Everything is better with an accent

Sleep. 

It’s a beautiful thing. 

That is why Sunday morning was so grand. I slept in until 9:45am. I could have slept all day, but even those extra two hours did wonders. I got up, got ready for church and then we all walked to the church building across the street. 

Church was fun, listening to the talks and lessons in a British accent. Sunday School was especially entertaining because our teacher had a great sense of humor and got really into his lesson. This helped me to stay awake (even with the extra sleep I was ready for a nap again). 

Funny moment: 

Our teacher asked us what came to mind when he said certain names (e.g. Moses, Jonah, Abraham etc.) Then he asked us “What about pizza?” and Ben shouted out, “Pepperoni!” and I said, “Yummmm...” No one heard me, but everyone definitely heard Ben. 

Well, with an accent “Peter” sounds very much like “Pizza” in British. But they are definitely not the same. That got a good laugh. 

After Sunday School we went to Relief Society, where I could not keep my eyes open. I felt really bad. I’m sure the older ladies behind me could see my head as it would bob up and down every few minutes as I tried to keep myself from sleeping. I do know that we had a lesson on talents though, so points to me for at least getting the gist of the discussion (which was your basic RS message of ‘Everyone is special and everyone has important talents to share’ yaddy yaddy yaddah). I’m sure it was good...but I was half-asleep for most of it. Oops.

When church ended we hung around for a few minutes––hoping that an attractive Brit in the ward would talk to us (nope)––and then walked back in the cold Preston rain to our accommodations. We had a short break (about an hour) and then we met on the bus for a tour of church history sites in Preston. Clinton, Edwin and Phil (guys in the Preston singles ward) came along to give the tour. Clinton did most of the tour. It was funny because Phil sat in back with us (and Clinton reiterated this later) and said, “He’s making this whole tour up...he doesn’t really know what he’s talking about.” I thought that was pretty funny. Although he was winging it, I’m pretty sure most of it really was legit. We saw the square where the first missionaries preached on soap boxes to the angry crowds, we went to President Hinckley’s mission home, and to the River Ribble where thousands of people were baptized late into the night and then to a park along the river where there are two memorial plaques to the members and the missionaries. 

The park itself was really pretty too designed as a Japanese-style garden. We had a little testimony bearing “meeting” for a few minutes there, then walked back to the bus where we drove to a village (I forget the name) where Heber C. Kimball had preached and converted the whole town. Apparently when it was time for him to leave and he was walking through the street, people came out and swarmed him and he had to wash his face in the stream because he was weeping so much. Ironically, when we were leaving, the bus almost backed into that very stream as we tried to turn around. Luckily, we did not get our bus stuck in the creek. That would have put a damper on our day. Haha, get it? Damper. And it was already raining anyways...

Our tour lasted alllll day long. We left at three thirty and didn’t get back until eight thirty. It was a good Sunday activity though and it was cool to see some of the church sites in Preston. When we got back we had a nice baked potato dinner with the Brits. That was fun. I sat with Hannah, Suzy, and Heather with Phil. He was so funny. He talked a lot, but it was interesting because he 1) had an accent, which makes everything enjoyable to hear, and 2) because it was cool to get a British perspective on things. We compared American and British cultures and attitudes a lot. 

For example, one of the things I thought was humorous was that, according to Phil (and I’m not sure if this is reflective of all Brits), the British loved George W. Bush because he was so easy to make fun of, and that they don’t like Obama as much because he’s so serious and put together. Apparently it’s the same for British politicians. They like the comedians and idiots better than the actual qualified leaders because they are more fun in the news...not sure if this is an accurate illustration of British political attitudes, but I thought it was funny. 

Memorable British quotes of the night:

Phil was describing the time he had visited America for General Conference and gone through Utah and Idaho and he exclaims, “What’s with Idaho!? It’s flippin’ ridiculous!” He couldn’t believe how empty and vacant the state was. Then he told us how they accidentally killed a cow and the guy just said to move it to the side of the road like it was no big deal. Phil was completely flabbergasted by how nonchalant Idahoans are about stuff like that. 

But my very favorite line?

“Bon Jovi–– 

best thing to come out of America 

since the Restoration.”-Phil

After chatting with Phil for a while we moved to the common area and talked with a few other people in the group with two other Brits, Clinton and John. These two are characters. 

Let me paint you a picture:

Two Brits. 

Loud. 

Boisterous. 

Accents. 

                            Both wearing onesie sweatsuits. 

What are onesie sweatesuits? Picture a hoodie sweatshirt. And baggie sweatpants. Now put them together with a zipper up the whole suit and add pockets. That is a OnePiece. AND, Clinton has offered to give me one of his (he has four) because they’re really expensive (i.e. $200). How did they both come to have these articles of clothing? They are sponsored by OnePiece. Why? Clinton and John are auditioning for Britain’s X-Factor this season! Haha. Apparently they are doing a rap, but John was too embarrassed to perform for us. Instead, they did a duo rendition of the Fresh Prince theme. 

Classic. 

A bunch of us all hung out until midnight. But then the security guy was closing up and kicked out the Brits so we all went to bed. 

Fun night.