FYI: This blog is being taken care of by Sister Martin's mom Sharon Martin - sharon-martin@telus.net. She is posting emails and pictures that I am sending to her each week.

Monday, 28 July 2014

Acronyms, owls and odd facts about England!

It's official! I'm finally getting my 1st North American companion! I'm staying in Chorley and will be serving with Sis. Cross from somewhere in America (don't know where yet!). Chorley 2 ward is great so I am thrilled that I stayed :)

Short email time so I will get straight to the silliness! 

The Language of the Mission:
So the other day I was writing in my planner and realized how many acronyms you learn in the mission. I decided to see how many I've learned. Brace yourself......

38!

Uhh! What!?

Yup! I have learned 38 acronyms that I use on a regular basis:
PI, FI, I, I (with square around it), C (square), F (circled), F (squared), AP, ZL DL, STL, BOM, POS, GJC, L (square), HTBT, ATML, ZM, DM, LS, PS, CS, WP, CF, FH, RC, LA, AM, MP, Rest., T (circled), R (circled), X + (triangle), Cb, BC, SC, CPR, WF.

So I guess I really was wrong when I thought I wouldn't have to learn a language on my mission! ;) Who woulda thought?!

Molly Mormon Quote of the Week!
Companion to me: "Oh no! I lost my 'epistling' tools!"

This is a clinical sign of scripture overdose! If this symptom is present, go consult with your local physician and have him prescribe you a dose of reality and sanity! You know you read the scriptures too much when...

Symptoms and Signs:
My companion and I were reading our missionary handbooks and discovered something hilarious. The 1st page of the handbook has a little section where you can put your name, contact info, health info etc. On the section where it says:

"I have: 
- Diabetes
- Epilepsy
- Other"

After other we both (at some point previously in our missions) had written:
"I am crazy!"
"Insane, exhausted ....etc. etc."

Anyone who has served a mission knows that this is absolutely true! 

Elder Potter?

Every good English tea time involves a lengthy conversation about Harry Potter. That is a fact!

We were having a nerd-fest with a family during tea and came up with the best Harry Potter meets mission jokes! We joked about how we would describe moving to England in relation to Harry Potter stereotypes/facts and came up with the following conclusions:

- England is great, but I just can't get used to the owls bringing my post everyday.
- Dementors can be likened unto Satan
- It is so annoying when Tesco is all out of butterbeer!
- Professor McGonagall keeps following us around while we are tracting!
- The books lied! When I opened my ensign magazine, the pictures didn't move! They said that the only moving pictures are in the cinema! What a rip-off!
- We ride the knight bus. The zone leaders ride a Number 3000 and the assistants ride a firebolt!
- Freddos= chocolate frogs!

My favourite English insult of the week:
Member when finding out that we had done something cheeky to her:

"You plunker!"

Apparently it is not the nicest insult, but I think it sounds so catchy! I may use it when I go home!

Real English Facts of the Week:
I was pondering on the differences between home and here. I have been here so long that it is normal for me now and I was trying to remember what makes England different. I thought it would be fun to share a few:

- Margarine doesn't spread!
Ya, that's right, the margarine here is rubbish! Only the really expensive, posh margarine will spread (as smooth as butter lolololol) on your toast! The rest just awkwardly clumps, and when you try to spread it, it rips up your toast! Lame sauce!

- Flashing your highbeams is not a sign of road rage:
Because the roads are so narrow here, very very often only 1 direction of traffic can go down a road at a time. So you can imagine that when two cars coming from opposite directions are approaching, that you have an interesting situation (face-off anybody?).

English drivers are brilliant though (way more skilled than we are! They can drive and park in the tiniest places! It's impressive and terrifying all at the same time!) and just flash their high beams at each other all the time to tell other people to go on through! The only time you see high beams back home is when someone is road raging hard!

- Wedding Apparel: Go Big or Go Home:
People dress so different for weddings here. The ladies wear ginormous hats, and often very bright colours! Go google English weddings! It's easy to pick out a wedding right away because you'll see masses of big hats outside of a church!

-Peanut Butter....and really everything.....only comes in small quantities:
You know those GIANT Kraft, family sized peanut butter jars? Well they don't exist here! A regular jar of peanut butter would probably last about 3 minutes in a North American home. 

Milk: the largest size here is probably half the size of the giant jugs back home. 

etc etc. 

In other words: We North Americans are PIGS! 

-Bread bags can't be resealed:
You know those nifty tab things that we used to close our bread bags? ....they don't have them here!! Bread bags are just closed with a little sticker thingy, that once you open it, it is impossible to reclose! So next time you open a bag of bread, appreciate that little tabby thingy that you take for granted everyday! 

All in all, I still adore England! I just find it fun to notice the small differences in everyday life!! 

The Bonus of Serving On the MTC Grounds:
....It puts your mission into perspective! 

We were driving out of the car park when we saw a group of MTC missionaries outside. Sis. M suddenly rolls down the car window and yells at them: "Woohoo!! Haha I'm done my mission!! Have fun!". 

...We had just gotten out of her last day of church on her mission! 

When you are around greenies all the time, you realize that 4 more months really isn't that long and you find yourself getting a burst of energy and confidence to keep working :) 

Anyways, I'm out of time (transfer madness means our day will be spent cleaning and packing), so I will finish here! 

I hope the time goes quickly for you and slowly for me,

Sister. Martin

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