Week 58: Happy October Everyone

On Mon, 1 Oct 2018, 11:18 am Finnegan Alexander Clemmer McKinley, <finnegan.mckinley@myldsmail.net> wrote:

Okay so here we are once more and I am sitting here in disbelief that it is october and that I was being trained as a brand new missionary by the brilliant Ethan Lopiano (look out BYU-I here he comes, or rather he's already there but still look out) and now I am here, with no more septembers left on my mission and soon to watch my third general conference in England. Weird stuff. Anyways, let's get into the week a bit. I apologise if this is a bit incoherent but I am moving with lightning speed today because we are trying to get down to portsmouth for some volleyball with the district asap.

So the highlight of this past week was definitely zone conference. We got to go up to London again and each time I go my desire to explore there grows and grows. Hopefully that desire will be satiated one day :-) moving on, we had to go across the solent to stay the night with portsmouth the day before because the meeting started early and we are one of the farthest from london. We had an absolute blast and I may or may not have laughed so hard that I had trouble breathing afterwards. I am continually grateful that even in the frequent hardships and rejections we face, us missionaries are always able to find the joy in everyday. 

We discussed how we can use technology to help us in our efforts and also really got into the idea of serving the community to find those who are seeking Christ. We are hoping to start working with a local charity soon and are really excited to be even more involved in the island community. 

I was also able to see some long time friends from days gone by and I really truly treasure the relationships I have made with the missionaries I have served with. It seems like time is flying much quicker than I ever expected and I am grateful that I will be able to carry on these friendships after the mission, because two years is just too short.

We also spent a good portion of the meeting speaking about our mental wellness and this is my shameless plug for mental health awareness, but take care of yourself. Take a moment, take however long you need and then carry on. My scripture for the week is Mosiah 4:27. Look it up. Follow it's counsel. Doing this has helped me tremendously and I know that it will help you too. Take some time. Breathe. Find your happy place. Centre yourself and then face the day once more. 

For the sake of time, here are other noteworthy events:

-someone we were really excited to teach asked to not come round so we got ice cream by the pier to console ourselves and it worked

-my technology expertise was called on multiple times

-we were on the winning team for the church quiz night #undefeated

-we played tennis with our british friend again and he said he would read the Book of Mormon and pray about it and we are SO EXCITED FOR HIM

-we played chair football with a family at the chapel and I learned doc martins are still the best multipurpose shoe I've ever found

-we taught 2 out of the three classes at church all and fixed the movie equipment for the primary children

-We found someone to teach who then proceeded to cancel on us BUT he informed us about a group of people who go around the isle of wight playing basketball and we are hoping to go and see if we can find people who like basketball and the gospel

-we only ate spaghetti once this week #blessed (background: that's basically all we cook because it is fast and easy but about a week ago we had it 6 nights in a row because we made it for ourselves and then all the houses we went to for dinner made spaghetti for us. We aren't complaining, but Elder Brewster almost went insane (he likes variety)).

British Food of the Week: casserole - honestly I have never had a british casserole but elder brewster said it was similar to a stew and so I am dying to know what it's actual consistency is. I have found that most of our foods here differ in consistency and flavour rather than actual ingredients. 

British Word of the Week, Isle of Wight edition: grockel - someone not born on the island

Companion Comic: so this was not my companion but on the way home from our meeting wednesday, we were walking home after a 2 hour train ride, a 30 minute boat ride, and a 30 minute bus ride and this guy walks up to us and apparently he has talked to missionaries before and the sole reason he walked up to us was to show us this plastic token he found. That was it. I was honestly a little disappointed. It was a pretty cool token though.

Also, Elder Brewster and I are currently having a vehement debate about whether or not red velvet cake is actually just chocolate cake that's red and any additional commentary from you all would be appreciated. I won't tell you who thinks what so you won't be biased.

Anyways, I love you all so much. I was having a bit of a rough afternoon the other day and by the end of the day, after having gone out and tried to help others, I felt so much love from my Heavenly Father. Service works everyone. Try it. I know that God is with me and is with you and thank you for all your support!

until next week

"consolation prizes", Chicken and waffles, my favourite part of the island