Thursday: To Lake District, England
After studying poets like Wordsworth and Coleridge, I was very excited to spend some time strolling along one of the lakes in the Lake District - a place where many poets found inspiration for their writing. Before leaving Stratford for the Lake District, I checked my e-mail and learned that my dear grandmother passed away early in the morning on Tuesday. I love her very much and I will miss her, but I know that she is happy.
So, like Tuesday, Thursday was a very reflective day for me. I spent the evening walking and talking with Janelle and Lauren. I had some tears, but tried to hide them. Our hostel was basically on the lake and it was very nice to hear the water as I felt asleep. I felt very peaceful.
Later that night I felt very sick and nauseated.
Friday: Exploring Lake District/To Edinburgh, Scotland
The next morning in the Lake District, I woke up and still felt pretty ill, but decided to go on a little walk with Chloe. We found this National Trust land so we entered the gate and then explored inside. There were a couple of swans that let us get about five feet close to them, so we sat and watched both for awhile. Then we went wading in the lake and played on a rock.
When we got back, we packed up and got ready to go to Glasmere for gingerbread and to see the daffodil fields that Wordsworth wrote about in his poems.
The gingerbread was pretty nasty. It wasn't gingerbread cookie, it was literally ginger bread. I gave all that I bought away to people who actually enjoyed it. The ginger and me being sick made me feel even sicker as we travelled the four or so hours to Edinburgh. It was an enjoyable ride, though, because the girls and I had a lot of fun just talking and sharing ideas. :) I like my friends!
Saturday: Sites in Edinburgh
I LOVE SCOTLAND! It's so beautiful and I can see the ocean from Castle Rock. I learned that Castle Rock is actually an old volcano that caved off one end. Originally, there was a lake around the rock, but they drained that away in the 1700s and now there is a cute little park. I think I would have liked the lake, but the park was pretty cool, too.
So here is a list of things we did today:
*Saw Edinburgh castle
*Bought something awesome for my boyfriend because his grandma and ancestors are from Scotland
*Went to Greyfriar's Cemetery
*Ate at the Elephant House (this is famous because the author, JK Rowling, started writing Harry Potter while eating in the back room of this cafe).
*Saw a few monuments for famous writer people
*Went to the Sir Walter Scott monument
*Shopped but didn't really find anything. I think I am trying to save for when I get back to the United States. I want to go through all of my clothes and give what I don't wear either to Deseret Industries or my sisters. Then I will find some things that I really think look great on me and get those instead of trying to find something here that I will need to lug back home.
*Ate dinner at the hostel
*About to go up to Arthur's Seat :)
Love you!
Jazlyn
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Wrote this before i learned my grandma died
Day in Stratsford: I am pretty happy because of certain events that occurred yesterday (Brandon and I got back together - I have a boyfriend AND I love him!) Yesterday was also a hard day because I found out that my grandma who has lived with my family for over 12 years is even closer to dying than I had previously thought. On Monday, she hadn't eaten since Friday. I don't know how she is doing and I don't have internet to find out. So I will probably call home today and ask Mom.
Well, today we departed London. I was kind of sad, but I am very ready for a new adventure. We went to a many places which included Windsor castle (The Queen's baby pictures look so much like Jessica's baby pictures!), Shakespeare's mother's house (I fed a vulture there out of my hand), Anne Hathaway's cottage (I didn't go inside. There was a woodland nature walk on the grounds, so I did that instead), and Stratford of Avon. In Stratford, we saw Shakespeare's birthing place and his tomb. Then we went on to the hostel.
Today was altogether a very reflective day for me. It was a chance I had to reach into myself and decide what I am really like and what I really like to do. I am not saying that I am not myself around all of you. I think I'm just trying to reconnect with my personality in a way that isn't restricted by anybody, meaning that it could only come out when I am with myself and Heavenly Father.
I have observed a few things about me (this is about to be pretty serious/boring... so go ahead and skip) :) :
* I think I really connect with God when I am out in nature. This is especially so when the foliage is similar to Oregon's (like at Anne Hathaway's cottage). I really feel comfortable and happy walking around orchards and fields and shrubbery. I think this has a lot to do with my upbringing. First, it seems that in many houses i lived in, there was a large backyard that i could explore and spend the day in. I am also reminded of all the nature walks, mountain drives, hikes, and picnics my family used to have. I didn't know it then, but they have really made me appreciate family togetherness and closeness with God through nature.
* I discovered that I really, really do not care for most board games or card games. There are a few exceptions: Nerts, Battleship, chess, checkers, war, Uno, Phase 10, Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, Pretty, Pretty Princess, Curses, Scrabble, Blockus, and Trouble. I know that like seems like many games, but out of all the carious kinds of games out there that is actually very small.
* I like making forts and can't wait to help my children make them
* I have discovered that Im scared to death of being "great" and because of the anxious feelings I have, I let the things I do be mediocre even if I could do better. I will overcome this and I hope it shows in my relationships with friends and family, school, and of course, my knowledge of the gospel and the way I live it. (I have been really working hard on that last one the past couple months and I think I am seeing progress.)
*I also realized that i do really want to be a mom even more than I want a career. Of course, I am still going to try my best to be a PA and once my kids are grown-up, a doctor, but I realize that my most important responsibility will be raising my children. I'm excited to do this! I also decided that if I am going to be a mother, then I am going to try to be the best mom ever.
List (and I know it's long and probably I will never be amazing at all the things on the list, but I will try! I will also try not to be naive)
*take child rearing, family, and marriage classes with my spouse and utilize those principles in the home.
*Create a spiritual, happy atmosphere in the home that encourages learning. This can be established through regular family scripture study, prayer, FHE, family meals, and BYU Football celebrations.
*Read to my kids
*learn how to cooke and sometime let the kids have dessert before dinner.
*learn how to garden
*learned how to do food storage stuff
*learn to sew better
*read books so that i continue to learn about spiritual and secular things
*Be an awesome soccer or whatever mom ever! (although, I DO like soccer and running best.)
*I also learned that i need to be more aggressive about wanting to learn new things. I think that I get lazy because many things came basically to me when I was young. I don't remember really having to work for knowledge expect in Mr. Porter's 5th grade math class that we were learning crazy high school math in.
Well, sorry to bore you with so much stuff about me. You want to be entertained, right? Should I write a poem? I think yes.
Oh, Peter Rabbit,
I saw you in the corn today.
Did Farmer tell you, "Git!"?
I watched you as you hopped away.
Your little white feet,
where did they wander you off to?
A meadow of wheat?
Where, my little bunny foo foo?
Don't worry, Peter Rabbit.
I'm carried there, too.
A place I dream of when I sit,
When I'm feeling blue.
Green and gold, in my mind at least.
With booby-trapped forts;
music swings from branches of trees.
Red-yellow roses and
a porcupine to boot!
My own elephant to ride
and a room full of loot.
A black flying squirrel,
the villain, of course.
A shining white knight
and one valiant horse.
A bright star lit sky.
Homework's in a stash.
Don't worry, I did it.
No one had to ask.
I play on my branch
and realize I'm alone.
Is that what I want from the world?
And then I go home.
Back to the spot
where I sit on a rock
with me and all of my
people-deprived thoughts.
What am I running from?
Growing up, perhaps?
Is that what you hide from, Peter?
Don't keep it under wraps.
Everything is okay, Peter.
You're growing up inside.
And when you are older,
you'll be glad you didn't hide.
Life is worth experiencing --
every sorrow, happiness, and whim.
And part of life is living
and growing up within.
I figured it all out
when I sat on that branch.
I'm ready to try and
give it another chance.
THE END!
First day in Liverpool: We left Stratford today to go to Liverpool, so I had all morning on the bus to do some thinking, which freaked me out a lot, but ended up being pretty good.
Janelle, Lauren, Ashley, and I went to visit the maritime museum at Liverpool and looked around the area. I loved it! I miss the ocean. I really enjoy it.
I love Liverpool!
We went on another walk at night and it was just gorgeous. So basically enjoying the ocean breeze in Liverpool!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Check Out Monday
Actually, we are checking out tomorrow. I'm happy/sad that I am leaving London and off to other English/Scottish things. Anyway, a lot of random things happened today that I was just not emotionally ready for. One of them is that my grandma is getting worse and if she doesn't start eating soon, she will probably die pretty soon. It worries me, but I also need to remember what amazing things she will be able to do and see once she dies and is with her husband and daughter.
Anyway, I am sure I will cheer up pretty soon here. Just start saying those prayers for me and I'm sure all will be good very quickly.
Love,
Jazlyn
Anyway, I am sure I will cheer up pretty soon here. Just start saying those prayers for me and I'm sure all will be good very quickly.
Love,
Jazlyn
Sunday, July 25, 2010
The Longest Blog Post Ever: France and Last Sunday in London.
This is probably going to be quite a large blog post since I was in France for so long and then had an AWESOME Sunday! I am going to subtitle areas, so just find what you are interested in and read that part. Or you can read the whole thing.
Paris - Day One - ARC DE TRIOMPHE, CHAMPS ELYSEES
As you can imagine, traveling with a big group of girls can be kind of loud. We try to be considerate of the people around us but sometimes our voices carry more loudly than we think. While on the chunnel (train that goes under the English Channel via a tunnel), we were all chatting with each other (there were also other people talking, too) when we heard a long Shhhhhhhh. The car suddenly grew very quiet and a man from the back said out loud, "I didn't mean for everybody to be quiet..." Turns out he was just shhhing his son next to him and we all heard and immediately became very, very silent. We all had a good laugh afterward.
We got to the French... it's not a nunnery, but it's ran by nuns... I will call it the French Hotel for Girls. FHG for short. It was already dark and raining, so we decided to just visit the Arc de Triomphe and walk down the Champs Elysees. France is beautiful. The sidewalks were wet from a recent rainfall and sprinkles were still dropping from the clouds. The sun set exactly under the Arc while people strolled along the Elysees. It was very romantic. I fell very much in love with Paris that evening.
The nuns were very kind to us and I even learned to say 73 in French and count to 10.
Paris - Day Two - CONCIERGE, SAN CHAPELLE, NOTRE DAME, MUSEE D'ORSAY, TUILIERES GARDENS, EIFFEL TOWER
Okay, first of all, I woke up and realized that I had dreamed about Robert Pattinson. He's Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and Edward Cullen in Twilight. I don't normally think about him and was very surprised that he showed up in my dream. Haha, it was great because he still had some of his vampire powers from Twilight (like super strength) and I told him that we couldn't get married until he was baptized and that he had to be in the church for a certain amount of time so that I would know he had a testimony. I woke soon after that and was happy to get that dream out of my head.
The rest of the day went very well.
I ate a chocolate croissant for breakfast. A pizza and Fanta (Lemon) for lunch and a McDonald's burger for dinner. I think the pizza was my favorite!
The first place we went to was the Concierge. This is where the French aristocrats were kept before they were executed during the French Revolution. It was very interesting to read the information and I even saw Marie Antoinette's cell!
Next was San Chapelle. This church was absolutely amazing. It is rumored to have the most beautiful stained glass in the world. I have pictures and you can decide that.
We then visited Notre Dame. There were many gypsies around it trying to get us to read postcards about their sad lives and give them money. I think I would have felt worse for them if I hadn't seen them congregate and look at each other's funds. Notre Dame itself was pretty magnificent! There were not any gargoyles that I could see, though, contrary to the Disney movie.
After eating near the cathedral, we went to the Musee D'Orsay and saw some pretty spectacular art. Among my favorites were pieces from Monet and Van Gogh and this beautiful room. It looked like a very ritzy ballroom with chandeliers all over the ceiling, panels, and crown molding with gold leaf.... And it had eternity mirrors. This is where you put two mirrors across from each other in a room and when you look into one, it seems like you are looking into an endless amount of mirrors. There was a random moment when I was in the large room all by myself and I tried to pretend I was in a Celestial Room instead. I can't wait until I am endowed!
At this point, we decided that a stroll around some gardens would be nice and we ended up walking the whole 6+ stops back to the FHG. Before we got home, I noticed a man selling paintings of the Eiffel Tower. I had already seen many men trying to do this on the way, but felt like I was too scared to try to haggle in French. This time as I looked at the man's paintings, he started to speak in English to me. I was surprised and asked him about the paintings and he helped me look through them. He said one of the big paintings would be 65 Euro. Well, I definitely did not have that to spend, so I said I would give him 20 E for the painting. He acted as if I were being really cheap and I said, "Nope, that is all I will spend. A man offered me a painting like yours for 30 Euro." This was true. The man reduced the price to 44 Euro for me and I gave a little and said 22 E. We then settled on 25 E. Now I have this beautiful painting of the Eiffel Tower and I wasn't even scammed! Yay! I haggled with a French guy!
We got back and slept for awhile and then went to see the Eiffel Tower. This was way more exciting to me than I thought. I was warned by reviewers that it would be boring, but I definitely didn't think so as I ran up the 100+ steps to get a good view from the middle of the tower. The view was beautiful! I loved being out there.
That night I finished the Book of Mormon. I could not put it down. I read through 3 Nephi, thought about stopping, then continued on to finish Words of Mormon and Ether and by then I thought, why not? And I cruised through Moroni. The thing is, anyone can read fast or sit and spend a chunk of time and finish the Book of Mormon quickly. People do it. But this was an amazing experience for me because it helped me realize why I love the Book of Mormon so much. I love it because I know that it is true and I know that when I read it I feel the Spirit. I know that as I read it, I am learning from the ancient peoples' stories and I will try not to make the same mistakes that they do. If I do make those mistakes, I have learned from the Book of Mormon that I can repent and be forgiven. I love the Book of Mormon because it is the word of God.
If you ever feel alone or lost, read the Book of Mormon. If you are discouraged and facing adversity, read the Book of Mormon. If you feel like everything in your life is good and you are happy, read the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is for every moment in your life: the bad times, the good times, and the ordinary times. It will teach you true things and you will live a better life because of it.
Paris - Day Three - VERSAILLES, THE LOUVRE
I definitely slept in until 8 am on day three, and it felt so good! I love those days.
I am going to write about the trip to Versailles like it is a movie trailer that tells the whole story:
NARRATOR (manly voice): Five girls (quick close-ups of Lauren, Janelle, Jazlyn, Candice, and Ashley) and one bug.... (very close-up picture of a giant fly/bug/thing)
NARRATOR: ...meet in a garden.
(Movie title appears through cool slideshow techniques. It says: BIT AT VERSAILLE. Fade out. Crazy, awesome music starts playing while scenes from Day Three randomly appear out of order.)
(Fast shots of girls roaming through big, beautiful house. A quick shot of them eating. Another quick shot of them about to take a picture next to a statue of a man with a square jaw (kind of like Brandon's!)
JANELLE: Ow! (close-up of Janelle looking intensely at her arm)
(A fast shot of Jazlyn looking up with bewildered eyes and another of Lauren slowly running toward Janelle.)
ASHLEY: What's wrong?
JANELLE: (close-up shot of Janelle with narrowed eyes) (Slowly says...) Something bit me. (She looks off at something in the distance and the other girls match her gaze).
(Shot of the sky with nothing there.)
JANELLE: It's swelling! (Shot of Janelle's arm as a red bite appears with a circular swelling around it and then a large diameter of general edema).
(Shot of Candice speaking in French to a museum man while Janelle holds up her arm.)
NARRATOR: In theaters August 2010.
So basically, Janelle got bit by some horrid bug and we decided to cut the trip short and not look at the rest of the gardens. This is too bad, but I like Janelle more than trees anyway.
Once Janelle felt better and the swelling had gone down, we decided to trek on over to the Louvre and see what we could find. We picked out these works of art and just saw those because we didn't want to spend the whole rest of the day there. These are the pieces we saw:
Code of Hammurai, Seated Ramses II, Aphrodite (Venus de Milo), Borghese Gladiator, Psyche and Cupid, The Wings of Victory of Samothrace, the Mona Lisa (of course), Napoleon III apartments, coronation crown of Louis XV, The Lacemaker, and Ruben's Room.
My personal favorite is the Psyche and Cupid statue. I am not normally into mythology, but this love story is so tender and so much like Beauty and the Beast to me, that to see the statue made me really happy.
The story goes something like this: Aphrodite doesn't like Psyche because she is very beautiful and many men fall in love with her. So she sends her son, Cupid, to scratch Psyche with one of his arrows and makes it so that she falls in love with a monster or something. Cupid turns himself invisible and is about to scratch Psyche when she is sleeping, but she suddenly wakes up and looks at him straight in the eyes although he shouldn't be visible. He is startled and accidently pricks himself with an arrow and falls immediately in love with Psyche. He decides not to follow out on his mother's orders. Aphrodite then makes it so that no mortal man can fall in love with Psyche, and Cupid retaliates by not shooting arrows at anybody.
Psyche's parents are very concerned that no one is falling in love with her, so they talk to an oracle which tells them to leave her up on a mountain. They do and she is whisked away to a castle with invisible servants and is married to the man of the castle who is Cupid except that he is invisible.
She is allowed to stay there as long as she doesn't see Cupid, but she doesn't know who he is, so one night she creeps into his room and lights a candle and sees him and is whisked away to Aphrodite's castle.
Aphrodite decides to test Psyche and won't let her back to her husband unless she completes three impossible tasks. Through the help of many, she is able to complete the tasks and Cupid and Psyche live happily ever after.
After the Louvre, we ate at this amazing French restaurant that serves Italian food. I got lasagne carne (doesn't taste as good as yours, Mom!) It was still yummy, though. I went to bed happy.
Paris - Day Four - BOAT RIDE, SHOPPING/MONTEMARTRE, SACRE COEUR
This fourth day in Paris was supposed to be very relaxed and it was in the morning. We took a nice boat ride down the Seine and then had some crepes afterward. We shopped along the touristy places near Notre Dame as well and bought ice cream. It then took us about two hours of navigating to get to Montemartre and by that time, we were all pretty tuckered out. I got myself a cool Brazilian Jersey for any sports that I go to and a picture of Sacre Coeur. I hope Kevin U. is satisfied. It was beautiful!
The train ride home took forever, but I lived and we finally got back to home: London. I was surprised by how much I missed the familiar streets and the English language. In fact, I was so ecstatic, that I ended up having a weird conversation with the man at the register in TESCO. Since Janelle and I had both bought soccer jerseys, we thought we would wear them when we went to shop for groceries. I mentioned to her and Ashley while we were in line that someone would probably think I was Brazilian because of my skin color. Sure enough, the first thing the man at the cash register asked was, "Are you Brazilian?" This is kind of how our conversation went:
ME: No. I'm American. I just like Brazil.
MAN: (Smiles and continues to check out my groceries)
ME: I'm learning Portuguese and it's really hard, but I love it! I think it would be so fun to go to Brazil. I think I want to go there this summer and help some orphans there or something. If that works out. (I am very excited and passionate about what I am saying).
MAN: (Continues to smile) Good. (Leaves to try to find another container of grapes that will scan better).
ME: (Realizing that I just had a conversation with myself, I became very sheepish) Well, have a good day! Bye. (Runs to Janelle at front of store).
The end.
SUNDAY - Last Sunday at Hyde Park Ward.
First of all, I just want to say that I am serious about this Portuguese thing. I am going to learn Portuguese and then someday I am going to go over there and do some helping.
Second of all, I really want to write for the church, but I don't know how to start doing that. I have many things to say and reiterate and cool things to share, but I'm probably too young and inexperienced to write about those things and have Desert Book publish them.
Thirdly, church was amazing! In sacrament, a man from Salt Lake City spoke on feeling the Spirit. His name is Brother Ostler. He used one of Marion G. Romney's talks as a base for his talk. I think my favorite part was when he talked about serving others. He told us a story about Elder Eyring's father (the man the Eyring Science Center is named after). In his late eighties, Hal Eyring had intense bone cancer in his hip area. One day in church, they passed around a sign-up sheet to go weed some onion patches. Hal signed up even though his bone cancer would cause him pain. While weeding, the pain became so great that Hal was forced to drag himself around on his stomach. Yet, he still smiled and laughed and talked with the people he was serving with. At the end of the day, he found out that the row he had picked had already been sprayed and the weeds would have died the next day anyway. He laughed and made a joke out of it and then went on his way. When Elder Eyring asked him how he had such a positive attitude, Hal said, "I wasn't there to pick weeds."
I hope that in situations like that I realize that I am doing things for the right reasons (serving others to feel the Spirit).
Anyway, I am getting very tired now. One last cool thing that Janelle told me about: When people write Xmas, it's not bad. It doesn't mean that are replacing Christ's name with an "X." The X is actually a sacred symbol in Greek that means Christ. If we write Xmas with that attitude, then it is perfectly fine and very correct.
Love,
Jazlyn
Paris - Day One - ARC DE TRIOMPHE, CHAMPS ELYSEES
As you can imagine, traveling with a big group of girls can be kind of loud. We try to be considerate of the people around us but sometimes our voices carry more loudly than we think. While on the chunnel (train that goes under the English Channel via a tunnel), we were all chatting with each other (there were also other people talking, too) when we heard a long Shhhhhhhh. The car suddenly grew very quiet and a man from the back said out loud, "I didn't mean for everybody to be quiet..." Turns out he was just shhhing his son next to him and we all heard and immediately became very, very silent. We all had a good laugh afterward.
We got to the French... it's not a nunnery, but it's ran by nuns... I will call it the French Hotel for Girls. FHG for short. It was already dark and raining, so we decided to just visit the Arc de Triomphe and walk down the Champs Elysees. France is beautiful. The sidewalks were wet from a recent rainfall and sprinkles were still dropping from the clouds. The sun set exactly under the Arc while people strolled along the Elysees. It was very romantic. I fell very much in love with Paris that evening.
The nuns were very kind to us and I even learned to say 73 in French and count to 10.
Paris - Day Two - CONCIERGE, SAN CHAPELLE, NOTRE DAME, MUSEE D'ORSAY, TUILIERES GARDENS, EIFFEL TOWER
Okay, first of all, I woke up and realized that I had dreamed about Robert Pattinson. He's Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and Edward Cullen in Twilight. I don't normally think about him and was very surprised that he showed up in my dream. Haha, it was great because he still had some of his vampire powers from Twilight (like super strength) and I told him that we couldn't get married until he was baptized and that he had to be in the church for a certain amount of time so that I would know he had a testimony. I woke soon after that and was happy to get that dream out of my head.
The rest of the day went very well.
I ate a chocolate croissant for breakfast. A pizza and Fanta (Lemon) for lunch and a McDonald's burger for dinner. I think the pizza was my favorite!
The first place we went to was the Concierge. This is where the French aristocrats were kept before they were executed during the French Revolution. It was very interesting to read the information and I even saw Marie Antoinette's cell!
Next was San Chapelle. This church was absolutely amazing. It is rumored to have the most beautiful stained glass in the world. I have pictures and you can decide that.
We then visited Notre Dame. There were many gypsies around it trying to get us to read postcards about their sad lives and give them money. I think I would have felt worse for them if I hadn't seen them congregate and look at each other's funds. Notre Dame itself was pretty magnificent! There were not any gargoyles that I could see, though, contrary to the Disney movie.
After eating near the cathedral, we went to the Musee D'Orsay and saw some pretty spectacular art. Among my favorites were pieces from Monet and Van Gogh and this beautiful room. It looked like a very ritzy ballroom with chandeliers all over the ceiling, panels, and crown molding with gold leaf.... And it had eternity mirrors. This is where you put two mirrors across from each other in a room and when you look into one, it seems like you are looking into an endless amount of mirrors. There was a random moment when I was in the large room all by myself and I tried to pretend I was in a Celestial Room instead. I can't wait until I am endowed!
At this point, we decided that a stroll around some gardens would be nice and we ended up walking the whole 6+ stops back to the FHG. Before we got home, I noticed a man selling paintings of the Eiffel Tower. I had already seen many men trying to do this on the way, but felt like I was too scared to try to haggle in French. This time as I looked at the man's paintings, he started to speak in English to me. I was surprised and asked him about the paintings and he helped me look through them. He said one of the big paintings would be 65 Euro. Well, I definitely did not have that to spend, so I said I would give him 20 E for the painting. He acted as if I were being really cheap and I said, "Nope, that is all I will spend. A man offered me a painting like yours for 30 Euro." This was true. The man reduced the price to 44 Euro for me and I gave a little and said 22 E. We then settled on 25 E. Now I have this beautiful painting of the Eiffel Tower and I wasn't even scammed! Yay! I haggled with a French guy!
We got back and slept for awhile and then went to see the Eiffel Tower. This was way more exciting to me than I thought. I was warned by reviewers that it would be boring, but I definitely didn't think so as I ran up the 100+ steps to get a good view from the middle of the tower. The view was beautiful! I loved being out there.
That night I finished the Book of Mormon. I could not put it down. I read through 3 Nephi, thought about stopping, then continued on to finish Words of Mormon and Ether and by then I thought, why not? And I cruised through Moroni. The thing is, anyone can read fast or sit and spend a chunk of time and finish the Book of Mormon quickly. People do it. But this was an amazing experience for me because it helped me realize why I love the Book of Mormon so much. I love it because I know that it is true and I know that when I read it I feel the Spirit. I know that as I read it, I am learning from the ancient peoples' stories and I will try not to make the same mistakes that they do. If I do make those mistakes, I have learned from the Book of Mormon that I can repent and be forgiven. I love the Book of Mormon because it is the word of God.
If you ever feel alone or lost, read the Book of Mormon. If you are discouraged and facing adversity, read the Book of Mormon. If you feel like everything in your life is good and you are happy, read the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is for every moment in your life: the bad times, the good times, and the ordinary times. It will teach you true things and you will live a better life because of it.
Paris - Day Three - VERSAILLES, THE LOUVRE
I definitely slept in until 8 am on day three, and it felt so good! I love those days.
I am going to write about the trip to Versailles like it is a movie trailer that tells the whole story:
NARRATOR (manly voice): Five girls (quick close-ups of Lauren, Janelle, Jazlyn, Candice, and Ashley) and one bug.... (very close-up picture of a giant fly/bug/thing)
NARRATOR: ...meet in a garden.
(Movie title appears through cool slideshow techniques. It says: BIT AT VERSAILLE. Fade out. Crazy, awesome music starts playing while scenes from Day Three randomly appear out of order.)
(Fast shots of girls roaming through big, beautiful house. A quick shot of them eating. Another quick shot of them about to take a picture next to a statue of a man with a square jaw (kind of like Brandon's!)
JANELLE: Ow! (close-up of Janelle looking intensely at her arm)
(A fast shot of Jazlyn looking up with bewildered eyes and another of Lauren slowly running toward Janelle.)
ASHLEY: What's wrong?
JANELLE: (close-up shot of Janelle with narrowed eyes) (Slowly says...) Something bit me. (She looks off at something in the distance and the other girls match her gaze).
(Shot of the sky with nothing there.)
JANELLE: It's swelling! (Shot of Janelle's arm as a red bite appears with a circular swelling around it and then a large diameter of general edema).
(Shot of Candice speaking in French to a museum man while Janelle holds up her arm.)
NARRATOR: In theaters August 2010.
So basically, Janelle got bit by some horrid bug and we decided to cut the trip short and not look at the rest of the gardens. This is too bad, but I like Janelle more than trees anyway.
Once Janelle felt better and the swelling had gone down, we decided to trek on over to the Louvre and see what we could find. We picked out these works of art and just saw those because we didn't want to spend the whole rest of the day there. These are the pieces we saw:
Code of Hammurai, Seated Ramses II, Aphrodite (Venus de Milo), Borghese Gladiator, Psyche and Cupid, The Wings of Victory of Samothrace, the Mona Lisa (of course), Napoleon III apartments, coronation crown of Louis XV, The Lacemaker, and Ruben's Room.
My personal favorite is the Psyche and Cupid statue. I am not normally into mythology, but this love story is so tender and so much like Beauty and the Beast to me, that to see the statue made me really happy.
The story goes something like this: Aphrodite doesn't like Psyche because she is very beautiful and many men fall in love with her. So she sends her son, Cupid, to scratch Psyche with one of his arrows and makes it so that she falls in love with a monster or something. Cupid turns himself invisible and is about to scratch Psyche when she is sleeping, but she suddenly wakes up and looks at him straight in the eyes although he shouldn't be visible. He is startled and accidently pricks himself with an arrow and falls immediately in love with Psyche. He decides not to follow out on his mother's orders. Aphrodite then makes it so that no mortal man can fall in love with Psyche, and Cupid retaliates by not shooting arrows at anybody.
Psyche's parents are very concerned that no one is falling in love with her, so they talk to an oracle which tells them to leave her up on a mountain. They do and she is whisked away to a castle with invisible servants and is married to the man of the castle who is Cupid except that he is invisible.
She is allowed to stay there as long as she doesn't see Cupid, but she doesn't know who he is, so one night she creeps into his room and lights a candle and sees him and is whisked away to Aphrodite's castle.
Aphrodite decides to test Psyche and won't let her back to her husband unless she completes three impossible tasks. Through the help of many, she is able to complete the tasks and Cupid and Psyche live happily ever after.
After the Louvre, we ate at this amazing French restaurant that serves Italian food. I got lasagne carne (doesn't taste as good as yours, Mom!) It was still yummy, though. I went to bed happy.
Paris - Day Four - BOAT RIDE, SHOPPING/MONTEMARTRE, SACRE COEUR
This fourth day in Paris was supposed to be very relaxed and it was in the morning. We took a nice boat ride down the Seine and then had some crepes afterward. We shopped along the touristy places near Notre Dame as well and bought ice cream. It then took us about two hours of navigating to get to Montemartre and by that time, we were all pretty tuckered out. I got myself a cool Brazilian Jersey for any sports that I go to and a picture of Sacre Coeur. I hope Kevin U. is satisfied. It was beautiful!
The train ride home took forever, but I lived and we finally got back to home: London. I was surprised by how much I missed the familiar streets and the English language. In fact, I was so ecstatic, that I ended up having a weird conversation with the man at the register in TESCO. Since Janelle and I had both bought soccer jerseys, we thought we would wear them when we went to shop for groceries. I mentioned to her and Ashley while we were in line that someone would probably think I was Brazilian because of my skin color. Sure enough, the first thing the man at the cash register asked was, "Are you Brazilian?" This is kind of how our conversation went:
ME: No. I'm American. I just like Brazil.
MAN: (Smiles and continues to check out my groceries)
ME: I'm learning Portuguese and it's really hard, but I love it! I think it would be so fun to go to Brazil. I think I want to go there this summer and help some orphans there or something. If that works out. (I am very excited and passionate about what I am saying).
MAN: (Continues to smile) Good. (Leaves to try to find another container of grapes that will scan better).
ME: (Realizing that I just had a conversation with myself, I became very sheepish) Well, have a good day! Bye. (Runs to Janelle at front of store).
The end.
SUNDAY - Last Sunday at Hyde Park Ward.
First of all, I just want to say that I am serious about this Portuguese thing. I am going to learn Portuguese and then someday I am going to go over there and do some helping.
Second of all, I really want to write for the church, but I don't know how to start doing that. I have many things to say and reiterate and cool things to share, but I'm probably too young and inexperienced to write about those things and have Desert Book publish them.
Thirdly, church was amazing! In sacrament, a man from Salt Lake City spoke on feeling the Spirit. His name is Brother Ostler. He used one of Marion G. Romney's talks as a base for his talk. I think my favorite part was when he talked about serving others. He told us a story about Elder Eyring's father (the man the Eyring Science Center is named after). In his late eighties, Hal Eyring had intense bone cancer in his hip area. One day in church, they passed around a sign-up sheet to go weed some onion patches. Hal signed up even though his bone cancer would cause him pain. While weeding, the pain became so great that Hal was forced to drag himself around on his stomach. Yet, he still smiled and laughed and talked with the people he was serving with. At the end of the day, he found out that the row he had picked had already been sprayed and the weeds would have died the next day anyway. He laughed and made a joke out of it and then went on his way. When Elder Eyring asked him how he had such a positive attitude, Hal said, "I wasn't there to pick weeds."
I hope that in situations like that I realize that I am doing things for the right reasons (serving others to feel the Spirit).
Anyway, I am getting very tired now. One last cool thing that Janelle told me about: When people write Xmas, it's not bad. It doesn't mean that are replacing Christ's name with an "X." The X is actually a sacred symbol in Greek that means Christ. If we write Xmas with that attitude, then it is perfectly fine and very correct.
Love,
Jazlyn
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
On my own..
Well, I thought today was going to be wonderful because for once, I was allowed to go on my own to visit some sites and I thought I would be little Miss Adventurer and go see London. This is what happened: Went to Primark on Oxford Street to get a good, cheap purse so that I could bring chocolate home to all my friends and family. You all probably like that. Man, that place is like a gargantuan beehive. I was being pushed and shoved around by all of these small ladies! I must not be drinking enough milk. Anyway, I got in and out as fast as possible. The next thing I attempted to do was visit the Tower of London. Just the outside of it. I wanted some good pictures. When I stepped out of Tower Hill station, it was there in all of its glory, so I took a picture of it, walked around a park for a second and walked back into the station.
Here is something to know about the tube: When we got to London, our professor used some of the program money to buy us all month passes to the tube. Before you can actually get in the station, you have to press your card against this pad and then these plastic/rubber/something doors swing open and let you through. I wasn't in a rush, but I was going fast and so when I put my card down, I accidentally let the lady in front of me through and then I got stuck in the doors. I am sure it was a hilarious sight for everybody watching me. I can just imagine them saying something like, "Hey, look at that American! We should watch this over and over again on the security cameras." Anyway, eventually I got unstuck after nobody would help me and talked to the service guy who told me that my card said I was inside the station. He let me through but gave me a weird look. Anyway, it wasn't that bad, just not what I was expecting.
I got home and had Subway for the first time since leaving the USA. Yum! I love Subway. The bread is so fluffy! :) It's funny because Justin wrote a letter that said he just barely had Subway for the first time in Hungary. So I guess we're more alike than we look.
After doing a little bit of tidying, I did an aerobic workout in my room combining all I can remember from turbo kick class, track and field workouts, and Kathy Smith. It was good. I took a shower and attempted to memorize some verbs in Portuguese and then fell asleep. And here I am now.
Today was actually pretty wonderful. Besides the tube station thing, everything went pretty smoothly.
Here are a few cool things from class today and the day before:
1. Yesterday, our professors were talking about the thee, thou, thine, etc... usage which was used back in the day of King James I. Nowadays, that language seems kind of distant and formal, but we are expected to pray in that language. When we use those words, it seems like we are addressing Heavenly Father in a way that we actually wouldn't address a father. When I talk my earthly father (Scott), I don't ever say thee or thine.
Here is the interesting part: Back in King James' time, there was also a formal and informal language that they used when addressing people. Thee, thou, thine, etc... was actually informal for that time period! That means when we address Heavenly Father, there is a familiarity there. When we speak to Him using thee and thou, we are using our words to create a conversation similar to what family members or friends would have with each other. Doesn't that just make perfect sense? So when we address Heavenly Father using those words, we are doing two things: we are respecting Him and we are acknowledging that He really is our Supreme Father.
2. Okay, so I found out today in class that I might speak a little differently than most people. Apparently back in the day, it was considered higher class to say the "g" sound in the ending "-ing." -ing sounds like eenguh. Most of us nowadays totally leave that off because it is easier for our mouths to say in' and omit the "g" completely or you might say a silent "g." Dr. Lonsdale pointed out three of us who all come from different places in the States who he has noticed say the "g" at the end of our -ing words. One of them was Lauren. She is from Southern California. Apparently, in her schools (K-8th) they really hammered down on speaking correctly and she had to do vocal exercises every day with her class. He then pointed out Erica, who is recently from Maryland... I can't remember where she was before that. And then he said my name. I had kind of thought I might say the "g," but I wasn't sure. I don't know if our family says the "g" or if it's from Oregon or Spanish Fork. Probably not Spanish Fork. They leave out so many letters. Anyway, I think I just decided one day to speak better. That's why I say come-fort-able, not cump-ter-bul and inter-est-ing, not in-trest-ing. Weird, but kind of cool. It's always nice when someone points out something unique about you.
3. THIS IS FOR ALL OF YOU PERFECTIONISTS OUT THERE: Haha, I know a lot of you, so listen up. Dr. Hallen said something amazing in class today and that was: Live and perfect yourself as you go. Don't wait until you are perfect to live.
This is a positive attitude that many of us should have. Will you ever be happy if you are waiting for yourself to be perfect before you will live life to its fullest? No. And that is not what Heavenly Father wants you to do. That is why we use the Atonement. When we make mistakes, we can clean up. Every day I clean and tidy my room because it gets messy. Every day we make little mistakes and sin and our room becomes a little dirty. When that happens, we can repent daily and get our rooms tidy again. So basically your "room" is your actions and thoughts. If you don't do anything at all, maybe your "room" won't get dirty, but you will never grow or learn from your mistakes and in the end, you will have to repent because you buried your talent. You dug yourself in a hole and sat there and didn't help anyone or do anything. Now is the time to live life and to try to perfect ourselves along the way! We have one chance at this probationary mortal life and we should do something good with it.
4. Sorry, about that little schpeel (sp?) above. I wasn't thinking about anyone in particular, I just had a rush of thoughts and this is one of my journals so I thought I would write it all down. The fourth thing is a story that Dr. Lonsdale told us in class.
When Dr. Lonsdale was younger, he heard a small knock on his door and upon opening, found three little children staring up at him with their wide eyes. One of them said, "Hi. Can we interview you?"
He let them in and after a little more conversation found that they were supposed to interview someone about their job and somehow they had chosen to interview a linguist. One of the questions they asked was: "What is the saddest thing about your job?" Deryle had never been asked this before and hasn't been asked since. It was the question maybe only a child would think of.
Deryle thought for a moment and said, "When languages die. That is the saddest part for me."
The children were inquisitive. They asked, "Why is that sad?"
Deryle explained to them how languages and dialects just die out and nobody speaks them anymore and how it is a sad thing for him, probably because he loves languages so much. At the end of this conversation, the children were in tears. They didn't want languages to die. Don't worry, though! They cheered up after a bit more talking.
This really made me think. I don't want languages to die either and I am sad about it, but probably not to the extent the children were. Their perfect innocence touches me. I want to be more like them.
Anyway, this is my last post until Saturday night!
To family and friends and, you know, why not everybody in the world?
I love you!
Jazlyn
Monday, July 19, 2010
Almost Paris!
Yes, it is almost time for our group to embark on a little trip to Pearee (Paris). I'm excited. I am also not taking my computer, so don't be scared if messages from me begin to be scarce.
Today was pretty awesome, but I had a small migraine, so it made it hard to enjoy things for a long time.
Four of us, Ashley, Candice, Janelle, and I, went to Samuel Johnson's house. He is the creator of one of the first dictionaries! (I love words.) Anyway, one of my favorite pieces of information I learned about him was that he was in debt often and that when the constable would come to take him to debtor's prison, he would barricade the door with his bed and yell, "This is my sanctuary!" Or something like that. I thought it was great.
We also walked around Covent Garden, which I thought was pronounced Convent Garden for about six months. It's a pretty neat marketplace. They were selling antiques, fine jewelry, and food. There were also many street performers there. I wish I would have taken pictures!
I spent the rest of the afternoon planning tomorrow, talking to Katelyn, and getting groceries. At seven, we had a fireside about WWII in England with President Chittock. His remarks were very interesting. I especially liked how he talked about the little covered underground houses they would make in the backyards to protect them from shrapnel during the air raids.
After the fireside, we had a tea party. (Herbal, of course, but I didn't have any.) I like tea parties. There were many goodies which I promptly tried to exercise off in my room by doing aerobics. I was interrupted when Silja and Katelyn decided to dance in the room instead. Since dancing is a good workout, I tried to dance with them, too. I don't think I did a very good job at it, but it was fun to try for a little while.
Tomorrow is going to be a big day. That is all I will say for now. :)
-Jaz
Today was pretty awesome, but I had a small migraine, so it made it hard to enjoy things for a long time.
Four of us, Ashley, Candice, Janelle, and I, went to Samuel Johnson's house. He is the creator of one of the first dictionaries! (I love words.) Anyway, one of my favorite pieces of information I learned about him was that he was in debt often and that when the constable would come to take him to debtor's prison, he would barricade the door with his bed and yell, "This is my sanctuary!" Or something like that. I thought it was great.
We also walked around Covent Garden, which I thought was pronounced Convent Garden for about six months. It's a pretty neat marketplace. They were selling antiques, fine jewelry, and food. There were also many street performers there. I wish I would have taken pictures!
I spent the rest of the afternoon planning tomorrow, talking to Katelyn, and getting groceries. At seven, we had a fireside about WWII in England with President Chittock. His remarks were very interesting. I especially liked how he talked about the little covered underground houses they would make in the backyards to protect them from shrapnel during the air raids.
After the fireside, we had a tea party. (Herbal, of course, but I didn't have any.) I like tea parties. There were many goodies which I promptly tried to exercise off in my room by doing aerobics. I was interrupted when Silja and Katelyn decided to dance in the room instead. Since dancing is a good workout, I tried to dance with them, too. I don't think I did a very good job at it, but it was fun to try for a little while.
Tomorrow is going to be a big day. That is all I will say for now. :)
-Jaz
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Sleeping Sunday
Actually, I tried to nap about three times on Sunday and kept thinking of something I would rather do and so I would get up and do that thing instead.
After an emotionally hard week, Sunday came and I was so excited. I got up early so that I could get ready and have extra time to read scriptures. Reading scriptures in the morning is so good! Reading scriptures at night is so good too. Last night during the fireside, one of the girls said, "It's hard to know when to read your scriptures - you can choose when you're tired or you can choose when you're tired." Choose both!
At church, we had a wonderful lesson on family scripture and prayer and FHE from one of the sisters. I am glad that even though my family is going through a hard time right now, they still do their scripture and prayer and sometimes FHE. Elder Ulisses Soares from the First Quorum of the Seventy also spoke to us on having a broken heart and a contrite spirit. This really helped me, especially after the hard week. I took a lot of good notes that I will post later.
I came home and did some gospel studying and also decided that I need to learn Portuguese. I don't know how I am going to do it, but I will learn it. I hope that someday I will be able to go to Brazil and help the poorer parts of the country by administering to their health. I will also find a way to buy an abundance of apples to give to everyone.
I noticed one of my readers checking back on my entry entitled, "My Stomach." I assume they did this because I mentioned eating at the bakery before my week was up. After certain events this week, I was offered quite a bit of desserts, a few of which I had and only because my heart had been broken and I am a girl. Because I am going to Paris this week and definitely want to sample the amazing buttery and sugary food there, I have decided to just moderate what I eat. I feel that I can go without sugar if I want to. I'm not addicted and I am especially not addicted to sugar when I stop thinking every day, "I can't have any sugar." So, we'll see how this goes. The fact is, only eat until you are satisfied and then stop.
Last night, Aimee and I had a good discussion on the quality of our education and how a lot of it depends on what we are willing to put forth into it. I'm excited to implement these ideas in the coming semester. I decided to sign up for fewer classes because if my grandma is still around, I want to be there for her and not always at the library.
Today is looking to be good. :) And there is so much to be excited about.
<3 Jazlyn
After an emotionally hard week, Sunday came and I was so excited. I got up early so that I could get ready and have extra time to read scriptures. Reading scriptures in the morning is so good! Reading scriptures at night is so good too. Last night during the fireside, one of the girls said, "It's hard to know when to read your scriptures - you can choose when you're tired or you can choose when you're tired." Choose both!
At church, we had a wonderful lesson on family scripture and prayer and FHE from one of the sisters. I am glad that even though my family is going through a hard time right now, they still do their scripture and prayer and sometimes FHE. Elder Ulisses Soares from the First Quorum of the Seventy also spoke to us on having a broken heart and a contrite spirit. This really helped me, especially after the hard week. I took a lot of good notes that I will post later.
I came home and did some gospel studying and also decided that I need to learn Portuguese. I don't know how I am going to do it, but I will learn it. I hope that someday I will be able to go to Brazil and help the poorer parts of the country by administering to their health. I will also find a way to buy an abundance of apples to give to everyone.
I noticed one of my readers checking back on my entry entitled, "My Stomach." I assume they did this because I mentioned eating at the bakery before my week was up. After certain events this week, I was offered quite a bit of desserts, a few of which I had and only because my heart had been broken and I am a girl. Because I am going to Paris this week and definitely want to sample the amazing buttery and sugary food there, I have decided to just moderate what I eat. I feel that I can go without sugar if I want to. I'm not addicted and I am especially not addicted to sugar when I stop thinking every day, "I can't have any sugar." So, we'll see how this goes. The fact is, only eat until you are satisfied and then stop.
Last night, Aimee and I had a good discussion on the quality of our education and how a lot of it depends on what we are willing to put forth into it. I'm excited to implement these ideas in the coming semester. I decided to sign up for fewer classes because if my grandma is still around, I want to be there for her and not always at the library.
Today is looking to be good. :) And there is so much to be excited about.
<3 Jazlyn
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