Meols

Meols is where one of my mission companions lives, Mary Boswell. Mary is 74 years-old now. Despite our age difference, we had a GREAT time serving together. I learned so much from her. As she's a very good friend, I always try to squeeze in a day or two to visit her when I'm in England. We always have a good laugh when we're together! Meols is right on the coast of the Irish Sea, so we also always go for a walk along the promenade. I absolutely love walking along the sea (or any body of water for that matter)! This time we nearly had to do it in the hail/rain/snow, but we were lucky enough to have it clear up a bit for our walk. And we got to enjoy a lovely sunset to boot! Here are a few shots...

Oh, how lovely is England...

So, upon coming to my blog to actually write this post, I've realized how pitifully I've been at posting this year. Unbelievable! Well, I arrived in England only 4 days ago and have been having such fun adventures, I couldn't wait to post some pictures. I came over primarily for the baptism of John Atkins, a man I met on my mission who has been investigating the church for 15 years...I know... a LONG time! I was, needless to say, VERY surprised when I learned back in October that he had finally decided to be baptized, but absolutely thrilled! (His wife has been a member for a long time, so I probably wasn't as thrilled as she was...) Anyway, he asked me to speak at his baptism, which I was more than happy to do. His baptism was last Friday.

John Atkins and Ken Jones (Ken was bishop when I served in the ward)

me, John, Sue (John's wife)



Yesterday, I had the great privilege of attending a carol concert in a cave in the village of Castleton, one of my favorite places in the Peak District. The cave, Peak Cavern, is irreverently known as the "Devil's Arse" (a story I'll not explain here... ). Every year, in the mouth of the cave, people gather to sing Christmas carols with the accompaniment of a brass band. It was freeeeezzzzzing cold! But what a fun atmosphere! I've tried to capture it in a few pictures, but this will not do it justice by any means....

Walking up to the cave (it was hard to get a clear picture because of the darkness...)

Some festive people sitting in front of us

Some of the crowd

The cave entrance. You can just see the band in the lower left hand corner here

After the concert

Sarah, Mary, Sue, John

me, Mary, Sue, John

I found this icicle fascinating. It was about 2 feet long and thick!