Week 74: Find a penny and pick it up

Hey world!

It has been a wonderful week. Transfers happened this week, and Sister
Grant and I were separated, and I have been sent off to Derby! I am
now with Sister Nielsen, she has been on he mission only for 6 weeks
and she is a fireball! We already get along great and are having fun.
We are so unified that we already say the same things at the same time
haha. She is from Orem, Utah and she even went to BYU! My
expectations? We are going to dominate Derby.

Before I left Nuneaton, Sister Grant and I got to teach a guy named
Victor for the first time. He is from Pakistan, and he is Christian!
That is a miracle itself, and we got to teach him the restoration. At
the end of the lesson he told us "if I study this and I know it is
true, I will do all I can to follow it." He has so much faith, and it
was a nice reminder that we do need to be fully committed, not just
partially. 

Sister Grant and I also tried to make gluten free cookies that we
could give to people, and I learned that baking was not my strong
point.. They smelled nice, and they looked like cookies, but that's
about it. They tasted weird and fell apart. In the end it turned out
that we had made about 30+ cookies, and that was only half the
batter... When I got transferred I just left them for Sister Grant to
enjoy :)

In Derby we got to do some finding, and one day we met a ginger guy
pushing a bike. I stopped him and he said "whoa, you scared me, I was
watching to see if that lad was going to pick up that penny, because
find a penny pick it up, and all day you'll have good luck! And if he
didn't get it, I wanted to pick it up." We eventually moved up so he
could pick up the penny, and he was happy...a little too happy. Turns
out he had been smoking some weed and been wandering around. He was a
nice guy though, and I'm pretty sure he told us he belonged to his own
religion he made up on the spot.

Saturday, we had the incredible opportunity to meet Elder Ballard.
Yup, the apostle. It was amazing, I even got to ask him a question.
I'd tell you all about it, but alas the time has run short again. Next
time I'll share! Know that the spirit in the room was incredible, and
that Jesus Christ's church definitely is on the earth.

Love,
Sister Slack

(Comment from Sister Slack's mom: Sister Slack (Lara) didn't tell me who was in this picture. Sister Slack is wearing glasses and Sister Grant is on the far right- I will update when I know their names)

Week 69: MIRACLES on MIRACLES

Welcome to the weekly update with Sister Slack! Surprise, it's Monday. Every week I tell myself that I'll be better at thinking about what I want to put in an email, but every week my mind goes totally blank, so we'll see how this works out. 

Last Monday I crashed on my bike for the very first time on my mission. I wish I could say it was epic, but really what happened was it had been raining all morning and I tried to go up the curb and my tire slipped... and I was thrown onto the road. Luckily, I was unharmed! I do have a sweet bruise on the back of my leg, but that's it. Turns out that this was just the beginning to all of our bike problems in the week. Tuesday we made the mistake of lending our bikes to the elders, and they came back and Sister Grant's back tire was messed up, and my front tire was flat. Poor kids had to walk them back to the church for us, but hey! No one got hurt. We have an extra bike at the flat, and we managed to bring the wheel down to try and fix it, but really all that happened was that our wrench broke. Exciting stuff. 

This week Coventry got to see the return of Sister Slack! Yes, I got to go on exchange back to my old area. I was with Sister Sorensen, and it was kinda funny because when I was in Coventry, she came there with me on exchange. We got to run around like mad women (literally.. we were 10 minutes late and needed to get there!) and teach lots of people and I got to see some old friends. We got to see Uche, and I reminded him that reading the Book of Mormon is the best thing he can do! I also got to see Grace (remember Grace? Baptised back in may). She has come back from China and she is amazing!!! We got to sit down with her and talk about how she's been applying the gospel. As we were speaking, I was just so filled with love for all of the people I've taught. It is such a blessing that we get to see the gospel change lives. She also gave us chocolate, so that's always nice. 

(Back to Nuneaton) We also got to see the less active named Catherine again, and she is just amazing. She read 5 chapters of the Book of Mormon and had marked them. She is so sweet, and she is just taking all the right steps to come back to church. Kerry (another less active) came to church again this week! She is so brave and she is doing so good. She loves learning about the gospel and being reminded of everything she was taught as a kid. She has decided she wants to give up smoking, and wants to help her family have the best life possible. The members just love seeing her at church! Also, our ginger (ginger power!) friend we are teaching came to church! His name is Darren. He takes a while to absorb the things we teach, but he definitely is determined to learn. He has had a rough life, but he is so full of hope. 

The biggest miracle of the week happened on Sunday. The whole Coventry zone was fasting this last sunday for us all to be able to see success. It seems things have been rough over the last few weeks, and this definitely was there to boost us up. I was pondering all day of who we could teach or focus on to help them see the gospel in their lives. Really, we are constantly looking for new people to teach. We have seemed to have quite a few people meet with us once, but just never show up again. After church we went into town and started talking to people, and literally everyone rejected us until we met this nice guy named Kyle. Turns out his best friend's brother is a Mormon, and they are both interested to learn what it's all about! Yay! But things get better, Sister Brown (a member) later picked us up for a dinner appointment and it was lovely, and then dropped us off at our flat. We were about to walk inside when the lady that lives below us came up to us and asked "What is it that you do?" She explained that she had once seen the inside of our flat due to water leaking into hers, and she saw all of the copies of the Book of Mormon. She has been wondering for ages. We explained that we were missionaries and that we teach people about God and Jesus Christ all the time. She then told us, "I knew you were. I really need you in my life right now." Pretty sure my heart stopped. With tears in her eyes she told us she has had a crazy past, and that about a year ago she cleaned up her life and found God. She explained that she really needs good people in her life, and a good church. Her name is Sabrina.

God literally dropped her into our laps. We set up a time to come and see her this week, and we are so excited. As we walked into our flat, Sister Grant and I were so grateful that we had fasted that day, and that God loves each one of His children so much! I know that there is nothing better in the world than our own personal relationship with God, and seeing it being built in other peoples lives.

I hope you all enjoy the sunshine and rain this week! I know I will :) 

Much love,

Sister Slack

Grace!

"Cheeeeese"!

Me and Sister Sorensen

Chili Pepper that caused the red face....HOOOOOOOOOOOOT!

Week 66: Ginger senses

What a week of MIRACLES everyone! I hope you are prepared to read this wonderful email I am sending you today. 

For some reason Sister Grant and I have been mistaken a few times for people's carers. We knock on their door, and they invite us in, and then when we try to talk about the gospel it becomes real awkward real fast. Conversation typically goes like this: "Wait, you aren't my nurse?" "No." "oh, then nevermind. I'll show you around my house then." This happened to us twice this week. Once on Friday when we were looking for a less active, and yesterday when we were tracting. Yesterday we knocked on this lady's door, and she immediately invited us in and told us her name was Silvia. She was so nice! She sat us down, and then asked us when we expect to finish, but she just kept laughing at everything we said. We told her we were missionaries, and she bust up laughing saying "Well, we are getting on just fine anyway!" Seeing that she didn't have all of her marbles in the right place, we decided to just show her a quick nice video about Jesus Christ. She begins to read all the words that are on the screen, and then she started to dance! Wow. This was one energetic 80 year old woman. 

So it's always been a dream of mine to find someone who is ginger, and to teach them. Thursday we were out talking to people on the streets, when my ginger senses start tingling and I spotted him! A ginger! So we ran over and talked to him, and he wanted to learn more! His name is Darren. We got to meet with him on Saturday and teach him about the plan of salvation, and he said a lot of his questions were answered. 

Later that same day, we decided to stop by a less active. We walked to her house, and she wasn't there so we turned around to head back into town to talk to more people. We stopped this lady on the way, and it turns out she is actually a member of the church! She stopped going to church when she was 11 (she's 47 now). She told us she never wanted to stop going, but her father stopped taking them. We invited her to come with us on Sunday, and she did! She is amazing! Her name is Kerry, and some of the members remembered her and it was incredible to see people's reactions. She even brought her 10 year old daughter, Madison with her. We get to begin teaching them this week more about the gospel. 

A few weeks ago we met this enthusiastic lady named Lucia. We had our return appointment on Friday with her at her home, and we showed up and she had made us a cake! She is amazing. We spoke to her about the restoration, and as we explained about the Book of Mormon, she told us "Wow, this is incredible, I've never heard of this before. I need to read the Book of Mormon!" YEAH YOU DO! It was so wonderful to see her so excited about the gospel. She is from Czechoslovakia, and has a beautiful family.  

Here in Nuneaton we have been having wonderful success with people who have been less active. Brother Edwards came to church again (for the 3rd time in a row!). It is amazing to see that such a simple invitation can change someone's life. I know that the gospel is what each of us needs, not because it's the only right thing, but because it is what will make us most happy. God knows us best! I am soo happy that I get to be a missionary for the Lord.

That is about all for now, because sometimes you can't type anymore!

Much love,

Sister Slack

Gluten Free Cake!

 Going to follow up meeting in birmingham! (Which was awesome by the way. So many missionaries, so much learning!)

Week 63: What?

It's raining, It's pouring, it's bank holiday! There are a few holidays that happen in England where everyone gets work off, and each time there is one, the earth decides it's time to rain there. So of course, it's raining today! It's not stopping us from having fun though. 

We've had one of those weeks where a lot happened but nothing really happened at the same time. Things went by in a blur, and we had lots of moments where we just looked at each other and said "What?"

For example: Sister Grant and I were just walking down the road talking to people. We stop this mom who has a few kids walking behind her, and suddenly her 4 year old son runs up to Sister Grant and jumps on her and just starts hugging her. What? All we said was "Hello" and this boy decided that he needed a hug from Sister Grant. I couldn't stop laughing, but we somehow managed to get the mother's details anyway.

Another "what?" moment: we met this guy last week who told us to come by his house and teach him. His name is Matthew. We go to Matthew's home at the appointed time, and no one answers. Later that same day, we just happened to be in front of his house checking out our map of where to go next. He walked out his door, looked at us, and then ran back inside his house. Well, I don't know what it is but sometimes people just feel the need to run away from us. It must be because the glow of the gospel is too strong!

Most of our week consisted of talking to people on the streets and getting rejected a lot. Especially on Saturday. I decided to count how many people said no, and in the space of a few hours we had talked to 82 people and only 4 of them had decided to stop and talk to us for a little bit. There are elect people out there, but the Lord just wants us to be persistent. Eventually, the last person we talked to we got to have a 30 minute lesson with and invite him to see us again. He responded with "I'll definitely be there." 

We had one day where we had run out of pass along cards, and it was time for us to head to an appointment. We were about to leave the town centre, when we looked up and I saw this tall person walking towards us. I decided to stop him, and he was actually pretty nice! (Bear in mind that we had just been told to go away by everyone) He told us that it was actually his day off, and that he normally didn't go that way through town. We set up a time to meet him, and went our separate ways, and he was a lovely genuine guy. People are ready for the gospel, we just need to find them!

Another time we were talking to people out by our flat, and we saw this Asian looking man. It's not common for them to be in this part of town, so we stopped him and he told us "I lost my friend, and she doesn't speak English. I've only been here for a week." Wow. We tried to help him find his friend, but eventually he got a phone call and he was able to get things sorted out. He was so grateful that we stopped and talked to him and tried to help. Everyone needs a friend when theirs are lost!

That's about all I have time for today, we are about to head off to the zoo! Have a lovely week and remember that Jesus Christ is the best. I am so happy to know that He is my best friend, and that all He wants to do is help us out. 

Much love,

Sister Slack 

First day with Sister Grant!

Chillin waiting for a man to come to an appointment

We found a horse.

62: Back to Biking

It's Monday again!

Well, in the beginning of the week I was in Nottingham, and things were getting crazy. Sister Miller and I got to help a member move, but the people who were supposed to move all of her stuff bailed. Being the super hero missionaries we are, we drove to the rescue and moved everything out of her house! Wow. People have a lot of stuff when you go through all of it. I think the scariest part of it was when we moved the table cloth, and this nasty earwig beetle thing was crawling around, and the member just SMASHED it with her hand! We found some nice big spiders as well. 

Wednesday rolled along, and all my stuff was packed up and ready to go (lots of moving this week). I hopped in the car for the last time, and we drove to the mission home! Sister Miller dropped me off, and I went inside the church nearby and we all awaited for our new greenies to arrive (did I mention that I'm training?). Here is a little bit of how things went:

I arrive, go inside, surrounded by pizza I cannot eat. Talk to other missionaries, drink some water, talk some more, and eventually somehow we had a Britain's got talent thing going on, where everyone performed for us at our request. Then, someone brought me a salad (how nice), and then we waited some more... and FINALLY we get called outside to see all of the new missionaries. There are 26 of them! 98% of them are all from Utah. One of the sisters is from New Zealand. A thought popped into my head "hey, she should be my companion". 

Long story short, Sister Grant is my new companion! She is from Hamilton, New Zealand, and she is amazing. She has been a real champ biking around and figuring out Nuneaton with me. The people here are a little interesting, I've noticed. One evening we were biking home and I saw this nice old lady, and I decided to stop and talk to her. I jump off my bike, say hello, and the lady greets me. Suddenly, she jumps towards the street and starts screaming at us and swearing and tries to flag down a car... so we biked away. All we wanted was to share a happy message!

Our flat also happens to be right next to a pub, things got interesting Saturday evening as we were getting ready for bed around 10pm. Some people outside were fighting over who should drive home, and the music was blasting from the doors of the place. Thankfully we have a fan, so most of the noise was flushed out by that. What a wonderful place to live!

On a more spiritual note, we did see some cool miracles. We were out finding late Friday night, and there was literally NO ONE outside to talk to. We decided to head towards this park, and there was a group of girls sitting down in the grass. So, since no one else was around, we went up to them. They had a couple of bottles of alcohol around (great) and none of them looked happy. Two of the three ignored us, but one of them gave us her number and set up a return appointment! You never know who is willing to listen. After we met them, we also met another group of really nice girls who all want to see us again. 

I love Nuneaton. The ward members are amazing, and I can already tell that they care so much about the missionaries. Another reason I love them? They have gluten free sacrament bread! MIRACLE. And so many people in the ward are gluten free. I think I'll fit right in here. Also, earlier in my mission I gave my bike (which I got for free from a member) to another sister who needed it. Coming here was stressful because I had no idea what we'd do to get around. Turns out that the stake bought bikes for the sisters living in Nuneaton, and neither of us need to buy bikes. God takes care of His children. ALWAYS. 

Miracles are waiting for us in Nuneaton, and I know that there is a jackpot waiting around the corner. People are prepared, but we just need to find them. 

I love all of you, have an amazing week, and keep it real :) 

Love,

Sister Slack

We love Nuneaton!

And the bike got us dirty...

An investigator has an African land snail!

Me and Sister Grant with the African land snail