its pday!! time is already flying.
seriously, the days are long but looking back it has gone by so fast! i have so
much to say in such a little time! thank you for the package! it came at the
right moment. normal day:
630-exercise
7 get ready shower eat
8 personal study
9companion study
10 12 weeks of training
11 lunch
12-9 either lessons, contacting, tea
9 planning, get ready for bed, journal
10:30 BED
well i am glad to finally be here,
though i have thought to myself what the heck am i doing here. the first day i
met my trainer, she is russian but speaks amazing english. better than me and
she learned from movies! we have fun and talk and she tells me everything i
need to know. she has been patient and says im going to train as soon as i am
done being trained haha that makes me quite nervous. i hope shes wrong. we got
my bus pass, we take the bus a lot. when i got here it was snowing so hard.
snow flakes the size of golf balls i swear it was insane! we went to the chapel
and it smells a bit like the singapore one and it makes me miss singapore.
there a few similarities. our flat kinda reminds me of singapore houses because
its just gross and not clean, even though we cleaned very well this morning it
never really feels clean. i met president and his wife and they were really
kind and gave some words of advice. its like a whole different program here
because if you mention religion they say they aren't interested and walk away.
so it takes a bit to know what to say so they are at least a little interested.
but the english people are so nice, they willl talk you ear off if you let them
haha. i LOVE everyone's accents. it makes me so happy and now when i hear an
american one it sounds weird. sister pro (my trainer) says i sound very posh when
i talk in a british accent so that is quite the compliment :) i love saying
english words and all the different things they say. its the best! also it is
FREEZING all the time. i literally wear over half my wardrobe everytime i go
out because i just freeze. the first couple days i don't think i was warm at
all! my toes have felt like they are going to fall off every night when we get
home haha its like just when i think i can't do it anymore its either tea
(dinner) or time to go home. the first couple days i was pretty jet lagged. i
fell asleep during studies, on the bus and almost during a lesson which was
super embarrassing because our investigator saw me!!! it was the worst. england
is interesting. they have small houses, small roads which all look so old, but
then everyone drives a very nice car and there are beautiful fields that are so
green and it is gorgeous. we walk the streets a lot finding people to talk to
and literally we talk to everyone we pass unless we are already talking to some
one and it gets so frusterating because no one wants to hear about God! but i
need to remember i am not here to baptize all of leeds, just those one or two
people who are ready and waiting for the truth. the hard part is finding them.
we have a couple investigators but not a lot of them are progressing which is
frusterating as well. one of the members in our ward is a convert. her name is
T and she is the best! shes probably in her upper 20s and her calling is to
feed missionaries and find people to feed us, so we have become good friends
with her. she is hilarious and has the best accent. a couple days ago i was
having a rough moment during the day, right before we went to T’s. no one
wanted to talk to us and it was literally freezing and raining. but we were
having tea at T’s and we got there and she had pizza, fries, and diet coke!!!!!
it was a miracle hahaha (they have more diet coke than coke lite here btw.) we
got some groceries the first day but not much. i have literally eaten spaghetti
everyday but its okay i still love it and am getting more at the shop today.
and i get to try fish and chips i can't wait! hahah we were walking the streets
the other night and me and sister pro ask these 2 guys a question and they
answered and we just keep talking for a while, they ask what we are doing, why
we are here and things like that. and then one was like so when you go back to
america i am thinking i might go there that time as well. do you think i could
stay at your house? hahah i just started laughing but i think part of him was
serious... they also invited us to get fish and chips with them. which we
kindly denied dont worry haha. and then the next night we were talking to
another guy and he was like if you ever get divorced or don't get married let me
know. i just laughed, like what do you say to that?! i'm a missionary for
crying out loud haha.
i have had some rough moments where i
think there is no way i can do this for 17 and a half more months but i say a
little prayer and think that cayden is only like an hour away and he is doing
the exact same thing i am doing. and all my friends around the world! it is so
comforting to think about them and the amazing things they are doing.
being a missionary is hard. we are doing
something from 6:30-10:30 every day all day and it is exhausting. it is a
miracle we make it though the day but let me tell ya, i am sleeping like a
dream. we are constantly thinking about our investigators and trying to get
people to listen to us its frustrating! but i can do it, i just take it one day
sometimes one hour at a time. there are simple joys in everything. we just need
to look for them. i am realizing being on a mission all the little things we
miss everyday. i look around at the people on their phones and feel sorry for
them! they are missing the beauty of the out doors and all the little things
that go unnoticed these days. we have lots of time to walk outside and though
it is cold there are so many things to be grateful for. being a missionary is
definitely stressful, there are always things to do and people we need to talk
to. we see so many people every day and literally non of them have the gospel
its so sad! its hard to see them all but i just need to remember i cannot
convert all of leeds haha. one person at a time. i am slowly learning the ways.
i bore my testimony on sunday about how much effect prayer has and the comfort
it can give. it is so true! i need prayer constantly and so does everyone else.
teaching is good! i know a lot more than i think i do which is so comforting
and it is only because of the holy ghost. he literally tells me what i should
say when i need to say it. he is always there if we are worthy.
it is so good to hear from all of you!
sorry i don’t have loads of time so i cant email everyone back but know i love
you all!
thank you for the prayers! they have
been comforting.
love, sister stevens
