Only Three Weeks Left

15 July 2012

Palmer, Kylee, and I decided to go to the singles ward instead of the family ward this week. But even though the singles ward starts at one o’clock, we didn’t sleep in. Instead, we went to Hyde Park to find Speaker’s Corner. Apparently, people just show up at this place and go on rants about politics, religion, and all sorts of things. But nobody was there when we got there, so we just left.

We realized that we were somewhat close to Baker Street, so we decided to go find Sherlock Holmes’s flat. 221B Baker Street. We found it, and apparently they’ve turned it into a museum…and you can go in for six pounds. We just walked through the gift shop, took some pictures, and left.

Look at this cool phone booth we found!

After that, we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum. That was pretty cool. We didn’t have a ton of time, but guess what I saw while I was there? Apostle spoons! Just like the ones that I bought yesterday at Portobello, only these ones were larger. According to the plaque, apostle spoons were common christening presents from godparents to godchildren. Cool, right? So glad I bought those spoons!

Also, the museum had these awesome chairs in their courtyard:

They're like banana chairs, but better...they spin!

After we left the museum, we walked down the street to church. And it was so great! The speakers did such a good job on their talks. One guy especially really made me think more about the Atonement and my personal spirituality. He said something like, “Even if out of all the people in the world, you were the only one to come unto Christ, He still would have gone through the Atonement. Just for you.” That was so cool!

He also gave us five questions to help us determine whether we are coming unto Christ:

1. How often do you have intimate conversations with God?
2. If you seek revelation, how much do you value what you already have? How often to you actually study your scriptures?
3. When was the last time you went to the Temple, having prepared yourself beforehand?
4. When was the last time you devoted your fast to truly uplifting another person? Do you pay your tithing?
5. When you are in the middle of a trial, do you focus on others and give yourself to the service of others as Christ would?

I just really enjoyed his talk. :)

My last stop today was the Natural History Museum. That was a really cool museum. They had this super awesome escalator:

They also had an earthquake simulator and a robotic tyrannosaurus rex. It was a pretty cool place. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the cooksonia plant for my brother-in-law, Ben. But the museum was still neat.

Afterwards, we went back to the flat and had breakfast for dinner! Then Palmer and I watched the final episode of the first season of “Sherlock.” Love that show!

Anyway, this was my last Sunday in London. I’ll be in Paris next Sunday, and then we leave London the following Wednesday. I’ve really enjoyed my time in London, and I plan on enjoying what time I have left here!