Wow this week was AMAZING. I don't know how, but each week just gets better and better. I am loving this work more and more as time goes on and I cannot believe I have been out for almost three months already. TIME IS FLYING!!! Seriously it is insane!!!
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| Who loves sunscreen? |
The sun was shining all week, but everyone says not to be fooled because it won't last. But hey, I got to put my sunscreen to good use:) It truly has been a wonderful week! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
So here is an example of my week/day schedule.
MONDAY: PDAY!!! WOOO!!! EMAILS!!!! WOO!!! Next P day we have zone p day and we are playing..... football (or soccer as they say in the USA). I don't think I have ever been more excited. Then we usually go to FHE with a family in the ward! We love going to the Sheppard's because they basically have the funnest family home evening ever.
TUESDAY: We go homeless in Aylesbury all day!!! haha I love going to Aylesbury but I just feel homeless when I go there:) Usually what we do when we are here is a lot of talking to everyone we can and going to visit less actives and have
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| This is my District |
appointments with people we meet!
WEDNESDAY: We stay in Leighton Buzzard and have appointments usually all day/do a lot of finding and all that fun missionary stuff:) Then every Wednesday night we have correlation at the mission leaders home with the Elders and have a lovely home cooked dinner!
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We told Rita to pull her model pose. haha
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THURSDAY: We go homeless in Aylesbury again!!!! But in the mornings from 1030 to 1230 we have district meeting then after that we have district lunch and usually go the McDonald's in town because it is cheap and we are poor missionaries. Haha... yup. One time we made pancakes at the chapel but then it just sucked doing all the dishes after. And we didn't even have forks so we ate like animals. Then the rest of the day we WORK.
FRIDAY: Leighton Buzzard.. WORK
SATURDAY: Aylesbury... WORK
SUNDAY: AKA THE BEST DAY OF THE WEEK. Church is from 10 to 1 but we usually don't end up leaving till 2 because everyone stays and talks forever. Then we go and visit our lovely Rita every Sunday and usually have a dinner appointment that night:)
There is a quick run down of my weekly schedule!!!!!
This week I began my week with a different attitude. I have come to recognize that this is the Lord's work, and I am on His errand. And I am tellin' yah, that has made all the difference. I saw miracles this week. I felt the Spirit so much stronger
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| Sisters with Sister Jordan |
this week. Everything about it was truly amazing and I feel very blessed to be a missionary to spread the good news of the Gospel to the people in Aylesbury and Leighton Buzzard!!! AHHH I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK SO MUCH!!!!
As I said, what I changed this week was my attitude. Not that I had a bad attitude before, because I didn't, but I began each day by dedicating the day to the Lord. I improved the quality of my prayers by making them more meaningful and really pictured myself speaking to God. I made sure I was focused during my studies. Overall, I sought the Spirit in everything that I did because the Spirit is the key to everything. Not only in missionary work, but in every aspect of each of our lives!!! But why though? That is the question that I want you all to think about this week. Then as you are pondering, think about what you can be doing to have the Spirit more in your own life.I can promise you, that when you are doing everything you can to seek the
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Outside of Hyde Park Chapel
aka the mission home in London!
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Spirit each day, you will feel the power of God in your life so much more than you ever have before. You will recognize His hand each day. You will feel of His love. You will be so much happier and have greater courage to respond to the challenges of the day! That promise is real. God is real. And I just love thinking about it!!! Ahhh if only we knew and understood how much God loves us!!!!!
Oh... and SPECIFIC PRAYERS BRING SPECIFIC ANSWERS. Try that out sometime.
I just improved the little things that I do every day, and I am tellin' yah, it made all the difference. I woke up each day so excited to get to work!! I really felt the Lord working through me this week. THIS WORK IS AMAZING.
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Another street we walk down in Aylesbury
pretty much every time we are there.
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Here is one miracle that happened this week! So Sister Barbosa is from Brazil right? And she speaks Portuguese. She has been specifically called to teach in Portuguese on her mission. She said that in every area she has been in, she has taught someone in Portuguese. So last Thursday, we were supposed to go on an exchange after district meeting with the sister training leaders, but long story short, we didn't get the message and thought it was next week, so it didn't happen and Sister Barbosa stayed instead of leaving to Watford. That was the beginning of the miracle....
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This is the town center at Leighton Buzzard...
No joke everything closes at 5 here.
This was taken at 5 o clock... empty.
Probably cause it's a small town..idk
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We had a lesson planned at the Library in Aylesbury that night, but he didn't show up. So we had a back up plan to go and stop by an investigator that we haven't gotten a hold of for awhile, but she wasn't home. So we were like, okay... so we pulled out the ward list and found a less active that lived close by, so we went to stop by there. Someone answered but said that they didn't live there... okay...... so we sat down on this ledge thing for a little bit then just figured we would head back to the bus station and talk to everyone because our bus was going to leave in 45 minutes anyways. So when we went to stand up, someone across the street was trying to open his door, so I just said "Hey sir! How are you?" And he said, "Sorry, no speak English." So we asked him where he was from, and he said Brazil!!!!! Uhhh no way. So Sister Barbosa started speaking with him in Portuguese and yup I had no idea what the heck they were saying but UMM MIRACLE. It was so sweet and he just turned 19 and we are seeing him tonight and I am going to have no idea what is going on in the lesson but it is going to be SWEET. I am way stoked!!! hahaha. Everything fell through so we could meet Rodrigo.
Seriously this kind of stuff happens daily. Our plans fall through, so God's plans can fall into place.
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| More District Craziness |
This week I gave my first ever training at district meeting on the importance of church attendance in helping our investigators to progress. I think it went well... haha. I felt the Spirit, so it was probably okay! ha And we had an investigator at church this Sunday!!! WOOO. That is kinda a big deal because getting investigators to come to church is NOT easy. Her name is Sabrina and she speaks french and is from Sri Lanka... yeah. haha so for those of you who were wondering if there is a lot of diversity here.. yes. There is. We are seeing her again on Wednesday! She is 20 and that was another miracle that we bumped into her. I am tellin' yah.. miracles happen every single day! We just don't recognize them.
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| Donald, a recent convert. He loves puzzles just like me! |
Okay I wish so badly that you could all meet our friend Malcolm... hahahah he is probably the funniest old man I have ever met. Here is just a classic/cliche example of something he did this week to help you understand him better. We called him the other day to see if he needed a lift for church, and halfway through the conversation, he started looking for something and couldn't find it. I asked him what he was looking for, and he said, "I just had my phone like 5 minutes ago and now I can't find it anywhere!!!!" ..... "Malcolm... what's in your hand...?" He laughed for like 5 minutes after that. ............ Bless him. That just describes him to a T. Seriously my love for these people continues to grow daily.
I found out this week that Brits do not understand the phrase... "What's up?" I always ask some of the youth in the ward when I see them, "What's up?" And I always get a very literal answer like "the ceiling?" or "the sky?" I thought they were just messin' with me until someone finally said, "Sister Ranck, I never know how to respond to that question. What does that even mean?"
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Aylesbury Town Center
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I went on an exchange this week with Sister Steele and HOLY COW SHE IS AMAZING. She is from Gilbert Arizona and went to BYU for 2 semesters before coming on her mission. Okay I hope so bad that we are companions one day because she is the greatest teacher I have ever taught with and is just super real and cares about everyone so much and ah I just love her! We had some fun together.
We taught Zack on the exchange and had the best lesson with him!!!! We taught the restoration and about the Book of Mormon and holy cow that was probably the greatest lesson I have been in so far. The Spirit was sooo strong it was amazing!!! He has a very honest and sincere heart and I just love him so much!!! We still try to call him every day to pray with him, and we will be seeing him on Wednesday and I am excited:)
Guess what... we are moving flats this week!!!!!!! WOOOOOO!!! Our flat is pretty old and worn down sooooo thank goodness. I am super excited!!! So don't send me any mail to my old flat... I will let you know the address when I get it!!!! We are moving on Friday!
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| Watford Zone Interviews |
So the reason that p day got changed this week was because yesterday was INTERVIEWS!!!! WOOO!!! SO I got to go to Hyde Park with my district and have trainings by President and Sister Jordan and be interviews by President!! Holy cow they amaze me. When it was my turn, right after I said the opening prayer, President asked me with the most concerned look of love, "are you happy?" My answer was yes. But he has over 200 missionaries to care for, yet he cares for every single one of us as if we were his own children. I am truly blessed to be in this mission!!!!
Oh and yup. Elder Holland is definitely coming to my mission. No big deal. ha ha. I am stoked cause he is my favorite!
I love this work and I love my Savior. We have the greatest message of hope and happiness to ever exist. And even better, we have the COMPLETE message.
Don't just "hang in there".... ENDURE TO THE END.
^^^^ Think about that. If you need help, there was a conference talk in the Sunday afternoon session of conference about it.
Thank you all SOOO MUCH for your love and prayers. I truly feel them every day.
ONWARD AND UPWARD.
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