Oh, how merciful is our God!
Hey there! Congratulations to all you cool kids that have done so well in robotics this season!! Whenever a mom-update appears at the top of my Facebook feed and I "accidentally" see it or I get an email about it, I just get so happy for you all. You are such hard workers and I'm so proud of how much you're learning and doing. More importantly, God is just so proud! Whether we're talking about robotics, volleyball, or underwater basket weaving, God just loves to see his children working hard.
This morning I was reading in Alma 23-24, which is the chapter about the Anti-Nephi-Lehi's becoming so converted to Christ that they bury their weapons of rebellion! It says that after they became a righteous people, "rather than spend their days in idleness they would labor abundantly with their hands" and that they "began to be a very industrious people."
Keep up the good work and know that God is smiling down upon your heads. Or top hats. Or fedoras. Or whatever your Saturday attire may be these days. :)
Today I laughed out loud when we walked outside and the sun was shining in the sky while it was simultaneously sleeting sideways so dramatically that I couldn't get the car door open. We didn't have to go grocery shopping today because a)the members have arranged to feed us every day this week at least once and b) it's the last week of the transfer, aye so it is, so we're just gonna eat all our oatmeal and leftover Christmas candy and stuff at the back of the fridge so it can be nice n tidy for whoever is blessed to come to the land of Milk and Honey Without Money next! Fingers crossed for a 4th in Irvine, but I've got leprechauns to baptize so we'll see what happens.
This week was lovely and full of pleasant things and gone altogether too quickly! We spent a lot of time in far off villages in the wee corners of North Ayrshire this week being God's hands in the green fields already to harvest! I'd quote the scripture more precisely, but they aren't white, or even a dull brown. Scotland just seems to stay green year round which is fine by me.
One such village is called Beith, where our good friend Anna Hicks as has put down her roots. She has a jolly laugh and every Christmas movie ever produced. She made us Mexican food of every variety and let us play her bagpipes, and all I have to say about that is that I'm definitely prepared to play them at the airport when Sister Christensen comes home from her mission. Mostly because it'll sound so bad she'll turn around and hop right back onto the plane, which is a good thing because Scotland needs her! I need her! She's simply the best and I'm so proud of the missionary she's becoming and the desires of her heart. If it's God's will that we part ways next week, Irvine better buckle down the hatches because we're giving it our all (and a half) this week! Who am I kidding, everyone's already doing just that because we're in the middle of a biblical storm at the moment. A dozen tiles blew off the roof of the church and the wind scattered church members all around the British Isles, or at least that's my reckoning on why next to no one was at church yesterday!
This week we had an opportunity to do lots of service for the friends we're teaching! We also got permission for our 9yr old friend Chianne to be baptized in the upcoming weeks! She drew a precious picture of the garden of Eden that I shared :) We also found a mom and her son that want to be taught! We walked past their house when we were in the neighborhood for a lunch appointment, and felt prompted that we should go back and chap her row of houses even though it was out of our way (we were lost, nothing new!) She answered, let us in, and said she saw us earlier and had been wondering if we were missionaries like the one she'd seen on a telly program a few weeks ago. She said she wasn't going to let us in, but then we chapped and she figured she might as well. We're going back to teach her and her son/husband again on Saturday!
It's certainly been a week of miracles here in Scotland. Work hard, play hard, and use your strengths to serve others! Norma requested we make her carrot cake a few weeks ago, so as promised, we made them Saturday night just to find out the next morning that she was hospitalized! We drove through rain, snow, sleet, and hail (literally all 4) to bring them to her at the hospital and she was so pleased to have the company. She said she sent a letter to my family saying my head was full of nonsense but that I'm a good baker, so at least I've got one redeeming quality. Her returning-member daughters were there and we were able to say a prayer together that really touched their hearts. And mine.
I'm going to miss my little seaside village and everyone in it. Pray that I have 6 more weeks here, if you please :) Jordan is receiving the Aaronic priesthood next week, so please pray for him too! And maybe consider all the ways the priesthood has blessed your life. I can't imagine my life without it. Really truly. I was thinking about it yesterday, and realized that if it weren't for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, my ancestors would never have left the British Isles, and I might have gone my entire life without seeing the creosote blooming in the springtime or smelling rainstruck sagebrush. Tell the desert hello for me. I miss my plants. I don't miss the red rock, however, because inexplicably, tons of the buildings here are made out of sandstone so I see it all the time. I don't know where it comes from. (Or where it goes.) But I'm happy for the little reminders of home and all the wonderful people in it.
Keep doing your thing! Good luck at State, FLL/FTC friends! And remember, no rain, no gain!
xxx
Sister Allen
