Easter!

Moves: It was a funky 5 week transfer and man time goes go by so quickly. I can't believe Sister Schmidt has been out a transfer. She is doing awesome and I get to stay another transfer in Teignmouth! REJOICING! At the end of this I will have been here almost 7 and a half months. I think I will be leaving after this, but you never know these days. In other news, I am a great grandmother in the mission and a grandmother again while still being a mom! Wrap your head around that! So Sister Chamberlain is training again and Sister Steffensen is opening a new area and training as well, and I'm still training Sister Schmidt so my posterity is growing! I have no idea if anyone understood that, but it is exciting stuff for me.

Easter Sunday: Easter has always been one of my favourite holidays, and this Easter was so special and lovely. Kieron spoke for the first time in sacrament abour the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and did AMAZING! I was in tears, I was elated. I loved at the end he said "To put it simply, I felt like I was lost, but now I am found and when I look out in each of your faces I feel your warmth and that you are saying welcome home." Such a tender moment, and Chris a less active member we have been working with also gave his first talk ever and it was so powerful. I love how he emphasized that whenever we are feeling inadequate or down, to remember that we were worth dying for by our Saviour Jesus Christ. AND all of Keiron's family came to church and they told us to come by this week. STOKED!!!!!!!!!!! 

A million chocolates recieved at Easter. Easter Sunday in front of the pretty tree at our chapel

Family Fun Day: Oh my daysssss, this was the best day ever! In St. Austell which is an hour and a half away the Plymouth stake put on a family fun day at the sweetest new school that was just built. They had football, tennis, jumpy castles, Easter egg hunts, BBQ, movies, you name it for the day. Our investigator Judy really wanted to go with her grandkids and so we were able to go. Her grandkids are the cutest and coolest. There was Kieron (14), Charlotte (11), and Jack (2). I am sad I didn't get a picture with all of them, but we were just too much of a great time for a picture. They all had so much fun, and we are hoping we can teach them one day. Since we all couldn't fit in one car, we came with Sam and Bryony and their friend Layla. On the way back they showed us Newquay which is the most gorgeous place ever. They showed us Fistral Beach where they have surf competitions every year. Anyway, it was a very untypical missionary day, but an extremely fun one nevertheless. There was a ton of non-members who came and it was just the best. I am very lucky human being.

Fistral beach

P-day at Smuggler Cove in Teignmouth

Well, I love you all. Teignmouth is just the best area and I am having a grand old time with Sister Schmidt preaching the gospel. I refuse to burn out on my mission and I just want to give the Lord my all this last third of my mission.

Love,
Sister McLeod

Awesome

Kieron: Seriously Kieron has brought so much joy into my life. When I came to Teignmouth almost 3 months ago, he had a lot of philosophies of life, smoked, would not pray, read the Book of Mormon, and come to church. A lot has changed from that initial meeting and I have loved seeing him increase in knowledge and happiness. Yesterday he was at church before us (the first time for him coming for all 3 hours). He is now the one who begins our lessons with prayers that are so beautiful and meaningful. He loves and gets excited to read the Book of Mormon. He has quit smoking. He has set his own baptismal date for February 8th. And he understands how special and important that day will be for him. He has a solid testimony of prophets and the restoration. In response to asking him what he thought of President Monson, he paused and enthusiastically said, "I like that man!" Now Kieron was not broken in anyway when the sisters first knocked on his door in August. He was delightful to be around with a lovely family, but one question would pop into his head from time to time. He would look around at the beauty of the earth and thought there had be more, there had to be a Creator. Initially he said he was a happy man and could not imagine himself being happier. He has proved himself wrong as he has found even more peace, happiness, and answers to his questions. On our last teach he said if it wasn't for gravity, he would be floating. There is this indescribable joy from helping him apply the gospel into his life and see their progression so personally. I cannot wait for February 8th and 9th for Kieron to be baptised and receive the Holy Ghost. I know people are happy and content, but I know this gospel allows us to reach the greatest form of happiness possible.   

Jesus Christ: I reflected on Him as a perfected, resurrected Being and I thought how interesting it is that He kept the nail marks in his hands and feet. I thought, if he was perfected in body why would he keep them? I think He left them as reminders and evidence of His perfect love and sacrifice toward us. Also, to let us know that the trials and burdens we carry are molding and refining us toward our ultimate goal of perfection. I don't know if that makes sense, but I had an "aha" moment the other day about this. 

This Week: We had zone training in Plymouth = awesome. I went on exchanges with Sister Felts in Exeter = awesome, she is an awesome missionary. Just an awesome week overall. But remember to get to the awesome takes some opposition. 

Power of Being a Member: I was just reflecting about all of the people who either have progressed to baptism or are progressing thus far on my mission, and the common thread is that they knew a mormon before talking to us. Bath: Chris had a friend who invited him to basketball and a priesthood general conference session. Billie's nan was a member. Teignmouth: Judy is the friend of Denise in our ward. Maxie is the wife of George, a member. And Kieron's sister-in-law is a member. The power and influence of who you are as a unique individual is more far reaching than you think. Keep being who are and make the gospel transparent in your life. I loved sitting at at church and seeing our 4 investigators who were each sitting with a member. It is not only happiness that it is bringing in the investigators lives, but the members too. This gospel of Jesus Christ just breathes happiness and love! It is the best and I am so grateful more and more for it. I think the most missionary success I'll have in my life is when I go home. The mission is just training me to be the person the Lord needs me to be forever. And that is someone who loves others and brings them to the love of our Savior and Heavenly Father.

I love you all!

"For we walk by faith rather than by sight" 2 Cor 5:6, my new favorite sciprture for the week.

Love,

Sister McLeod

Teignmouth really is a gem. Sisters in the Plymouth zone and zone training. Sister Jacob and I. We really bonded when we learned that she has family who live in Driggs, Idaho! It is always so nice to find someone who loves the same place as much as you do. We dreamed of lime freezes on the corner drug store.

Missionary Leadership Council

Sorry: Sorry this is long, everything just kind of came to me

 

Elliot Miles: My sister Marina had her fourth child, a beautiful little boy and I cannot wait to meet him!

 

My Dad's Testimony: I loved the point my dad wrote to me in an e-mail about what he bore his testimony on in church yesterday-that we sometimes look at people and don't always know the back story. I was going to paraphrase it, but I'll just quote the best dad in the world because I think it is so true.

 

"Two days ago, our daughter Marina who lives in Santa Cruz, gave birth to a little boy. He weighed 9 pounds 9 ounces. He is our 15th grandchild. Ten years ago, we had zero grandchildren. So, little bundles of blessing come very quickly. As we were with Marina in the delivery room following the birth, the nurse Marina had saw her drooping lip and asked her about it, worried that it had occurred during the delivery. Marina said, no, she had a serious surfing accident three years ago and that the left side of her face was paralyzed.

I then remembered all that had happened three years ago and the hardships Marina had with an eye that would not close and a face that sagged. It certainly was a long ways from then, when she held this beautiful little baby in her arms. Sometimes in life, we see the beautiful picture of a Mom and her baby and think, what a perfect life. How come I have so many difficulties and other people have such perfect lives. But it is not true. Everyone has a back-story that we are not aware of. Everyone had difficulties and challenges in their lives.

The second experience involved my daughter in Folsom. She was sealed in the temple to her husband last Saturday. Now, if anyone could see the beautiful pictures of her and her husband and three children, they would say how perfect. I would like a life like that. But, they do not know the back-story. 6 years ago, my daughter learned that her husband was living a "double-life". Shortly, thereafter a divorce followed. Melissa was left without a car, a home or any support for herself and her two daughters. She had nothing. So, she and her daughters moved in with us and she went back to school and got her teaching certificate and then met and married a fine young man.

So too, each of us have a back-story that probably few know about. I think if we did, we would probably be a little more patient and kind. I think that is probably one reason our Heavenly Father is so kind, patient and loving with us--because he knows all of our back-stories, not only on this earth, but all in the pre-mortal existence."

 

Life Hurts and Is Happy: What I have learned in my life and what I am continuing on the mission to learn is that we hurt a lot, but through patience and the Atonement of Jeus Christ everything is made right. Maybe not even in this life, but we always have that promise in the life to come. Life hurts, but there is so much joy. Oppoisition in all things my friends. I have had a really hard week on the mission seeing a lot of people around me struggle in so many different ways. It hurts to see them hurt, but I know I have just got trust in the Lord and keep point them to Him and Jesus Christ. We can be healed.

 

Wisdom: I love King Benjamin so much and I have been studying his example of service to his people this week. I know we always read Mosiah 2:17 that says when you are in the service of your fellow beings, you are only in the service of your God, but the line before that says I tell you these things that you may learn wisdom really hit me. From that scripture I realised wisdom and service are one in the same. The wisest of people who we love and revere so much (ie: Jesus, King Benjamin, Ghandi) are the ones who lived a life serving others. I think living a life of service is the most intelligent way to live. It not only brings happiness to the person being served, but it seems it is even more fulfilling for the person that is serving. I am learning that everyday on the mission.

 

MLC: MLC is missionary leadership council. It is when the mission president, AP's (assistants to the president), zone leaders, and sister training leaders get together and learn about the goals of the mission and how to implement them in our exchanges with other missionaries and in our own areas. They usually have them at president's house, but because the mission is getting so large (304 missionaries and 75 sisters), with more STLs (sister training leaders) and 2 chinese training leaders, we met at the Staines' chapel. So we in the Plymouth zone are in the boonies of the mission and it is like a 4-5 hour drive so our zone leaders picked Sister O'brien and me up the night before, while our comps stayed in Teignmouth. Sister O'brien is the other STL in the zone since our zone is geographically huge. I'll be over the sisters in Exeter and Torquay and she'll be over St. Austell and Redruth. In the morning, we went over to Staines, and sure enough I see good old Sister Cowley. We just laugh everytime we see each other because we somehow always end up doing the same thing at the same time in the mission, working out simialr issues. Always so good to see her. I learned so much at MLC, and it is interesting to see where the information and goals start and then branch out to the whole mission.

Pics: Sister Cowley and I - we have the weirdest sense of humor when we are together that I feel like no one gets around us. Man I love this lady. Here are some sister training leaders - Didn't get all of them and the other is our awesome zone leaders Elder Paulo (South Africa) and Elder Hsovoi (I am completely getting that wrong, but he is from Germany) and there is Sister O'brien with me.