July 23, 2012

Seems like I just wrote so I don't have too much new and exciting things to say!

We have moved into our new flat. It took a bit more work than we had anticipated! Apparently no one has lived in the flat in 6 months so there was quite a bit of cleaning to do. The elders that work in the office drove down with new stuff for the flat and they helped us get all settled. They stayed in the old flat overnight Friday and then continued to help us move and arrange things on Saturday! So we have new beds and couches and mirrors and whatnot! At first we didn't quite think we could make this flat seem like home, but it is becoming more and more like home. This morning I placed little seashells around the house decoratively to give it a little something extra! :) only down side is that some of the radiators don't work. So there's not much heating. So I go to bed wearing my fleece pajamas with sweats over top, my BYUH hoodie with my fleece pajama top (and socks). Last night I finally was able to stay warm enough! It's cold here!

I haven't attached pictures in a while so I thought I ought to. I attached a picture of the front of the train station. I just wanted you to see just how long the name of the place I live is. It's gargantuan. I also attached 2 pictures of me at Penrhyn Castle. One is in the castle and the other is in the garden. I like the one in the castle because it reminds me of a quote from Tangled. "Guys, it's official. I want a castle." I kept saying that as we were touring the castle! :)

We haven't done too much else other than getting the flat moved since I last wrote. They did have a celebration in Liverpool on Saturday about the 175th anniversary of missionaries arriving in England via the Liverpool docks. So we had permission to drive up to Liverpool for that concert. It was kind of boring, but nice general feel. One of the members from our ward was there and her friend had an epileptic seizure partly through the concert and they had to call an ambulance and everything. So I was trying to help with that as I could, so it kept me occupied. It took almost 2 hours to drive to Liverpool and 2 hours back so it made for kind of late night, but it was fun.

Sister Jack is nice. And, yes mom, she is related to Sister Elaine Jack former General RS President; granddaughter.

     

Anyway, We have our multi-zone training tomorrow so I'll get post then. We also have Sisters conference on Friday so any other post may come then. In other news, we are booked for tea appointments for the week! I think that's a good sign the ward here likes us!

(This is a mom note:  I don't know why the blog keeps turning the pictures on their side, you'll just have to turn your head!?

July 19, 2012

Hello from Wales again! Yup, transfers were yesterday and I am still here in Llanfairpwyngyll....gogogoch. I have a new companion though and a new car! My new companion is Sister Jack and so far as I can tell she is very hard working. I am still junior companion and President has told me I have learned so much but still need to learn something from being Junior companion. Sister Jack has been out a year and therefore is not legally permitted to drive so I am designated driver! Scary! But I am very excited! Drove the whole 2 hour drive home yesterday! I miss driving!

We are moving flats tomorrow! We will finally have a flat that has phone reception as the one we have currently has none. It is a bigger flat as well so I am happy to be moving to this new one! It is a very busy week this week with so many new changes!

I don't really have a whole lot to say this week.  I look forward to receiving the packages you've sent.

This is the first time I have been the one to stay in the area and to take over the area. It was weird having ward council last night and having to talk about everything since Sister Jack was new! It is a bit stressful as I need to teach Sister Jack about the area and she's technically senior companion. It is just kind of weird. It's been very good though!

We were at transfers yesterday and one of my old zone leaders came and asked me about the Gaerwen area (here). I started telling him about our wonderful investigators. He stopped me mid sentence and said, "Sister Orr, there is such a difference in you. You have changed so much! The Spirit when you are speaking right now is so strong! Do you feel that change?" I was like, no... but it was nice to hear him say that. It actually was very powerful, it really touched my heart. Lately I've been wondering if I am becoming anything. I've been wondering if I am changing at all. So to hear him say that was kind of an answer to a prayer. It was great!

I went on exchanges last week to Liverpool. It was nice to go back and visit even for a couple of days. I had another great compliment paid to me there as well. As usual for Liverpool they are still teaching a lot of Chinese. one young lady we went to go teach didn't speak very good English and didn't understand it very well. I was working with Sister Gong from China and she did most of the teaching since I couldn't really say much so she could understand, but at one point I bore my testimony, I don't even remember what I was bearing my testimony about, but then this young lady turned to Sister Gong and they started speaking Chinese and I went back to smiling like I knew what was going on. At the end of exchanges we talk about strengths about each other. When we got to this point of our exchange Sister Gong told me that after I bore my testimony in that lesson, the young lady turned to Sister Gong and said that she couldn;t understand what I was saying but she could tell that I was very sincere in what I was saying and that she could tell that I was telling the truth. It was a shock to hear that, I don't know if shock is the right word, but I just wasn't expecting to hear something like that. It was very nice.

Anyway, so that's been my life recently. Learning and growing step by step.

  

I send all the love I can send! I am so grateful for the love and support you give me!

July 9, 2012

Another week come and gone and I am exhausted. We are late writing today because we went and toured a castle where one of our members works so she got us in for free! It was pretty sweet! I don't know what google will pull up but you can google Penrhyn Castle UK if you want to see where we've been!  (I found a few pictures, there are more on-line that I can't copy.  Alene)

So. Last Monday. Our car was temporarily taken from us until transfers on the 18th. so we are having to endure 2 weeks of walking everywhere since the bus services in this area are so rubbish. needless to say, it is pretty miserable. we tried to take a shortcut the other day and I hopped a fence and landed myself in a patch of waist-high stinging nettle. Fun. Oh well, this too shall pass.... eventually. Longest week of my life, though.

Things are going well. I've learned a lot of things this last week about accepting correction and being humble.

(Some content deleted - Kara didn't want to share all the details with everyone, but suffice it to say, she made the choice not to follow the counsel she had received and they are being "punished" by giving up the car for two weeks!  Nothing major-just Kara being Kara.)

But God has been working on me a lot this week as well in regards to punishment. Our washing machine broke at the beginning of the week. I washed all my clothing in the tub. fun. Yesterday at church all the talks were about obedience and choosing the right. So yes. fun week. Honestly though I can't even express how much I have grown because of this. I am overwhelmed with tears of gratitude for the changes I have seen in myself this last week. Our numbers have plummeted without the car which makes me very sad, but I know that God knows all things and he will make things right and the people we need to meet we will meet this way.

July 2, 2012

Oh goodness, what a week.

I love the ward here. Yesterday there was not a moment's silence in testimony meeting! The testimonies of this ward are incredible. For the first time in 7 months I thought of the word Aloha. There was just really a special spirit to the meeting and the love of the ward for each other is powerful. I am so grateful that it was so amazing because it was one of our investigator's first times to a fast and testimony meeting.

We are teaching Laura who is from England originally and Tracey who is full Welsh (but we can understand her better than most Welsh people). They are both really powerful spirits. Tracey has not missed a Sunday since we got here and says she will be baptised once she learns more. Laura wants more than anything to be baptised and have her family come to church with her. Her situation is a bit harder to work out because her partner is still married to his wife, though they haven't lived together in 16 years. The wife is not willing to go through with a divorce, but Laura has done some research and has found as long as she is served the papers, they can proceed with the divorce so that Laura can get married and then be baptised. She really is incredible. We were going to teach about scripture study and as we talked she pulled out her Book of Mormon and showed how much she had marked the pages. She had run out of room in the margins so she went and bought a study journal. We were/are so proud of her.

Thank you for sending pictures. I really love knowing the goings on back home and pictures really help me! Mission life is hard and right now it's a bit tense, but it will all work out okay!

We had a tea (lunch) appointment with a widow in the ward the other day. The scripture that I had chosen to share was in Matthew--the scripture about let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven. I read it and she quoted along with me and then said it was her favorite scripture and how her husband loved it too and then she talked about her husband which led to her talking about her kids which led to her talking about how ungrateful they are and it just somehow became very negative. Left with nothing else to say... I said well, part of showing your light is to be an example. So just set the example continually and be an example.... amen. haha it was just a really funny tea appointment.

We have a Chinese recent convert who hasn't been coming to church. we went to see her Saturday and she said she's been in a depression. She was very vague so finally we just asked if she could tell us what is wrong.... oh boy.... She had fallen in love with the Elder who first found her and she got her heart broken now that he has gone home and is ignoring her. It isn't all her fault because the elder did some things that I would consider deceiving. He sent her his Bible with his name engraved on it... his grandma gave her a necklace.... it is just not a good situation. All I could think of to say was, "We as missionaries are human, we are imperfect. What we teach, the gospel, is true. It is perfect. Right now you need to focus on what was taught and not who taught it." She really appreciated that and told me thank you a million times. We called president about the situation and he said it was the best thing to say at this time, but to really continue to teach and befriend. It was hard to be in that position.

Well, that has been my week so far. sigh..... phew. I am exhausted.

Hailey! I am so happy to hear you're having a boy! (I'd be equally as happy with a girl of course too...)

I hope all is going well and keep me updated on the fun and exciting things as well as anything spiritual that is going on! There is nothing more important than making note of those spiritual moments that we experience. I believe Elder Scott spoke about that in conference!

Thank you so much for the support that you give me out here. I need your prayers right now, so please keep me in your prayers! Know that you are always in mine!

I love you so much and enjoy the weather over there because it is abysmal over here! :)

June 18, 2012

Dad- Happy Belated Father's Day! go buy a chocolate bar and some animal crackers and say they're from me! :)

Hailey- Hope you enjoyed Tahiti you lucky duck.

So,it's very wet here. very wet. I need to go buy new boots already.... I mean it has been 5 months, but I'm really sad I have to get new boots.... I liked those boots. The soles are falling off a bit so the rain just gets in my boots and it is no fun.

I don't really know what to share today. We found some mountains the other day as we were driving out to a member, so we took pictures. We met some sheep and I tried to teach them about the good shepherd, but they wouldn't listen. (see picture) It is very beautiful here, there's a lot of different sceneries you come across so it is very lovely!

President talked to me on Tuesday and told me he will put me back in Liverpool soon, he said it might not be next transfer but he says he has no doubt I need to go back there. So that is something to look forward to. I also asked him how I can learn to be patient with my companion and also how to recognize when it is a time to be patient and when it is a time to give correction. He emailed me this morning with scriptures to study and suggestions. So hopefully I can figure something out. My cold is getting better, I am almost over it, I just need to get rid of my cough.

I loved the pictures of the kids out camping! They are so cute and are getting so big! I miss them so much! They are going to be like completely different little people by the time I get back!

It's hard to believe it is technically summer and mom is done working for a while and school is out and whatnot. I also can't believe I've been out for 5 months now. Time is flying and I'm wondering every once in a while if I am making the most of it. We are doing better with numbers in this new area though.

I'm sorry it is so short, I honestly can't think of anything else substantial to say. I hope Mom and Dad are having fun camping right now and know that I am jealous! We keep driving in areas and I keep saying, "This reminds me of Idaho!"

I love you all so much and I hope everything is going well! I love hearing from you and I look forward to mondays so much!

6-20-2012

We were able to hop on the computer for a second this morning and I thought I'd drop you a note to tell you I love you! My companion backed into me yesterday with the car and then couldn't understand why I was mad at her. I said I'm pretty sure I was justified!  If I am standing behind the car it means don't go because traffic is too heavy to back up... I almost lost it. She could have seriously hurt me if I hadn't kept my balance! So there are things she and I need to discuss... but other than that, the sun is finally shining and I am working on my tan!

I hope you and dad made it safely back from your camping trip! I love you!

6-25-2012

For once, it is sunny, but still very cold. We are still wearing our winter coats... it was not this bad when I lived in London last summer! I just keep thinking it'll get warmer... then it doesn't. It's okay, I'll just live in my coat. I told President he better just plan to send me home late October early November because I don't think I am going to survive a winter here. It is ridiculous! apparently my body doesn't want to adapt to this part of the world!