Wales: Day 8 Lazy Sunday

We attended church again at Coleg Glan Hafren. It was truly humbling to hear them talk about their hopes for their own building by the end of this year. That's something I've never really even thought about. I have always had church buildings, and plenty of them. I've always had a pulpit, sound system, pews and tons of classrooms. This has been a really cool experience, because it's exactly the same church without all those things.

The Church's organization is phenomenal, and you truly feel at home in any ward, anywhere.

The lessons and testimonies were great. I especially loved how much they encouraged one another to look for missionary opportunities. That's something else I don't think about daily. I need to be more like these great members, and emulate my buddies on missions. :)

After church, we came home to eat a quick lunch and then drove to a nearby castle/manor house for a quiet afternoon of writing in journals and reading. It was quite an adventure getting there. We had to climb over 2 gates (still in my church skirt) and stare down some cows to get to the castle. We were quite amused and had a good time.





Old Beaupre Castle was really cool. I found this little secluded area and settled down to catch up on my journal-writing (we have to turn in a journal at the end of the program) and to read the Book of Mormon and my newly acquired copy of Jane Eyre.

It was nice to have quiet time in such a beautiful 15th Century castle. I could imagine being transported back in time. I was able to think about when I get back and the fall semester that will be waiting for me. I have a lot of decisions and things to think about, so it was nice to get some perspective. I didn't figure everything out, but I definitely got myself mentally in a good state to continue thinking about these coming events.

Climbing back over the gates and walls, we returned to the vans and drove around trying to find St. Lythan's tomb - another dolmen burial site. The parking situation was comical. Tom pulled up onto a small hill and we felt like the van was going to fall over entirely.

At the tomb, I was sacrificed and carried in as a dead person. Overall quite an enjoyable Sunday.