May 12, 2014- mother's day

Hey there!  

Oh my goodness it was so good to see you all yesterday on Skype for Mother's day!  It made me so happy!!!  I have been replaying it over and over in my head ever since!  It was great!!  And  I hope that you had a good mothers day (mom, and my sisters).  But this week was a good one, we got loads of stuff done! 

 So for starters, we now have the car permanently which is so good!  It has already helped out our area so much!  We had to take a 3 hour bus ride to Hull to get it, but it was well worth it.  So that also means that I'm getting a lot more practice driving, which will help me prepare for my test.  But I'll start with my investigators:  A is doing so good!  He is really so motivated, and he is funny.  He has done a lot of things in his life.  He used to work for a record company, he used to be a professional guitarist, he used to be a teacher, and now he is a counsellor for people with addictions.  He is really progressing so much.  He came to church again yesterday, and he received a blessing from our branch president, and his  friend Bro I.  Which is so good.  They are both progressing together.  S is doing great, she is just going to take things a little slower.  She's having a hard time giving up smoking..................But she's just taking small and simple steps.  N is doing good.!  But yeah.  My investigators are my life, and so my life is great!  haha. 

 But I had some stuff to tell you guys yesterday but I totally forgot, so I'll just tell you now!  So there are some things that I thought you guys would like to know that are very unique to English people.  First is their dogs.  People here LOVE their dogs.  Its crazy.  They love their dogs more then they love their children.  And that's not an exaggeration.  It will be pouring rain, and they will still make sure their dogs get 3 walks a day.  Its weird.  Do you remember those weird pajama's that are onesies?  Yeah...well, they are like in trend over here.  They are completely normal, and practically everyone owns one.  People wear them to the shops.  People dress their kids in them.  They love their onesies.  Sister S and I finally caved and bought one, hahah.  And the  next one is just a word that everyone here uses.  CHAV.  It is used to describe like white trash or ghetto or like a punk.  But England is CHUCK FULL of them.  It is an acronym for  C-Counsell H-Housed A-and V-Violent.  hahahah so you guys can figure out what that means. 

  But I love you guys and I am starting to like the rain, since it has been raining since May started.  But things are great!!  Also, I was wondering...Could you have Kwin sing that Babylon song onto the recorder?  I loved it!  Okay thanks!!  I love you guys, have a great week!!!

Sister Staheli:)

P,S.  As soon as I get my replacement camera I'll send some more pictures.

Transfer!!!! May 6, 2014

HEllo!!  So the big news this week is........................Sister Scott and I are staying the same!  

Hahahahaha its so crazy, because its so uncommon for companions to be together for this long, but we're both stoked!  So ya, this will be our 4th transfer together!  And some other crazy stuff happened in our zone, they shut it down, and combined it with the Hull zone, so I don't think we will be getting a car anymore or anything.  But Yeah, I'm pretty excited that I get to work with Sister Scott again!  She's great!  But besides that, our week was really average...haha nothing to new.  

S is having a lot of concerns, mostly about stopping smoking and tithing (its always those two that throw people off), and so we will be meeting with her tonight and resolving her concerns.  But she is still so funny!  We met with her in our branch presidents home (where we will be skyping this sunday), and gosh we were all just laughing the whole time!  She refers to herself as a 'free spirit', and she was showing us her tatoos and telling us why she got them. haha she's great!  Also, we set a baptismal goal for A, for May 31st, he's really keen on getting baptized and is really excited.  He is searching for something in his life, and it truly does help that his best friend is a member, and is trying to come back to church. 

 We had loads of finding time this week, and we were also able to spend some time with the members, which was pretty fun!  But besides that, nothing too new happened this week!  L is moving to Lincoln, which is out of our mission, so we are super super sad about it:(  She has been going through some rough things lately, with her ex-fiance and work and stuff, they have been giving her a lot of grief over the church.  But she is moving really soon.  But the good news is that she wants us to contact the missionaries in Lincoln so she can get involved immediately, and she is still keen on getting baptized.  She's great, and I have no doubt in my mind that she will get baptized.  I love her and will miss her!  Oh and at church, N BORE HIS TESTIMONY!  hahaha when he first stood up, we were all holding our breath and just anxious to see what he would say...but it was really good!  And then a member got up after and just said 'N I don't know why you aren't a member yet, just get baptized already' hahaahah.  Its great!  Also, N our investigator called Elder Pilkington (what N calls President Pilkington hahahahahahahahah), and told him not to transfer us...so we think that is why we are staying the same!  But things are going great, and I'm so excited to skype with you guys this sunday!  I can't wait!  Gosh it has come up so fast!  But yeah I'm not too sure what time it will be at.  But it will be at like 5 or 6 ENGLAND TIME.  But I love you guys so much, and I hope you guys have a good week! 

Love, Sister Staheli

                                         A cute Young Woman in the  Louth Area- We love her!

                                                                 Our District

HEllo!!  So the big news this week is........................Sister Scott and I are staying the same!  hahahahaha its so crazy, because its so uncommon for companions to be together for this long, but we're both stoked!  So ya, this will be our 4th transfer together!  And some other crazy stuff happened in our zone, they shut it down, and combined it with the Hull zone, so i don't think we will be getting a car anymore or anything.  But YEah, i'm pretty excited that i get to work with Sister Scott again!  She's great!  But besides that, our week was really average...haha nothing to new.  Shirley is having a lot of concerns, mostly about stopping smoking and tithing (its always those two that throw people off), and so we will be meeting with her tonight and resolving her concerns.  But she is still so funny!  We met with her in our branch presidents home (where we will be skyping this sunday), and gosh we were all just laughing the whole time!  SHe refers to herself as a 'free spirit', and she was showing us her tatoos and telling us why she got them. haha she's great!  Also, we set a baptismal goal for Allen, for May 31st, he's really keen on getting baptized and is really excited.  He is searching for something in his life, and it truly does help that his best friend is a member, and is trying to come back to church.  We had loads of finding time this week, and we were also able to spend some time with the members, which was pretty fun!  But besides that, nothing too new happened this week!  Louise is moving to Lincoln, which is out of our mission, so we are super super sad about it:(  SHe has been going through some rough things lately, with her ex-fiance and work and stuff, they have been giving her a lot of grief over the church.  But she is moving really soon.  But the good news is that she wants us to contact the missionaries is Lincoln so she can get involved immediately, and she is still keen on getting baptized.  She's great, and i have no doubt in my mind that she will get baptized.  I love her and will miss her!  Oh and at church, NEIL BORE HIS TESTIMONY!  hahaha when he first stood up, we were all holding our breath and just anxious to see what he would say...but it was really good!  And then a member got up after and just said 'Neil i don't know why you aren't a member yet, just get baptized already' hahaahah.  Its great!  Also, Neil our investigator called Elder Pilkington (what Neil calls President Pilkington hahahahahahahahah), and told him not to transfer us...so we think that is why we are staying the same!  But things are going great, and i'm so excited to skype with you guys this sunday!  I can't wait!  Gosh it has come up so fast!  But yeah i'm not too sure what time it will be at.  But it will be at like 5 or 6 ENGLAND TIME.  BUt i love you guys so much, and i hope you guys have a good week! 

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Hi ya, April 28, 2014

Hiya! 

 So this week was a really good one!  It has gone by so fast, and next week is transfers again!  Gosh this transfer has really flown by, its so weird.  Sister Scott and I have been together for like 4 months now, and it has just gone by so fast.  We don't really know what will happen at transfers, anything could happen since we both got here like the same time, but we think that one of us will leave.  But really fast, before I forget...we will be able to skype on mothers day, so may 11th, and its a bit tricky cause transfers are like 3 days before.  So if I am in louth, then I will be skyping around 5 or 6 ENGLAND time..not sure what time that is in the states.  BUT, if I get transferred, then I have no idea what time I'll be skyping.  I'm telling you this now in advance so that you can maybe get something figured out.  What time is your church at?  And also, I have a skype account, i just don't remember it.  So if you could email me my skype account and password, then I could just skype your account mom from my own account.  I think that would be easiest, just because it will be a little tricky with transfers and all.  But this week was really a great one!  Gosh, Louth is just on fire right now!!  Our investigators are doing so well!!  S is doing so good!  She is just hilarious!  Seriously, she is like the funniest person I have ever met!!!  She is 64, tiny (smaller than me) and just a crazy woman hahahaha!  We were able to do some service for her on Thursday, we helped her with her back garden (her backyard--people get offended if you call them backyard/frontyard).  And it was disgusting.  I have never seen so many slugs/snails in my life.  And they are SICK.  Seriously, I was like throwing up.  And S and Sister Scott thought it was funny to mess with me, so I was so paranoid the whole time cause they kept playing mean jokes on me:(  hahahaha But it was really funny and a good time.  She is the most solid investigator that I've taught on my mission so far.  She's just doing everything to find out for herself.  And she's already in Mosiah 18!!  Crazy.  Her day to stop smoking by is this wednesday, and she has been having a hard time cutting down.  So she got a blessing yesterday.  So please pray fro her.  Her baptismal interview will be this Friday.  hahahaha She kept calling our Branch president 'Father O'grady'....but his name is President Ogramm.  ahahahahaha and she kept teasing all the young men at church yesterday.  She is practically a member already!!  She's great!!  

And A came to church as well, along with his less-active friend.  So that was truly a miracle!  A is so great!  He like bore his whole life story to us, and he has had a really rough life.  But he is so great.  And he is solid.  And he is definetely a KINGDOM BUILDER.  So things are really looking up for our area here in Louth!!!!  I'm still freaking out a little about my driving test, because one of the other sisters, (our sister training leader)borrowed my book and cd so she could study, cause she had like 2 days before her test.  BUT she didn't pass it..........so I'm a bit worried.  I'll get my things back next week so I'll still have some time to study.  But it will be hard hahah.  But yeah things are great.  And I got the cd from amazon, and THANK YOU SO MUCH!!  it was amazing!  And we listen to it like everyday cause its so good!  So really thank you!!!  Anyways, have a great week!!  Love ya!

Sister Staheli

                                             Snails, snails everywhere!!

Hiya!  So this week was a really good one!  It has gone by so fast, and next week is transfers again!  Gosh this transfer has really flown by, its so weird.  Sister Scott and I have been together for like 4 months now, and it has just gone by so fast.  We don't really know what will happen at transfers, anything could happen since we both got here like the same time, but we think that one of us will leave.  But really fast, before i forget...we will be able to skype on mothers day, so may 11th, and its a bit tricky cause transfers are like 3 days before.  So if i am in louth, then i will be skyping around 5 or 6 ENGLAND time..not sure what time that is in the states.  BUT, if i get transferred, then i have no idea what time i'll be skyping.  I'm telling you this now in advance so that you can maybe get something figured out.  What time is your church at?  And also, I have a skype account, i just don't remember it.  So if you could email me my skype account and password, then i could just skype your account mom from my own account.  I think that would be easiest, just because it will be a little tricky with transfers and all.  But this week was really a great one!  Gosh, Louth is just on fire right now!!  Our investigators are doing so well!!  Shirley is doing so good!  She is just hilarious!  Seriously, she is like the funniest person i have ever met!!!  She is 64, tiny (smaller than me) and just a crazy woman hahahaha!  We were able to do some service for her on Thursday, we helped her with her back garden (her backyard--people get offended if you call them backyard/frontyard).  And it was disgusting.  I have never seen so many slugs/snails in my life.  And they are SICK.  Seriously, i was like throwing up.  And Shirley and Sister Scott thought it was funny to mess with me, so i was so paranoid the whole time cause they kept playing mean jokes on me:(  hahahaha But it was really funny and a good time.  She is the most solid investigator that i've taught on my mission so far.  She's jsut doing everything to find out for herself.  And she's alreayd in Mosiah 18!!  Crazy.  Her day to stop smoking by is this wednesday, and she has been having a hard time cutting down.  So she got a blessing yesterday.  So please pray fro her.  Her baptismal interview will be this Friday.  hahahaha She kept calling our Branch president 'Father O'grady'....but his name is President Ogramm.  ahahahahaha and she kept teasing all the young men at church yesterday.  She is practically a member already!!  She's great!!  And Allen came to church as well, along with his less-active friend.  So that was truly a miracle!  Allen is so great!  He like bore his whole life story to us, and he has had a really rough life.  But he is so great.  And he is solid.  And he is definetely a KINGDOM BUILDER.  So things are really looking up for our area here in Louth!!!!  I'm still freaking out a little about my driving test, because one of the other sisters, (our sister training leader)borrowed my book and cd so she could study, cause she had like 2 days before her test.  BUT she didn't pass it..........so i'm a bit worried.  I'll get my things back next week so i'll still have some time to study.  But it will be hard hahah.  But yeah things are great.  And i got the cd from amazon, and THANK YOU SO MUCH!!  it was amazing!  And we listen to it like everdya cause its so good!  So really thank you!!!  Anyways, have a great week!!  Love ya! Sister Staheli

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Happy Easter,April 24, 2014

Hey there family!! 

 I hope you all had a great time in St. George for Easter, the pictures looked like you guys had fun:)  And like it was very warm.  haha.  This week has been so great!  And sorry for the late email, but it was a bank holiday yesterday so like everything was shut down.  So we are emailing today.  But I guess the highlight of this week is definitely S.  Oh my gosh she is so amazing!!  ahahaha and she is just so funny!  So we have worked with her a ton this weekend, and she is so excited for her baptism on May 9th.  She has a smoking problem, but she is so dedicated to stopping that she is getting professional help for it.  Which is the first person that I've worked with to actually do that.  She is also reading, she just finished reading 2 Nephi.  On Sunday night she came to a baptism in Grimsby (since we don't meet in a chapel, whenever there are baptisms for anyone-children included-we have to go to Grimsby).  So a little girl from our branch was getting baptized, so she came and she LOVED it!!  Oh my gosh it was such a great night!!  She was like almost in tears after she watched the actual baptism.  And then afterwards she was talking with like EVERYONE and she kept telling everyone that she would be joining us on May 9th.  And then she asked President Ogramm (our branch president) to baptize her.  hahaha she is sooooooo funny, and she is so solid and so prepared.  When we teach her she always uses the phrase-'ya, this rings true somehow!'.  And its true!  The gospel of Jesus Christ is something that is instilled inside all of us.  That desire and that hunger to know more is something that is with us ever since we lived with our Father in Heaven before this life.  We have all heard it before and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way back.  Its a way of life.  And thats what S is learning.  The members are doing a really good job fellowshipping her!  She's is so excited to join and also to go through the temple!  she is hilarious, I wish you guys could meet her!!!  

And also we found a new investigator this week, his name is A, and he is so great!  He was a referral from a Less Active member (who is trying so hard to come back)- Brother I.  And he came to the baptism as well.  He really enjoyed it and asked us for a book of mormon right there.  We will be meeting with him this week, and he said his mom is also interested.  So we are pretty excited!  Things are looking so great for our area, and I know that these prepared people will be baptized soon!!!  I am feeling loads better as well, so you guys can all relax now:)  The medicine is doing well, and Sister Pilkington gets mad at me if I'm not taking proper time to rest.  So don't worry, I feel loads better, and Sister Scott and I are finally feeling healthy:)  We had the car this week, and so we were able to go by some less actives in weird villages.  One of which was deaf, so I was trying to use my broken sign language to communicate, but then I realized that American sign language is different than British sign language.  But it turned out alright!  It was a good week, and the weather is looking up as well!  We are trying to ween ourselves off of tights, because we are addicted.  But it is hard.  Anyways, I  love you all so much, and I hope that you guys have a great week!  Love you!

Sister Staheli

April 14, 2014

Hey there fam!!!
  I hope you all had a great week in Atlanta, I was thinking of you guys often, especially when it was raining, knowing you guys were in some nicer weather:)  So good news and bad news from the week.  I will start with the good news!  So our investigator S, is getting baptized!!  She is going to be getting baptized on May 9th, but I think we will move it up a week, if we can, so that it can be this transfer.  She is so great.  At first when we started meeting with her she was asking us all of these really weird and strange questions that were half true about really weird/sacred/principles, and then we found out that she had rented a book from the library called 'Introduction to Mormonism'.  It was written by a non member, so there was a lot of false information in there, but it actually turned out to be a good thing.  Cause now she is reading the Book of Mormon, she's almost done with 1 nephi, and she's not weirded out.  She is so great!  She is like late 50's early 60's.  And it all started because she was walking her daughters dogs that looked exactly like Chryssy.  hahaha.  She is so funny, I love her!  We will just be working on the Word of Wisdom with her.  For everyone back home....NEVER START SMOKING.  It is the worst habit to kick, and I hate it.  So many people here are addicted to smoking, and it just destroys your body.  Most nights Sister Scott and I just come home and we just carry the stench of smoke with us.  You'd think that we are chain smokers, BUT WE AREN'T.  But seriously, its the worst.  But she's great, and I have no doubt in my mind that she can stop.  She wanted to get baptized on April 26th, but both Sister Scott and I thought that it would be a little too soon, and we want her to be ready.  So I have no doubt that she will reach her date.  
So for the bad news.  So I have been sick for the past little while...like the past few weeks, and just this week we found out that Sister Scott and I have STREP THROAT.  We both have been sick for a while, and Sister Scott is on Anti-biotics, but I thought that I was getting better so I didn't get any.  But don't worry, I'm going to get some today.  So we had to stay in for a few days this week, so that we could rest.  It has hit Sister Scott harder than me, so she hasn't been able to get out of bed for a few days.  But hopefully we will be better and stay better.  But this week the Sister Training Leaders came on exchange.  I was with Sister Wynder, and Sister Scott was with Sister Scott.  They stayed in and rested, and Sister Wynder and I worked.  It was so good to see other sisters.  Since we never are able to.  But yeah, it was definitely fun to have them here.  Also, I booked a day to take my theory test for my license.  You have to book it a while in advance, so I am taking it on May 15th, its a week after transfers, so just in case.  But that is why there will be a charge on my card, I had to book it online with my card.  But that's about it for the week.  It was a good one!!  It truly flew by.  I can't believe how fast time is flying!  Oh and shout out to my girl Kim Dahl on getting her mission call!  That's so exciting!!  I'm so proud of ya!!!!  Philippines is getting the best missionary!!  I hope you all have a great easter!!  Try and remember Jesus Christ a little bit more this week, and serve him a little bit BETTER.  We all need to strive to fulfill our purpose on our own individual road to True Discipleship.  Have a good week!
Sister Staheli

April 7, 2014

Hey I hope that you guys have had a great week! 

 This week nothing really new happened, but it went by pretty fast.  It was pretty rainy this week, BUT all of the flowers and trees have blossomed, and so it is so beautiful!!  Really, it is so pretty everywhere.  All of the green fields have now turned to just yellow flowers.  It looks like the scene in The Wizard of Oz when she is running through the yellow fields.  Seriously, when you are out in the country, all you can see for miles is just yellow fields.  Its beautiful.  It really makes me so grateful to be serving here. 

 This week we have been working alot with Less Actives and with N.  On thursday we went on splits with the branch missionaries and we went and visited some of the less actives that we can't get to without a car, so that was really effective.  N is progressing so much.  N really really wants to get baptized while both Sister Scott and I are here, and he knows that one of us will leave in a few weeks, so he is really trying to get there.  We have set a date for him to stop smoking by, and then if he can do that, then he will be baptized on May 3rd.  So we are really really working with him.  He hasn't liked any of the other sisters, and he refused to take the lessons from them, but for some reason, he likes us and he is actually accepting the lessons that we teach him hahahaha.  He is so funny.  He is like obsessed with books.  So he will always be buying us books about things that we like from the charity shop, even though he knows that we aren't allowed to read them. He wants us to take them home and read them when we get home.  Hahaha.  Like yesterday, he bought me a book, I forgot the name, but its the book that J.K Rowling wrote right after Harry Potter.  Bless him, he is so funny.  But yeah, I have faith that he can stop smoking, and I really do think that he will get baptized this transfer.  

We were able to watch the Women's Conference and the first 3 sessions of General Conference this weekend.  We had to go to the Grimsby chapel and watch them, (it is a new rule by President Pilkington that we had to watch conference at the chapel), and so we were there like all of Saturday and Sunday, because we wouldn't have had enough time to travel home anyways.  But they were so good!!  Really, it blew my mind as usual!  I'm excited to finish watching the last session.  It makes me so excited to go home and actually go to the conference center.  All of the talks were great, but I especially liked the one by Elder Oaks about obedience, Elder Uchtdorf about gratitude, and the ones about becoming true Disciples of Jesus Christ.  We all need to realize that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is supposed to enable all of us to act.  To become more like Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father is the purpose of our life on earth.  If we are not progressing and consistently trying to emulate Christlike attributes, then we are doing nothing but hurting ourselves.  I know that Christ lives.  I know that President Thomas S. Monson is God's true spokesman and prophet on the earth today.  We, as members of Christ's true church have a responsibility to act.  We have the happiness that others can't even imagine of.  We need to defend our faith and rise to the occasion.  God needs all of us now.  My name is McKell Staheli, and I stand for Jesus Christ.

I hope that you guys have a great week!

Sister Staheli

April 1 , 2014

Hey hey hey! 

 So another transfer has come and gone, and it is blowing my mind how fast my mission is passing by!  I have already been out for 7 1/2 months!  It is so crazy, and I just love it here in England!  So the big news is.......We get to stay together for another month and work here in Louth!  It was actually a huge surprise to both of us.  We both thought that one of us would leave, but we are both stoked to be able to serve together for another transfer.  Next transfer is only 5 weeks long, so it will fly by anyways.  But yeah i'm really excited for  this next transfer. 

 We have been finding a lot of potential investigators and we have 2 good solid investigators.  So I'm excited to just hit the ground running hard for this next transfer.  And it will be kind of fun, because my friend from high school-Elder Hilyard will be my zone leader.  But this week was a good one.  Same old same old haha, But it was good.  We had a lot of funny experiences.  And we were lucky enough to have the car for 3 days, so that was great.  I feel a lot more comfortable driving now than I did earlier.  Its not that bad afterall!  Plus now that transfers are over, I will be scheduling a day to take my test in like the next 2 or so weeks.  I just need to get it over with.  But with the car we were able to see a less active family, that literally lives in the middle of nowhere!  They live in the tiniest village.  It took us forever to find it with all of these tiny little roads.  So we got there at like 7:40, and we get inside and they had made us dinner.  It would have been fine, except we had just eaten dinner at our branch president's home, and it was a typical english feast.  Oh my gosh my stomach hurt so bad.  I seriously couldn't sleep because it hurt so bad.  There was nothing that we could do, we just have to shut up and eat it.  hahaha.  Thats the one down side of being a missionary,  I CAN'T CONTROL WHAT I  EAT.  The people are REALLY NICE and just want to feed us! !!!!! haha.  But it was good.  It was mothers day for England yesterday, so it made me think of my own mom and my sisters, and how excited I am to skype with ya'll in just over a month:)  L is doing good!  And we are starting to work with her mom a little bit as well.  It looks like she is set on having her baptism in June- we think it is a replacement for her wedding which was supposed to be in June-But we will just continue to try and help her feel more ready.  We are still working with the branch and trying to strengthen them as much as we can.  Things are great, and I'm excited to get hard to work here in Louth!!!!!  I hope you all have a great week:)

Sister Staheli

                                                                         Little kitty on my lap

Hey, Hey Hey. Mar. 24, 2014

Hey hey hey ya'll!! 

 Okay so this week was a good one, Sister Scott and I have been sick again this week.  Well actually Sister Scott has been sick for like months now, so I forced her to go to the doctor on Friday, because its not normal to be sick for that long, and they took her blood and gave her some anti-biotics to help her clear it up.  Hopefully we can both finally get over this dang cold. haha.  But it was a good week.  It was raining for most of the week, and it even snowed yesterday.  But the good news from this week is that N is really really progressing!  It is really amazing to see how he has come.  He is still smoking, but he is so funny.  Since N LOVES to talk and he just talks so much, we have been trying a new way of teaching him.  We have been teaching him off of the mormon.org videos, (if you haven't seen them, they are GREAT), and we have just been doing it principle by principle, so that we can cover it all.  But it has been working!  And he has been reading the book of mormon for real this time, so thats fantastic!  And everytime we talk about transfers (They are next week by the way, so my p-day won't be until tuesday), he gets like super super sad and tells us that he really hopes that he can get baptised before we both leave.  And he has told that to members that he talks to in town as well.  And when we mentioned transfers yesterday he was like in denial about it and then told us that if we got transfered that we'd have to keep in touch, and then he said like the cutest/saddest prayer, and it like broke my heart!!!  So 'Uncle Nl', is doing really good!!  

L is doing well too!   She is still having a hard time giving up tea, people here are literally obsessed with their tea.  But I think she is really buckling down and getting to it now.  Her new date for baptism is April 11th, and so I'm really hoping that both Sister Scott and I will be able to go to it!  But yeah the branch loves her.  Speaking of the branch....So by May, there will have been like 15 active members that will have moved away.  Its crazy, so the branch is like in freak out mode because they are losing so many people.  So Sister Scott and I are a little stressed, but we are doing our best.  Things are great!  And we are working with a ton of less active members at the moment, and it seems to be paying off.  When we went to visit one less active member, she told us that she has 5 families that she wants us to teach, because she taught them the 10 commandments, just like we taught her, and they were interested.  So we were pretty happy, because of course we would love to teach 5 families.  Also, this same less active woman taught us both how to knit, so in all of our free time-since we have so much of it-we are now knitting. :)  Anyways, I love you all , and I hope you have a great week!  Also, Happy Birthday shout out to my big sister Chels!!  Love ya sis!!  Have a great week!:)

Sister Staheli

                                             Look Mom, I'm Driving!!!

                                                Sister S. and I in the Knome garden

                                             Me standing awkwardly in the knome garden.

Hey, Hey, Hey, Mar. 17, 2014

Hey hey hey,  
So this week was a really great one!  It has been fantastic weather!  Seriously!  The sun has been out, and although its still chilly, it has been generally pretty warm.  One day we even had to take off our coats because we were sweating so much.  So hopefully the good weather will stay again for this week, but who knows.  So the big news for this week is that we got the car for 2 days!  haha.  It was so great!  We got the car on Wednesday after District Meeting, and we were able to keep it and use it until friday afternoon.  Man oh man.  It is a little different driving here!  It took me a little bit to get used to it, but now its fine.  The roads are just so little and so bendy haha, its tricky sometimes!  Seriously, imagine driving on a sidewalk through miles and miles of just green fields.  And they are just bendy and windy like crazy.  Thats what I was driving on this week.  No joke, the roads are TINY.  But its great.  Cause it gave me a little bit of practice.  Now I just need to buckle down and find time to really study for my theory test.  I need to take it soon, but I just haven't really got time to study for it.  But we survived, and it was great!!! haha.  Since we had the car, we were able to go to some of those other villages that we have been really wanting to go to but we haven't been able to.  We went to this little village called Alford, and it is interesting.  It felt like I was in Utah.  Weird.  But as we were knocking, we came across this house, and it was so interesting HAHAHAH.  Okay (so side note real quick-everyone here in England names their houses.  Yep, you heard me right.  They name their houses.  Everyone does it) so we come across this house and it is decorated to the max with gnomes, it had gnomes EVERYWHERE, and it was named GNOME COTTAGE.  So we were pretty interested, so we decided to knock it.  We knocked into a man named-RON THE GNOME. He is like 70 years old or something, and he dresses up as a gnome.  He is famous.  Haha I guess for the recent movie Gnomeo and juliet, he was like in charge of all the gnomes and things.  He has 1760 gnomes in his house and garden (backyard), and he has them all named.  Apparently he is in charge of the G.B.E (The gnome british empire). hahaha.  We were like cracking up.  Oh my gosh it was the funniest thing ever.  And so he gave us his business card, and he had us sign his visitors book, and he let us into his garden to see all of his gnomes.  THERE WASN'T ANY SPACE ON THE GROUND TO WALK.  There were gnomes literally everywhere.  Haha we got some good pictures, but it was pretty funny.  L is doing so good.  Seriously, I feel like a proud mother everytime I''m around her.  Unfortunately we will have to push her baptism back a few weeks, she is having a harder time kicking the tea then she expected.  Dang tea!!  But she is still so excited for her baptism.  She wants it to be real, and meaningful, not just to have a good day.  She gets the gospel, and thats why I love her.  She lets the gospel change her, and it truly has.  Its amazing.  She is so great.  She confirms her own appointments, she confirms church (even though she has her own car which is so great), and she gets the greatest insights from the Book of Mormon.  Also, she has made really good friends with some people from the branch, so that is great.  Tonight we are having a FHE with her in Angie's home (Angie is a branch missionary, and they have become really good friends).  L is so great.  We are kinda bummed about her baptism, because we don't know if both of us will be here for her baptism or not, but it doesn't matter.  She is getting baptised, and that's all that matters!!  And she is already doing missionary work, she is trying to get her mom to come out with her. haha we'll see how that goes.  N is doing great.  He is just so  funny.  But we are still working with him.  But other than that, we are just working hard to find new investigators.  We will continue doing a bunch of finding this week, since last week we had to drop a few of our investigators.  Things are great and I'm having a blast!  I love Sister S, and I hope that we can stay together another transfer!  It feels like I'm serving with my best friend, she is great!  I hope all is well back home.  
Love you all!!

March 10, 2014

Hiya! 

 I hope you all had a great week!  I'm sorry I'm a little short on time today, but I'll try and write down as much as I can remember!  This week nothing really new happened.  Same old same old haha, except.....drum roll please.................L IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!1 DAJDFLKAJEROQWERJAKDJL;FJ!!!  We had set a date for her to recieve her answer by, and that day was on friday, March 7th.  And so when we went to teach her and were talking with her, she told us that she believed us.  That everything we had taught her she thought was true.  We had helped her to recognize that we don't just all of a sudden wake up one day feeling different, that rarely happens.  But that answers usually come gradually over time.  And one day we can look back and realize the change that had occured.  And that is exactly what has happened with L.  We have been working with her tons, and she has already overcome loads of opposition with her fiance and his family causing contention, and so she basically had to choose between God and her fiance, and she chose God.  So her wedding is officially off, and she is officially getting baptized.  She is so amazing.  She is only 28, haha so its weird cause its like she is one of my sisters or one of my friends.  Thats like what it feels like whenever we are over there.  And she has all of these really cool hidden talents.  haha like she breathes fire!!  Yep you heard me right!  She took lessons to be one of those cool people that breathes and works with fire.  She is going to teach us next week.  And she is a trapeez (me kno goode wit speelin) lady.  hahahah she is so cool!  And the branch loves her!  Our branch president loves her, and she is just so great!  I'm so excited for her to get baptized!  She will get baptized on March 21st, and I know that she is so ready for this.  She told us that this gospel has given her perspective.  Its helped her through this hard time in her life, and that 2 months ago she was completely different.  And that is exactly what the gospel does to people.  It changes them, if they let it.  It gives people perspective, that this life isn't it.  That there is more.  And it helps people through their toughest trials.  Thats the beauty of the message of Christ- We are not alone, and we don't have to go through it alone.  I love being a missionary and being able to share this great message with others.  To litrally see the change in people's life is amazing.  Its the best thing that I could be doing. 

ANYWAYS.  I had to give another talk in church yesterday, it was 20 minutes long!  Gosh.  Since the branch is so small they run out of people to do things. haha.  but its fine, I mean I have LOADS of free time to write a 20 minute talk, so no big deal, right? ha.....ha.  Yesterday was really really warm, but its cold again today, no surprise.:)  Things are going great!  I truly love Sister S!!!!  It feels like I'm serving with my best friend!  We get along so well, its weird.  But really, she's great, and I love it here!  Every night we pray that we won't get transferred!  haha.  But who knows.

President called us again this morning and told us how he was so proud of little old louth hahah.  Things are looking up here in Louth!  Now we just got to go out and find more people!  I hope you all have a great week!  Love ya!

Love,

Sister Staheli

Sister Scott and I

                                             The Beach

                                               One of our investigators has a pet tortoise.

                             Sister Scott and I have matching coats. Haha.  We bought them before we became                                                   companions.  Haha!

Zone Conference- Mar. 3, 2014

Hiya!  Man so this week was pretty crazy!  So we had Zone Conferance on Wednesday, but we stayed the night in Hull on Tuesday night because of transportation,  but it was really fun!  I barely knew 1 of the sisters that was there in the flat, so it was fun getting to know some new sisters.  But it was a lot of traveling, like 3 hours and 3 different buses just to get to Hull.  haha so were pretty tired when we got there.  And Zone Conference was amazing as usual.  President Pilkington is the most inspired man I've ever met.  He is seriously great, and I'm so grateful that I got sent here so that I can work with him.  At zone conference, we was talking about finding, and he all of a sudden just stops, thinks for a second and says- 'Where's Sister Staheli, come up to the front.' hahah so I was freaking out a bit, but I went up next to him, and he wanted me to tell everyone about the story we had when a lady just took her scarf off and handed it to me (I think I already told you about it).  haha you know how I don't like talking or being in front of people, but it was alright.  It was so good to see all of my mission friends!  And especially to see how my daugter (Sister B) is doing.  it was great!  Then on thursday and friday we were on exchange with the sister training leaders.  I was with Sister Scott (different from my companion, haha she is from scotland) and it was really fun.  Its just nice to be around other sisters, since we don't see any EVER.  But yeah it was great.  L is doing amazing!!  She is just so acceptive and really so receptive to the spirit.  She has been going through a lot of ridicule and opposition from her friends, and she stands up for the church!  So she was engaged to be married, but the wedding is off now.  Because her future mother in law was like saying all this stuff about the church and how its creepy and stuff, and her fiance didn't even stand up for her.  So L just said that it was the last straw.  She's so amazing.  She's even more determined now to find out for herself if this is true.  Her only problem is she wants to be 100% sure if this is true, before she gets baptized.  Because when she gets baptized, she wants it to be meaningful to her.  She's so great.  Tonight we will be having a family home evening with her and her mom in our branch president's home.  We should have gotten the car this week, but our zone leaders are just getting like super super possessive and they freaked out a little.  So we took it to President, haha and so he'll get it resolved and we WILL get the car next week.  N is doing better, he is still struggling to stop smoking, but he's getting there.  On Saturday, we were at his flat, and he was like 'Sisters I will make a deal with you about the Book of Mormon.  I promise to read it cover to cover if you read these books cover to cover', and he pulls out 2 of these huge Britain books, and it has like pictures of England and info and stuff.  It was really nice of him.  And if it gets him to read the Book of Mormon, then totes def lol we'll do it!  anyways.  that was basically our week.  It was great, and it is officially spring!  Well kinda, its still cold and wet, but the sun is out!!  Have a great week ya'll!!!

                                 Sister Staheli, Sister Scott and The Allens at Zone Conference

                                                          The Sisters at Zone Conference

Hello!! 

 This week was a fast one as usual, gosh seriously time is freaking me out.  I feel like its sunday, then p-day every day!  Its really quite weird.  So where to start....

-Oh so good news is that we will be getting a car next week.  We won't have it for the whole week, we will share it with our zone leaders.  But we will have it for half of the week.  We will get it next week, and I'll be the driver.  Even though I don't have my official UK driving license yet, I am allowed to drive on my US license for the first year in the UK, so up until August I can drive without taking my test.  I will probably take my test in like 2 or 3 months, when I will have had a little bit more practice driving.  But I'm super stoked!!  haha it will be so great!! 

-L.  is so amazing!!  Seriously she is so great.  We taught her 2 times this past week.  She is just so receptive to the spirit and she is just so sincere.  We promised her that she would have her answer by March 7th.  And I know that she will.  She reads the Book of Mormon, and even better, she UNDERSTANDS the Book of Mormon.  And she asks great questions.  AND SHE DOESN'T LIVE WITH HER FIANCE.  She's like the only person in all of Britain to not live with her partner.  So YAY.  But on Saturday she came to a baptism in Grimsby, which is like an hour away from where she lives. And she drove herself there (Another plus is that she DRIVES, HAS HER OWN CAR, AND SHE WORKS), and she brought her mom.  Her mom's sister is a member and lives in Nephi utah, so she knows some of the church, but not that much.  But they both came to the baptism, and they really enjoyed it.  Our branch president took us, and so it was good to have him talk with them.  L. is so receptive to the spirit.  (She's only in her 20's btw).  When we went over to her house the other day, she was just telling us how she usually LOVES to watch scary movies, like really scarry and horrific type films, and she was going to flip one on, but then a thought just popped into her head that she didn't need to be watching those type of things, so she turned it off.!!!!  hahaha when she told us that we were like freaking out and we told her that it was the spirit!  She is amazing, plus she brought me a souveniour from harry potter world.:) :) :) :) :)

-Its been fantastic weather.  Its still pretty cold, but it has been relatively sunny this past week.  So that is so great. 

-We may have to drop our investigator M.  He is so great, but he is struggling a lot, and we are not sure if we can help him anymore.  We'll see. 

-The members here are great.  There is a family who has like 3 or 4 teenage less active boys, who are kinda punks...but they have us over for tea like every week, and every week they organize a badminton/volleyball night, and they just asked us to start coming to that because their sons will be there.  So that will be fun, I'm really excited for that!

-N.  is doing great, he is still struggling to fully give up smoking.  He has cut down to about 1 or 2 a day, but he is having a hard time giving it up completely. 

-There is an area in Louth that is super super super posh, and it looks like really old fashioned England.  And Sister Scott just loves going over there.  So finally we decided to just knock it.  Hahah so we blitzed a whole village in like 3 or 4 hours, and knocked every SINGLE house.  No one was interested, but haha it was fun.

-S.  is still doing great, he reads a ton, and is so spiritual.  We just need to get our investigators to church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-This week is Zone Conferance, its on Wednesday, so I'm super pumped to see everyone!  Like the Allens, Sister Hedstrom, Sister B, Sister Beesley, and more!  I'm excited!  And because the public transport is awful here, we will be taking a 3 hour bus ride to Hull on tuesday night to spend the night with the Hull sisters so that we can get to Zone Conferance on Wednesday morning.  It will be great!!

-Happy Birthday dad!!  I hope you have a great Birthday!  You are the best dad!  Thank you so much for everything that you do.  You have been the greatest example, and you have shown me the way:)  I love you dad!  Have a great day!

Love you all! 

-Sister Staheli

What up fam!!  Okay so drum roll please...................SISTER SCOTT AND I ARE STAYING TOGETHER IN LOUTH!!  My prayers were answered! haha we were both praying so hard that we would be able to stay here another transfer because we have so much fun together, and because our teaching pool is growing so fast, we have too many things to do this transfer to change things up.  So yeah, we are both pretty excited!  There should be some great things happening in Louth this transfer.  So this past week was pretty good!  Sister Scott and I are still battling a pretty bad cold, and its been hard for us to truly get better.  So I think that this week we will be put on an anti-biotic to help us get better.  So no need to worry:)  But I got the valentines package-both from you family, and my cute sisters, and from the ball's!  So thank you!!  I practically was crying when I saw the cat blanket.  It was the best thing ever!  And thank you so much Kim and Shallan, I LOVE THE WATCH AND NAIL POLISH.  I have the best family!!  And the skirt is so cute mom, thank you.  You are amazing!  So it has been so wet this past week, its unbelievable.  It also started snowing here. haha but snow in england is just like bigger and wetter and colder rain drops, LITERALLY.  It doesn't stick, and it just blows from every angle possible.  Sister Scott and I were wet all week long hahahaha its great.  And it makes people more willing to let us inside when we are knocking, so all is great:) :) :)  I also had my driving lessons this past week, and it went great!  It was definitely interesting.  It was harder than I expected it to be hahahaha and I only started driving on the right side/wrong side/ right side once.  So I'd say that is pretty good. Sister Scott was like crying in the back seat hahahahaha.  But I think that I will be taking my theory/written test pretty soon.  I'm actually not too sure.  But I think so.  But I can't even believe that I have been out for 6 months, its so crazy!!  Time is going by WAYYYYYY too fast.  It needs to slow down, I love my mission:)  Anyways.  L. is progressing so much, its amazing.  Now we just need to get her to church.  Sometimes people's agency makes me so mad.  And N is doing great as well.  he is down to only smoking 1 cigarette a day!  He is just so dang stubborn, and he refuses to pray about baptism haahaha.  He told us to call him 'uncle N' haha we were in stitches (another british phrase) laughing!!  He went with us to a baptism on friday night, and he really enjoyed it.  So hopefully soon the spirit will just overwhelm him!  We have been working with our investigator S-he is in his 20's, and is really succesfful and posh.  He is from Sudan, and he used to be Muslim, but about 7 years ago he just woke up and didn't believe anything that the islam faith teaches.  He is a security guard, and he just agrees with everything we say. haha.  He told us the other day-'Sisters, I have been trained my whole life to be able to read people's body language to tell if they are lying or telling the truth, and I'm going to tell you right now that I know 100% that you guys are telling me the truth'.  He's so great.  He is just also super busy with work.  Then there is M..  M. is our new investigator this past week.  He is about 40 years old, and he is going through tough time.  His wife passed away 1 year ago, and he has kinda let himself go.  He works at a charity shop in louth, and his boss is the one that referred him to us, although his boss isn't a member, just a former investigator.  He is great.  So sincere and so willing.  Things are going so great here in Louth.  If the rain would stop, I would definitely call it the promised land or Zion.  hahah I love you!! and I hope you all had a great valentines day!  you guys are great!!  Keep on keepin on ya'll!:)

Love, Sister Staheli

 

                                                       This is when it was flooding!

Sister Scott and I in our Flat

 

                                                          We have had so much rain!!!!!

Feb. 10, 2014

Yo!  What up family!!  Things are going great here in Louth!  Seriously!  I love it here, and I LOVE my companion.  She is so great!!  And we get along so well its weird.  She will forever be one of my best and closest friends.  Its great, because we get along so well, we don't have to worry about fixing things with each other, we can just focus 100 % on helping the branch and finding people to teach.  And it has been working!  This week, unfortunately Sister Scott still has her cold, but the weather has been a lot better.  Its actually quite weird because it has been pretty warm here.  We have had the windows open, and its been clear sunny days, but its still cold, but warm for a mid february winter day.  Its been nice. :)  So update on my driving license.  I now have my provisional license, which is like the equavilent to a learners permit.  So now this week I have to take 2 hours worth of driving lessons, and then once I hit my 6 month mark in like 2 weeks, I will be able to take my theory test, or the written test.  And then after I pass that, I can take the driving test.  Which is what everyone fails like 5 times.  So yeah, things are moving along.  And our Zone Leaders told us this past week, that we should be getting a car by next transfer, so like within 2  weeks.  So that will be so great, we will be able to get out to the million and 8 little villages that the buses don't get to.  And Sister Scott can drive, so we won't have to wait until I pass my test, so its great.  But yeah, so thats my next step, I already called a guy so I can take driving lessons from.  I'm excited to drive again:)  It will be a bit weird though.  But this week we truly saw miracles.  Seriously.  Louth is like the promised land, we are seeing miracles every day.  Sister Scott and I pray EVERY NIGHT that we will stay together next transfer.  We will see what happens.  But President called us again this morning and just told us how proud he was of what we were doing, and the work that was moving along in Louth.  ITs been a long time since things have been happening, and so he is so happy.  Which hopefully means that we will get to stay.  Next week is transfers, so we will find out.  But miracles of the week:

1.  So we were out in Sutton-on-sea.  A tiny little seaside village that has a population of like 300 people hahhahahahah, and we were visiting a less active family, and we had some spare time, so we decided to street contact.  And there weren't many people out, like usual, but there was this one woman.  She was walking fairly fast, so I was super hesitant to talk to her, but I just felt like I had too anyways.  And the first thing that popped out of my mouth was that I liked her scarf.  Her whole countenace changed.  And you could tell that she was just beaming.  She stopped and talked to us for a good 25 minutes.  I was able to testify of our Savior and give her a book of mormon.  Before she left she took her scarf off her neck and put it around mine.  I insisted that I didn't need it and that it looked better on her, but she wouldn't listen. I am not sure if I will ever see this lady again, but it was an amazing experience.

2. So there is this man named M, that we have been talking to for a few days now, and we were supposed to meet with him on Saturday but he cancelled so we invited him to church instead.  We didn't think he would come but we still hoped, and prayed super hard.  Anyways, in the middle of sacrament, which is our last hour, I turn around and sure enough M is just sitting in the back of the room in the corner listening.  Hahaha he had his combat boots and his leather jacket and his nose ring in, but he came.  And he rode his bike there, and he walked in late-which takes so much courage.  So it was a miracle.

3.  L.  I am not sure if I told you about her, but she is amazing.  She is gettting so close to baptism.  She has family in utah that are members, and she is seriously so great.  I have already seen it change her.  Se is in her 20's, and she is engaged, BUT she doesn't live with her fiance, which is a big deal. 

Anyways, I'm outta time.  But I love my mission so much!!  I'm having a blast!!  You won't hear from me til tuesday cause its transfers, but I love you guys!  Take care!

Feb. 4, 2014

Hey family!  I made sure to send some pictures home first so that I had enough time and that I didn't forget!  Anyways, this week has been a good one!  It has flown by, once again.  This week it hasn't stopped raining!!!!!!!!!!!!  At all!!  Seriously.  Anyways, Sister Scott and I are still sick.  Its super frustrating.  We think that we are over our cold, but then we go back out into the freezing rain and just get sick all over again. hahahaha its actually pretty funny.  Sister Pilkington is gettting mad at us cause we aren't getting enough time to rest, but I just hate staying inside our flat.  But I really think that we are on the rebound to get better this week.  At least I hope so!!!  Okay so to answer some of your questions....Like nobody here gets married!  Practtically only members of the church are married.  People will live together for like 20 years and have 4 kids together, but they just don't get married.  They all just live with their "Partners".  We don't usually ride the bikes, because its too cold, and its too wet.  But its pretty nice today so we rode them to the library.  But yeah, this is only my 3rd time riding the bikes.  WE usually just walk everywhere.  There are only like 3 youth in the whole branch ha, we are trying to start working more with the youth, cause there are a few less actives, but yeah there aren't that many.  We had to give talks yesterday, with no notice, they just called us up to the stand. hahah oh the joys of being a missionary:) :) :) :) And yes, because I'm a missionary, everyone just automatically assumes that I am good with music. haha luckily Sister Scott is like a wizard on the piano, so she can play and I can lead the music.  But yeah we are like the branch's music slaves haha:)  So yeah basically there was a huge miracle this week!!  It was with Brother I ( a less active member for 10 years) and his friend M.  So we went and visited Brother I last week and like the first thing he said to us was that he had a friend that he wanted us to meet.  And he was just explaining to us how he wants to come back and how he knows that he needs to because he know's its true.  But while we were with him, Sister Scott and I both had the same impression that he needs to be our Branch mission leader.  Anyways, we set up to meet Brother I and his friend M at this baptism in Grimsby.  So we meet them there, and it was a miracle.  He has been talking to M since like June and he gave her a gospel principles book and a bom, and she read them all and cried through them. hahah.  So while we were at the baptism, she was like bearing her testimony to us on how she knew that the Joseph Smith was a prophet and that she could never deny him.  AND, get this.  Brother I was talking to the Bishop of the Grimsby ward, and then the bishop came up to us afterwards and told us that he thinks that Brother I will be our branch mission leader soon.  hahah.  it was a miracle.  M is so prepared.  She is great, and she lives in the coolest little village in the oldest house.  It dates back to like the 13th century.  Anyways, it was a miracle.  I love it here, and I love England!!  I'm so grateful for this gospel.  It has given me so  much perspective on life!  This gospel changes people, and its amazing!  I've physically seen it change people, and I'm so grateful for that!  Hey thanks so much for the letters this week family!  You guys are da best:) :)  My driving test is coming up and I'm still freaking out haha.  I love you all, and I hope you are having a great week!!

                                     Sister Scott and I, you can see the Louth cathedral in the back.

Our room

Yo Yo Fam Jan. 27, 2014

Yo yo what up fam!  Okay so this week was a good one!!  So before I start, I had an interview with President Pilkington on Thursday at one of our meetings, and right after the closing prayer, he told me to write to my mom on monday and tell her how much President Pilkington loves her.  He said that he doesn't even know my mom, but he likes her already because of how she raised me and because she sent me here to Leeds.  Hahaha so there ya go mom, President really likes you.  I LOVE PRESIDENT, HE IS SO AMAZING!!  Really, he is such an inspired man.  He is great.  Last p-day, he called us and was just asking how we were doing, and he told us that he was going to take Sisters out of Louth just because the area is such a mess, but he felt like he should put us here, and he is so happy he did.  So yeah, a lot the work that Sister Scott and I do is just cleaning this area up and rebuilding the member relations and stuff.  But yeah its going great.  So ya, on thursday we had a Zone meeting and President instructed there, so it was really entertaining and fun to be around other missionaries, cause sister Scott and I are so far away from everyone.  Even though we are the only sisters in our zone, it was still refreshing to see other people.  It has been so rainy here!!  Like it hasn't stopped raining for like WEEKS.  Srsly.  Its so wet.  And, its becoming dangerous because we are by the coast so it already has really bad flooding and so everyone is freaking out.  The rain has made this week quite difficult actually, because for starters, it made me sick.  I have had a really bad cold since like wednesday, and so we actually haven't really had all that much time to actually work.  Cause I got sick, and then Sister Scott got sick. hahahaa.  So yeah.  I think we are finally on the rebound and are going to be able to work this week.  Hopefully:)  So N is doing so good, and President loves him and he calls him sometimes just to see how he is doing.  So thats great.  He is still working on his challenges.  And P is doing great as well.  He is living all the commandments and is so ready for baptism, but he just needs to come to church!!  As soon as he comes to church, he will get baptized.  THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TANGLED AND FOR THE TIGHTS.  It really came in handy when we were stuck in the flat this past week.  thanks:)  But on the up-side, I have been able to get some studying done for my super super hard driving test that i'm freaking out about. haha.  I have to read this huge book, that I have no time to read and do all of these practice tests and stuff.  I still have like 3 or 4 weeks until I take my test, but still I'm stressing ha.  Sister Scott is so great!"!!!  Seriously I love her so much!!  I am so grateful that I get to work from her!  It doesn't feel like I'm working with my companion at all, it feels like I'm just living with one of my best friends!  And seriously, she is like one of my best friendS!!  We just laugh and laugh and laugh about everything.  We have the same sense of humor and Sarcasm so it works really well.  WE have a lot of fun together!  Anyways, things are going great here!  And by the sounds of it, we might be getting a car soon so that will be even better!!  Oh ya, I forgot to tell you last week!  2 p-days ago we got so bored so Sister Scott cut my hair...haha it actually looks pretty decent.  I might let it grow out a bit more and then I'll go get it styled.  But hey I love you guys so much, and I'm still waiting on those HANDWRITTEN LETTERS family:) :) :)  LOVE YOU!!

Jan.20,2014

Hello!!  Okay first off.....FAMILY WHAT THE HECK.  I haven't received a letter from you guys since like November!  Its been like 3 months!  Come on!!!  Write me gosh dang it!!  Okay thanks. :)

Okay so this week has been pretty busy and interesting.  We have done a bunch of finding.  Which has shown to be pretty successful, cause we found 1 new investigator this week, and found a bunch of potentials that we will be seeing this week.  So yeah it has been great, and now we both feel like we are familiar with the area and the members and we actually have our feet on the ground. 

-So we found N this week.  It was actually a great story!  So I was kinda getting sick of finding all day long, so I prayed really hard that we would have an opportunity to do some service that day.  So while we were out, both sister Scott and I felt like we should go visit a member that lived close by that neither of us really knew that well.  So we stopped by and it was so perfect, cause she was like all stressed cause she needed to get like all of these boxes moved and into the other room, and she has a bad back, so it was like so inspired that we were there so that we could help her move the boxes.  PRAYER ANSWERED.  And then like after 15 minutes the worker guys who she was waiting for to do some stuff showed up, and she was super stressed, and then her phone rang and it was her friend N.  And N had taken lessons from missionaries previously, and had been coming to church like 1 out of every 4 weeks for the past 8 or 9 months.  So she just told him that she was sending the missionaries over, and to expect us.  So we went over there and got to know him a bit, and talked to him.  He has some challenges, but he is great.  He is hilarious.  He is 56.  So then he came to church and I was like cracking up hahaha. President and Sister Pilkington came to speak to our branch on sunday and it was amazing.  Honestly I just love them so much.  Seriously.  But it was funny, cause Sister Scott plays the piano for sacrament meeting cause there isn't anybody else that can do it ha.  But she chose like the loudest like most motivation songs ever, Cause N, he loves to sing.  And So the last song was HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION, and verse 7 was SO FUNNY cause Neil was liike screaming it.  haha I'LL NEVER NO NEVER NO NEVER haha oh my gosh and President Pilkington just loves him and gave him a hug after Sacrament meeting and he told him that he would speak at his baptism if he got baptized.  So yeah it was really great.

-The people here are like either super super nice or super super rude.  There is no in between.  but the nice people definitely out-weigh the bad.  There are some really great people here!!

-Louth is like super super posh.  The houses are huge compared to Sheffield, and so big.  There are some little villages that when i'm walking through them i feel like i'm walking through Downton Abbey.  its really beautiful here.  And there are lots of really old churches and stuff.  Its a really old town.

-The Sister Training leaders were on exchange with us this week, and so it was nice to be able to be with other missionaries.  haha We are so isolated and so far away from everyone that we hardly ever see any other missionaries.  So it was fun!

-Have you guys ever seen Frozen??  Anyways, I'm obsessed with it, and the music is so good.  We listen to it everyday non stop. 

-Happy birthday to my nephew Jonah!!!!!!!!!!

I love you all and I hope you have a great week!  I'll be expecting to get some letters from you soon!  Love you!

Jan. 13. 2014

Hiya!!  Oh my goodness this week has been a great one!!  So I am now with Sister Scott in Louth, and it is so great!  Sister Scott is so fun!!  I love her so much!  We are just so alike, and we just click.  We have the same taste in music and in our humor, So we have a lot of fun together!!  So on Wednesday it was Transfers, so I got to go to Leeds so that Sister Sewell could go to her new area, and it was so nice to be able to see all of the other sisters!  I was able to see Sister Edgington and Sister Hooker, which was really fun, cause I haven't seen them in a few months.  And ya it was just nice, especially since Louth is so far away from anything, that the only time that Sister Scott and I will see more sisters will be at Zone conference. haha.  But it has been great!  So the big news for the week.................Drum roll please.......So on Friday, President called me and told me that he wanted me to start working on my Drivers license!!  Which is a rare thing.  Well, usually missionaries drive, but they drive under their USA license which allows them to drive for 1 year, but he wants me to take the test and everything so that it will be an actual license.  The only other Sister from the states to have gotten her driving license was Sister Burningham who just went home.  And well the weird thing is that I can't even get my license till I have been in England for 6 months.  So I still have some time, but I'm supposed to start studying for this huge driving test and stuff.  They sent me all of the paper work and stuff to fill out.  Its stressing me out a bit because the AP's said that Louth isn't getting a car, so that means that President already knows whats going to happen with me in the next few months.  I don't know haha its driving me nuts, but I'm super super super super super excited to drive!!!  I can't wait!!!!!!!!!  But since I have to get my license, it will cost about 100 dollars, so I'm sorry parents.....:)  But yeah that was exciting!!  The weather here has been so weird.  Really really weird. (People here LOVE to say the word weird and awkward hahahaha its funny).  Like sometimes its like a huge storm with rain and wind and rain and wind and flooding and stuff, and other times its pretty warm.  Its like extremes.  Its right weird.  But everyone is freaking out about the flooding, cause its the worst flooding for like 50 years.  Louth needs so much help!  The members here are great, but there aren't that many of them, and like half of them are elderly and the other half are less active.  So we definitely have a lot of work to do here.  President even told me that he sent me here to clean up the branch.  So yeah its been a bit stressful, cause everyone is expecting us to get the work moving here.  But its great.  WE are trying our hardest!!!  But its a blast!!!  M and M, 2 of our new investigators are so solid, they have already read through 2 nephi and it has only been like a week.  So thats exciting.  And well P, is just amazing.  He is so prepared its crazy.  Anyways, the work here is going great.

Lately I have been studying Enduring to the End, and it has really made me think.  I hate that term so much.  We are not put on this earth to just endure whatever lies ahead.  We are here to make the most out of every situation, and to be happy!  To ENJOY ourselves!!  Thats what our Heavenly Father wants for us!  So I've decided to change that phrase from Enduring to the End, to ENJOYING to the End.  And thats what life is all about. :)

I love you all!! have a great week!