Christmas as a missionary is officially the most incredible
experience anyone can ever have! This has been one of the hardest and funnest
weeks of my life!
Likening my weight unto a yo-yo:
So Carlisle is a beautiful place, because it is a massive
area (one of the villages in our area is apparently 35 miles away) and it has
the worst bus system known to man (buses are almost non-existent out here). In
missionary terms, this equals weight loss! So I've finally started slimming
down again, just in time for Santa to slam the sweets on the sisters. Carlisle
branch is full of the loveliest people ever! We have been spoiled sick!!! We
received the largest Christmas hamper I've ever seen in my life!!!! Filled with
food, toiletries and sweets; not including all the individual gifts and cards
we've received! So my official prediction is that plan cut-down the
pounds in Carlisle will be sabotaged quickly! Thank-goodness I have the
comfort of knowing that no matter what, Jesus Christ, and my mother will still
always love me ;)
Speaking of Weight:
We went to the mission home on Wednesday for our Christmas
training. Amazing! We are blessed with the best couple on planet earth to lead
this mission! President and Sister Preston pulled out all the stops for us, and
as far as I'm concerned I think they should pretty much be translated and
carried up to heaven (Enoch style) for everything they did for us this
Christmas!!
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| This bag was handmade and embroidered by Sister Preston and her sister. They made over 240 of these for each of the missionaries serving! |
Our district received all our Christmas packages that day as
well. Because we were going on exchanges with our sister training
leaders and they were giving us a lift back to Carlisle, we offered to
take all the elders packages home so they wouldn't have to carry them on the
trains. As we departed, the car seemed quite sluggish and we were confused why
it couldn't go over 20mph. I guessed maybe there was something wrong with the
car; Sister B and I both wondered if it was simply in the wrong setting. Our
sister training leaders were convinced that the weight of all the packages must
be too much for the car. Sis. B and I were making faces at each other as they
said this, because it was a new car with automatic transmission so that made no
sense to us. There are human beings heavier than the packages that we were
carrying. So in cliche, Molly Mormon sister missionary style, the car was
pulled over and we offered a prayer, asking for a blessing to be on the
engine (we were all snickering through the prayer....couldn't quite believe
that we had just prayed for an engine). Trip resumed. 3 seconds later, it was
declared that the car was too heavy, and we had to return to the mission home
and make the elders carry their packages. We pulled in the drive to the look of
confused elders, as the sisters yelled to them that the load was too heavy.
Right as they said that, the driver discovered that (as Sis. B and I had
guessed) the car was in drive+ (equivalent to putting it in gear 2 for hills
back home). The windows were rolled up fast, and embarrassed, we zipped away
before the elders could realize our dumb mistake.
Baby mama drama:
Strange things happen when you are stuck coordinating and
organizing records with elders for hours on end! I have been pushing forward a
new way of doing the work in Carlisle. I cleaned out our house when I first
moved in, and found piles of old records of people that missionaries
met, but missionaries never followed up on. As far as I was concerned, I
had pretty much found our next 20 baptisms!!! Hundreds of names, never
touched!!!!! So it has taken crazy coordination to sort it all out. As we were looking
at some of the records, with no surprise there were some hilarious/bizarre
stories & descriptions of people missionaries have met over the years. One
story reminded one of our elders about a story he heard. Apparently
once upon a time (I doubt it's true but funny nonetheless) there were 3 people
dated for baptism, who didn't get baptized because they were all caught
(literally) by elders have a messed-up, threesome triangle affair. As this
story was being told, I was doing map work and discovered the most hilarious
thing ever. There is a place called Knockup-worth Farm in Carlisle. In our
immaturity, we found the timing of this discovery (in the middle of the story)
hilarious. We started trying to guess what kind of place this would be;
what do they grow/raise there?! My guess was that it is actually an
orphanage! Instead of raising animals, they raise children!!!
So decided that we should offer to be their
new advertising managers. "Knockup-worth Farm......We raise them
babies for you! Yee Haw!!!"
Taylor Swift: A new missionary finding tool!:
So we have permission from leaders to listen to Christmas
songs sung by people like Michael Buble etc. as long as they're appropriate
Christmas hymns (e.g. Silent Night, Away in a Manger). Sis. B has a song by
Taylor Swift that sings about the need for Jesus to be the center of Christmas.
The main line says "Here's to the birthday boy who saved our lives".
My exchange companion blew my mind as we were talking to a man on the
street. Companion: "I heard someone once describe the real meaning
of Christmas, by saying Here's to the birthday boy who saved our
lives...etc. etc.". I found this hilarious! It took everything for me not
to laugh! As we were driving to Carlisle the night before, we were all listening
to it full blast in the car! Never in my life would I think someone could
manage to insert a Taylor Swift quote into a street contacting situation! 1st
time for everything!
It is Noah's ark out here:
After living in Carlisle for almost a month, I have decided
that I should be a weather woman and that I should be allowed to redefine
meteorologist terms using the following English scale I've created:
Brilliant = sun
Alright= cloudy with sun/bits of rain
Poorly= rain
England= lots of rain with flashes of cold wind....i.e. just
another English day
Mary Poppins= hello wind-storms!
Noah's Ark= Floods mixed with Mary Poppins and pigeons
getting pulverized by the wind
4 seasons= all of the above, occurring in the space of 1
hour!
Call Mark Madryga and tell him he's out of the job! This
Vancouverite has changed the face of weather forever!
That awkward moment when you sit on an elder's lap:
So generally English people are much more reserved and quiet
than we are! EXCEPT (as I discovered on Sat) at Christmas parties! Our little
branch Christmas party was the best church party I have ever been too!! Instead
of stressing about having a gigantic spread, they just told everyone to bring
stuff (no bishopric members stressing over cooking a giant turkey, and no RS
president stressing about making sure there is stuffing, mashed potatoes and
anything else you can think of). There were mostly finger foods and way
more desert than food, but it was fine. No one was bothered and everyone
was having a blast! Let's be honest, during Christmas most people want
to mainly eat artery clogging deserts anyways! We just put real food
on our plates to be polite! The decorations were also amazing!
Tinsel, paper chains, trees, mistletoe, Christmas table clothes everywhere. It
was like Christmas got sick all over the cultural hall! Christmas music booming
in the background. These people know how to party!
What made it great though was that they actually play GAMES
at their Christmas parties. Pass the parcel, musical chairs, musical statues
etc. (if it wasn't obvious yet, I'm hinting that people back home should read
this and use it for next year's Christmas party! No point in beating around the
bush).
Pass the parcel here is the best ever! Each round that
someone takes a layer of wrapping off the present, the person has to do
something (99% of the time it's super silly) that has been predetermined and is
written on a list. Most rounds included the person having to put on a
silly wig. Some people had to sing a song. Some had to ride a toy pony and
gallop around the circle of people etc. etc. etc. So much fun!
Musical chairs! If you want to see an awkward sandwich, just
watch a sister accidentally sitting on an elders lap as they both dive for the
same chair. Yup. That was me. We both flew off the chair so fast that it was
like two magnets repelling each other. Then I realized that he had dived off
the chair, and proceeded to sit back on the chair before he could! That's a
strategy I would have never thought I could use before to win! All in all, so
much fun! Highlight of the night though was seeing a skinny, ginger Santa
Clause with a Scottish accent (our branch president) hand out the presents!
Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime for me!
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| After playing Pass the Parcel |
Time for a spiritual tidbit for the
day (*drool...the word tidbit just reminded me of Timbits and
I suddenly just had my 1st Tim Horton's craving since I've left Canada):
I have been having amazing studies the last month! I wish I
had time to just write for hours about all the mind-blowing things I'm learning
from the scriptures! I'll highlight one thing though that really stood out to
me!
So I have been reading Mosiah/Alma for the past 2 months.
The beauty of these books is that they are packed with missionary experiences,
so reading them out here is a billion times better!
Alma 26: 5-6 So we often hear missionary work being compared
to a harvest. We've all heard those scriptures a million times where words like
sheaves, wheat, harvest, thrust in your sickle etc. etc. are used. I was
curious to see how many scriptures there are of this nature. I went to the
index and looked up all the key words in this scriptures.
Prepare to have your mind blown! Scriptures about missionary
work (being compared to a harvest) are only found once or twice in the Book of
Mormon, and they are only (generally) found in Alma and Mosiah. The next
mention of such scriptures are once again very little, and when they are
mentioned again in the BOM it is in 3 Nephi, where Jesus is talking/prophesying
about the future (our times).
I have loved to compare this part of the BOM to our times.
In this part of the BOM, Christ's birth is right around the corner. It is here
that there is a call for the work to move forward. The missions of Alma,
Amulek, Aaron, Ammon, Omner and Himni are the most inspiring records I
have ever read. They bring me to tears. These men baptized THOUSANDS!!! 6
people! Went to go preach to the most hard-hearted, hostile, wicked people of
that time and after enduring every trial possible, they baptized THOUSANDS and
watched these people become indescribably happy and righteous.
Here is where I was shocked and inspired. In the index,
where there is only 2-3 harvest scriptures in the BOM, there are 10-15+ in Doctrine
and Covenents (the scriptures and revelations of OUR day). If thousands were
baptized at a time where the call for missionary work wasn't that great, how
many has the Lord prepared at this time?! How much greater is the call for
missionary work today?! How many more TENS OF THOUSANDS has the Lord
prepared!!!!! As I read through the account of Alma and the sons of the Mosiah,
there was reference to the Lord preparing the hearts of the people to receive
the word. His spirit was travelling throughout the land. It is all a matter of
FAITH! Do we believe that now is the time?! Do we believe that God is who he
says he is; a God who can use us- his imperfect children- to be instruments in
his hands...to move mountains if needed! Do we believe that branches can become
wards? and wards can be divided to form new ones? If we aren't doing missionary
work and are not ACTING, then we do not. If we truly believe in the power and
divinity of our father in heaven, then we know that anything is possible, and
that NOW is truly the time for His work to happen! The men in the scriptures
never gave excuses. They put their trust in the Lord- even though I'm sure they
were terrified and had no clue how it could happen- and courageously did as He
commanded them.
Alma 26:6-- the Lord is calling for the work to happen NOW
because later is too late! Think about the BOM in late Helamen/3rd
Nephi. The people were so hard-hearted! You see the missionary work go to a
halt (in comparison to Alma's time). Satan had too much of a hold on the hearts
of those people. The Lord needed his missionaries to do all they could before
it was too late. The Lord is making that same call again! He wants as many of
his children as possible to return to Him. He NEEDS us to do our part to
make this happen! The Saviour's coming is right around the corner! We must
share the love of Jesus Christ. We must firmly witness that he is real, and
stop being ashamed of it. Christ was never ashamed of us. He never gave up on
us, even though this came with the ultimate price. He loves us. How
much do we love him? How much will we sacrifice to help his gospel move
forward! Now is the time. There will be no later. I truly believe this with all
my heart!
Anyways, rant over. If you couldn't tell, I'm only slightly
passionate about missionary work ;) Most exciting Christmas of my
life! Even more exciting is the fact that I am going to watch Brave on
Christmas, when I'm only a few mins from the Scotland border (how amazing
is that?!). I'm so grateful to be a missionary and to be doing the Lord's
work during this time of the year!!! I couldn't think of a better way to spend
this time of my life! I pray that everyone has a blessed Christmas season and
that many wonderful family memories are made at this time! May the Lord bless
everyone with his love, as we celebrate his birth and his incredible life!!
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| Heaps - a good Aussie term "heaps of fun" |
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| Is it popcorn popping...or mushrooms |
Hope the time goes quickly for you and slowly for me!
<3 Sister Martin
