heeeeey,
About a year ago, at the tippy top of a hill in a little church building in Ayrshire, Scotland our
fearless district leader Elder Long compared finishing a mission to finishing a swimming race. He said when he'd given it his best effort he would have to be dragged out of the pool or just flop out like a seal until he recovered enough to stand up.
Hold your horses, my mission is still far from over, but 2020 is dead and gone. Honestly December 31st felt like flopping out of the pool and just laying there at the culmination of the longest race of my life (not hard to beat, since I detested sports before my mission) hahaha so when I was woken up by some fireworks a few minutes before the clock struck twelve I just laid there like a seal wrapped in a fuzzy blanket and just waited for it to end.
And then it...did? Just like that it was gone, imagine that! And all of the sudden the counsel given to Joseph Smith in liberty jail was realized, "Peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine affliction shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes" (Doctrine and covenants 121:7-8)
and though our troubles may be far from over---here in Ireland our new cases per day is almost triple what we peaked at in the first wave of Covid-19 nearly a year ago and we're back under the strictest lockdown we've seen for a while now--- we! can! do! hard! things! through Christ! Who strengtheneth us! Wouldn't you say???
It'll be fiiiine and God proved that this week.
Golden moments:
1. It SNOWED in DUBLIN on the last day of the year so we got to get churros together after all!
2. I was calling potentials in the phone and I swear I didn't even touch the screen but it randomly started calling someone named Emerson and we talked for 20 minutes about juice cleanses and mental health and now he's being taught again and is so cool!
3. Our Deliveroo driver STOLE our Nandos but we ran into a different Deliveroo driver and he gave us the customer support number and recognized me! Apparently I taught him my first week here and I didn't even remember until I was reading back over my journal! Then he came to church and we're teaching him on Wednesday!
4.Sister Yates spoke in church and Jose "Vinny" Vinicio surprised her by showing up to zoom church in a SUIT and tie and was hanging onto every word she said about gratitude. Almost started crying it was so cute. And then hearing him tell Sister Ambler on exchanges how excited he is to be baptized on the 15th of February!! Oh my heart just MELTS thinking about it. I squealed while I was writing this and then Sister Yates walked in and squealed and said, "I was just coming in to remind you about the SAME THING." We're shook.
5.Brand got new scriptures for Christmas from his mom and was holding them like the proud new father of a firstborn child. He is now reactivating his family in Chile and his little brother wants to start going back to church when it opens again!
6. Saw a massive rainbow today
7.This is a throwback, I forgot to mention it last week but Juan made us a CAKE that said "Best Friends Forever" on the top of it and also looked at it the way a proud new father looks at his firstborn child.
8. Sister Taysom's friend James got baptized in DESTIN, FL and I've been thinking about it all week honestly YAY
Weird one but a good one. Feelin' like the whole of 2021 will be the same.
Peace, chillas
Sister Allen
ps. I love that the scripture above invites us to endure WELL. What's the difference between enduring well and just enduring? I'd love to hear your thoughts! What helped you endure 2020 well? And what are you planning on doing this next year to endure well? If you have any tips for enduring this next lockdown well I'd love to hear them!
pps. ARE YOU ALL SO EXCITED FOR COME FOLLOW ME DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS EDITION????? I love the voice of warning in section 1! God knows exactly what's up and coming and has given precisely what we need to help us through it and be part of the solution not the problem! It's all in his plan! My sister Syd shared a great quote yesterday about how "The Book of Mormon leads us to Christ, and the Doctrine and Covenants leads us to the temple." As we study it this year, the power of the temple will flow into our lives, regardless of whether or not we are able to fully access the temple physically right now!
