Week 50: Its all Wight with me

Hey friends. Sad news. I am no longer serving in Oxford. I am getting transferred to the Isle of Wight. I will be honest and say I was not expecting it and that my heart still feels like it is in Oxford. However, I am excited to be going back to the coast (it is an island, it is all coast). My new companion will be Elder Brewster. He has a reputation for being an animated and fun guy so I am excited to be serving with him.  Honestly this week has been all a blur. I am going to give you the highlights and then my thoughts and how I am feeling because I am actually in Lodnon today and my capacity to process and then report information at the moment is a bit lacking. I am tired from the journey this morning that included me dragging luggage that broke through the horribly hot underground. However a wonderful Canadian lady came to the rescue and helped me out as I made the final steps to Hyde Park. This past week: -We got fed basically every night -There were many laughs had -Precious memories in Oxford were created -I only cried like five times  Okay so I am really sorry for this email that is completely and totally lacking substance. I am just going to skip to my thoughts right now because I really just am too scatterbrained to think about the past week.  The Petersens, probably some of the most amazing people I have met in the past year, had us over for dinner on Saturday night because Elder Man was going home. Then when they learned I was going to the isle of Wight, they had us over for dinner again Sunday night. They asked me what I had learned in Oxford. I thought about it and something came to me. I have learned so much about myself in Oxford. I have learned about so many things about how I think and react and what I can to do grow and what I can do to be better, how I can find joy in the hard times, and how I can always rely on the Saviour. Then I thought about it more and I realised that people come to Oxford to see these massive old and unchanging buildings. While it is an amazing city with a special place in my heart, to me, growth and change is so much more beautiful than things that always stay the same. For me, the beautiful and the most amazing things are changes that happen in people as they seek to come closer to God. I have seen much of this change. I have seen it in my companions, I have seen it in myself, I have seen it in the people who taught and I have seen it in so many people. It has lit up my life. I love my Saviour and I am so excited for the time I will have to grow closer to him in the Isle of Wight. The Lord blessed me with a little slice of heaven these past four months. Oxford has changed my life and you can bet that I will be back.  I don't have much time for the normal stuff. I love you loads and next week will be better. The church is true. God love you. God speed.  Elder Finnegan McKinley England London Mission