Day 10 Derby, Robin Hood & Peterborough Cathedral
Another tremendous day. I went to church in Derby, part of the Nottingham Stake. That just sounds so cool!! It was a lovely meeting, and the 2 young missionaries serving there were from Provo and NYC. They have been trained as Slovakian speaking missionaries, since apparently there is a large immigrant population from Slovakia up in the Derby area. Fascinating!
We first stopped to tour the Derby Cathedral, since that is where our 10th great grandparents were married. We arrived just as a service was ending, and I asked for permission to video as the organ was just finishing up. They were all very accommodating, even inviting us to join them for tea/coffee and cookies. We politely declined. Instead, I visited with one of the priests who shared some info about the history of the cathedral. Very nice man.
I got some "behind the scenes" photos of the organ for my mother-in-law, Coy. :) It was a beautiful cathedral, but very busy with people, and donations going on, refreshments being served, etc.
As we left there, we decided that since we had a little bit of time to spare, we should just eat lunch there. So we found a cute little place called Slug & Lettuce. It was a delicious lunch! We decided to throw in an extra stop - which turned out to be very interesting indeed! We ended up stopping in Nottingham to see the Robin Hood statue. What we didn't know until we got there, is that the statue is in front of a HUGE old castle that was the very first castle built by William the Conqueror when he arrived. So it's SUPER OLD and SO COOL!! Old = Cool. :) We took some pictures, then hopped back in the car to head to Peterborough.
Peterborough Cathedral was definitely the highlight of my day. And now it's one of my TOP 2 things we've experienced in England. The other one being the World Heritage Coast with Durdle Door, etc. The cathedral was absolutely staggeringly beautiful. Just incredible. The sheer size of it as we came around the corner and laid eyes on it for the first time, just took my breath away. This cathedral is 900 years old!! 900!! Many times as we circled slowly around taking pictures, I felt overcome with emotion and got choked up. It was just so moving. I found myself thinking deep and profound thoughts as I meandered. And reading some of the old inscriptions on the headstones was tugging at my heartstrings, as well. For example, one crypt had the words inscribed (something to the effect of): Here lies the body of Robert so and so, who died in 17__, at the age of 51 years. Also buried here are 9 children that died in infancy. That just made me so sad, but at the same time, I'm glad they were all together. But I found myself thinking to that man in my mind, "I'm so sorry for your loss! I'm so sorry you had to go through that."
Another deep thought I had was when I rounded the back end of the cathedral - it took a long time to work my way around such a huge edifice - and I was looking at the headstones. I noticed how the light played on the headstones through the tree above them. I took a picture because I was thinking so deeply about it all. Anyway, I was thinking about how just as some of the stones were in full sunlight and basking in the warmth, while others were in the dark and cold of the shade - that this can be compared to our situation in life. Some of us may feel like we are happy and in the sunlight, basking in the warmth of the gospel of Jesus Christ and all it has to offer, while others may feel like they are in the dark and are at a loss for inspiration and happiness. But really, they might just be in the wrong place at the moment. The light will change over time, to fill the entire area. We just need to be patient and wait for it. It will come. It's all about perspective, as well as proper placement at the right time. But this was just one of some of the deep thoughts I was having as I walked around the old cathedral. And I hope that made sense, what I just typed. It's late again, and my brain is getting very tired.
At one point, I went up to speak to a couple of priests that had exited the building. We explained that we were hoping to hear the choir sing, but could not find the correct entrance and therefore missed out. The one man took pity on us, since we were just passing through and would not be coming back, having traveled from so far away. He invited us to come in the cathedral for a couple of minutes to have a look. He unlocked the huge front doors and took us in. OH. MY. GOSH. Again - it took my breath away. I was just in awe the entire time.
We spent quite a while here. There is one final picture that I had Charmaine take with me in front of the Cathedral. See if you can find me in the photo. Yes, the cathedral is really THAT HUGE. So incredible. I will never forget this day as long as I live.
After that, there is not much more to say. We found an Indian restaurant for dinner and it was fabulous. I called Benson and talked to him while we waited for our food. While he wasn't super chatty, I wanted to talk to him before he leaves for the Air Force basic training tomorrow. We spoke for a few minutes, and when I hung up, I started to cry. When we arrived at our lodging a short time later, I started to cry again. This time much more profoundly. Yes, I know he'll be fine. Yes, I am happy for him and excited for him. But the element of me being so far away and not being there was affecting me. I will just have to remember the warmth of his cheek against mine as I hugged him goodbye on August 21. I will see him again in October at his graduation. And I will be praying for him every single day while he's in training. He will do GREAT! And after we watched Pride & Prejudice and ate some chocolate (while sorting through our suitcases and misc. items), I do admit, I feel much better now. :)
Here are the photos from today:
Love to all,
Michele
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