Week 22 in Wigan

Hello friends and family!! 

This week we had another amazing lesson with Vejas!!! We taught him the Word of Wisdom, with a member named Gonzalo, and he accepted it immediately. We were teaching him about the importance of prayer and we were telling him he needs to pray every day! So, he decided that he was going to say prayers of gratitude for one of us every day. He said," Tomorrow will be for Sister Dunlavy, then Sister Sever, then Sister Rasmussen, and last Gonzalo, because he needs salvation." 😂😂

We also had a ward activity called a Burns Night! Apparently, it's a Scottish holiday for a poet named Robert Burns. We have a Scottish family in our ward and all the men had kilts on. They had somebody from another ward come and play the bagpipe. Then, a member from the Scottish family read out a poem that apparently you read out before you have haggis. In the middle of it, He stabbed into a sheep's stomach. And yes, I had haggis again. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is the inside of a sheep's stomach😳 It is alright. It just tastes like a meaty stuffing. They also did Scottish dancing, called Keely. It looked super fun! 

We also had a tea appointment with a member and she took us for dessert to this gelato place. They had halfbaked cookie dough and she said we could get some. Naturally, we all got some! Well, we should have all shared because I think by midway I started feeling super sick! But, I was so proud, I ate it all!!!!! It was mighty delicious and a genius creation!

During sacrament, we had someone give a talk about having a celestial vision. As I have taught people the plan of salvation my knowledge(although still not perfect) has grown significantly in how perfect God's plan is for us! If we have faith in Christ, we can achieve anything! Miracles are wrought according to our faith! Having a celestial vision is so important becsuse our brains are so powerful. What you think is exactly what you do! If you think you are lower, then we will achieve lower than what we are capable of. Our thoughts are everything and if we truly desire to live with our Heavenly Father again... We will!!! We have endless potential. Heavenly Father has gifted us with agency so that we can progress now and forever but also so that we can attain our higher purpose IF we have the vision to do so. I know Heavenly Father's plan is without fault and I know that he loves us infinitely. That is why there is a sure way to Heaven if we keep his commandments and honour the promises we make. I love you all and hope you have an amazing week!

Sister Sever

(Bonus mom note!!  From our personal email today, which I thought, would also be interesting to all of you:
"I was in Manchester today and I totally had a flashback to my MTC days because tons of missionaries from the mtc were proselyting there! They asked what advice we would give them and the only thing I thought of was to have genuine love. Genuine love for the work, for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, for the people, for yourself! I want to use this for the rest of my life. If I have genuine love and interest for the gospel and for my God and others. Then, everything else falls into place. No matter what happens you can endure but enjoy as you are doing it! There is a Hope Works that totally describes what I am talking about, it's called Feeling Joy in the Midst of Struggle by Abby Stephens. It's on lds.org and mormonchannel.org if you want to watch it it. Also, a few sisters from the MTC told me that they read my blog before coming out haha! I had to tell them I have an amazing mother who makes it possible! They thought the vegan video was pretty hilarious😂 ")

1. Piccadilly square

2. Trump calendar you can buy in stores that we thought was funny😂

3. Chinatown in Manchester

4. Cookie dough place with members, winter makes me look like a hobo😂

5. This week there was something super random, it was just a normal day in Wigan and then in the town square a ton of Chinese people started dancing😂😂😂

6. Manchester

7 & 8. Guess what..... IT SNOWED!!!!!❄❄

9. Haggis!!! They had mashed potatoes and carrots with it.

Week 21 in Wigan

Well hello everyone! 

This week was..... full of excitement! So much happened! Literally, I think this is the longest yet shortest week of my entire mission. We had zone conference this Thursday but it feels like it was 500 years ago!!! We had this lesson with a friend named Alan! I think I might have spoken about him before. But, we were supposed to have it in the library. He showed up and was just like,”well, it’s a nice day outside so why don’t we just go out there instead”. So we up and moved to a swing set and sat there and taught him the restoration. Definitely a first in my mission, but I loved it! 

Then, not this Sunday but the Sunday before...something amazing happened! So,I was playing piano in church and we got a phone call, well the actual chapel did. A man on the phone named Tommy asked for me but since I was playing they got one of my companions to get the phone instead. They got his number and promised that I would call him later. So, afterwards they told me and I remembered him as somebody I talked to on the bus a week ago! I called him back and set up an appointment with him this week. He is just this sweet old man and we talked a lot about what we believe. He actually took us for a tour in the chapel he goes to! So that was a nice quirk we didn’t expect. We were just on a roll this week for having unusual places our friends wanted to take us to. 

Then we visited with Vejas!!!! Oh blessings! Vejas is amazing! So, we taught him this week and he now wants to be baptised! He also committed himself to read to page 300 of the Book of Mormon by next Sunday! Not of our own doing, although we support him wholeheartedly in his efforts, he asked for this himself.😂

Well, this week was my year mark! Crazy stuff! We celebrated by going to get gelato. 

Oh! And we also had zone conference this week! They were a lot of things that missionaries said that just hit me so hard! It was one of the best zone conferences I have had. But, one thing that I really liked was a quote that somebody read outloud. I didn’t write down the specific quote but it said how our desires lead to our priorities, which lead to our choices, which lead to our actions. Like this big domino effect. If we have righteous desires it will lead to righteous action down the line! A missionary brought up the point that as humans we are not born straight off the bat with righteous desire. But we can grow and obtain that desire! It is a mindset that we need to work at and obtain! I think what really helps me to have that desire is having a vision of where I want to be. I just want to be with my Heavenly Father again, I want to live with my family for eternity, and I want to find true and everlasting joy in Christ. With those mindsets, I find that my desires have changed and my actions show accordingly. I find myself growing in my testimony every day and striving to live so I can obtain that vision! I love this gospel and I am so lucky to be a part of the restoration of Jesus Christ’s church! I love you all!

Sister Sever

Week 20 in Wigan

Hello friends and family!!!

This week was.... AMAZING!!! One of the best weeks ever! So much happened I don’t even know where to start.

Then we had a day where we had 3 lessons! We had one with Vejas and wow he is so solid! He has been keeping commitments! He has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying! We talked on the plan of salvation and he had excellent questions but he kept on mentioning how it just all makes sense. I am just in awe. I know the Lord prepares people but when I meet them it just makes me remember how the Lord prepares people! 

Then we had a lesson with Soul! He is keeping commitments! We moved back his date still to February 9 just because his baptismal interview was supposed to be last week but he is embarking on the 21 day Book of Mormon challenge. He prays in front of us and always thanks Heavenly Father for Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. He has been quitting tea and coffee and hasn’t touched alcohol! He truly is amazing. During the lesson, he started talking about the Saviour and how amazing He is. He just bore testimony to us about Him and I could feel the spirit so strong! 

Then we had a first lesson with a boy named Alan. He is the sweetest boy! He just is happy all the time and is just positive about everything! He believes in mindfulness and thinks there is an afterlife he just doesn’t know about a God. We invited him to come to church and he was so excited!

We also had a lesson with Katie! I forgot how amazing she is! She has been more open about talking with her fiancé Phil about God and he has been telling her questions to ask us about! She has such faith! She says she has been praying about baptism and she just really feels that it should be after her wedding so it isn’t overshadowed. She kept on telling us small experiences she has had in which she knows God is there and it has been an answer to prayers. So good!

Well this week I was studying in the Book of Mormon(of course). I’m studying in 1 Nephi 5 and I was just thinking how long it took for Sariah to actually complain. She was probably waiting for a very long time, thinking her sons might have been dead. I would imagine that when they first left she had full faith on their return. But then she did complain for fear of her sons. But when she did Lehi said that he was a visionary man and he is grateful for it because if he hadn’t have seen these things by a vision he wouldn’t know the goodness of God. I always read this verse as a straight up rebuke from Lehi but after truly pondering on Sariah’s situation I now see it as more of a reassurance. Because in reality Lehi is reassuring her that God is good and they will see their sons again not harshly rebuking her. Then, when their sons did return Sariah’s faith was renewed. I think I really applied this to my life because at times I don’t act like I should, I complain because the work isn’t going so well or I’m not happy. But the Lord has reassured me time and time again that he is good and it always goes by his timing and plan. 

I love you all and hope you have a good week!

Sister Sever

1. Archie’s is the only place with American milkshakes! We had to take a selfie

2. Just us in Wigan

3. Is with Sister McKinnon and Pymm at the docks. It was super windy!

4. Anglican cathedral

5. Trio in Liverpool

Week 19 in Wigan

Hello friends and family!!!

This one will be a bit short since my email has been acting up. It deletes things now so I'm hoping this email sends.

This week was really good!! We had a miracle right before transfers started! Sister Dunlavy and I have been feeling a bit down about the work; I mean we haven't slacked in the slightest, but no matter how many people we talk to nobody has been interested. But one day we had it in our plans to call by some people we are "teaching" but have never met before. One of them was Julia. We stopped by her house, and her previous boyfriend, Mantas, answered. Apparently they broke up so we talked to him instead. He doesn't believe in a God but after we left he texted us and said he really enjoyed our conversation and he wished he could believe in a God. Then the other person we called by was John. He was supposed to be 51-70 and the boy that answered was definitely not that age. He was probably 17 or 18. But we had the most amazing conversation with him! He gave us his phone number right off the bat and was really excited to see us again! We also saw his parents as well and they are super nice and seem open as well! He was so sweet and they are all Argentinean and so we immediately texted our ward mission leader who is also of the same nationality. So it was a really good start to the week!

Then we got Sister Rasmussen!!! She really is amazing and the sweetest person! I can't believe I'm serving with her again! We were companions in the MTC and I love her to bits. Being in a trio is the best, I really do have the best companions. 

I love you all!!!

Sister Sever

***Some Of the pictures are of the Anglican church we went to, another was of the trio I'm in, and...I also melted a spatula to one of our pans

Week 18 in Wigan

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVE FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Well this week was uber exciting!!! Here are the highlights.... So we had a street display in Wigan and even though Christmas is done we still had quite a few light the world cards. I wanted to just get them out of the flat so bad. So I grabbed a ton of them and I was determined to give them out to everyone!!! So, some elders from Liverpool came down and did a street display with us. I was on a roll! It was so funny because I noticed if I walked up to a group of people and one of them said no, they all said not. But if one of them said yes, they would all take one. There were these 2 men that I saw out of the corner of my eye. I walked up to them and said hi!! Once they looked at me I could tell they were REALLY drunk, you could really smell it. One of them looked at me and was just like,"I'm doing GREAT!! You look like you need a cuddle!" I was like,"No, I am fine!" I start backing away, I look at the elders and you can see the panic in their faces. Then he hugs me and I'm trying to much him off me! One of the elders like shouted,"I want a cuddle!" So he gets off of him and hugs him instead haha! 

Then, this Sunday we had a tea appointment that evening and he told us that we were getting a roast dinner. We were so excited! After sacrament meeting we were talking with some members and they were telling us how they really wanted over for tea! We told them We had one at 6 pm and they said,"well we can have you over at 3 so you can eat something before hand, we are having fajitas". I love fajitas and we couldn't resist so we said yes. We go over to their house and they give us the fajitas filling.... over a MOUNTAIN of rice!!! I have never eaten so much rice in my entire life! I looked at it and I was like okay, I'm pretty hungry and I can usually eat a lot anyways, I'll just eat it really fast so my stomach can't comprehend how much i have eaten. I ate it!! Then we went to our other tea appointment. We were not hungry whatsoever!!! Then we ha we roast dinner and it was also humongous! It was like double the amount of a normal roast dinner. But I survived and that's what matters. I have lived to tell the tale! 

Also, I have one more chapter of the book of Mormon before I finish!!!!! This challenge was seriously the best!! Focusing on the Saviour throughout the book of Mormon really just made me realize how much the book of Mormon testifies of Him. I was reading in Moroni 7 and in a couple verses he mentioned "my beloved brethren". I than stopped for a few seconds and thought, at this point Moroni doesn't have any brethren. He is just talking directly at us! It just made it a lot more personal. Of course the entire book of Mormon is directed at us but this book is the only one where a man is pleading for us to have charity while his family and people have been killed off and he is the only one left. It just made it so much more real. 

Well I love you all and hope you have an amazing New Years!!

Sister Sever

Week 17 in Wigan

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!! 

I hope everyone has had a lovely holiday! Ours was definitely one to remember! You know, we don’t proselyte for Christmas but these past few days have been just as busy if not even busier than our normal days! We have been fed a lot and quite well. We are currently at some members house, The Grants. They are just a proper family. They have all of the family over and they gave us some presents, the most exciting being Reeses peanut butter! 

Also, Christmas Eve we had district Council in the morning and afterwards we all pitched in to get dominoes. Then, we had a tea appointment later so I could skype home. They weren’t feeling too well to cook so they decided to get something to eat.... DOMINOES!!! Yup, my favourite haha. 

Then Christmas Day, Lucy and Barry had us over for a full English breakfast! Super good. They also got us presents. They are slipper boots! They are the softest things I have ever felt! Then, some members, the Doriches had us over for tea. They gave us some chicken, and this German potato ball. The way I will describe it will make it sound gross but it was actually quite good! It’s kind of sticky and tastes like dough but you put gravy over it to add flavour. It’s called kartoffelclausse... I think... Then we went to our bishops house for Sister Dunlavy to skype home and then went to their parents house for the rest of Christmas!!!! 

We also had a lesson with a couple named Hollie and Michael. They are a very nice Christian family. Her husband happened to be a pastor, no big deal. I was actually super nervous coming to this appointment just because I knew that they weren’t too interested. But, during the lesson I was surprisingly very calm. I wasn’t nervous at all. That morning I studied in Preach My Gospel in the role of the Book of Mormon and it talked about how the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our church. Of course the bible is the word of God and we need its teachings just as much as the Book of Mormon, but if people prove the Book of Mormon isn’t true then Joseph Smith is not a prophet and our church crumbles. There was a specific quote in it that stood out to me the most, it said that without the Book of Mormon and revelation, our church doesn’t exist. I noticed how in the lesson they kept on trying to disprove and attack the Book of Mormon saying there is no way it is the word of God. They kept on referring us to quotes of somebody who left the church or anti-church facts. I asked them to ask God if it was true as I have and they did not want to. But I just kept on thinking, throughout the lesson even though it was obvious that they had done some research but they couldn’t say anything against my testimony. If I hadn’t asked God if the Book of Mormon is true or if I hadn’t read from it and constantly continuing to water the seed, I would not have held up how I did when defending what I knew to be true! The same goes for Sister Dunlavy, she is so amazing and her testimony so bright. But I do know the Book of Mormon is true and that it is the word of a God. I know this because I have asked with faith in Christ, trusting in whatever answer he would give me. I love this gospel, the more I learn the more I know it is true and will lead me to true and eternal happiness. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

I love you all and hope you had an amazing holiday! 

Sister Sever

1. We had canned soup one night and we thought it would be better of we made it look aesthetic haha

2 And 3. Lucy and Barry

3. Us at the grants getting our presents

Week 16 in Wigan

(mom note:  below is all I received from Sidney this week...but her word is true...there are actually LOTS of pictures)

Sorry mom, this is gonna be a lame email. I had a lot more written out but the gmail is doing something really weird. It literally deleted most of everything:( I think 10:30 your time would be the best:) I did have a weekly letter written out but it looks like it was deleted... So I'm just going to send the pictures since I don't have time to write it. But, I promise to send you 2 next time!!  Also, p-day is switched this next week. Boxing day is our p-day(the day after Christmas).

Here's Lucy,Barry and their daughter Hallie