Scott and I spent 30 hours traveling from San Fran to London starting on Wednesday the 28th and ending on Thursday the 29th.  As a cool side note, the airport architecture made me feel like we were traveling as James Bond and his Bond girl.  There was even an iris recognition system!!! Anyway, we arrived in Heathrow at 7:30 AM, Thursday morning and made our way to South Kensington where we will live for 6 weeks for our study abroad.  We hoped that we could maybe meet with the building keepers and leave our baggage with them so we could kill some time and explore a bit.  So, we walked from the South Kensington tube station to Hyde Park Gate...quite the treck with all our baggage...only to discover that they were cleaning out the flats from the previous occupants and there weren't any official looking land lords or study abroad officials around.  We hadn't even made contact with Janice, a family friend who lives in Wimbledon and the place we are actually staying for the next week.  At that point neither of us wanted to make any phone calls or pay for expensive internet cafes.  We poked around for a bit at the flats and found a maintenance man who gave us the code for the internet there.  We connected to the internet and managed to pull up a map of where Jan lives.  We pulled that map up just in time for the internet to go out again.  It was about 10:30 AM or so and we decided to head to the underground and for Wimbledon since we told Jan we would be there around noon. Scott and I had some fun figuring out the tube.  During the culture class that we took at BYU in preparation for our study a broad we were given very exact directions from Heathrow to South Kensington but it was surprising difficult to find street names. They don't post them at every intersection and they don't label the windows of businesses here.  The street name usually appears in one place.  The upper edge of buildings at intersections. We got back to the tube and headed for the Wimbledon train. 

      We didn't even know which Wimbledon station to get off at but we just gave it a try and happened to pick the right one.  haha.  We luckily decided to wait until the end of the line and walked for about 25 minutes to get to Jan and Albert's home. We relied on the google map for the first ten minutes of our journey and as we passed a library, Scott had the genius idea to head inside and ask around for directions. whooo...that was another treck! It helps that streets are more well labeled here in Wimbledon! We made it, exhausted, and Jan welcomed us in warmly, fed us pizza, and showed us to our rooms.  We sat down for tea (couldn't see that coming!) and met her daughter-in-law Tu (from Thailand).

       Scott and I were fighting jet lag pretty badly so we decided to go for a walk around town and maybe get our bearings for the city we'd be living in for the first week of this journey. There is lots of shopping, narrow roads, and busy bodies everywhere. I found the most amazing vintage store.  Scott humored me and we took a look inside.  I wanted every clothing item in that store. :) Fluffy and frilly dresses all done up with bows and pearls.  I am an old soul.  What can I say.  I had visions of Scott and I walking around the pond in Wimbledon...all dressed up like we came straight out of a 1950's television show (In England they call the TV the "telly", kinda fun). We walked around some more looking for the tennis museum and found a park instead.          

Wimbledon is so green and quaint.  Lovely brick houses sandwiched side by side with itty bitty front gardens. When we were sitting for tea with Janice she went on and on about how big American houses are, making mention of Roy's home (Roy is her brother, the family friend who connected us with her).  I said Roy just has the benefit of a property to expand to and the know how of a builder man.  Well, anyhow, we made our way to the tennis courts, you know the world famous ones where all the big shots compete...and it was CLOSED...at 5:20 PM...what closes that early back home? banks...thats it.  Well, I was dead tired at that point.  We just sat at the outside wall and rested.  The reality hit us then that we were actually in England!  We headed back and went pretty much straight to bed.  It was 9:30 PM.  yea, I know, laugh it up.

5/1/10

Saturday we woke for an even bigger English breakfast complete with baked beans, cereal, eggs, pancakes, bacon, toast, tea, and OJ. It was delicious and super duper filling. It is just so nice to sit down to breakfast in this beautiful and light little kitchen that Albert built for his wife and look out into the backyard at the trees and flowers and watch the commuter train go buy. The sky was just beaut-

iful this morning. Blue with just little puffs of clouds painted across. Just lovely. Scott and I stuffed ourselves and took our time getting ready. Albert and his buddy Ray suggested that we head to

Waterloo today and take a boat down the Thames. We headed out to that part of London. We knew

there would be much to see in that area. All the really iconic "London" stuff like the eye and Big Ben,

the houses of Parliament, and Trafalgar Square. I was not expecting to do SO much in one day but

at the same time, it felt very easy and relaxing to just go and do it all!

We got off the tube at Waterloo and right outside the exit we found the Royal Festival Hall. For

me I thought, sweet, a nice free toilet. For Scott he thought sweet, a nice free place for me to wait for

Michelle to use the toilet and BONUS its a performance hall. Don't get me wrong, I was excited to

see this fancy royal music hall but I really needed to use the loo. Anywho, we get inside and realize

there is a choir festival going on. They were holding auditions for small ensembles to sing and give

concerts in the elevators, there is a rehearsal tomorrow for anyone who wants to join this insta-choir

and sing some Mahler, there was a concert for the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, etc.

Scott bought tickets for 9 pounds for that evening!

After crossing the Hungerford bridge we hit up Trafalgar Square. As a side note, there was this black guy 

playing the bongo drums on the bridge and not very well. He had dreads and this like flowing African

looking shirt on. It was like he said to himself, maybe if I look more legit and still play crappy, people will 

give me more money. Well Mr. Jimbe/ Bongo man, I'm not impressed. Get some really sweet drum skills, 

impress me, and then I'll give you money. Anyway, back to the bridge... It was a beautiful afternoon.

I wished I had my swimsuit to jump in the fountains though I don't think the Met (London's Police force)

would have appreciated that very much. :) I also enjoyed the gold woman, the tin man, and the rusted 

copper man. Growing up near SF I think I've probably seen every kind of street performer. The only unique 

"performer" I've seen is the Naked Cowboy in New York and he is hardly a performer. This rusted copper man

cool though. He took the whole metal statue thing to a new level by using paint the color of the Statue of Liberty

in conjunction with copper paint. I found his interpretation artistic even. Now, if I could see him do something

really impressive, I could see myself paying him money. Just dressing cool is not enough. I mean, shoot

I dress cool every day and nobody pays to take pictures with me...except in China but that's just because I 

have red hair. So, I walk up to the rusted copper man and ask him if he knows how to tap dance. If he busted

out a time step I would give him money for sure. He asked, "what is tap dancing?" So I showed him a move

and he said "no". I said, "well, work on that and when you can dance for me, I'll give you some money". :) How's 

for demanding satisfaction! ha. Anywho...Scott and I sat on the fountains and took in the view.

People watching is such fun. I looked straight ahead and saw the Canadian Embassy, to my left was

the National Gallery, to my right was Trafalgar Square and all it's glory. Sun shone down on us and I

wished I had a blanket for a picnic. Could you imagine. Two tourists sitting down in the middle of this

busy square for a picnic. I'd like a picture of that. Maybe sometime in the next 6 weeks we'll do it.

As you can imagine, our next stop was the National Gallery. There we saw some amazing paintings.

I watched as mothers pointed to works of Van Gogh, Monet, Seurat, Degas, Turner, Rubens, and Renoir

just to name a few. They were explaining the importance of these artists to their 7 and 8 year old children.

Some seemed disinterested and others seemed enthralled. I loved looking at this little girl admiring the

work of Renoir, At the Theatre. She seemed connected to the piece. So connected that she was

explaining the piece to her parents. It was adorable. I was most excited to see the Degas paintings. I

love how soft his paintings are and I also love that he loved dancers :) . I could write a whole separate

blog about viewing these paintings!

Our next venture was down Whitehall/ Parliament Street. Scott was really excited about the old war

office. I saw a bunch of people gathered in this courtyard across the street and naturally I wanted to see

what all the fuss was about. Scott and I made our way over. Turns out this was the Horse Guard's Parade

and some royal horse museum. Essentially, a really cool courtyard just down the pond from Buckingham

Palace. Again, with my girlish fantasies, I imagined wearing a huge gown and crown and all that sort of

thing riding side saddle in glass slippers. I do wish I were a princess sometimes. :) At least Scott still

treats me like I am.

We headed down the road to Westminster Abbey. By this time it was about 5:00 on the nose and the

abbey was closing for evensong and worship of God. I said to the guard, who was shewing away all the

tourists, "isn't it evensong? We want to attend." and tahdah, he let us in. Others followed suit. We listened

and enjoyed the 45 minute service. I was impressed by the building and the all male choir. Boys and men

singing all the traditional mass music. It was lovely and even a spiritual experience. I just love the Magnificat

and Nunc Dimitis. Especially after singing two versions of these texts in Concert Choir this year. My favorite

line is "world without end, amen". Hearing that line ring through the abbey was so moving.

At about this time we headed out for our concert at the Royal Festival Hall. It was POURING rain.  

P. o. u. r. i. n. g. By the time we got to the hall, my shoes and socks were soaked. I had a moment of classlessness

as I took off my shoes and socks right there in the hall and set them out to dry. Scott is not ashamed to be with

me but, I think I embarassed him this time. Ha. He hid my things under the table. We sat down for about an

hour to warm up with hot coco and cakes. Beet root cake was our favorite. Then it was time for the concert!

We had the cheap seats but the concert hall was well designed (unlike the toilets with the door to the changing room

ramming into the door to the actual toilets) and we had a lovely view! Schweet. I'm glad we didn't spring for the

more expensive seats. The orchestra played brilliantly and with so much heart. We heard "Foust Overature" by

Vagner, Brahms "Alto Rhapsody", and "Foust Symphony" by List. Can you believe our day? Great music and

art...INCREDIBLE! I'm so very blessed to have these enriching experiences. They deepen my understanding

of history and culture and allow me to connect experience with knowledge.  Then I have a new context for interpreting current in future experience.  Ok, let me remove the jargon...I've studied all this cool culturally enriching stuff, now I'm seeing it and experiencing it, I can see even more and learn even more, and take use that when I learn other cool stuff.  Put simply, I love this stuff.  

Parallels

There are many similarities between the exodus of Latter Day Saints across the plains to the west and the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt.  First, the leaders of each exibition were similar in faith and experience.  Moses learned his leadership skills through the time he spent in the military.  Similarly, Brigham Young learned under the stewardship of the prophet Joseph Smith and worked along side him during the difficult move from Missouri to Nauvoo.  There is no question that each of these leaders experienced trials and the Lord knew these trials would come.  We read in Exodus and in D&C 136 as the Lord promises that if his appointed leaders and his chosen people would endure these trials, they would be blessed for each of these groups were God's "chosen people".  Both leaders had the Lord's blessing and guidance upon beginning these journeys and believed from the beginning that it was the will of the Lord that they do so.

In D&C 136 we also read that the saints were promised they need not fear their enemies; that the Lord would "do (his) pleasure with them".  This was also the case with the Israelites who crossed through the parted Red Sea that came crashing down over the Egyptians, their enemies, who were chasing after them. Each of these groups witnessed miracles along the way.  The Lord promises, "marvel not at these things, for ye are not yet pure; ye can not yet bear my glory; but ye shall behold it if ye ae faithful in keeping all my words".  He would show them his glory after the trial of their faith which, since they were tried from the beginning, I think he showed them bits of His glory along the way, helping them keep hope and faith.  The Mississippi River even froze over for them to cross.  This parallel to the children of Israel is a pretty clear one to me!

At the end of their journeys, it is true to say that both groups suffered immeasurably.  Yet, for those who made it to the promised land, they could see the hand of the Lord in it.  The Lord does keep his promises.  In Exodus 13, Moses tells his people "remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by the strength of the hand of the Lord brought you out from this place".  The saints knew this was also true for them and they established a headquarters in Salt Lake.  

It's incredible to study and compare these two groups of the Lord's faithful.  Both suffered immeasurably but in the end were blessed immeasurably.  We read account after account of these miracles in the lives of the saints who crossed west.  The Lord keeps his promises.

The Crandall Printing Museum

Did you know that the WORLDS most complete Guggenheim printing "shop" is in Provo Utah?  Seems random doesn't it.  Well, that is what I thought before I visited this little gem of a museum last week.  Mr. Crandall started printing when he was 14 and learned that trade from his father.  It was this apprenticeship that fostered within him a love for printing.  After trying his hand at the business and other business ventures such as building a theme park (half the size of Disneyland) the mayor of Provo asked him to come and start a similar theme park project in Provo which never came to fruition and he started his printing museum instead.

     This museum takes you through the history of printing from Guggenheim's printing of the Bible to the printing of the Book of Mormon.  Through the tour it becomes evident in the discussion of history that printing played an important role in religious and secular history.  Words printed on the page were expressions of spirituality, a means of exchanging ideas, spreading messages, and leading us in our first steps toward globalization.

   I enjoyed this experience most of all as it related to the restoration of the Christ's church on the Earth.  We looked at how the development of printing lead so beautifully and in perfect time for the printing of the Book of Mormon which would allow missionaries and church leaders a tangible set of doctrine to differentiate them from other faiths but also to build on the truths in the Bible.  The most incredible part of the museum experience is the way Mr. Crandall explained how nearly impossible it would have been for so many books to be printed in such a short amount of time but, they had a goal of 5,000 copies to make in a very short amount of time and the men in that print shop made it happen miraculously and, for those of faith, we believe it happened by the hand of the Lord.  It's incredible to think about and watch how long it would have taken to go through each of the steps necessary to create a book, even with all the technological advancements since Guggenheim's first printing of the Bible.  It was truly a miracle.  Another facet of my testimony of the Book of Mormon being a true and wonderful book, there was so much effort put into providing these precious words for the world to read and it is truly a blessing.

Teachings Becoming Scripture

Modern and continuing revelation is a subject of controversy when it comes to Latter Day Saints in the Christian community.  It's easy to question how the teachings of modern church leaders can be accepted as not only doctrine but as being from the Lord himself and worthy of being cannonized.  As a member of the LDS church, I feel that this modern day revelation is necessary and truly from God.  I've never had a prophet lead me in a direction that didn't feel right.  I've only seen good things from following the revelation and guidance given through religious leaders today.  

During Joseph Smith's time, there was no radio, no Ensign (a church magazine that is published and distributed world wide), no internet for reading talks or hearing podcasts, no television for recording and re-broadcasting church meetings where revelations were given.  We rely heavily on what was recorded by individuals attending Joseph Smith's sermons and meetings where he taught and revealed to the saints what the Lord would have them do.  At the time the Doctrine & Covenants was compiled, some of Joseph Smith's sermons were added into this set of scripture.  I can see that these teachings often explained things he had counseled with the Lord about and received answers to his own questions.  He was also teaching about things that may not be explained in other places in scripture or expounds on doctrine found in the Book of Mormon and the Bible.  It's a blessing to have these teachings preserved in the Doctrine and Covenants.

The Joseph Smith Papers

It's been an interesting experience to look at the Joseph Smith papers, to read the text, to ponder all that they imply historically and doctrinally.  This book is one of many in a planned series.  A compilation of Joseph Smith's notes and the notes of others as they documented the revelation that Joseph was receiving.  Many of the documents recorded in the Joseph Smith Papers are not found anywhere else.  Certain revelations from these papers were used in the Doctrine and Covenants but not all.  Thus, through the Joseph Smith Papers, we get a more complete look at all the doctrine and organizing that was taking place in the early days of the church.

I've particularly enjoyed noticing the consistent manner of speech used in the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Joseph Smith Papers.  Part of that I'm sure is due to conformities from writer to writer and the way of speaking in those days.  I like to see that the consistency in language makes the works more tied together.  Not that the Joseph Smith Papers should be cannonized but, they are certainly a valuable supplement to scripture.

In the particular sections I've read through, there is one about creating a court of justice for religious matters.  In reading about the organizing of such a court, I naturally compare this court to state and federal courts of justice.  It seems fitting that a court for spiritual matters would have more clearly defined "rights and wrongs" but so much more forgiving and justice.  Then  I compare the organizing of such a court to that of courts in heaven.  God is merciful and he gives us a lifetime of opportunity to come unto him and receive all that he has.  When judgment day arrives, the only thing that will matter is if we tried, followed Christ, and endured.  

The BYU Museum of Art

The Brigham Young University Museum of Art, affectionately called the MOA, is a unique university museum.  It is one of the largest and most attended museums in the Mountain West, probably due to the fact that admission is free!  The focus of the museum's collections are religious and American art but it also exhibits several different touring collections throughout the year.   You might be inclined to wonder how "exciting" our art programs are at BYU thinking that perhaps our faith "limits" the boundaries we can break or lines we can cross as artists.  You may be surprised to find out that our student art shows are contemporary and thought provoking and yes, they certainly can be "edgy".  I think these ideas flow right over to the MOA also.  The art that tours through our campus museum is thought provoking, political, controversial, innovative, respected, and expressive.  Naturally, the museum does keep a ready supply of beautiful and inspiring works of religious art which became the main points of discussion for our D&C class last week. I really enjoyed taking the opportunity to see an exhibit of entirely religious art.  Loaded with allusions, symbolism, and innovation; these pieces inspired me to learn more about my religious history so that I can better understand these images.  My classmates inspired me to see each piece from a different perspective.  As we stood as a class in front of each piece and picked it apart searching for meaning part of me wondered if we were trying too hard.  What if the images were meant to be more simple.  We think, no that's impossible for doctrine is complex but, this is not always the case.  Sometimes doctrine can be so beautiful and simple like Christ's teaching to love one another.  I tried to see the paintings, drawings, and sculptures as a whole, simple and sacred and then dive in to analyze further. 

 I was most awe struck when looking at a painting of Christ carrying the cross.  Almost immediately the image struck me funny.  It was photo-realistic and dramatic. It felt very posed and studio-esque.  As if a model were playing the part of the Savior.  He was standing upright under the weight of the cross and his flesh was brilliant and perfect.  Wearing only cloth draped and the crown of thorns, there were no signs of the crucifixion anywhere on his body.  No wounds in his hands or side.  The cross was made of a well varnished wood but battered around the edges.  I hope you can see this image.  I thought, why would he be so perfect and be standing so upright under the weight of this cross?  Why was his cross varnished?  Then I thought perhaps he was carrying my cross, a far lighter burden than his own.  It took my breath away.