Get Ahead of Yourself

Another week has come and goneeeeeeeee everybody! I'm sorry that this letter is going to be a bit shorter than most, but our district is going to see the sights of London today!! Woooooohoooooo I can officially check that off of my tourist list! And apparently we will be eating some super good food so be prepared, you might get a whole paragraph about that next week haha.

The whole mission. Don't you love how colourful the sisters are??

Where's Waldo Sister Syddall?

I'll just roll right into some highlights from this past week!

So a cool little miracle that happened was on Wednesday. It rained literally ALL day long (like I've said, my rain boots have saved my life since I've been here) and we were just cruisin along on our way to a member's home for dinner. While we were walking through town we passed this man and he had a hood on so we didn't really recognise him as someone we knew, but all of a sudden we heard, "Hey, church girls!!! Why didn't you stop by for the lesson?" So we turned around and it ended up being a guy named Jerome we had met like two weeks earlier. The first time we met him and his girlfriend they told us we could stop by to teach them a lesson and gave us a house number, but we could NOT find it, so we had figured that they probably gave us a fake address. It ended up being our bad all along. Oops. Now we will meet with them and we are super pumped!

Another exciting event that happened this week is that we had exchanges. I had to stay in my area and lead a Sister Training Leader around. Holy cannoli I was sooooo nervous, because if you know me, you know that I am literally the most directionally challenged person that has ever walked on this earth!! It doesn't really help that the area we cover is very very large and you have to know a billion buses and the right tube to take, and then on top of that just feeling like a deer in the headlights because I'm still pretty fresh in the mish. BUT it actually ended up being so so good! I was with Sister Nebeker and she was so sweet. Even when I couldn't find the road we were supposed to tract (I have also discovered that I am no good at reading maps lol), we ended up going somewhere else and found some really great Potential Investigators, and I truly think we were where we needed to be! A funny side story - if you are familiar with mission rules, you are not supposed to hug anyone of the opposite gender, so while we were walking to an appointment we were just talking to people along the way and we met this superrrrr tall man (like probably 6'7"ish) and he was just super smiley and happy and so excited to be talking about God. Then he established that he was Muslim and wasn't interested in hearing more, but he just HAD to give us hug because we were spreading a good message. So Sister Nebeker and I just stood there super awkwardly while this large man hugged us. We just started cracking up because it was just so odd but so hilarious at the same time.

After I survived the exchange with Sister Nebeker

We had a district meeting and it was the first one with the new district! It was super fun to see all of the new missionaries and hear how they are adjusting to the missionary life, since I'm practically already a veteran (hahahaha just kidding, just kidding). But really, it is crazy how much change you see in one transfer! And I still have so so sooooooo much to learn but I love being able to see that progress that I can make every day, even if it is just little by little. Back to district meeting and a random side note that I found hilarious which probably won't come off nearly as hilarious... but oh well haha. We were talking about exercise in the morning and our district leader goes "It isn't a good workout unless you are sweating by the end of it" and then our zone leader goes "Yeah sometimes I like to just turn on the shower and sit there in the steam." We all just lost it hahahahahaha ALL OF THE MISSIONARIES ARE SO GREAT.

The new district! Sister Bader and I decided we would sit since we are taller than every single one of them hahahahaha

Another random tidbit that I found funny this week was we were at the house of a family in the ward who is moving back to the states in a week (booooo), and they were giving us loads of stuff that they couldn't take back with them. They pull out some American lined paper and Sister Bader just about flipped out - she thought it was the greatest thing ever hahaha it was so funny.

A quote from President Thomas S. Monson that I read this week and LOVED said, "Can we not appreciate that our very business in life is not to get ahead of others, but to get ahead of ourselves? To break our own records, to outstrip our yesterdays by our todays, to bear our trials more beautifully than we ever dreamed we could, to give as we have never given, to do our work with more force and a finer finish than ever -- this is the true idea: to get ahead of ourselves." We should be focusing on bettering ourselves and not focused on trying to be better than other people. As long as we are trying our best and doing everything we can to "get ahead of ourselves" we will lose that tendency to compare ourselves to what other people are accomplishing. We should strive to develop the ability to feel true happiness for others when they accomplish great things, and not let it make us feel inadequate. We are all truly magnificent in Heavenly Father's eyes, and he has blessed each and every one of us with talents and gifts that are unique. As we better ourselves we will recognise those gifts and it will bless us and the lives of others so much!

Well, I love you all lots! I hope your week goes wonderfully and that all is well!

Love,
Sister Syddall