Okay, about the subject line title…. since we moved into a new flat, we had to buy everything… but turns out, the flat didn’t come with a mirror. SO, we have had to be creative with how we get ready in the morning and mostly it’s just when we are walking by the stores in town that we see ourselves in the windows and use them as our mirror hahaha. There are definitely days when we go, “oh WHOA okay… we left the flat like that?!?!”. Hopefully our landlord will put in a mirror soon, but I kind of like using the shop windows!
HIKING THE HILL:
So last Monday we went adventuring on these hills surrounding Galashiels and oh man…. BREATHTAKING. So just feast your eyes on the pictures we have. We also found a sign for Dobbie’s grave, we searched for a while and couldn’t find it… but maybe one day!
PHONE PROBLEMS:
After our nice hike, we realized our phone didn’t have service. I kid you not, we tried for hours turning it on and hours restarting, taking the battery out, taking the SIM card out, EVERYTHING! Nothing worked. The mission home had already closed so we couldn’t call them and ask what they heck we should do, so we hiked up to the church building which is like a 30-minute walk and had to use the phone there to call our leaders and let them know that we were down in Gala. hahaha It was alright because the next morning we got it all settled. The phone company just wanted to update something I guess, and turned off our phone service and didn’t tell us. It was a little hard not having a phone to contact the people we were teaching or other missionaries, but hey! We made it!
ALL SCOTLAND:
All Scotland is a big conference we have with all the missionaries that are in Scotland. At this conference I saw all my MTC friends and we even had Elder De Feo from the Seventy there! We got some wonderful insight on how to improve ourselves and witness wonderful miracles. I was really impressed with what Elder De Feo explained in 1 Nephi 17:9-11. Nephi is asking the Lord how to build a ship and the Lord shows him how to do it, but it is up to Nephi to actually build the ship and make the tools and DO everything! Too often I think that God will make things happen for me, but in reality, he shows me how to do something, but it is up to me to accomplish it. It is all about action. Elder De Feo wrote on the board “MOTIVATION” and split it to “MOTIV” and “A(c)TION” -the action to move. That’s something Sister Westbroek and I have been working on a lot is making things happen. Doing something and moving and as we have done so, we have seen tremendous success and miracles.
SINGING:
I was asked to sing at All Scotland (ya…. not scary AT ALL… please note the sarcasm) and I really didn’t want to sing alone so it was supposed to be a trio, but then a sister dropped out and blah – all of it was a mess. So literally like two days before the conference I picked a song and asked an Elder to play and THE MORNING OF THE CONFERENCE we got together to practice and….well it could have been better, but we had no time. So, the first part of the conference comes and goes and I was just not feeling good about doing this performance. Usually, I’m just nervous but I was DREADING IT! So then during the lunch I got a thought to just do a simple hymn from the hymn book. CAN IT GET MORE LAST MINUTE??? I ran to the Elder who was going to play piano and I threw the idea at him and we decided why not? Must be the spirit. We dashed into the chapel and tried this one hymn just once and you guys…. it was perfect. SO then that new piece is the one we performed. I’m so glad we followed the spirit to change songs, even at the last second because it was worth it. Singing is something I love and am passionate about and I’m really glad I can use this gift that God has given me to spread his love and gospel. We each have a talent that God has given us to share happiness and joy. USE IT! please please do!
CHURCH:
We have invited many people to come to church with us, but no one ever has. This past Sunday my companion and I got to speak at church. It was lovely and yes, of course, I cried. But none of our friends showed up. Fast forward to the last hour of church, about 15 minutes before we are about to end, one of our friends named Frank walks into the room! We were so shocked! He said he would have gotten there sooner but his scooter had a hard time going up the hill and he had to find a different way to church! He isn’t someone you would expect to come to church but seeing his diligence in getting there made us so happy! He said he would get there faster next week so we will see!
SWEETS:
It seems like everyone’s house we go to, they have a candy, or a soda, or a pastry that we have to try! One family we went to go to brought us each a plate of about 10 different raw fruits on it! hahahaha Really funny but super awesome! They also brought out a cake that had coconut on it and that is the only thing sister Westbroek can’t eat. She just can’t swallow it, so I was trying not to bust a gut when they brought that out! They were such a sweet family and were from Syria, but sadly the language barrier was a little too strong for them to understand anything! But Sister Westbreok had her first Irn-Bru (very famous soda here-its more popular than Coca Cola products). Kate and Mark gave us some chocolate eclairs which were to DIE FOR! Turns out we got lost after leaving their house and so we were sprinting with these chocolate eclairs in one hand and a Book of Mormon in the other trying to find our flat in the pitch dark. It was great. Shin splints… not so much.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Nothing brings me more joy than to talk with someone about religion. It doesn’t matter if it is about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or if they find joy through another religion. I’m so grateful I have the chance to sit down and give someone an opportunity to learn a bit more about God and the immense joy that comes from his gospel and see if they would like to have that joy. It’s just like one Sister missionary I read about who said she felt like she was going around offering a 100 dollar bill to everyone on the street. It’s exactly how I feel! This gospel brings me so much joy and happiness, I feel like I’m going to burst with joy at times! God is real, and he really does love each and every one of us. Jesus came here on Earth so we could feel this great joy. I’m so grateful for them and all I have learned here so far.
Have a wonderful week and give someone a smile on the street 🙂
Sister Clark
days without rain:1
Crazy wind and storm on Wednesday… bad day to wear a dress…
Words I learned:
in Glasgow they say weeins and in Galashiels they say beairns for children. Don’t ask me why.
It’s not dollar bills, they are notes (found that out thanks to all the buses I’ve had to take)
Anna's Adventures in the Isles 