Another week in Scotland! (Sorry for my lame/nonexistent Subject Headings)
Hey hey!
I'm sorry for my dumb email last week! The Elders cut me off in the middle of me writing it 40 minutes early, so I had meant to put a lot more in it, not just talk about the drunk dude. And I'm also sorry that some of you couldn't see the pictures! I'll get that figured out. I'll try to make up for all that in this email. It's going to be so long.. sorry.
So. The week before last I cut my companion's hair! I have no idea why she would ever even come up with the thought that I could. I've never before touched another's hair with scissors, and once I did mine to make bangs, and it was horrible haha. But she actually let me do it! And it actually looks really nice! Plus it was just a trim, so not too drastic. Also the same week, we had our first district council in Dundee, and for it Sister McNamara and I baked a chocolate cake! And let me tell you, it was so good! One of the best cakes I've ever had. THANK YOU HELEN. She's the best. Anyway, we baked it the night before, and the morning of, I got a spatula, knife, forks, and papertowels, put them all in my backpack, and off we ran to the train! We thought it would get there at half seven, and we were running a bit late, so we were sprinting as best we could. we call it our missionary run, and it looks RIDICULOUS. Anyway, we got to High Street, meaning we were almost there, and then Sis Mac turns back to look at me and says the four most horrifying words ever. "WE FORGOT THE CAKE!" We wasted a precious minute trying to decide whether to run back to our flat and grab it or not. It was 7:20 at this time, and the walk from our place to the train station is about 20 minutes. And that's just one way. We decided that it would really truly break our DL's heart if he didn't get the cake we had been raving about, so we sprinted back (and if you know me you know that I was wheezing and dying at this point). We grabbed the cake, and got back to High Street in 15 MINUTES. I had severe shin splints and my legs were completely numb. We got to the train station in record time and discovered that the train wouldn't get there until 7:50! So if we would've just gone there rather than grab the cake, it would've been to late to run back, but we also would've been waiting for 20 more minutes! TENDER MERCY OF THE LORD. That's how I'm looking at it.
But yeah, this last district council, we made the cake again, and our Zone Leaders lead the discussion since our DL couldn't be there, and it was so amazing! I learned so much, and I was so fired up afterward. We talked about having joy in the journey, and how God will only work miracles if you have a good attitude. I realized that I really needed to work on this. Every time we go out and GQ or chap, I just think in my head, "oh this person is just going to brush us off. They're going to be stubborn and rude, or just walk right past." But now i've been trying to think "THIS'LL BE THE ONE!" I've been praying to be excited and hopeful, and keep that hope even if that person wasn't the one. I think it's been really helping.
And last p-day was great! Most of our zone was there, including my lovely MTC comp. And I actually did pretty well at Spike Ball! Elder Schmidt (ZL/Jon Schmidt's son) is leaving this transfer and was asking us for some "referrals" in the BYU/Provo area. So if any of you ladies are in that area, look him up! He's great haha. We are also coauthoring a book called Humility: How I Mastered It. We were just talking in district council, and everyone had been saying how they were a rebel at one point in their lives, and then I told them that I had been the epitome of righteousness my whole life (only joking of course), and he just laughed and told me that we were writing that book. Fun stuff!
We went on exchanges on wednesday with our STLs in Aberdeen! There are a few companionships there, so for exercise we went out to a field and played ultimate frisbee together. It was so fun! I was with Sis Lough, and it was so so great! I was just so happy and excited the whole day, and I had so much fun! She's incredible. We Gqed for most of the day, and taught a first lesson with a 19 year old named Tom. He was so awesome and golden and I'm so sad that I won't be the one meeting with him! At least he's still getting it. We taught him the Restoration, and then a couple days later Sis Lough called and said that they had met with him again, and that he was going to go to church with them and play frisbee with the elders! So cool! I'm excited for him. For dinner that night we went to a place called Nandos, which is just a chicken/home cooked meal place, and it was so yummy! Then we got GELATO afterwards.
Another great food experience (I'm having so many of those), we went for pudding with Sarah on Friday just to talk and teach and see what's up, and I got a hot fudge Sunday! And she got sticky toffee pudding! And it was so good! We're going there with her again tonight for dinner. Anyway, she didn't make it to church last sunday because she slept in, and hadn't been keeping her commitment of reading the Book of Mormon, so while walking down to the beach, we tried telling her that reading it could be so awesome (she's in the middle of the Isaiah chapters and is struggling with them--aren't we all?). We acted out the story of Abinadi (I was Abinadi) and tried to make it fun and get her to laugh and realize that it could make sense! Afterward we all thought of one thing we could take away from the story and how to apply it to ourselves. It was a good lesson (and our only one this week).
This area is so slow right now. We meet so many flappers, and they never stay in contact with us. So many of our people and appointments have fallen through, and it's frustrating, but I know as I bear my afflictions with patience the Lord will bring us miracles! I see many small ones throughout the day, but we need one where we can actually TEACH.
Yesterday was our FIRST all-day-rainy-day (WAHT?) And as we went chapping in the evening, we saw a girl in her late twenties and I GQed her! She's called Alison, has two kids, and isn't religious. She has uncertain beliefs but loves hearing about others. She told us that the JWs had been stopping by to chat, and we asked if we could drop by later this week and she said YES! We set up a time and we are going to CONVERT. Just kidding the Spirit will. We're so excited! So there's a miracle for you.
Another Gqing experience. I got my first crazy Born Again Christian! His name's Richard, and he was super nice at first, and then he started talking about how He saw Jesus Christ right by him while he was gardening, and how Mormons are heretics, and if we continue to follow in the faith we were going to hell. Some people are just crazy. This church is true and I know it! I AM NOT GOING TO HELL.
A cool experience with my sweet comp: I had just showered and was in the kitchen with a towel wrapped around my head and no make-up, and she just randomly told me how beautiful I was. I was completely dumb-founded, as this comment had never been expressed to me out of now where when my face wasn't made. Since then I've been wearing ZERO foundation! It's actually pretty freeing when you don't feel like you need a full face of make-up to look pretty in public. My self-confidence is on the rise people! I never would've thought. Sister McNamara is truly incredible. I love her so so much. She helps me everyday.
Our ward is the best! I just want them to follow me wherever I go. This last week we had a dinner appointment scheduled every night! That never happens in this mission. And Bishop Dibdin is the greatest guy in the world. He's so blunt with Sarah it's great. In Gospel principles yesterday he was just taking insights from our lesson, saying them in a way that matched Sarah EXACTLY. He was talking about Enos, but he was also so obviously speaking to Sarah. They're super close so it wasn't awkward, but otherwise it would've been. Also, he shared a poem with us, called "The Highs and Lows of Missionary Work," and it fits me exactly. He's so awesome! And so is his family! He has a 16 year old daughter named Erin, and she's the best. She's so cute and sweet and I love talking with her. I feel like most of the youth here don't like us, so she's a breath of fresh air.
Oh! We've been making it a point to visit an inactive member named Louise. She's 55 and in a wheelchair and lives with her cat Molly. She left the church decades ago because of the hypocrisy of some of the members. Anyway, while we were talking, we heard a little chirping noise behind us, so we looked back, and Molly had a wee baby bird in her mouth! The cat dove toward the back of the room, and the bird got loose and hid in a corner, so I went over there to distract the cat. Tweety ran/flew across the room, I grabbed Molly before she could get him, set her down a bit away, then grabbed the bird. We left Louise's, and I carried it to a park with lots of grass and trees and set it free. And it pooped on my hands!! It was still cute though. I SAVED ONE SOUL THAT DAY.
Recently I've been studying prayer, and how to make it more meaningful, since lately I've been feeling like mine have become stagnant. It's been going really well, and I've been changing a few things to make them better. The times I pray have become some of the most precious moments of my day. One of the things I've applied has been to think about what Christ would pray for if He were in my situation. We pray in the name of Christ not only because He is the Mediator between us and Heavenly Father, but because when we pray, we should be aligning our will with His. It says about prayer in the Bible Dictionary, that prayers aren't answered when they aren't in the name of Christ--if they are selfish. I've been really trying to think of that and be aware of whether what I'm praying for comes out of a selfish desire, or from a Christlike need. It's been amazing!
Oh my goodness, I'm just so grateful to be here. It's crazy hard, and sometimes I just look forward to the day I come home, but I am here for a reason, and I LOVE IT. This is the Lord's work, and living His Gospel is the only way we can ever hope to return to live with Him with a FULNESS OF JOY with our Forever Families! This is the most precious knowledge I have!
I love you all so much and I'm so grateful for your love and support!
-Sister Syphus
ps I've been struggling a little with my scoliosis. I'm beginning to develop some excruciating pain in my left upper back and neck after a couple hours of wearing my backpack. I'll be going to the chiropractor this week to see if we can do anything about it, but prayers would be appreciated. :)
pps Also! If anyone has some personal study tips that have really helped them, send them my way! I want to try various things to help me get the most out of my studies! Thanks and love you!
Robbie Frost with his Book of Mormon
Tweety the wee bird.
Pretty coast
Dessert with Sarah at Roos Leap
I'm sorry for my dumb email last week! The Elders cut me off in the middle of me writing it 40 minutes early, so I had meant to put a lot more in it, not just talk about the drunk dude. And I'm also sorry that some of you couldn't see the pictures! I'll get that figured out. I'll try to make up for all that in this email. It's going to be so long.. sorry.
So. The week before last I cut my companion's hair! I have no idea why she would ever even come up with the thought that I could. I've never before touched another's hair with scissors, and once I did mine to make bangs, and it was horrible haha. But she actually let me do it! And it actually looks really nice! Plus it was just a trim, so not too drastic. Also the same week, we had our first district council in Dundee, and for it Sister McNamara and I baked a chocolate cake! And let me tell you, it was so good! One of the best cakes I've ever had. THANK YOU HELEN. She's the best. Anyway, we baked it the night before, and the morning of, I got a spatula, knife, forks, and papertowels, put them all in my backpack, and off we ran to the train! We thought it would get there at half seven, and we were running a bit late, so we were sprinting as best we could. we call it our missionary run, and it looks RIDICULOUS. Anyway, we got to High Street, meaning we were almost there, and then Sis Mac turns back to look at me and says the four most horrifying words ever. "WE FORGOT THE CAKE!" We wasted a precious minute trying to decide whether to run back to our flat and grab it or not. It was 7:20 at this time, and the walk from our place to the train station is about 20 minutes. And that's just one way. We decided that it would really truly break our DL's heart if he didn't get the cake we had been raving about, so we sprinted back (and if you know me you know that I was wheezing and dying at this point). We grabbed the cake, and got back to High Street in 15 MINUTES. I had severe shin splints and my legs were completely numb. We got to the train station in record time and discovered that the train wouldn't get there until 7:50! So if we would've just gone there rather than grab the cake, it would've been to late to run back, but we also would've been waiting for 20 more minutes! TENDER MERCY OF THE LORD. That's how I'm looking at it.
But yeah, this last district council, we made the cake again, and our Zone Leaders lead the discussion since our DL couldn't be there, and it was so amazing! I learned so much, and I was so fired up afterward. We talked about having joy in the journey, and how God will only work miracles if you have a good attitude. I realized that I really needed to work on this. Every time we go out and GQ or chap, I just think in my head, "oh this person is just going to brush us off. They're going to be stubborn and rude, or just walk right past." But now i've been trying to think "THIS'LL BE THE ONE!" I've been praying to be excited and hopeful, and keep that hope even if that person wasn't the one. I think it's been really helping.
And last p-day was great! Most of our zone was there, including my lovely MTC comp. And I actually did pretty well at Spike Ball! Elder Schmidt (ZL/Jon Schmidt's son) is leaving this transfer and was asking us for some "referrals" in the BYU/Provo area. So if any of you ladies are in that area, look him up! He's great haha. We are also coauthoring a book called Humility: How I Mastered It. We were just talking in district council, and everyone had been saying how they were a rebel at one point in their lives, and then I told them that I had been the epitome of righteousness my whole life (only joking of course), and he just laughed and told me that we were writing that book. Fun stuff!
We went on exchanges on wednesday with our STLs in Aberdeen! There are a few companionships there, so for exercise we went out to a field and played ultimate frisbee together. It was so fun! I was with Sis Lough, and it was so so great! I was just so happy and excited the whole day, and I had so much fun! She's incredible. We Gqed for most of the day, and taught a first lesson with a 19 year old named Tom. He was so awesome and golden and I'm so sad that I won't be the one meeting with him! At least he's still getting it. We taught him the Restoration, and then a couple days later Sis Lough called and said that they had met with him again, and that he was going to go to church with them and play frisbee with the elders! So cool! I'm excited for him. For dinner that night we went to a place called Nandos, which is just a chicken/home cooked meal place, and it was so yummy! Then we got GELATO afterwards.
Another great food experience (I'm having so many of those), we went for pudding with Sarah on Friday just to talk and teach and see what's up, and I got a hot fudge Sunday! And she got sticky toffee pudding! And it was so good! We're going there with her again tonight for dinner. Anyway, she didn't make it to church last sunday because she slept in, and hadn't been keeping her commitment of reading the Book of Mormon, so while walking down to the beach, we tried telling her that reading it could be so awesome (she's in the middle of the Isaiah chapters and is struggling with them--aren't we all?). We acted out the story of Abinadi (I was Abinadi) and tried to make it fun and get her to laugh and realize that it could make sense! Afterward we all thought of one thing we could take away from the story and how to apply it to ourselves. It was a good lesson (and our only one this week).
This area is so slow right now. We meet so many flappers, and they never stay in contact with us. So many of our people and appointments have fallen through, and it's frustrating, but I know as I bear my afflictions with patience the Lord will bring us miracles! I see many small ones throughout the day, but we need one where we can actually TEACH.
Yesterday was our FIRST all-day-rainy-day (WAHT?) And as we went chapping in the evening, we saw a girl in her late twenties and I GQed her! She's called Alison, has two kids, and isn't religious. She has uncertain beliefs but loves hearing about others. She told us that the JWs had been stopping by to chat, and we asked if we could drop by later this week and she said YES! We set up a time and we are going to CONVERT. Just kidding the Spirit will. We're so excited! So there's a miracle for you.
Another Gqing experience. I got my first crazy Born Again Christian! His name's Richard, and he was super nice at first, and then he started talking about how He saw Jesus Christ right by him while he was gardening, and how Mormons are heretics, and if we continue to follow in the faith we were going to hell. Some people are just crazy. This church is true and I know it! I AM NOT GOING TO HELL.
A cool experience with my sweet comp: I had just showered and was in the kitchen with a towel wrapped around my head and no make-up, and she just randomly told me how beautiful I was. I was completely dumb-founded, as this comment had never been expressed to me out of now where when my face wasn't made. Since then I've been wearing ZERO foundation! It's actually pretty freeing when you don't feel like you need a full face of make-up to look pretty in public. My self-confidence is on the rise people! I never would've thought. Sister McNamara is truly incredible. I love her so so much. She helps me everyday.
Our ward is the best! I just want them to follow me wherever I go. This last week we had a dinner appointment scheduled every night! That never happens in this mission. And Bishop Dibdin is the greatest guy in the world. He's so blunt with Sarah it's great. In Gospel principles yesterday he was just taking insights from our lesson, saying them in a way that matched Sarah EXACTLY. He was talking about Enos, but he was also so obviously speaking to Sarah. They're super close so it wasn't awkward, but otherwise it would've been. Also, he shared a poem with us, called "The Highs and Lows of Missionary Work," and it fits me exactly. He's so awesome! And so is his family! He has a 16 year old daughter named Erin, and she's the best. She's so cute and sweet and I love talking with her. I feel like most of the youth here don't like us, so she's a breath of fresh air.
Oh! We've been making it a point to visit an inactive member named Louise. She's 55 and in a wheelchair and lives with her cat Molly. She left the church decades ago because of the hypocrisy of some of the members. Anyway, while we were talking, we heard a little chirping noise behind us, so we looked back, and Molly had a wee baby bird in her mouth! The cat dove toward the back of the room, and the bird got loose and hid in a corner, so I went over there to distract the cat. Tweety ran/flew across the room, I grabbed Molly before she could get him, set her down a bit away, then grabbed the bird. We left Louise's, and I carried it to a park with lots of grass and trees and set it free. And it pooped on my hands!! It was still cute though. I SAVED ONE SOUL THAT DAY.
Recently I've been studying prayer, and how to make it more meaningful, since lately I've been feeling like mine have become stagnant. It's been going really well, and I've been changing a few things to make them better. The times I pray have become some of the most precious moments of my day. One of the things I've applied has been to think about what Christ would pray for if He were in my situation. We pray in the name of Christ not only because He is the Mediator between us and Heavenly Father, but because when we pray, we should be aligning our will with His. It says about prayer in the Bible Dictionary, that prayers aren't answered when they aren't in the name of Christ--if they are selfish. I've been really trying to think of that and be aware of whether what I'm praying for comes out of a selfish desire, or from a Christlike need. It's been amazing!
Oh my goodness, I'm just so grateful to be here. It's crazy hard, and sometimes I just look forward to the day I come home, but I am here for a reason, and I LOVE IT. This is the Lord's work, and living His Gospel is the only way we can ever hope to return to live with Him with a FULNESS OF JOY with our Forever Families! This is the most precious knowledge I have!
I love you all so much and I'm so grateful for your love and support!
-Sister Syphus
ps I've been struggling a little with my scoliosis. I'm beginning to develop some excruciating pain in my left upper back and neck after a couple hours of wearing my backpack. I'll be going to the chiropractor this week to see if we can do anything about it, but prayers would be appreciated. :)
pps Also! If anyone has some personal study tips that have really helped them, send them my way! I want to try various things to help me get the most out of my studies! Thanks and love you!
Robbie Frost with his Book of Mormon
Tweety the wee bird.
Pretty coast
Dessert with Sarah at Roos Leap
Most of our Zone on Beach Day!
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