Week 10 in Rossendale

Well hiya!

This week was pretty legit. We had A LOT of stuff happen. So first was I went to Peel tower last Monday that left me with little to no time to email. So there is a lot of stuff I need to send. 

And then this week we had two broadcasts to listen to. One was a missionary broadcast and the other was for the church members throughout England. And this was part of President Nelson's  (the prophet) worldwide tour. I so wish they visited Chorley or I could have physically gone! But it was still pretty incredible. Sister Nelson talked for a bit about how it is like being the prophet's wife and how she got revelation to leave the room in the middle of the night and just clean...and the few hours when she left was when president Nelson received revelation for ministering changes and the priesthood class changes. It was really good! 

But on a more amazing note! Sister Limb and I have been getting closer to Michelle, which is the elders` investigator. We aren't trying to steal her but...... We really want to because she is so amazing. Anyways she likes us better, haha. So she has been having problems with actually knowing that this church is for her. So her dog got ran over by a car... and they ran quickly took her to the veterinarians hospital.  There was literally nothing wrong with her!!  And that was her sign...because she had never prayed so hard in her life. So she is officially thinking of being baptized she just needs a date!

We also had lunch with a couple senior missionaries this week and that was so fun. We went to this place called the Fig Tree that was super delicious. And then we went to the Temperance Bar. Okay... So the temperance bar is basically the happiest place on earth besides Disneyland and the celestial kingdom. So basically it's a bar filled with amazing non alcoholic drinks, so it is a mormon`s paradise. Tthey make these delicious milkshakes out of cordial. So good!

Then yesterday we were struggling to find investigators. We were getting desperate to actually find someone so we decided to knock on doors near our apartment. So on our way there somebody stops us and says wait, are you the Mormons!? His name is Marco and he has met with the missionaries before and knows basically all the members, and LOVES us. He also loves America and he has always wanted to move there. He was so nice and open with us. But that is not all. So we decided that before we officially ask him to meet with us again we might as well get to know him at one of the sports nights that we do on Fridays. So we invited him to it and gave him our number and he said he was definitely going to meet us there. But little did we know that sports night was cancelled because they are remodeling the gym in our chapel!!! So we were bummed; we had to tell him, but we couldn't because we did not have his number- he had ours though. So we went tracting for a couple hours then we went back home and on the way back we came across..... MARCO!!! He was completely fine with it being cancelled and just said that he still wanted to meet with us and we could "talk about Jesus". It was the best! We were ecstatic. 

Also while we were knocking on doors one lady just said she wasn't interested and closed the door. About 10 doors down we suddenly hear someone yelling,"SISTAHS!!" (In British accent) and she caught up to us and just said that she didn't know why but she felt like she just had to run down to us and tell us that she hoped people were being nice to us. Apparently she is dating a less active member and she knows that we are just doing what we are passionate about. She was so sweet.

We also found another girl named Lisa who is a spiritualist. She was so nice and is interested in learning more. Apparently she doesn't have a specific belief with what happens after we die...but she just recently became interested. We briefly explained the plan of salvation and she told us we can come over again next week.

Then today we went to climb a random steep hill and take district pictures it was super fun but there were a few..... accidents. Sister Limb, the district leader, and Elder Cowdrey all fell in mud and, to literally everyone`s surprise, I came out unscathed. So you know all those rivers I managed to fall into for camping trips! Yeah I'm totally over that.

 I love missionary work!  It is hard at times, but as is life as well. It can be character building. But I know from now on that if anyone tells me that they are thinking of going I will say, just do it!  It will only build you if you let it.

So yes this was my week! Very eventful! Well I love and miss you all!

Sister Sever

Week 9 in Rossendale

Hello family and friends!

This week is a bit more boring, well as boring as a mission can get, which to be honest isn't very haha. But we came out of this week only finding really one solid new investigator whose name is Csian, who was a dropped investigator from a while back. But she was only dropped because she couldn't find time off of work to actually visit with the missionaries... but she was interested. We are meeting up with her next week which we are pretty excited about. 

Another thing to be excited about is....... drum roll..... it's getting warmer in England!!! Apparently in the next few days it's going to be REALLY HOT. And do you know what that is..... like 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Isn't it like 80 degrees in Hanford right now? But it is really humid here. But at least I don't have to worry about random snow that cancels church when your investigator is about to be baptised😂 

Speaking of Becca, we visited her quite a bit this week. Once because we had a tea appointment with her and her family.  Oh I wish I thought to take a picture; they would have totally let me. We basically had this English roast inside a HUGE Yorkshire pudding. It was pretty incredible. Have I mentioned how much I love Yorkshire puddings? They need them in America.  English people have them ALL THE TIME!  And after tea, we had a lesson about the plan of salvation with Becca and Mike. And it was an amazing lesson!!! Basically we made little comments during it but Becca taught most of it to her husband and then bore her testimony. It was amazing.  She really is so special and you can tell that Mike can see the difference in her and how happy she is with what she knows. Mike also told us his basic beliefs, and they are basically along the lines of what we teach. I think we just need to teach him how the gospel can apply to him personally, but he definitely has potential. 

Also we had this new member fireside on Sunday. Ok I have no idea if they do this anywhere else but every month President Mcreynolds holds a meeting where a couple new converts bare their testimony and it's a chance for investigators to see people who were not born in the church and how they came to know it was true. And it is A BIG thing. There were probably 400 people there! And Becca spoke! She was so good too. She was really nervous before she got up but she was fine once she started speaking. 

After her was this young girl who didn't know English too well, and she said that when she met the missionaries she thought they were security.  They had invited her to a baptism, which they drove her to, which she thought  was in Lancaster, but in reality, it was in Preston. She said she thought they were abducting her.

I also just went to Blackburn to hike to Darwin tower but I didn't have anything to take pictures since I wasn't being smart and told the zone leaders to keep it in their car. And people did take pictures of me... I just won't get them til later... sad days. 

Well this week I also had a talk on Sunday about the atonement of Jesus Christ. And it really made me think about the love of Christ to sacrifice his life for our sins. And it is still hard for me to understand how one man can sacrifice his life for all our sins. And Richard G. Scott (? I think) Said that no mortal mind can truly comprehend it. But that doesn't stop us from learning about it. And I know that even though I can't truly understand the atonement fully, I can still have faith in something I don't truly understand.

 I love you all and hope everything is going well. You are all in my prayers😊
Love,  Sister Sever

(who is in the picture!!...This was from the fireside for the new members. There is me, Sister Limb, the bishops wife Janet, below is Rachelles daughter Meghan, then becca, then Rachelle, Charlotte daly(the member who basically converted becca), and ros  thompson)

Week 8 in Rossendale

Hiya and HAPPY EASTER!!!!! 

I can't believe it's already that time of year! I am so close to hitting my 3 month mark since leaving America which is insane! It seriously has seemed like only a couple weeks. So last Monday for P-day we went to Townley Hall in Burnley. It's basically this huge mansion that people can tour through for fun. We went with a couple members from the ward and we had the greatest time! We even recreated a coupe paintings in some of the rooms.

So this week has kinda been insane! We had zone conference which is always good. And for that they usually send out a few days beforehand a topic that everyone has to write a talk on and they pick 3 people to give it once we are there. And as you might have expected...... I was chosen. Well to say the least I was amazing as always, just kidding I'm humble, but people told me it was alright haha. Then we had exchanges where when we went to a member in Chorley 's ward, they remembered to get the sisters going on the exchanges Easter eggs as well! They are so nice and know somebody living in orange county.  I have found that many people know others from California just not anywhere near the fresno area. So.... when we were heading back I needed to buy another bus pass and realized that I left my mission ATM card at subway.  So Sister Limb bought my card and told my STL's to check in the morning. Not only that but we missed out bus by 10 minutes so we had to go to a city that was moderately close to Rossendale and when we got there.... we missed the bus by 10 minutes. So we called some members who picked us up from Bury. The next day we took a bus to Haslingdon on the way to sing at the nursing home. When we got on I used my bus pass but for some reason it was not denying or accepting my card but the bus driver didn't care so he let me on. So we tried catching another bus but this bus driver wouldn't let us on and then I realized that it wasn't my bus pass, it was the extra that I got that had no money on it at all. My real bus pass was in my wallet that I left at home! So we got off and tried walking home from Haslingdon(25 minutes).

So on the way home, we found this trail that lead to the top of a hill overlooking Rossendale which was gorgeous and by that point we were about halfway home, and I was looking in my bag when Sister Limb looks over my shoulder and pulls out..... MY WALLET. So we catch a bus and I pull out my actual pass which inside it was..... MY ATM CARD. So I think that experience summed up my life.

And hey conference was this week! It was so good and so many changes! I could only watch 2 of them live though which was pretty weird and I still need to find time to watch the last session that announced the ministering changes. But wow I have never been so excited to watch conference before. I just switched between watching at the chapel and at members houses. I think one of my favorite talks was by Brian Taylor? I think? But it was about knowing your identity and how we can help people with personal challenges by teaching them their worth. I think it is so important by seeing people by their potential and what they can be. That knowledge has helped me a lot in the mission and gives me motivation to talk to people that i see by seeing them how Heavenly Father sees them. 

Well anyways I know this email is shorter but I will send tons of pictures to make it up! So just remember to follow what the prophet said and seek and heed the holy ghost' s promptings, humble yourself, and know that God WANTS to talk to us. And i know that President Nelson was called of God to lead this dispensation and am so excited as to how he is going to lead the church. I love you all and wish you the best week ever!

Sister Sever

Week 7 in Rossendale

Yup that's right, my first new convert and she is so solid!!! It was pretty hard for her this week though, seeing as she couldn't get the holy ghost because church was cancelled. Oh! And church was cancelled because it was snowing haha! I forgot to mention that sorry😅 But she really was a trooper. Becca is a wife with 4 kids but they are all very young and only one is baptizing age. Her kids love us! Mostly because we are from America and are positive that every American knows a wrestler personally. I gave one of them a few American coins because they were trying to name them and he said he would keep them forever❤❤ Becca told us he even slept with them in his wallet the night before! Becca's husband was brought up atheist and has never really gong to a church. He was really confused about our church especially since friends at work kept on telling him things about us (like not celebrating Christmas or sister wives). We came over last Saturday to answer questions and got to know him and his family a bit more and by the end of it her husband loved talking to us and even invited us over again! He later told his wife that he was drawn to us. And guess what his name is..... his first name is Michael.... and his last name is Jackson!!!!! 

So the elders also have this investigator named Michelle that we absolutely love! She loves us too. For Easter she gave us Easter eggs and a necklace to remember her by. She also really wants us to come over to her house for tea. She is already talking about being baptized but she must needs to get married first to her boyfriend. He is a less active that wants to be in the church again and even wants her to be baptized. I will take a picture of them when I am over at their house later this week. They have 4 little pugs!!!😂🐶🐶🐶🐶 But they run around so much it seems like 8. 

So.... I lost my bus pass on the... bus. Which isn't good since they are UBER expensive. So we went to this really dodgy bus station probably 30 minutes from our flat and it was this big building with a ton of windows. And right as we were walking up I could see people were staring at us through the window and at first I was thinking it was cause we were missionaries. But it was only because we were walking to the staff only entrance of the building... We found the right entrance and this lady greeted us by it and just laughed at us because she saw the entire thing. So that is my awkward experience. 

So with general conference coming up I have been studying all the talks in the past October general conference. I decided this week to make sure to look back at Russell M. Nelson`s talk from it and do what he tells us. He really focuses on the Book of Mormon and even Thomas S. Monson did in his last talk a year ago. So I have made it a part of my personal study to read a couple chapters before I study anything else. It really has shown me that the more I read the Book of Mormon and strive to understand it, the more I know this church is true. It really teaches you do much of your potential and the values we should have here on earth. In the talk President Nelson said, "Whenever I hear anyone, including myself, say, “I know the Book of Mormon is true,” I want to exclaim, “That’s nice, but it is not enough!” We need to feel, deep in “the inmost part” of our hearts, that the Book of Mormon is unequivocally the word of God. We must feel it so deeply that we would never want to live even one day without it." 

Even though I know I haven't gone to those extremes yet, I  know that every dongle day I am striving to feel the exact way that he has said. And really that is what this gospel is all about. As long as you are trying, things will fall unto place, no matter how unbalanced the world is, you can always find stability in the gospel. I know this to be true more than anything else. 

Wow you can definitely tell I had more time today haha! Ok also half of my pictures did not send last time for some weird reason. Also, my district leader who caught the sheep in the lake district has left and Elder Brendanburg from the Netherlands is the new one. But I am probably going to stay in Rossendale these next 2 transfers since I doubt president would whitewash us out AGAIN. 

This week was exhausting! It wasn't even because of Becca and all that jazz but we have been getting really close with less actives of the church. I have been noticing that literally all of the less actives we have been visiting haven`t lost their faith but are just not going because of personal reasons I could not even imagine. Like we have been getting especially close to these 2 sisters and another girl who was a recent convert of like a year ago who say they never lost faith but it is not growing due to loss of motivation for another person's choices. I really wonder if it might be the same every where else as well. We are trying to reactivate the 2 sisters and her family and to be honest it is working. I don't know if I said this in my past emails but they are the less actives who hasn't gone to church in 6 months and hadn't invited missionaries in 3 years. But the one time they went to church after 6 months was when it was sister Limb's and I' s first week and we were sharing our testimonies with the ward. They instantly felt connected to us and asked us over for that week. Since then they have come to church 4 times in the last 2 months which is apparently record breaking and the sisters want to go out teaching with us. We are going to Burnley with us today as well. 

I just want to say that no matter how hard things get,  never lose that spirit or motivation for the gospel. Because I see it with all the less actives that it is very hard to get back once lost. And it is so hard on people as well.  Even though trials may be hard, they will be even worse without the help of the atonement. 

So the first 3 pictures are of my district on our last P-day before transfers last week. There is also Sebastian and Rachelle there as well, who are recent converts. They are so nice and Sebastian hangs out a lot with the missionaries since he wants to go on a mission when he is older. 

Pictures:  1.  This one is just cause I thought where I was at the time was SO pretty and I just felt like taking a picture.  2. We went to this chocolate festival and went to a cave where they served super cheap soup with legit homemade bread that was delicious. Also if you notice my drink is this elderberry thing with actual mint in it. it was so good.  3. Sister Limber decided my scarf can double as a turban

Love you all!!!!!

Week 6 in Rossendale

This week was pretty amazing. This is mostly due to BECCA BEING BAPTISED!!!!! It was so great! And so many people were there. It was probably the most people I have seen for a baptism... ever. The members were really supportive and Becca gave her testimony. For somebody who has never given her testimony before, it was pretty incredible. She just talked about how she came to know the church was true. We invited her to the next fireside for new converts because we heard it was in Manchester. 

Thing is the baptism was never finished because church was cancelled this week! Our mission president was going to come to Rossendale for church too! I was actually going to say a talk yesterday! Haha. But we came to the church anyways to help clean up after the baptism and a relief society activity since they couldn't yesterday. And right when we came a family who just moved to Bacup from Chorley came for the sacrament that was cancelled and the elders were helping them get to the chapel. We ended up calling the Bishop and asking if we could take the sacrament with this family. They had me say my talk too haha! So I guess I didn't fully get away from that. And this family was so nice as well! They couldn't understand why church could ever be be cancelled and insisted they had to have a service at least with the missionaries even though they wished they could meet everyone else.

So Sister Limb has told me that we usually face hardship as our investigator is baptized and I just want to say that I believe this is true. You do not want to know how much food that has been burned and also I left my bus pass on the bus... And since Becca is not being confirmed til next week, it will just be another week of more troubles. But she is going to be confirmed. She is so excited to be and was disappointed that she wasn't able to yesterday.

I also have two new investigators that I'm pretty excited about named Rick and Joanne. We met then on the bus and Joanne is so excited to have us over she said she would make us cake! They don't have a specific church they go to but they have gone to a couple different churches so aren't completely closed off to the idea. 

Week 5 in Rossendale

Hello everyone! 

So this week I had a lot of things happen! It was definitely a roller coaster but I did have many miracles happen. One of which was Becca`s baptismal interview! Which she passed with flying colors. She also baked us a Victorian cake which was absolutely delicious. She is also bringing her kids and husband to the baptism as well. 

I also took a stop in Chorley as I had exchanges with my STL`s. I had a chance to go to Preston in order to take pictures by some telephone boxes! Super British! I also went I side the temple. It may or may not have been because I had to go to the bathroom and the chapel was completely locked but it was still nice. 

Today I also went to the lake district. We stopped by the Lowther castle. Which, coincidentally, we went with sister Lowther. Which her ancestors did own at one point. It was huge! And beautiful! It looks like a Disney castle. And then we went to airo force. Which is a waterfall. And they were tree stumps just full of coins. I put in an American quarter to make people confused. At the bottom of the falls, the water is so pure you could drink it! Which I did. And to be honest it tasted way better than normal water. And it was so clear!

One of the elders literally caught a sheep in order to take a picture of it. It was amazing. And in Kendall, we went to a cave which had the best acoustics I have ever heard. We sang in there and it sounded amazing. And there inside a pub, the bathrooms were built around a hill. I can't describe it very well but you can see in the picture. We also visited a manor that looked like Elizabeth Bennet`s house. 

Anyways I love you all and so sorry this was short. I didn't have as much time today:(

Sister Sever

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Week 4 in Rossendale

Hey!

So this week was freezing!!! Apparently it's the coldest it has been since 1991. Oh and it was windy too! Today is fine but it just got back to 40 degree weather and it's not windy.... wind is the worst. And I slipped.... a lot. I will be forever bruised.

But I think finding is the best when the weather is bad. Everything is for a reason and, probably a couple days ago, we were door knocking near the chapel and nobody was answering. Probably 30 minutes in, the only person who really talked to us was a man who literally only talked to us because he used to be Jehovah's witness and knew how hard it could be... But then we came to a house where a man told us to come back the next day and that was Paul. We came back and I know he probably was only listening to us because he didn't expect us to come back in this weather, but lo and behold! We taught him the Plan of Salvation and after we bore our testimonies you could tell he felt the spirit. He invited us over again for Thursday! He is so nice as well! I have a good feeling about this one haha. So even in storms you can find miracles, moral of the story.

Also, you'll be glad to know, I almost lost my wallet. Yup! Yesterday I literally just left my wallet on the bus and I did not even realize it was gone until our phone rang. Apparently I wrote our number on the bus pass... I don't remember putting it there but I'm grateful it was. A nice man found it and drove to the nearest bus station to us. So there are nice people even in cold, wet England. 

Also I made a snow man! Sorry... snow woman on my balcony. I'm putting a picture on here. She died not too long ago since the snow has all but melted but it was fun while it lasted. 

Also our investigator, Becca, is still planning on being baptized on the 17th which is amazing. We really aren't doing anything, her faith and especially the members` support has just been astounding. She is so ready. Hopefully I'll have another one dated soon. 

     Most of the pictures are just showing how cold it is, the snow man, and other stuff. I don't even know where half of them came from...

     Anyways stay safe and I love you all!

Sister Sever

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