Dear family and friends,
What a whirlwind of a
week! We spent Monday in the Rotherham Chapel saying goodbye to people and
hanging out. Then we had a lesson with Nathan, tried by Ephrem but he wasn't
in, and then had a lesson to say goodbye to Pam and her family. I almost cried
leaving them! It didn't feel real and then we went back to the packed up
apartment and suddenly it was very real. We were leaving Rotherham and trusting
our people and friends to the Elders...we were a little scared, but going forth
with faith!
Tuesday was horrible!
The zone leaders came to help us carry our suitcases down the stairs and take
our phone and keys and any leftover food we had. Then we caught a taxi to the
train station and just waved our hands helplessly until three guys offered to
carry our suitcases for us 😀 it worked. Both of us had three suitcases each
so we did need the help! Then we got on a train to Huddersfield and met the
sisters at the train station. They showed us to the bus station and we caught a
bus to Horbury. Again, three suitcases each. So we get off the bus and are
trying to figure out how to get up the hill. Well I had a luggage strap to
connect two of mine together, so I was ok, but I had to walk backwards to keep
my balance and pull that way. Sister Sovala was running two up, then running
back for her last one. It was like leap frog. We got so irritated though
because so many people just watched us. I thought English people were supposed
to be nice! But no. They just told us to not overpack our vacation next time.
Anyways, we found the flat and unpacked a little and then looked through the
area book to get oriented. We were left with no investigators and no less
actives. So we were a little overwhelmed that we literally had to start from
the ground up. Then we had tea at the missions leaders house and ward
coordination afterwards. So that was good! We got a lot of good information
about the area and were able to see why we were needed here instead of
elders...no offence to all you elders out there 😇 oh fun fact about Horbury: this is the town
that "Onward Christian Soldiers" was written during the war.
So Wednesday we had
district meeting, or as our district leader likes to call them, Ford Fiestas.
Because he's Elder Ford...then we came back for lunch and the set out to knock
door. For hours! And no success. But we did get in with a lady to talk
about prisons. She works there and sister Sovala wants to do that at some point
maybe. But it was good because at the end she started asking about God so some
seeds were planted there! Then we had another tea appointment with a family but
the elders didn't tell them we were sisters so they thought we were Jehovah
Witnesses and got really excited to see the debate between us and the
elders...it was pretty funny!
Thursday was pretty much
the same. Just a bunch of tracting. We have the smallest geographical area in
all of England, so we basically are just choosing an area a day. And most of it
has been knocked so many times the people are really irritated. But it's been
good still. Then another tea appointment and then visited a member of the ward
nearby who were so great!
We had weekly planning
on Friday and finished sorting out the area book and calling people to
see if they were interested. They weren't. So we went out and did some more
knocking. We had tea with the bishop and his family afterwards and it was so
good. The members here are so good to us missionaries! It really does make up
for all the rejection we're getting
Saturday wasn't the best
for me either. I've been getting really bad headaches the past couple of days,
so I called sister Turvey to get some advise and she told me to take a nap. So
I took a nap after lunch for two hours and it didn't help. But luckily the
brother who we had tea with was a physiotherapist and was able to give me an
adjustment. So that helped for the night at least!
I woke up Sunday with
another really bad headache. So our district leader came to our chapel after
church and gave me a blessing. Then the funniest thing happened on the bus. He
tried talking to this lady and she just got really scared and wouldn't look at
him. Then he turned away and she mouths to me "what's wrong with
him?!?" I just shrugged my shoulders and started talking to her. My hair
was covering my badge most of the way and because of the angle I don't think
she would've seen it anyways. Anyways she kept glaring at him and rolling her
eyes and then she turned back around to me and said "I think he's a
Mormon. They're everywhere on the busses. Be careful" I just smiled and
said I would. Then sister Sovala and I got off the bus and I saw her glare at
me when she finally saw my badge. Oh it was so funny! So then we had tracting
and got in with a few formers who weren't very interested, but still nice! Then
came the really sad news. We were waiting for the bus to go in for the night
and President Turvey called. I am getting interim (he doesn't like the word
emergency because he doesn't want it to sound like something is wrong or
someone did something wrong) transferred to a place called Louth. I have no
idea why but I only got to serve here for less than a week. So crazy! It should
be good though! My new companion is from Spain, so I might get to learn a
little Spanish!!!! So excited for another adventure! Only this time the AP's
get to help with my luggage! 👍
So yeah, my spiritual
thought is from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's "Tomorrow the Lord Will Do
Wonders Among You"
"The great thing
about the Gospel is we get credit for trying if we don't always succeed"
I know this is so true!
This is something we tell investigators all the time. The Lord doesn't expect
us to be perfect, but we can be perfect at trying. As long as we're trying to
improve, we are succeeding! So keep trying everybody! It's so worth it!😎
Much love,
Sister Hope
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