Dear mum, papa, and family.
This week has been CRAZY. So we live in Evesham now. It’s pronounced Eve - Shum. Pretty easy. It’s completely beautiful here. Seriously. We live right next to a beautiful catholic church, right on the river. And there are the most beautiful bridges and things. It’s awesome! I love it here SO much! We are whitewashing this area, because . . . When we got here, we were a little concerned on how the branch would be to missionary work, but they are FANTASTIC! They are the most wonderful branch. They are so happy, and good, and service orientated. They all are best friends. There are about 50 active members that come every Sunday, and lots of little kids, and families.
So I am just going to go through the week, because it was all so exciting.
Monday:
We had transfers obviously. Sister P and I then drove back to Evesham. It feels SO good to be in just a companionship. Not a threesome. I learned so much from being with all three of us, but it was so hard also. Always required work. And it was very stressful. We had to work really really hard for all of us to be happy. And on the flip side, because Sister P and I are so similar, we are pretty easy to please each other, and we have been happy this whole week. Even though it's been hard. So we drove home. It took forever to find where we lived, and finally called the elders that lived here previous to us, and they walked us through to finding our flat. It looks like we drive into a driveway, but then it goes around a bend, and keeps going up. It’s really really pretty back where we live. The flat is on the top floor. And it is nice. It’s not as "posh" as the one in Banbury, but I actually like it better. It’s more suitable for a missionary. There is a fantastic desk, and the bedroom has better closet space. And the kitchen is nice and open. It’s not as clean or new as the flat in Banbury was, but I actually like this one better for the most part. I do wish the bathroom was a bit bigger though. But I can't complain. So we finally found our flat, and then drove straight to our branch mission leader’s house for dinner. Brother Wharrad and his wife C are fantastic. C is the RS president (newly called) and she is excited to get to using us. Brother Wharrad is a great mission leader, and he is very involved. The Wharrads fed us, we had coordination, and then they gave us bedding to borrow until we buy some of our own. Our flat had no bedding. Luckily, I had my own pillow and sheets, but we both needed duvets. They are so nice to lend us that stuff.
Tuesday:
For the first few hours of the morning when we left the flat, we just went finding. We learned a little bit of how to get around Evesham, and talked to the people. The people here are really nice. They obviously know who the missionaries are, and don't want to talk to us, but they are still nice. We then went by some members homes. That was a lot of the focus of the week. We had a goal to visit all the active members as soon as possible, so we would know them all by Sunday. And we also visited a lot of the recent converts, and less actives. Everyone in this branch is wonderful! They are all so happy, and beautiful. It’s crazy! We went to the Branch President's home that night. President Retallick and his wife and three children are wonderful. The whole branch is so so excited to have Sisters, and they are so willing to help in whatever way they can! It’s so wonderful! And we are taking them up on what they offer, because we need all the help we can get. We are excited because Sister Retallick and their daughter C both want to come out teaching with us. And as a "house warming" present, they gave us some toilet rolls (toilet paper in American). We also went and visited a recent returning member and his son. His son, T, is getting baptized on November 9th. We are so excited for him. And Rob, his dad, is a professional chef, and has the missionaries over once a week. So we are pretty excited about that!
Wednesday:
We went to a different part of our area called Tewkesbury. Pronounced Tukes - burry. It’s a beautiful place. And there are a lot more people that are receptive there because they don't see the missionaries as often, because it's a bit further away. So we are planning on doing some finding out there later this next week. We visited some of the families that live here, and they are all wonderful. Nobody isn't wonderful here, and we just seem to click so quickly with them. I really feel like I love the people here so much already! One of the part active families that we visited, we got the 18 year old girl to want to come out teaching and finding with us. We are pretty thrilled! One thing we started focusing on this week is referrals. I looked back at the last six months of my mission, and all of my baptisms were referrals from members. That is a rather high percentage. So we really feel like referrals are the way to go in this branch to get moving as quickly as possible. We have been praying really hard, and asking our leaders their ideas, and doing everything we can to get referrals. As we know, we only get them when we are trusted by the people giving them, so we are working really hard to be "exactly obedient" (Alma 57:21) and so they trust us with their friends. I’ve never prayed so hard. Sister P and I pray all the time. When in doubt, pray. We always pray before we leave the car to go into a lesson. And we have goals for while we are driving in the car. We do role plays. And we discuss referrals and ideas. We are a good team!
Thursday:
We had district meeting, which was great. We had a testimony meeting during district meeting. And then talked about bearing testimony about all that we talk about. It was really good. We then visited more members of the ward. We have been so lost so much this week. We have a sat nav (gps in American) and that helps, but sometimes houses or places are hidden. One house we were looking for forever. We pulled into somewhere to turn around, did about a 33 point turn, and with the family in the house watching us from the window...they didn't know we could see them watching us. And then when we were finally pulling out, we realized that's the house we were looking for. We died laughing, and then had to go back. They recognized us right away. Oh good. Hahaha! Another funny thing that happened. We were looking on the ward list for the Fs. Sister F was the RS president till Sunday, and so we wanted to meet her. So we went up to the Fs, and a guy covered with tattoos answered the door. We asked if it was the Fs. He said yes, and then we asked for his wife, thinking we should maybe see the RS president. He said she wouldn't want to see us. We asked if we could try another time, and he said he didn't think so. We left pretty confused. We looked back at the ward list, and there were two F families! How embarrassing. We knocked on the less active F’s door. He must think we are crazy! His parents, the active, RS president Fs, met us the next day and told us their son called and said we dropped by. Funny!
Friday:
Longest weekly planning session of my life. We had to plan with nothing. It was rough. But good. We made some very good goals, and are excited to work together on them. That night, we had dinner with Rob H the pro chef, and it was divine. Very English. But very nice. We had chocolate fondue for pudding (dessert in American) and that was great. He is awesome.
Saturday:
We visited more members. We visited some fewer actives. We had a girl, the one who said she'd like to come out with us, come out with us for about two hours. It was awesome! We prayed for some streets to tract, and we tracted them, and miracles happened. And we went to another street we felt prompted to go to. When I parked, I really didn't feel right about it. I told Sister P, and she suggested we just park somewhere else. So we did. And I felt fine. We started walking to the first door, and stopped a girl with her dogs, and she is awesome. She wanted a book. She wants to read it, and wants to come to church with us. If we had parked where we did first, we wouldn't have met her. It’s awesome following the spirit. I feel so strongly that when we do what we are asked, and are obedient, God will always bless us.
Sunday:
Church is at Evesham High School. And it was a wonderful meeting. President Retallick asked us both to give impromptu testimonies. Which don't even make me nervous anymore? Weird! We met with some amazing people after church. Then Sister Ogden (mission presidents wife) called us and told us that one of the Sisters in Stroud was in the hospital, so could we have her companion for a few days. So Sister KotTbagahagadara (yes. it's really that. she's from Sri Lanka) came to stay with us. The branch promptly brought a mattress for her to use, and a pillow, and bedding. This is the best branch ever! I love it!
I am so happy to be here. I really feel like I am on a mission now. And Sister P and I are doing so well. We asked the branch to fast with us in two weeks for the missionary work in this area, and we are really excited for how it's all going. I love it here. And I love the gospel! I am SO happy! Thank you for everything!
Love,
Sister Clark
PS mom for my birthday, I don’t' know. If I think of something I will let you know. I am still waiting on getting that camera. I will get it next time I see my zone leader I think. I think that Ben's APO address on Croughton AFB would still be best. Because he can get it to the Sisters who can get it to their leaders, who can get it to my leaders, who can get it to me! Thanks so much!
I love you!
pps. So they don't have Picasa on these computers, so I will try to figure something out for pics. Sorry!
Love you SOOOOO much!
No comments:
Post a Comment