Week 72: Happy November!

Hey outside world! Time to tell you all about our awesome week last
week. On Monday we got to feed all the lovely ducks in the river that
we bike by! It was great fun, and the elders brought loads of bread
for them. It's crazy how throwing bread like a frisby at some ducks
can be so entertaining. They would pretty much swarm and chase the
bread around. Yay ducks!

Two weeks ago we did a family history day, and we met loads of people
from it. We finally had our first appointment with someone from it
that didn't cancel or not show up! We met with this guy named Aaron in
his flat, and It turns out he is the nicest person. He is into strong
man competitions (like heavy weight lifting) and is massive, but a big
softie. As we taught and testified of the restoration, we felt the
spirit enter the room. When we introduced him to the Book of Mormon,
he told us "yeah, I'm definitely in need of guidance." He seemed to
just absorb everything we said, and agreed to prepare for baptism.
He's awesome.

One day we were just walking down the street and we stopped a Scottish
guy. He looked at our badges and told us he knew about the church and
that he holds the Aaronic Priesthood. Both Sister Grant and I were
like... Wait, is this guy being serious? Or is he one of those crazy
people that don't know what they are talking about? Turns out he is
legitimate! His parents raised him in the church but when he joined
the military he drifted away. He explained that he goes to church
every time he goes home to Scotland, so there is definitely some nice
potential here! The only awkward thing is that he told us his name,
but we aren't exactly sure what he said. So we are calling him Tim.

Sadly this week was filled with more bike troubles. It seems like we
can't get away from them! Sister Grant and I both got punctures in our
back tires, so that left us stranded to take the bus for one night
before we could fix them. As we were waiting for the bus, an older
lady came and stood next to where we were sitting. Sister Grant kindly
offered to give up her seat to her. The lady rejected it, but then
this lady seemed to be hooked on talking to us! Prime missionary
opportunity. We eventually got to set up a time to see her the next
day at her home. She is from Germany and her name is Bahereh. It was
crazy though, we all got on the same bus and a former investigator
named Vierra also got on the bus. She is also from Germany, and so we
introduced them and they were like instant friends! It's a fun world
to live in.

The next day when we got to see Bahereh we showed up to her home and
got to introduce her and her husband to the gospel, and then they
decided to introduce us to their beliefs. That is how you get trapped
in someone's home. They are of the Baha'i faith. They tried to explain
a lot of it, and even after being there for 2 hours Sister Grant and I
still aren't exactly sure what they believe.. But hey they are really
nice and lovely people! She even made a cake for us :) too bad I don't
eat cake. I got fruit instead.

Kerry is doing amazing. We taught her about fasting because Sunday was
fast Sunday. As we explained it to her, she got so excited to try it
out! She decided to fast to overcome smoking, and we decided to fast
with her. We told her about fast offerings, and showed her the tithing
slip you fill out with it. She looked at it and told us she remembered
seeing those in her childhood! It's amazing what people can remember.
She came to church yesterday and was able to remember to fast :) she
is amazing, and we love her.

Saturday we got to do some awesome service for the Browns and chop
some firewood! It is the day I will always remember as the day I
learned how to use an ax. Yes, I may have missed the first 5 times I
swung, but eventually I learned how to aim and things worked out
alright. I still have all of my limbs, and so does my companion! That
night the Browns brought us a pumpkin to carve, and Sister Grant had
her first pumpkin carving experience. We carved into an 'avatar, the
last air bender' pumpkin. It's sweet and is living in our window now.

Missionary life is incredible! Heavenly Father teaches me things every
day, and I try to enjoy each moment the best I can. Miracles happen
all the time, big and small. As it says in Mormon 9: 19 "And behold, I say
unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he
ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles."

Love,
Sister Slack

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Week 71: Family History, we are doing it!

Hello people of the world!

This week has been one crazy adventure. So I'll start of with the awkward moment of the week. Thursday evening we had a dinner appointment at the Bishop's home. We got to their house about 5 minutes early, and their car wasn't in front of their house. "That's weird" I thought, so we decided to make some phone calls for those remaining minutes before we went inside. As we were sitting on a wall, the Bishop pulled up in the drive and then invited us inside. Phew! They didn't forget! I was relieved. So we walked in and sat down, and after about 5 minutes of awkward small talk they come in asking "So, what brings you here today?" Turns out they actually thought they were having us over the next week for dinner, not that night... and they didn't have any food for us! Awkward.. SO we biked out of there quickly to our flat to get some nice food :) 

This week we had a Nuneaton change in history! Sister Grant and I got a stand set up in the market on Wednesday for family history. The only bad side of it was that we had to get there by 8am, so we had to leave the flat by 7:30 to get there. We were good sports and biked in the rain, and got there and talked to people for the next 6 hours. It was awesome! I don't think I've ever gotten so many people to stop and talk to us in Nuneaton. It was so fun to connect to families, and to share with others about mine, and to have them connect it back to our Heavenly Father. As the stake president said, "Discover yourself, discover your family, and then discover the Father and the Son." We met some pretty interesting people, even some people who claim they "don't believe in families" but we still were nice to them and gave them some cards haha. 

Later that same day, we met with Sabrina. Yes, the miracle from two weeks ago. She is so wonderful. She has had such a rough life, but she realized that God is the only one who can help her, and that He truly does make everything better. She has the cutest 1year old son! She really is looking for ways to improve her life and to have the best life for her family.

We are still working with Kerry. She is so humble, and so teachable. We taught her about keeping the sabbath day holy, and she explained how she is trying so hard to live her life the right way. She is such a good example to us of diligence, and also of overcoming trials. Plus, she just got the cutest puppy named Rio. 7 weeks old, and tiny! He's adorable.

Sunday we got to teach Singing time to all the primary kids :) It was amazing to see the enthusiasm, and also how teachable they are. All of them want to do the right thing, and Sister Grant and I had a blast going through all of the primary songs. Of course we had to bring them candy, so I think we are on the good side of all the children now. 

Side note: Today I found a sweater for £1. And it is amazing. 

I love being here in England. The people are incredible, especially the members. Those that we get to work with really have been prepared by the Lord for great things. I thank my Heavenly Father every day that I get to be here. I am so glad we can have that two way communication with Him.

I love you all, thank you for being the best family and friends I could ask for :) 

Take care,

Sister Slack

Puppy!

missionaries

waiting for a lesson

Week 48: "Oh, it was just heavy."

Hey hey hey everyone! What a wonderful week we have had. Miracles galore!

This week one of our favourite people, Grace, took of for holiday. Before she left, she took us out for lunch. It was amazing to talk about her journey with us and getting to know each other! She told me that when we first met and learned that I had come from Swansea, she was willing to go with me everywhere! God definitely is inspired to put us where we need to be in the right time. We also got to show her how to do family history. It was brilliant to see how excited she got and when she found out she could look through Chinese records, she was so excited! She got her temple recommend and plans to go there in the near future. She flies off to China today. 

Recently we have come back in contact with some investigators who have been scarce, and some of them came to church this week! It was amazing to see how the spirit can work on some people. Tony (remember him? We took his watch last week) met up with us again and it turns out life just got crazy last weekend. We gave him his watch back and in the closing prayer of his lesson he said "Father, please help me to wake up on time for church on Sunday, this is really important to me right now, and I need your help." It was so incredible to see his faith in the Lord in helping him wake up. Another one of our investigators, named Costa, turned down a job offer that would require him to work on Saturdays and Sundays so that he could be able to come to church. Who does that? People who have their priorities straight!

We also got to see our wonderful friend Kristina a few times this week. One evening we told her we would have to come later due to a dinner appointment. It was delicious and we were sooo full (as we usually are after eating at members homes) that we just wanted to lie down. We walk into Kristina's house and she says "oh I'll be with you in a minute, I'm cooking." We thought she meant just for herself, but then she asked if I could eat some of it. Oh no. 2 dinners right in a row is never good, so she was kind enough to pack it up for us (phew!). We didn't have to explode. We also got to watch some parts of General conference with her, and while we watched Elder Holland's talk from last conference she told us "He uses posh words, but the meaning is so simple." We talked about how she felt the spirit, overall it was amazing. 

We got to see our friend Joyce before she headed to Australia for a week and a half, and she showed us a picture of her holding a foal! Oh man it was the most adorable thing ever. When we asked her how it was, she said "Oh, it was just heavy." There ya go everyone. 

This week we had exchanges with the lovely sisters in Nuneaton! I got to go with Sister Mousley in Nuneaton, and it was pretty awesome. When we were walking to an appointment I saw this really tall guy, and I said to her "This guy needs the gospel." So here is how it went... we followed the guy for two minutes walking behind him just out of reach (his legs are long, ok) and then finally we run a little bit and catch up and say "Oh hey! We just feel like we should stop you." He was way nice and wasn't freaked out! So that's good. He was glad we stopped him, turns out he has been praying for God to guide him to a church. BOOM. We got his number and stuff, it was pretty chill. Miracle.

Everything is awesome over here in England!!

Love you all, have  an amazing week and keep on keeping on.

Love,

Sister Slack

 Last meal with Grace

 Teaching Kelly

teaching Joyce with Sister Randhawa

Exchange with Sister Mousley and Sister Scherf