Week 58: Miracle Bread

Hello everyone! It's me again.

This week is full of miracles. So I'll just start off by telling you about the miracle day because I don't have too much time (surprise).

It was a Thursday, and we had district meeting and so this lady in the ward usually makes a lunch. So we went and picked it up, and it seemed gluten free so we took it with us. After the meeting, we were having lunch and I looked at the package, and there was lots of gluten inside of the meal :( sad day. So, the plan was to pretty much just go hungry until we had a moment where we could stop and get something, or until dinner. Let's be honest, no one likes to go hungry. So it was kinda sad, but I was ready to stick it out. Then, I looked around the kitchen at the church, and there was a bag with a gluten free roll inside! It was seriously a miracle haha. I was so excited that I could eat something, I knew it would be a great day.

Later that day we had a few minutes to go outside and talk to people on the street. We stopped this one Polish lady, and she invited us to her home right then and she took us back and introduced us to her brother and her husband. They sat us down, and we started to talk about the gospel, and the first thing they wanted to talk about was baptism! Wow. Yeah so that was really great, and we set up a time to come back with polish material so we could teach them better. Then we got to meet with a recent convert we had lost contact with, and it was amazing. Then we went and had a few super spiritual lessons with two of our investigators, and then we went by our friend Jermaine. He is a cool kid. He has been meeting with the sisters for a few months, and on that day he prayed for the first time with us. It was incredible. He just really wants to follow what God has planned for him.

We had two exchanges this week, I got to go to Lincoln with Sister Owusu, and it was amazing! We had about 15 minutes to talk to people on the street, and the first guy we stop was super interested so we taught him a lesson and he wants to introduce his family to the church. The sisters reported that he came to church on sunday so it was pretty amazing :) and then we had exchange with Derby. Remember Sister Butler? She was my companion in Swansea. I trained her as a missionary! She is in Derby so we got to go together and have a blast. I love her so much! It was great.

We also met this really cool Slovakian family. That lady from last week who I really felt prompted to stop is amazing. Her name is Helena, and she told us on Monday that she has wanted people like us to come over for a while, but was never able to find them. Miracles people. People are prepared for the gospel of Christ :)

That's about all I have time for this week. Things are going great.  I love being a missionary. I love this work, I love my companion Sister Miller, and it's the best here.

Enjoy the last week of July!!

Love,

Sister Slack

 Riding the tiniest bike ever #exchange

Week 57: Hey there!

Hey everyone!! 

What a week here in Nottingham. We actually spent a lot of the week out of Nottingham, so it was a miracle in itself that we got some work done here! We got to travel to Birmingham to give some training to the zone there, and for some reason the motorway was on fire.. So it took us 3 hours to make the 1 hour trip there, but it made it all ok! Sister Miller and I had some bonding time in the car and sang too many efy songs. 

On Friday we had the incredible opportunity to go back to Coventry and witness the baptism of Annie! It was amazing. Definitely one of the best baptisms I've ever been to. Joyce (remember her?) gave a talk, and she poured out her heart and soul. She explained about how she first learned about baptism, when she read the New Testament and John the Baptist talked about it. She talked of how she couldn't relate, but now as a member of the church she feels connected to Jesus Christ. She feels like her baptismal certificate is like a declaration saying that she is a child of God. I know that everyone there felt the spirit. Incredible. 

A small miracle. We were talking to people in the main square at the heart of Nottingham City, and Sister Miller and I were talking to separate people. We had both had some awesome conversations with people, and now I was trying to stop someone else. I tried four or five more people, and all of them turned me down. This one woman stopped, and she then said looking at my badge "Jesus Christ finitely doesn't make me happy." Ok moving on. So standing there I said a little prayer to myself, we only had 4 minutes left to go finding, and I asked that I could talk to someone who wants to learn more. Immediately after I said my prayer, I saw this woman and her son walking towards me and she was lovely. We set up an appointment, and she wants us to teach her and her family. It was definitely a miracle.

This week we had interviews with President Leppard, and he is an inspired man. He has already taught us so much, and I know he is leading us he right way. 

Big miracle. We stopped by a less active named Yousef. His daughter and wife have never been taught before. He explained that he has told them a bit about the Book of Mormon and the Bible. We asked him if we could teach his family, and he told us "I'm not sure, they are Muslim, maybe not. But I will ask!" So he to need to his wife, and asked her in farci. After a few seconds he turned to us and said "yes she is very interested and wants to be taught, you can teach them both." We were pretty much leaping for joy. Miracles are everywhere! 

Everything here is awesome, so far we have stayed safe, even though people tell us crazy stories of what happens. We are loving the work, and we are excited for everyone to learn! Also, remember Sister Butler? She and I get to go on exchange on Thursday! We are excited. 

Anyway, I love you all. Stay safe and keep it real! 

Love, 

Sister Slack

We went to Nottingham castle!

Week 56: Shottingham

Hello everybody! 

It's been a crazy week, to say the least. SO much has happened, I'll start with transfers. I moved to Nottingham! I've been transferred to the Nottingham 2nd ward, in the Nottingham zone. If any of you can remember about a year ago, I was in Eastwood, which also happens to be in the same stake. In my first transfer I went on exchange to the flat that I now live in. Pretty sweet. 

It was bitter sweet to get transferred. I'd been in Coventry for about 6 months, and Sister Thomson and I became best friends, it was sad to leave the people there. It's always exciting to go somewhere new and to a new ward, and my companion is now Sister Miller. She is from Germany and is so sweet! I'm excited I think we'll do great things together. We have already had some strange bonding moments haha. 

YUP and if you have packages to send, then send them to the mission home. Ask my mom for it she has it (thanks mom!) 

So pretty much it was the best week to transfer into Nottingham. I got here and guess what? They had planned a ward activity to go to the beach! So I got to go to the beach and enjoy the sun and fun because we had loads of people we're working with come. It was so awesome. We all took a coach and it took 2.5 hours to get there, and so on the way down one lady decided to start singing nursery rhymes with everyone. So there is this one kid who is obsessed with star wars, and he announced "I know the whole anthem! Can I sing it??" Go for it kid. So then he starts singing "Dum dum dum da dum da da dum" And that goes on for about two minutes and the lady at the front says "Oh thank you for that." And he shouts immediately "I'M NOT DONE YET!!" And continues faithfully singing his star wars song :) haha it was hilarious. 

We had some cool miracles happen from that beach trip. I was able to teach someone more about the Book of Mormon, and he has never been interested in reading it, and now suddenly he asked me "What chapter is this, can I read it?" And so mini miracle he wants to read the Book of Mormon and start learning more about Jesus Christ. YAY. 

Fun Fact about my area, it's one of the most dangerous places in the mission. Apparently people get stabbed here like once every fortnight, and so we aren't really allowed to work many places after dark. They sometimes call it Shottimgham here :) I always knew my karate skills from when I was like 8 would come in handy one day. But it's great. I love Nottingham. I am excited for everything that will happen! 

Before I moved to Nottingham on Wednesday, I got to say goodbye to a lot of people. It was sad but also really great to see everyone in one day. Our friend Tony even made us African food for lunch, it was delicious! Chicken and rice with loads of random spices. I'm now learning that people often smell like the food they cook, and it all makes sense now. 

Oh, we had a dinner appointment with a lady this week and she wont eat with us unless we eat with our hands. SO I decided to give it a try. We had curry for dinner, and somehow it worked out that I ate the whole meal with my bare right hand. I feel like I deserve a wilderness explorer badge or something. 

We also had a meeting with the mission president on Friday, and it was amazing. He is so inspired. It is incredible to recognize the help Heavenly Father gives him. He taught us all things that are changing the way we do missionary work for the better, and I know that God chooses those He knows are prepared. 

That's about it for now. 

Sorry I don't have many pictures..It's hard to attach them here.

Much love,

Sister Slack

(These pictures from email sent to me- meaning Lara's mom. Sorry there was not any info on what or who is in the pictures. Also, if you would like her address, please message me or FB me and I will be happy to share it).

Week 55: (no subject)

What an awesome week. We saw so many miracles, it was like God was just handing them to us over and over.

One of our investigators named Kristina has a massive exam today, and we were able to fast with her last week to help her prepare for it. On that day we were outside finding people to teach, and these two ladies walked up to us and asked us for our contact information. We were so shocked that without even asking why, we were like "Yes here you go!" We then talked to them and found out that they were from Portugal, and one of them is a less active baptised member and really wants to come back to church, and the other is her mother who wants to learn more and get more involved with it. Woot! So cool.

Random fact: the hottest day in over 10 years happened on last Wednesday. You walk outside and you feel like you are breathing in fire. Good stuff? Yes.

Remember Jessica? Yeah well she is just AMAZING. She fasted for the first time yesterday, and she thought it was fantastic. In fact, she just gets the gospel. She is talking about trying to start a blog about her story and her feelings of the gospel. Today, because Kristina has her exam, Jessica just decided that she should fast for Kristina to do well. We didn't ask her, or tell her or anything. She just did it because she knows it will help! Isn't that so incredible? We got icecream with her on Saturday and also met some guys from Ecuador, and so we all bought matching-ish friendship bracelets from them. They were also playing the chillest flute music. Think of music the native Americans would play, and that's what was going on in city centre.

This week we got a new mission president, and we got to meet him on Thursday. He and his wife are amazing. They are hilarious and down to earth and also know how to run things the right way! We love them so much already. Their names are Pres. and Sister Leppard. One of my favourite quotes was "do the simple things well." The gospel is simple, and we need to do our best and help people the best we can. When things get complicated, that is when things go into the no fun zone. God likes to keep things easy for us, and he has put out all of the cards on the table for us to achieve happiness.

As you all know, the fourth of July was on Saturday! Yay independence day! America! Well since that's not really a holiday in the UK (you can probably guess why) Sister Thomson and I celebrated it by ourselves. We bought ourselves Thai food and it was the best thing ever.  

It being fast Sunday yesterday, I got up and shared my testimony with everyone. It was pretty cool, and I shared with them about how much God, our Father in Heaven, loves us. It is amazing how blessed we are to have a knowledge of Him, because I meet sooo many people each day who don't want to, or have never heard of what God can do for them. I know that He is real. It's a fact. And I know His church is restored on the earth today. It is definitely one of the best decisions I've ever made to come on a mission.

Love you all!

Sister Slack

It was so hot we slept in our kitchen

 I fell and cut my knee.

 Our street!

Sorry I couldn't resist... :)

Friendship bracelets with Jessica!

Some scenic coventry

And some random stuff

Week 54: I can't think of a subject right now

HEY everyone! So this week was awesome. Brilliant. Fabulous. Fantastic. All of that. Pretty much amazing because I made Gluten free cupcakes!!! YAY! And it was also amazing because of some other reasons.

 First things first, our investigator Jessica got BAPTISED. She is amazing, I can't even describe how awesome she is. She's hilarious, down to earth, and she's even British. Teaching her for the last 3 weeks has been amazing, and she has progressed so fast. She always checked with God as to what He wanted for her, and it led her to be baptised. It was definitely one great moment of my mission to see her go into the font. Everything was flawless. We love Jessica. And everyone else does too :)

MIRACLE STORY pay attention. Sooo Sister Thomson and I have been stopping by some members and dropping off notes to them. We stopped by this younger couple and left a note (they were not home. sad day) and then decided to try this one house I thought a recent convert lived in. So we knock the door, and BOOM she was there! Her name is Jolene. She was baptised about a year ago in a place called Newcastle. She told us as we introduced ourselves "I actually really wanted to come back to church this week, I just feel it and I don't know why." Amazing. BUT it doesn't end there! She came to church the next day and brought a friend named Michael, he's pretty cool. During it she felt the spirit so strong, and asked us "Do you think Heavenly Father sent you to my door?" The answer is YES.

 After church we had a munch and mingle (where people bring food and then we chow after church) and I'm talking to Jolene and she is looking to see if her friend Michael is ok. "He's over there talking to Elder Tsai," I told her. She immediately looks at me "Tsai??" Turns out Elder Tsai's brother served in Newcastle a year ago and baptised Jolene! It was amazing to see all of the connections fall into place. I still can't get over this.. it's so crazy.

2 Exchanges this week! First with Sister Crowley in Glenfield, and it was awesome. We taught so many people with the cutest babies. Too bad missionaries aren't able to hold them.. Sigh.. It's ok.

Later, Sister Sorensen from De Montfort came to Coventry with me, and she is so amazing! Wow she just loves missionary work. We had a really great time together. I love getting to know all of the sisters, it's definitely been one of my favourite parts of the last few transfers.  ANNND yup that's the big moments.

Oh, and we taught a guy named Obinna who gave us about a 10 minute lecture on modesty. It was interesting, seeing as he is a 25 year old guy studying at university telling us what dress is appropriate or not. Well pal, good news, missionaries always dress appropriately! Yay! +1 us. 

Overall, I love missionary work. Things are amazing. Sister Thomson and I love each other, and it's a blast in Coventry. We get a new mission president next week, so that will be interesting but awesome to see what happens. 

I love you all!
-Sister Slack

CUPCAKES

Jessica got Baptised!

 Exchange with De Montfort!

And our friend Tony! He's 6 foot 6 and pro at playing basketball. 

FHE last monday

More of Jessica

Jessica got Baaaaaaptiiiiiiiiiiised! In case you just skipped the email and went to the pictures