I am thankful for Bobby Pins and Bapstims - August 1, 2016

This week was so wonderful! We met a guy named Michael on the bus last Sunday and met up with him for the first time Monday night. It was great! He started crying when we showed him The Restoration video and said he could feel it was true! It may be a little soon, but we scheduled him for the 13th of August. Partly because Sister Sovala thinks she'll get transferred at the end of the transfer and transfer calls are on the 14th, but partly because he was so sincere about learning and meeting with us, that we really feel he could make it! Then we went to have a lesson with Pam and Richard and make sure everything is going ok for them. They're going through some really hard times right now, but their faith is strong! So that's good!

We had zone training on Tuesday which was a blast! We went over setting good goals and making sure our goals are SMART and that we are actively working towards our purpose in every activity. Then we had lunch and interviews with the new mission president and his wife. They are so awesome! So funny and easy to talk to! They are just plain great! Then we had another lesson with Michael and taught him the whole plan of salvation with no hiccups! He agreed with everything and still seems really solid! We were just so thankful for such a great lesson!

On Wednesday, we went to see Abbie and Becky to help them write their talks for Ephrem's baptism and then we caught the train to Sheffield for a doctor's appointment that Sister Sovala had. We finally got home and then went to have a lesson with a member named Jimmy whom we love dearly and then talk to one of our friends, Jazzmine. She just found out she's having a boy and is beyond excited and has so much Prego-brain, she's hilarious. We just love her so much! She keeps telling us she's not interested, but we keep bringing up eternal families and I think she'll come around soon. I think one of my favorite things her boyfriend said that night was "its better to burn calories, not bridges" I honestly don't remember who we were talking about but he was talking about how he had to go take a walk because someone was annoying him and that was the motto he decided to live by. SO I thought that was pretty great!

Thursday. We FINALLY got to see Ephrem again! He had been in London for forever and we were so excited to see him and find out for sure that he is still excited and ready to get baptized! It was so great! Then we had branch correlation and got all the kinks worked out for the baptism and then had a lesson with Michael again. We took him to Pam's house this time and taught all of Lesson 3. He took it all in and loved it so much! Then we headed out to have tea with Barbara and teach her grandson, Darren. Then we tried to stop by a family that asked us to stop by, but the busses were late, so we were like 45 minutes late...and they weren't in. We felt so bad as we were walking home, but we left a sticky note on their door and promised to stop by again!

Friday was good. we had weekly planning and then made the baptism program. It looked really good! Then we had a lesson with Michael at Pam's house again and it was...not as good as the first three. So he had a really bad night apparently and wasn't in a good mood. So he didn't want to accept that there is a prophet today because well he didn't. So  we had a long lesson with him that almost went nowhere. Then we heard about a lot of drama going on in town between two of the members, so we hurried and printed off the programs and went to ease the situation. It didn't go too well. But we did have a great lesson with Ephrem! He is excited to go to the temple and help his father soon! So that would be soooooooooooo great for him! Then we stopped by Graham's but he wasn't in, so we went home. We got home and our door broke. Its kinda hard to explain, but the knob to the deadbolt came off. not the deadbolt itself, but the knob. So we couldn't lock our door. And Sister Sovala was freaking out. We decided to do our planning anyways and then worry about it. Well we forgot about it until we were getting ready to go to bed. So its about 10:15 at this point. We have no screwdriver and the elders aren't answering their phones because they're the zone leaders, so they were following up with other missionaries. Our district leader finally called us back and while I was talking to him, I saw my bobby pins on my night stand and decided "We'll I've got nothing to loose but a bobby pin" so I took a bobby pin and stretched it out and by the time the zone leaders called us back, I was able to use the bobby pin as a screwdriver and fix the door so we could lock it. Such a miracle of inspiration!

AHHHHH SATURDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were so stressed! We tried by that family again and they weren't in. So we went shopping for food for the baptism. Which is good because the people we asked forgot...so another miracle of inspiration! Then we had a lesson with Nathan and Ephrem at McDonald's. Sister Sovala taught Ephrem about missionary work (we have to finish lesson 5 BEFORE baptism) and I helped Nathan write a talk for the baptism. Then we ran off to the train station, so we could get everything set up. The elders who were supposed to fill the font forgot, so we barely had enough time to get water in there for him and clean the chapel and make it all look nice before everyone came. It was a beautiful baptism and I don't think Ephrem knew we were stressed...well maybe he did. But I thought we did a dang good job of hiding it! It was so beautiful and we actually got a good turnout of probably like 20 people, which is most of the branch. So we did a great job planning how to trick, I mean invite them, into coming! Ephrem also bore his testimony at the end of the baptism and it was so great! He really does have a strong testimony and I know he will do great things! 

Sunday was almost as stressful. Not quite. But almost. Our time starts at 10 and Ephrem showed up at 9:57 and hadn't answered his phone all morning. We were pretty stressed. But he showed up and we had a lovely church session with him getting the Holy Ghost and everything. Michael also came to chruch, but but he left early because he felt out of place not having a suit and because he was falling asleep. So we saw him after church and then went to see Belina. She's doing ok. We want to help her more, but it is really difficult! Then we tried by Graham's again. We could hear his phone ringing inside when we called, but he didn't answer, so we just hope everything is ok. We didn't see him all week, which was really sad! Anyways, then we went and did some door-knocking and it was pretty good. I still don't like door-knocking all that much, but I'm getting there!

Anyways, hope you guys are all having a lovely week as well! My thought comes from Elder D. Todd Christoffersons "The Blessing of Scripture"

"The Scriptures enlarge our memory by helping us always remember the Lord and our relationship to Him and the Father." 

I'm wanting to focus more on the power of scriptures this week and truly feast on them. I hope everyone will continue to study and always remember Christ in their life! I love you all and can't wait to hear from you next week!

-- 

Sister Hope

Miracles at Mental Hospitals and Car Washes - July 25, 2016

Another week has come and gone here in the England Leeds Mission! It has been a weird week, but great nonetheless. It is always great being in the Lord's service :)

So on Monday, we had a lesson with Ephrem (I found out I've been spelling his name wrong this whole time...whoops.) about going to church, reading our scriptures, and prayer. He's left to go to London on Tuesday, so unfortunately this was the only lesson we could have with him this week. But it was still great!

Tuesday was a little more interesting. We had a lesson with Lavinia. She was having a really hard time and so it was good we were able to cheer her up! She cheered herself up by making fun of Sister Sovala. So it was an interesting lesson. Then our next lesson cancelled and so we had lunch with Pam and then went to try by this guy we found the day before who was upset the elders never brought him a Book of Mormon. He wasn't in. So we went to a member's house in the area. He was a little upset we didn't call him first. SO he sat us down in his front room and said "I'll be right back". Then we heard the front door close and HE LEFT US! He left us in his house, so we weren't sure what to do, and we didn't think we could be in his house without him, so we waited outside and had a lesson with Pam instead. Then he came back with cake. So we had a slice and retaught him The Restoration. It was really good! He just made us promise that next time we'd call and not just drop in so he could have something for us. 

Wednesday was way interesting. Nathan cancelled and then our next lesson did too. So we were street contacting and then decided to just go to the library and do mormon.org time. Then we ran into this really nice lady that Sister Sovala talks to all the time. She said she's really sick and so she lives at the hospital now and she had to go back. But she didn't want to take the bus because its too hot, noisy, and bumpy. So we offered to split a cab with her. Well we thought she lived at the normal hospital or like an assisted living center. no. She lives at the mental hospital. So we got to tour the mental institution and her carers were very suspicious of us. kinda funny. But it was great! We still had a great lesson with her and I hope we cheered her up a little bit...Then we had dinner with a member. Total miracle on the way back! So we wound up having to take a different bus than we originally planned on and a few stops later this lady gets on and asks me which ward I'm from. I was really confused. Like maybe she saw us at the hospital? Anyways I still told her Rotherham. She's a member in Sheffield and was visiting a friend that she wanted to introduce to the missionaries! And God sent her missionaries on her way home! It was so great!

Thursday we had district meeting in the morning and then came back and had a lesson with June and then dinner with Darren and Barbara. It was really good. we've still got a lot of work to do there, but slowly but surely he's starting to trust us more! We were supposed to have a lesson with Graham afterwards, but he said he forgot. Which was ok because the bus we were supposed to take refused to let anyone on...we're still confused about that. So we stopped by a few less-actives in the area who weren't interested.

Friday. We had branch correlation right after weekly planning. It took forever because the elders weren't prepared totally for the baptism they had on Saturday. So we had to help them with that for most of the time. Then we went door-knocking and street contacting and had a lesson with Belina. She's having a really hard time right now. She seems to get offended really easily. She's ok with us because she thinks missionaries are perfect (yeah, right) but she's having a really hard time with the rest of the branch. Then we had our lesson with Graham. We gave him a virtual chapel tour and invited him to church. He said he already had plans with a friend. So maybe next week. Slow progress. but progress!

Saturday was so great! We had a lesson with this guy named Carlo. He owns a Jamaican store in town, so we taught him at the store and he gave us free slushies! Then as we were leaving, we walked past the car wash and this guy always waves at us, and this time he asked us to stop. So we did, he invited us to sit down, and then ran into a store. WE GOT LEFT AGAIN! but he returned with drinks a few seconds later. He said he knows we work really hard and he feels bad that such nice girls have to always be outside in the heat (its been really hot this week and no rain! So weird) and so he wanted to buy us a drink. After double-checking there was no alcohol, we gladly accepted and set up a return appointment with him. Then we had a lesson with Nathan to help him write his talk for the baptism and then caught the train to go to the baptism. So the Elder's investigator, Abbie, got baptized! It was a little sad because nobody in the branch knew...so there were six missionaries, Nathan, the branch president and his wife, his first councilor, and her friend that introduced her to the church. But I think she wanted it to be really small...

Sunday was amazing! Abbie got confirmed and then right after church, she wanted her first thing she did as an official member be going out with the missionaries! So we took her out. It was a little disappointing because we had three lessons, and none of them were in. But oh well! So she went home and then we stopped by Graham's house. We had seen him Saturday night outside (he's basically our next-door neighbor) and he was really drunk. So we stopped by to tell him how disappointed we were and explained the word of wisdom a little bit more and then had a lesson with Livia about getting through trials with Christ's help.

So yeah! It was a great week! My thought for the week comes from Elder Henry B. Eyring's "Our Perfect Example"

"The message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is that we can and must expect to become better as long as we live."

That is something our Branch President talked about and challenged us to each think of one thing we can be better at and make that change. There's always something we can do to go from good to better and better to best. May we all become the best version of ourselves :)

Love you all!

Sister Hope

I have Lovely Confederate Eyes - July 18, 2016

So last Monday, we went to teach a short lesson with Ephraim about donating tithes and offerings and then our next lesson cancelled, so we went and had a lesson with a member who lives near us named Jimmy. Well his actual name is James, but we call him Jimmy. It was a great lesson and he was really touched that we stopped by to talk to him, even though he had to sit in a chair in  his doorway while we talked to him. 

Tuesday was ok. We had a lesson with a less active named Lavinia about prophets and then our next lesson fell through, so we went to the library since we got a call that I had missed a part of my technology training on accident. Well, we got there and Andy was outside! We were so excited because we wanted to see him and set up another appointment with him. So that was a miracle! Then we went to another lesson, but she was asleep (we found that out later) so we talked for almost an hour with a guy named Chris on the street about the plan of salvation. He didn't want to set a return appointment, but Sister Sovala got really mad at him (it was quite hilarious) and we got a return appointment with him. So then we went to Melvin's house. Melvin is special. He is obsessed with the Confederates and has a Confederate flag in his house and framed pictures of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson on his wall. He kept saying I was a dang yankee when I told him I was from Arizona. So then I was like "Well I grew up in Texas" in an effort to calm him down and he goes off about how that's even worse because that's the most North we can go...then he asked where my parents were from so I said Utah and Idaho and he looks at me, smiles, and says "I knew there was a reason you have such lovely Confederate Eyes." I think he needs an updated map...and history lessons. But I didn't tell him that because this way I can just laugh to myself when we talk to him. 

We hardly did anything on Wednesday. We had district meeting in the morning and then travelled to Sheffield because Sister Sovala had a doctor's appointment. We had lunch and studies in the cafeteria. The cafeteria was actually really nice. I think it was the nicest meal I've had yet. I had duck for those of you who are wondering, which probably isn't very many. So we were there pretty much all day. I had to talk to people in the waiting room while she was gone. It wasn't very productive because everytime I got to the gospel, they got called back into the doctor's office. But we did have a dinner appointment with a less active family. The wife is too sick to make it to church but they're so excited the missionaries have found them again and are able to bring the Spirit back into their home!

Everything fell through on Thursday. Andy forgot his appointment, so we called the lady who was asleep the other day and she happened to be in town, so she came to meet up with us at the chapel. She is really struggling and asked us to ask the elders for a blessing, so they set up an appointment with her the next day. While we were walking around town, we ran into Andy and he was mad at us because we weren't ther for him, but we were. Then we found out he forgot the time and showed up at 2:30 instead of 12:00. So we rescheduled and then we went to Ephraim's and had a lesson with him in the park about the 10 commandments and obedience and then went over the INTERVIEW QUESTIONS!!!! Then we had a lesson with Darren and tea at their house. We then had an hour long bus ride back home and were thankful to be done with the day!

Friday was so short! We had a really long weekly planning session trying to decide what to do for the next week. Then we stopped by June and then went to the lesson with Livia where the elders gave her a blessing. It was a beautiful blessing and when they left she said "I finally feel at peace...this will be ok, won't it?" So we had a great lesson with her about the purpose of trials and she was really strengthened!! Then we travelled to a dinner appointment with a member. The bus going home was apparently stopped for like an hour because some guy decided his car was too fancy to turn onto the road he needed to and so he stopped in the middle of the road....so we got back pretty late to Ephraim's lesson, but it was ok. We taught him more about President Monson and then ran into the elders. They had a package for Sister Sovala which really brightened her day! Her family even wrote me a little postcard that was so cute! 

Andy forgot his lesson on Saturday too. So we saw that the Chapel on the Bridge (one of the oldest churches in England dating back to the 1400s) was actually open. It is only open on the third Saturday of every month for a few hours. So we took our lunch break and toured it. It is super small, only one room, but it was really cool! So then our next few lessons also cancelled. So we had to run home and grab the baptism papers for Ephraim because he had his interview! He is getting baptized on the 30th! It would be sooner, but he has to go to London for a week :/ and we didn't really want to pass him onto the London Missionaries...So then we went and had a lesson with Pam and her husband Richard about talents and supporting each other in those talents and pursuits. 

Sunday. Oh Sunday! I love Sundays so much! We had a little bit of a weird Sunday because our branch president got released and our mission leader got put in as the new president. So he has to pull double duty for a few weeks, poor man! But it should be really good! Then Nathan cancelled his lesson with us and Ephraim got called into Sheffield last minute. So the two people we can always count on let us down! Anyways, we then had a lesson with Graham. It was amazing! We talked about the power of prayer and he actually wanted to say the closing prayer! Such a miracle! And it was such a beautiful prayer. He's really making a lot of progress. Slow. But a lot. We are so thankful for him and how much he always makes us laugh!

So yeah, it has been a great week! My thought for the week comes from President Monson's "On Being Spiritually Prepared" talk :

"In the search for our best selves, several questions will guide our thinking: Am I what I want to be? Am I closer to the Savior today than I was yesterday? Will I be closer yet tomorrow? Do I have the courage to change for the better?" May we all find our best selves through our daily service to others and the Lord! I love you all and am so grateful for all your prayers.

Love,
-- 

Sister Hope

Splitting up is Hard to do! July 11, 2016

Another week has just flown by! I'm loving every minute of it. 

Monday was the Fourth of July, so even though English people don't really celebrate that, we had a zone BBQ. It was interesting and short because we had to travel like an hour to get to the chapel they were holding it at. And by the time we got there, all the buns were gone, so that was interesting. After the BBQ, we went and had a lesson with Jim and re-taught him the Restoration because we weren't sure how much he took in last time at the doorstep. We were right, he was more worried that we were standing out in the rain than what we were actually saying. So it was good we planned to re-teach him. Then the most amazing thing happened! We were waiting for our bus at the interchange and this drunk guy named Gordon who always talks to us started trying to give Sister Sovala a cardigan and his friend, Andy, came up and asked if he was bothering us. We laughed and said we know Gordon and he wasn't bothering us at all. Well then Gordon started talking to me (and I honestly can't remember much what he said) and Sister Sovala talked to Andy. He said he's been looking for a way to turn his life around and so Sister Sovala talked to him about Jesus Christ, taught him to pray, and committed him to work towards baptism. IN THE BUS STATION! I was so shocked. But then I looked at Andy. He just seemed to be radiating. I can't even describe it, but it was so obvious that Heavenly Father was mindful of him and loved him so much and he was definitely the person we were supposed to be talking to. It was quite awesome.

Tuesday we had a lesson with a less-active named Lavinia. She still reads the Book of Mormon and prays and talks to the missionary who baptized her, but doesn't go to church for personal reasons. We talked to her about the restoration and the importance of church and she said she'll come next week. She had already promised to babysit her sister's kids this week, so she couldn't. Then I was craving Chinese food, but all we had time for was McDonalds. By the way, McDonald's here is a lot nicer than McDonald's in the states. Anyways, they had a chinese dipping sauce, so surprisingly enough, McDonald's satisfied my Chinese craving for the most part. Then we went to the library and I did the technology assessment to prove I'll use my iPad responsibly. And then we tried by Andy's house, but he wasn't in. So we had a lesson with Becky instead and then went to teach Graham. He's doing so well!

Wednesday we had district meeting and set our district goals to "baptise" (English Spelling...): Book of Mormon in finding, Adjust the lesson to the investigator, Pray in Planning, Teach when you find and find when you teach, Involve the members, Speak to everyone, and Enjoy the work. It was really great. Then we were supposed to have a chapel tour with Graham, but he called us and said he was too drunk because his friend came over. So we had a lesson with Jim instead. Then on our way back to town, we were on the bus and saw Andy walking down the road. So we ran off the bus as fast as possible and talked to him. He had been in the hospital with blood clots in his legs. He said he really wanted to talk to us, but he had to get to the pharmacist before they closed. So we followed him. They were closed and he went crazy. He hit his head against the wall and it started bleeding. We had no idea what to do. So we said a prayer with him and he just kinda ran off after that. Yeah, it was crazy. So then we tried by another guy's house, but he didn't answer after he said he was home. Not fun. 

Thursday. We started off our day with a lesson in the park with Nathan. It turned more into a grass fight..but it was fun! Haha then we went to stop by some less actives. One wasn't in, one invited us back for Saturday, and one was just plain awkward! So we stopped by and this guy answered the door and he wasn't the person we were looking for. He was a guy we had talked to in the street a couple weeks ago and got really mad we asked him what the score of the football game was the night before instead of Jesus because he felt we were hiding our true intentions...Now we're at his door. And he thinks we've been following him. And he's not happy. We laughed and said we'd update our records. Anyways, then we had a lesson with Darren and it went pretty good actually. Then we had another lesson with Graham. He was having a really hard OCD day and at first wasn't sure he wanted us to come over, but decided he needed us to because we help him. He is so cool! He may turn into an eternal investigator, but he wants us there, so that's a plus!

Friday was an adventure. We had weekly planning and then had a role-play lesson with Becky because we were going on splits for an hour afterwards with Pam and Becky. So that was good, but then the lady we were going to visit, wasn't in. So we went to a less-active instead. It was pretty good! We met back up a couple hours later and then had a lesson with Pam about feeling the Holy Ghost. So it was a good day, but a very quick day. It was especially great for me because I got to feel more comfortable in my own teaching and finding abilities because I didn't have Sister Sovala to lean on.

Saturday went well-ish. We did a full-day split after visiting another less-active named Michael. And it was really hard because Becky had a sore leg and didn't want to walk. That kinda contridicted with missionary work...we had a lesson with Jim and wound up having to drop him as an investigator because he said he wants to learn, but he'll never get baptized and he knows he won't and so he asked us to stop asking him...so we had to drop him. Then we had a lesson with Ephraim! He's back from London! We confirmed him for an interview on Saturday! So make sure to keep him in your prayers! Then we went and visited Pam's husband and had a great lesson with him. We wanted to have a one-on-one lesson with him from the beginning, so it worked out! I was very grateful though at the end of the day to be back with Sister Sovala.

We had church on Sunday, obviously. We taught Young Women's, so that was interesting! We only have one YW in the branch and she didn't want to go into Relief Society. It was especially interesting because we didn't have the book to teach from at our flat, so we couldn't prepare a proper lesson. But it still went good and she came out of her shell quite a bit! Then we had a lesson with Ephraim on the blessings of tithing and then had our first lesson with a man named Carlos. It went ok and he agreed to work towards August 8th as a baptismal goal!

So yeah! My thought today comes fromRobert D. Hales "Preparations for the Restoration and the Second Coming: My Hand Shall Be Over Thee"

"In the Lord's service, the path is not always easy. It often requires sacrifices, and we will likely experience adversity. But in serving Him, we discover that His hand is truly over us."

-- 

Sister Hope