THREE WEEK CATCH-UP

I am seriously the worst at writing emails, so I'm going to put everything from the last three weeks into one email.

• A couple weeks ago, I had my first exchange & I had the opportunity to go with a sister from Uganda who had only been out on her mission for one week! Sister Nyaketcho & I had lunch at Subway with the other sisters, taught a man from Togo who is now preparing for baptism, taught a woman from Portugal who is also working towards baptism, had dinner & traveled to Hemel Hempstead to see Sue. But she cancelled on our way there & we ended up having a member pick us up & she let us drop a note off at Sue's house. When we were about to pull away, Sue walked up & we were able to teach a quick lesson to her! MIRACLE because she wasn't supposed to be home for another hour but she was able to rush home so she could see us. 

• After the exchange we traveled with the sisters to Hyde Park for the specialised training. Watford & Romford zone were together in the morning. We learned about how we can more powerfully teach the message of the Restoration by focusing our lesson on the First Vision. After the meeting, we hopped in the "party van" to travel to St Albans with President & Sister Stevens & the APs. We then had the exact same meeting, but with Northampton & St Albans zones. We gave a training on using the Book of Mormon more effectively. It went so well! I was so surprised because I had been so nervous for the last week. But prayer works! The Lord answered my prayers & I was able to survive my first training in front of President. After we got home, we got a milkshake to celebrate.

• An old Filipino recent convert named Bing took Sister Fitts & I to lunch at a buffet that has food from all over the world. I ate so much food because Bing kept telling me to get another plate & obviously had to follow his counsel. I wanted to die after, but isok. 

• We also has the opportunity to go on an exchange with the Northampton sisters! I got to be with my old companion/stepdaughter, Sister Carr. We had a good day, but all of our appointments ended up cancelling last minute, so we walked for 3 hours straight & just talked to people along the way. 

• The stake relief society had a conference & all the sister missionaries got to serve fancy lil bite sized food to all the members. Then we heard amazing talks from different women in the stake who shared how they were able to become temporally & spiritually self reliant. 

• We were supposed to go on another exchange this Tuesday, but had to cancel it because Sister Fitts was really ill. I ended up sitting in the flat all day making calls, doing area book, & studying my scriptures. I almost went crazy. 

• Two missionaries in our district are dying (going home) in a couple weeks, so we had a funeral after district meeting. Then we ate McDonalds. 



• Our 14 year old investigator named Patrick received an answer that the Book of Mormon is true!!! But he cannot be baptised right now because his mother doesn't want him to be :( So we are meeting with her in Tuesday to teach her & praying she lets us continue to teach her son. 

• We had another exchange on Friday & I got to be with a new sister from New Zealand! She is the sweetest & most humble missionary I have ever met. I learned so much from her & we were able to see so many miracles together. I love exchanges because I learn way more from these sisters than they could possibly learn from me! 

• We are teaching this one guy from Kurdistan who has been taught for five years. He called us & told us he wants to be baptised, so we've been working with him since I got to Watford. But he was addicted to gambling, alcohol, tobacco, & illegal drugs when the missionaries first met him & now his only issue is that he smokes one cigarette each day. But anyways, he always dresses like a gangster & Sister Sheward & I were waiting for him outside the library & I DIDN'T EVEN RECOGNISE HIM CUZ HE LOOKED LIKE THIS: 



He is working towards being baptised in a couple weeks & has completely changed since when I first met him! He is so much happier & is excited for his baptism. It's so amazing to physically see how the Atonement of Jesus Christ can change lives. 


• SATURDAY WAS MY YEAR MARK!!!!! I only have six months to go. Sister Fitts & one of the elders in our area are in the same MTC group as me, so we all had dinner together to celebrate. 


I love you all & miss you!  
Sister Sydney Johannes