Week 65! Not so sunny Saturday!

So the title of the email is from the funny moments. Life is good on the island. We don't have any really progressing people, but we are finding and praying so hopefully the lord will lead us to some. There's a lot of fun families in the island like the Sayles and the marsh family. They're super funny! Plus the weather is really windy but it's not as rainy as England from what I heard. Sorry there's nothing new to report on. Until next time!

The funny stuff:

We were walking past the beach, and I think like 1/3 of the seagull population was at this one spot in the ocean (something must've washed up) but it was windy and the waves were pretty high. So either the seagulls were far enough to just swim around in the ocean, or they had to dodge the waves every time they came. Well one group didn't. It was pretty funny to see the birds get washed to shore then have to shake themselves off.

When we were walking along the promenade, I saw this perfect huge seashell, so I jumped the fence for it. The only problem was the fence was super wet, so I got wet legs for a bit (I was in trousers) but hey! I got a seashell

So I had the genius idea to braid my hair in 4 different braids after I showered so that it would come out all nice and wavy. Well it did come out wavy, but a bit too wavy. I was basically half sheep that day. Now I understand Hermione grangers pain. (pictures will be included)

So our mission has a standard or excellence of 10 good conversations per missionary. President Mcreynolds came up with "Sunny Saturday"(it was raining all day in the island) (I'm sure England was nice that day though) and made a what's app group where everyone counted all the good conversations (aka you invited a new person to do something) they had that day. Well since the whole mission is adding a number like every 3 minutes, the whole day our phone was buzzing. Normally we start the day with a full charged phone and end at like 60ish percent left, but because of the contest it was at like 30 percent by the end. It was pretty funny when the phone started buzzing non stop during a visit too. (of course this is about the effort, not the numbers) (we had 790 conversations if anyone was wondering)

The waves were really high during "sunny Saturday" (because it was raining and stormy) and we had to walk on the sidewalk instead of the promenade. They were so high that the water would actually come up to the sidewalk sometimes too. It was terrifying. I will never live on the coast. (pictures will be included) 

Sister Reyser was doing her language study and the word vomit came up. I found out that I know 8 different ways to say vomit. (vomit, puke, throw up, chuck, upchuck, hork, hack, retch). I love the English language

Week 64! Does this make me Moana?

So I'm officially on the Isle of Man with sister Ryser from Switzerland! The travel here was surprisingly easy. All I had to do was to the Manchester south building and hang out there with all the other missionaries until my lift came. All the trainers were there and then president and sister mcreynolds came with the greenies. All of us extra missionaries had to stay quietly and respectfully in the sitting rooms while the greenies and trainers had their devotional. (so of course we're all pressed up against the doors looking through the windows.) I was dropped off at the sea terminal in heysham. It was a long time alone, waiting for the boat and being on the boat, but I enjoyed it.

So the island is BEAUTIFUL. 100% 10/10 A++! It had this kind of beachy feeling and the buildings are pretty different from England. It's pretty diverse here too. Lots of people move to the island for work. The ward here is super nice too! There was a wedding this week too so lots of French people were there.

Anyways this week's spiritual thought is on one of Satan's best lies: my choices don't affect other people. That is so wrong because society is built on people's behavior. James E Faust said: "All immoral behavior directly impacts society. Even innocent people are affected. Drug and alcohol abuse have public consequences, as do illegitimacy, pornography, and obscenity. The public cost in human life and tax dollars for these so-called private choices is enormous: poverty, crime, a less-educated work force, and mounting demands for government spending to fix problems that cannot be fixed by money. It simply is not true that our private conduct is our own business. Our society is the sum total of what millions of individuals do in their private lives. That sum total of private behavior has worldwide public consequences of enormous magnitude. There are no completely private choices." it's also in the scriptures that we will only prosper in the land if we keep the commandments. If you notice, almost all the 10 commandments are about how we treat others. They're not just for our own happiness but for the happiness of our brothers and sisters. Luckily that's why we have repentance. When we repent and turn to God, we can not only be relieved from that burden of guilt, but we can also have our desires changed. When that happens, our thoughts and desires change to become more like Jesus Christ's and we'll be able to choose how our actions affect our family, positively.

The funny stuff:

The first hour of transfers was STRESS. So I was supposed to get my ferry ticket through email, but it didn't come (luckily mission office sent it just in time) then I lost my luggage bc I didn't know where the elders put it. It didn't help that someone told me if I missed the ferry, I would have to stay the night in Liverpool. Obviously my stupid brain assumed that meant a night on the streets.

We were so rushed transfer morning that I didn't eat breakfast but I did have 1/3 of a bag of beef jerky. I'm so healthy.

While I was on the boat ride to Douglas (in isle of man) I was on the top deck and I was chewing gum, and it was SUPER windy. Me being my stupid self decided to blow a bubble in like 365 miles per hour wind. Luckily what didn't happen was the gum going all up in my hair, but what did happen was that my gum took flight and sailed into the ocean. It looked like a tiny little hot air balloon. It was my last piece too.

My first day on the island, we had planned like 30 minutes in the chapel to sync the area book, and there was a few members there setting up for a wedding. Well the bride is an absolute genius, and was using branches, leaves, vines etc...  to decorate the chapel for her wedding (from her family and friends yards). She discovered ivy all up the stone wall around the church so sister ryser and I got to help the bride take ivy off the stone wall to decorate. Best service project ever.

The bride (annaelle) also showed us the ring box which was a simple glass box filled with moss. This wedding is going to look like the forest. It'll be so neat. (and cheap)

We were in a town called Ramsey, and it was WINDY. Like it was bad. My hair looked like it was floating and when we were walking to a members home, this small cloud of everything you could possible have on a seaside sidewalk (mostly sand) decided to attack us. Our eyes hurt for a long while after that. 

Pictures:

-Me on my long lonely boat ride to the island.

-There's a mini castle called the tower of refuge (you have to swim to it so I won't be going) and here's what a typical street in Douglas looks like.

 

Week 63! Goodbye Macclesfield

So this week was amazing! Ethan agreed to be baptized on March 2nd and celeia came to church!!! I'm so happy for them. It's really shows how the gospel can change people. Ethan is so much happier than when I first met him.

So transfers have happened and sister Simonson is going to be training! And I'll be in the isle of man with sister Ryser. I don't know her at all but I'm sure she's nice! I've heard a lot about the island from sister paschen and Simonson as they both served there. It's really sad since I've only been in Macclesfield one transfer but I'm sure the lord will bless me and the people I've left behind

The funny stuff:

I was trying to see if I could get blue tack to stick on the white board when one of the elders told me this: he threw some blue tack at the ceiling in the flat, and it actually got stuck there. It's been there for 3 months apparently

Sister Simonson also forgot to eat breakfast before district counsel, and when she's hungry her stomach let's everyone know. It was so funny

So we were in poundland and they put in this really wierd voice recording at the cash register. It said: take your money and spend it on someone you love.. Then it said: roses are red, violots are blue, thank you for shopping at poundland, and we love you.  I've never been catcalled by a self checkout but there's a first for everything (it was really uncomfortable)

We were crossing the street and I waited really long for this car because they didn't have a blinker, and sister Simonson (who was already on the other side) asked why I took so long. I told her I didn't know which direction it was going because of the lack of blinker. She then yells, that means it's going straight! (we have this fight like once every 3 days) (I'm always too scared to cross and she'll cross even if theres a car coming)

For sister Simonsons last 50 days mark, we went to this fancy milkshake place to celebrate. It was a mistake. A very yummy mistake. I got a cookie dough bake, thinking it was a scoop of ice cream on some cookie dough. It was a pan of warm cookie dough topped with a bunch of candy and chocolate. I couldn't even finish like half of it because it was so rich. Sister Simonson got this monster of a pink milkshake. We both had a sugar coma and woke up kind of hungover the next morning. The best part was the next day we got a huge dressing down about sugar by a super healthy vegetarian sugar free member. She quoted word of wisdom on us and everything

We were planning to teach Ethan in the local library but the fire alarm went off so we taught him at a Costa (coffee shop). Guess what we taught? (yes it was word of wisdom) (ironic right?) (hi Ethan let's learn about the evils of coffee while we are surrounded by people drinking coffee)

Pictures...There was some riot going on. Thankfully they were on the bus and not too close to it..

-To celebrate sister Simonsons last 50 days we went to a posh milkshake place and I got a bake but it was waaayyy too much sugar and I couldn't finish it 

-So I decided to make a coloring book.

-Pretty view, rainbow, and mamma Llama.

-Pics with Ethan, and me spending all my pennies on lipstick. That's how much I had in change.

Week 62!

-Haley went to a zone thing all day and didn't have time for her full weekly so just sent me some funny moments from the week. The pictures are from her zone and her district. Some selfies of her and her comp in the snow, and a thank you card she painted for a member in her ward. I'm thinking about making an elder guide, (like the drawing I did last week) but I'm not an elder so i had to ask the elders for help, and so far I have: get ripped elder, aspiring elder, sporty elder, musical elder, and utah elder (like 4 elders suggested this one) (sorry utah elders). If anyone has any more suggestions, please send them to me.

It was snowing and the contrast in opinions in our companionship was pretty funny. Sister Simonson was buzzing. She was dancing and reenacting elf (the Christmas movie). Meanwhile I was a huge grouch. 

So. Sister Simonson put a lot of effort into making this snowman and she wouldn't let me kick it. Also when we came back for lunch, the snowman was destroyed somehow, but what was really funny was when we came back and saw the snowman, a man was walking his dog (a beagle) and the dog chose that exact moment to pee on the remains of sister Simonsons snowman. She was sooooo salty about it.

We made calzones for tea and it was the best idea either of us had ever come up with. It was kinda scary at first because we made the dough too dry, then we made it too wet, then we realized we made too much dough. We also really Loaded up those calzones. I was super scared mine was going to explode in the oven or something. We also took them out just in time to keep them from becoming too crispy, even though we had like 20 minutes to spare on the timer. And you know what: it was probably on the top 10 list of best things I've ever eaten.

I had to spend like 5 minutes giving sister Simonson a pep talk so she would be brave enough to make a snow angel.

There is a picture of Jesus on a weird spot on the wall, and we found out why. Sister Simonson knocked the picture down somehow, and there was a big hole in the wall that looks like it was punched through. Flipping elders.

We were given a 10er to get our lunch by the ward mission leader (if you're reading this, thank you!) but we already had lunch sorted so we spent it on frosted flakes (the family box was on sale) and ingredients for MORE CALZONES (man those were good)