I woke up at about 7:30. We were supposed to meet at 9:30 and we had to get ready and get breakfast before that. For some reason I thought that would take 2 hours. Well, we didn't need to leave for breakfast until 9 so I had some downtime in the morning. I wish I had planned that better because I could have used more sleep since I only got about 5 hours. We went to a little cafe called Pret A Manger. They have some coolers with all kinds of foods and then pastries and coffee. I got some yogurt and granola with honey and an americano to help me through the lack of sleep. It was cheap and great quality so we will be returning there tomorrow. We met up with the group and got on the tube to go to worship. We arrived really early and there was a local park nearby so we went there for about 30 minutes. They had a playground, walking track, workout machines, and picnic tables. It was fun watching a bunch of college kids channel their inner child on the playground. Such happiness and care free laughter! We walked the rest of the way to the Wembley Church of Christ and we were each greeted with a hug from a welcoming sister. It was nice to get a hug from someone as we have all been deprived of that for most of this trip. The congregation was like a family to each other and it was so encouraging to see them hugging each other and smiling so brightly. They all loved on each others' kids and took care of them like their own. You could tell this congregation was very close knit. They were very kind to us too. I met two adorable little brothers, Zach and Ollie.They had the cutest dark curly hair! Zach showed us a shoe he made in class and a toy frog. Ollie showed us his baby dolls and his smile:) Their grandma, Kathleen Darby, knows one of our Bible teachers at Freed so that was a fun connection. After services, they really wanted us to drink some refreshments and eat some biscuits. We obliged, chatted, and then said farewell. We had an appointment so we were one of the first people to leave even though we had stuck around awhile. That congregation was in no rush to part from each other. They just sat and talked and played with the kids and connected as a family. It was a great encouragement for me and a reminder how we should treat our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Also, loved being able to understand the sermon and songs. Attending that one service in a language I didn't understand, made me appreciate being able to understand the words during worship even more. We were going to be cutting our appointment at the British Museum close so we went into a supermarket to grab some lunch. I bought some crackers and Annah bought some laughing cow cheese. We weren't that hungry so it hit the spot perfectly. I also bought some cookies:) Others got subway and just snacks. We ate on the tube on the way back to the flats to change and use the restroom. We then walked to the British Museum. We saw the Rosetta Stone, an Easter Island statue, Parthenon sculptures and pieces of the Parthenon, mummies, the Lewis Chessmen, lots of really old jewelry and artifacts, wall paintings, carvings, and mosaics, statues, busts, and items from any and every era of history. The list goes on for days. You could spend years in there and still not see it all. I mean it is full to the brim. I really liked the jewelry a lot. It was just really impressive how they hand crafted some really small details without the technology we do today. And the stones they used were beautiful. I could have stayed in there for a long time but it was really busy and so it was a little claustrophobic. That museum is huuuuuuuuge yet everywhere you turned you bumped into someone it seemed. So yeah, we were kind of ready to not be around that many people. We wanted to go shopping so our first stop was Primark. We had heard great things about this store. We walked in and I was in love. It was Harry Potter anything and everything and it was CHEAP. Like 2-5 pounds for some things and the highest was like 15 pounds. I had to seriously reign in my excitement and my urge to grab everything I could. I narrowed my choices down considerably but I probably still got carried away. Oh well. I bought some cute Hogwarts jammies so I am a happy clam. They are so comfy. The rest of the store is huge and full of anything you could ever want to buy. Again, cheap. I mean it was impressive. It had three floors and I could have spent all day there too. There were also a ton of people here so we tried to only spend an hour there. I bought some cute jewelry and called it good. We then went to lunch. We went to Byrons Hambugers. I got a Reese's milkshake and a burger. It was amazing. We had heard great reviews on this restaurant from some trusted sources so we had to try it. It was quality. After that we wanted to go to another store but we looked and it was closed. We also wanted to go to a box office to see if we could get cheap tickets for a play, but it was closed. Then we thought the theatre may be selling tickets, but it was closed too. So we did a lot of walking around with good intentions and left empty handed. We did get to see more of London though which was cool. We saw the more "New York City" side of London, which was cool to compare the two. Some dude in the tube station yelled, "coming through, I have to poo!" Definitely something that would be said in New York City. They have a lot of similarities in certain areas. We came back to the flat after that to plan our free day tomorrow and our free travel. Unfortunately, the wifi was struggling so we only slightly planned our day tomorrow in London. Stay tuned though because it is going to be a jam packed day of excitement.

Tomorrow's hopes and dreams: Sherlock Holmes museum, Abbey road, London eye, Paddington station, Platform 9 3/4, St. Paul's Cathedral, British Library, close up view of Big Ben, and a variety of other random wishes

Fun Fact: Cleopatra's Mummy is in the British Museum and we didn't even know it. Go us....
The collection during worship was not collected in plates or baskets like usual. It was collected in the velvet bag with handles. I have never seen a collection bag before, it was neat.

Shoutout: Ben's mama, Alison!! I got to talk to her on FaceTime today and I miss her lots! Thanks for saying hi! Love you!