Monday, June 16, 2014

Pigeons have 0 respect for authority

Sister Bergstrom and I decided that we need to take advantage of the culture that we are surrounded with here in London while we have the chance.....so what did we do last p-day?? buy an African dress and a sari! and of course we found them in this backstreet fish market place.  it is not a fancy one, pretty much a rug with a belt but hey i am broke and it is probably the comfiest thing ever!  there are  pics on dropbox, but you have to download them or something? idk it is weird sorry, we are in a dodgy internet cafe! 

Also for lunch we went to this turkish place and got golzeme.  it was sooooooooooo good.  There was a lady inside making them at this table proper turkish style.  and we were the only white people in there, everyone else was turkish.... which is how you know it is good. like taco shop, everyone who works there is Mexican.

We also went to visit this lady we are teaching who owns a Caribbean restaurant.  She is so great her name is Pandora.  But we showed up there before our appointment to eat lunch, and after we finished she tells us that missionaries of the Lord are supposed to go without purse or script so the lunch was free.  we tried to tell her that was not necessary, but she insisted.  She is probably the kindest most giving lady i have ever met.  She would give you the coat off her back if she thought you needed it.  she literally gave us a scarf to wear as we were leaving because we looked cold.  

Halva
Also when we went back on Sunday she was eating this thing..... turns out it was a mango, and i have never had mango before, crazy i know, but she gave us each a mango and showed us the proper way to eat it.  She said don't worry about the mess and all the stuff in your teeth, i will give you a toothpick and a napkin afterwards ha  

also I tired this thing called halva?  a member gave it to me, not sure what it was, you can google it if you want, but it tasted a bit like sawdust.... 

just reread what i have written, and from the email it sounds like all i am doing is eating...... we are working too i promise ha 

On an exchange I got to go back to St. Albans! It was so great.  Got to see a few investigators, members, and less actives again.  it was crazy how much it still feels like home.  and that was over 3 months ago.  

This week has been incredible because Heavenly Father has helped us so much.  President Jordan has really been stressing that as leaders we need to lead by example, and lead from the front.  That our areas need to be the example when we bring sisters here on exchanges, and when we go with them, we really need to help them and their area.  Sister Bergstrom and I have really been trying to do this, but we realised we needed to rely more on Heavenly Father.  this week we have been trying to do that even more and it is amazing the blessings and miracles we have seen.  With more responsibility, comes more Heavenly help.   

I had an epiphany just now.  Sister Bergstrom and I were talking about how we were excited to after our missions, be able to go to church and just relax and not be hurrying and picking people up and talking with everyone and setting up appointments and making sure everyone understands things and is getting fellow shipped and the list goes on and on of crazy things we deal with on sunday, but then i just realised that the relaxation at church will only last until I have kids, and then relaxation at church is gone forever! 

probably one of my highlights of the week.  random act of service.  we were on a bus and were headed to one of our appointments.  when this man was getting his bags together to get off the bus and he had loads. and i mean loads of bags. and they were heavy. not just i am a wimpy girl heavy, proper heavy stuff.  and he was struggling. 

so i asked if we could help him carry them to where he needed to go.  he seemed so surprised. he said that he had over heard me talking to another lady saying i was staying on the bus going to north finchley, and he was getting off at the next stop.  i told him it was okay we weren't on a strict time schedule and we would love to help him.  we grabbed a lot of bags, got off the bus, and walked with him to where he was headed.  he was so grateful.  he said it had been the worst day ever  because he had had to travel really far on tubes and trains and buses with all this stuff.  he was sooooo appreciative.  He asked how he could repay us, and we just explained that we are missionaries and we love to serve, and left him our card to contact us if he needed any help with anything else, and we had to run to catch the next bus.  It felt so good to help.  to me this is what being a missionary is all about.  If ever you are in a down mood or hard time of your life, my greatest piece of advice would be to A) pray B) read the scriptures and C) get out and serve others. an incredible feeling of peace, happiness, and purpose comes when you truly focus on others and not on yourself.   

have a great week!! i love you.  i am praying for you. sounds the trek was a great but muddy experience.  I guarantee you it made an impact on everyone that went, even if it was just a small one.  

I love this area, I love England, I love the people here and I love being a missionary, and teaching people, and serving people.  I know why people say it is the "best two years".

love you! have a great week! 
rachel 

I have to wonder if she forgot to tell us about the pigeon story, or if it's just an ongoing thing that pigeons have zero respect for authority.  Hmm.  Plus, the pictures she sent didn't come up, so we'll try to post them next week if I figure the "dodgy internet cafe" format out. 

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