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| With all of Emma's companions: Sis A, Emma, Cami, Sis K, Sis F |
21 June 2011
31 May 2011
16 May 2011
10 May 2011
11 January 2011
Update on letters
Sorry friends of Emma, I just posted a lot of letters and pictures I've been hoarding due to a combination of laziness and lack of time. I hope you get a chance to read some of the letters. There are a few pictures posted as well and if you don't have a lot of time I suggest you read letters #15 (she's training), #13 (funny English ward). Or look through the pictures posted.
Missionary Letter #15 (January 6, 2011)
so biggest news of the week!!!!
there are two new sisters coming in.
sis g--she's only been out for six months-- is training one! AND opening a new area!!! and sis k and i are training the other one!!!! what the heck?? how cool is that? we're the only ones training this transfer and we were all together! we had president's interviews yesterday, and he was just like, "yeah, i really trust you guys." isn't that so cool?? and sis k has only been out eight months, so it's not normal that she would train. and guess what? ours is from burma!!! she only speaks a little bit of english, comes from a tiny village and has never been in weather below like 85 degrees. haha! wow! can you believe that?
so we have to go to a training meeting on wednesday, and then, i get to be the one walking into that room singing the second verse of called to serve! good thing sis k will be doing pretty much everything and i just have to speak the best english and know the area.
i went into london on thursday and friday to switch and then switch back. isn't that crazy how much we go in? i went to ilford, which is in east london, and it is just full of people from india, and other places too, and english people as well. but it's the highest baptising area in the mission, and so it was fun. it was cool to go to a new area and see how different things can be. people weren't only in a rush all the time, but they'd stop and talk to us. people were willing to come and meet with us so easily! i couldn't even believe it. like 9 out of 10 people would talk to us, while here in canterbury it's like 1 out of 10 or 15 people that will talk to us. i'm glad i'm in canterbury though where we can go out into the country as well. i did feel like i would serve there sometime though. it would be nice. then i'd get to teach so much. i felt that way when i went into london centre though too, so i think i just get excited when i visit an area. haha.
well, i've been thinking a lot this week about how jesus teaches in the new testament. and about that one part, where he's teaching people from a boat in the sea of galilee. and his disciples come and ask why he teaches in parables, and he says, "he that hath ears to hear let him hear" and about how some people are listening, really listening, and some people just are not. i feel like that's how it is here, too. we tell hundreds of people the same thing and most of them aren't listening, at least not listening to hear, but a few of them do understand. a few can see beyond the parable, beyond what we teach and see why it's important. and then what do we do? well, all we do is invite them to "come and see" just as the saviour did. i like that. just that we're saying to come and see. we're not trying to force them to watch something, but to just come with us, and they can see for themselves. i think it's interesting too that i feel like it's like, first you hear--that's our job, to say something they can hear--then we give them the choice--come--and they have the choice to see for themselves. anyway, some things i liked.
Missionary Letter #14 (January 3, 2011)
so mom asked me about english people and their accents and if you just forget. and that is how it's been like the whole time, that i don't even recognise that they're saying funny things because it all already seems normal! haha. so i have to kind of watch for it and then think, "okay, that is NOT normal." like the congregation all having their input in sacrament meeting? i had to remind myself that that wasn't normal. haha! and i wrote another one yesterday from church. the bishop was giving the lesson in relief society, and he talked about goals and things, but he started off with a story that elder ballard gives about a husband and wife who want to get a divorce, and the story starts out with the judge saying, "what are the grounds of divorce?" and as soon as he said that, this old, hilarious lady in the ward who is always telling us the gossip in the ward and things burst in through the doors (we were in the chapel) and she just walks in and says, "men" and doesn't even smile and just goes and sits down. sis g and i were laughing so hard!! haha! and the american students. and then the english people just laugh a little quieter. it's like they love being clever, but they don't just laugh at what someone says, the goal is to up them after kind of, instead of in our family where we laugh for a while and then think of something else to say. haha!
on friday there was a memorial service for this 97 year-old woman from the ward. i had to play piano again because no one is in town that usually plays! but i knew what the hymns would be before hand so i practiced. the closing was nearer my god to thee, and since it's an easy one, i played it an octave higher and added some little frills on the top hand and some arpeggio type things on the bottom hand and played that for the last verse, and like everyone there told me how pretty it was! "it was like she was just going off into the stars" people said. and some of them started crying. it was cute.
well, we got half the day on new year's eve off and new year's too. sis g rented TEN movies and we watched all of them. haha! it was out of control. including hannah montana and camp rock 2. we watched the climb like seven times. haha!
well, yesterday, it was cool because we had two investigators at church. literally it feels like a miracle anytime an investigator comes to church. ever. yesterday this guy that we taught for like two months but we haven't heard from him this entire transfer came. he would never come before. we couldn't figure out why. he just wouldn't come. but then yesterday he was riding his bike to the train station, which is near church, and he just felt like he needed to go to church! so he just showed up!! what in the world??? it was so cool! so anyway. that was kind of a huge miracle.
anyway, this friday, i'm doing a workover in ilford! yay! so that's like the highest baptising area in the mission (it's full of immigrants--especially africans) and so that should be fun. just for a day. and then transfers is a week from wednesday! i'm gonna be so sad if sister g leaves. we're already making up a handshake for when we see each other later. it's to the justin bieber song. haha! oh man.
love you all so much!
Missionary Letter #13 (December 29, 2010)
so sis g kept having problems with her debit card and it not working, for like a month and a half, and she got permission to call home and call her bank in hawaii and everything, and we could only call them at like 10 at night because of the time difference and so finally they were like, "okay, go check and see if it works at an atm" and so we called the zone leaders to ask if we could go to check her card. so anyway, on monday sis g could finally go shopping!we had boxing day off on sunday as well. so we had another christmas sacrament meeting. and guess what happened? a fair amount of people were out of town, so before it started someone came up to the front and was like, "can anyone play the piano?" so of course i raise my hand. (of course?? i never did that at home.) anyway, so got to play for them! i've been practicing hymns though between lessons, i'm so much better at playing them! yay. we were singing number 211, which like no one ever sings, and so basically no one knew it, and a member of the bishopric came up in the MIDDLE of the song and was like, "could you stop right there, that sounds terrible." haha! so then he was like, "could you at least TRY to look happy while your singing? that sounds awful." and then all these members of the congregation started to break out and be like, "we don't know the tune! if we could sing it to a different tune we could--" "we don't know it!" and finally someone was like, "number 201! let's sing joy to the world!" i was cracking up! all these english people just discussing all of this. and i just stopped playing and listened, and then when she said that i just turned back around and started playing. hahaha! it was hilarious.our heating went out on monday morning, and they have to wait for shops to open again next week because guess what? england tries to make every excuse to take time off work. haha! so we have to wait for the shops to open so the landlord can order a part and then we have to wait for the part to come in. so we have an electric heater, which we all sit next to, and then we're okay at night and he's bringing a space heater. but for some reason there's enough hot water for one person to take a shower a day. so i had taken a shower on saturday, and then i didn't get a chance again until this morning!! and now i probably won't shower til saturday. so that's not too fun. we drink a lot of tea now and bring our duvets down while we study and eat and everything.
love you all so much!
Missionary Letter #12 (December 20, 2010)
guess what?? we're in LONDON AGAIN!!! guess who just went to the V&A and bought her belated birthdya presents because sis j doesn't like shopping and now she's not here! and i went to laduree in harrod's. oh my gosh. i like london. i hope i get to serve here.
we had a freak snowstorm on...friday i think?? sis g was totally freezing and so was sis k, so i was stopping everyone we saw so we weren't wasting time of being out in the freezing cold. haha it was funny. and then we heard church bells ringing a ton so we were like, what's going on?? turns out there was a wedding!! but it's this church that's near our church, it's where sir thomas more's head is, and at the intersection, it was basically at a stand still. so, of course, we decided that this is perfect because people can't get away from us!! so, we went up to a guy who already had his window rolled down and he was just like, "go on then, i've got nothing else to do. can't go anywhere." perfect. bored people who can't get away. we only did that once though. i thought it was pretty funny. but anyway, back to the wedding, they had rented this big old double-decker red bus for the wedding party, but they were taking FOREVER to come out. and of course my comps and i wanted to see her dress! duh. so we waited and talked to people across the street where we could watch. and we saw all of these girls dressed in tiny short skirts and dresses and the most ginormous heels. and it was freezing and snowy! and i hate it when girls just look absolutely helpless walking and they're dressed like that. anyway, the bride's dress wasn't that pretty. funny that we all wanted to see though. well, just kate middleton better have a gorgeous dress.
okay, fastforward to sunday. everything stops here when it snows. i think it's just an excuse for people to stay in, really. it snowed like six inches maybe? church was reduced to sac meeting and there were eleven people there. everyone just took turns bearing their testimony, and i talked about how God knows how to give us good gifts, and that the best gift is that of the atonement, which allows us to change. i got pretty emotional. but then b bore his testimony for the first time (we had just had a lesson about missionary work and about bearing your testimony to strengthen others and everything and he said he wanted to bear his) and it was so powerful, i was just smiling the whole time and crying a little bit because he really had changed his life and seen how the atonement can change him. he's so good. can't even believe it.
i've been studying a lot about how i can fulfill my purpose here in the best way that i can. i feel my desires changing and my heart turning more toward the lord in a less martyrous way. i feel happy as i do what i know i should and i feel the love of my heavenly father. i'm starting to really like being a missionary i think.
love you all with all my heart! wish i could write more but i had too much fun reading your emails.
love,
sister emma
Missionary Letter #11 (December 13, 2010)
i had woken up that morning with a sore throat so i felt pretty awful the whole walk over to see j. i knew i was feeling so bad so i went into the bathroom and prayed that i'd be able to make it through the lesson, especially because i had kind of taken the lead in planning his lesson. my companions were like totally not there because they were feeling awful as well. i was able to make it through the lesson, and listen to him the whole time, esp because he talks for a long time and takes a while to get out what he wants to say, so if you're not focusing really hard, you get lost. anyway, i was like the only one who could follow him, i answered his questions, we finished the lesson, and as soon as he was gone i was like laying on the ground next to the heater and it hurt so much to talk! it was so crazy. then we went straight home and tried to do weekly planning but we were all so sick. and also the kind of sick where just your whole body hurts. what do you think happened?? then sis k woke up the next day with a fever of 39 degrees c, and i was feeling really awful as well. we went and taught a lesson and then came back home because sis k couldn't do anything. we just like slept all day and hung out in our room. it's so annoying being sick on a mission. so that was thursday night and friday. then i woke up on saturday morning with a fever of 39! and we called our zone leaders and asked if they could give us blessings. then we taught a lesson and came home and slept.
later we heard banging on the door and what a welcome surprise!! mother's package with christmas festivities came!! so that was so good to have when we had to stay in or we'd get more sick, but we had already been sleeping all day! so what did we do?? listened to the really good mix, my comps love it, put together the paper tree, cut out snowflakes, ate oreo balls, read the christmas letter, talked about how the handwarmers you sent me were the same kind that sis k destroyed! so that was so fun! and so timely!
but yeah, mostly these past few days have been my comps and i laughing so hard that we all just start having fits of horrendous coughing. yaaaaaay. hahaha. it's pretty funny.
christmas here is cool. i think it's the victorians who made christmas tacky. typical. haha! but i mean just with like tinsel and just like the type of christmas tackiness you see sometimes...? anyway. so, it's pretty fun. i was going to send you christmas crackers, but they put like the dumbest things in them! like finger nail clippers and hairties. i was hoping i could find some with chocolate. nope!
love,
emma
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