Well dodgy mate

the internet is going crazy or as they would say it here it is "well dodgy mate".... so i am just going to send this really fast because it shuts down about every few minutes..... 

first things first a little history lesson- did you know that big ben is not the name of the clock tower??? knowing you guys you probably did.... but i just found that out this week. it is the name of the bell inside, the tower is named queen Elizabeth tower. 

Hatfield House

First Real Tennis Court

also we went to historical places last monday with the cox's and we went to the Hatfield House (where queen elizabeth lived).  it is closed for the winter, but we were just admiring the outside, it is hugeeeeeee, and I think the guard felt bad for us / having american accents is like the best thing ever, perfect conversation starter, and he let us go in to just a different side building, and it was the royal real tennis court.  yes real tennis, it is different than normal tennis, you can play off the walls and stuff i guess, anyways it was the first one ever and it was wayyyy cool.

also quick side note i have heard some rumors about an invisible helmet..... that is the thing i miss is not being able to google stuff, so can you please look it up and tell me if this is real or not.  people said it was but i don't believe it! how could that work?? and why the heck wouldn't they make tons of invisible stuff and the more i think about it the more i think there is no way in heck it is possible and i just sound dumb for believing it, but you never know. that is what people probably used to think about planes, and cars, and stuff.  

Invisible Helmet - The Hovding

 (Ok - I googled it.  It's more the "there when you need it" helmet.  The Hövding doesn’t sit on your head and ruin your hair. Instead, it’s a fabric collar you wrap around your neck and snap on. If an accident happens, the Hövding’s sensors detect abnormal movement in the cyclist and trigger an airbag in the collar to pop out, inflate in 0.1 seconds, and cover the cyclist’s head.  The see thru part shows what it would look like if it were to inflate.  While you're looking at bike things, check out www.o-tus.com our Helmet Speaker company.  haha).

This week has been good.  nothing too crazy. we had zone conference on wednesday which is always amazing. i get so inspired, i want to go and shout the gospel from the rooftop afterwards...we are talking with the council about starting a booth in town center on market days so that is as close to the rooftops as i am going to get i think.  but President Jordan now likes to make fun of me because in zone conference he showed a picture of fish and chips.... ( fried fish and french fries) and he asked "Sister Formica what is this", well if you know me, you know that i hate fish so i have not had fish and chips except like one bite once so i had no idea, so i said uhhhh idk roast chicken?? well he thought that was quite hilarious and probably will never let me live that down.

but a experience that we had on tuesday really stayed with me.  So Roland and Barbra Elvidge are the best people ever.  I hope that they adopt me and become my england grandparents.... some people think they are really proper and a bit intense, but I love them!  They joined a long time ago as a family, and he has been every calling you can think of, bishop, stake president, mission president, temple president, and he just was released as public affairs for all of england.... anyways they are really amazing people, and their family makes up the whole stake pretty much.  but we went to have dinner at their home on tuesday, and we have been there about every other week or so, so monday night as we were planning we were trying to think of what we could share with them that hasn't already been shared by us or the other missionaries the other weeks and ya we were struggling for something.  but earlier on p-day we watched a video on zions camp, and it just popped in my head to share a message based on that.  so we prepared a message around it.  it was a bit random but hey it was really good.  

well tuesday night after dinner we finished a bit earlier that planned so we called this part member family the heillings.  so i don't have time to go into depth but i wish i could, 2013 has been a really really hard year for them.  and she is just coming back and starting to be active again and her husband is not a member and their son who is living with her mother in law up in liverpool is just starting to go to church on his own.... anyways we have been visiting them a bit and i get this feeling we should call them.  they answered and said they received some really bad news today and they would love for us to come visit.  so we go not really knowing what to expect. when they get there they asked did the bishop call you and tell you to come?  we answer that he hadn't and we just felt we should come.  privacy for them and i won't tell you their problems, but they told us and it breaks my heart. but as we say a prayer sister pope and i realise that the message we had prepared about zions camp was perfect for them.  when we started sharing it she started tearing up and said that is exactly what she needed to hear.  Russell her husband was also really touched as well. it was an incredible experience.  i don't have time to go into what it was about zions camp but i will next week it is so amazing! I love learning, i am such a nerd i know, but I can't wait to go back home and read sooooo many books. i say that now, will it happen? ehhhh debatable.  but ya sorry that was a very long winded story and it is hard to explain so i had to tell everything to have it make sense and it is way longer than it should be and ya sorry. okay not that sorry but still 

another thought, today we taught this girl, her name is katherine, she is from Vietnam.  she just got here on Saturday.  Her sister moved here for uni a year and a half ago and joined the church here, now her sister just moved to join her at uni.  Annie, the sister, was baptised shortly after arriving, but has been less active the past few months, but we have been visiting her and she has starting coming back so strong. she has such an amazing testimony.  anyways we had a quick lesson in starbucks because they were on campus and there was no where else.  but to close the lesson we asked annie to say a prayer, we figured it would be a quick prayer considering we were in a public place and such, but it was one of the most powerful prayers ever.  she pleaded with Heavenly Father that He would open her sister's heart to learn the truth of the gospel, that her sister would be able to find the peace and happiness from it that she has found and so much more. by the end of the prayer we were all tearing up.  That is one of my pet peeves I have realised is the way we say prayers as members.  It seems that as members we have gotten into the habit of just saying prayers and not remembering that we are truly speaking to our Heavenly Father. (so funny that your email was about this as well mum! it has been on my mind lately).   It is incredible to see the people that are new to the church or not members and to hear how they are truly speaking with their heart when they pray.  It has really been an eye opener to me and is something that I am working on lately.  So I encourage all of us to remember as we pray that we are not just saying words, but are speaking with our Father in Heaven!!!  

Now I really do have to go sorry! love you guys! have a great week! love, rachel

p.s. everyone keeps talking about the weather in the states.... i don't even know what it is but everyone keeps mentioning it... good news is that usually a few weeks after it hits New York, we get a milder version of it.... so it should be here soon.... yayyyyyyy    

(Do you think we should tell her that it's not a warm front, but a COLD front?  Sounds cruel.)