Week 24: Happy December!

Can you believe it's already December 1st?? I can't. Time is going by crazy fast. This last week was full of good things.

First of all, it's the month of CHRISTMAS!! It's the best time of the year :) everyone is so excited, you can almost feel the energy in the air. Lights are everywhere, and it is the perfect time to talk to people about the true meaning of Christmas. We were testing this out on Saturday, and we ended up finding a girl who actually wants to go to Utah and attend the U of U (almost as good as BYU..). It's cool to see who people are and what they love. 

We are currently teaching one of Sherlock's friends, named Kelvin. He's a chill dude, and we got to walk with him to church yesterday! It turns out he has grown up hearing about all the Chinese traditional ideas of God, but never really believed it. He totally wants to learn more about God, and see how God can actually help him in life. It's fun to teach him- and he even got work off to come to church! Whatta guy. 

This week we got to take Sherlock teaching with us to some of our investigators, and it is so fun to see him testify about what he has just learned. Some of the Elders in our district tried to take him teaching as well, but they got cancelled on. So they taught Sherlock instead, where he described it as "So awkward, they weren't sisters." He loves the missionaries, I promise. 

On Friday, we had the opportunity to travel to the mission home for follow up meeting. It's where all those who are being trained/training get a little inspiring meeting with the mission president. It was fun to see everyone there, plus we met a guy named John on the train who wants to go into the paralympics (idk how to spell that...) in rowing! We gave him a picture of the temple and he was excited about it. There are some sweet people everywhere! 

That's it for now, but the work is going on. Love you all!

Love,

Sister Slack

on the train there was a poster with a man with the last name slack! Represent!

 orange juice

Sherlock got a hold of a missionary name tag, and he was pumped to be wearing it
Well pretty much Wales is awesome, I love being a missionary! 

Week 22: (no subject)

Well basically here we are. Another week has FLOWN by and I am still in love with Swansea. In summary: we taught some welsh people, some Chinese people, had a zone meeting with all the missionaries in our area, ate some really questionable food, ate some really good food, had some ice cream, Sherlock wants to be baptized, taught some more Chinese people and the week pretty much went on like that. 

Oh wait, Sherlock wants to be baptized!?! How did that happen? Ah, good question. There we were, Sister Butler and I had prepared to teach him the Law of Chastity, and see how smoking was going. He sits down in the chair, tells us he is completely done with smoking. Miracle! Then the conversation went like this.. Me: So have you been thinking about being baptized? Him: yes. Me: So did you pray about it? Him: Yes, I need it. I need to be baptized. ....... yeah we didn't really know how to react other than to be super excited and pumped and have our hearts overflow with joy! 

Did that really just happen? Yes. Yes it did. In about 1 month he has gone from not believing in God to putting all of his faith in God and Jesus Christ. This gospel is truly incredible!

So basically we have been super busy trying to get everything ready for it, and to finish teaching him all of the lessons. Turns out, since Sister Butler and I have been together, the area has exploded! People have been bringing their friends to lessons, and those friends lead to more friends. Ah the life of a missionary is pretty awesome. Don't get too jealous.

This week we also had a dinner appointment with a woman in the ward who is not there all the way mentally, but she has the sweetest heart. We showed up to our appointment with her, and she totally forgot we were coming! She invited us in anyway, and started cooking some food. We were in the room next to the kitchen, and it suddenly started to fill with smoke. The member was yelling through the door "Don't worry, it's just the oil burning off!" while Sister Butler and I were suffocating.. So we rushed to open a door and then the smoke alarm went off! 

Then we ate the food, and we are pretty sure the plates haven't been properly washed in about a week. But we put our minds to it and cleaned our forks in the sink before eating and did our best not to pay attention to it. And here we are, still alive today! 

But anyways, I love the gospel and being a missionary! It has been so awesome to see people progress in the gospel. 

Love you all!

Love,
Sister Slack

Nu-era! Ahaha just like a church magazine.

Ready to teach in the library cafe!

Cold enough to wear hats.

Week 21: Winter is coming...

Time has come.. And time has gone again. I can't believe already that another transfer has passed. This last week I had to say goodbye to my lovely old companion Sister Lambert, as she had finished 18 months of her mission and was being called home to Canada! So where does that leave me? Well.. Let's just say that her going home and travel arrangements involved lots of trains and even a missionary sleep over. 

Seeing as Sister Lambert left my presence on tuesday afternoon, I slept over in a city near Cardiff on tuesday night. On wednesday morning we woke up incredibly early to run to catch a 3 hour train ride to Birmingham back in England. Pretty dang exciting! Me and Sister Thomson traveled there together to pick up our new companions, who just so happen to be fresh out of the MTC. Yup, we both get to be trainers! 

My new companion's name is Sister Butler. She's a cool cat from South Carolina, and she loves to ride horses and play volley ball. We get along pretty well, seeing as she has excellent taste in music haha. But really, we do get on nicely. It is a brand new world, having to teach someone everything you know. It's definitely stressful, but it is also kind of fun. Since I don't know everything, the phrase "fake it till ya make it" has gotten a whole new meaning. 

Oh yeah, turns out that it does get really cold here. Remember when I didn't believe that this part of the world had any cold or any rain? That is a false statement. I've now learned that the sky can hold so much water, and also that when it is wet it can get really cold. My coat and scarves and I have become pretty great friends now! 

For example, yesterday Sister Butler, Sherlock and I were all walking up to church yesterday morning. When we first walked out of our house, it was nice and sunny and there was no sign of rain. No need for umbrellas! We were invincible Sister missionaries with a Chinese investigator walking up the hills of Swansea. About 5 minutes into our walk the clouds came and it started to rain.. and rain.. and rain all the way until we get to the chapel, when it actually stops raining. We all had to wring out our clothes before church started haha. 

Sherlock on the other hand, is doing quite well. I mean, he did complete the 30 minute trek in the rain with us to get to church! He will do such great things :) 

Turns out I don't have much more time.. But here are some pictures of sis thomson and I travelling (with HOT CHOCOLATE of course) And then me and SIster Butler. 

Love,

Sister Slack

Sister Thomson and Sister Slack (me)

Sister Butler and Sister Slack (me)

Week 20: "But I have stolen..."

Picture this... Two white girls from the North American continent walk into a cafe. They had a plan, they were determined to teach their friend Owen. They spot him across the way, surrounded by friends. They make their way over to him, are introduced to everyone, and then eventually teach all of them about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Which is actually how our week started out. It wasn't what we would call an ideal teaching situation, because they all ended up arguing among themselves, but we did feel pretty cool. We taught 4 people from Africa that night, and since 3 of them were guys, it was probably a funny looking situation. 

The next day we got to teach our good friend Sherlock. We taught him all about the ten commandments, and he actually wants to follow all of them. He's a cool guy. However, when we got to the commandment "Thou shalt not steal" he looked at us with the most serious look on his face and said "Oh, but I have stolen before." Being kind and caring, we were about to explain about repentance again when he burst out laughing saying "Stolen girls hearts!" Way to go, Sherlock. No worries folks, he is not some crazy person.

Halloween was this week, and we got to spend the whole day travelling to a meeting! We actually had to go on exchange, so I got to go to the mission home with Sis Thomson, who I knew in the MTC! It was pretty cool to go to the mission home with her. 

This weekend we also got to see two Chinese investigators get baptized! The elders have been teaching them for about a month, and it was so cool to see them take this step towards Christ. 

This week has been great, I love you all, and time is short! 

Love, 

Sister Slack

Our whole district

Journey to Birmingham with Sis Thomson

Some sweet stained glass 

Week 19: Castles and Chinese people

What a week. Here we are. Once again, in the library emailing all of your lovely faces! 

Last P-Day we had the chance to go see Oystermouth Castle out in Mumbeles, and it was at that moment that I realized it would be a pretty hard task to over take a castle. No wonder people had to use massive hooks and ladders to get over those walls!

This week we got to work a lot with our Chinese investigators, one in particular was Sherlock. In the beginning of the week, we kind of evaluated where he stood with everything. He told us that he still didn't really believe in God, but knows that the church will definitely benefit his life. We encouraged him to read the story of the Brother of Jared (ya know, the one in Ether) about when he sees the body of Christ, and to pray about it. Two days later we marched on over to his house, and asked him about it. The first thing he told us was "I read the story!" Yay! Definitely what us missionaries like to hear. We asked him some more about it to make sure he understood, and then asked him what he prayed about. He told us that he prayed to know if the Brother of Jared actually saw Christ, and that he thinks it's true. Wait. Step back. He thinks it's true! As we talked to him more, he expressed that he is starting to believe in God. Reading the scriptures and praying is powerful, people. 

We also got to have stake conference this weekend! It was wonderful. People shared some really cool experiences, and  our mission president was there! It's always good to see him and his wife. They both introduced themselves to Sherlock Saturday night, and he felt pretty awesome meeting our "boss" haha. The Sunday morning session was held an hour away from Swansea, in Merthyr Tydfil. Not really expecting any investigators to want to make the long and windy journey, we made plans for ourselves to get there. Late the night before, we learned Sherlock actually wanted to come to both sessions! So we got him a lift there and back, making sure he'd have a wonderful experience. 

Nothing makes missionaries more happy than seeing their investigators progress. We were able to be spiritually uplifted, and hang out with Sherlock for  a bit. And then teach a few more of our Chinese investigators later that day. I guess you could say Sister Lambert and I are getting the hang of how to best teach those Chinese, and it's weird when we talk to someone who has a Christian background. Anyways, time is short and precious! But God is real and loves each and every one of us. Nothing gets better than that.

Love,

Sister Slack

 Lllama crackers! Sweet Chili flavor!

The companion and I near the beach

 Part of the district at the castle in Mumbles

Sherlock!