Happy Guy Fawkes Day!

You can have even greater joy than a party on Bonfire Night - go to mormon.org or lds.org.  There you can find answers to life's greatest questions--where did I come from, why am I here, and where do I go after I die? 

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth."  3 John 1:4

Have a Great Bonfire Night!

Guy Fawkes Masked Man - photos courtesy of the Internet

Burning Guy for the 395th time (since 1605)

A silly ad (but maybe not far from the truth, judging on politics in the U.S.A.) about Guy Fawkes who tried to blow up Parliament in 1605

Fireworks are all over England tonight

 All missionaries were to stay in after 5 p.m. today.  It gets a bit wild around here as the Brits commemorate the day Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the House of Lords in Westminster Palace and was foiled.  Since 5 Nov., 1605, The Gunpowder Plot has been remembered by burning Fawkes in effigy in a huge bonfire and having firework displays.

Fireworks have been going off for a month around here, actually.  The British do love to celebrate.  The reason Guy Fawkes deserves to be burned every year is he was in on a plot to assassinate King James I and restore a Catholic monarch to the throne.  An anonymous letter alerted the authorities to look for the hidden gunpowder and Fawkes was found guarding it.  He was to be drawn an quartered, but he saved himself from that as he jumped from the scaffold on the way to his torture and broke his neck.  He died at the age of 36, which was old in them thar days.

11/6/2010--Just as a post script from yesterday, the fireworks continue tonight.  An English friend has corrected me in saying they also call it "Bonfire Night," and she wants it clear they do not commemorate Guy Fawkes, but to celebrate him being caught before he could commit  his dastardly deed.  I wanted to be sure that was perfectly clear in case there was any confusion created by my lack of knowledge about this tradition.