Alright family!!
What a week!!! Sister Nadsady is... dead.. but lives again.. in Scotland :D Man, I miss her a lot and if she reads this I hope she knows I talk about her (all good things) probably too often to EVERYONE.. but it's because I love her and fond memories are wracking my brain constantly... they usually always apply to the conversation happening of course, but she is mentioned often. I love how close you become with people and I am so privileged to serve have been given this opportunity to serve with Sis. Nadsady. Others aren't boasting about their companions, but I can boast about mine with sincereity!! I am sooo grateful. Find reasons to rejoice and to want to boast, it's when we look for the bad that we find it and therefore are not the person others want to be around which makes it a big fat circle crumbling and twirling annoying mess, not fruitful.
I am now serving with .... bum bum bum.... SISTER LAURITZEN from Southern California. She is great. I love her. We know each other from sleepovers before, so it isn't a complete getting to know you, it's more natural. I have a good feeling about this transfer. We have work to do and both of us are excited about doing it and building it up again. I am excited to learn about her ideas and to apply all that I have learned from Sis N thus far. I feel rejuvenated and ready to go.. even though I am COMPLETELY nackered. I could sleep for hours if someone would let me, but there's work to do so we'll leave that for later, probabaly not though.
This week the granddaughter, of an old couple in our ward, passed away. Basically the same story as Timmyman. 26- incredible- RM- EVERYONE KNEW HER- you just looked at picture of her and felt the Spirit- mission was successful but not a walk in the park with illnesses and such. She was just a missionary for life. Not married, praying for it but nothing yet. She was in a car accident going to see her brand new nephew and died instantly. Their family is one EVERYONE knows and loves and I happened to be in Merthyr which is her home ward when it happened, so that night we went over to see the family.. can I pelase say FLASH BACKS. My heart aches for their family, but as I saw them just love others and reach out to them I was inspired to a new level. Being reminded of hard things is in fact hard, but renewing.. I recommitted myself to this work remembering that missionary work isn't a choice, it's a commandment nd something that is vital to me, to you, to all in every nation. We are all children of God and He wants all of His children to come home to Him and he faithful. I know that He loves us and wants the best, which is not always what we think is best, but its always the best thing for us! haha I am learning more and more to be patient, to learn and grow the way God needs you to, and to just be happy with the knocks that come.. they'll come- so get on with it and rejoice that God is on your side and all you have to do is choose- He's already won the battle, which team you are you on? The end is good, so rejoice in that if anything.
The fireside happened and it went well. A lot better than I thought it would, I was soooo nervous after our rehearsal, but the Spirit was there, the angels descended and people heard and saw the good and God covered up the bad apparently.. except I shied away from the high notes on 'oh happy day'.. I couldn't hear it in my head, it wasn't natural to me yet, and so I almost did it but faked out on them and just went down.. super lame, super funny- but I just figure they'll thank me later, they still have good hearing. But I am so excited that it went well many came and brought friends!! We had 10 nonmembers there and a couple said they wanted to come back to church after that.. hopeful :) and one less active... which is sad, but I think it was good for her. I was able to sing 'I Know He Lives' and it was an incredible experience to sing that to people we teach... incredible. I loved every moment of it. The power of music is out of this world, gottas use :D
Story of the week... so last ngiht Sister Lauritzen and I are on our way back to Cardigan and we go get petrol because we are out. No background, real fast- Sis L had a different version of our car that took unleaded petrol in the car, this version that we have takes diesel ... hmmm- well we go to fill up and both of us are oblivious to the fact that things are different, I've never had anything else and she's never had anything else either. So she puts unleaded in the car and i think she's putting diesel because I am working on something else... so we get down the road a bit and the car starts slowing down regardless of her pressing the accelerater.. story short because of time... we got caught, saved, and now we are good- but we definitely learnt about prayer and God protecting His children... crazy!!! I love you all and can't wait to hear from you. |sent a package and it should be coming this week. Happy Bday Mum, Heather hope it was your best birthday yet. Loves and Bye.
Sista Fili

Family!!!
How are you all? I am so blessed to know you all is how I feel. This week was slow.. I was reading though today in Preach Gospel about being a successful missionary and it was talking about weeks like this and to not get down, you can't force people to except the Gospel and neither can the Lord. All I can do is my best, but never get down. Our companionship motto for the week (and mine for forever) is Doubt not, fear not and you have the eye of faith. As we search for those who will recieve us we can not doubt that they will recieve. We are all children of God with a divine spirit. We know everything there is to teach, it is just sparking the remembering signals in the brain. That is why using the spirit is so important.
This last week Sharon and Josh had thir baptismal interview. We only got through Josh because he decided he wasn't ready yet. Broke my heart.. he is 14 and not sure if it's for him. He wants to pray more, which is smart and good for him to do. Sharon is agreeing to postpone for him because really they should be baptized together if at all possible. But it is hard to see somenoe so willing, back off. Always encourage people in the gospel. It can take one 'slow down, wait till you know everything.. it is a pretty big committment' to take someone sooo motivated down to the hesitant stage.
We are to invite, help and motivate those we love to come unto Christ and partake of the light only He can bring into our lives. Do we love everyone though? Maybe we should- there is something in everyone to love... even those who make you want to swear. haha We have met a few.. but my heart aches walking away from them because I am learning how Christ loves us all. In 2 Nephi, many of the chapters deal with prophesy of the future destruction, apostasy, and so on. At the end of every chapter, Christ or God (which ever is speaking) will always say something about being frustrated with His people (in laman's terms) but then he comes back with 'but my hands are still out stretched toward those who will repent and come unto me'. How much more need have we then to forgive and repent ourselves? Not that any of you need to, but we all do and it's something to think about.
Yesterday for pday we went to fresh water west where dobby's house (harry potter) and part of robin hood (the latest with russell crow) were filmed. It was gorgeous. Too bad they took down Dobby's house before we got there, but such is life. Then we went to this reptile place and I held a snake, a bearded lizard, a tarantula and a 10 ft. long python (only a part of him... he was a little heavy and there was a bunch of people). I was sooooo scared of them.. why, who knows... horror stories probably. But Sister Hutchinson insisted I do it or I will regret it. She was right. There was nothing to fear. They were absolutely harmless. I faced my fear and now Iam well... experienced ;) haha but I thought about this in Gospel terms. In 2 Timothy 1:7-9 it talks about not being afraid of sharing the Gospel. I thought about how sharing the Gospel with all we know can sound scary and we can think of soooo many ways it can 'harm' us, but there is no need to think that. It won't. In fact, it is harmless as long as we handle it correctly, just like with the different animals. Doubt not, fear not. Go forth with faith and handle His words in a way that brings light into your life and the life of others.
We are so blessed to know what we know and to be who we are with experience to back it up. Take away the experiences we have had and you take away what you have learned. I know this Gospel is true more and more everyday. I am learning that EVERY part of missionary work applies to my future. It truly is the best two years FOR my life. From personal to companionship study: yes marriages are companionships.. apply all you learned).. not that you don't, but I know I will definitely try.
Oh ps the whole ward knows of my love for marriage now... our RS lesson was on eternal marriage. I am pretty sure they were all laughing at me at one point in time or another during it.. my goodness, you would think a person would change. Nope. It's getting worse. haha oh well. it's good... it's exaltation!!.
and yes, happy birthday davin!! I WILL BE SENDING HOME A PACKAGE BEFORE TOO LONG FOR MY FAMILY WHO IS BIRTHDAYING IT SOON, SORRY IT ISN'T ANY EARLIER SO DAVIN CAN'T HAVE IT ON THE DAY OF, BUT IT WILL BE THERE SOON ENOUGH. LOVE YOU ALL!! sorry for caps. running out of time. I love love love you!

Love, Sista Fili


(I kept the caps lock in there and didn't change it cuz I think its hilarious-you can imagine Lauren running out of time-Liz)

HELLO how are you?

It's been an incredible week. We went to Gadfield Elm for Zone Conference and it was incredible. The story there is inspiring. When Wilford Woodruff served here he tracted into a church full of men who were called the United Brethren. There were about 600 of them and he went and told all of them from their pulpit about this incredible Gospel that we have today. All 600 were baptized in the Benbow Pond. The chapel that they own and were preached to in was then donated to our church and became the first real chapel our church has ever had in all it's history. What an incredible story. We too had a testimony meeting in there with the missionaries who will be departing this next transfer. Sister Nadsady is one of them. It was so good to hear her testimony in that setting at that time. I just appreciate her so much. It is not always easy being with people 100% of the time.. but it does teach you a lot about yourself. I have learned how impatient I am and selfish... man I need to step it up if I ever want to get married!! But I am able to work on it now. She loves me though even though I can be a drama queen when I am going through my growing pains... ok not a drama queen quite... just quiet and sometimes irritable... but none the less she is great. I am going to miss her and so nervous and excited to see who the next love of my life will be... that sounds wrong, but you know what I mean.
There was an Elder that spoke at the testimony meeting who is our zone leader, can I please say he reminds me of Timmy and his story is sooooo similar. He had to go home for a while due to medical things. He was in and out of the hospital his entire mission and is now finally going home for real. He is one of the moast humble peopel I have met. He never had medical issues till he became a missionary. His testimony struck my heart. He said these two years (well basically 3 for him) have prepared him for his life. He spoke about how grateful he was to serve here and bring the message to these people and how he is now so excited to go home and give the saints in Utah the same message, but serve for much much longer. I thought about Tim and my eyes welled up.. these missions are our preparation for life. This life is a time for men to prepare to meet God, it is also a time for us to have joy. I don't know about you but I have never learned so much, felt so much more prepred and felt more joy in all my life. When we are serving God and doing His work we feel that joy, we come to know Him better and therefore are more prepared to meet Him face to face. I am so grateful for all the time I get to spend with other missionaries who lift, inspire, and help me feel the motivation I need for life.

We got to spend the night at the flat of the Mertthyr sisters... so fun.. SLEEP OVER!! wo nights in a row it ended up being. Way fun. I love them. We tracted a man dressed in a chicken suit, he rejected us right off so we walked across the street and talked to this woman and it was delightful. She didn't really care about the Gospel but it was great ..then she told us SHE was once a HE. Why do we keep finding these people...I didn't realize sex changes happened so often..now I do. Nice he/she though.
Our friend Sarah Hall: umm loves kisses on the cheek... and sometimes it's fine, other times it's a little much.... welp she jumped in the car through the window to give me a kiss on the cheek (I think she enjoys that I freak out so she tries even harder) and got the cheek but tried again and I didn't realize and got my teeth... yes I did gagg..... so when I told our district leader he said... is she hott?.. WHAT!? haha boys...
OH we met a lady who has alpaca (how to spell I do not know but sound it out) goats, donkey's, a horse, and rabbits (lion rabbits too) soooo cool. I think we'll baptize her.. haha At least I hope. She still needs to become an investigator, but i just really like that I saw alpaca in front of my face.
Oh by the way, Jeff is a Zone leader.. he hasn't even been out a year!! what the. he's amazing. yes. I love the beaches here, so beautiful. mum I love your letters.

Family continue being amazing... seriously.

My 4th of July ended up being fun. I like my hair a lot. By the time I come home it should be long again. I do enjoy it though for now. It looks good too... and now I know I can actually pull it off. Pictures will come soon, it's been a crazy couple of weeks. Today is Sister Nadsady's last p-days so i just kinda go with the flow.

I have been reading in 2 nephi and in chapters 19 and 20 I don't fully understand them... but I do love the line that comes up continually, 'for this is anger is not turned away but His hand is still stretched out'. I may be quoting it a little off, I don't have my scriptures next to me, but I love the justice and mercy of our God. Just like any parent He cares enough to get frustrated when you do something silly, but He loves us enough to still help us even when we know, well, what we did was silly. He loves us.. what more could make us happy in this life. I dunno.

Mum can you PLEASE send me my camera soon.. this one won't turn on and Sister Nadsady is leaving soon so...picture moments come and I might have to pass them up, which is fine... but not really fun for you or me. And a picture of Tim... I am an idiot and forgot one. ah man... I feel lost without it. My wall is currently covered with pictures and I am soooo happy. Chelsea sent me some and our family photo that I am still obsessed with. Liz, Sarah said my profile picture is gorgeous... I am soooo grateful you are good at taking shots of me face and having good judgement to put it up. Thank you. Thank you all for all you do and for your examples. I am soooo greatful for our family. I love this Gospel. I love having fun with it and enjoying what I am doing right now. Love people so you love life, love life so you love yourself. I am learning so much and more. I can't wait to learn more.

Oh we woke up Sharon's whole family for church yesterday... that was fun. I felt like a mom.... hahaha I loved it... it is hard though to do and not feel like you are crossing boundaries. Poor thing was in sooo much pain from her knee. i hope she enjoyed church through the pain, but we did offer to set up a priesthood blessing for her and she accepted and so I hope that that will be a blessing to us all. Miracles do happen and the Lord works in mysterious ways. I am soooo grateful for it all. I will talk to you all soooo soon, when I can write a for real letter soon, but until then tada butt!! pictures will be coming with it too....#

kendra, jen, carrie- addresses prease :D

loves you all more than words can say+1

Sista Fili

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!!

yes I am actually celebrating it today!! Annette who is a less active in our ward and loves to serve and get involved is throwing me a bash tonight for it. So we got to invite a family and the Hutchinson's were the pick!! It should be an awesome night and I am soooo excited about it!! We are wearing American pride, without looking too in your face about it!! but it's happening none the less right now. Oh and I may or may not be going crazy and cutting my hair off. Sis Nadsady is getting her hair done and I could use a trim, but I figured it is one time in my life i don't mind experimenting with short hair so I am going to do it. Not to my chin, no worries, but shorter for sure... we shall see. You will get a picture.

This week was ...great... we had an amazing start and slowly but surely the focus became getting ready for our booth at the dragon festival that was on Saturday that Annette and her boyfriend and another crazy lady put together. The whole community comes and enjoys and dresses up and relives the dragon history stuff of the land. It was pretty cool. She let us set up a booth for the church, but mainly about family history and food storage. Funny thing is we were sooooo worried we would have to talk to people about this stuff, but people only asked questions about the church. The Lord knows His children and how to get through to them. It was not invasive but, the points that stuck out to people were the important things. We were so grateful for Annette's support and for Sis. Hutchinson's help. Without her, we would have been lost. But that did take up lots of time this week unfortunately. There were some interesting people there... but you would figure that, we are talking about Dragon's here... haha but it was fun. There was this 13 yr. old girl who sang 'someone like you' by Adele (look it up... sooooo good.... i would if I could, so I will in 15 months.. actually one of our less active members made me a cd for when I get home, it's currently hidden safely in my bag so there is no temptation) back to the point she was AMAZING I couldn't believe she was only 13... so I asked her if she would sing Amazing Grace at our fireside, she was excited and we are excited and hope that what comes out of it is a 13 yr. old girl looking for truth and finding it.
Anyways, after the dragon festival (which gave me the capstone of a tanned face and arms... yes my hair is almost back to blond because of it and my face is more or less brownish...) we went and saw Emma and Lee to invite them to church again. We had Sis. Sarah Whitburn with us because we were seeing Sharon and Josh right after, and they said they couldn't because of their lack of petrol (gas). Sister Nadsady asked if we could share a scripture with them really quick and she shared Moroni 10:3-5. We talked to them about their reading and praying and asked if they had prayed about what we were teaching them thus far. Lee shared his experience with praying while reading the pamphlets (not the scriptures quite, but we're working on it) and he just got the greatest smile on his face and said that when he prayed to know if what he was reading was truth he felt like he was being lifted up a little. The spirit was strong and Emma looked at him and said, ya know if the petrol meter is on red we could make it to New Castle Emlyn and back safe, don't you think? Then Sis. Whitburn piped in and said, or I could just come and get you for church. they immediately said yes yes!! Man we felt good. They truly had been converted to the principle by their own conversion story, and more than that by the spirit. I love when you see people boo yahed by the spirit. I love it even more when they actually follow through.. unfortunately this story ends sadly and they didn't come to church. Even with a ride... they just didn't answer the door... COULD SOMEONE THROW ME A BONE PLEASE!!??? (in the words of Jason Klingler) Made so easy yet.. not. Agency is real even when the Spirit testifies. Be strong and don't let the devil get to you. He will even after the witness of the Spirit. He is cunning and crafty.
With Sharon and Josh he (the Devil) is doing a good job. They are struggling to make it to church. We started a stop smoking program with her and she is doing it well, but getting frustrated more and more... it's only been one day so we'll continue and just pray hard. But the coming to church bit is hard for them there is always some excuse the morning of. So we are going to try the approach of going and getting them. It's going to be a great week. The fireside preparations are coming along and I am just sooooo excited for life, although I am kinda tired today. I have had some medical things keeping me up ALL NIGHT man oh man... not fun, but it's cool.
Today will be great and I hope your 4th celebrations are sooo fun. I am sooo happy I have a family that I love sooo dearly. I'm reminded everyday!! Tell everyone hello and congrats on everything they are jumping into. Those boys will love their intensely cool missions... Singapore and South Africa.. who would have guessed, scary but sooo cool. Yay for Erica!! tell her I will be with her in spirit and I am so proud of her!! Can i get her address? WARD AND AMBER #1#!!!! oh man I cried when i read that. I couldn't be more happy and excited and proud. I was thinknig of you allll week long. You will be blessed for your good works, I know it. Thank you for the package I just about cried with everything. our family picture is INCREDIBLE. thank you thank you thank you.... how did Liz and or Steve work it to be sooo perfect. All the kids are looking aside from Brielle, but seriously and smiling!! what the... it was Steve's dance moves, I know it. Alright typing = bad because time is GONE!! but I love you and will send pictures of mi celebration de cuarto julio... ya that was wrong, but i tried.

Loves you more than you can imagine!!

Sister Lauren Lee Fili

Well hello!!!

Mum, thank you for the package and the fact that it contains music!! I haven't received it yet, but Wednesday is district meeting, so I should then... I am dying to see it. I love mail. I really do. My companion is so jealous of the letters i get from you guys- so keep up the good work!! They always make me cry and bring soooo much joy into my heart. I actually had time to read Mum's letter today before writing back- how incredible!! ha I am sooooo proud of my family!!! wow Liz- what a go getter!! I hope I can be more like you someday. I show off some hip hop i learned Davin style sometimes ;) haha I am so glad I have these incredible examples of sisters so I can be an amazing mum too!! haha and Heather!! jeez-scouts isn't usually a coveted calling, but you take it on and go for it. You can tell when some one loves God and His children by the amount of work they put in serving and making others happy. Matt is just ballin' it and continue puhlease!! I got Grandma's letter and the money- sooooo sweet. I cried, man I feel like I cry once a day... I don't-but the days get smashed together and it seems like it occasionally. While at a less active members house the other day, she asked to see our house. So I looked at it from a 2005/6 perspective- kinda crazy. Ya I may or may not have shown her music in me by AOL my last year... ya I'm a sinner.... haha but she enjoyed it. 'oh the dancing, it's wonderful, really it is!' Ha we didn't do too much in that one, and she is very dramatic about things so she might have just been being nice, but it was good to show her and reminisce for two seconds.
I have been thinking about this fireside and all the members want to do more happy clappy tunes like-oh happy day-and at first I was sooooo opposed to it, but then one of them made me think. I thought about Light and the LEC concerts and the EOI and I thought I could mix them!! kinda obviously the more 'spiritual songs' and slower, praise worthy songs, but different than my usual-we're gonna try it. I am going to see if i can get permission to visit our website and get some music if there is any that fits for me if that's ok with you pa? I wish sooooo badly we could get LEC out here to perform for these people, they would love it!!! oh well, maybe someday in the future.

This week has been slow, really slow. No one that we invited to church came-but we visited them that night and it was good. Commitments in the small things show how committed we can be to the big things. We do things not because of duty, but because of love. Yesterday in RS we talked about doing vs. being and how you be and do simultaneously but doing and being is different. It takes more work. The lesson was on the talk in the last GC 'What manner of men ought ye to be?' Look it up and you'll see that God loves His children and does not condemn them for anything, He only asks us to BE like Him and as we BEcome like Him we will DO His will- because our will and His will be wrapped up and intertwined. This week I have thought a lot about that. My motivation has been slacking this week. I thought about home and other silly stuff WAY too much. Stinkin' devil!! haha Our ward mission leader said that if we work hard this week (this was last week) we would see a miracle... ya i feel like I slacked on that and for a second I thought it was all my fault until I realized sometimes the miracles are not what happens outside, but what happens inside. I was able to fully use the Atonement of Jesus Christ in my life to ask Him to help me, to plead to him for help and to repent of what I needed fixed. The miracle is a witness that God lives and is converting me along with many others whom I am privileged to teach. I am grateful for the gift of forgiveness, for the atonement and that the knowledge of it allows us to know that we are not alone, that we may falter or think of things we shouldn't, but that because of Jesus Christ and His atonement it is ok, I can go to Him and then have it all made right. That God does love me and does care about who I am and where I am going. Today I am someone, and tomorrow I can become more of who I have the potential to be. Life is a gift and not just because it is always happy and joyful, but because we are given the opportunities to search for that joy. Because we are able to grow and become like our maker, and because in the end, after we are prepared and ready through the refiner's fire of life, we will be more beautiful in heart and mind than ever thought imaginable. I am grateful for the opportunity I am given to learn how to love. Truly love. May we all take that opportunity into our lives and practice the golden rule. We are all brothers and sisters in God's family, but more importantly we are ALL GOD'S CHILDREN. Remember the divinity of a person before you go to say something about them or to them that could be unkind and torturous. We don't realize the power of a human's words on another human. It is everything. I am working on this, and it is a struggle sometimes, but I am learning and becoming more of the person I want to be around by doing so. Someone tell Sister Larson thank you for that little book she gave me-best thing ever. I know this Gospel is true and that Jesus Christ died for us, and now lives that we too might live again. 2 Nephi 10:23-25 really struck me today. Read the whole chapter to get it more and think about what Jacob is saying. I am soooo grateful for my Lord, Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ and I will praise His name forever.

I love you with all my heart and then some,

Love you!!

SISTER FILICHIA

Alright so this will be short, sorry... district pday coming up and it should be fun!! but they gave us about 5 minutes to email so this here should be the quickest thing ever.
This week... Sharon got really sick...boo...which led to her being worried about the kids' future without her (she has had problems lie this before and is nervous about it happening again)... so she wants a break... and with Josh, he is confused like crazy the Jehovah Witnesses came by and spoke with him and he doesn't understand anymore why the Book of Mormon must be written in 'gibberish'. So, they want a break from learning, we are welcome as friends, but nothing more for the time being... soooooooo sad... Thursday night was intensely a downer for Sis. Nadsady and I. We had overstepped our boundaries with them, without realizing and found that it became a determent to the work. Always remember when preaching the Gospel that although this is the Lord's work and we do it in a diligent & persistent manner that people do still have feelings and emotions, manners, and weaknesses. That sickness is still the same then as it is when you aren't a missionary. Don't push so hard that they push back. It only hurts worse. But the work still continues and it is amazing how God may not show Himself in the way you want, but our prayers are answered just by smiling the next day. Having that capacity to smile the next day is a blessing from God.
I am grateful for my Savior and for all He has done for me. How blessed we are to live as we do and to know that God lives and loves His children more than we can ever know and or express. He chastens us with love.. just as we would our own children (someday for me). It's all about love. Remember the next time you go through a trial it is by our faith that miracles are wrought but don't ask why, ask how, what, and where. He will make these known unto you. I am sooo grateful for it all!! Next week is transfers so don't expect much till Thursday maybe, but I will have a new companion and Sister Nadsady will be dateable... crazy!!! hahaha, I will miss her, but I can feel myself growing and becoming better because of her. Hope all is well. Heather, hope your birthday was a ball and Davin too and Mum this next week... Hopefully my package can get sent off soon!! k I love you!! Hope all is well in Lava Land!!

WELL THIS WEEK HAS BEEN BRILLIANT- AS ALWAYS. We have been able to find and teach a new couple-Emma and Lee. They are great. I do honestly love them. They understood the Restoration better than anyone- it was just like well ya- that makes sense. I feel almost too blessed to have been able to teach them and Sharon and Josh who just get it. Incredible. We love them and they just said they want us to be like members of their family- the Gospel brings the Lord's family together. It is binding not only between immediate families, but between the eternal spiritual family. I am so grateful for it. Sharon and Josh want to get baptized in the sea- near to the middle/end of july... in the SEA boo yah that will be soooo cool. How many people can say they've witnessed that.. not many. I am just so happy they are making this step. We asked Sharon if we could teach Philip and Chelsea (9 and 8) and she said yes. Their dad doesn't want them to be baptized the same time as Sharon and Josh, though. He wants them to really want it so like around age 10 if they fully understand and want it, he's okay with it. Which is cool and respectful- we'll continue to teach and have faith and God will take care of the rest and do it in the timing He knows is best.
Linda was baptized this last weekend (pictures with letters home) and it really was marvelous. I am sooo proud of her. I feel like I really can see a difference in her countenance. I wanted soooo badly to cry when it all happened because I knew at that moment how precious of a covenant she was and is making. All her sins were washed away and she was made clean. I can only imagine at age 45 after having a life full of good and bad but reflecting and seeing more of the bad, how incredible it would feel to not worry and to be as clean as a newborn baby. I am so happy that I get to witness these things and to view it for what it really is. We are witnesses of christ at baptism and must continue on that path throughout life and know that it truly is the path that leads to knoweldge and happiness. It is the path that we were preordained to follow and that path is as Jesus Christ 's was- to spread the good news of the gospel and bring others back into the fold. What a privilege it is to do His will. The song that is on the Reflections of christ CD #2 "Come see the light" that our dear friend Freddie Ashby sings (can I pelase be more obsessed over his voice- probably not) Has had a huge effect on me the past 2 days (since I found it and listened to it... alot...) With all that i am learning since the baptism and just on this mission I truly can feel the real meaning of 'forsake all doubt and arise, feel the wounds and fall at his feet, hear the voice. Come see the light" When I think of how this applies to my life it brings tears to my eyes and warmth to my heart to know that I can know for a fact that God lives. I want to show others what I believe, use the atonement in my life, and fall at His feet in prayer so that I can truly commune with my Father- me to Him and He to me, it is then that we see the light of life in all that we encounter. The nature, the people (good and bad) and every situation given us. He truly does love us and beckons for us to come fall at His feet. He only wants to speak to His children so he can let us know what we don't know- he knows all. Never doubt, never fear. Look up that song if you haven't already: it is based on 3 Nephi- it will change your life.
We got kebabtized yesterday. Apparently in the UK missions kebab's are really popular.. and so after you have a baptism you kebabtize yourself- well hear the proper kebab is with lamb meat- I liked it for the first 10 bites or so and then I kinda wanted to puke- but I persevered (whether I should have or not, I dunno: that is the question of the hour) and finished most of it. You will see pictures of my kebabtism that may possibly be my last one. The popular kebab's hear are not on a stick- so there is a lot more food- like crazy alot. With veggies on top - always. So you get through that half full and then look and have a 1/4 pound of lamb's meat which fills you up way faster than chicken's can gobble. Yes-so that was fun.
We are putting together a fireside for the ward, which I was really excited about at first because you know me always loving the musical firesides no matter where I go-but now I am nervous as all get out. We brought the ward in to help supervise and put it together (I wanteed it to come more from them and then I would organize it as much as I could but we don't have that much time). Well they gave me a trillion songs that I have NO CLUE what they are and ya... frustrating and a theme that is more or less soooo broad you can work with it, but with songs you don't know you wanna cry... so I have infact done the crying bit and much prayer and Sis. Nadsady and I are getting it there- we're putting in stuff that we know along with stuff we don't know. So it should be a good mix.
Well, I feel soooooooooooo humbled all the time and so grateful for the family I have. This really is a time to refine yourself. We get bombarded with people who like to nicely invite us in and then tell us our religion is rubisch and why-so we smile and say ok-this is why we know it's true but thank you for your input have a nice day!! haha Everytime they do that they don't realize they are only strengthening my testimony. Silly people, tricks are for kids! ha
It's transfers today(hence why this is 'late' and i am staying here in New Castle Emlyn with Sister Nadsady- which means I will infact be killing her aka she will go home after this transfer. Soooooooooooo sad. I love her, I do. She is like a sister to me. I am blessed and happy about it.).
I sang at the baptism- ccapocco- and it was "When I Am Baptized". I felt awkward but it worked, anyways a man in the ward said--- do you cook? I said, uh I'm learning we'll say that, and he replied---then you won't have a hard getting married when you get home, just sing sister, sing---hahaha. Well, I hope I can do more than sing for my future hubbylubby, but anyways thought it was funny. Kindalike what dad talks about with the lady who is beauutiful until she takes her make up off--- ha oh well. I love you family and friends more than you can ever know!! You are in my thoughts and prayers and you are my strength to get me through the hard times, my encouragement , and my joy. I love you one more time and will talk to you soon!!
Ta/Da Butt (goodbye in Welsch)

Sister Filichia