speaker's corner and some church

By the time I got up this morning I'm sure the temperature was already 26 c because I was pretty warm and uncomfortable. Everyone else in the centre has church earlier in the morning than I do so the building was pretty much empty by the time I headed down the stairs. I had my slice of Nottinghamshire Cheese and some grapes and decided to head out on of my four more London walks I have to complete before we take off. It was a beautiful day so I hopped on the tube and got off at the Marble Arch tube stop right at the corner of Hyde Park. The tube empties out onto Speaker's Corner, where every Sunday anyone can stand on their soapbox and speak their mind while enduring the heckles and jeers of the crowd. The only ones there when I went this morning were an American Muslim and someone preaching atheism. When I walked up the Muslim man was discussing the roles of husband and wife within a family. Many of the jeers came from the various Scandinavian tourists scattered throughout the crowd, who must have a pretty lax view when it comes to traditional family values. The man passionately defended his beliefs. I couldn't help but imagine President Hinckley standing on that same corner defending the church. The thought was exhilarating. Once the questions and the discussion got to be a little ridiculous, I moved one with my walk to the other side of Hyde Park near the memorial to the Duke of Wellington. Along the way I passed what looked a group of British aristocrats protected by mounted horseman. There was also a group of paparazzi mingling behind the police line so I figured something interesting must be happening. Instead of trying to find out what celebrity was among the crowd, I continued on my walk to the Duke of Wellington memorial, which is a massive arch at the entrance to the park. As I was nearing the structure, I was told to get to the sidewalk by a policeman on a motorcycle. After him drove by a Rolls Royce with Prince Charles clearly visible in the back seat, about three feet away from me. Despite being sixty, he sure is a handsome devil.
After I finished my walk in the park I headed back to the Centre and then off to church at the Spanish branch in Kennington. This week was my first teaching a lesson in Elder's Quorum so I was a little nervous. The lesson went fine and I was able to teach an investigator with the missionaries during the following hour. There are no missionaries called to speak Spanish in the London South mission, so the two elders assigned to my branch learn it on their own. One elder is from Utah and is learning now while the other is from Italy and took two years of Spanish in High School. The lesson went great. I almost felt like a missionary again. After Sacrament Meeting we hopped on the tube back to the Centre for dinner and a mini fireside. Everyone is buzzing about our trip to Scotland on Wednesday. I've been looking forward to it for the past few months. I'll probably be incomunicado from Wednesday to Saturday evening but I'll be sure to take lots of pictures to document what will be a great trip.