England

We spent the second half of our European adventure in England. Easter Sunday was our travel day so we actually just hid out in our hotel and listened to General Conference which was delightful as usual. Monday we went on an excursion to Stonehenge and Bath. Let's just say I should have packed a warmer jacket for this entire trip but that culminated in the pouring rain at Stonehenge. I was underwhelmed by both locations but that could have been due to my discomfort! Evan thought Stonehenge was fascinating and I thought about the care facility I worked at for 3 years named Stonehenge and said hmm glad that's over. That night we ended up exploring the Hyde Park Chapel and met an Elder Christensen (related to our best friends here in WL- small world!) who told us all about the missionary work they are doing using technology at that visitors center- truly incredible and my favorite part of the day and a highlight of the trip for sure. I didn't find out until we got home that my great grandparents Harvey and Patricia McArthur used to live next door to that chapel! They  weren't LDS so they wouldn't have attended, but I wish we would have stopped by their old flat for a photo if only I would have known. The next day we explored London which was a lot of fun but also SO FREAKING CROWDED. We were unaware of Europe's "Easter Break" so the benefits of going in the off season were squandered. We did still get to see the Tower of London which never gets old for me, a guided tour of Parliament which I also have enjoyed repeatedly and we got to see Wicked (finally! ten years later...). The last few days were spent with the inspiration for our trip: Elder and Sister Fox! Right off we headed to Preston where Evan's ancestors are from and got to see many of the sights of the first missionaries from our church to England and the location of his great great great... grandmother's baptism. We drove out to the old family farm, unfortunately no one was home but it was cool that it still exists. We spent the evening in the temple. The next day we went to to Yorkshire Dales and it was just breathtaking. We were ready for a break from all the city skylines and cathedrals and boy did this deliver. It was lambing season so there were tiny little sheep everywhere and the rock walls are just mesmerizing. Who moved all those stones! How! How are they still standing! The last day we headed back to Hull and got to spend some time with some of the missionaries and new converts that Rich and Marilyn work with. Massud is from Iran and came over and made us lunch while telling us all about his story. We also went to see William Wilberforce's home which was pretty special, have you ever seen the movie Amazing Grace? Put it on your hit list because that was one inspired man (champion of ending the slave trade). Our trip was a once in a lifetime opportunity by boy were we ready to see these three faces when we stepped off the plane!!