Week 34: What A Week.....

Monday: Pday. Nothing exciting. We then went to see Marien and her
family again for FHE. Quite lovely. Kind of ended up watching their
kids at one point... Their little boy is so cute. And their little
girl. Both their kids are just adorable. Eyre family is great, even if
he language barrier is still kind of there. We are getting better with
our half English, half Spanish conversations.

Tuesday: Got up, got on a train and headed to York! And oh my
goodness, we were there for interviews, but I personally got so much
more out of the travel over. So, it was someone from York One funeral,
which made me quite sad because it was very unanticipated. So the
funeral was this day, so members from the ward were about.... And when
I first got through the doors of the building I was so excited because
Cheryl was there! I was completely surprised! I came through the door
completely ignoring the other missionaries who were in there and gave
her a big hug. Man, I was just overjoyed. I totally get that scripture
in D&c better, "how great will be your joy..." Yeah. It was great.
Headed back home. Had a pasty, which was nice and basically what I had
anticipated it to be like. Went to go see David and the Whaites, which
was of course great. They are so funny and just got back from Canada
the day before to see a new grand baby. So yeah, that was nice. We
then went to the chapel... But then ended up spending our time instead
of teaching a new person, having our Mormon.org time where I actually
just sat in the corner practicing piano. Mom, be proud of me! 😉

Wednesday: Went to Selby for district meeting and coughed half the
time... Came home and went to go see a recent convert named Ron. He's
nice and very smart. Had a good lesson with him. Then headed out to do
a bit knocking... But I had to sit for a bit because my body was kind
of giving up a bit... Had tea with some members and hen went to go see
Sarah again. That was fun, even if that's basically when I just lost
my voice...

Thursday: Well... For the first time on my mission I stayed in... Due
to being sick. Not a fan. Slept and didn't leave till about 12:30, did
some missionary work, had tea at a members house, and then went back
home and slept for 12 hours. Not a very eventful day in general.

Friday: Did our planning, went to see Howard, we are debating how long
we are going to keep seeing him for... Went to go see Sue, that was
lovely. The missionary who taught her thirty years ago Skyped in, that
was fun. Wen then went home, went to ward coordination and then caught
a train to York! So good to see Sister Lundahl again. There were nine
of us I the York One sisters flat... That was fun!

Saturday: Woke up at 4:30 in he morning so we could be at the
chapel... At was fun.. Took a coach to Huddersfield and got to the
meeting super early. Which wasn't actually that bad because that mean
that I got to see everyone I wanted to. Thougbeing there with all of
me my mission made me realise just how few people I know in my
mission. There are 206 of us in my mission. It was so great seeing
Sister Pro, Sister Wood, Sister Koepf... So many people I love! So
yeah. Mission Conference. Five general authorities. It was awesome. We
got to shake hands with all of them and their wives. And then we went
back to York and went on exchange. I went with Sister Berg. Did some
finding and went by some less actives because all of our plans fell
through... And then at tea time, I felt horrible so I called Sister
Turvey again and stayed home.

Sunday: Another wonderful conference! So many good things this week
basically. Got to see lots of people from York which was also amazing.
President Nelson is so great, it was just an amazing conference. And I
sat there struggling to not cough, but that's okay... We went back to
Pontey after that. Went to visit some people. Got rudely kicked out by
a carer. Had pancakes at a members house. Tried to avoid being out in
the cold. Yup. That's about it.

It was a very long and very filled week basically. It was amazing,
even if difficult for me on a personal health level. But good. Hope
all of you are having a good week as well! Love you guys!

Sister Barret

Week 32: Okay....

So, everyone, this week hasn't been all that eventful... Until last
night, when we found out about an ET... So Sister Pro is leaving me
to go be an STL in Doncaster. Sister Gorniak is going home to
Australia due to some personal struggles. Sister Cockburn and I are
staying here and getting another sister to be in a trio! 😀 So yeah!
Exciting and crazy things are happening here in Pontefract. The new
sister's name is Sister Hippard and she is from Canada. As of
right now, that is all I know. But I'll know more by tonight!

I'm sad Sister Pro is going, we had such a fun time together. That is
probably why we are getting separated, we were getting along too well.
😉 Even though we kept getting flogged a bunch this past week, it's
still been so fun. We are continuing to work with a lot of less
actives, trying to find those lost sheep out there. And we have been
able to find some of them, so that's been cool. We saw our
investigator, O, and her boyfriend, C, voluntarily showed up
to join us, so that was nice. We rode the bus a lot. 🚌 Even though
this area is geologically smaller than York 1, it is more spread out. My
last area was mostly central.

Um... Not much else... Oh! I gave a talk on Sunday! Not only was I
suppose to do the typical introduce myself, first Sunday sort of deal,
but like an actual ten minute talk on thoughts and impressions I had
from conference. I didn't write it fully out, but it was on Elder
Andersons talk about members and missionaries. I thought it went
pretty well. Hopefully the ward thought so too!

I love you guys so much! Hope you are doing well! ❤️❤️❤️

Sister Barret

Week 31: From York to Pontefract

Day 222: My last full day in York, my last pday in York.... We ended
up mostly chilling at the chapel and playing games there. So yeah,
nothing exciting really. Afterwards, I went around with the desire to
say goodbye to some people... That didn't happen exactly... But, we
did go see S, and all of her family was there. So that was really
great, being able to see them all and say goodbye. Sister Lundahl and
I were able to bare our testimonies to them. It was when S said
the prayer at the end that I got the closest to crying the entire time
I was getting ready to move. Love that family. Once home that
night.... I continued to put off packing....

Day 223: Got up early so I could pack.... Oh well. We then headed off
bright and early so we could be at the station at half seven.... Three
hours before my train, but we had to be there for the other sisters
and such. Saw off Sister Barry, said goodbye to Elder Bailey, picked
up Sister Lundahl's new companion, Sister Reynolds, said goodbye to my
baby girl, and then got on a train all on my own! Crazy... Got to
Leeds, met up with Sister Pro, and then waited around for the rare
train to Pontefract! Got to Pontefract, had lunch, and then headed out
for the day! Pontefract is quite different from York.... Much hillier.
And we don't just cover Pontefract, but also Knottingly, Featherstone,
Castleford... And one more that I can't remember. Normingtom
or something like that. We ended up going to visit a less active,
D, he's super nice. And had tea at a newly returned members home,
they are hilarious. Overall, a pretty good day!

Day 224: First full day in Pontefract! Went to see an investigator,
had a pretty normal day of finding... Yup. Our investigator is named
O. But yeah, it was good stuff.

Day 225: We are doing a lot of work with less actives in this area. We
first went to see J and talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
She has a lot of cool old American western stuff, felt right back at
home! Just kidding. But she is really sweet. We then went to go see
S, who is amazing and her nine year old granddaughter is
investigating the church, so that's pretty cool.

Day 226: We went on a sort of mini split (with permission), so I went
out for a few hours with Sister Cockburn. She's very sweet and
musically talented. And from New Zealand. We went about going by some
members, did some finding, tried by a few lost sheep... Pretty normal
missionary stuff. We then went to ward coordination.... Which was very
different than what I am used to in York one... Slowly but surely,
getting used to the new area....

Day 227: Yay conference weekend! Started out by watching the women's
session with our relief society in the morning over breakfast. Loved
Elder Uchtdorfs talk. It is a good thing to remember as missionaries!
Fourth floor, last door. Quite catchy. We then went to try to find
more lost sheep... And then headed to York! We went to York to watch
conference. Caught a train, got stuck in some rain.... Ended up
sitting outside my old flat waiting around for them to show up. And oh
was Sister Lundahl surprised to see me! She had no idea I was coming.
No one did. I didn't till I got to Pontefract. So I was able to
surprise a couple of people.... Surprised S and A, love
them! Surprised Sh who tackled me with a hug... It was a good
evening between that and a great session of conference. Until we had
to head home.... We thought we had the right train times.... But we
were wrong. And we ended up having to take a train from York to Leeds
to Wakefield (crossing three mission zones!) to Pontefract... Want to
know when we got home? Let's just say, we were barely home in time for
lights out. It's funny, cause back home, that would be no big deal,
but as missionaries, it was the worst! We were tired and stressed and
just wanted to be home. But alas, we had to take a super packed train,
full of people who were just partying since it was a Saturday night...
Man, crazy stuff. But we did get home eventually, safe and sound 😊

Day 228: More conference! But this time, we watched at members houses,
first at the Goslings and then we went to the Bartons, whose parents
are in York one! They were all super great of course, lots of snacks
😉 I loved the emphasis on the simple doctrines, faith, repentance,
the plan of happiness, and also the focus on missionary work! All very
applicable to what I am currently doing, so that was very nice. I hope
all of you also enjoyed it! I personally can't pick a favourite, but I
would love to hear all of yours!

Love you guys!!!

Week 30: Transfer 6

Hey everyone! Guess what?! I'm leaving York! It's crazy and I was
starting to think I'd be lucky enough to just stay here forever... But
alas, the time has come. I'm moving areas. But, I am not moving very
far away. I am staying in the same zone! I will still be in the York
zone, but instead of serving in the York one ward, I will be serving
over in Pontefract with Sister Pro! I've met her before, she's been
serving there in Pontefract for awhile now, and she's great!

Day 215: Another zone p-day, so fun. Played some land hockey and other
various games... Also found out a lot of the zone is more musically
inclined than they had originally let on. Afterwards, we tried to make
contact with Ch... Still no luck. Ended up visiting a member. And
then that night, I convinced Sister Lundahl to dye her hair for the
first time! So funny. And fun. And looks good!

Day 216: Got flogged like twenty times.... But we had a good time
knocking doors.... This guy opened the door and I started talking and
said something about us being volunteers for our church.... He looked
at us and asked "oranges?" I was so confused! I had no idea what he
was talking about!!! And then I kind of repeated myself and he was all
like, "Oh, I know who you are, you're Jehovah's Witnesses, I can
read." I just looked at him thinking no..... No.... Not at all... Man,
some people really make me laugh. We then went to have tea at the
Gore's house with the elders, which is still weird. Oh well. Then we
went to ward coordination like usual. Afterwards, we then went to see
if we could go by S. Couldn't find her, she wasn't in, but then I
oddly decided to go down a random snicket.... Where she was walking
our way! Thank goodness! She invited us up and we finally made contact
again! Yay!

Day 217: We had district meeting, last one of the transfer, and the
APs and zone leaders were all there! And my DL had asked me to
instruct the training model! Ack! It was the first time I've done that
outside of my own companionship.... I was a bit stressed with such an
audience... But it happened, I survived. Went by a potential, she
wasn't in, which was still disappointing as ever. We continued on our
way... But then a car pulled up beside us, it was her! She had to go
pick up her son who had just had an accident at school and had to take
him to the doctor, but came back just to tell us she hadn't forgotten
us! So great! We were so happy! Knocked some doors and had some good
conversations. Some guy asked if we were Mormons or JWs. We told him
and he said that we didn't look like JWs. I wonder what he meant....
Visited a less active, had tea at a members house, went to see Sh
again. And she is finally reading the Book of Mormon again! Yay!

Day 218: Went to a potential lesson out in a village.... And
scheduled! L is a lovely lady and is curious to find out if God is
really there. So yeah. That was awesome. We then also went to visit a
less active, which turned out to be weirdly inspired. And then we had
tea with S, K was also there and actually sat in on the lesson
portion, where I know he felt the spirit... Then we went to the chapel
where someone was supposed to meet us, but alas, no show. Sad. But
still a good day in general!

Day 219: Knocked some doors, visited a member who is going through a
bit of a hard time because her father is passing away, had tea at
bishops, where he referred us to someone! We are pretty excited about
that! Tried to see Chl, still nothing... Had popped by the chapel
to help clean up after some baptisms, K, who was taught by the
York two sisters thanked me because it was actually Sister Barry and I
who had found her and taught her for the first time. Made me feel good
😊

Day 220: Went to see Sh again, had lunch with her. Man, she
seriously has the cutest daughters ever. We then went by a potential
and then had tea at a members house... Basically, we kind of just ate
a lot....

Day 221: Last day of Sister Lundahl's 12 Week training. Crazy. Hope
she learned enough from me! Sacrament meeting was so good, it was a
missionaries farewell. His uncle spoke first, talking about missionary
work and all the hardships and blessings... He said something about
saying farewell to his son and then later thinking about how that may
have been the last time he ever saw his son because missionaries can
die since we are humans too.... Man, the ward lost it. Everyone just
started laughing so hard, us and the elders were all sitting there
thinking, well thanks for that thought.... It was so funny. It was
good though. Got to say sorta goodbyes to people since I wasn't sure
at that point if I was going, I just thought I was. After church, had
tea with some members, got flogged, visited another less active and
then we're in early for transfer calls!

And that's my week! Hope you are all doing well, seeing miracles,
sharing the gospel, serving others, all that good stuff that makes
life worth while! Love you guys! Wish me luck in Pontefract!

Week 28: Service With a Smile :)

Day 201: During p-day Sister Lundahl and I bought a notebook and wrote
our testimonies in it for Ch. We also printed out a picture of all of us at her baptism.
And then bought a frame for it. When we gave it to her
that night she was soooo happy and surprised. Love her.

Day 202: Did lots of finding, that was fun. Also went to see B
and then later, R. Pretty uneventful day more or less.

Day 203: Was feeling a bit low.... But we ended up having good day!
Found some people, taught some less actives, got an opportunity to
give service.... It was just a good day.

Day 204: Went out to a random village on the outside of the main part
of York. Nice to get out of Acomb for a bit. Plus we met some nice
people, so that is always great!

Day 205: We were out knocking when the elders came walking down
the road...Apparently they had planned to knock the same road, awkward. Got
flogged a few times, found some potentials, good stuff. Went and saw
S, that's always great. Her son Sh actually sat in the whole lesson, we
still have hopes for him!

Day 206: Went by Sh, but she was sleeping, so we just left a note.
We then headed out to help L with the elders to move a cemented
together rock wall from one place to another in her back garden. It
was hard work, but it felt really good actually, different and out of
our usual routine. Showed up one of the elders by moving a rock he
didn't want to lift. Lol. Went by P that evening. It was a good day.

Day 207: Went to church without anyone with us, no investigators, no
less actives, no recent converts.... It was kinda sad, but they all
had their reasons and such. So we sat by a member... And then towards
the end of sacrament meeting, I see Sh with her girls, and also her
friend, G and her daughter, M. M ended up running in and
sitting with us, the rest of them stayed out in the hall till the
sacrament was over. But they were all there, and they enjoyed it. 😊
Miracles happen! Did some finding after that... Yup. That's been my
week!

What can I say? Service to others brings miracles, even if the miracle
is completely unattached to the service you are giving. It's great!

Sister Barret

#crownsup

Week 27: the sun shines on the righteous

Our lovely elderly neighbour Barry said this to us as we were leaving
the flat Sunday. He couldn't have been more right! We did have another
day of more or less lovely weather. Seriously, Sister Lundahl has only
had like four days of being really rained on since coming on her
mission. It was basically every day when I came out... She thinks
England is a beautiful sunshiny place... Just wait. In like a week
it'll be back to raining every day.... Oh well.

Day 194: Had some fish and chips. Played lots of volleyball with the
other missionaries. So fun. Slightly crashed the other ward’s barbecue.
Good day in general. Talk to the same guy for the third time. Went to
Ch's and started making baptism arrangements.

Day 195: Was sore from playing volleyball... Fixed up Ch's
baptismal programme. We then went
and saw Ch. Had a lesson with her, then she had to go to sort
something out at the bank, we promised her it'd be alright when we
prayed together, we then did some service for her by helping out in
her front garden.  While we were still working, she came back, and she said
she felt really calm when she got to the bus stop, and then at the
bank it was all alright. So yay! That was great. Miracles happen as
you serve those around you! 😊 Also, a very affectionate cat showed up
half way through, that was weird... We then saw S, who is still so
strong and amazing. Went to ward coordination, always a fun one. And
then we went to go find Sh.... And we did! We finally saw her
again. Her friends are becoming less wary of us as we pop up more
often, I've decided we are going to baptise all of them one day. 😉
you never know...

Day 196: Had some potential lessons that didn't work out, that's
always rough. Also went by a member, but she was running out. You know
what is awkward? When you are knocking somewhere, and like a door to
door salesperson comes behind you and ends up passing you.... Yeah, we
go elsewhere because people really don't like us then... Had tea at
the C’s, and then went to see Ch with Sister Barton. That was
super great. Sister Barton has such an amazing testimony of the
gospel. The Barton’s were converts when they were a young family, and
they have such amazing testimonies. Love them. Plus, they have been
super helpful with family history.

Day 197: Zone Conference! It was like a dual, zone training and zone
conference.... That lasted for about seven and a half hours.... It was
a bit of a long day, but it went fast because it was of course great!
I love my zone leaders, they are so hilarious. For this conference,
they came up with a hilarious little hashtag for all of us to remember
what we learned:  #crownsup 👑 yeah. That's a thing now. And it
is because we are kingdom builders, we are heirs to a heavenly throne
and we are here to help others find their divine potential as well.
Yup. Everyone should use it. And throughout the time we were together,
Elder Iakopo or Elder Schäfer would randomly say "Crowns up!" and we
would all put our hands to our head, fingers spread wide, for our
crowns. I feel like that sums up just how crazy missionaries are....

But besides that, we had a very uplifting, inspiring, and instructive
conference. We talked a lot a lot a lot about member involvement and
how it truly is the key. We all need to work together in helping our
brothers and sisters return to live with God again. Because who
doesn't want that? We all want to be able to run up to each other at
that day, rejoicing that the other was able to find the gospel and
stay strong in it. Such an amazing thing to think about. So I
thought it was great to receive some instruction on the subject. A
member in the York stake high council came to speak to us and he said
something interesting about what he discovered about sharing the
gospel with his friends:  that it is never too early to invite them to
something. Doesn't have to be learning from the missionaries or coming
to church that first time, but even just inviting them into his home,
inviting them to a ward activity, less scary things like that. He has
come to find it really does work and he's seen lots of his friends
accept the gospel. I share this not because I want all of you to start
inviting everyone you know to everything, but maybe think of one
person and a small way you can help introduce them to the gospel so
they could accept it one day. We also talked a lot about finding and
having the faith to find, which is something that once again, I needed
to hear. Cause I have been struggling in that particular aspect of
missionary work lately.... Even though I know I clearly haven't spoken
to everyone yet and I obviously still have a reason to be here in
York. It's something I understand intellectually, but I'm having a
hard time with the faith aspect of it. Alas, there are always people.
Just gotta keep going!

Day 198: Ch is so excited for her baptism! Knocked some doors,
nothing too crazy. Tried to see Sh again, but she has had a lot of
crazy things happen lately. 😕

Day 199: Ch's baptism! It happened! We had some minor scares, but
it all worked out! It was beautiful! Everything went so well. She had
a bit of an anxiety attack after going into the water, but we got her
out, she was able to do it! And a few minutes later, she was soooo
happy! Just glowing. She was so full of lovely feelings. Sister
Lundahl and I made some really great refreshments, that was fun. It
was a lovely service. Because we were in the Relief Society room
instead of the chapel due to York 2  having a baptism in there,
and a wedding that was there 95% of the
day.... Oh well. We made it work. Got everything cleaned up and set up
in time! It was great. Ch was just so so happy and excited.

Day 200: Can you believe it's been 200 days? Feels like a lot when I
say that. Oh well. Ch was confirmed! She was once again, so happy.
It was great. After church, we went and saw P, who said we were an
answer to her prayer, and then went and saw K. And that was that!
A good week over all!

Love all of you!

Week 26: Miracles

Day 187: After pday, we went to go see Ch. Oh my gosh, an amazing
thing happened. She finally opened up to us. She told us her whole
life story, and oh my gosh it was amazing. She is an amazing person
and she makes so much more sense to us now! She had gone to do family
history for the first time that morning and she loved it. I now have a
testimony that doing family history produces absolute miracles. It was
the breakthrough we needed to continue to help her progress.

Day 188: Normal day... Someone didn't show, no one wanted to talk with
us, visited with some members, knocked on some doors, went to a
meeting.... All good stuff.

Day 189: After district meeting and before heading out on exchange
Elder Barney gave me a blessing. We then went to their area and had a
good day. It was the first time I went on exchange with an STL other
than Sister Barry! Sister Connolly was so sweet and said some
very nice things to me. Very motivational, which I suppose is the
whole point.

Day 190: Rained all day, which I thought was appropriate. Saw Ch
and she showed us some photos of her life which was so cool to see.
Saw S which is always great of course.

Day 191: Ch's birthday was today! We surprised her with a cake,
she was so happily surprised! And she passed her baptismal interview!
Yay! We then went to tea with the elders at bishops house. And then we
went and saw L, and we hopefully have helped her to set a goal with
herself to come to church... So we will see.

Day 192: had a potential lesson, that was a bit odd. He had to after
being there for like five minutes... Oh well. Visited with some other
members. The elders came and gave Ch a blessing, that was great.

Day 193: Started figuring things out for Ch's baptism next week...
Not sure how it'll work out, but I know it will. And I know this
because during the sacrament,no had been praying about it, and then
all of the talks during sacrament meeting were about how God performs
miracles for those who trust in Him. So I was sitting there thinking,
well Heavenly Father, I get the picture, I just need to move forward
and trust Him. After church, we went and saw another less active
member, that was of course lovely. She's such a sweetie.

So that has been my week, hope you guys are doing well and seeing
miracles for yourself! Love you!