Hello hello hello!
Another great week has come and gone! Since I am assuming most of you do not speak German... the phrase above means "let's go on an adventure!" I have made Sister Bader teach me a few German phrases and she told me that I actually have very good pronunciation. So don't get offended if I just head over to Germany after my mission because it sounds like those are my people.
This week has been the week of all weeks in dinner appointments. But hey, I am not complaining... It actually gives me the chance to have a balanced meal every once in a while. I truly do try to get all of those good ol' vitamins and nutrients in my meals, but I am not kidding you when I say lunch and dinner time are seriously the last priorities as a missionary. At least that has been my experience thus far. Dinner usually consists of eating whatever is fast and easy at 9:30 every night. But that's okay! I will survive!
We have the cutest kids in our ward! I love these cute boys!
Hmmmmm... so what have been the highlights of the week... On Thursday we got to do some yard work for a sister in our ward. Of course, right when we got there it started raining. And pouring. And I think that I may have even heard the old man snoring (ha. haha. ha)... but really, we got SOAKED pulling weeds and picking plums from her tree. It was still a lot of fun. I love love love doing service projects for people. She gave us food and hot chocolate and cookies and all of that good stuff.
This entire past week we have had appointments back to back to back. It has been so, so busy, but that makes time FLY by. Like I feel like I was emailing yesterday... It's so weird. According to every missionary I have talked to, time will just start going by faster. And faster. And faster!
Friday was probably my favorite day of this week (although they were all great) because we had our first zone conference! That is when two different zones get together at the Hyde Park Visitors Centre for trainings from President Stevens, Sister Stevens, someone from the Stake Presidency, the Assistants to the President, and Sister Training Leaders and more. So a LOT of people, but it is just a huge spiritual feast! At this conference they focused on the importance of the sacrament. I love the following quote from Elder Holland:
"With so very much at stake, this ordinance commemorating our escape from the angel of darkness should be taken more seriously than it sometimes is. It should be a powerful, reverent, reflective moment. It should encourage spiritual feelings and impressions. As such it should not be rushed. It is not something to "get over" so that the real purpose of a sacrament meeting can be pursued. This is the real purpose of the meeting."
It's so very true! The sacrament is such a gift and having that reminder definitely made it a more spiritual experience this past Sunday. And at zone conference we got all of the pizza we could ever want - for anyone that knows me, that is the definition of happiness for me {haha}. (Sorry that I have no pictures :( a sister from the mission office should be sending some from zone conference, but I don't have them yet!)
On Saturday we got to go to the church for the annual ward cleaning activity. After we had cleaned the chapel, we discovered that right outside of the church there's this huge blackberry bush that has the yummiest blackberries in the world, so we spent a lot of time picking (and eating) the blackberries. Then we had the barbecue of all barbecues. I am not kidding when I say that I was in the presence of the most meat I have EVER seen. We had hamburgers and sausages and pork and steak and chicken and so so so much of it. It was soooooo good! After church on Sunday we got to go to Bishop's house and have the barbecue all over again. I think with the amount of meat I have consumed in the past couple of days, I should be covered for a good six months {haha}. But I loved it.
I just love this area and the members in the ward SO much here! It makes me sad that I don't get to stay here forever, but I know there will be so many great experiences ahead!
Oh, and next week, just to inform you all, my Pday may not be on Monday because, if all goes according to plan, my district and I will get to go see Wicked!!! It would probably be on Wednesday or Thursday... and there is a secret of how to get front row seats for real cheap and rumour on the street is that Glenda is a member, so she will take the missionaries backstage after the show! I'm crossing my fingers that it all works out! So if any of my loyal writers are waiting for a reply, don't be alarmed if you don't get one on Monday next week.
(One week late... making coxinhas!)
Here are some random facts/information:
TJ Maxx is TK Maxx here and it really confuses me as to why...??!
I think that I am getting worse at the English accent. If you heard me before I left, you may wonder how I could get any worse, but I am sorry to disappoint those of you who were hoping I would already have the accent down. I still have 17 months, so I will try my hardest to improve.
They have a Costco somewhere in my area which is the WEIRDEST thing to me because I just think Costco screams American. Everything here is so small and compact, but then BOOM they've got a Costco. The fellow missionaries in my area were very saddened by the fact that I do not have a Costco card with me.
I am helping teach a Portuguese speaker and an Italian speaker English, which poses to be quite challenging when I speak neither of those languages.
Love you all!
Sister Syddall
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