Share Sista Pope's adventures as she serves a mission in jolly ole' England. I (Mama Jane) will be posting excerpts from her letters. Check back often and leave some love in the comments! I'll be sure she sees it.
I could tell you all the high lights of the week, but for now, I will just tell you about the most remarkable thing that we do everyday. We go outside and we invite people to learn more about Jesus Christ, because He means something to us. We stop complete strangers, because we feel a sense of love for them. We repeatedly get told to go away and to give up. The most remarkable thing that we do everyday is that we keep doing it.
So with this whole Royal Wedding business, it got me thinking - what does this have to do with the gospel? It was so cool to see everyone so excited about a marriage. I was talking with a LDS schoolteacher of 5 year olds. Out of her whole class, only one or two of them had parents that were married - most of them didn't even know what a wedding was. So what did they do? They performed a mock wedding, using the 5 year olds! It was adorable! I was just thinking about all of this, and thinking about how no one takes marriage seriously anymore, but think about it, no matter how much William and Kate love each other, Kate was not a “princess” until she married William. There's power in promises and even more in covenants.
A lady from the branch told us a cute story yesterday. When she first joined the church she went to the doctors’ b/c she had this tingly sensation going up and down her arms and she kept feeling really warm inside all the time. The Doctor had no idea what to say. A member later told her not to worry, she was just feeling the spirit.
We gave a man a Book of Mormon when we were in a random, remote village. It was the second time we'd been there, and we bumped into this guy who was visiting from Birmingham. We taught a brief restoration and he left with a copy of the Book of Mormon. The next morning we get this text/short essay, "Hello Sisters Pope and Rose. I met you yesterday at the bus stop in Honeybourne. After our brief encounter yesterday I was really intrigued by you. I put it down to you both being very nice. When I woke up this morning though, all I could think was that I had to read the book. It felt surreal, like I had to read it rather than wanting to. Is this normal? Have I been touched or chosen or something because I am not sure I understand what has changed in my mind but something has. Please reply." So we called him back and told him that the Book was God's words - that's why it's so powerful, and that you're Okay, you are just feeling the spirit. Ha. So hopefully we will see him tomorrow. He's read first Nephi now. The Book of Mormon is so powerful. It truly is.
So for Easter we went to visit an 88-year-old widow, a real rock of the church. She is the loveliest old woman in all of the UK. She shared with us something very special yesterday! When her husband was the stake president he invited President Harlold B. Lee to come speak to the saints, and he accepted! Halfway through the meeting she was passed a note to inform her that they were coming over for lunch afterwards! President Lee and his wife, along with Elder Gordon B. Hinckley and his wife all went over for lunch! Can you imagine feeding the prophet? She showed us the pictures in a little album she had, along with some letters of correspondence between President Lee and President Hinckley! I got to look at their signatures - how cool. While President Lee was there, they had to buy him a white shirt from Marks and Spencer’s. President Lee was so thrilled with the style and fit of the shirt that in his thank you note, he requested that if it wasn't asking too much, could they please send him two more of the same shirts? He included the sizes and a traveler’s check. How adorable. I didn't expect that when I read the letter!
It has been one year since the Icelandic volcano eruption - which also marks the one-year anniversary of my anti-climatic, failed airport departure to England. Well, I'm glad I'm here now!
So the other week we were out "finding". I felt prompted to go down a particular street. I felt kind of stupid because I seem to always get prompted to go down that street and I was thinking, "oh man, Sister Rose is going to think I'm crazy..." but I just went ahead and did it. Then this girl passes, and I ask if she wants to go to church with us and she says yes! Then I didn't know what to say, but somehow fumbled through giving her directions, a Book of Mormon, and our phone number. To add to my surprise she actually came! She’s a really cool girl - 23 years old, originally from Kent. She’s a hospice/respite nurse and was on call, so halfway through the gospel principles lesson, she got a call that she needed to go. We left a message on her phone afterwards and tried to call her again during the week, but got no response. I was really bummed and thinking, aw man she got freaked out. So later that week I get a prompting to go find her at her house, and I'm like, "no I don't want to!!!! I can't take the rejection!!!" but we go anyway, and she's there, and she says, "Oh, hey guys! wanna come in?" huh? Then we proceed to have a great lesson. John was telling me about how they do things down in Mexico for first lessons and I've been dying to try it out on an investigator (trouble is, is that all of them kept not showing up for their appointments...). Anyways, Sister Rose and I have been referring to it as “mexi-style”. Well, we bust out the mexi-style! and we ask her about what she hopes to get out of church and meeting with us, and she says, to be a better person; to have a new start. So we tell her how to achieve that (baptism) and she accepts! and wants to be baptized on the 8 of May! I was in a state of shock and awe for the rest of the night. THANK goodness this is the Lord's work and not mine! I felt very dumb and very humbled, and very grateful for the promptings of the spirit. It's so silly that I kept feeling like doing things I didn't want to do, but as I did them, we saw great success and felt great happiness. I realized that without the spirit, you really only take shots in the dark. Being able to recognize the promptings of the spirit has been the most valuable resource to me on my mission and Heavenly Father really knows what's best. Phew. So basically what I'm trying to tell myself is to quit dragging my feet about it and go to!
One year I've been here, and I miss you all at home, but the things I've felt and heard and seen have already changed the way I will see and feel and hear forever.
I am grateful for our Savior, He lives.
I love you!
Madie
