Hello October!

Can I please just say that I AM SO HAPPY THAT IT'S FINALLY OCTOBER AND A LITTLE CHILLY OUTSIDE?!

Seriously, couldn't be happier about that.

Anyway I just wanted to blog about this odd/neat/interesting experience John and I had on Sunday. I left church after Sacrament Meeting because I was feeling crappy, so I went home and took a lovely 3 hour nap. (Anyone else been plagued with this horrible cold?! It started with a 3 day headache and then turned into a nasty cold and I could barely function for the past 2 days. Yuck.)

Anyway once I finally woke up John and I decided to go for a drive through the mountains since the leaves had started changing. We headed up the canyon with no real destination whatsoever and ended up at the Monastery in Huntsville. We had heard of it before but never had been there. So we pulled into the parking lot and saw a sign that said the church was open, so we decided we would check it out. We went inside and it was just very plain and simple, with a stained glass window and a bunch of seats (heck I'll just share a pic rather than try to explain- See picture here) and one little old Monk was at the alter praying. It was soooo quiet in there, but they have a sign saying visitors welcome so we had a seat. THEN shortly after, 9 other Monks trailed in, took their seats and began their evening chant! Which is like praying in song form I think? Anyway, they did this chanting (singing) for 30 minutes and it was quite the scene, almost surreal in a way. We left after the 30 minutes, and that was it. It was cool.

So then Monday, being the Google Queen that I am, I spent the morning learning about Monks. Needless to say it was a very interesting and informative google search! Apparently they live in almost complete silence other than praying, chanting, and when they have a particular need to speak, they will speak. They wake at 3 am and meet 7 times throughout the day to chant together, and are self sufficient as in they all work together to keep the place running. Cleaning, cooking, working at the little gift shop, etc.

I just thought it was a cool experience worth sharing :O) And I have to say, no matter what your beliefs or religion, there's something to be said for people who devote literally their entire life to prayer, studying scriptures and serving others.