Mission Life is Good

     It's been a good week.  Sister Stuart and I have found a lot in common this week.  She is actually really funny and we get along great now.  We think that we are similar in a lot of little ways, so that is why we butted heads at the beginning of the transfer.  Thank you for all of your prayers!   
     For P-day we went bowling down on the Marina with our district.  I have said it before, but I love my district so much!  We have such a fun time when we are all together!  We bowled, then the other sisters in our district had to catch their train back to Eastbourn (their area), but us Brighton missionaries still had 2 hours of p-day, so we played a whole bunch of the arcade games.  It was so much fun and a good stress reliever.  

Sister Stuart and I last P-Day

Me, Sister Stuart, Elder Reed, and Elder Lam

At the Pavillion, it is the coolest/prettiest place ever

     We found out we had to go and stay the night with the VC (Visitor Center) sisters because of MLC for Sister Stuart.  They literally gave us a 1 hour heads up, so we were booking it to the train station, only to get in, buy our tickets, and miss the train by 30 seconds.  Luckily a ward member offered to drive us, so we got there in time.  I swear I am basically a VC sister because I spend so much time there.  I always joke that one of these transfers President will transfer me there because I already know how it works.

      Tuesday I spent the day there.  I got to watch Meet the Mormons, which was really nice.  I cried during the Missionary Mom's one, that was really sad and made me think about when I left.  I did just about everything you can do in the VC that day, I watched all the presentations and read all the displays.  But it was a nice relaxing break from everything that has been going on.  They do online work there, so I had 3 hours to just explore the church websites.  I looked at a lot of mormon.org profiles, and I read a lot on lds.org.  I had to speak in church this week, so it was nice to have access to lds.org to find quotes and stuff I could use. That night when we got back we went to the Deans (a senior couple that live in the same apartment as us) for dinner, they always make us stroganoff, which is so good!  They put it on potatoes though, try it, it is really tasty! 

     Wednesday was definitely our bad day for the week.  To start out, we left to catch the bus to make it to a teach, only to find out our bus passes were expired and we didn't have money to buy a pass, so luckily the Deans were willing to drive us, they saved our life! haha.  Then we had 5 scheduled appointments, but they all fell through.  Its days like those that I really dislike and that make being a missionary hard. 

         Thursday we had district meeting.  We talked about the work in our district and then people presented lessons and stuff.  They are usually pretty beneficial.  I enjoy them.  We had a couple appointments that day too out in New Haven.  We saw a couple, who I love, they are recent converts who are like my grandparents, they spoil us so much.  They are the best.  We also saw a family we teach.  They aren't married, and found out this week that they were pregnant, however she also found out that she had had a miscarriage.  So she was pretty down, but she told us her focus now is on marriage and getting baptized. 

         Friday, was the typical Brighton day, stuck in the chapel teaching all day.  We had 4 teaches back to back, so we were going a bit stir crazy being stuck in the chapel.  Then that day Lewis (the ward mission leader) told us about everything going on in France.  That is pretty scary stuff, especially cause we were like a 1 hour ferry ride or train ride from Paris...and the place they found one of the guys is like 30 miles across the sea from us...so we have been told to be extra careful, especially in the area we are in.  I guess London has some terrorist threats or something, but anyways, pray that we will be kept safe.  I am sure we will be fine, but when I first heard about all of it I was kind of scared and felt like hiding my badge to be kept safe haha.  Don't worry, I would never do that...We also heard about the new mission president that will be coming this summer.  He is serving in the Frankfurt Germany mission right now as a senior couple, they are from Orem, he was a Seminary president, and the Orem North YSA Stake president (or something like that...).  It will be really hard to see president Millar go, he is a great guy.  He is the oldest mission president in the world, cool fact.  

         Saturday was a really relaxed day.  Last week I told you about our moldy couch, well we got rid of it!  I was so happy!  The mission office has a big van and they were bringing a new mattress down for the Deans, so while they were here we had them haul our couch to the tip.  It felt so good to get rid of it, and it wasn't comfortable at all!  The elders found a couch on the side of the road that is pretty nice, so they gave it to us.  It stinks like cats, but it is super comfy!  So we were in our flat most of Saturday doing stuff with the couch and weekly planning.  We went to lunch with the Elders and Elder Dean at a place called the Carvery, it is a buffet of traditional sunday roasts here, it is actually pretty good and cheap, so we like it!  That night we went up to the VC with an investigator and recent convert to see Meet the Mormons.  It was really good for them to see.  One of them said they really enjoyed seeing the missionary mom one because it reminds them how hard it must be for us to come out here.  I think people out here forget that we have a family back home and that it is hard to leave them. 

         

     Then yesterday...I love Sundays, they are like mini p-days in a way.  Like I said earlier, I had to speak AGAIN in Sacrament Meeting, I swear I have to speak every week.  I spoke about how my family helped prepare me to serve a mission.  I talked about what Mom and Dad did as we were growing up to teach us the gospel, like reading the Book of Mormon every morning, making church a priority, honoring their temple covenants and teaching us the importance of coventants, and to love everyone.  I also talked about how mom and Bri tried to talk me out of going on a mission haha.  But I got a whole bunch of compliments after from ward members saying how awesome my parents sound, so there you go, people in England think you are awesome :)  Sister Stuart and I have been asked to present at Zone Training this week (a big meeting with our zone and president) about how to be a preach my gospel missionary.  And it has to be 20 minutes long!  We had no clue what to do, so we decided we are going to make videos about how to not be a PMG missionary.  So last night we started those, and we are doing more today for p-day with the elders.  They are hilarious, I can't wait for you guys to see them when I get home haha.  It is fun. 

     This week was SO much better than last.  It is very hard to transition from one companion to the next, because everyone is different.  But we have sorted our differences out and we laugh so much now.  It is good, we have a good time doing stuff.   Sounds like things are back to normal back home now.  That is sad that the Bronco's lost :( maybe next year...  Thanks for the journal entry dad, that is like exactly what I wrote in my journal last week, pretty crazy.
To answer some of Bri's questions:  We don't switch off cooking, we just kind of cook together and throw stuff together.  I have no clue what I eat some nights... we do have plans to go to Nandos soon, so that is exciting!
       Oh on a side note, Brad Wilcox gave a fireside at the Hyde Park Chapel last night, I was bummed we couldn't go... just thought I'd throw that in there.

          Well I love you guys.  Thanks for all the prayers!  Brighton is still Brighton and I see strange stuff everyday, a lot of stuff I wish I would have never seen, but that’s life.  I decided this week that I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve a mission and live in England.  If I would have just done the Study Abroad here I really wouldn't have gotten to know the people here or the culture, it is so much different living here.  I love it so much!  I know I will have a hard time leaving Brighton in a few months, I keep saying I would be fine if I stayed here my whole mission, it is heaven in a lot of ways.  I love it :)

Have a great week! 

Love,

Sister Robison :)