This has been a hard week! This has been a fun week! But as
always it has been a week of learning and growing!
For the 1st time since my 1st transfer, I got to go on
exchange with a sister who is the same age or older than me. Strange! I have
been senior companion since my second transfer and all my non sister training
leader exchanges have been with younger missionaries. I got to serve in Burnley
with a CANADIAN sister from my MTC group! It was so much fun to be able to
reunite with one of my originals and a fellow Canuck!! I have been a bit
isolated in the mission (I have been on the south/east and north border of the
mission for my whole mission....therefore I don't get to see a lot of other
missionaries too often) so to just talk and catch up on what everyone is up to
was a nice break for me!!
In the morning I'm making.....borsht?!
We are having an international food night for the branch
this weekend! I was inspired yesterday! Time to break out the borsht! I've been
wanting to make it so bad, but keep forgetting about it! I haven't had it since
I was Sis. Shchur at the beginning of my mission! I pictured feeding our Scots
a big bowl-full of borsht and was in fits laughing! I'm excited to see how this
goes!!
Random accent jokes that I will only probably appreciate:
Earlier in the week Sis McD was telling me about how she
played a game called Farm Yard Explosion when she was an EFY counsellor. Me-- clearly
demonstrating a great level of maturity and listening skills as I completely
ignored the story and very brilliantly pointed out. "WOW! For once there
is a phrase that sounds better in N. American than in English". Think
about it! Farrrrrm Yarrrrd Explosion (*insert posh sounding accent here),
sounds so much less and intense and way more boring than "FARM YARD
EXPLOSION!!!" in a thick American, sport announcer voice!! 8 long months
and finally my accent is vindicated!!
The most mind-blowing scriptural insight of my entire life!!
We were in our gospel principles class with a couple recent
converts. We were talking about Adam and Eve and discussing how strange it was
that God chose fruit to kick off mortality. Then our conversation drifted a bit
and ended up on the topic of the weirdest deep fried food we've ever heard of
(don't ask how we go from talking about eternal salvation to deep fried food in
the space of 3 mins! That is missionary life in a nutshell). Our recent convert
then proceeded to blow our minds:
"Maybe the fruit on the tree of knowledge of good and
evil was deep fried! I wouldn't blame them for eating it! It would be
impossible to resist eating that stuff!". True story. The End.
Exchange Adventures in the Big City:
It was SO nice to serve in an actual city for a couple of
days! It was even nicer to serve with an experienced missionary so I could kick
back a bit and enjoy serving without heaps of responsibility!!
I'm a Bunk Bed Burn Out:
So the Burnley flat has bunk beds. Normally that is no
problem for me. I'm tall. I can easily hop up into a bunk bed. I had a top bunk
as a kid. I had top bunk in the MTC with no issues. Essentially I am a seasoned
pro when it comes to bunk beds....EXCEPT, when they are flimsiest bunk beds I've
ever seen in my life!! I set one knee on the top bunk and felt like I was going
to break the bed. My companion is lovely and compact, standing at a massive
height of 5'2''. All I pictured was that scene in the RM where the Tongan is on
the top bunk and falls on top of Jared and breaks his neck!! I reminded my
companion of that movie scene and adamantly refused to sleep on the top bunk!
No ukuleles or broken necks please and thank you!!
Quintessential Canadian Dessert!:
We had a tea appointment!!! I have almost forgot what those
are up here!! But that was not the highlight! The highlight was that we were
served ice-cream and MAPLE SYRUP for dessert! The member had no idea that I was
coming on exchange, so it was such a beautiful coincidence that this dessert
happened to fall on the day that 2 Canadians were serving together!! Happy
Canadian in da house!!!
The Sights in Burnley (or maybe it was my asthma) Took My
Breath Away!:
So I am blessed to have some solid asthma attacks now and
again. Me (being the smart sister that I am) packed too quickly for my exchange
and forgot to toss my rescue inhaler in my overnight bag. All was fine until
the last couple hours of the exchange. Pouring rain, wind and freezing
temperatures (cold air is what makes for unhappy lungs) and we were running
behind schedule. My companion was newer to her area and was unsure of how to
get to the train station. Long story short, we got some rubbish directions and
RAN (literally) for 45 mins in a giant circle (lucky me, I was doing this with
a heavy overnight bag on my shoulder). Just as we turned the 45 min corner and
realized what had happened, my lungs were shutting down for business. Before I
knew it, I was seeing stars and blackness and collapsed. The police came. They
were trying to call an ambulance. It was awkward. We had a train to catch
(there were no other trains that would get me home that night). So we told the
police I would be ok, prayed and ran for the train. Prayer works! My attack
settled itself very quickly after the prayer. Our train was 20 mins late so we
caught it. It was a miracle! The second we got on the train, we burst into
laughter/tears (and coughing/wheezing fits for me) from the craziness and
stress of it all.
From all of this came
my new mission motto:
"Pray your face off and then laugh your face off!"
Learn it and love it! I have now found my new catchphrase
out here! Tried and true, this is the reason that I have had such a life
changing mission! I wouldn't have it any other way!!!
Sorry for the short email this week! Will write with some
more love and care next week! I love you all! Keep loving life! Keep loving the
Lord!! I love you!
Hope the time goes quickly for you and slowly for me!
Xx Sister Martin
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