Week 1 & 2 in Macclesfield

Hello friends and family!! 

Wow did lots happen this week! My first week in Macclesfield has been just amazing! It is a very nice town and I'm excited to spend the rest of my mission here. So, it's probably not in California right now but as for England it has been really wet and a tad bit cold. But, the greenness makes up for the rain because it is beautiful. It has been an adjustment here physically because there really are no buses nor any public transportation. This is the first time I am biking in my entire mission and it has been a workout! It's great!

Sister Hales is amazing! She is so sweet and caring. She is an amazing missionary and so obedient. She really motivates me to try harder to follow every rule with exactness and to talk to everybody. I have good feeling about this transfer and I feel like some good things are going to happen. 

We also had quite a miracle!! So, Sister Hales and her companion found a lady named Sam before I came. Sister Hales said it was quite an experience where she felt like she needed to go by a returning member. Sam yelled at them to say that she was asleep and they gave her a pamphlet. We went by later to follow up if she has read it and a man answered. He was very friendly and said that they would be very interested to meet with us. We mentioned which church we were from and he said that he was so sure that he was a member of the church. It said it was a long tome ago but that he was going to church and was baptised in Birmingham. He said he loved the Church and had no idea that there was one so close by. He is excited to start coming to church again and to meet with us in the future.

This past week I just have been thinking about how many things I have seen and just how much the Lord has blessed me. I was reading in the Book of Mormon where it says that the Lord's arms are extended to all. It says that a couple times but it just made me think that I can be those arms. I look at the people on the side of the street and I realize that there is somebody out there who loves them and cares for them and it is my responsibility for them to know. Whether they accept or deny it. I am just so blessed to have this knowledge and I know that I can never deny it. I love you all!

Week 6 in Stafford

Hello friends and family!!

This week was pretty great! Well, a really big highlight was that Sister Ryser learned how to make Torta Fritas and also churros! So, I have been pretty spoiled. But, an even bigger highlight was the friends that we met this week!

We met with one of our friends Pauline and she is the sweetest. She doesn't fail to cook us food whenever we go over. She has been meeting with missionaries for a long time. But, Sister Ryser and I really feel like she is making some very positive steps forward. She said that recently she has been really hungering for more knowledge. We read Mosiah 18 with her and she said she really wants to pray to know if baptism is the right step. She believes the Book of Mormon to be the word of God as well! So, if you get the chance, please pray for her to receive that answer!

Sister Ryser had an amazing idea to start a Book of Morning reading evening. So, we are getting that up and running! We are starting from chapter 1 in the Book of Mormon and reading and discussing it with members and friends that want to learn more. Some members are pretty excited as well as our friends! We hope that it will be a good finding tool as well.

Also, we got a new branch President this week! He looks like he is going to be really good! It was announced during fast and testimony week and the testimonies afterwards were really amazing. It just really made me think how church callings are so divine. It gives me chills just thinking that the callings we have are something the Lord knows we need to do to help build his church. A mission is a lot more special when I think that I never chose any of the areas I have been to. They were never even a thought in my mind. But, each area I go to just proves to me that they are exactly what I need. I have lived and love each and every one of them. It is so true that the Lord really is in the details of our lives. I look back on mine and i realize that He was there every step of the way.

I love you all so much and hope you have an amazing week!

1. Torta Fritas

2. Churros

3. There is a place called Hanford on the way to Newcastle!!