Wednesday, December 20, 2017

An EMM Christmas and Transfers

Well Hiya everybody! I forgot to mention in my last email that my pday for this week and next is gonna be on Tuesday because of the holidays. Well now ya know!

EMM Christmas Party
On Thursday, we got to go party with the half mission all day. It was so fun! We got there around 10 AM, mingled, sang Christmas songs, ate tons of amazing food, and took lots of pics! There was also a talent show and since I have zero talent I did not participate but it was fun to watch everyone! The end of the day was spent in the chapel where we got to hear from good ole President McReynolds, his wife, and the testimonies of the departing missionaries. Such a spiritual high!
This week we also had our ward Christmas party! My ward really knows how to party. We had super yummy food and lots of fun games. It's so fun being in this ward at Christmas. They treat me like family. I've gotten countless cards and gifts and I feel like I've been in the ward for years.

Gettin Chilly
Well I really shouldn't complain about my accommodations because we really are blessed with good homes. But this week unfortunately our heater BROKE so we've been super cold for the past few days. And they couldn't fix it til Monday so we were without heat for about 4 days. Lol don't worry we good now. The biggest struggle was the nutella freezing.

Casually Tried to Convert the Muslim Bus Driver
Lol so something really funny happened on Friday night. We went to tea at a members home and we started our hour long bus ride journey home. When I stepped on the bus, the Bus driver asked me what church I was from. Totally caught off guard, I proudly responded "I'm from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!" My companion sat down on the bus and I then spent the entirety of the bus ride standing next to him sharing with him our beliefs.  His name is Asad and he's from Somalia but lives in Liverpool now. He was asking all sorts of questions. We literally bounced from Jesus Christ to Prophets to Joseph Smith to the Book of Mormon to the Plan of Salvation and then a bit of the word of wisdom lol. Basically touched on every single lesson. I also learned a lot about the Muslim faith. He told me to read the Karan (lol) and I explained as a missionary, I can't read it but I made a promise to him that when I go home, I'd take a look at it if he took a Book of Mormon from me and he agreed! Lol who even knows what will come from that but hey, I had fun. My companion later told me that the 6 or 7 people also taking the bus were super annoyed by me because I was distracting the bus driver. Lol #sorrynotsorry hahah I love being a missionary!

Investigators
The holidays are an amazing time but they are also very busy. Our investigators have been super booked so we haven't been able to see Craig, Jeff, or Callam...and the rest have pretty much dropped us lol it's fine!

Transfers!!
Also this transfer is over?! What?! Granted it was a 5 week transfer instead if 6 but oh my heck it's gone so fast. My Zone Leader thought it'd be funny to tell me I was moving before Christmas and I literally started tearing up, but he then told me that I'll be staying in Birkenhead with my companion, Sister Gaugau. But I'm super happy to be staying in the Chester Zone and in the beloved Birkenhead for Christmas!

Spiritual Thought
Something that stuck out to me was in one of the departing missionaries' testimonies, a Sister from Lesotho (somewhere in Africa) said, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is our home away from home." She went on saying that as far away from home we are, we have common ground when it comes to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I just love that because that  gospel to me means home. This season, may we all remember the amazing gift of the Gospel that we are so blessed to have.

As much as I miss you all, I miss my family the most! I'm excited to see them on Skype in just 6 days! I hope you all have an amazing Christmas! You'll hear from me next Tuesday and then I'll go back to Mondays. Merry Christmas!


Sister Gilland 💕

1- Christmas Tree and PJ's
2- Sister Dunlavy and I before she got transferred
3- Sister Turnbull and I! she went home to Australia today!
4- 4 Americans, 2 Canadians, 2 Brits, and an Aussie in one pic #diversity​


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