Week 49: "it's like the feeding of the 5,000 but only four of us showed up"

Hey friends. So disclaimer. We have some new technology guidelines that I wanted to make you aware of. I will be deactivating my old facebook for now and creating a new one to only use with people here in England. So bye bye for now on Facebook. Also, I only have 90 minutes to email home each Monday now. So that means this weekly email is about to get a lot shorter. That being said, this week:

So we had some really great ups and some really low downs this week. First the downs:

So a friend of ours we have been working with was planning on getting baptised this weekend. Given some circumstances, he is now going to be waiting until December. There are a lot of details I will not get into but the important thing is we are still really close with him and are going to keep seeing him. We are just going to do everything we can to make sure that nothing derails him from his desire to be baptised between now and December.

Another thing is that this week has just been draining. Honestly. Missionary work is not all fun and games. There are really hard days. There are moments where you really feel you cannot take anymore steps. Somehow you do. Somehow you carry on. but in those moments, you just feel like nothing is going right and you begin to get stuck. The lesson I have learned is that as long as we keep moving, we can hold on to momentum. We need that momentum to carry us through the low points to the high points once again. So, wherever you are, if you are feeling like the whole world is conspiring against you and nothing is going right, in the words of my dad. "You don't have to be tough. You don't have to be stoic. You just have to show up everyday."

Enough of the lows. Lets go to some highs.

We were able to visit with Sungwon on Tuesday. He got baptised right when I got to Oxford and he is a legend. He is just so amazing and humble and just the best. We were talking with him and he told us about some personal challenges he was having and he really opened up to us. We were able to share some scriptures with him and he really felt peace and he gave such a sincere prayer at the end of our visit. In that moment I was overwhelmed with this feeling. I believe I felt somewhat of the love that God feels for him, and it was a powerful thing. He is such a good man. He then showed us around his college and it was beautiful! Oxford is magical.

We had a really long chat with this Christian theologist. He fundamentally disagrees with the core principles of our beliefs. So after much talking, we are going back again this week to share more haha. It is going to be great. That lesson was honestly something I expected would happen in Oxford and it finally happened. Again, oxford is magical.

I was with the zone leaders for 36 hours over the course of Thursday and Friday because Elder Man went to the Temple. It was a blast. We taught FIVE lessons. FIVE. That is more that I usually teach in a week and it was in 36 hours. By the end of the 36 hours, I was just exhausted and was ready to go back to oxford (we were in Reading). I also got to go to the Farnborough District Council and see Elder Burton! I can't believe it has been a month since we have been companions.

We helped load a moving van for this big week long camp that the stake puts on for the youth and, to say thank you, the bishop took us to Costco and bought us pizza. Stepping inside made me feel like I was in America. I firmly believe that all Costcos should be American territory. It was again, magical. Wow I am really overusing that word but hey.

Lastly, we just got back from an all you can eat sushi restaurant. I ate WAY too much but it was a blast. Also it is the reason for the title because we may have gotten a bit carried away with ordering.

Companion Comic: so we are on exchange and I am with Elder Howe. We are sitting on this bench, preparing for a lesson when this older lady covered in tattoos rolls up in here motorised wheelchair with this other lady riding on the back. They stop, sit down next to us and just start chatting with us and begin rolling up cigarettes. The conversation includes everything from the magic crystals she gets from Glastonbury that push away demons, to the healings and exorcisms she has performed (this is the lady who was riding shotgun). It was totally spontaneous, they went as fast as they came, and the whole thing was crazy enough to be a dream but at this point, I have seen weirder. It was all hilarious. The best part is that she invited us to her hair salon on the 13th of august when she will have restocked her crystal inventory and she will give us both one. Sadly I will not be there. But yeah Reading is definitely a different kind of place.

British Food of the Week: yeah I have no clue this go round. I honestly am not eating a whole lot of exclusively british food. let's go with...yeah I have nothing this week. Next week I wil be more prepared.

British Word of the Week: so not an actual word, but a story. at church yesterday, there was a man visiting from America and he asked me where I was from and he did not believe me when I said Virginia. He then looked me in the eye and said "you've picked up an accent". so while I may not sound british to the british, I sound british to the Missourian so that is good enough for now. I have a while to work on it.

Scripture of the Week: Ether 12:6 - we receive not a witness until after the trial of our faith

So there you have it friends. I appreciate your patience as you bear with me as I try to adjust to these new guidelines. I love you loads and would still love to hear from you, even though I will have less time to respond now. Have a great week! Also, we find out about moves this week, so next week I could be in a totally different place. We shall see...

I know we can do everything through Christ. He keeps me going. I love Him, I love my God, I love you, and I love England.

--
Elder Finnegan McKinley
England London Mission




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