Drawing Christ into Our Lives -- May 29, 2017

Hello everyone! Another week in England has come and gone!

So Monday we had PDay. We spent the day in Ashington and Morpeth doing some shopping and stuff. Just a relaxing day...then we did a little knocking and had a lesson with Kayleigh. She taught us the Restoration and even drew it out for her Faith in God requirements, she had to teach an FHE on the Restoration, so that's what she did!

Then we did a little more knocking and street contacting the rest of the night...so not much to report.

Tuesday we spent the morning at the car place so they could replace our headlight for us. Then we had companionship Study and lunch before picking up Sharon and having a lesson with a man named Gary. He is so cool! He really soaked in everything we said, and he even prayed! But unfortunately, his daughter is worried he's taking too much on, so he doesn't want to meet with us frequently...not fair! Then because it was a beautiful day and our next lesson cancelled, we went to the beach and talked to some lovely people there. Then we saw Heather and then went home for tea and the Book of Mormon Class. It was on Alma the Younger this time. So that was a good lesson!

Wednesday was especially fun because Sister Magallano had fun telling everyone it was my birthday! We were late to District Meeting because of an accident on the highway, but when we got there all the elders started singing Happy Birthday, so that was fun! Then we went to do service for a member on her allotment. We just helped her plant a few vegetables and prepare the soil a bit. Then we had companionship Study and tried by a bunch of people and did a bit of knocking. Then we had a tea appointment and they were sad they didn't know beforehand it was my birthday, so they threw together a little something and sang to me! I did feel bad though because I though Sister Magallano had already told them...oh well! Then we went to do another service project. We helped a less active paint her fence and clean her windows. So grateful my mom taught me to use newspaper on windows. Helped a lot!

Thursday was so HOT! I even got a little sunburn! Oh well. So we were out all day street contacting and knocking. We did have a lesson with John and Jackie though now that Jackie is out of the hospital! We talked with them about their wedding date and their baptismal goal to get that all sorted. AND their kids have said they want to learn! So we'll be working with them a lot this week since school is off for a week. Then we did more walking around and went back to the beach because...why not on a beautiful day? Then we had tea and went to the Relief Society Activity and learned to index! That was fun! And then because by this point EVERYONE had found out it was my birthday, they got me a cake and sang again...

Friday was really short again. So we had weekly planning all morning that went a little over time. Then we went to see a member and talk to her about her goals. She's going on a six week holiday now though, but she's got amazing goals for the My Plan! Then we had companionship Study at the chapel to practice giving a chapel tour and then went to tea with Pam and she had invited Bill as well. So that was good! Then we had a lesson with a less active and part member family about the Restoration and then had a chapel tour with Jennifer. So it was a very busy evening!

Saturday was another busy day...so we had two lessons with less actives in the morning before lunch. Did a little knocking and tried by a new less active we just heard about. Then had a lesson with Heather and Kurt about the Restoration. Then we rushed off to see Eileen. Then we had a member lesson to go over the area Plan and then we had a lesson with John and Shannon about the Priesthood. Then we came home for studies and tea...and collapsed!

Sunday was good. We had church, obviously. Then we had lunch and went out knocking and trying by less actives. So that was good. Then we had companionship Study at the chapel and missionary coordination as well. Then 12 weeks and tea. 

So yeah, that was my week! Hope you had one just as eventful!

My spiritual thought comes from Elder Russel M. Nelsons talk this Conference, which is what we read in Relief Society yesterday...

"God so loved the world that He sent His Only Begotten Son to help us. And His Son, Jesus Christ, gave His life for us. All so that we could have access to godly power--power sufficient to deal with the burdens, obstacles, and temptations of our day. Today I would like [you to think] about how we can draw into our lives the power of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ."

It is a daily choice to come unto Christ. Let's think about it daily, shall we? He has so much power to offer us if we will just reach out to Him!

Love you all!
Sister Hope

I'm a car mechanic and I didn't know it!! -- May 22, 2017

Hello everybody! It's been another great week! So let's get started!

We spent Monday in Newcastle with the Sisters there and had a blast! We saw some of the old cathedrals and the castle as well! It was quite beautiful to say the least! Despite the fact that yes, the raining season has begun and grey skies are back in fashion. We still had a great day! Then we all came back to Ashington for exchanges! I was with Sister Reynolds this time. We went to see the Griffiths and read a Conference talk with her. And then went knocking until 9. We found some lovely people, three of whom even said we could come back! So that's exciting!

Tuesday we had a full day of knocking. We had no luck in the morning, but then we had lunch and companionship study and headed back out. We went to see Winifred and then headed out to knock some more. We found this man who has a two year old son and he and his wife are looking for a church to settle down in! So that's pretty exciting! The other sisters also had a ton of success and got five return appointments for next week! Then the STLs left and we went to the Book of Mormon Class and then had 12 Weeks.

Wednesday we had district meeting in the morning and then went to see a member who asked us to go help in her allotment next week! We're the first missionaries (I think) she's asked to help! So that's a good sign we're gaining her trust! Then we went to see Heather and did a bit of street contacting afterwards. Then we picked up Sharon Wylie and went to see one of the people I found on Monday with Sister Reynolds. He said "you know, I haven't thought about my relationship with God for a long time, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since you left on Monday!" He's so excited to keep meeting with us! Then we came in for our studies and went to see Becca! She's not doing too well, so any prayers would be appreciated!

Thursday we went to see a less active named Lesley for the first time. We read a General Women's Session Talk with her and talked about the importance of being the example for her family. Then we had a lesson with Kurt in the library and she taught us about prophets! Then we had lunch and went to see John and Jackie. Well, Jackie was still in the hospital, so John opened the door and said we'd have to wait another week...so instead we ran across the street and grabbed a member and then had a lesson with him. Then we did a little knocking in the rain and had our studies before Branch Council.

Friday was short. But great! We went to Newcastle and did our Weekly Planning with the STLs and then had interviews with President. Then we did 2 straight hours of knocking...WITH KURT!!! He's so serious about preparing for a mission, it is amazing! He was super quiet, but he said he wants to keep coming out with us when we knock in town! Then we had tea and companionship Study and went to see Jennifer Thompson. She's still being stubborn about coming to church on Sundays, BUT we invited her to have a chapel tour and she said yes! So baby steps!

Saturday we had a wedding! A couple in our Branch got married :) and so we went to talk to their families. It was great! And I even curled ALL of my hair! Thanks to the new schedule, I actually had time! It was a great accomplishment! Anyways, the wedding was a blast and then we went and did...more knocking. Now to why I'm a car mechanic...so we went to see this less active named Bill. And he said he couldn't come to church because his car died. So we offered to give him a jump. He said he'd tried, and it didn't work. But we insisted he try again. Well it didn't work. But then I got out of our car and tried to turn his key and I don't know what happened, but it worked! So he came to church! Then we went to see a guy Sister Magallano had met, but our member cancelled on us, so we had to talk to him outside the door instead...but he's been reading the Book of Mormon and is so excited about it! So that was good! Then we saw Heather again and came in for studies and tea.

Sunday was another short day. We had church. Then we went to see an elderly lady in our Branch who's been sick for two weeks to see what we could do for her. Then we tried by another new less active we came across and she let us in, so we had a get to know you lesson with her and then had missionary coordination. Kurt is officially a Branch Missionary, so he came with us! Then we had tea and 12 Weeks...what a day!

So yeah, that was my week! My Spiritual Thought for the week is from Conference 

"Kindness is the essence of a celestial life. Kindness is how a Christlike person treats others. Kindness should permeate all of our words and actions at work, at school, at church, and especially in our homes."

-President Thomas S. Monson "Kindness, Charity, and Love"

Just be kind. That's what the Prophet has asked of us :)

Love you all!

Sister Hope

Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of Heaven!! -- May 15, 2017

This week went way too fast...again! So for those of you keeping track, I hit my year mark on Thursday and reflecting on the last year and how much I've grown and experiences has honestly kinda scared me. I keep thinking I'm about to go home, and then am grateful I still have 6 months to serve and continue growing!

Anyways, so on Monday, we had a great PDay. After shopping and whatnot, we went to the Alnwick Castle! It was such a blast! We were there much longer than the first time I went, so we actually got to see all of it! So that was a lot of fun! We even met up with some other sisters in our area he there, so that
was nice! Then we went back to Ashington for tea and emailing, which is why I was a little late with my emails last week! Then we went to have a first lesson with this girl we met, but she wasn't in and her dad said she was at work. So that was pretty sad, except then we got to see Kayleigh and we had a lesson with her on following the Prophet. We read President Monsons last Conference talk and talked about reading the Book of Mormon everyday. Then we saw the Griffiths and since they didn't make it to church, we went over the lesson we had in Relief Society about building our faith to build our self-reliance!

Tuesday we decided to sacrifice the car so we could talk to more people and take the bus. So we walked to see Kurt at the library and had a lesson with him and then walked back. Unfortunately, none of the people we talked to were interested. So then we decided to try by a few less actives in the area and they weren't in. So we decided to take the bus to Heather's. Then we came back for companionship Study and tea and then headed to the chapel for our Book of Mormon Study class and walked home.

Wednesday we had district meeting in the morning and then spent the afternoon visiting less actives and members to find out how their missionary work is going. That took most of the afternoon. Then we had our studies and tea before going to see a few people. We had a mini lesson with Becca and then saw Tony Medd at the library to talk about the sacrament and then went to see the Norris family. We had a great lesson about the Atonement and using it to forgive people. That took the rest of the night and so we came in!

Since we didn't find any potentials on Tuesday, we sacrificed the car again on Thursday. We had a lesson with Sharon at the chapel and then did a lot of walking, knocking, and trying by formers. We did take a break though to celebrate my year mark!

I love donuts...too much! We did have a ton of good conversations, but no interest :/ but that's ok! We keep going forward! After studies and tea, we went to what we thought was Branch Council...but apparently they decided to switch up the weeks, so it got moved to next week instead. So we dropped in on a less active family and got to know them!

Friday we had weekly planning all morning and then went to see Heather. After Heather's we went to see Eileen and Bill. Then we did a little street contacting before a tea appointment. Then we tried by a referral from the elders and came in for companionship study. So a very short day...very short.

Saturday we spent the morning and afternoon in Morpeth visiting members and less actives. It was so good to hear the member's missionary efforts! It's so good! Then we came in for studies and tea. Then we tried by the referral again and she still wasn't in. So we went to have a lesson with Jennifer Thompson. Another pretty short

Sunday was really short, but really great :) since it was Mother's Day in the States, I got to Skype my family! But anyways, we sacrificed the car again, and got to church like 2 minutes before it started...
So yeah, we had church, and five of the less actives we've been working with came to church! Sister Magallano and I spoke in sacrament meeting, so that was good! Then we hooked up Skype and Sister Magallano Skype her family first and then I got to Skype mine! It was so great to talk to them! Then we went to walk home, but got lazy and caught the bus...then we had companionship Study, went to missionary Coordination and then came in for 12 weeks and tea!

So yeah that was my week! So instead of a spiritual thought, I'd like to share a poem that one of my companions (Sister Tanielu) and I wrote for Mothers Day during a companionship study we couldn't think of anything else to do and I've been saving it all this time!

"Mother's Day 💕

Long before this world began,
We were presented with a beautiful plan.
To Earth we would come one day
A place to learn, grow and play.

Eagerly I awaited my turn
To see what I would learn.
I knew I'd have a family
I hoped my father would be manly

But my mother dear
I knew would have no fear
She would be my rock
And watch me like a hawk

So finally to Earth I came
An innocent child with no blame
Tutored by her careful hand
On my own I learned to stand

She shared things temporal
But more important, spiritual
She taught me through song
What was right and what was wrong

Until one day, at age eight,
Sacred Covenants I did create.
Washed clean and pure once again
I learned to repent of every sin

I stumbled and fell along the way
But with my mother's faith I did stay
And as I continued to grow,
A big decision did show

To wear Christ's name on my chest
I left home to give Him my best.
Strengthened and encouraged by her,
I changed my first name to "Sister"

Eighteen months will come and go
But there's one thing I'll always know.
Like Father in Heaven, my mother
Has love like no other

When I Return with Honor,
Through life's choices I will wander.
I will endure to the end
With the Holy Ghost as my friend

And as the Plan continues on and on,
In the Spirit world we will teach those beyond.
Until Christ comes once more,
A perfected body to restore

The things I learned and did on Earth
Since the time of my birth
Will come again to memory
And I'll receive a place in eternity

With family, dear to me,
An eternal unit, we will be.
In the Celestial courts on high
Never again to say goodbye"

Hope y'all had a great week! Until next week! Onwards and upwards!


Sister Hope

Little Miracles Everyday!! :) -- May 8, 2017

Hiya! Sorry this is so late, we just had an amazing PDay at Alnwick Castle and are just getting in to email....

Anyways, we had a great, uplifting PDay on Monday! We took a nap in the morning and then cleaned the house and car and did a little grocery shopping and then practically moved into the chapel :) we took our blankets and a few church moves we had borrowed from a member and watched them! So we watched one called "The Letter Writer", one called "The Errand of Angels", and one called "One Man's Treasure"! They were so good and so uplifting for missionaries! Definitely my favorite movie PDay day as a missionary thus far! Then we got tea really quickly and went to see Heather and then saw Sister Griffith. She had a lot of missionary stories to tell us! Then we rushed off and went to Newcastle to spend the night with the rest of the Sisters in our zone.

On Tuesday we woke up around 5:30 and got ready for the day. For ten sisters to all get ready in less than an hour, I'd say we did a pretty miraculous feat there! Anyways, we got the coach to Billingham and had Zone Conference. It was so great! We had a lot to talk about and a lot to practice! Although it was pretty cool because I got to see three of my mission babies! Just missing Sister Manning...oh well, we'll get a full family photo at some point I hope :)

It was so great to be reunited! Then the other cool thing is I got a "Standards of Excellence" award because I've done my Standards of Excellence for four straight transfers! (So our mission President does Standards of Excellence a little differently. Each week, we set a personal goal and a companionship goal and if you meet each of those, then you sign it off and at the end of the transfer, you send it in to the mission office and after four transfers we get a trophy)

So anyways, that was pretty cool and I look forward to getting another one hopefully! Anyways, it was a great day, but we were exhausted and ready to go home. We did have one more visit with a member afterwards though to go over the Area Plan with her because Tuesday was the only day she was free. So we did that and were able to set some good goals with her.

On Wednesday we did service in Saltwell Park this morning as a Zone. It was pretty fun. We were in charge of the Japanese Gardens this time, which meant we basically just organised rocks for them and threw the white rocks back into the rock bed. Then when that was over, they asked us to do some painting by the tennis courts. So we put on some garbage bag dresses and went to work! Unfortunately the picture is on the other sisters iPad and I didn't get it, but I will soon! Then we drove the Chinese Sisters back to their flat and we went to start our busy day of lessons. Unfortunately, all of them cancelled. So instead of having four back to back lessons...we had four hours of knocking to do. With no luck, might I add. Although one cool thing was we stopped this lady with a baby and she turned out to be a less active we'd been asked to try by but felt we should wait until someone went with us...and it was actually a better conversation and situation since we didn't know who she was at first! So that was a cool miracle that proves the Lord works in mysterious ways! Then we had tea with the Broadfoots and went to the Book of Mormon study class and read and watched the story of the Tree of Life. I had forgotten how great that animated video was! Especially now that I'm older, I realise the symbolism so much more from it! Like...wow...

Thursday we saw Sharon Harrington and then our next lessons cancelled on us, so we did some street contacting and I found a great street sign! Well, actually I already knew it was there...I just finally got a picture with it!

We then went to see Sharon Wylie and had a lesson with her about faith. After that, we saw a lady named Linda who was blatantly honest she wanted nothing to do with our church, so for some strange reason I invited us over to read the Bible with her. Which she accepted, so we went to read the Bible with her...it went ok. She has the New English Version that rewrites it to be in modern English. Man, it lost a lot of the authentic feel! But oh well, it was cool to hear someone else's views! Then we went to see Heather and then did some beach contacting. We tried by Becca again, but she wasn't in. So we had tea and then went to see Kayleigh and talked to her about the Faith in God program and how she can do that with us! So that'll be fun to do!

Friday was a little strange. We had a very unfocused weekly planning today. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but neither of us were feeling up to it..but we went to the Relief Society Lunch afterwards and Lorna got called in to work. She came just as we were cleaning up, but the sisters made her feel really welcomed and she had some pie and we gave her a chapel tour! Then we went to see a potential, and this time she was in! And she wants us to come back on Monday! We're so excited! We then had our studies and went to have tea with a few of the single members. It was so good because they all had friends they were working with or someone they'd thought of to start working with! So then we tried by a less active family and they weren't in, so we tried by a few more and then headed off to see Jennifer Thompson. We shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ Footprint lesson with her and it was really good! She opened up a lot and I hope she'll come back soon! It was weird bough because as we were leaving, we got a call from our District Leader asking if we were in safe (8:53...) and then to call him when we got in safely...so we did and he said "ok, I'll call you back in a few minutes, I just have to report this to the Zone Leaders" so we're hoping nothing crazy went down...

On Saturday we saw Kurt in the morning at the library and the greatest thing ever happened! He cut his hair! It was so great! Anyways, he taught us about tithing and it was ok...then we saw Winifred and did the Gospel of Jesus Christ Footprints lesson with her as well. Then we got lunch and went to Heathers again. We were going to go to the beach to air out, but decided to try by some people instead. They weren't in. So we went to see Eileen and talked with her about the Plan of Salvation and then went to have tea with a part member family, the Knights. We had a good conversation with them about religion in general. We're still not sure what his point of interest would be, but we'll find it, I'm sure! Then we came in for our studies.

Sunday was a very short day today. So we had church and it was good. 2 less active families showed up! And we got to teach the Primary Sharing Time about repentance! It was so good! I just love Primary! Then we went to see Becca. She let us in and she and her friend just basically vented to us for about two hours. I honestly really felt like a missionary, just there to listen and support how Christ would. We were there way too long, but she really needed it. Then we went to her mom's house with her and got to talk to her mom as well. Her mom was pretty down, so we cheered her up a bit and we're able to really testify to her. And guess what?!? She wants to come to the Book of Mormon Study class and hopefully even church next week! Then we came in for lunch and tea to break our fast and headed out to missionary coordination before coming in for studies! 

My Spiritual Thought for the week is from Zone Conference, from President Turvey. He was talking about faith and he kinda rebuked us (but don't worry, he showed forth an increase of love afterwards!) and said

"You can't claim to have faith if you're disobedient. You can't claim to have faith if you don't open your mouth. And you can't claim to have faith if you have low expectations of your area" 

This really struck me this week as I've reflected over the past year and how last year at this time, I was going to get on a plane in three days. A plane to build my faith. To build my obedience, to share my testimony, and to work hard. I've seen that. I know I'm not a perfect missionary, but as my Mission Mommy always said, "just be perfect at trying" Christ takes our seeds of faith, whatever we have to offer, and he builds us. But our fears block our faith sometimes. True faith is putting complete trust in Him and doing what He asks. Without questioning Him. There's so much in this world that requires faith. And we can't claim to have faith if we're not willing to do the small, simple things He asks of us.

Anyways, that's my tangent. Hope you enjoyed my week and I'll talk to you next week!

Love you guys!

Sister Hope

Busy Busy Bees!! Yep, that's what we are!! -- May 1, 2017

Hello everyone! Hope you had a great week like I did!

On Monday, we had a pretty relaxing PDay. We've decided to have a new tradition and since we were both so exhausted from all our traveling and whatnot, we took a nap. Which was quite nice! Then we did our shopping and headed to Newcastle to spend some time with the other missionaries and watch some movies. Then we headed to see Eileen and we taught her the Restoration and then went to see the Griffith family. It was a pretty short evening, but it was good :)

Tuesday we had a service project and helped a member move houses. It was supposed to start at 10:00 and we got there at 9:59 and it was almost done by the time we got there. Gotta love Elder's Quorums! Then our lesson didn't show up, so we went to see Heather and talked to her about the Plan of Salvation and then did finding in her area. We did a little knocking and then did street contacting at the beach. Then we came home for tea and companionship study and then went to a Book of Mormon Class our Branch Mission Leader is doing. It was great! We just read the stories and then watched the Animated Scripture Stories. Brought back my childhood :D

Wednesday we had district meeting in the morning about exact obedience and that went over...so we went straight to Lorna's house. She's also from the Philippines and so she got along really well with Sister Magallano! We taught her the Restoration and invited her to the Relief Society Activity this week which she accepted! We're so excited! Then we had a really late lunch and went to the library and had a lesson with Kurt. He taught us the Word of Wisdom and then we had a lesson with Tony and Kurt joined us for that. We read the talk "Stand Up Inside and Be All In" ah I just love that talk! It was such a great lesson too! Then we tried by a potential and she wasn't in, which was ok, we were late anyways and had to be to a tea appointment anyways. Then we had companionship Study and a relief society Activity. We watched the women's conference. Then we tried by Becca and she let us in for a bit but had to go. So we had a few extra minutes so we walked around and these kids asked us if we believed in Jesus because they had a friend who had a or of questions...well he just wanted to argue with us and they were laughing at us the whole time. But we handled it and we're thankful we could go in after that!

Thursday we did all our studies in the morning and then went out to see a few less actives and do some knocking. Then we saw Heather again and did more Finding on the beach before going to tea with our Branch President's family and then took Eileen out teaching with us. We saw a man named Bill and talked to him about his story and how we could help him. Then we had a lesson with a part member family and they want us to keep coming and teaching them! So we're pretty excited about that! Then we went back to Lorna's because she had made us a Philippino dessert!

It was so good! It's like sweet rice with caramel on top...

Friday we had our weekly planning session and lunch and then went to have a lesson with Becca, but she wasn't in so we got gas for the car and then headed to see John and Shannon and taught them about tithing! It went pretty well. Then we travelled to Morpeth and saw Winifred. She talked a lot, but we were able to talk to her about Thomas S. Monson and read his recent talk with her about the Book of Mormon!! Then we had tea with another member and then had companionship Study at home and went to see Jennifer Thompson before heading back to Newcastle for the night.

So Saturday we had exchanges in Newcastle. It was interesting! I was with Sister Barrett and we had such a fun day! So we started out the morning with knocking. We knocked for about two hours...and literally only one door opened. So we went in for lunch and companionship study and then headed back out! We went to try by a referral who wasn't in, so we knocked in her area and then went to try by a member and talked with her about Jesus Christ and doing her dailies! Then we came in and closed the exchange and then Sister Magallano and I headed back to Ashington. We saw a less active family and then came in for tea.

Sunday we had church and it was so good! We got to give a presentation in the combined portion of third hour for fifth Sunday about the Area Plan. It was really good! We had them list their blessings and then we talked about how the Area Plan is meant for us to strengthen the blessings we already have and how we're supposed to try and visit with every active member once a month and we had some pretty positive responses! Then we had lunch and went to see a less active whose a single mom and since her kids are all starting school this week she's asked us to reteach her all the lessons so she can feel caught up enough to come to church! And she also wants to come to the Relief Society Activity this week! Then we did some knocking, had our missionary coordination meeting, and headed home.

My Spiritual Thought for the week is from Conference:

"God knows you and invites you to know Him. Pray to the Father, study the scriptures, seek to do God’s will, strive to become like the Savior, and follow righteous mentors. As you do, you will come to know God and Jesus Christ, and you will inherit eternal life."

-'And This Is Life Eternal' By Elder C. Scott Grow

Also, I just wanted to include a line from the movie we watched today.

"We are Angels hiding in the bones of humans" 😇 

Go be angels :D

Sister Hope

Be All IN!!! -- April 24, 2017

Hello all! So this has been a busy, busy week! 

Monday I spent the day in Newcastle with Sister Reynolds. Sister Kirk and Sister Berg got a ride down to Leeds with Sister Berg's mom first thing in the morning. So we did some stuff around the flat before going to the chapel. We had a good time emailing and talking to each other and then six o'clock rolled around, so we went out. We knocked one door, and had a really good conversation with them and then we walked to a Members house to have FHE with him and a less active friend. We taught the first part of the Plan of Salvation. It was so good! Then we walked back and knocked one more door and had a good conversation with her! It was such a great testimony builder to me to see how important it is to never waste time! Because both these people accepted a return appointment! Anyways, then we went back in for the night and went to bed.

Tuesday was insane. So we got up at 5:30 so we could get our metro to the train station to go to Leeds. Well, the metro broke down. By the time they got it running again and we got to the train station, we had missed our train by 3 minutes. So we caught the next train in half an hour and made it to Leeds. But we were really late. So the STLs picked us up and drove us to the chapel for our meeting. The trainers had some instruction from the APs and then we got to meet our trainees! My new companion is named Sister Magallano (Maga (as in magazine) LI (yes there's an invisible I in her name) ano (as in ah! no!)) she's from the Philippines and so excited to work!

Anyways, then we had President's instruction and lunch before going to Cow and Calf Rock, where President Turvey has us dedicate our missions to the Lord! Then we went back into Leeds and did 40 minutes of proselyting before having tea with President and Sister Turvey! So all the trainees, trainers, and departing missionaries, office missionaries, and President and Sister Turvey had tea together. It was so great! And...since President and Sister Turvey have a beautiful piano...Sister Kirk and I asked if we could play our duet. So that was fun! After dinner, we got a ride back to the train station, and caught a train to Newcastle and then we drove home from there. Made it back around 10:15...but all was good!

Wednesday we hit the ground running! We had district meeting on making good plans and then came home to do our shopping and lunch. After that I began introducing her to a lot of the less actives in the area and we did a little knocking. First door agreed to have us back next week! Fingers crossed! Then we had a tea appointment with the Broadfoots and headed home for companionship study and 12 weeks. Then we headed out and saw a part member family in the area and taught them the Restoration!

Thursday was another busy day. We had a lesson with a member and then a less active first thing in the morning. The member wanted us to show her where someone else lived because she wasn't good with directions, but wanted to visit this sister since she'd just gotten out of hospital. So we went and showed her. The only problem was that meant we'd have to skip our lunch. Well, the less active had just made some quiche and decided to give us some! Heavenly Father really does provide! So then we saw John and Jackie. They're kids we're home from school this week because its school holiday, so they asked us to the school their kids the Plan of Salvation. So we did that! Of course! Then we tried by some more people and did a little knocking and then went to the library to have lessons with Kurt and Sharon. They're doing really well! So that's good! Then we left to go have tea with the Redpaths where we found out we had Branch Council that evening...so we rushed off to have a quick lesson with Kayleigh about the Brother of Jared and prayer and then went to Branch Council. It was good we found out because it was all about missionary work in the branch! But that just meant no companionship study or 12 Weeks...

Fridays. Fridays always seem so short because we do planning ALL morning...oh well. It was good. I got to explain a lot about the area and we set some good goals! Then we went out to see some less actives and do knocking in their areas. It started pouring. So we went by one more person and had a lesson with her and she asked us to go see her daughter! We ran out of time for the night though and came in for tea and companionship study 

Saturday was a pretty good day. We tried by a bunch of people and went over the area Plan with them and then did some finding and visiting more members...then we had tea and companionship Study and then headed out to see one more person. We taught her the Restoration as well and then came in for the night. So it was pretty quick, but very good.

Sunday was a great day! Sister Magallano bore her testimony and got introduced to the rest of the members in the Branch. Then we had lunch and companionship study and then went to visit a less active. She's doing well and gave us a ton of tinned food she was about to throw out! Blessings! Then we went to visit a member and she invited us for tea this week! More blessings! Then we had missionary coordination with Brother Grimes and he gave us like three referrals to try by! Then we came home for 12 weeks and tea.

So that was our busy, busy week! Hope you enjoyed reading about it. And if not, you're almost done! 

My Spiritual Thought for the week is from Conference again...

"We don’t hold back to see what the minimum is we can get by with. The Lord requires the heart and a willing mind. Our whole heart! When we are baptized, we are fully immersed as a symbol of our promise to fully follow the Savior, not half-heartedly. When we are fully committed and “all in,” heaven shakes for our good. When we are lukewarm or only partially committed, we lose out on some of heaven’s choicest blessings."

Elder Gary B. Sabin 'Stand Up Inside and Be All In'

I love this symbolism of Baptism! It is so important for us to remember the covenant we made and to strive to be 'All In'! There's so much we can do in our life to be 'all in' and he great thing about the Gospel, is we can always improve. As long as we try earnestly to keep our Covenants, we can always be All in with God. What a wonderful Promise that is! What a wonderful Promise to remember and help others find!

Love y'all! Have a great week!

Sister Hope

Hope your Easter was as great as mine!! -- April 17, 2017

Well, it's Monday again, so I guess it's time for y'all to get a rundown of my week!!

We had a pretty good PDay Monday. Sister Kirk and I basically just ran her last minute errands. Then we went to the chapel for Zone PDay. We basically just talked and emailed, and there was a pretty fancy BBQ, led by the Zone Leaders! Anyways, we went to see Eileen and shared the "Principles of Peace: Faith" with her and then went to see the Griffiths. We were going to share the Easter Video with them on our iPad, but they decided they wanted to watch it on their fancy Smart TV, so they pulled up YouTube and got it going...and then the previous years' Easter Videos started showing after. So we watched 3-4 Easter Videos with them. It was like a missionary movie night!

We did street contacting in town Tuesday morning and then we had a lesson with Kurt and he taught us the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He did so good! He just wants to redo it one more time without notes! He's going to be such a great missionary soon! It just makes my heart so happy! Then we had lunch and companionship study and went to see Sharon Wylie and Heather before going to the Redpath's for tea. After tea, we went to see Jennifer Thompson and read "the First Easter" with her from the Book of Mormon! Such a great lesson! Lots to think about!

Wednesday was a strange day. District Meeting was moved back to the afternoon since one of the Elders had a doctor’s appointment. So we went to our chapel and had companionship Study and practiced the piano. Then we had lunch and went to District Meeting. The elders were still at the doctors...poor guys! But this is the part of our district that did show up!

But District Meeting was really good and on asking inspired questions to overcome concerns. Then we wound up staying and talking all together way too long. But it was because I needed a blessing and the Alnwick Elders wanted to talk. But I got a blessing and am still hoping for continued relief. This pain is getting to be a lot! But anyways, after District Meeting, we went and made a pit stop in New York!

Then we came back to our area and did a little Finding before tea at the Broadfoot's house and then saw Heather at the hospital and then went to meet a less active named Gwen. We had a really good conversation with her and it was so good to get to know her!

Thursday was so weird. Literally everyone cancelled or wasn't in. And Sister Kirk and I would have the same impression to go visit somebody, so we'd turn around and go. Well, they still weren't in! It was so strange! We literally saw like nobody! We had a full day planned and then didn't get to see anyone until the end. So we saw Kayleigh and read the Easter Story from her children's Book of Mormon and then went to see the Browns. We read the Easter Story with them too and they're planning on coming to church! Such a miracle! It was really funny because when we told them we were going to read from the Book of Mormon, so they'd need their Book of Mormons, they decided to turn it into a "race" so the mom was yelling at the daughter to hold her husband back and it was hilarious! I guess you had to be there...

Friday was another weird day. So I did weekly planning by myself while Sister Kirk packed up her suitcases. It actually went pretty well as I didn't disagree with any of the plans! ;) nah, in all seriousness, she did help me plan what to teach people while she packed, I just put in when we'd see them or try by them. Then after lunch, we tried by a bunch of people. None of them were in again...except this one Former Investigator who previously was really nice to us and so we stopped by and she started off on all these conspiracy stories about religion. Sister Kirk handled it pretty well and I just soaked up the knowledge from my senior companion and stayed silent so I wouldn't start arguing and make things worse. Anyways, then we went to the chapel and practiced the piano for our musical number on Sunday. When we recorded it, we realized we had a lot more to work on than we thought. So we spent time doing that and counted it towards part of our companionship study and then went to try by some members before tea.

Saturday was a pretty quick day, honestly. So we had missionary coordination first thing this morning and it was pretty good. Then we came home for lunch and travelled to Morpeth. We saw Winifred and Fred and then went to try by a member, but couldn't find her house. So we asked some random people on the street and they turned out to be members from another Stake visiting their mom. So that was pretty interesting! Anyways, the member wasn't there. So we went to see Heather, but she was too tired, so we went to do some street contacting and then piano practice. Then we had a lesson with John and Shannon. Anyways, then we went to see Sister Zywczok. She needs some service done, so we did that. We took apart an armchair for her into small bits that can go into the bins. It was hard work, especially in skirts and with dull tools. But we did it! Then we came home for tea and I got an interesting call from President Turvey. I'M TRAINING AGAIN!!!!!! WHOOT WHOOT!!!

Sunday! Wow! Such another strange day! So today was Sister Kirk's last Sunday here, so we did a musical number of "The Lord is My Shepherd" which was great. We had a lot of goodbyes which was strange for me in a sense. But it was still good. Then we had lunch/tea with the Hamilton's and headed up to Newcastle for a Music and the Spoken Word Fireside that Sister Berg and her family did. It was all about the last week of the Savior's life and it was so spiritual, I loved it! Than we came back and did companionship study for the last time! Crazy!!!! 

My Spiritual Thought for the week is from this Conference again!

"Heavenly Father is anxious to gather and bless all of His family. While He knows that not all of them will choose to be gathered, His plan gives each of His children the opportunity to accept or reject His invitation."

-President Henry B. Eyring "The Gathering of God's Family"

Heavenly Father has a plan for each of His children to learn about and choose to accept the Gospel. Sometimes that Plan goes well the first time we think it should, sometimes it won't be accepted until the eternities. But we must be in a place ourselves that when Heavenly Father tells us one of His children, who we know, is prepared for the gospel, we can act and we can change their eternity for the better!

Love you all!

Sister Hope

Happy Early Easter Everyone!! I went to the Castles! -- April 10, 2017

Monday was jam-packed! We decided to go castle hopping. The first was Warwick Castle.

Then we went to Alnwick Castle and Gardens. Alnwick Castle is where parts of Harry Potter and Downton Abbey were filmed. So that was pretty cool! Lots of touristy things to do and see. Including a poison garden where every plant is poisonous.

We didn't do too much more because we wanted to see more castles! So we went to Bamburg Castle.

Then we went to Holy Island. This used to be a monastery where the monks would live and is where Christianity started in England...the tides would come up and completely cover the road, so we had to get special permission to take the mission car. But we got it because the tides were good! So there was a Castle, but it was under renovation, so we only got to see it from afar. There were also some ruins, but we didn't want to pay to go in. So we saw the church instead. 

Then we left and after Holy Island, we stopped by one more Castle, the Chillingham Castle.

Then we came back and went out. We first went to see Heather in the hospital again to check up on her and then went to see the Griffith Family and had a lesson with them about the power of prayer and the Brother of Jared's experience praying. It was a great lesson!

Tuesday we had a pretty ok day. We were going to go do service for Becca, but she wasn't in and didn't answer her phone, so we went home and changed and had lunch and then went to help Heather with some things. She needed her bills payed since she's in the Hospital, so we went and found the right stuff. It took us two tries, so it took a while. Then we had a lesson with Kurt and he taught us the Plan of Salvation. He is doing so well! He knows the doctrine so well and is going to be such a great missionary! Then we went and payed the bills for Heather and went to see her to let her know we got it done. She was wanting to sleep again, so we left and did Area Book Finding until going to tea with Brother and Sister Redpath. We went through the Branch List with him, so we found out who has requested no contact and stuff like that. So that was such a blessing. Then we went to the chapel and had our companionship study there and watched the first few talks of the Sunday Afternoon Session.

Wednesday morning we went and did a Zone Service Project at a park in Gateshead. It was pretty fun, Sister Kirk and I were in charge of washing all the signs and making sure all the dirt was off. So we got to walk around and see the entire park. It's absolutely beautiful!

Then we came home for lunch and companionship study. After that, we finished putting the Branch List on our iPad and went to go do some finding. We went to the beach by Newbiggin and walked up and down talking to people for a few hours. It was so beautiful! And there's a weird statue there of a couple. So of course, I offered a Book of Mormon to them!

Then the beach cleared out, and we felt prompted to go to a riverside. There was one guy there and we talked to him for a long time. He said he wasn't interested (at first) but he was glad to talk to Mormons in a more natural setting because at his door is just uncomfortable. Then we found out he's been wanting to do his family history! So we're hoping he'll come to the family history class our Branch does!

Thursday was a pretty good day. I had a doctor’s appointment in the morning and then we drove back for lunch and went to see John and Jackie. Well, they forgot it was a Thursday, but they invited us in anyways. Which was good since we hadn't seen them in ages. Jackie was painting all the doors and frames (while John watched) so we kept shouting "Don't touch the white!" It was pretty funny. We stayed there for about two hours because their kids kept coming and so we were talking to them too. Then we went to see Heather and played Flip with her. Then we came in for tea and companionship study and then went to see Kayleigh. We talked to her about Easter and showed the new Easter Video "The Prince of Peace"

Friday we had Zone Training and Interviews all morning. It was pretty good. We talked about strengthening recent converts and asking inspired questions. Then we saw Eileen on our way home and showed her the Easter Video as well and talked about the Atonement. Then we finally had lunch and went to see Sharon Wylie about Easter as well. Then we had companionship Study at the chapel again to finish Conference! Such a good Session! We really enjoyed it! Then we saw another family. It was my first time meeting them, but we had a good conversation because the little girl is doing gymnastics, so we were talking about gymnastics and piano a lot! We did get to share the Easter Video with them too!

Saturday we had our lessons cancel on us this morning. So we tried by a few less actives and only one was in. So we got to know them and shared the Easter Video with them. Then we came in and combined our tea and lunch break so we could cook a proper meal to begin our fast with. Then we went to see a few more less actives. One cancelled and we had a lesson with another in her garden since it was an absolutely gorgeous day! We shared the...you guessed it! Easter Video with her. Then we went to the chapel and had a lesson with John and Shannon. We read the Conference talk "Stand Up Inside and Be All In" with them and talked about the baptismal covenants they'd just made and how we can be "All In" with those covenants. Then we headed over to see Jennifer Thompson and shared the Easter Video with her. She used to play the violin and she let me try it out! Of course Sister Kirk had to take a video. I'd say it was pretty good, considering I haven't played the violin in about seven years!

Sunday we basically moved into the chapel. So we had church, which was pretty good. Then we had brought a pizza to the chapel and heated it up afterwards to have lunch and then did our weekly planning. Then we practiced the piano a bit more and headed out to missionary Coordination. After that, we came in for tea and companionship study. So a very short day...but we saved our miles! So that's good! We're back on track now from Monday!

My Spiritual Thought for the Week comes from Conference:

"In our Premortal Life, we stood with the Savior. We trusted Him. We voiced our support, enthusiasm, and joy for the Plan of happiness set forth by our Heavenly Father. We leaned Not."

-Bonnie H. Cordon "Trust in the Lord and Lean Not"

I hope we can all regain that same trust, enthusiasm, and support we had then in this life. That is our goal!