Before I start anything I have to declare something:
I AM THE LUCKIEST GIRL IN THE WORLD!
Why?
Because I just got back from Mr. Darcy's house. For anyone who has watched the Kiera Knightly version of Pride and Prejudice (no shame! I proudly admit that I have probably watched that film about 20 times!), I just got back from Lyme Park in Manchester, where "Pemberley" is located! Breath taking! I believe that the UK is the most beautiful place in the world!!!
Ok! Back to reality!
So it is official. My lovely Sister Sant is home and happy
and getting healthy now :) She did a great job and I learned so much this
transfer serving with her :)
So the big question everyone is dying to ask!!! Who is the
lucky sister that gets to be my companion for the last 12 days of my
mission?!?
..............DRUMROLL................
Sister Once from the Philippines :)
For my friends who are not fluent in Tagalog ;) The Once is
pronounced like Beyonce! Those who know me well know that Beyonce is my
girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Sasha Fierce was my last cd before I left on my
mission :P ) So this clearly was meant to be :)
As you are probably already picturing, our height difference
is hilarious and people on the streets are just loving it! It's not everyday
that you get a 6ft tall, white Canadian, and a 5ish ft tall Philippino hanging
out together on the mean streets of Manchester!
This just continues to prove the point that anything is
possible when you are a missionary!
People find it hilarious that the last name of my 11th
companion is Once (which means 11 in a couple of languages). The irony
kills me!
In respect for the significance of the number 11 this week,
I will talk about my top 11 moments of the week:
1. The atonement really does cover everything!!
I bet you think I'm about to go on a "holier than
thou", almost returned missionary spiritual rant!
Not today!
We had a wonderful tea appointment last night with some of
the best food I've had in awhile! About 3 hours after the appointment, Sister
Once surprised me when she suddenly burst out:
"Sister Martin, a miracle has happened!"
Curious- because we had had no miracles that day that I was
aware of- I inquired further and was mind-blown by her response:
"I ate prawns tonight and I didn't die!"
....She confessed to me that she is really allergic to
prawns. There was prawns in our tea that night. She told me that during the tea
appointment she had prayed that she would be ok and wouldn't get ill. And she
didn't.
So apparently the atonement even covers food allergies ;)
Disclaimer:
That being said, I will finish off this section with a quote
that the President and Sister Preston put in our missionary health binder,
which I think is wise and should be applied by everyone.
"Don't do dumb things, especially on p-days :) "
In other words: please don't test this theory! I am not responsible
for any allergic reactions that occur as a result from this story ;)
2. Santa Claus isn't real in the Philippines:
Sister O was telling me how Christmas is so much better in
England! Back home, kids freak out in the malls because Santa Claus is brown.
She told me they used to cry to their parents and tell them that Santa can't be
real because Santa doesn't have a tan! :P
She also described how they decorate little palm trees with
ornaments in the Philippines and their version of reindeer is goats!
Safe to say, I will feel so lucky to be a Canadian this
Christmas season. Having a cliche, cheesy Christmas makes enduring all the cold
and rain worth it :)
3. My new trunky voicemail:
I've been debating changing our voicemail this week. All of
the missionaries phones have the same identical, scripted voicemail which goes
as follows:
"You have reached the missionaries from the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints, serving in the (*insert area name here*) area. Please leave a message and we will return your call as soon as possible. Thank-you!"
After hearing the same voicemail for 18 months, it gets a
little boring after a few hundred years!
Sister O and I decided that we want to change our voicemail
to the following:
"WOOHOO I'M ALMOST DONE!!!! Sorry I can't get the phone
right now because I'm too busy running to catch my plane and take a 15 hour
nap, so don't bother leaving a message!! Thank-you BUH BYE!"
In theory it sounds funny, but something deep down tells me
I may need to save my sarcastic antics for another day ;)
4. My favourite joke of the week:
My most awkward and hilarious moment of the week is brought
to you by Sister Sant! We were having one of our bog-standard, normal
boring/awkward nightly call-ins to our district leader. We didn't have much to
report that night, so our district leader randomly burst out: "Tell me a
joke!"
Immediately Sister Sant told the 1st joke she could think
of:
"What is little mermaid's favourite subject in school?
....AlgeBRA"
She forgot that we were talking
to a bunch of awkward elders before she told the joke! The response was soooo
awkward! I was laughing because I though the joke was hilarious, Sister Sant
was freaking out because she just realized that she had told an underwear joke
to elders, and the elders were just awkwardly gaping like fish on the other
side of the line!
I have come to just love the awkwardness of missionary life,
and this moment topped off my week :) Just embrace the awkward, before the
awkward embraces you!
5. Asian priorities:
Sister Beyonce and I were talking about earthquakes (we both
come from places that unfortunately are prone to getting nasty earthquakes).
She told me about an earthquake that they had when she was a preteen. Her mum
was helping them get out of the house to go somewhere safe when suddenly she
stops helping them and leaves them to go and back into the house and rescue
their rice cooker!
She said her mum was screaming out "I need to save the
rice cooker!!!". Her dad stopped her mum and they just left and went to
safety! To say that Filipinos love rice is an understatement! They literally
eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner! And this proves my point!
6. Mr. Bean transcends all cultures:
Last year in Carlisle I planned a cultural night and the
theme was "Love transcends all cultures"
I officially want to revoke this statement and change it:
"Mr. Bean transcends all cultures"
Sister O and I discovered that
we were both raised watching Mr. Bean. (Our parents both love him!). We were
talking about our favourite episodes (while simultaneously embarrassing
ourselves as we imitated and acted them out) and realized that Mr. Bean is perfect
because anyone can watch it. He doesn't talk at all, so it doesn't matter what
language you speak! Anyone can enjoy it!
It was strangely beautiful to make this connection with my
companion who comes from such a different culture from me! Proves that you can
find things in common with anyone if you try hard enough!
7. Funny pub names.....continued:
I have ranted many times previously about how funny I find
the pub and chippy names in England. They are always random and always sound
like they were selected by the drunk Englishmen who sit inside of them.
Example 1:
I am emailing just down the street from The Old
Monkey!!
My favourite pubs/chippy of the week?:
Peter PAN and Captain Cook
They are both on the same street as each other, not far from
our home! So clever!
8. Likening the gospel to .....tanning?!
We had a marvelous stake conference this weekend (the best
I've honestly ever been to). The best part though was when a young returned
missionary gave a talk and used an analogy about fake tanning. He talked about
how the gospel was lots of work, just like when his mum goes tanning. You have
to sit under the sun for hours! You have to endure the horrible heat, the
indecent, awkward public exposure and all the sand that likes to creep into
every single crevice. But the result is worth it! You are filled with light
(big fat LOL) and look and feel great after. All that enduring was worth it!
HAHAHAHA! That's all I have to say about that.
The best part though was the fact that as he was giving this
analogy about tans, I was sitting between a sister from Tonga, Fiji and my
Filipino companion-- all with their beautiful dark skin. They all held their
arms out and held them up to mine and started teasing me, whispering to me:
"Palangi Palangi! You need to get a tan!"
I love being a missionary! It's fun being from different
countries and being able to tease each other and have so much fun!
9. Sneezing does
NOT transcend all cultures:
I wrote about sneezing wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy back at the
beginning of my mission! When I was a greenie, I learned that they sneeze
differently in Russia ("aaaap-chi!) haha :)
Well the sneeze strikes again!
Filipinos sneeze differently too!!!
"Hah- ching!"
It sounds like kung-fu to me! So hard-core!!!! I am
beginning to think that our sneeze is pretty week! We just sound like a bunch
of choo-choo trains when we sneeze!
10. Living Life: Gourmet French Style
I was talking with a French elder the other day in the tiny
bit of broken French that I could still remember from school. As we were
speaking (and laughing about the funny Quebecois accent that Candians have),
Sister BEYonce piped in that she knew some French.
She was about to say whatever phrase she had in mind, when
she suddenly forgot it and got all frustrated! She turned to me and said:
"How do you say cauliflower and cheese again?!"
"How do you say cauliflower and cheese again?!"
I was useless because:
1. I'm rubbish at French, the only help I could offer her
was "fromage"
2. I was too busy laughing with tears rolling down my eyes
Ce la vie! Just gotta roll with the punches and laugh at the
random things like throws at you :)
11. Choirs of angels:
I never had much of a testimony of music and hymns until
this weekend. This weekend was one of the most touching stake conferences I
have ever been to.....all because of the music!
The choir clearly has been preparing for a long long time! I
have never heard such enthusiastic singing from a choir and congregation in my
life! Everyone was putting their heart and soul into the hymns and I could
swear that there were angels singing with us! I was just in tears and so
touched at the power of music!
Too often we shy away from singing praises to the Lord, out
of fear that our voices aren't beautiful enough! We just need to forget
ourselves and remember who we are singing to! I have not felt a spirit like
that in ages and it was powerful to stand with my brothers and sisters and sing
praises to our Lord!
A random thought of the week to consider!
Phew! Rambling done!!!!!!!! Cherish the weirdness everyone,
because in two weeks it will all be over :(
I love you all so much and continually encourage you to look
beyond yourselves and see how you can be a blessing in the lives of others!
Serve! Love! Laugh! That is the secret to happiness!
Hope the time goes quickly for you and slowly for me!
With love,
Sister Martin xoxoxoxoxo
