Helloo! Greetings from Weymouth, the place of completely bipolar weather. Super confusing when you pack on the sweaters (jumpers) and then the dark clouds totally clear up and it's 75 the rest of the day. I'm pleased to announce that my feet are now resembling hard, dried out oranges. Even if we go to Fish4Feet, pretty sure that they'll stay exactly the same. Lots of sunburns, lots of walking...the construction here is all for the Olympics, and it means that the bus-riders have multiplied and the bus system is awfuler. Europe has never heard about the four-way intersection before, hence their obsession with the roundabout. My thought is that the sheer amount of parking tickets during the Olympics may fund the entire reconstruction of Weymouth.
Since we've been praying before going on the high street, our confidence that we will find a progressing investigator on those streets has gone waaay up. For all we know, baptismal dates are walking by--we've got to stop everyone we can. I know that as we do our utmost to stop everyone we can, the Lord will send His child who's prepared our way. Lots of finding the last few days, and we've been successful finding 8 new investigators this week. Although no one is progressing as of yet, we've got Victoria, Shekinah, Adam and Katrina who we're really excited about.
Teaching is really awesome lately. Sister Housley is trying to get me to take the lead in lessons, taking people's information, and asking them to pray with us. I took the lead last week in one particular lesson, and we both felt that we contributed equally and the Spirit was really strong. I'm not as in tune with the Spirit as Sister Housley, but I'm beginning to feel its presence and when it's not there. Studying up and reading the scriptures each morning, I love when I remember some obscure verse to help me testify on the street or help people learn. That's proof to me of the Spirit's presence.
It's amazing to me to find these people who have questions about God and religion and ask us, and the second we say that they have to pray and find out for themselves, they definitely shut down and run away and refuse to find out the answers. Why not? Why not find out? It's mad sometimes. We've lucked out finding Victoria, who set an appointment with the elders but they never came back. She prayed about the Book of Mormon, and the second we showed and gave her a message, she said that was her answer that the book was true and that the Church was true. Just pray. We'll do our best to plan by the Spirit and be where the Lord wants us to be.
This mission is awesome. I think you become more of yourself when you're here. There's no one looking over your shoulder to say, "HEY! You're obeying the rules! Way to go!" That's not what it's about. You're very much on your own, a widget holding this all together. You've got talents, feelings, and assets that the Lord can use. It's not good to try and be something you're not--it's good to work on those Christlike attributes, but if you're bursting with charisma, it's no good to fake shy and the other way around. You'll come off as ingenuine to others. As you stick to the rules and pray for the Spirit, your self will really shine. You testify all day, every day, and you keep growing. I love it. Some days are really long, and some days are over before you know it. It's 50 years of church service packed into 2 years or 18 months. It's a stretch and really shoves you outside of your comfort zone.
I've been out two months already! Isn't that crazy? Trying to be the best missionary I can be, regardless of the numbers or the scriptures you memorize. I love this whole let's go out and win some hearts attitude that Sister Housley's got. It's really fantastic and really satisfying. Get back to the basics, like prayer and church and reading the scriptures, and the Lord will sort out the rest. You'll know, if you just do those things, that this Church is true. This is it, this is the real deal. :)
Keep telling people about the Gospel! How much will they blame you, if on the other side, they find out you knew and you said NOTHING? I don't ever want to be there. You can always bring up the Church and tell people what you believe without offending them. Always, always. Be the missionaries' best friends and send them referrals so that you can be an instrument in building the kingdom. Doooooo it!
Love from,
Sister Willard
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