This week has probably been the weirdest of my mission. So basically I have been all over the mission the past week and it is not going to end any time soon because we have our first zone conference tomorrow and they are having it in Hyde Park, so I will be back in London for the third time in the last three weeks. So yeah. Crazy. I will just pick up on Tuesday morning.
So as I may have mentioned last week, my suitcase broke en route to Hyde Park. So Tuesday morning before I made the journey down to the Isle of Wight, I needed to buy a new suitcase. I went with a few other elders who were waiting for their new companions and was able to find a random shop and pay more than I would have liked for a new suitcase, which one of the elders was able to negotiate down to a lower price for me. I was not really in a mental state to process anything at the moment, so he gets a special shoutout for his help. Thankfully I am quite the organised traveler so I was able to repack my suitcase really quickly and then get on my way. After many hours, missed trains, and carrying suitcases through the underground by myself, which I have decided I will never allow to happen again, I made it to my train. 2 hours later, I made it to the ferry port and was able to just hop on the ferry and sit down and breath for a moment. It was a beautiful ride. I am ecstatic to be close to the ocean again. I missed the sea. Then I arrived at the port and I met my new companion.
Elder Warren Brewster, from Maidstone, Kent, but more recently from Chorley, has been out on his mission for around 6 transfers, but served a mini mission and then went home and them came back so basically he has been in the field for the past 6 months. He is 22, is the self-proclaimed biggest nerd ever, and is a hardcore optimist. He has a good heart and is terrible at remembering a name without a face, but he makes up for it with his sincere love and desire to be your friend. He is also quite funny. We are going to have a fun transfer.
Wednesday we went around the island a bit but then had to make our way back to oxford for my toe operation. Thursday morning was spent having an old man dig around in my toe #noice. There is this big bandage on it now and I cannot fit in normal shoes, so your boy has been walking around everywhere in style with a dress shoe on the left and a bandaged, disgusting toe in a lime green flip flop on the right. Needless to say, people usually stare at my name tag but have since changed to staring at my foot. It is a nice change of pace. The rest of the morning in Oxford was spent at a district council for a district I did not belong to, showing the elders who replaced me around one of the greatest cities in the world, thai curry, milkshakes, and making our way home. By the way, when you live on and island at the very bottom corner of the mission, it takes to a while to get anywhere. Even places on the island. It is definitely an adjustment from having buses come every two to five minutes, but hey, we are making it work and are having a good time whilst doing it.
Friday involved some great weekly planning and getting to know each other. Since I have this bandage on my foot, I am under strict orders to not get it wet. While this has made showering interesting, it also means I cannot go outside if it is raining. Friday also happened to be the first time in about two months that it has rained on the island. I guess God wanted me inside.
Saturday we had to go to Portsmouth, which requires the ferry, for yet another meeting, which was great, but basically ate our whole morning up. As an aside, I have had to plan district council every week for basically the last nine months. This was the first one I did not have to plan and had no responsibilities for and it was liberating. Do not get me wrong, I loved being a district leader and serving my district, but I felt like a burden was lifted off of my shoulders and I am really excited to be able to stress more about my own area and I how just I am doing, rather than just stress about everyone else as well as myself. Just kidding. Kind of.
We then went to a lovely cream tea at the chapel and met some of the ward and had scones and jam and it was just so british and I loved every minute of it. Following meeting, greeting, and eating, we went with a family to their house for dinner. They are amazing. We had a really wonderful evening with them, got to know them, and are going back again this saturday for dinner before we play volleyball in the evening #islandlife
Yesterday I met the ward at church! As much as oxford was in England, I feel like I am back in england. Know that the previous statement has no other meaning besides the fact that there are basically only english people here and this place reminds me so much of north devon in a lot of ways. I have been smiling a lot this week. The ward surprisingly made less jokes about my toe than I thought they would. They are great and we are excited to meet with all of them. We have ambitious plans for moving things forward and I am excited to see what happens here in the near future.
British Phrase of the Week: Bits and Bobs - basically the equivalent to bits and pieces; "here's an extra plate for your bits and bobs"
British Food of the Week: papadums - so technically indian, not british but they are basically a massive chip made from a different flour and they make eating curry so much more satisfying.
Companion Comic: We had to go back up to Oxford for my toe and we had a chance to visit the senior couple there and say a proper goodbye to them because I basically had to leave in the dead of the night. So we went to their door and they have a camera attached to the buzzer for their flat, so I stood behind it and had elder Brewster wave hello. They let him in thinking he was the new missionary in oxford and we went upstairs and they had left the door open and shouted "come in". So we went in, turned the corner and said "hi" and they were shocked! It was great to see the look on their faces and we had a right laugh when they figured out why I was even there haha. It was amazing.
Scripture of the Week: Philippians 4:13 Honestly I just need so much help at so many points this week and in the moments I felt alone I prayed and I felt the Saviour strengthen me. I felt His love and I saw God send me many miracles right when I needed them.
I have been reflecting a great deal about what I have learned as a missionary over this past almost year. I have about two weeks until I hit my year mark. Actually more like a week and a half. But the overarching thing I have learned is how much Christ loves me and how much I love Him and how, truly, I can do anything through Him. He is my rock. He is my redeemer. I love Him. I know He is there for each of us. He knows me and my situation and what I need when I need it. He is there for me and I have seen it this past year more than I have any other time in my life.
It also is my birthday one week from Saturday. Weird stuff. I am turning 20 and I do not feel ready to no longer be a teenager and be two decades old but it is coming. It is also weird to think about because that means that the next birthday I have after this one will be in America. Weird. stuff.
Love you loads and I hope you have a great week!
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