had these experiences because they truely have taught me a lot and have blessed my life in so many ways.

Edinburgh

On Wednesday, we boarded a train and went to Scotland for the rest of the week! We stayed in a hotel right off of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. It was SO fun just to explore the city and get to know Edinburgh.

This is the city of Edinburgh

After we got checked into our hotel, we decided that we were sick of sitting so we wanted to go for a hike. We hiked up to King Arthur's Seat. It took us about 45 minutes to get to the top and was very steep, but so worth it when we got to the top! The view was incredible!!

A view of the city from the top
This was the big group that all hiked together. It was super windy at the top!
King Arthur's Seat is also called Pratt Hill because Parley P. Pratt (I think, either him or Orson Pratt) hiked up to the top and dedicated Scotland from up there. In the back is the ocean. It was GORGEOUS!!

This is the National Monument. I don't really know the significance of it, but we had a lot of fun just playing up there!

This is the Edinburgh Castle. We went on a tour around and through it. It was very interesting to learn the Scottish history.

The Royal Mile was our favorite road--I'm pretty sure we went into EVERY Scottish shop on the entire street. It is a mile long each way and just full of shops and restaurants.

The Elephant House is claimed to be the "birthplace of Harry Potter" because J.K. Rowling used to go there when she was writing the books and drink her morning coffee.

My favorite was seeing the bag-pipers on the side of the road! Yes this is for reals! :)

Stirling Castle

Exploring the castle

We're trapped!

The view was really pretty!

This is the National Wallace Monument. We hiked up it and then climbed the 246 stairs up to the top. Once we got up there...the view was totally worth it!

This is the view from the top! The pictures don't do justice of how pretty is was!

Our group!

After climbing the tower, we were told that we were going to a Priory. We all were like, "oh great...another Cathedral." But it was NOTHING like we expected! It ended up being my favorite place in Scotland! It was GORGEOUS!!

We were at a lake and it was seriously killing me because it made me want to go water-skiing so bad! That is one of the things that I am most excited to come home for! Dad...you better get ready to go WATER-SKIING!!!

We took a boat to a little Island

This is Inchmahome Priory. It was cool to see, but it was over-rated compared to how beautiful everything around it was!

We were just walking down the Royal Mile and then all the sudden some Scottish Parade started! It was so great!

This is on our train ride home. It was such a fun week and I have so many fun memories from Edinburgh! It was so beautiful everywhere and so different from any of the other places we have been so far!

PARIS!!

Last Thursday to Saturday I went with 7 other girls to Paris. It was somewhere that I have always wanted to go, so I decided that I was going to make it happen...and we went!! It was such an incredible experience and the most fun trip I have ever been on! Everything was the biggest adventure and we were there to figure it all out. The whole time we were laughing and having a good time! From the second we got off the train and saw that everything was in French (none of us spoke any French), getting lost on the Metro, being at the top of the Eiffel Tower, and enjoying every minute we were there!! I loved the girls that I went with. I am so grateful for the friends that I have made here. They are friendships that will definitely last forever! Paris is such a BEAUTIFUL city, and I am so grateful that I was able to go! I had no idea what I was missing out on! Here is my trip:

Thursday

This is leaving to catch our train

We made it safely! The chunnel was not as cool as I thought it was going to be because only 10 or 15 minutes were under water and the rest was like a normal train ride. It was fun though and we made it! The fun begins...

I really was in PARIS!!

This is at the top with a beautiful view behind us!

The first night that we were there, we went to the Eiffle Tower and spent a few hours there. We took pictures there while it was light, watched the sun-set, and then went to the top! We went up there while it was dusk, so while we were at the top the tower was lit. It was GORGEOUS!!! Wow! The Eiffel Tower is so much bigger and more incredible than I thought it was going to be. Seeing it at night and the view from the top was definately my favorite thing that we did all trip. I could have gone home that night and been happy with my trip. Although, I had no idea of all the amazing things that I had ahead of me!

Friday

Hmmm...well I don't really know where to start! This whole day was SO amazing! We first woke up, grabbed breakfast quickly in the Metro Station, and then were off to Versailles. We got on the right Metro, but going the wrong way and didn't realize for a while. Haha! So it actually took us an hour and 15 minutes to get there, when it could have only taken us 45 minutes. It was fun though to laugh about it and sit there and relax for a bit.

When we got there, we waited in line to get our tickets for an hour, and then another hour to get in. It was so worth every minute we had to wait in line though!

The entire Palace was spectacular! I have never seen anything like it in my entire life! It was so incredible and so detailed everywhere you looked. I really enjoyed walking through it.

Doesn't this look like a painting? The gardens at Versailles were GORGEOUS!

This is the back of the Palace

After Versailles, we headed over to the Louvre for a few hours. It was really neat to see. I have been to SO many museums in the past few weeks, so I don't think I appreciated it as much as most people do, but I still loved it! It is always really neat to see the "originals" of everything!

Yes I really saw the original "Mona Lisa"

We made our own Louvre Pyramid

In the Tuillerie Gardens, just outside the Louvre, we all bought paintings. I can't wait to come home and frame it so I can hang it up!

After the Louvre, we walked through the Tuillerie Gardens on our way to the Champs Elysees. We stopped on our way at these fountains and just relazed for a little bit. As we were sitting on the side of the fountains, we noticed this couple on the other side that was just kissing. We naturally all watched them for a minute and then the guy knelt down in his knee and proposed! It was SO cute! It made us all really happy and it was fun to watch them be so happy together.

After that, we continued walking down the Champs-Elysees. I was in HEAVEN!! It was perfect temperature outside, it was beautiful, the sun was setting behind the Arc de Triomphe, and we were in Paris! How could things possibly get any better?

I really was on the Champs Elysees

The Arc de Triomphe

These pictures don't show it very well, but as we were walking towards the Arc de Triomphe, the sun was setting behind it and it was INCREDIBLE!! Everything just felt perfect and we were having such a wonderful time! The whole day was so much fun and we were able to see so much of Paris!

Saturday

Saturday morning came and we were up early again and ready for our last day in Paris! We got up and headed over to Notre-Dome. We have been to tons of Cathedrals in England, but it was neat to go to this one because it was so famous and I have heard lots about it.

Notre-Dome has the coolest architecture on the outside. It is very detailed in many ways. Personally, I enjoyed looking at the outside more than the inside. It is cool how many gargoyles are on the edge of it to "keep evil spirits away."

This is the side that you enter through

This is the Upper Room of Sainte Chapelle. The stained-glass windows were GORGEOUS! It was so amazing to see!

I loved how each of the windows were about a Bible story because we were able to follow along and understand the different windows. It looked so pretty up there. I can't believe how the entire thing is stained-glass windows! Wow!

This is the National Opera House (L'Opera-Garnier). It was huge, and had really cool rooms inside!

As our last stop before we returned back home, we stopped in a little town called Montmarte and walked around. It had so many cute little shops that we went in and it was way fun to walk around.

The entire little town had shops, venders, and people selling art all over

The Sacre Coeur church was also in Montmarte

It took us quite a while to figure out the Metro when we first got to Paris, but by the end we had it down! It was fun to stop and listen to the differen people playing in the tunnels for money. This was my favorite!

I can't believe that I really went to Paris!!! The whole trip still seems so surreal to me! I absolutely LOVED the city and I had such a fun time. It was such an exhausting few days, but totally worth every minute of it. I am surprised of how much we saw just in three short days, but I am so grateful for the chance that I had to go there. I feel so blessed to be here and I am so happy for these experiences that I am having! I LOVED Paris, but it felt so good to return back home to London! :)