England - Day 4 (Siston, Bristol, Caerphilly, Crumlin, Llanhilleth, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouth, Berrow, Eastnor, John Benbow Farm, Ledbury)

We headed out at 7:00 this morning and drove around visiting different places all over Wales and parts of England for the next 14 hours, so I'm not even going to attempt to explain everything. Here are some photos. I'm going to bed.

Oooookaaaaay. I'll explain a few things. :)

Caerphilly Castle. It's the largest in Wales and 2nd largest in Britain.

I have to mention that the Lord has blessed us with sunshine every time we stopped to wander around and take pictures, and it was raining most of the time we were inside the car driving today. It's a little miracle.

Sheep. They were fascinated with me, and I with them.

St. Illtyd's Parish. I have ancestors who were baptized, entered this world, or left this world in almost all of the places named in the title of this post, and we visited them all! Dad was having a blast turning his heart to his fathers......and I was having a blast spending time with Dad (hunting for dead people wasn't too bad either).

St. Faith's Parish - Berrow

I'll let Dad tell you about St. Faith's Parish

Eastnor Castle

Yes, it really is THAT pretty around here.

The left part of the above building is the place where Willford Woodruff preached (see story below). What a neat experience to be in the exact location where that amazing missionary work took place. We were lucky (or should I say blessed) to even find the place. Dad knew the general area where the farm was said to be, but we didn't have any precise directions. We stopped at a random house down a side road and knocked on the door. A lady came to the door and said, "I know what you're looking for." She then told us that American visitors knock on her door all the time, and most of the time she is rude to them (she's tired of people pestering her about the Benbow Farm). "You guys caught me on a good day." Ha! We thanked her for being kind to us and she pointed us in the right direction.

The Church owns the pond, but not the house or farm. We also knocked on the door of the house and the lady who owns the house showed us inside the barn, told us where the pond was located, and explained that she has been to BYU and other parts of Utah, she has met Elder Holland (a descendant of John Benbow), and she knows quite a bit about the significant events that took place in the area.

We're staying at the Royal Oak Hotel tonight, in Ledbury. They don't have Bibles in the rooms, but they do have Pride and Prejudice and Great Expectations. Of course! I'm in England. This hotel was established in 1520 and we're staying in the small room way up in the attic area. It's the only room with a view out over the town. Love it! For dinner I ate salad, cooked mushrooms, and a huge "jacket potato" filled with egg salad.

The bed is calling my name. I must go to it.