Baptism, Transfers, Creativity, & P-day Fun

Mike's Baptism: My favourite part of mike getting baptised and confirmed was when he bore his own testimony right before. It was simple, beautiful, pure, and filled the room with the Spirit. He has progressed so much in just 2 months and he is so happy to be apart of the church. He bought a new suit and looked so sharpe and full of light. We were able to teach Mike at the Gernettis a couple of times (this awesome Italian couple with the cutest little baby) and Filipo was able to baptise him and another member who we love Ian Lever confirmed him on Sunday. A lot of members were able to come and support him and it was just a beautiful note to end the transfers on.

 Filipo and Mike

Transfers: I just love seeing missionaries faces when we see President Millar calling. It's this feeling of excitement and nervousness. Sister Sargsyan is moving to Guilford to be with SISTER CHAMBERLAIN!!! so two of my daughters will be serving together :) and I will be serving with my granddaughter SISTER BARNES!!! who sister Chamberlain trained. Funny how it is a little family ordeal. Sister Barnes is from Wyoming and so I am stoked to be with her. I have a really good feeling about these moves and even happier I get to see Sister Chamberlain at MLC because she just got called to be a sister training leader. I haven't seen her forever and I'm going to scream when I see her. Tuesday night will be like a slumber party because 8 sisters are staying at our flat because moves in the morning are always crazy with different cars going to different places and swapping.

Creative Finding: I went on exchanges with Sister Maddocks in Salisbury and it was such a lovely time. She is the sweetest person ever and we sang to people I am a Child of God on her little ukelele and everyone just loved it. She sounds like Ingrid Michaelson and oh how I wish I had musical talent. With Sister Sargsyan we went and chalked the plan of Salvation in 2  different areas. One was short lived because we got yelled out and said we were vandalising the place and would be reported, but the other place was super cool with it when we asked the police officer. Many people came up and asked us questions and we were able to get a lot of return appointments. Even today 2 guys came up and said were you the ones who were writing on the street and we had a good little gospel chat. We taught a lesson for FHE on thursday and simulated the tree of life by acting it out. Our iron rod was gardening tool of some sort and our tree of life was a christmas tree with lights we found in the chapel. Missionary work is so much more enjoyable when you start to think different ways to share the gospel.  

Sister Maddox

P-day: One man in our stake is super nice and has a ton of land and a huge house and so all of our zone (or the ones that could travel there reasonably) went there last p-day. It was so much fun. We played volleyball and he even has a pond to go fishing in. And finally I can send loads of pictures that I have been meaning to send out for a couple of weeks.  

P-day fun! Sister Walmsley, the one from a couple weeks ago I went on exchanges with and love so dearly.

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Bournemouth elders and us - man I love them so much. Elder Yu is from China and is hilarious and Elder Bradshaw is from Utah and the nicest person ever.

Cutest little girl Eliza I am in love with

Make the World Shine Where you Stand

Emma Jane Headrick: Is the new cutest baby girl in the world and a little shoutout to my sister April! I love my family so much and can't wait to meet this new little cutie:)

"Make the world shine where you stand" --Sister Schmidt

E-mailing: Ha I feel like most of my e-mailing is to my old companions or other missionaries all over the world, but I wanted to start with that quote from my dear Sister Schmidt. She is pumped that Germany won the world cup and Teignmouth is still doing amazing :) I miss that place. It is funny you get to an area and when you leave you think man there is no ward or place better, but then you say the same thing again when you leave another area. But I love that idea about wheverever you are in life or the world make it a little brighter.

Transfers: I'm still here in Bournemouth with Sister Sargsyan this upcoming transfer and loving reflecting on a transfer to see all of the little miracles and progress even if is the littlest things progress is still progress. I don't have too much time to write today but sending all my love and I want to leave you with this quote that my good friend, Hailey I met in Jerusalem just sent me.

"We are never alone. The teacher is always silent during a test. There are so many times in our lives where we feel alone. No one there to hold your hand, dry your tears or give you words of encouragement. But we are truly never alone, God is always there and hears our prayers. Sometimes we may have to struggle, get hurt and betrayed. Without struggle how would we grow? The Lord only puts you through something He intends to help you through. He is always there no matter if He answers your prayers directly or not; He has a plan for you, He knows you're strong enough to overcome. In the toughest of days, it is essential to stay obedient and have faith. Your loving Father in Heaven would never leave you alone in this mortality to wander in the dark. You need not be deceived  You can overcome the darkness of this world and discover divine truth."

-Neal A Maxwell

I really know we are never alone, and am so grateful for spreading this simple, yet most important truth every day.

Love,

Sister McLeod

Here is a little collage of us on p-day waiting for the good old bus

Updates

Sorry this will be a short letter because it is a bank holiday here and we had to go to the McMurtrey's to email and I am on their tablet and it is super frustrating to write on and taking forever. So sorry if I haven't responded to you, next week for sure! 

Updates: We had interviews with President this week and he said I would be going next week. He didn't know where or with who, but I'll be finding out this week. Teignmouth feels like home and I have loved every minute these past 7 months, but I am ready for a new chapter and challenge of my life and mission. Change is good. I will miss Sister Schmidt and everyone but as my good friend Kieron always says it's only bye for now. Judy is getting baptised on Saturday so that is really special :) I love her so much and so proud of her decision. She was thinking of moving the following week, but as soon as she heard I would probably be going, she said, "Well you have to be there so May 31 it is!" :) May 31 is also the day my trainer, Sister Barker is getting married. So it is a good day to make some covenants with God. :) I love what my president said when I asked him about how you endure well to the end of your mission and life. He said, "When you view your mission as your own time you will say I've done enough and deserve a break and towards the end you may use it as an excuse to not work as hard. When you see your mission as the Lord's, you will understand that this is His time and you would never want to waste this any of His precious time. And you will see that your work doesn't end even when you go home." I think we can apply that to the rest of our lives. He has all given us this life and body to learn, grow, and develop and we should be grateful for it. We should be selfless with our talents and time because it is not really ours, it is His. I love sharing Alma 34:32 with so many people. This really is the time to prepare to meet God and enjoy this life helping one another. I love you all and hope you have a lovely week. I can be patient with people being rude, but my patience with this tablet is testing me. Haha, I have never been the best with technology. Love you loads.

Love,
Sister McLeod

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

Progress

Transfers: President called Saturday and told us he thought about moving Sister Andersen, but felt like we should be together in Teignmouth one more transfer. We were both happy because that means we would see Kieron get baptised this Saturday and our other 2 baptisms we have planned in this transfer. A lot of people are leaving our zone and district and it is always a bit sad because you get attached to people, but then great new people come and go and it is just the circle of the mission and life and the memories last forever-cheesy, but true! 

Maxie: We gave her scriptures (the quad) yesterday we had someone get at the temple and it was so endearing to see how excited she was. I love new scriptures, they are so fresh and ready to be learned from.

Kieron: Love this man to death. His baptism this Saturday will be so amazing. The ward is so involved and he is just the best.

Good week: We got 2 more baptismal dates, Judy and Alan, and had 10 lessons with members. This ward is so great in helping us out with teaching.

                                                                                         Haha, okay so funny. This is Sly. It is Kieron's iguana and                                                            

                                                                                in the middle of a teach I just started laughing because it 

                                                                                      turned his head dramatically and just gave us this face the rest of the time. Oh Sly, what a character.

Funny: We were knocking doors on Tuesday and found a girl named Daisy (by the way I am naming my first girl that-in love with that name) who was really interested. At the end when we were exchanging numbers, her brother who is about our age came to the door and just stared at us without speaking. The awkwardest thing ever. We said bye, and that night we got a text from an unknown number saying "my liahona pointed to you." (FYI if you're not Mormon it is this compass type thing that Lehi's family in the Book of Mormon use to show them where to go in the wilderness) We were like what in the world, who is this this person? Well turned out it was Daisy's creepy brother and he had researched a lot about Mormons and must have come across a Mormon pickup line website. Anyways, that was pretty funny and gave us a good laugh. We said if he was really interested he could talk to the elders.

Sponge: Being a missionary is like being a sponge. You are constantly absorbing a variety of emotions/issues from others and yourself and it can be quite overwhelming at times. One moment you feel so much joy for someone progressing, and then seriously your next appointment you feel so sad for another person's heartbreaking situation in life. I was people watching at church yesterday, and it is so interesting to know a lot of the back stories to certain individuals and families and what they are going through. Everyone is at a different level, and it can be very emotionally and spiritually exhausting as a missionary jumping up and down and here and there for each investigator, less active, member, or person you meet on the street. In likening myself to a sponge, I am understanding that through prayer at night and in the morning (and i guess at any moment) you just need to squeeze out(for lack of a better word) everything to the Lord. Jesus Christ has absorbed all the pain of sin, sorrow and physical trials in this life, and we need to give our and others peoples "stuff" (for lack of a better word) to Him. Why? Because he is the only one who knows what we are going through and He can help. I love the trials that we go through and asking the question what can I learn from this? I think we are all sponges and the same principle of prayer I talked about applies to all of us. I love you all so much. like really i do. i miss you all so much. Remember you are loved and remember to pray.

Love,

Sister McLeod

More Christmas!

Shout-outs: Thank you so much for the Christmas packages from my family, the Moore's, Mary, and the Baeza's. It definitely will be a Christmas to remember and Christmas morning was so fun! I can definitely say that I have never done a personal and companion study for 2 hours before opening Christmas presents. Loved it though! Also shoutout to my sister Melissa and brother-in-law Ryan who got sealed on the 28th in the Sacramento temple. You both looked so beautiful and the kids are just too cute (thanks Dad for sending pics). Could not be happier for you all! Ryan I am still laughing over your peter pan shorts. Also shoutout to Sista Ockey who finally got her visa and now is in Argentina! 

So my fav family, the Pattersons in Bath came to visit their mom, Jean, who is in our ward and so we went out to dinner and it was so nice to see them. I just adore them.

Teignmouth was just so beautiful and sunny after the storm. These are little shots from the bus.

Christmas: My family is the best family in the world. I think I just laughed the whole time on skype and that is exactly what I needed. Christmas was lovely. We went to the Julians for a Christmas dinner and I must say that Christmas cake and minced pies are not my favorite. We were allowed to watch a movie and so we saw bits and pieces of Tangled, Herculez, and Mary Poppins throughout the day. I really didn't even have a desire to watch them, but it was cool to for one time not feel like I needed to ask to have the tele turned off. We went to the Turney's later to skype and I just love being there because it is just a fun home and all the kids are my ageish. Boxing day was the 26th and is a proper holiday in England as well. All the buses did not run and we went to 2 huge feasts. The holidays have so much food and chocolate. Our flat is overflowing with sweets. Not good.

Christmas morning!

Chistmas dinner at the Julians. So in England they have these cool things called crackers. You pull the two ends with the person next to you and inside they have a joke, a hat, and a random gift. So we all wore these lovely hats for Chirstmas dinner.

Transfers: It is always so scary getting a call from president because I always have this fear I am going to get rebuked for something, haha. But I haven't gotten a phone call like that so far so that is good. But anyway, he called on Saturday to ask if I would be the sister training leader for the Plymouth zone and then let us know that Sister Andersen and I get to stay in Teignmouth, so we are stoked on that. A sister training leader goes on exchanges and helps the sisters out if they need help, but that is all I really know. I'll probably know more when we go to missionary leadership council on Friday in Staines. 

New Year: I cannot believe it is January already and I've been out 7 and half months. Everyone thinks of goals during this year and I want to commit everyone to think of one thing they can do every week to be a better missionary (aka known as being more Christlike). This is seriously the most precious gift and everyone deserves to know Christ all year long and to know He has restored His church. I love being a missionary. I love the ups and downs. and I love you all!

  

This is us dancing around the Christmas tree. It is a danish tradition to do this Christmas eve and sing Danish Christmas songs.

Celebrating a Danish, American, and Bristish Christmas

Honeycomb crisp hot chocolate, I am in love with.

Best Week Ever

I am overcome with so much joy, love, and happiness, a deep joy, love, and happiness that I cannot even simply put into words. 

This week has been the best week of my mission hands down. 

Billie: Billie was the person who walked into church last Sunday and we taught her 3 times this week and she has accepted the date to be baptized December 14th! She is hungry for the truth and has been facing a lot of opposition from her pastor, friends, and anti-mormon material, but she said this text that was so beautiful. It said "thanks so much for the response. I have been praying and last night really felt like this is a true church. I guess this is one of the bumps we spoke about the other day where you are discouraged. There are so many attacks in this church and it's confusing and sad. It is really hard taking this step, but I have faith in God and Joseph Smith. Very grateful for your teachings and the blessings you are bringing to my life:)". She is so awesome! She came to the ward activity on Tuesday and asked us to meet with her again the next day. The university YSA  members that have moved in Victoria, Rachel, and Isabel have been such a great blessing to the missionary work as they have come on a lot of teaches with us.

Guy Fawkes: So fun! We had dinner and firworks at the Turveys' and so many people were there. It is always a party with the Bath ward :) Chris and Billie came too and it was so good to see them being welcomed and integrated into the ward. Such a fun night and it was pretty sweet to see fireworks everywhere that day and week.

This is the Turveys' house and view. They have an Australian flag because their daughter Sophie is serving a mission there.

We had fireworks at their house for Guy Fawkes and this is a picture of Carly, Alice, Me, Rachel, our investigator, Billie, and Sister Chamberlain. I love these girls so much!

Chris: HE WAS BAPTIZED AND CONFIRMED THIS WEEKEND!!!!!!! Leading up to that we had FHE with the Pattersons' on Monday (such a spiritual lesson on service, he cannot wait to serve!), ward activity on Tuesday, baptismal interview on Wednesday, institute with the YSA in Bristol, Friday a lesson in the Broads' home, Saturday he was baptised, and Sunday he received the gift of the Holy Ghost and the Aaronic priesthood! He is planning on blessing the sacrament next week! Seriously Chris has been truly a miracle. It was so surreal for us as missionaries. I still cannot believe everything that has happened in the past 3 weeks. The baptismal service was magical. The Spirit was so strong. Rachel spoke on the Baptism, Jamie Patterson spoke on the Holy Ghost, and there was a musical number by a couple men. A ton of the ward came to the baptism and it meant so much that they were hear to support Chris and the missionary work happening. Brother Broad, who is amazing-most selfless man and our ward mission leader baptised and confirmed Chris. His blessing for the Holy Ghost was beautiful and you could just feel that Chris is going to do so many great things in his life and in the church. I am so grateful there is one more righteous, worthy, and humble priesthood holder on the earth. I cannot put into words the many moments of joy we have had teaching Chris and seeing him being so willing to follow the example of Jesus Christ. He is coming on a teach with us Tuesday night :)

Chris's baptism :) :) :) Brother Broad baptized him, our ward mission leader who I love so dearly.

Transfers: After church, we went to the Bishop's for dinner and as we were waiting for dinner to be done cooking all of the family and us were gathered in their family laughing and having such a good time. And then I felt the phone vibrate and I just knew it was President. We put it on speaker and he told us how proud of us he was for all the work happening in Bath, but sorry to say he would be splitting us up. He asked me to backup train a sister from Denmark who has been out 6 weeks. So on Wednesday, I'll be going to Teignmouth which is in the Plymouth zone (Southwest of England) and right on the coast near Devon and Newton Abbet. He then asked Sister Chamberlain to train in Bath, so I'll be a grandma now! Both of our hands were shaking and as soon as the call ended, Sister Chamberlain and I couldn't help the tears leaking out of our eyes. It was such a beautiful, happy, sad, bittersweet moment and I was so thankful to be in the Bishop's home at that time. We ate a lovely dinner and pudding (they call dessert here that) filled with a lot of laughter and then went in to end on a spiritual note. The spirit was so strong as we talked about love and the story of the Anti-Nephi Lehis. I started bearing my testimony and broke down because of how much I truly loved Bath, the ward, the Kitsells, Sister Chamberlain, and everyone we met. All the Kitsells were tearing up as well and Bishop said the most sincer things with a tear in his eye. It meant so much to me, especially because Bishop is not a man of many word. I will never forget those moments and those people. They are sacred to me, and it made me realize how strong love is. I know my time was coming up in Bath. It doesn't make it an easier, but I know I am supposed to help this sister find the joy of being a missionary and keep on inviting everyone closer to our Savior Jesus Christ in Teignmouth! (I don't know if that is how you spell it).

We love carly! She is a convert of about 2 years.

I'm going to miss this view.

I cannot believe I am hitting my 6 month mark! I am feeling that joy of bringing souls unto Christ. I have felt it, and I just want to keep on spreading that joy and inviting more to feel the love of this gospel of Jesus Christ.

I love you all. I love how kind Heavenly Father is to us. I have a testimony of patience. It doesn't mean waiting around lazily for good things to happen, it means actively being diligent and trusting the Lord because he knows what is best for us. I learned that as I've been in Bath for 6 months and it was until my last 3 weeks that we met Chris and he was able to be baptised and confirmed. I know I am just an instrument in His hands, but I think it is the best instrument you can every learn to play :)

Love and Cheers,

Sister McLeod

When we carved pumpkins at the Kitsells'.

Hope

Transfers: Crossing my fingers I stay in Bath. I will find out tonight, and my p-day or moving is on Wednesday, but we are allowed to e-mail a little bit today.

Hope: Even if things don't work out with some investigators, it is necessary to hope and get excited that the next person you meet will accept and apply the gospel in their lives and be baptised. You have to envision that with every investigator regardless of past experience. I don't want to be jaded from past experiences and I know the only way to do that is to look forward in faith to my Savior Jesus Christ. Not going to lie, I want to lead others to baptism SO BADLY. That is my purpose as a missionary here in England. We are going to find someone this transfer to baptise, we have set that goal and are so committed to doing all we can to show the Lord we are for realzzz. We are going to forget ourselves and go to work. It is the only intelligent way to approach missionary work.

University Students: Uni is back in session and we are pumped! Bath Spa University is here and so there are students flocking everywhere and we have some really good potentials. I love talking to people my own age because I can relate to them and they are usually much more open to talk. Plus 3 mormon uni students came into our ward so that is awesome. One of them, Rachael, is from Palo Alto (so excited to talk with someone from the Bay Area, man i just love my homeland so much) and getting her masters here. She is awesome to say the least. She served in a mission in Argentina and already has come on 2 teaches with us.

Making People Think: That is what I love most about being a missionary. Talking to people and asking them questions and seeing their mind search for the answer. I absolutely LOVE talking to atheists, which is like most everyone here. It is so interesting, I used to be so scared of them and I didn't know what to say to them, but it is amazing how the spirit works through you to know what to say. For example, yesterday we met a uni student named Guy. He was an atheist (but the type that you could tell was still searching for answers about God) and even played a part in the Book of Mormon musical, and a total Jack the lad (term for a popular, confident type of guy) so you just know it was a fun convo already. We started talking to him for a bit and completely blew away all of the stereotypes of an American and a mormon. I could see it took him back that every question he had we could answer with confidence and assurance. We then parted and we continued knocking, and then he came back! I love how I could tell he was thinking about what we had talked about because he was like okay I have 2 questions. We continued talking for about 30 minutes and it ended with him wanting to read the Book of Mormon. Still skeptical of course, but he was so intrigued. I just know one day, he is going to join because this church is God's church and is so true. It just makes sense. It gets truer and truer every day as people challenge what I believe in. I am continually asking God questions and asking for the help I need to overcome weaknesses. But He never lets me down and is always there to strengthen me. 

General Conference: So I never realised how being in similar time zones to Utah was a blessing for General Conference. Because of the time difference in England, and that we would have to travel to Bristol to see it, we are trying to go to members homes to see some sessions at funky times. We are not sure how it all works out so we will let you know next p-day. But to say the least, I AM PUMPED TO HEAR THE PROPHET AND HIS APOSTLES. Like really, it is the best think ever to have modern revelation.

Love and cheers, 

Sister McLeod