Alright so, I want to go day by day and share one thing from each day. I've had a pretty great week! Unfortunately I don't have any photos this week - we have taken some, but we just can't upload them today) so there are more to come :P
Also, we are now on our way to Chester Zoo - The UKs #1 zoo :) I'm very excited!
But, in the meantime, I'll give you a rundown of the rest of my week :)
MONDAY: We hiked Maul Fameu! It was BEAUTIFUL! And it literally felt like I was inside of a wind tunnel once we made it to the top! I really had such a fun time there! We started comparing it to mission life. With the struggles, and the wind that is always around you, but that you are still able to see those small patches of sunshine and beauty. Once you make it to the top (endure to the end) you realise how far you've actually come. It brought to life the quote, "Often the deep valleys of our present will be understood only by looking back on them from the mountains of our future experience. Often we can’t see the Lord’s hand in our lives until long after trials have passed. Often the most difficult times of our lives are essential building blocks that form the foundation of our character and pave the way to future opportunity, understanding, and happiness." (President Uctdorf). I really enjoyed our adventure together, and the member who took us was SO NICE and made us some lunch. It was GREAT! :D
TUESDAY: I had companion exchange in Wrexham. I was with Sister Libron and she is sooo sweet! It was an amazing exchange and I learned a lot. We had many adventures together including finding a CASTLE! We stopped by a potential investigator and he lived at this place called "Castle House". And well, to say the least, it was named that for a reason. His backyard was like an entire Welsh hill, and the entrance to his house had an old style castle wall, and it was a beautiful white color. He was very nice and committed to come to church on Sunday. We had a very spiritual lesson with him - nice man and a nice house :) We also met a woman who was baptized about eight months ago who was struggling a lot. She was so sweet and we taught a very powerful lesson. I felt that I was very open and honest with her. This was when I realized what I loved most about missionary work. And that is the connections and friendships that I can make with others. I have met so many people throughout my mission that I have been able to strengthen their testimonies and help them come back to church. This is my favorite part of being on a mission. These people all mean so much to me and the love that I feel for them could never be replaced. This feeling is definitely something I wouldn't trade for the world - what makes all the hardships of a mission worth it.
WEDNESDAY: I finished exchanges, and had a bit of a hard time when we got back home. We don't have much teaching appointments in the Chester area, so my strength that i had just found was becoming hard to maintain. However, while I was struggling, Sister Turnbull was very helping. She turned to a Booklet called Adjusting to Missionary Life (a serious lifesaver) and read this to me:
But, in the meantime, I'll give you a rundown of the rest of my week :)
MONDAY: We hiked Maul Fameu! It was BEAUTIFUL! And it literally felt like I was inside of a wind tunnel once we made it to the top! I really had such a fun time there! We started comparing it to mission life. With the struggles, and the wind that is always around you, but that you are still able to see those small patches of sunshine and beauty. Once you make it to the top (endure to the end) you realise how far you've actually come. It brought to life the quote, "Often the deep valleys of our present will be understood only by looking back on them from the mountains of our future experience. Often we can’t see the Lord’s hand in our lives until long after trials have passed. Often the most difficult times of our lives are essential building blocks that form the foundation of our character and pave the way to future opportunity, understanding, and happiness." (President Uctdorf). I really enjoyed our adventure together, and the member who took us was SO NICE and made us some lunch. It was GREAT! :D
TUESDAY: I had companion exchange in Wrexham. I was with Sister Libron and she is sooo sweet! It was an amazing exchange and I learned a lot. We had many adventures together including finding a CASTLE! We stopped by a potential investigator and he lived at this place called "Castle House". And well, to say the least, it was named that for a reason. His backyard was like an entire Welsh hill, and the entrance to his house had an old style castle wall, and it was a beautiful white color. He was very nice and committed to come to church on Sunday. We had a very spiritual lesson with him - nice man and a nice house :) We also met a woman who was baptized about eight months ago who was struggling a lot. She was so sweet and we taught a very powerful lesson. I felt that I was very open and honest with her. This was when I realized what I loved most about missionary work. And that is the connections and friendships that I can make with others. I have met so many people throughout my mission that I have been able to strengthen their testimonies and help them come back to church. This is my favorite part of being on a mission. These people all mean so much to me and the love that I feel for them could never be replaced. This feeling is definitely something I wouldn't trade for the world - what makes all the hardships of a mission worth it.
WEDNESDAY: I finished exchanges, and had a bit of a hard time when we got back home. We don't have much teaching appointments in the Chester area, so my strength that i had just found was becoming hard to maintain. However, while I was struggling, Sister Turnbull was very helping. She turned to a Booklet called Adjusting to Missionary Life (a serious lifesaver) and read this to me:
"Some people find talking with people energizing; others find it tiring. Both types of people can be effective missionaries. If you are someone who becomes weary talking with strangers, don’t give up trying. You have other strengths to contribute to missionary work, such as being a good friend to those you know well, having creative ideas, being insightful about people, or excelling at planning. You may assume others don’t like you, even though they really do. Seek inspiration and listen to the Spirit to help you use your strengths in His service and develop more of the attributes of Christ that you have access to as a missionary. You represent Jesus Christ, not yourself."
Even though talking to strangers is hard for me, I do have many other strengths as a misssionary. Reading this boosted my spirit completely and has helped me get through the rest of the week.
THURSDAY: Well (among many other things we did this day that I won't mention in this email), we taught a family whose son wants to be baptized. The family is a bit less active, but is now returning to church. The bishop visited him with a famous person in our ward, and they were able to bring them back to church. We are now working with them to get the son baptized. The father is very good, and we are now seeing them every Friday night. So, we finally have a progressing investigator and someone to teach! I love when things work out and the Lord hastens his work :)
This is taking lots longer than I expected... might not do this again :P but I still need to tell you about the rest of the week...
FRIDAY: So, we went on a bus to get to Chester, and the Elders happened to hop on it as well. However, we got off much before Chester in order to see if a less active member was home. After we found that all the people we planned on seeing couldn't see us, we received a call from the Elders that one of our bus passes was left on the bus. So, they had to hop off and catch a bus from the other side in order to save us from this situation. While waiting for the Elders, we decided to tract the street we were on, and guess who we found? A PUPPY! 🐶 And also, its owner ;) we took a photo of her dog, and shared our testimonies of the Book of Mormon. We ended us giving her a copy, and we will be seeing her (and her dog Teddy) tomorrow.
Also, when the bus came, where were the Elders? Nowhere to be found. So, we called them and they said they were just at the next stop, so due to a very understanding bus driver, we were able to make it to Chester without waiting another hour to catch the next bus. Double blessings!
SATURDAY: Okay, so this was a very strange experience. We had told the Elders that we were tracting and that they should join us (also, background information- it is becoming winded here and it was the end of the day, so to set the scene, it was very dark outside). They said they might, and we didn't hear from them since then. We started tracting and we got to this house with a woman from New Zealand. She was very nice, and we talked to her about who we are and what we did as missionaries. We gave her a Book of Mormon as well, and she was very nice about it and seemed very convinced to read it. So that was a great and uplifting experience for us! As we left her house, we saw two boys at the end of the street walking the same way the elders do. One of them was laughing and it very much sounded like them. So, we assumed that it was them, and we hurried to the next house so they wouldn't see us. After we knocked on a few more doors, we decided to go find them... and all the streets were empty. So, we called them to see where they were, and they had never been in the area we were. I found it so weird that those two boys weren't actually the Elders! Crazy!
SUNDAY: We went into a members home and it was really great! They fed us and talked to us for a while. Their oldest boy is on a mission in Germany, so it was easy to relate them to my family. Also, the mom was very similar to me. We both liked cats, scrap booking, and also Good Mythical Morning. It was really great to be around their family. It really made me feel right at home. They also had another boy who reminded me of one of my friends. And we are also going to be working with him more as he is now a ward missionary and he is planning on serving a mission as well. This is a really great ward, so I am very grateful to be serving around such great leaders and members! They are always willing to help!
So, that is my week!
This took me like, all day to write, so also, the Chester Zoo was AMAZING! They even had an Okapi - my favorite animal! And also, there was this Bat cave that was INCREDIBLE! And also a Butterfly Garden! :) More stories and photos to come next week!
I love this area, and I love the gospel, and also the opportunity to be a missionary. I also love all of you! And I hope you have a great week of adventure just like me! ;)
Remember to always look for those days of sunshine that are with you through the foggy days!
Sister Wilkinson
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