Monday, March 11

 

Kara entitled this one "Finding Nature"

Dovestone Reservoir

Well, We've just had a flash blizzard. left the flat about 20 minutes ago, walking in warm (ish) sunlight. And within the last 20 minutes, the sky went dark, it started snowing and now there's already an inch of snow on the ground.... Britain.

They came out with a new rule this week for missionaries... well a revision. We can now email friends. Surprise! We sat there and were like... really? So I thought that was quite the change. So I'll email Emily about housing for fall.

This week was really good. Last P-day Sister Ballantyne and I went to Dovestone Reservoir. I just needed to get out and get some fresh air. So we hiked around the reservoir and saw a beautiful sunset over the hills. So that was very nice and calming. I wrote a very extensive letter to President this last week about how I've been feeling and he came to see me on Saturday. He laid my letter in front of us and said, "You could get a master's for such in-depth analysis." Then said some of it just went over his head, but he understood a bit better what I was thinking. He then reminded me that I have a "Big Presence" in this mission and that hopefully I can once again start being a strength for other missionaries and whatnot, and I need to make sure I'm being a presence for good and not for bad. So that was nice. He then took us to Liverpool for a baptism. I got to see all the members that I left a year ago now. They all asked when I'll be transferred back to Liverpool. It was good to see that they still remember me.

We took one of our investigators to a fireside at the mission home last night. He enjoyed himself and is now talking about wanting to get baptized. We might hand him over to the elders here soon, we're praying about it, we just get a really odd feeling when we have to meet with him. We're trying to figure out why.

Oh look, the sun came back out again... snow just melted... Britain.

We've gotten a lot of referrals lately. We hope to get in contact and have a bunch of new investigators! Sweet!

Well, that's mostly all the exciting things from this side of the world.

Well, I hope you have a wonderful week! I want to see more pictures of Kade! He's getting on 4 months here soon!

I love you all very much! Take care!

Monday, March 4

 

I'm back in Oldham and now with a sister who is called Sister Ballantyne. (in purple)  She's from Utah and has been on her mission for almost 5 months. I was staying with her and Sister Telefoni this last week and a half and we got along really well so President moved her with me. So it's good. It's been a good week. Trying to still relax and clear my mind, but now we are getting back into the swing of things here in Oldham.

Last P-day we went to a castle with the Bolton elders and the zone leaders. It's basically in ruins. We just used it as a giant playground basically. It was lots of fun. I'll try and attach a picture.

I think I'll probably go back to BYU-Hawaii. I've heard back from Brother Ferre and I realize how much I absolutely love that place. So mom, could you look into what exactly I need to do for a letter of intent?

It's been a tough couple of weeks, but I know this is where I am meant to be. I would not choose to be anywhere else right now. I feel like a mouse in a maze sometimes... trying to find the cheese.... and I know remaining calm is the best option otherwise I might cause myself a heart attack before reaching my goal. not the best analogy, but it works. I will probably choose to extend my mission. I know how much you would like me home, but I feel like I need to stay. I do have things to contribute to this mission and I know that my time staying would not be wasted. I'd be home like the 19th of August and BYU-Hawaii doesn't start until the 9th of September. I know that it seems like a short amount of time to be home, but I feel like it would be the best. If I came home in July, you would soon start school and business and I wouldn't want to jump into getting a job right then and there, plus who would take me for a month? If I would not be working and you'd be off to work and other things, it would leave me sitting fairly idly at home and the idle mind is the devil's playground. I would rather be serving my Heavenly Father than subjecting myself to a situation where many good return missionaries fall. It's not that I don't want to spend time with you, but I am just trying to look at a bigger picture. I'll continue to pray about it though and I invite you to do the same. I am grateful for the opportunity that you have allowed me to have in serving a mission. I am grateful for the support and love that you give.

Well, I don't have a whole lot else to write about, but know that I love you and hope that you have a wonderful week.

Thursday, February 14

So... Transfers... I'm training a new missionary again. Completely stressed to be honest. Her name is Sister Dunn, she's English.  She's a lot older than I am; it will be a challenge. Sister Smith is also training this transfer, so I must have done something right before.

I had to go to the mission home Tuesday night for the "Train the Trainers" meeting. So we travelled over that way Tuesday afternoon and I said goodbye to Sister Fortuna and she was off to her new area (Newtown) that night with her companion. Then some of us that are training stayed in the flat near the Manchester chapel (there were 7 of us in the flat, crazy!) So that was fun! Then we went Wednesday morning to transfers to pick up the new sisters. We got stuck in traffic last night for over 2 hours. It snowed and everything just went into a stand still. So we got in the area and had a bit of tea and then hiked up to the Bishop's to let Sister Dunn meet him and his family.

I'm really stressed about everything. I'm already second guessing everything I do. It's a lot different than training in a car area. I fail at contacting people on the bus, I just find it so awkward to talk to people on the bus. I am supposed to be teaching her to just suck it up and do it, and I can't even do it. I can't very well be a hypocrite now can I? So I dread the moment we get on a bus later today. Also, there are so many Muslim people in our area... majority. They are lovely and nice, but just not interested most of the time. So we have no investigators and so we just find and find and visit less actives and find... Just trying to stay positive about it all.

Happy Valentine's Day though!

4 sisters left yesterday; they finished their missions. It's weird to think about because that leaves only 3 sisters out longer than me in the mission. The rest came out with me or later. Weird! I had one Elder who was going home yesterday ask me to write him.... that was a bit odd, but we'll see.

Well, I don't have a whole lot else for news. I don't know, I'm just a bit scatter brained today. Pray for me!

I wrote a letter to a Professor I had at BYUH who is now retired, I asked what he would suggest for my schooling. He said I should go back to BYUH because he says that is what I need. I'll keep praying about it though and see what the other BYUs have to say as well. I'll keep May in mind though.

Monday, February 4, 2013

I can't believe it's February! Hailey, Happy birthday tomorrow. I thought about it the other day and had a hard time believing you're going to be 26, but then again I haven't really accepted I'm 22.

Well, it's been a good week. We got a phone call last week from one of the young women saying that she had a friend who wanted to meet with us. So we met with her this week so we have a new investigator. She's a really sweet young lady who says she's atheist. but seems genuinely curious and interested in the concept of God. It was a really good lesson and she listened intently. The young woman from the ward was so happy to see her friend being taught and she would bear testimony on the importance of prayer and what the Spirit feels like. So it was really good to have her there as well.

I had a very interesting conversation with the zone leaders at the beginning of the week. We keep getting put down because our numbers are so low. I was irritated because we can't always control the number of lessons we have in a week. People have their agency to choose and if they don't want to meet with us they don't want to meet with us. So I just called the zone leaders up and said, "What in your eyes are we doing wrong?" They both kind of froze and said that they didn't see us doing anything wrong and then I told them that I just felt like we were facing belittlement from different people and we were flat out told we weren't fulfilling our potential. They apologized if they had done anything to cause that and they said they would speak with others about not criticizing, They thanked me for my blunt honesty. I was calm the entire time having this conversation by the way, no shouting or yelling. So we had a nice conversation about what needed to be done. Then they asked what my favorite foods were and I said chocolate and Yorkshire puddings, so they showed up the next day with 8 chocolate bars and a box of Yorkshire puddings. So that was nice. Then they invited us to attend district leader council meeting this past Saturday, and we went and put some input in to let the district leaders know some of our thoughts and feelings. So I guess it was a good week. I was just really open and honest with everyone and I think I gained a lot of respect from doing so, Honesty is the best policy after all!

Transfers are next week. We have no idea what is going to happen. There are currently 24 sisters in the mission. We are losing 4 next week as they've completed their missions, and we get 10 new sisters in. Half of the sisters are going to be training starting next week and then the next transfer has another 10 coming in so we will all be training at the same time probably. crazy! A bit nerve racking to think about!

Well, I'm sorry to hear the kidlets are ill. I'm facing a bit of head cold now too. It's been going around the ward here. miserable how we share everything with the wards as missionaries.

I don't have a whole lot else to share this week. It's been rather uneventful. My back is feeling loads better. We had a sports day this week with the mission and I couldn't play which was sad, but things happen.

I hope Hailey has a happy birthday and the kids get better soon, thanks, Hailey, for sharing the little Kimber story with me, it did make me smile! Haha! She sounds like she's quite the character!

Dad, Hope you travel safely this week and get a lot of work done.

I love you all loads!