Tuesday, April 10

We weren't able to write yesterday because it was a bank holiday and the libraries were closed! So we get to write today!

We went to the temple yesterday! Usually it is closed on Mondays except bank holidays so we took our opportunity to go! It was great but took most of the day with traveling and traffic and whatnot!

And Surprise! I did something crazy and dyed my hair last night! I really like my hair dark and was missing it since the last time I had it dark and so darkened it!  It was fun, I've never dyed my hair completely before and I don't know what possessed me to allow my companion to dye it, but it turned out great! It isn't black but really dark brown! I LOVE it! I am pretty sure I told you about how we are in a trio now! It has been fun!

Sister Spencer (the new companion) got sick this morning and so we had a day "in." We actually taught a few lessons but tried to relax as much as we could! So it has been nice!

We went to a baptism in Oldham the other day because it was someone that Sister Spencer had been teaching! It was this cute little 83 year old woman who was just beaming. Apparently it was long in coming but it was a great service and she had a lot of family that was there supporting her (along with a lot of missionaries). I found out last week that one of my investigators in Liverpool is dated for baptism! I was so happy to hear it! She is supposed to be baptised (English spelling) next week but the elders said it may be bumped back! I hope so because I want to go but we also have our own baptism happening here next weekend! The Liverpool young lady is named Mary
and she had actually asked Sister Chuo and I if she could be baptised but she had to get married first...now everything is sorted and she is on her way. The Baptism here, his name is Bill, I haven't taught him a lot, but we did have a lesson with him this morning and he said he just gets a kick out of our lessons! He told us we brighten his day... He laughed a lot as we got off on random tangents including Sister Spencer expressing her love for Batman and me telling how Hailey and I
would break out in Love at Home if an argument may have started (it had to deal with the 10 commandments... a little). Bill is very excited to be baptised and he is entirely ready no doubt in my mind, so we are excited for him!

I got to drive for a day last week and it was actually very easy! I loved it and nothing went wrong at all! It was so nice to be behind the wheel of a car once again! Maybe again someday soon I will get to drive!

We washed the car today in some of our down time letting Sister Spencer rest! It was freezing outside but they are checking the car tomorrow at zone conferences and we had inherited the car from the elders and they clearly hadn't washed it in some time! So it was fun as Sister Hoffman and I washed the car while Sister Spencer sat inside the car with her box of tissues and a book. :)

So life is pretty good. We had Easter Dinner with one of our Ward mission leaders and he had stolen our car keys and hid chocolate eggs in the boot (trunk) of our car! It was so sweet! It was a great meal though! His mom was there and she is not a member and was apparently very nervous about having us there, but she thought we were great! We weren't able to teach a lesson but we still were able to let her know we weren't very scary!

Our other Ward mission leader is Brother Worthington. He likes picking on me, he thinks I'm fun because I haven't entirely stifled my sarcasm. I got a bit sarcastic at our coordination meeting the other night and he just thought it was great so apparently told the bishopric that I am fiesty and aggressive (lovingly). So the Bishopric is starting to joke around with me too. It think many members forget that we are human and do have senses of humour so they are a bit wary often times of joking around with us, so they brighten up when they find a missionary that enjoys a bit of humour! It is hilarious!

We had a ward activity last week. It was a curry competition! It was delicious! People brought different curries to compete for the ultimate prize... a giant chocolate bunny. We got to know a lot more people and everyone now knows me as the missionary that gets along really well with young kids. At one point I was on the floor playing with toy cars with 3 or 4 young (Kimber aged) kids. It was good fun!

Monday, April 2

It has been a crazy day today! We were told last night that we were having another Sister come and work with us for the rest of the transfer! So we had to drive to Manchester this morning to pick up Sister Spencer! She has a broken foot and therefore they thought it best to send her with the sisters that drive a car... they forgot to take into account that our flat is up 4 flights of stairs and we have stairs within our flat to get to the kitchen... Then we were told this morning that another companionship is staying with us tonight in order to go to a meeting tomorrow! So we have quite the full house tonight! Sister Hoffman has to go to the meeting tomorrow so I will be driving tomorrow! I haven't driven yet and I am honestly scared to death! These roads are so tiny and the drivers are so aggressive! All of my leaders have said, "Please don't die..." Thanks elders! It will be an adventure!

I loved Conference! We got to watch it at our chapel building! Because of the time difference they showed the Saturday Morning live at 5 PM on Saturday, recorded the Saturday evening at 9 Pm to rebroadcast on Sunday at 1 PM and then showed the Sunday Morning live at 5 PM. Unfortunately we weren't able to watch the Sunday Afternoon Session since it was from 9-11Pm and we have curfews and whatnot (SO overrated!)! I did really enjoy Elder Holland's talk and I really enjoyed Elder Uchtdorf's talk as well! It was all so very good, but probably my favorite quote was from Elder Nelson: "Some believe it all began with a big bang... If an explosion happened in a printing shop would it produce a dictionary?" I LOVED that! :)

It was a busy week of meetings last week and this week is even moreso! I never knew there were so many meetings when it came to missionary work!

I love hearing about little Kimber and Tucker. I tell everyone new stories about them as I get them. I told the goldfish story for quite a while...

I have attached a picture of our car!

Monday, March 26

  I only wrote a few days ago, and here I am again! 

I guilt-tripped President Preston in my last email to him on Thursday.  I wrote all about Ben (10) crying and only about Ben and left it entirely at that. I saw President on Friday and he said he just felt horrible after reading my email to him. I said that was what I was aiming for!  :)  I am going to get permission from President today to write Ben letters to just keep encouraging him and let him know we still care about him. Plus his mum said she'd send me raspberry bon bons when she knew my address.

It wasn't just that I was leaving that made it difficult to leave Liverpool. I understand we get moved around a lot, but usually when we leave, one companion stays there who knows the people and can help in getting the transition, but when you are whitewashed completely out of the area you leave your investigators to strangers and that was just horrible.

Friday we had our "Sister's conference" where all of the Sister Missionaries in the mission go to the mission home for a conference. There are 19 Sister missionaries currently. It was a really good conference. one of the elders that was just going home this transfer has a mom who is a really well known LDS music artist and so she and her husband were here picking up their son and she agreed to do a presentation with us because she also runs a therapist practice particularly working with LDS women. It was really good and she said many applicable things to not only the mission but to life in general.  And she sang us a couple of songs as well.

Saturday was a good day. We took our gospel Principles class to the temple grounds in Chorley and our ward mission leader arranged to have a tour of the MTC as well. It was a beautiful sunny day and the flowers are blooming now so the temple grounds were glorious. We went over to the MTC and I thought no one would really remember me there because they've had several groups go through already since I left, but Sister Walker got all excited and gave me a great big hug, Sister Smith heard I was there and came and found me to give me a hug, so it was nice to know they still remember me! We had 3 investigators with us and one of them came up to me and was asking me all sorts of things about the MTC and he said that he could "just feel the power of the place." And I was like, Yes, that is the spirit. All of our investigators wanted to know what they had to do to go into the temple, they all just loved it so much. It was a great experience.

The ward here is a bit different than Liverpool. I miss the Liverpool ward already. Many of the sisters in this ward don't see the need to wear skirts or dresses to church and so they just come in whatever they want and it is not that they can't afford to have those types of clothes because some of them come in very expensive trouser and jumper combinations. It just isn't really something I see as appropriate.

Things are going well. I got your package with the ear plugs in it, maybe a bit of overkill with 7 pairs of ear plugs... but thanks. They came in handy today as we were cleaning our flat because our hoover makes the most obnoxious noise more so than the average. So we were walking around our flat with ear plugs in while I was hoovering. Thanks for the packages! They make me feel nice and important! :)

I found out as we were reading our information packet this morning that I should always encourage anyone who is sending things to me to not use FedEx if possible. Apparently their costs on this end are outrageous and they make delivery almost impossible because they can't just leave things with the mission office so we missionaries end up having to get to the FedEx office ourselves and it is just a big hassle. Good to know.

The weather is great over here currently. I have been told to enjoy it because it will only last two weeks. I hope it lasts a bit longer than that.

We taught one of our investigators last night who had a baptismal date planned but we had to move it. She is having a hard time giving up coffee. We asked her how many cups she has a day and she told us she drinks 15 cups of coffee a day. I was shocked. She then proceeded to tell us she had made such great progress from her 65 cups a day....  Sister Hoffman and I just were in shock. She said she used to have a cup every 15 minutes or so. That is not healthy at all. She asked us about the rule on decaf and I wasn't sure what to tell her. We did a bit of reading this morning and there are so many chemicals within coffee (decaf or not) that are harmful to your body. So I had a bit of enlightening.

Thursday, March 22

Life has been crazy since I last wrote! So many things have happened!  Well... I'm not in Liverpool anymore... yup. I'll talk about that in a minute.

Firstly, Last week we had our training for the newer missionaries (me and my MTC friends). And there was a couple there that had just come out as well. We talked and they said that they were in the MTC with Aunt Linda and Uncle Bill. They were Elder and Sister Forsythe. They said that they had talked a lot with BIll and Linda and knew they had to keep an eye out for me. So that was nice to talk with them.

So, we knew Sister Chuo was leaving so everyone was saying goodbye to her on Sunday and our schedule got packed with people wanting to have us over before she left. I was trying to get everything prepared to be taking over the area when she left, so I was setting up lots of appointments for after she left. Everyone expressed how much they would be willing to help me make adjustments in the area and help with the new sister... well, to our surprise Monday morning we got the transfer call that told us I also was leaving the area. I was shocked and just wanted to cry. I was so upset. I finally got adjusted and felt confident that they were having both of us leave. Then more of a shock came in the form of they were replacing us with elders. There would be no more sisters in Liverpool! So we had to get in contact with our 20+ investigators and let them know I was leaving as well and that they would have to be taught by elders. It didn't go over very well with the Chinese girls because they feel very uncomfortable with young men. Let's just say that there were lots of tears. We had "tea" with a member named Wendy on Tuesday.  We have been teaching her son Ben (he's 10) he wants to get baptized but they don't have the father's approval yet. We had coordination meeting on Tuesday night and they gave us a lift over to the church and we said our goodbyes. We went about our meeting and we walked out of the classroom and there was Ben absolutely sobbing standing in his pajamas and robe. Wendy also in tears said, "He wanted to say a proper goodbye." So I started crying and Sister Chuo "cried" and then we got others crying. It was just very sad. He said he "didn't know it was going to hurt so much." I was five seconds from calling President Preston and saying, "That's it, I'm staying." It was so sad. I am going to miss him so much, he was so sweet. Maggie gave us a banana as we said good bye. Ian had me sign the Dutch football flag.

So now I am in Moreton, just across the Mersey River from Liverpool. I can see Liverpool from my flat window, but I won't see them again unless I get called back there in the future. I am going to try to keep in touch with some of them if I can. And we got a car here in Moreton. So we get to drive everywhere. It is nice but now I'm paranoid about putting on weight. So yeah, lots of things have changed.

Also, we found out Monday morning that I was leaving right? Well, we didn't have time to pack Monday night so we figured we would pack Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. We got a phone call about 4 PM on Tuesday saying they want all the leaving missionaries and their companions to be at the temple by 7:30AM on Wednesday (meaning be in Chorley by 7 AM). So that was an extra stress. We then called the train station to find out times to get to Chorley by 7 and the only one that would get us there in time left at 3:30AM.... We were not too enthused by that prospect and so we phoned the assistants and told them of our predicament and they said they would figure something out. So at about 6 PM Tuesday they let us know we could stay the night with the sister closest to the temple... but we would have to be on a train at about 8 or 9 PM.... well that wasn't happening so we were considering just not going to the temple. And the assistants (being in such authority) used the guilt card so often used by parents and said, "Sister Orr, this is not mandatory... but it is an opportunity for you and your companion to attend the temple... most people would be jumping at this opportunity...." I was like yeah, yeah, yeah..... So we said we would catch the train at 3:30 in the morning... Well President heard that we were planning to catch that train and called the Zone leaders and told them it was nonsense for us to catch that train and he told them to give us a ride in the morning.... So we left at 6:30 in the morning instead, but I felt bad for making the Zone leaders have to do that. But we got to the temple. Not entirely stress free.... I still feel like I forgot something in my haste to pack....

My brain is fried.

We had a Chinese fireside last Saturday night. President asked me to do a write up on it for the mission letter. All I have written for notes thus far is "There were 48 there and.... they spoke a lot of Chinese...." yup, sums up my comprehension of the evening.

We have the Sisters Conference tomorrow which is for all the Sisters in the Manchester Mission at the Mission Home. It will be good, but I'm still not happy with President for transferring me.... yes, I am still a bit upset   It didn't help when he made us sing "I'll go where you want me to go" at transfers. I was like NO! I WILL NOT! Just kidding.... but seriously...

Well I am running short on time and I still have to write my weekly letter to President which will be filled with the stories of my Liverpudlians mourning at my leaving....

Our flat here is nice and big though! No complaints there... oh, and my new companion is Sister Hoffman, from California. She is nice.

Monday, March 12

Last week just flew by... okay well Thursday I thought it had to have been a month since last P day, but then things still flew by again.

Funny quote from one of our Chinese investigators... We asked her if she wanted to be baptized and she said her mom was okay with it but her dad didn't like the idea, so we thought, okay maybe he'll come around, but then she told us he never really paid much attention to her so why should she pay any attention to what he thinks. She told us lots of stories, but the quote is, "my dad's best friend is the cat." We laughed really hard and she told us that the cat is treated better than her and her mom. Which is extremely sad, but the way she phrased everything made it immensely hilarious. So she told us she is open to the idea and if she wants to be baptized she will no matter what her dad thinks.

I talked to someone on the street by myself the other day and we now have an appointment for Tuesday with him. I often try to talk to people, but my companion comes in and rushes things so they often feel like we don't really care, but I talked to this guy, Peter, for 10 minutes or so and he told me he has always thought of God, but never really felt that God really cared about him or loved him. I told him God does love him and many other things and then I asked if we could see him again and he said yes, then my companion came in after I set up the appointment so she couldn't scare him too much as we parted ways! So it was really good!

We had 8 investigators turn up to church yesterday! Sister Chuo was disappointed because she thinks we should have had 10... so apparently we need to work harder... that's the highest number of investigators at church for a companionship in the mission... I think we are doing fine.

One of our investigators, Ian, came to church for the first time ever and he thinks he's all big and bad tough guy (he's like 40) and after church I asked him how he liked it and he said, "It was alright... it was fine." I told him he was like a 15 year old boy who thinks he can't ever admit that he liked anything. He laughed. He is progressing very well and he is probably the one that I feel I get the most inspiration for.

We had exchanges this last week. The Isle of Man sisters were here staying with us because we had zone conference and so we got to have a change of companions for a bit... which was VERY nice. 

We are going on exchanges again this week and so I will be shipped out to Stefford (?) for a few days, it's about 2-3 hours away from here. I don't know the sister at all so it will be interesting!

Next week is transfers and I will get a new companion! We won't have our regular P day next week but I am sure we will get a bit of time to email because we have to email president once a week, so we will have to see about that!

I got the first package you sent! Thank you so much! When I read the outside and it said "seasoning packets" I knew EXACTLY what it was. I ripped it open and was showing everyone my taco bell seasoning packets, all the elders in the zone are now wanting to be my best friend! :) Someone else got a Joseph Smith translation of the Bible and that was really cool, but then all the elders came right back to me to talk more about Taco Bell. They just got a Taco Bell in Manchester but I am told it tastes nothing like the American, but there is a Taco Bell over here now!  :)

Monday, March 5

This week was busy. We had a really random but great experience. We headed out to go find an AUF (Address Unknown File, people that moved but never came to church after they moved) and as we were walking this lady was like, "Hello!" I looked at my companion wondering if I should know who this person was, but she looked just as confused as I did. We offered to help her with her groceries and we decided to learn more about her. She told us she had met with the sister missionaries before. We asked her when and what church she belonged to. She told us it was back in 2007 and that she was baptized. We were like, "baptized into what church?" and she said ours. We didn't know what to think. My thought was that she was crazy. We got to her flat and asked if we could step in for a quick message. We talked more about her baptism to see if it was legit and she even hauled out her program from the service. and sure enough! She was a member of our church. There's only one ward here in Liverpool so we knew that she hadn't been to church any time recently so we invited her and she came yesterday. We asked the relief society president about her and we were told that she had moved and hadn't been heard from in months since she moved. So that was a complete miracle we ran into her that day. She's from Gambia and has had some struggles in life.

I am singing a solo in training this week. "Where love is." in the Primary hymnbook. We were practicing yesterday after church. The Stake 1st counselor came in as we were packing up and said that I had a marvelous talent and to keep using it and sharing it... I said thank you and in my mind I was thinking: If I get asked to sing at stake conference.... tut tut tut. :)

Monday, February 27, 2012

I honestly don't know what to write! All my days are blending together and subsequently all my weeks as well... Time is flying by yet dragging at the same time.

I had to give a 5 minute talk yesterday to introduce myself to the ward. It went alright, I talked about how basically everyday I check my call letter to make sure they didn't sneakily put in there that I was actually called to speak Chinese. Sister Chuo got a little talking to about teaching so many Chinese because when she leaves at the end of the transfer all of the Chinese speaking investigators will transfer to the Chinese speaking elders and if we are teaching no one else then I will be left with no one to teach. So we are trying to find more Non-Chinese people to teach. I am not exaggerating about how many Chinese people we teach. This last week we taught 25 lessons, 21 were to Chinese people. I don't make this up. Granted some of them were repeats of the same Chinese people, but still.

We had our first district meeting this last week. President and Sister Preston decided to come to ours. No pressure. There are only 6 of us in our district (3 companionships). After district meeting Sister Preston had arranged to come out teaching with us. Once again, no pressure. I don't know if Sister Chuo was worried I'd make her look bad or if I just looked like a deer in the headlights, but for the time Sister Preston was with us, I didn't get to talk much. It was good though.

We have 5 "Tea" (dinner) appointments this coming week. I guess people in the ward like me. That's good right? They eat so many potatoes (spuds) here it's slightly ridiculous... and they say Idahoans eat a lot of spuds...

Saturday night they had a big stake activity called roadshows. All the wards had written little plays to perform in this competition. We got permission to go if we had investigators to go, so naturally I was doing everything I could to get investigators to go. We got a few people to go and it was really fun. Was able to experience true British humour at its finest.

We are going to go to the Titanic museum they have here, apparently the Titanic sailed out of this harbour or something. We are going as a district outing. I'm pretty happy to go.

Tell anyone who is expecting letters that I haven't had time to write any yet. I feel bad about that.

I haven't gotten anything from you yet, but that would be because when it is sent to the mission home we don't get it until zone conferences or special trainings, so hopefully next week I will get what you have sent.

I have been asked to sing the special musical number in the specialized training next week. I wonder what they would do if I got up and sand in my chipmunk voice.... hmmm? I won't really, but it'd be pretty funny...

We have one investigator we are teaching named (Name omitted). She has a sort of social phobia. She came to church once and didn't like it because everyone kept talking to her. I explained that's just how the ward is to try to get to know her and better know if she needs anything. We didn't really know how to deal with it, but we decided to take a member with us to teach her to try to get her a friend that she would be more comfortable being with at church. We called one of the girls in our ward who is 20, also goes to Liverpool University where she attends. Turns out when we met up for the lesson, she knew the girl we brought. They are both studying law and have classes together. They got along great and (Name omitted) came to church yesterday. So that was good progress!

Well, I have to dash, time and all....                Miss you all!