An Amazing Chapel in Chorley, England-Part 2

       Before I blog on some more of our adventures while in England two weeks ago, I will begin by telling you about our missionary work this past week. Last Monday, we had 9 YSAs come to FHE. We haven't had that many come since before the holidays. It was so wonderful to have them all gather in our flat again. Since Elder and I had just come back from taking family names to the Preston Temple, I started off my lesson that night by telling them about our temple experience and the special feelings we felt while in the temple. Afterwards, we shifted our focus over to the FamilySearch app and spent the rest of the night using the family history activities that the website supplies. 

     The activity that all the YSAs really loved was the compare a face activity. In this activity, everyone in the room takes a picture of their own face and then they compare their face to either a relative of theirs or to a famous "look-alike" person. I was greatly surprised how much the YSAs laughed and laughed! Some of their comparisons had some very high percentages of their look-alikes. We noticed that the male YSAs enjoyed the comparisons to famous people, while the female YSAs enjoyed the comparisons to their relatives.

     As we went around a circle and showed each other our favorite comparison that night, we could all agree with several of our YSAs look-alikes. One of the young elders match one of the Wright brothers almost to a "T"! They thought my comparison was awesome. Here is why. As you look at the picture below, FamilySearch thinks that I look like one of my favorite heroes from the past. I really like this comparison! Take a look!

What an honor to think that I could resemble her just a little!! She was amazing.

     I made a fresh batch of oatmeal banana muffins for treats that night. It was a very successful evening. On Tuesday, we had a district training session on zoom. It, too, went very well. Our main study was on Abinadi. We all could state the great influence the story of Abinadi has had in each of our lives. That evening, we had another zoom meeting with our Limerick branch council. I love to be a part of their planning meetings and personally hear their concerns, which, at times, we can provide support for them. It really builds upon our missionary work here. Wednesday was our English connect class, which is always entertaining and then after the class, we had a missionary lesson with the Bolivian sisters. 

     We had an amazing Book of Mormon lesson on Friday as we discussed 2 Nephi chapter 9. Did you know that Jacob includes a 10 point formula of how to be saved in that chapter and also, in contrast, he states 10 woes that will lead to eternal damnation! I also LOVE how he wrote on the metal plates in 2 Nephi 9:39 the words, "spiritually-minded is life eternal". Why??? If you use the acronym for every word in that phrase, it spells out "SMILE". Isn't that the truth!! 

     On Saturday, we had the young missionaries over for lunch. Neither elder never had a steak and cheese sandwich, so I made them warm steak and cheese hoagie sandwiches with chips and canned fruit cocktail mixed in whipped cream. Believe or not, they had never even had that before. We ended this week by having the monthly branch movie night. The movie I chose was "The Testaments: Of One Fold and One Shepherd. It is one of my favorites. Everyone was crying at the end of the movie. Talk about a movie that certainly increases anyone's testimony of Jesus! If you want to watch this hour long YouTube, the link is listed below. Make sure you have some Kleenex nearby!

Type in search YouTube and then cut and paste this link into the address bar: https://youtu.be/fnFITzc3cuY

     So now for part 2 of a 3 part series on our adventures in England. On our second day in England, which just happened to be Valentine's Day, we visited a small town called Chorley. The Preston Temple is actually in Chorley proper that also borders on the city of Preston. Chorley is the administrative and historic treasure of Lancashire, England. Prehistoric sites find evidence today of a Neolithic settlement that once was there, so Chorley has been around for a very long time. Chorley also has played in the vast history of England over the years. Most of Chorley's historic records begin during the medieval times. 

     One of Chorley's treasures today is St Laurence's Church. This church is the oldest remaining building in Chorley and first appears in historical records when it was dedicated in 1362, though it is believed there was already an earlier Anglo-Saxon chapel on the site. It is believed that the church is named after Saint Laurence, an Irish saint who died in Normandy in the 12th century, whose bones were conveyed to the church by local noble Sir Rowland Standish of Duxbury, an ancestor of Myles Standish, who was an English military officer hired by the Pilgrims as military adviser for their Plymouth expedition to the New World. The Church of England parish church of St Laurence has been a place of Christian worship for over 800 years.

      It is this Standish family that drew me to this chapel! Being of Mayflower descendants myself, I was thrilled to be able to walk through this historic church for myself. While there, I did find several really cool facts that made my visit even more memorable. Let's first learn more about Myles Standish and his influence in the new world.  The long line of Standish family consists of many lords of the Standish Manor of that area starting from 1202-1920, when the last Standish lord of the manor, died. The most famous of the Standish family was Myles Standish (1584-1656).  As previously stated, Myles traveled with the Mayflower pilgrims to be their military advisor in the new world. Myles was also the assistant governor and treasurer of the Plymouth Colony later in his life and died while in office. Though the earlier life of Standish is not well known today, many historians link him to the Standish's in Chorley. It was Myles that made a treaty with the native Indians that blessed the lives of the Mayflower pilgrims. Standish also fought in several small wars to ensure the security of those he served. 

     St Laurence's chapel today stands with three different renovations that can be seen both on the inside and out. Part of the church dates back to the 13th century and the last renovation was completed less than 100 years ago. It is amazing to stand outside where the three renovations meet each other and see how well the pieces fit together. The chapel also displays many amazing  images. I certainly had fun photographing it while there. Let's see some pictures already!!!

What a beautiful small historic chapel. I fell in love with this building as soon as I laid my eyes on it!

Beautiful stained glass windows could be seen from the outside along with really cool medieval images 

I love doors that look like this! I have seen several here while in Ireland and I never get tired of them. These doors have seen a lot of history!

Medieval gargoyles were found on the corners of the older portion of the chapel

I have never seen a sundial mounted on an outside wall of a chapel before. It was so beautiful and it still works when the sun cooperates!

A close-up of the outside windows

These carved faces just fascinate me

A picture of the inside. Look at that ceiling!

A stained glass image of St Laurence

This column is in the oldest portion of the chapel. I really loved being inside this very sacred room. I love the medieval lettering and illumination. Just beautiful!

These are candle holders found in the oldest portion of the chapel. Aren't they awesome!!!

A historic chair from the medieval times

This is the original floor of the chapel dating back into the 13th century. It was so amazing to have the privilege of just standing it's solid stone pieces!

Wow!!! Need I say more!

This is Elder with Joyce Fielding. Joyce is a spunky treasure trove of knowledge about the history of the chapel and of the Standish family

A historic picture of Myles Standish mounted on one of the walls inside

This was cool! This is THE Standish pew. Tradition states that every sabbath, the Standish family  would occupy this box while hearing the word of God

Another view of the chapel inside 

The fairly new organ pipes near one of the stained glass windows.

     By the way, I didn't tell you about the huge heart in caring for others that this little chapel has today. This Christian organization prepares and feeds anyone a lunchtime meal with homemade bake goods daily, who are in need of help, whether they can pay or not. We were invited to stay and share their meal with them. In return, we place a donation in their hands as our support of their goodness. And this is only one of the things they do daily. They certainly live by their religion!!

     After our visit and lunch at St Laurence's, we went over to visit the town's public park, Astley Park. This was a wonderful, huge park with well groomed trails and play areas. At the end of the park lies Astley Hall. This hall/museum is a proud addition to Chorley as it houses the interior of a 17th century home, including many wonderful pieces of original dated artwork. The grounds also have a small manmade lake that certainly adds beauty to the grounds of the hall. 

The gateway into Astley Park

The park has huge fields like this everywhere you look

The children's playground includes a medieval play castle with lots and lots to do inside

The park even has a very, very long zipline. Ok! you guess it! Yes, I had to try it out. It was so great. I almost felt like a kid again!

This is Astley Hall with it's manmade lake

     After the park, we drive to our accommodations at the Preston Temple and then got ready to celebrate our Valentine's Day! I decided that our Valentine's while in England should include a wonderful meal and not Subway! Knowing that our reservation (I was able to get one of the last two for the night), was at 5:00 pm and that the restaurant was only minutes away, we left to share a wonder evening together. Well, after driving for about 30 minutes and never finding the restaurant, I called them and they give us directions of how to find them. Funny, but we drove another 30 minutes before we did pull up into their driveway. I thought that was strange.

Out front of Elliot's Bistro which had amazing reviews and very high marks!

This is what our table looked like that night. So cute, right? I felt so special. Yay for Sister Muirhead!

This was our appetizer, warm pita bread and delicious hummus

My main meal was the most tender, tasty chicken I think I have ever had with amazing roasted vegetables.  It was soooooo good!!!

     It certain was a Valentine's dinner to always remember. And I will never forget our drive back to the temple housing complex because...IT WAS ONLY 5 MINUTES AWAY! I don't know how we drove out so very far away that night. I don't think anyone will ever be able to figure that one out, but it was very strange that we had to exactly drive the same amount of time back to find the place. Oh well! I chalked it up to being able to have more time that night with Elder Muirhead!

     As another week goes by, my service to my God and my personal testimony continues to grow and develop. I am so grateful for our time here in Ireland. It truly has made a difference in my life. I love the church. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. I am so blessed. I know that the Book of Mormon is absolutely true. I know that God is keeping His promises that He made to me before I left the states and I know that He loves me and continues to watch over us. I know better today than at any other time in my life that I can always trust Him in all things. My daily prayer is for Him to care for each of you until we return. May God bless you and shed peace and happiness your way!

Part 3 next week!