Crewe Smells Like Cookies

First transfer down everyone!!!

Of course, it doesn't really count since transfers are normally 6 weeks and this one is only 5 weeks... but still. It's a transfer, right? haha This week was a week of miracles! Being gone from home for 18 months seems like a ridiculously long time, and I won't lie when I say it's hard. It's hard to think that I am going to be away from home for 18 months and the only contact I get is emailing once a week. But at the end of this email I hope you will all be able to see why those 18 months are worth giving up.

Quote of the Week

At zone meeting all of the companionships had to stand and report how well we did on achieving the goals we had set at the previous zone meeting. Sort of as a way to hold ourselves accountable to the work. One set of Elders stood up and said as follows: "Well, we had set the goal to talk to everyone we saw. To be much better at talking to those when we were walking, when we were on the bus, riding bikes, trains, cars..." "Yeah. So... we were really good at the walking..."

Funny Story

Wow. This one is just.. well.

Awkward things happen to us all of the time. But this one was just too golden not to share. Sister Nelson and I were walking back home to our flat and taking turns approaching those we passed in the street. This man was walking toward us with shoulder length curly hair and was smoking a cigarette but we don't pick and choose who we think will accept the Gospel, we share it with everyone! And so I started out by saying "Hiya, my friend and I..." when he cut me off and said "Oh, I know who you are. You're my disciples."Umm. What? "yeah, I like to stop you guys and see how you are doing and what work you're up to and what you're doing. You know, just to make sure you're doing my work"Ok. What? Sister Nelson then tries to explain to him who we are and he then launches into this whole explanation of how he was Jesus Christ. And he asked us, "You say you'll know Jesus Christ when you see Him, so what would you say if I told you that I am Him?" Seriously not a word was coming out of mine and Sister Nelson's mouth. We were struck dumb.. ha He went on to explain to us that Jesus came from jerusalem and so did he at which point he showed us his credit card which had the name "Hanzi" on it. No idea what that was supposed to do but he seemed to think that was all the proof we needed to know he was Jesus.Then he told us that Jesus smokes and as well, he hung himself on the cross. Yup. It went on like that for a good 10 minutes. We finally just told him it was nice to meet him, said our names, to which he introduced himself as Richard and then we just kept walking.

Oh boy.

Miracles

Sister Nelson and I teach the Parker family about 3-4 times a week as they are a part member family and really benefit from having gospel discussions and lessons. Nicole is the daughter who is about our age and she just had surgery but was having complications and so we were on our way to visit her in the hospital. We sit down and are waiting at the bus stop with only one other gentleman there and so we just start talking with him and sharing with him who we were and what we were doing all the way in Crewe since we were clearly not from there haha We talk about religion and different faiths and he says "well, we are all the same aren't we? We all believe in the same God so it's all good". This statement used to stump me. But I finally realized that we were all good, and we do all believe in the same God. But the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is different because it is a restored church. Not a reformed or remodeled version. But it is the doctrine that Christ taught on the earth restored once again to us in these latter days. His name is Thomas and he quite the chatty fellow but when I began to share with him the message of the restored gospel he fell silent only commenting a few times. And then when I shared with him the first vision, in Joseph Smith's own words, he just sat there looking straight at me and not even blinking. Afterwards the spirit was so strong, I know he received a witness of the truthfulness of the message. My testimony was strengthened beyond anything I had ever felt before and I knew that those words were true. And so afterwards he quickly gave us his address and asked if we could have the missionaries in his home area come over and teach him more. We hopped onto our bus after that and began talking to our bus driver named Andrzej (polish) who told us that he was catholic but wasn't sure about it. He had a lot of questions and was really interested in what we had to say and we sat there talking to him for 15 minutes and were meeting him later this week to teach him more! Thank goodness no one else was on the bus because he was 15 minutes late for leaving.. haha oops. The next day we were walking down the street and he slowed the bus down to wave at us as he passed by! It made my day that he remembered us!

Weekly Update

The work is moving along here in Crewe. I'm loving getting to meet more and more of the ward members, they are so good! We went on a ward hike yesterday and it was about 5 hours long so we got to just talk with and get to know the members even more. The first transfer was really long.. and really difficult because I couldn't really see the effects of anything that I was doing. But I learned a valuable lesson this transfer which of course, could be no better explained than with a scripture. Ether 12: 6 says "And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." And that is so true. We often time expect answers to our prayers right away, or to see the immediate consequences of our good works. But Heavenly Father wants us to learn and to grow and we do that by moving forward in faith, by acting rather than waiting to be acted upon or by waiting to receive direction on what to do. This whole transfer has been a trial of my faith, and I am beginning to see the fruits of my labors, the witness of this great and miraculous work.

Words and Foods

On to the best part of the mission. The food! Alright I'm kidding. But really, there are some interesting things here in England which I probably would never try back at home haha I am seriously disappointed in England's lack of cereals though... oh well.

This week I tried rhubarb muffins? ha or cake or whatever. But oh my goodness was it good! And I have no idea what is in it.. it looked like seaweed or plant things or well I don't know, maybe it would be better if it remained a mystery haha

Because it is the end of the transfer we have to deep clean our flat! Which means we bring out the hoover. And we hoover everything. We hoover the stairs, we hoover the couch, we hoover the floor and well every surface haha any guess as to what a hoover is? Yup. A vacuum. Weird haha

Alright I love you all! Oh, and the best part about Crewe is that every night when we're rushing back to our flat the ENTIRE town smells of home baked chocolate cookies. I have no idea why, but it. is. Heavenly. Let me tell you haha

Loads of love!

Sister Reed