Sunday

I love Sunday. I love going to Hillsong London. It is a great church. This week was even better than the previous ones because I actually met people! I had been in contact with someone from Hillsong for the last week and she is so sweet, her name is Grace! She and I, along with another girl (who lives in Sidney Webb and goes to LSE!) sat together during the service. It was good. Then we met up with a bunch of other people to go to a restaurant called the Spice of Life that is near the church. It was really good. And I like the atmosphere that pubs have. I met a bunch of people that are new to London and we had fun. Hopefully this will be a weekly activity. :)

After that I went to a department store called John Lewis to pick up a few things and was amazed. I think it's the single biggest department store I have been in. It is huge! After I got what I needed I (OF COURSE) stopped by the Christmas Shop on the 3rd floor which is always so much fun. I love how into Christmas London gets. Even now, on 11 October there are signs everywhere to make reservations for Christmas at various restaurants. And adverts for plays, markets, and celebrations around Christmas. I'm planning on doing a lot of Christmas-y things while I am here, they all sound like so much fun! My theory is that Londoners get started on Christmas early because they only have 1 holiday left until Christmas, even though it is still 2 months away. Halloween is a big deal here but just like Thanksgiving in the States, everyone's mind turns to Christmas. We have Halloween, Thanksgiving, and then Christmas so we still have some time before our thoughts turn fully to Christmas. Although before I left I did sees Christmas trees for sale at Costco.

After shopping I went back to Hillsong for another service. Today the services were divided so the 4pm service was different than the 10:30. I can't remember who spoke but he is an American pastor and he did a really good job. But the worship was sooooo good. Israel Houghton led worship, because he was in town for the Hillsong London Conference that happened last weekend (that I will hopefully go to next year) and it was amazing! He has an incredible voice and I really like the lyrics to his music, so simple yet moving.

Ok well it's almost 7pm and I'm tired. It's been a long day. Time to relax in my room with a book and some tea.