Bank Holiday.

Hiya Family!

I'm so glad you had fun at the reunion! Our family is the best!

 

I can't wait to hear where Sara and Bunker get their calls to. So is Paul married now or just engaged (sorry sometimes I can't really follow everything that is happening- for example, I forgot Jon and Rachel had a baby. So many babies around) 

I look forward to all the pictures next week. I hope Linda and Julie and Katie get better soon. BP's sent your way! Hopefully they can be sent Sister Wen's way too. She's been feeling quite poorly the last two days. So our day today will be spent in the flat so she can sleep and try and get over whatever it is (not sure if it's just bad hayfever or a cold). It's bank holiday Monday. We were suppose to have a ward picnic but it was slightly raining this morning so they cancelled it. We are super super bummed (gutted could also be an appropriate word used here, fyi) because we had lots of less actives coming and lots of members had invited their friends. :( hopefully we get other chances to bring these people closer to their Saviour.

 I really have decided that Bank Holiday is of the devil. So every couple months or so (to be honest I don't know what determines a Bank Holiday. I'm sure you can google it.) we have Bank Holiday. It's always on a Monday and government buildings and libraries (so we have to pay to email from an internet cafe) are closed and lots of other shops are closed. Buses run less frequently. And most people have work off. But the reason that I think it's of the devil is because what it leads people to do on Sunday. It's so strange. In people's mind, its like they change Monday to the day of rest and do all sorts of crazy things on Sunday. People are outside doing all kinds of manual labor on Sunday and on Sunday night lots of people go out and drink because they can sleep in and get over their hangover on Monday. It just makes me so sad to see how deceitful Satan can be. Rather than people taking Sunday to rest and worship in the way we should, they decide that they will do all the work they possible can on Sunday, so then on Monday they can sleep in(or 'have a lay in' as they say in England), rest, and have fun. It always makes me think of what PMG says "When a community or nation grows careless in its Sabbath activities, its religious life decays and all aspects of life are negatively affected. The blessings associated with keeping the Sabbath day holy are lost. We should refrain from shopping on the Sabbath and participating in other commercial and sporting activities that now commonly desecrate the Sabbath." I'm grateful for the Sabbath because not only is it a day of Rest but it's a day of recharge. I can have this special wonderful day to feel the spirit, truly remember my Saviour and prepare to progress in the coming week.  And then I can know and expect that I will be blessed throughout the week for keeping this day holy. 

Highlight of this week was definitely interviews. I just love them. I love talking with President Jordan and all I learn from him and Sister Jordan. He said I will for sure be leaving Ilford at transfers (which is next week btw so I'll email on Tuesday). I knew it was coming and I'm grateful for the warning so I can prepare for it. Sister Wen says the ward isn't prepared for it. We had an exchange on Wednesday and I went to Ipswich. She said everyone they saw that day was freaking out because they thought I had left. One of the less actives they saw (he is this hilarious older man) wouldn't shake the hand of the sister that came for the day because he thought she was replacing me. When he realized she wasn't he was fine with it. haha. Oh boy. I'm definitely not ready to say good-bye to everyone, but I am excited for the new adventures I will have. President says my next area has a good chance of being my last. Now that is just scary and crazy! I'm trying to live up every moment I can. He spoke to us a lot about faith and also about our testimonies. Something I really loved was that we don't teach people to help them understand interesting facts. He said if we didn't that then they wouldn't have a baptismal interview, but a baptismal quiz with questions like "How many degrees of glory are there? Please list them in descending order." or "How old was Joseph Smith when he saw God and Jesus Christ?" He said we teach so we have something to testify about so they can feel the spirit. They will have a whole lifetime in the church to better understand the doctrines fully, but they really need to have a spiritual witness that what they are being taught is true, especially the Book of Mormon. Sister Jordan did a fabulous training on the Book of Mormon. I've really seen a difference as I've tried to apply those things. There is so much power available through the Book of Mormon. 

I know the church is true! 

Love, 

Sister Davis 

So I forgot to share the exciting story of the Ipswich Exchange. 

I went to Ipswich with lovely Sister Jacobsmeyer. The morning of the exchange they informed me that I didn't need to buy a ticket because Sister Curtis had gotten a return ticket for me back to Ipswich. Lovely. So I hop on the train with Sister Jacobsmeyer and we're having a dandy time. Then the ticketman (I don't know the proper term) comes to check everyone's tickets. So I get out my ticket and get out my railcard (it's a card for people up to age 26 that allows tickets to be 1/3 cheaper). Then Sister J is telling me about how she had to renew her card just the other day and she thinks to look at when I need to renew mine. Well, what do you know. It's expired. Since I'm in London we just use our Oyster cards for all our travel so I hadn't even looked at my railcard in about 2 months. oops. So the ticketman comes and tells me he'll have to issue a fine because my ticket becomes invalid since I don't have a valid railcard. He said it would be about £80!! What? Well, I only had £30 with me and they don't take card. And £80 is so much!!! Well, he was really really nice and understanding and then found the cheapest thing to do. He made it so it was only a £20 fine and then about £15 for a ticket the rest of my journey. (Sister J was nice and covered the rest of it). It was scary for a second, but he was really understanding and said I can appeal the fine since it was an honest mistake. And then we got to talk with him about the gospel. That was cool. And the woman across from us was listening the whole time. Then she had to use the toilet later and asked us to watch her bag. That normally wouldn't happen that someone asked a complete stranger to watch her bags, but I think she new that she could trust us. I'm so grateful to be trustworthy. That's something President Jordan mentioned in interviews that he could trust me in my areas (which is almost exactly what my setting apart blessing says). So even though I had to pay a fine it was wonderful to get to share about the gospel and plant positive seeds.

 

We got a fish pedicure last pday. These fish eat all the dead skin off your feet. It tickles so much but our feet felt like new afterwards. I wish we could do that everyday.