Monday, July 15

I AM COMING HOME ON THE 25th of JULY!

The week has been good.  It's been warm and I even got a tan.

I'm glad the itinerary came through.  They booked it weeks ago and when I called the office they said that since the group that is leaving around this time is so big, they were only getting about 3 itineraries a week, even though the flights were actually booked already.  They said they would send it out as soon as it came in.

Anyway, yes, I'll be home late on the 25th.  So, I don't know what Hailey and the kids want to do about that, but whenever I see them I'll be happy.

I don't know when I'll meet with President Axford, but when we can, that would be nice.  I'd kind of like to be released officially soon after getting home.

We had a good experience this week at church.  A family in the ward brought a family they have been telling about the church.  We met them and they agreed to start meeting with us.  Apparently they are already planning to get married (they aren't yet) because they hear that's a requirement for baptism.  So that looks really promising.  So we'll meet with them next Tuesday.

The pageant is coming up really quickly and the temple grounds are transforming into a performance space.  We have 20+ non-members from this area attending that we have gotten tickets for.  So, it will be a good missionary opportunity.

I can't wait to see the kids!  I look forward to it!

We don't email on transfer weeks, so this is the last time i'm on email.  So I'll see you on Thursday the 25th!

Love to all!

Kara

Monday, July 8, 2013

Kara realized she had not taken an official picture at the MTC.

Look!  No coat!!

 

    

Preston England Temple Grounds

She is enjoying being able to see the temple every day in this area!

 

The sun is shining! It's supposed to stay shining for 2 weeks! It's supposed to get up to a high of 33 degrees Celsius! I still have no idea what that is in Fahrenheit... but sounds nice!

We had a good week. The Chorley area is known for its member work because it's really hard to find people to teach here. So we've been seeing a lot of members. We have a tea appointment every night this week... It's crazy. We had tea with the temple president this last week. That was kind of weird, but really neat!

You asked about the 4th of July... it's the 3rd consecutive 4th of July that I've spent in the UK. I've heard several degrading comments about America this week, but that's okay! A family in the ward had us over for a BBQ with American food. So we had hot dogs, hamburgers, and cake! So that was fun!

We did some service for a member this week helping to make cakes for a big auction that they had in the ward to help raise funds for EFY. It was loads of fun helping!

Not a whole lot interesting to tell from this week! It's been a really good week! Still loving the opportunity I have to see the temple every day!

Monday, July 1, 2013

Sister Orr and her dear friend Sister Smith

 

Phew... Flood of emotions right now. I just read an email from Paige. She's engaged!! I'm so happy I'll be there for the wedding! But wow... my best friend is engaged!

It's been a good week. It's flown by. We had a temple zone conference on Tuesday. That was good. We also gave our departing testimonies there. So that was also a moment of "Wait... it's not that time yet."

The members here feed us a lot. We have a tea appointment every night. We've had everything from salad to pizza to sausage casseroles. At least they mix things up here so we aren't having a Sunday roast every night.

Sister Telefoni and I have found a lot of time to talk this week. It's been really good. I've been able to get to know her better and we laugh and joke about everything. We are finding time to enjoy our last transfer and spending it together.

We watched the missionary broadcast last night. It was really good. Sounds like my mission isn't ending with me going home. They put so much emphasis on members and having members help and do things and find people to teach. President Monson looks like he's losing weight. Probably stress and sadness lately. President Packer--I don't know how much longer he is going to be with us. But it was good to listen to the general authorities speak and see a ward from Hauula! I knew some of them! Sister Telefoni and I were pretty excited to see that as well!

Well, nothing too much more exciting to tell. We are spending time at a member's home today helping her make and decorate cakes for an auction that they're doing at the church to raise money for the youth to go to EFY.

I love you lots. I received an email from Aunt Judy that had a picture of Kade, he is a cutey. Kind of looks a bit growly in the picture, but cute!

With love,

Kara

 

Monday, June 24, 2013

..... so.... funny story..... I moved areas again..... I'm now in Chorley.

I have been moved so many times on my mission.... I am now on to companion #13! Yes, you heard me, companion #13. How many transfers do sisters have in the field? 13... People are going to start thinking I'm a major problem missionary.

Anyway, how this came to be... Wednesday morning I got a phone call at 7 AM. President said, "Sister Orr, I'm moving you to Chorley." I was like...okay. Sister Telefoni was training a new missionary and that new missionary decided she wanted to go home. So Sister Telefoni didn't have a companion. So they sent me up here. Sister Finke got put in a different area. President said that I'm supposed to bless some lives up here. So phone call was at 7 AM Wednesday, the assistants came to pick us up with all our luggage at 3. So I've been in Chorley since last Wednesday. I'm happy to be here though... just weird that it happened to me again. I just told President at a meeting the other day that I must be the transient missionary who just moves here, there and everywhere.

The temple is in our area. That is super nice. Our ward here is huge. Average sacrament attendance is around 175. It has a lot of families in it. I laughed yesterday as I walked down the corridor and prams were lining the way.

We've been told to do a lot of member work here. The Pageant is going to be held on the temple grounds here, so we're supposed to help in any way we can. Little do they know that Sister Telefoni and I will both be gone for the pageant. Oh, I don't know if you know, Sister Telefoni and I came out together. You may have already known that.

So yes, that's what we're up to.

We had a zone training and interviews with President last Thursday. That was good. President says that when I get home I need to call them regularly. Skype would probably be best since it's free. He said he was trying very hard not to turn the interview into an exit interview. 4 weeks left and then I'll have my exit interview.

I can't believe it's almost July. We were talking to a new member the other day and she was telling me she got baptised a few months ago. In my mind I was thinking, "oh, probably December or sometime around Christmas." I asked her when she got baptised and she said March. It doesn't seem like March was a few months ago. It's been 6 months since Christmas..... weird...

Another weird thing about this ward. The Bishop is the MTC coordinator and several ward members are MTC teachers. I'm like, "I know all of you."

Also, I think it is funny that I was always saying I didn't want to serve on temple square... Now, I'm in the British equivalent. :)

 

Monday, June 17, 2013

Thank you for emailing me. It was nice to have something to read today. It also was good to see pictures of the kids.

 

I was thinking about what you said that Tucker says I've been gone forever. If you think about it, I've been gone for 1/4 of his life and I've been gone for a little less than 1/2 of Kimber's. That is forever to them.

It's been a good week since Wednesday. Well, to be honest, I can't really remember what we've done since then...

Yesterday was good. Church was good. It was a good father's day here in Southport. We had a really good miracle happen yesterday. A few weeks ago, we had tea with the Bishop and his family. Sister Turner mentioned her cousin had been coming to church for a while and was interested in learning more. At the time the cousin was on holiday so we didn't get to meet her. We talked to Sister Turner about a week and a half ago again and she mentioned that with the time of church changing to an earlier time, her cousin wasn't sure she could make it. She has some health problems that limit her sometimes. So it wasn't looking very hopeful anymore. But yesterday her cousin did come to church! And we taught her and it was great! I asked her what she would like to see happen and she said that she wants to learn more so that she can become more of a permanent part of our church. So she has said she'll come to church every week now and so hopefully we can help her along the way! So that was great!

A funny story for you about Elders...

We have Elders here in Southport as well. I can't remember if I told you that when I moved her. But recently we've been having joint tea appointments on Sundays. So members have all 4 of us over. Yesterday Sister Finke and I had planned to catch a bus from church back to the flat to drop off the extra books we had at church and then head over to this member's for tea at 2:30. We were talking to people after church and we realized the time was 1:45. We got out to the bus stop and realized the bus wasn't coming for 20 minutes because it was on Sunday service. So we decided obviously we wouldn't have time to stop by the flat and that we needed to walk quickly to the member's to be on time. We ended up being 5 minutes late to the member's and we felt really bad... But we were there and there were no Elders. So we were waiting in the living room while the family finished up their tea preparations (which they wouldn't let us help with). After about 15 minutes the Dad came in and said the Elders were going to be late because they were waiting for a bus. The Grandma, who is proper British, was like, "The Sisters got here. Why can't the Elders get here? They walked, can't the Elders walk?" There's one Elder who is a bit overweight and rather new in the mission... and the dad said, "Elder H. doesn't like walking." The grandma replied, "Are you serious? Well he needs to learn. It would do him some good to do some walking. I'm going to tell him that when they get here." OH and tell him she did. We ended up starting eating without them... they were over 45 minutes late. She told them off good. And Sister Finke and I just sat there and tried not to laugh.... But then it got better.... During dessert, the grandma offered Elder H. some more. He said, "No thanks, I'm okay, I'm full. I ate some KFC before we came." At first we all thought they went to KFC on a Sunday, but he clarified that it was leftovers... I then asked, "Elder, do you just carry food with you all the time? You brought leftover KFC to church?" He then explained that they had gone back to their flat to get leftover KFC after church before going to the tea appointment.... oh my goodness, the grandma was not happy... She said, "You went home to eat before coming to MY house for tea and that's why you were so very late?! Next time there won't be food for you. You can just be left at the door." My only thought was like, "Elders, you are idiots and you so deserve this..." Needless to say, that family said next time it will only be us that are invited. I had to call President to ask him another question but then threw in, "President, what would you do if you were us and you were watching a member tell off the Elders? How would you respond?" He said, "A member was telling off the Elders?"--- "Well, President, they deserved it." ----"Well, then, I guess you just sit there and laugh." I like President's ideas. I told him that's what we did!

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

So... It's been a good week and a half. Stressful and with some irritations, but good.

Last Tuesday we had a training for the new missionaries. It's called the first 5 weeks, but for Sister Finke, since she came in 2 weeks into the transfer, it was the first 3 weeks...

 

I'm at a point now that my energy levels, coming up on a year and half, are running really low. I feel like sometimes I barely have enough energy to motivate myself let alone my companion. So I'm trying to budget my energy. One thing I've learned on my mission, but that is always a continual process no matter who you are is patience. I was sitting in the bedroom the other day by myself trying to calm my mind and be more patient, and I grabbed the phone and called Sister Preston. I asked, "How do you become more patient?" I just heard laughter on the other end for a minute. Sister Preston still gets annoyed with people, but I figured she's been married and has dealt with President's little quirks. She gave me some suggestions. The next day I was super annoyed and irritated. I was frustrated with my companion and then an ATM ate my mission debit card. It was not a good day. I called Sister Preston again and said, "What do you DO when you are super super irritated?" She suggested lots of chocolate. Don't worry, I think I just gained 15 pounds from this past weekend...

But. I'm still here in Southport with Sister Finke.

Sister Smith got transferred over to the Newcastle zone. We had a zone meeting yesterday before transfers today and it may have been the last time I got to see Sister Smith before I go home. It was a particularly rough day because Sister Smith found out yesterday that her grandpa passed away Monday. She has a really close relationship with her grandpa. President let me go and sit with her alone and we talked for a while. I really love that girl. President always says we'll be friends forever and it's true. I'm just super sad I might not get to see her again until Christmas. (She lives in Utah.) We'll try to convince President to let us have a mini-party before I go... but we'll see.

We're still working on finding people to teach here. We had a few appointments set up for the last week and all of them fell through. It's rough sometimes. We just get to know members really well. We have had beautiful weather for the last 2 weeks. Not so much today, but for the last 2 weeks. I even got a tan line on my feet from my shoes! I was going to take a picture, but haven't yet. Need to.

I overcame a fear this last Sunday. We had a meeting last Wednesday with the Relief Society and we taught about missionary work. After we did our little thing, one of the sisters did an activity of asking having pieces of paper that had deeper questions on them and we were to bear testimony to others about something in relation to that. I got a piece of paper that said, "Where do you find refuge from the world?" I went and talked with this member and told her that my refuge is in music. If I'm stressed, music is my go-to. She asked me what I usually do. I said I sing, I play the piano, I listen to music. Well, there went 16 months of hiding the fact I play the piano. She is the Sunday school teacher. She texted me later last week and asked me if I would play the opening hymn for her Sunday school class. They usually don't have an opening hymn, but with the lesson she wanted one. Stress! I haven't played in church since young women's when everyone laughed at me and I vowed I'd never do it again. But I did! And it went well!  No major mess-ups.  So, conquered a little fear. Don't really want to continue playing in church though.

Well, I think that's all I really want to share for the week. I'll be back to emailing on Mondays next week. As far as I know anyway. I don't think there's a bank holiday next week.

Keep emailing me please! There's only 5 more emailing days left before I'm home! You can do it!!! I have faith!

 

Monday, June 3

It's been a good week. The weather's been really nice and seems to be staying that way for now. Our 2 weeks of summer may have finally arrived!

We are having a zone activity today so we aren't on the computers today as long as usual. We are having a BBQ today as a zone and then we will be playing some sports so I'm excited for a good day!

We got a referral this last week from the mission office. I didn't have any super high hopes because I haven't really seen a lot of miracles with those types of referrals on my mission, but we went and stopped by nonetheless. It's an 45 minute bus ride and then a 45 minute walk to the town where this referral is. We knocked and asked for her and she said, "Oh! I thought you were going to call first!" I explained we hadn't received a phone number so that's why we stopped by! She said she didn't have time at that moment to meet with us but gave us her number so we can set up an appointment for this week. So that was a really good miracle!

Sister Finke is doing well. I am realizing though that training a missionary who is learning English is a lot more tiring and exhausting that just training a missionary. I am learning patience a lot more than I have the rest of my mission. Yeah, I'm struggling at the moment with that. You know when you just have a day or two where just everything irritates you? That's been me the last 2 or 3 days and I am trying really hard to control it...

Hmm, what else. The ward has asked us to do a Relief Society night to help the sisters get to know us and help them get excited about missionary work. They asked us to do role-plays and some other things. It's a lot of pressure since I can't even get Sister Finke to do role-plays when we are in the flat studying. She kind of just watches me. So I have to figure out how to do that Wednesday with the relief society. I don't know whether I'll just teach and Sister Finke can observe or how I am going to get her involved.

The ward really likes having sisters. They always mention that they "trust us" more than the elders.

I don't think I have a whole lot else to write. Transfers are next week. I'll probably be staying, but who knows. So I would say that most likely you'll hear from me on Wednesday, but it might be later.

Hope this finds everyone all happy and well!

Tuesday, May 28

It's been a good week. This is probably going to be a pretty short letter because my brain is just fried at the moment. Life is stressful, but, as always, an incredible adventure.

I did use my credit card last week. I had a little issue that arose and I panicked. I found head lice in my hair... oh my goodness I had a meltdown. So I ran to the store and bought things to kill them and make them go away. The joys of being a missionary and dealing with the weird things you pick up from being around people. Good news though, No more head lice. Sister Preston said she would be surprised if my hair didn't fall out with all the things I put on my hair. I tried a lot of things.

We had a good multi-zone conference last week.

We went up to the temple yesterday. It was beautifully sunny and bright when we got there. The flowers were blooming. It was beautiful. I love to see the temple.

I think that's all I want to share.

I love you all very much. I hope everything is going well over by you.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Good morning! The sun was shining yesterday but not yet today... there's still hope. It seems to get a little bit better as the day goes on.

It's been a good week. I got a new companion on Wednesday. Her name's Sister Finke from Germany. She's 19 years old. She didn't know English before she entered the MTC and was there for 6 weeks. So I'm helping her the best I can with understanding English. She's really good. She wants to improve her teaching skills and unfortunately we have no one to teach at the moment, so we do a lot of role-playing lessons in the morning.

We had stake conference yesterday. We all went down to Liverpool stake center for that. It was a broadcast from Salt Lake. So it was President Eyring, Elder Scott, Elder Baxter, and Sister Oscarson. It was really good. Elder Baxter talked a lot about finding and strengthening less-actives. Oh! And to my surprise, I learned in the opening prayer that Sister Monson passed away. That was kind of a shock to all of us missionaries. We don't hear anything.

I got so see Sister Smith at conference yesterday. I don't know if I told you this or not, but Sister Preston grounded us from each other. Apparently we are too good of friends and make other missionaries feel left out on the fun... and we cause "too much trouble." So when we have opportunities to see each other where Sister Preston isn't lurking to chastise us, we enjoy it. Sister Preston isn't too harsh on us if she catches us together, but if she thinks we're being too separate and secretive she said, "There will be more consequence than just strong words spoken." She's told me off once already. Meh, it's okay. She says she only does it because she loves us.  She's great.

I was so bummed yesterday! I just remembered! I looked everywhere to see if I could find Ben and his mom Wendy, but they weren't there! I need to write them a letter and actually send it this time. I've written a few but then realize I don't have envelopes or stamps.

Hmm, we're still spending a lot of time finding. We've knocked on like 1000 doors this week. We have had 3 people say we could stop by at a different time so we'll stop by them again this week sometime.

I don't think I've shared this with you, but I took time a while back to read through Preach My Gospel from start to finish and I highlighted in blue every time it mentioned relying on the Spirit or teaching by the Spirit (etc). It really helped me become a better missionary. I love having the ability to rely on the Spirit in all things. That's one thing several of my companions have listed as my biggest strength as a missionary. I just really know that I honestly don't have the comprehension to know exactly what people need to hear, but Heavenly Father does, so I just go with what feels right and what comes into my heart.

 

Thursday, May 2, 2013

So I've been moved. I am now in Southport (close to Liverpool). I am serving with Sister Nkosi who is from South Africa and has been out about 6 months. We white-washed into Southport opening a new area. They already had elders here but now they have sisters too! So we arrived at a new flat last night that only had a table, two chairs, and 2 beds. We had to go buy quite a bit of stuff last night and they are supposed to be bringing us more stuff. So it's an adventure starting in a new area with no one to teach and no idea where you are. Yay fun! Southport is super posh! Huge homes and elaborate architecture.

Anyway, Sister Leslie is training this transfer. So she stayed in Oldham and was asking me so many questions before I left! If there was ever a moment where there was no one to talk to while we were walking she would pick my brain for "words of wisdom." sometimes I feel like a martial arts master when people ask me to share my "profound wisdom"... I just have a large vocabulary... I think they confuse that with actual knowledge.

We had a good week at the beginning of the week. We were able to see a lot of people before I left. They started a new thing where they let us know on Saturday where we are going so we can actually say good bye to people at church. So that was nice. We went and visited with the nonmember friends of President Preston that he referred to us in Oldham. We've seen them a few times but Ken says he doesn't want to come back yet (former member) and his wife Jenny says she's not interested at the moment. We had an incredible visit with them yesterday morning though. We were explaining a bit about the restoration to Jenny. Ken started talking about how all of us wonder which church is true and how we can know it. He then told the whole story of Joseph Smith and started crying. He waved his finger towards the ceiling, looking up, and said, "clever." And then said that he knew that Joseph Smith had a vision and that he knew the church was true. He just doesn't want to return without Jenny, but Jenny's just not ready yet in her mind. I'll stay in touch with them though.

Life's pretty good. Mom, the pharmacy charge was because I got an eye infection in both eyes. My eyes just kept becoming blood-shot most days for 3 weeks. So I went to the doctor and they didn't give me an official diagnosis but gave me a prescription for antibiotics. So that's gotten significantly better.

I'll have to let you know next week about time to skype on Mother's day. I don't know any of the members yet and who has a computer and all that fun stuff. I won't be emailing Monday most likely because from what I hear it's a bank holiday meaning the libraries are closed.

Glad to hear the family's well. As for flying back to Hawaii I was thinking something like the 5th of September, but not sure.

Love you all!

Monday, April 22

It's been a really good week! We've been super busy and have been enjoying missionary life. On Tuesday, we had a district meeting and then had 4 less-active lessons. We've been teaching an investigator named David. He's really prepared. He was the one that came to general conference and then to church. He came again yesterday and we've met with him twice. He's praying about a baptismal date in May. So that's pretty wonderful.

 

Before I forget, transfers are next week so I won't be emailing until later in the week next week.

 

I'm going to go get my haircut today. Just a trim. I haven't cut my hair in a year! crazy!

 

We had 2 lessons this last week that were intense. Spiritually intense. We let the Spirit teach more than anything and we just bore testimony to what the Spirit said. We have a less-active who is trying to come back to church, but just isn't quite finding the motivation so we talked about Jesus Christ and having faith. He started teaching himself by the things he himself said. He was beating himself up pretty bad about not keeping commitments so I just said that it's important to look at what we do do and use those we don't do merely as a reference to make small steps back to right way. Then he said one of the most profound things. He said, "I've come to realize that when we put ourselves down or over think things we are devaluing a gift from God; we are devaluing our worth which is a gift from God." I was like WOW! That is such an intense idea! That really struck home.

Not a whole lot more interesting things are happening. I got an email back from the landlady in Hawaii that I emailed. She said she put my name in one of the spots in the house and that we will complete the rental agreement and logistics in July. SO I have a place to live! Which is good! I just need to email Brother Ferre still and see if I'll have a job!

 

I'll keep Grandma Nannenga in my prayers and hope that they figure out what's happening. Glad Hailey, Dusty, and the kids are doing well. What's happening in Chandra's world now-a-days? I don't often hear about her!

 

I saw in the headlines of the newspapers about the explosion in Texas. I thought it might impact dad in some way even if he may not have worked on that plant. So you were in my thoughts earlier this week as well.

 

Anyway, I've spent most of the time sorting out school, housing, and other things so I have to keep it pretty short. I still need to write President. I love you all so very much!

 

I love you!

 

Monday, April 15

It was a good week. It was busy.

Sister Leslie and I are getting along well and for the first time in the Oldham area we have so many appointments that we are struggling fitting all of them in. Many are less-active members and a few investigators as well! It's crazy!

Our mission had been compiling "A Mission Song," they are going to record it and then we will all learn it. So we got a phone call this morning saying we had been nominated to be 2 of the 8 singing on the recording. So that was a bit of a shock. So we'll be going into the recording studio on Friday!

We had some miracles happen yesterday. Last week Sister Leslie was talking to someone on the bus about general conference and this man interrupted asking if we really have a living prophet on the earth today. So Sister Leslie invited him to the broadcast of conference and he came last week. He said he really enjoyed it, but then was unable to give us his phone number or where he lived. We had set an appointment to meet at the library this last Tuesday, but we couldn't find him. We were a bit discouraged because we didn't know how to contact him. Well he showed up at church yesterday and stayed the whole time. So we set up another appointment for this week.

Also, a week ago we talked to a man on the bus... well he talked to us at first. We got on the bus and he said, "Oye, I'll talk to you." So we went down and talked to him about the gospel. He seemed completely uninterested so we thought all we were doing was planting a seed. Well he showed up at church yesterday completely surprising us! He still doesn't want to meet with us yet, but he said he might come back to church another time in a few weeks. So that was pretty great!

We heard Thursday that they are introducing new Sister leadership in missions. Training Sister Leaders or something like that. They're basically zone leaders without the Priesthood (as Sister Preston put it). So that will be interesting. We'll start having those in our mission starting next transfer. So many changes with all the new missionaries and everything! We have 15 sisters coming in at the next transfer.

Well, I don't have a whole lot else to say for the time being. I haven't figured anything out with fall housing yet, but working on it.

Monday, April 8

It's been a really good week! We were able to teach several lessons!

President Preston referred 2 of his friends, Ken and Jenny, and we were able to meet with them and teach them! I think they have so much wonderful potential, I wish they could just see it themselves! Sister Leslie and I feel very strongly that we can help them in some way or another. I don't know if it will be getting them to church or baptised or just helping them build a testimony. President Preston came out teaching with us on Wednesday and it was so good! Sister Leslie was so worried about teaching with President Preston, but she did really well. We are working on building her confidence.

We have started working with a part member family. A few of the kids haven't been baptised and the mum and dad don't really like coming to church because they've got an issue with a member, but they are so wonderful and we look forward to being able to work with them.

We were getting off the bus the other day and the bus driver stopped us and asked us where we are from. He apparently met with missionaries briefly 3 years ago and went to church with them. He then asked if we had time to meet with him! So we met with him the other day and are making slow progress, but progress nonetheless.

Anyway, as for housing in the fall. I got permission from President to start searching for it when I'm online. I know the Ferre's were renting to students, so I might check with them. I'll email some of my friends and try to get contact information for their landlords. So that's where I'm up to with that.

I'm a bit scatter-brained today trying to get loads of things sorted so sorry if this letter is short and somewhat less than informative. It'll be a good week this week. We have several lessons planned again plus 2 zone conferences plus interviews with President.

 

Anyway, hope the world is treating everyone well. I love you lots! Mother's day is coming up soon, we'll try to get times sorted as to when to call (skype) home. I know it's still a month away, but time flies like crazy.

Tuesday, April 2

Sorry I didn't give any warning about not emailing yesterday. I forget that whenever there's an opportunity to take a holiday they take it over here. So yes, everywhere was closed yesterday for the Easter holiday.

Happy Late Easter!

It's been a good week or so! Sister Leslie is very nice and a really good missionary! We've been able to see a lot of good things happening! We went to go stop by some less-actives last night and one of them let us in and we had a lovely conversation and we'll be going back there on Thursday to make dinner for her and see her again. She has some physical limitations so we offered to come and make dinner for her and do a bit of service for her. So I think it will be a really good experience. We also saw one of our investigators named Samantha last night. We haven't been able to see her in weeks and weren't even sure she even wanted to keep meeting with us. We ended up feeling prompted to extend the baptismal invitation to her and she is now praying about whether or not she should be baptized on the 27th of April. So that was a good experience as well.

I can't believe it's April already! It doesn't seem to be with the weather over here, but apparently in 2 weeks it's supposed to start being really nice.

How was the Easter holidays back home? We spent it finding... and finding... and finding.... but it was good. We spent all day Saturday finding, but we met some really nice people that could become investigators in the near future! We taught a lesson Saturday night and we really are spreading the gospel to all the world. One of the members is from Ghana and she had family from Ghana visiting for the weekend and invited us over to teach her family about the church. We met and talked about the restoration. Before we even asked them to read The Book of Mormon, they asked if they could each have a copy to start studying. They were pretty happy and excited to hear that there is a living prophet on the earth today. They'll be staying down in London for the next month of so before going back to Ghana, but we gave them the information to know how to contact the missionaries wherever they are. They even ended up decided to come to church on Sunday as well! So even though they weren't able to become our investigators, I hope and pray they will get in touch with the missionaries in Ghana! Sunday was really good, we had testimony meeting. I think having so many people bear testimony of the Atonement really brought the Spirit very powerfully. The chapel was absolutely full of people and I hope they were all able to have their hearts touched in some way on a beautiful Easter Sunday morning.

So I wrote a while back about how I've had to deal with some creepy men as of late. I've actually had to deal with creepy men a fair bit on my mission. I wrote to President in one of recent weekly letters that sometimes it's just so hard being a sister and having to deal with things like that. He called me and told me I'm basically the only sister that has had to deal with it to the extent that I have. He has now committed me to staying away from creepy men. I'm trying. A man at the bus station the other day wanted to hold me hand. I called President that night for some reason and just mentioned it, he was less than pleased to hear about it. Meh, it's alright, I'm smart and am not going to allow myself to get into any truly tough situations. I just thought it was funny that I've been committed to avoid creepy men. The thing is, they all seem relatively normal at first...

Oh! I had an experience today, we were on the bus and Sister Leslie started to talk to someone. I kind of was listening a bit from where I was sitting and the girl was from China. She didn't speak a whole lot of English and so Sister Leslie asked me to come over. I was able to talk to her in some Chinese and understood a little bit of what she said to me in Chinese. We got her number and she said she'd be willing to meet with us to help her improve her English and I asked if she could help me with Chinese. So hopefully we can make something happen there! I was just really proud that I spoke Chinese to someone and they understood what I was saying!

Hmmm... I don't think I have a whole lot else to say today. The sun has been shining a bit more, so there's hope, it's still cold, but at least the sun is shining.

I hope you all will have a wonderful week!

 

I love you all so much!

Thursday, March 28

It's a Thursday and the sun is finally shining after days of blizzards and cold winds. But it's supposed to get cold again and stay dead freezing until end of April. I've been told I need to go see a doctor about being so cold and tired all the time. Some of the members think I might have an under active thyroid. I agreed to talk to a doctor. The members say it's just not normal to be wearing leggings, nylons, fleece and polyester tights, 3 pairs of socks, and boots and still come home at night with purple and red feet. So we'll see if I need to be tested for something.

I'm still in Oldham. New companion. Her name is Sister Leslie. I'm follow-up training her. She's been out 6 weeks so we'll complete the rest of her 12 weeks training (even though this transfer is only 5 weeks). President told me she is a really good missionary and I am her companion right now to prepare her to be a trainer in Oldham next transfer and then I will white-wash train next transfer. That's what he says... things often change. So we'll see. Sister Leslie is a really good missionary though! We've only been together less than 24 hours and I am just so utterly impressed. We talked last night of anything we feel individually we would like to see improve in ourselves this transfer and then during study this morning we set goals and expectations for this transfer as a companionship. We are going to see wonderful miracles! She is from St. George Utah, just turned 21 this month, and is studying nursing back home.

Sister Ballantyne went down to Wales (not Gaerwen area) and she is training there.

President Preston and I had a good long conversation yesterday. I just talked about some of my fears and struggles. It was good to talk to him. I told him I know perfectly well that I over analyze things. He agreed. He is proud of who I am becoming and just always tells me that I have so much that I am contributing to this mission.

I've apparently become the "mafia boss" of the sisters. Don't worry, it's supposed to be a good thing. I know most of everything that goes on with the sisters. The good, the bad, everything. Many of the sisters have permission to call me if they need to talk or if they're struggling or anything. I've had so many sisters call me in tears and saying, "I want to go home." I have come to realize that all the things I have gone through have made me that much stronger and I can honestly help these sisters get through many of the things they face because I've been there! Sister Ballantyne dubbed me the Mafia Boss.

We have a fast, find, and feast this Saturday. We will fast on Friday, Devote ourselves to finding on Saturday, and then have a feast sometime to complete the circle. If you could pray that we find new investigators it would be greatly appreciated! We want these wonderful miracles to happen, but we definitely need Heavenly Father's help!

So, that's mostly what's been happening in my life. It's still cold and damp, but everyone keeps saying spring is coming soon...

Mom and Dad, Hope you're having a blast in Belize, enjoying warm weather. Hailey, Liam is a fat little chunk ain't he? Aunt Judy sent some pictures. He looks like he is almost as big as Kimber! Maybe it's just the angles.

Anyway, I hope this letter finds you happy and well!

I love you lots!

Monday, March 18

Goodness, I can't even really remember what happened this last week. It's all a bit of a blur really. We currently have/had one investigator who is progressing, his name is David, and we are handing him over to the Elders in the area to start teaching him. He's 45 and kind of just gave us creepy vibes since day one, but I thought maybe I was just passing judgements, but no. He texts us all the time and he got mad the other day when we didn't text back within 10 minutes of him texting us. He refused to come to church yesterday because we had ignored his phone calls on Saturday... He also told us that we shouldn't obey the rules that are put on us and that we should be able to spend more time with him and let him buy us things. He then texted me the other night and said that he'd really like to keep in contact in the future if that's okay with me. He also bought me a monthly bus pass that he wants to give me the next time we see him.  Little does he know that the next appointment we set, the Elders will show up. Can't wait for the text messages and phone calls that will come after that since the last time when I left the area for a bit and had the Elders go teach I got a text message from him saying that I need to understand that I'm the only person that can teach him about "the Mormon book.".... President is happy to hear he has no idea where we live.

I also got asked by a 50 year old man the other day if he could be my "British boyfriend." There are weird people in the world. Our zone leader told us the other day that he had heard that Sisters become very attractive when they have the Spirit... so I should maybe take all this as a compliment?

All our other investigators are just very flaky. Brian told us he can't meet with us for 3 weeks because he's baking a cake.... Samantha needs to spend quality time with her cat because she's been ill lately... Robert can't read and doesn't want to listen to the Book of Mormon on CD... So we are working on contacting referrals and gaining new investigators. It can be rather frustrating.

Mom, It's really interesting that you mention catching a bit of a 24 hour bug/flu. I had a bit of that yesterday and wasn't able to sleep Saturday night and missed church yesterday because of it. 14 months of perfect attendance and then miss a Sunday. I called Sister Preston and was really distraught about it. I'm a missionary! I can't miss church! She told me I'd be okay.

I was able to see some pictures of Kade and Kimber in an email from Aunt Judy. Kade is a little chunk isn't it?! He looks nothing like Kimber or Tucker did. Although I am basing that judgement on 2 pictures.

I'm happy to hear Dusty got a job. I'm sure Rexburg will be fine. Hailey, if it gets too cliqueish at least you know you have family in all directions. Who needs friends when you have family!? Psh, Family is so much better. O'hana means family, family means no one gets left behind or forgotten... just throw in a little Lilo and Stitch quote.

Well, the sun is shining. I hope it stays that way. Mom, I forgot to print off the letter of intent last week before my time ran out. Maybe it would be better if you just took care of it if you have some time.

Mom and Dad, I hope you have fun in Belize, give my love Aunt Linda and Uncle Bill. I won't be emailing on Monday next week because it's transfers again next week! Yes, already that time again! I only have 3 more transfers left (plus a bit if I am able to extend) It's really not that far away. I'm finishing up my 10th transfer.

Sister Ballantyne and I are still getting along well. We more likely than not won't stay together next transfer, but it's been fun. Once again the prospect of making another attempt at being a trainer next transfer lingers in the air...but we'll see. President wanted to keep me in this area for a while still, but with our investigator being the way he is, I might get moved. Who knows!

Anyway, I think that's about all I have to say! I hope you are all doing well... I can't remember if daylight savings time will happen for us this coming weekend or next, but sometime soon it'll happen.

I love you all very much!

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!