Goodbye Sister Wilson

Wow. Where to even begin. This week has been a crazyyyyy one, so imma dive right in.

So, taking you back to last Monday, the 18th. We planned a big party for Elder Packer, since he is going home tomorrow. Everything was nice and planned out for a barbecue at a member's home who lives on base. So the Elders and other Sisters in our district arrive, and we get ready to check into base, THEN we find out one of the Sisters didn't have a picture ID, which means she couldn't get on base. Since it was a barbecue, we didn't really have a way to transport it outside. SO, we decided to go out and do a blitz together before the barbecue since the other Sisters couldn't stay because it was literally impossible for them to get there. As we were driving everyone to a location, all of a sudden the power steering goes out. Poor Sister Wilson was mustering all of her strength to turn. THEN the ABS brakes went out. THEN the windows stopped being able to roll up. Then just about everything that could happen with the car, happened. Luckily we made it to the location to do our finding. We met a super great guy! He had the prettiest dog I've ever seen - German Shepherd/Husky mix. Look it up. Supa cute. After [our finding blitz] and saying goodbye to the other Sisters, we returned back to the base in our struggling car for the barbecue. It was a lot of fun to chillax and eat some burgers and watermelon. Super sad to not have the other Sisters there, though.

So take us to Tuesday. We had interviews with President and Sister Stevens in Norwich. It literally lasted all. day. long. Traveling there for 2 hours in the morning, being there for 6 hours, then traveling 2 hours home. Don't get me wrong, I loved every second of it, but man oh man was it a long day! President gave an amazing training about changing. And not just changing, but "changing aggressively." That was a phrase that Elder Kearon used in the conference we had with him. President focused on the fact that we need to be diligent and have a vision of what we want to become and what we want to accomplish. He shared a quote that I loved: "Why is it so critical to have a correct vision of this divine destiny of godliness of which the scriptures and other witnesses so clearly testify? Because with increased vision comes increased motivation." (Tad R. Callister) I have seen how true this statement is throughout my entire mission. When I really have a goal set in my mind, my motivation increases drastically, and I have the determination to work hard to achieve that goal. It was just a good day overall.

Wednesday was another crazy weird day. In the morning we were contacting the mission office about our car issues, and they told us to get it in the shop as soon as we possibly could. So quick rearranging of plans, and we were all settled to drive the rickety car to the shop... except the car would NOT start. Wouldn't hold a charge when it was jumped. It was dead. After hours of hustle and bustle, finally a nice old man that had moss growing on his teeth came to help us out. We ended up having to tow the car to Bury St. Edmonds and took a nice journey with our new friend Nigel. Then we were stuck in Bury for 3 hours before someone could come give us a lift. The really crazy happening of the day was that I woke up with a 4-year old song stuck in my head, and I told Sister Wilson about how random it was. THEN in Bury there was a street performer singing and playing his guitar, and BOOM he starts singing the song stuck in my head. What are the odds? Sister Wilson and I just looked at each other and were in awe hahaha.

Then we had to begin the adventure of not having a car in our area, which happens to just be massiveeeee. But, with the opportunity to walk a bit more, I have realised just how much I LOVE walking because then I'm actually able to talk to people, and take in the sun and enjoy the fresh (but very humid) air! So it's been a nice little break from sitting in a car from place to place. The only downside is that we just can't make it to certain places with public transport, and it's too far away to walk, soooooooo that puts us in a pickle. Luckily the members are great, and they're so willing to help.

The beginning of this past week was SO HOT. And SO HUMID. Fun fact for ya, since it doesn't get very hot very much in England, the concept of air conditioning of any sort in homes is just unheard of. So, being on the 3rd floor of our flat complex, and not being able to open windows because of the creepy crawlers (oh yeah, screens for windows are also a foreign concept) we have been DYING of heat. Falling asleep has been so rough. Thankfully, a member very kindly offered us a fan of theirs to cope. And let me tell you, that fan has just about saved our lives.

Sister Wilson and I have been working very hard to find new people for our teaching pool, and we met a man that was very open to us coming to tell him more about the gospel. We went to meet with him, and he expressed to us that he has been very depressed and has had thoughts about ending his own life because there is just nothing making him happy anymore. He has cancer, and he's living in a motel until the council housing can find him a more stable place to live. His daughter who has four kids has many health issues and is constantly in and out of the hospital. His parents passed away last year and he's just really struggling to find any glimmer of hope. We hope that we can help him see that he CAN have happiness if he relies on the Lord, and that the spirit will be able to comfort him. It's very humbling to see people in such meager circumstances, and it just makes my heart ache. I hope the gospel will change his outlook, and change his life.

I realise you may be wondering about what my fate is with transfers and... I'll be staying in Thetford! Unfortunately Sister Wilson will be leaving me, she will go to Northampton, BUT I'll get another great companion named Sister Hudson! I'll update you more about it next week! Stay tuned ;)

Love,
Sister Syddall