ALMOST CHRISTMAS!!

It was another great week here in London! I dont know about how you are feeling but time is FLYING! I dont know where days are going and I feel like we dont even have enough time to do everything we need to in a day. Which is so great though! Busy missionaries are happy missionaries! :) Its so good but going so quickly. Just crazy. 

But yes! I feel my week was pretty normal! Not anything super crazy. Biggest highlight was CHARLIE'S BAPTISM! I saw that I got a like from Dad so I am hoping you all saw it! Oh it is so cool. He is just so great. He is the sweetest, funniest, little Irish man who had NO intention of joining another church but the Book of Mormon is true and charlie was sincere enough so he got an answer. I have really gained a testimony of the power of the Book of Mormon on my mission and especially with charlie. This last week was crazy with all of the meetings we had - MLC and then DLC and district meetings - which a lot of the time start early enough that we dont have personal study - and as a mission 30 minutes of our study in the morning is spent only in reading the Book of Mormon. It has been really neat for me to establish that habit as I been here but it was really neat especially this last week on those mornings I didn't get to read it how different my day felt. By the end of the night I actually grabbed my book of mormon and started reading some of it becuase I just needed to read it. Its SO GREAT and so different than how I was before - reading a couple versus to check it off. I have come to LOVE the book of Mormon. Becuase of it I have come to know Jesus Christ and has helped me to repent in becoming more like him. I just love it. And am so grateful for Charlie's experience to remind me of its power! 

Dad I was just smiling SO BIG when I read your email of all of the missionary opportunities that you are seeking. OH you are INCREDIBLE!!  At the begining of my mission I would have things like letting people pass or not opening my mouth or letting a situation go and I would BEAT myself up for it! just think I was the worst and that person that just passed me probably was looking for the truth and wanted to be baptized and I just BLEW IT... all of that good stuff! :) BUT the more that I have learned about the gospel and about our Saviour and just life in general is that this is all here to help us learn! Like mom's quote she shared this week - i LOVED it mom! Thank you thank you thank you!! This life is all about BECOMING! As so I learned that EVERY SINGLE DAY we are going to fail. We are not going to talk to someone or say something mean and stupid or be disobedient in some way - all of that - but the good news about the gospel is that it is just about becoming. It is about LEARNING! And as long as we learn from it and do something better the next time then we are doing exactly what our heavenly father wants! So dad YOU ARE AMAZING! I really believe that pretty soon someone who really needs the gospel is going to come into your path and now becuase you had those experiences you will be ready to talk to them about it. And Im SURE even that lady you spoke to will have had a seed planted - knowing about 2 years of serving - someday she will hear about it again and be able to learn about it! But the fact you called back so many times... dad you are so great. THANK YOU for your example! I hope to be the missionary you are when I am home! 

But with that... I am still doing my plan! I am hoping to remember to send over what I have so far - but one of the areas is missionary work! And it is actaully one i am struggling with a little bit which sounds so funny. But life in utah and missionary work in utah is just so different than it is here but probably anywhere else. Just so many people already know about it so the things I have been used to here or seen memebers do my whole mission will be different back in utah. BUT I DONT just want to be a good member - I want to be active in doing missionary work still. So i am struggling with it a little bit. I will ask president for some counsel on it but any ideas you have too? We could set family goals and all work on it together! :) BUT with that! Want to hear the craziest thing. Next tuesday I have my departure interview - my FINAL interview - with President Gubler. Oh my heart hurts a little bit thinking about it. I just dont know how I got here. My whole mission- really from the first interview I had with him the first day I came into the field - I have always thought about how I want my final interview to go. what I want him to say to me, how I want to feel about my service, but mostly who I wanted to have become. Its just crazy that it is so close. I keep getting emails about departures and things to do to prepare and it honestly just seems surreal. which is probably good. Really just trying to stay focused on the day and focused being here. I am still having a blast and just taking the attitude of enjoying everyday that I am here. I know i will miss it.  So yes! i will email you next week and let you know how it all goes. Im sure there will be tears but a lot to look forward to as well! Its just SO WEIRD. 

AND while I am thinking of it!! SKYPE! YESS YES YES YES! Do you know how to make it all work with skyping in me and ky? becuase I want that FOR SURE!!!!! All i know how to do is click on the skype you have set up for me and then call you all. So figure out the logistics and we will get it to work! WIth that too I am pretty open all day as well. I will make whatever time work for sure! :) Whatever time ky can do I WILL MAKE WORK! So Im not even going to try and do the math for it since I totally messed it up last time... ( I know. How did i even get good grades ;) More like how I am supposed to just jump right back into school when I couldn't count back 7 - HELP!  :) ) BUT around 5 would for sure be great over here. Or any other time... just figure it out with ky and tell me a time and I have an ipad so we can do it anytime! YAY for the blessings of being in london with an Ipad! :) Oh but I am SO EXCITED!!!!! I get to talk to you in 11 days! ELEVEN DAYS! AHHH!!! And then whats even crazier is 2 weeks after that I get TO HUG YOU!!!!! AHHH!! i wont get ahead of myself. But its just exciting! I CANT WAIT. but would love to get to talk with ky so let me know! I will make it work! 

sounds like it was a fun weekend though with Stake Conference! It is so funny how a mission makes an all day meeting sound fun too - just SO much information and help! But i was DYING when I read about tyse mooning everyone. bahah! oh i bet everyone just needed to wake up a little bit and tyse was just there to help out! :) 

And im so glad that from all of our letters Ky seems to be doing so well! Oh i am SO HAPPY!!! So so grateful! His comp seems great and ky seems to be doing so well! and WHAT THE HECK? his comp left the mission boundaries in the middle of the night? Oh its just so sad. Honestly so sad that he would think that was right. especially your last night. Oh man. Hopefully he can go home and figure things out and become better from the experience. but ky is honestly the man for surviving his time with him! HE DID IT!!!! And with that im sure he has learned a ton but also will have great stories for us when he gets home too! :) I bet he will tell them super funny as well. OH i just love him. Can't wait to all be laguhing about them together! 

Kaity also emailed me this week telling me about her decision to serve. I am so excited! and going to demand that she come with grandma and grandpa so she can be there when I get home and we can talk all about it!! 

AND with your email from last week about all of the logistics of things coming home!! THANK you for the denitist as well! SO GRATEFUL! I could call it my bloody dentist appointment - make it sounds brittish but it will probably be far too accurate... :) BUT with people picking me up! I am really not too bothered... I would probably just keep it small. 

I am so grateful for you and all that you do for me! Thank you for being such great examples and best friends. I LOVE YOU! Have the best week! And... not that we are getting trunky (dont worry) but...

 SEE YOU IN 4 WEEKS! :) 

I love you! 

Megs 

Fw: Our Christmas tree!

As you know I LOVE Christmas and we just HAD to have a tree but I didn't want to spend 20 pound on one...so we just went to the park and found some branches. Or cut some... :) doesn't it look great!?:) our cutest flat! And the workmans sent the cutest package! Will you send me their email mom?? I will email them but also call and tell them thank you thank you thank you! It made my day and the decorations are perfect!!!

Sent from my iPad

We went and put up Zashas tree with her and her kids. OH I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. it was the best night.

Sent from my iPad

Cute Charlie and I am LOVING the countdown! All of the Sisters think it is the cutest mom. And I just tell them that you are the best!:) becUse you are!

I LOVE YOU ALL!

Sent from my iPad

 

Pics

All of this stuff, tower bridge, the London eye, the globe, all of it is in my area! We go right up to the river and all of it. It's such a fun place to serve! Most missionaries have to get permission and travel for ages to come see this stuff and I can just anyday and talk to people while I am there!:) with Christmas I think we might get a group together and go down by Big Ben and sing some carols and then have BOM wrapped if people want some - HOW FUN IS THAT??

Sent from my iPad

HELLO!

This is so fun to have the same preparation day as ky but also the WORST because I didn't get an email from him yet! Does he get a new companion this week? I have been DYING to know! OH im just praying that he loves his new companion and that they can support each other and be happy. I have been so impressed with his good attitude though. Ky can get along with anyone - just hope that they are nice and appreciate him! SO i can't wait! 

But it was SO great to get your emails and updates of everything at home. Mom i was laughing so hard when you were talking about your week! haha! Oh i love it - the unclogged toilets and laundry for days. Its so funny. I forget about all of those fun things of home! How im pretty sure everytime I would watch tyse I would find him out in the garden, soaking wet and covered with dirt, and he had had an accident... oh its so funny! I just love it. Super excited for all of the adventures again! :) 

Im so glad that karol is doing okay! HEALTHY! YAY!! And it was the best to see that scott is cancer free! Oh such a blessing. Grateful that everyone is healthy.  So sad about keg...not recovering as fast as he would like.  Im guessing they have to wait until he can walk on it normal again. Oh it must be so hard. I was thinking about him the other night and jsut how hard it would be. I would be going crazy and then having your time paused while all of your friends are out would be hard. BUT something I do know is that gods plan is BEST. There is probably someone that Keg has to meet towards the end of his mission and if he hadn't gone home for a while he would have missed him. Something like that I am sure - tricky situation but I know God knows what is best for sure! Ill be praying that it gets better quickly though. Crazy to think that I might see him again before he goes out. 

I got your message about the thanksgiving and I am so sad becuase nothing got delivered. Oh man. ITs the curse of thanksgiving here in england. there were problems last year too... oh but you are the BEST! Thank you for sending that. It really is the thought that counts with all of it. I LOVE YOU BOTH!! And im sure the people it went to probably  needed more than we did. Probably answered a prayer for them! :) But thank you! Next year how about lets just have thanksgiving together? Deal? :) BUT I DID recieve the CUTEST countdown i have EVER SEEN! OH i LOVE IT!!! Thank you! Our poor flat is still not decorated like it should be - we went over to tower bridge last week - i will send pictures! :) BUT with that i was so excited to open the present and see something to decorate with! its the BEST and i have the greatest time putting something up everyday! Can't believe that we are already on the 6th. Time just goes by quickly. ON friday i hit 17 months on my mission. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? I cant. 

Another thing i can't believe is that I can look a bit orange... I laughed so hard when I saw your emails last week about being an oompa loompa and how I shoudln't resort to celery... haha! OH its so funny! I know im jsut a mess over here. Just eating LOADS of carrots. And I did buy some celery.. but dont worry. I didn't eat as much as carrots. AND since apparently it isn't harmful for you i have jsut kept eating them! Its great. When I saw your emails about it I was reading it outloud to sister dorich and i got to the part where it said on average a person should eat about 3 big carrots a day and sister dorcich just BURST out laughing. I might eat more than that.... like lots more. Are you proud of me for being healthy! I actually eat so well. Like my diet consists of fruits and vegs and salad and chicken. And all i have to say is that i really just need a burrito. I havent really looked over the flight plans but I dont think i get home until late on wednesday but if its still open cafe rio or sweeto burrito might be necessary. if not that night the next day for sure. OH and dad will you have work off the next day? If you dont you should try and get it off so we can all just be together. And you can help me get back into all of it! and I can just catch you up on all of the stories and everything. But if you cant thats okay too. I'll just hang with mom and linds and tyse all day and then we can get all caught up that night when you are home!

With getting back into it though... the church has actually put a program in place to help with missionaries going home. It is called MyPlan. And so for a missionaries last transfer half of our personal study time is putting together goals for our future. THere are like 6 categories we set goals for - like social, spiritual, physical, family life, education and work life, media, missionary life... some other ones too I can't remember. BUT we set goals while still on our missions of things that we are going to do and not going to do when we go home so that we stay on track. And the idea is that you read through them once a week with your pat blessing once you go home. I have started it and LOVE it! Im super excited about it and it actually helps me feel a lot better about things - just having a plan of what to do! And with all of it too I am going to send it to both of you once it is finished! then you can know my plan as well and we can work on it together/you can hold me accountable to those things! It will be great! in my final interview with president we go through it as well so It will need his stamp of approval too! its great. so yes! i will keep working on it but then send it over as it gets closer!

And with BYU i am SO grateful I got the class! I ended up adding different religion class last week because I paniced when I for some reason was put on the wait list and only had like 5 credits. So i might go on and take myself off of the one religion class and pray that I get back into the earlier one and then hopefully i will get the class with mace. I dont know if any of that made sense... but I will fix it all! But YAY! So happy about that class! Just need to PRAY that the one with mace goes down and then the schedule will be perfect! but if not I will jsut figure it out when I am back home too. I just really would love to keep it just tuesdays and thursdays becuase then I CAN sleep at home! YAY!! Dont you worry mom. I am with you and linds on this one! I feel bad since we will be paying for it but especially at the begining I will be home with all of you! We have SO MUCH to catch up on and do together! No time for provo right away. SO yes! I just can't wait! So grateful to have the place though! THank you for doing all of that for me!

And your christmas countdown thing sounds SO fun! Sounds like you are celebrating christmas SO well. I love it. You asked about english christmas things... I am working on getting recipes so that we can make things when I get home too. But a really enlglish christmas tradition is something called Christmas Crackers - its not food like I originally thought. You can google it but they are almost like little presents... you crack them and inside they always have a toy and a joke and sometimes a sweet too! Its really fun! They are EVERYWHERE here! You usually set the table with them for christmas dinner and then everyone opens them together. If you can't find any I will buy some here and bring them home and we can do it next year too! :) They also have something called christmas pudding and christmas cake. Christmas cake is a lot like a fruit cake... really dense. But they eat that all through the season! As well as mince pies. AND CUSTARD is HUGE here! I LOVE IT too! I will bring some of the yummiest kind home. I think you would all love it! Make a nice crumble with hot custard... MONEY! I will make it for you! Get ready! And then the other really big thing is they eat Yorkshire puddings! See if you can go online and get a recipe and try them out. THey are SO YUMMY! They make them and then eat them drenched in gravy. yum yum. SO those are some tradiitonal things but with being in peckham... i just laugh. We are having our ward christmas party on saturday and they sent a sign up for the woman to bring things and so far we are having loads of jelof rice (all the africans), jerk chicken (all the jamaicans), and then one person is bringing sausage rolls (the one enlgish person in the ward!) It cracked me up! So christmas here will probably be really different. Lots of rice and fufu and chicken! I can't wait! :) 

Speaking of that ONLY 19 DAYS UNTIL WE GET TO SKYPE!!! YAYY!!! I can't wait! Its crazy it is already here. So we will just have to plan that out becuase of the situation with ky as well! i wish there was a way to make it work where we could all talk. I would LOVE to talk to him! But im not sure if it can? Let me know what is best, And this time I will make sure to actually do math right and tell you the right time... i can't even count back 7 hours... and I am thinking I can just jump back into BYU? yikes. 

But christmas here has been so fun! We are still just focusing everything on the christmas initiative and I LOVE IT! As hard as it is to be away from all of you this time of year I actually REALLY love being a missionary at christmas time. I think it is so fun! I thought i loved christmas before but being a missionary durring it is just something really special. So the more I have thought about it I am super grateful the last month of my mission is december. There is just something so neat about getting to serve Him durring the time everyone is celebrating Him. And what is even better is that I get to serve people who already love him. 

We were teaching one of our friends we have been working with this last week and she was saying how as Africans they just love jesus christ. She phrased it that they have a hunger for Him and for knowledge about god. And i thought that was such a great way to descibe it. I just can't tell you how much I love these people. I LOVE THEM. Becuase it is so true. they are so wonderful and warm and loving and they just hunger after christ. I show them the Book of Mormon and they are amazed and just want to know about it because they love their saviour and if it is talking about him they will listen and they want to know more. I just love it and feel like more people should be like that! We all should be like them. They are just so attached to him and will do anything to be closer to him. Its just so fun. I just love them. I remember when I first came to this area last year I was so overwhelmed and just a little intimiated by all of them - just these loud and strong and bold people but I have just the strongest feelings of love for them. And not just the africans but those from jamiaca and the carribean are the same way. They just love heavenly father. Im grateful for the example they have set for me! I hope to always be more like them when it comes to sharing about Him and what he has done for me. THey just go on and on and on... i love it. 

But sorry with that YES we use the video! It is nice that we have our ipads so we just show it with people and I love using it beucase it brings the spirit almost INSTANTLY! I just try and get anyone to watch it becuase I know it will touch them. And with music we are lucky as well to have our ipads... a lot of the time missionaries just download it from the computer to their ipads. But we also have DVD players in our flats to watch the districts for trainings so we can play CDs or use memory sticks with music on them as well! That is something that I need to get as well! I want to download all of the pictures onto a drive. Help me remember to do that so I have them for when I come home. I will have to turn in my ipad with all of the pictures on it. 

But things here work wise are so good. WE are SO busy. Its great. I feel like we just run around all the time. Yesterday we taught 5 lessons - 3 of which had members present and 2 of them were new investigators (new people that have a lesson and then set a return and want to learn more!) it was CRAZY! WE were at the chapel for a teach at 4 and then at 5 our next friend came and right after that lesson we taught charlie at the chapel at 6! I was thinking this was the way to do missionary work - just sit at the chapel and have all the people come to you back to back! It was great. We also have MLC this week - oh yes! Dad! THis is why we have preparation day today! We typically have MLCs on the tuesday but president had a meeting so we are having it tomorrow so they had our preparation day today! But yes, the work is going really well! WE are meeting with a lot of people which is so great but we are struggling to get them to keep commitments... so we are working on that! But we are teaching which is always so great! 

And sister dorich and I are doing so well. ITs so fun. Last week I sat down with her and we just talked about things. Just were open and talked about how we were feeling, on how we could improve, just got her insights on things and asked her how she was feeling and let me tell ya, talking things through WORKS MIRACLES! I have learned the importance of communicating on my mission. Since that things have been 100 times better. We get along great, our teaching is more in unity, and we are just happy! I just feel like we are friends now! Its so great. Still things to be patient about but we are doing so great. I have really learned that I just need to be better - once I just talked and then was less prideful things have been great. So thats a blessing as well! 

Another miracle is that Charlie gets baptised on FRIDAY!!! YAY!! Look for the picture on facebook! :) But oh he is a miracle. We have been SO blessed and his experience has taught me that the book of mormon is true! IT is the tool that converts people - not anything I say or teach. The bom has done it for charlie. Its just so great. 

And I love what you said about JOY! its so true. that is something that I have really thought about lately too - just the idea that we are meant to be happy. and not just meant to be happy but commanded to be. I love how that was a theme of conference - just how we have EVERY reason to be happy! We have a saviour how has overcome everything else and that is something to be happy about. No matter what else is going on. I have truly found that on my mission. I know that when we just trust him and push forward that there is not just joy but support all the time. I love the happiness the gospel brings! That is why mosiah 2.41 has always been one of my favorites.

BUT i hoep you have the most wonderful, christmas filled week! So grateful for your support while I am over here in england though. I just am incredible blessed. Thank you and I LOVE YOU!!!!!! So so SO much.  

See you next month. 

AHHH!! Did you just freak out becuase that is actually true... I did! Still staying focused BUT SO excited to give you the BIGGEST HUGS! 

I love you!

Sister Gwilliam 

Hello! (two weeks ago)

Oh I love you!! So much. thank you for your emails. Been dying, like always, to send this! Ive decided it will be the funniest thing to actually get to talk to all of you instead of typing as fast as I can to get everything out that I hope to! 

This week has been really good! Im not sure what has really happened actually... I am totally with you on how fast weeks go. I don't know how it happens but i feel like I blink and all the sudden it is Preparation day again or all the sudden I am going to church again. Its just weird. I guess that is good though- probably means we are just busy doing good things. OH YES! I just remembered it was crazy because we had an exchange from Thursday to Friday and then 30 minutes later 2 other sisters came and we had one from Friday to Saturday. CRAZINESS. It was psycho. so yeah. we were busy thats what it was. But it was great. I love being on exchanges. it is fun to get to be with the sisters and focus on them. AND there is a new sister in the zone I got to go on exchange with and she is from UTAH! Like bountiful or something... BUT OH MY GOODNESS. it was so fun. just being with an AMERICAN! She is the only other american sister in the zone. And i forgot how much fun it is to be with someone who has the same backrorund and culture. So we had a blast together. It was great. Really grateful for it.

 On Thursday I noticed my voice was going a bit which was weird since I felt fine but throughout the weekend and exchanges I almost completely lost it - with exchanges I feel like it is just go go go though so I didn't think about it too much but after exchanges and I had a second to breathe again I realized that I actually didn't feel very well at all. My WHOLE mission I have been so proud of myself though in the fact that I have NEVER had to stay in for a cold or sickness. So I just toughed it out and tried to keep going. On Sunday we saw president and sister Gubler at stake conference and then later Sunday night sister Gubler called and said she thought it was best that I took it easy on Monday - that I sleep in a little and then rest until our teaches. SO i was obedient! For the most part... :) It was great too! I wasn't feeling well so it was amazing to just be able to rest. And I allowed myself to do it without feeling guilty. We just did a lot of area book stuff so we were still working and everything! And then yesterday we had Zone training like the emails- can't wait to tell you about it all! So yeah! Thats been my week! Busy and not feeling too great but feeling a lot better now. The elders gave me a blessing and things seemed to get better so fast after that! So grateful for the priesthood.

 Did you get the email about traveling home? I got one from the office - I will forward it over to you! Sounds like you will get my flight plans in about 2 or 3 weeks. ARE YOU GETTING EXCITED? :)

 BUT yes! So all my thoughts for you... interviews were yesterday so that is good too! OH mom and dad. I just feel like i am just up and down all the time. And i need to be patient with myself because Im still not feeling my best so this week has just been a little off and I haven't had the energy like i normally would and so i'm slightly more dramatic as well.... BUT yes. ANYWAYS, I feel like over the course of my mission I haven't changed too much. My testimony and knowledge has grown LOADS and loads but I feel like personality wise I am very much still me. Which i am so grateful for. I feel like even things like hobbies back home still are great and i don't know, just a lot of things i don't feel are very different about me, and so I always heard about it being hard for missionaries to go home but I didn't think it would be hard for me to adjust to anything. BUT THEN after getting some e-mails and pictures, i panicked a little bit because I realized how much I had changed, my focus is so different than before I left.  It just made me a little nervous. I totally understand why Holy was so lost originally.  But I've just been thinking on that. It honestly does make me a little nervous. I can just see it being weird having to go back. But as our good friend always said... why adjust?;)

 BUT with that! Interviews were so great! OH I CAN NOT WAIT for you to meet president and sister Gubler. They are so wonderful. So wonderful! So yes - right after we finish ky's homecoming (whoot whoot!) we will then have president and sister Gublers and you all can meet them. I just really believe I came to this mission because they were both going to be here. They have helped me so much. BUT interviews were great. I didn't even bring it up with him but he went off on how there is no reason to be nervous about going home. He said a lot of missionaries struggle with it but he said something like how a mission teaches you that NO matter what, as long as you rely on the lord, it will be okay! He will help you. Things will be different and at times it will be difficult but as long as we rely on the lord it is all okay. And that really hit. I KNOW that is true. That is something my mission has taught me. As long as we rely on him it is okay. So i guess he answered that perfectly but yeah. Still kinda crazy. Interviews were really great though. He just spent a lot of it talking about being ready for the future - next week I start doing Myplan. its a program the church is doing where for 30 minutes everyday i will plan things for my future. Set goals. things like education goals, future family, standards with media, sabbath day, relationships. all that good stuff. Which I am excited for! I think it will help me stay on track after the mission as well. So he talked about that and then just spent it saying how proud he was of me. How he knew the lord was proud of me. OH those words are so sweet. I rememeber coming into the mission and having my first interview with him and thinking forward to how I wanted my last to be with him as well! And that is how i want it. Just him saying he and the lord are proud   I am really just so content and happy with how my mission has been so far. I really feel like I have served hard and done my best and been obedient and If it were to be over next week I would go home with no regrets. And i just want it to be that way SO badly even 7 weeks from now. But 7 weeks is still a long time. And oh i just want to stay dilligent and working hard and being motivated, and this is where it is probably just because I have been ill. but this last week I just feel lIke i don't have as much energy and just not as motivated and i don't know, it has just scared me. And i really think is just me letting satan put doubt or fear in my heart. I shouldn't worry about it but just go out and do my best! Ha its so easy to say. But yeah. I guess i just sometimes let myself worry about whether I can endure and keep it up all the way.  I just want SO BADLY to leave with no regrets. And i know i can but I know i am going to need the lords help.

 With all of it though I just want to enjoy being a missionary. I just want to love it and not be stressed. Sometimes I go into too much sister gwilliam and getting so focused on achieving something that I dont allow myself to just enjoy and have faith- to just trust that as long as I am giving him my best he will take care of it. So i just need to be better with that this week.

 BUT YES! Next week is transfers so that means I will only have one transfer left. It is crazy. And it is CHRISTMAS! I get to skype you in a MONTH!!! AHHHHHHH i am so excited!  I have a job for all of you too! RIGHT after thanksgiving you HAVE to watch the new christmas initiative! IT IS INCREDIBLE! i just cry. Just watch it everyday and dad just embrace the christmas music. haha! OH i love it so much! All the shops here are getting everything up for christmas and lights are coming up! IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY!!! I just can't wait. 

 AND KY! I am so proud of him! SO PROUD! And so is sister gubler. I told her baout his silly companion issues and she said how he was awesome for standing up for it! And oh my goodness! He just let him have it? THATS RIGHT! go ky. He is so great. I really admire his attitude and his williness to be obedient. And I was so relieved as well to hear that his president and everyone are aware of the situation. That makes me feel so much better and makes a lot more sense. AH ky is so great. He will be blessed for helping this elder stay out. Shows his president has a lot of trust is ky as well.

 AND WHAT?! you were going to have PIZZA for thanksgiving... PIZZA!!? Its a good thing that has changed or I would have been recieving permission to call home. Goodness! ITS THANKSGIVING!! From someone over here in england please make sure that you just celebrate and love it! All of the cooking and craziness is just part of the fun! WE will jsut be having a normal day... we will have to go find something to make thanksgiving-y and then pop a balloon of the day - I have LOVED doing that! Thank you so much mom!! ITs the cutest. But yes. So glad you are having a more proper meal. I was thinking we should celebrate thanksgiving and christmas when I get back. I will make all the food for it! :)

And Speaking of christmas.. remember please dont send me anything! Its so expensive and I will see you 2 weeks later! So if anything just save the money and then I would love to have a girls day and go get some new clothes... SINCE APPARENTLY LINDS IS WEARING ALL OF MINE. and as much as I love the ones here I have worn them for 18 months... it will be nice to have something new. SO yes! HOw about that for a deal?:) 

But yes! Have the best week and heaven knows I will be sending you another email before we know it!

I LOVE YOU!

 Sister Gwilliam

Saw this at the store and had to sen it! I LOVE ARGENTINA!

A DL sent this quote and I loved it. Pretty cool.



Sent from my iPad

I thought you would like this dad. This is how I study and eat and do everything else. With my table and the heater right under me!:)

Cute Marley- this is the sweet Rc that comes and teaches with us all the time! And also the one that thinks the church was restored after polygamy.? :)

Presidents house! Notice how many sisters... THATS RIGHT! Go sister missionaries!

Sent from my iPad

Thanksgiving

My sad thanksgiving meal.

Sent from my iPad

District preparation day at borough market!

Sent from my iPad

 

I love Christmas!

HELLO!!! 

Remember last week when I said I will be emailing you again before we know it. Thats how i feel again. Especially this week. It just FLEW! I dont know how... or even what we did... but it just goes so fast sometime.

But are you all just LOVING the christmas season? Im so glad that linds has taken christmas all on! I just smiling reading about the christmas music blasting! Oh i LOVE IT! That is something that is hard. We can only listen to hymns so I need to get creative with the music but our mission rule just changed and we can listen to anyone as long as they are singing hymns - before it was just MOtab. BUT let me tell you... a little Josh Groban singing christmas in the morning just starts the day off SO WELL! Its the best! :) So yeah! I AM JUST LOVING IT! Have you watched the christmas initiative yet? I hope you have! if not go watch it right now! Its amazing! And has the funnest things to do the 25 days leading up to christmas - it has the best ideas! Go onto mormon.org and look it up! We can do it together!! but I forgot until this week how much I LOVE being a missionary at christmas time. We have the christmas video on our ipads and all i get to do is go around and share about christmas and celebrating jesus christ and share the video with EVERYONE and it is the best becuase even those that aren't christian love christmas time too so more people are willing to listen. Oh ive just been having a blast. I sing christmas songs all day long and talk to everyone about christmas and goodness. Its the best ever. AND i am SO HAPPY that we got a new tree!! OH i can't wait to see it!! so YES PLEASE please keep it up until I can see it!! With the snow and christmas tree and ALL OF YOU i will just cry. It will be the best! But I would love to see it!! Today we are going out and I am buying stuff to decorate the flat. I dont think sister dorich knows what is coming.... its going to be awesome. heading to pound land (their dollar stores here:) ) and we will be SET! I'll send pictures next week. I am so excited though! OO i was just thinking... but yes Leave the tree up and I will make some english christmas things and we can celebrate england style!!! YOu in? 

With thanksgiving though My mouth just watered when you sent the picture of the turkey over in the SMOKER!  BUT thanksgiving here we didnt do anything. HOW SAD IS THAT? We didn't even have time for dinner with all of our teaches that day. DIDNT EVEN HAVE DINNER ON THANKSGIVING! ISn't that crazy. And we had salad and veggies for lunch. It was discusting. I was ashamed of myself. BUT it was still good. Something funny about england is you can not find canned pumpkin ANYWHERE!!! I have looked in stores and they just dont sell it. Its so werid. But we had a ward activity and the only american couple brought pumpkin pie. It was so yummy - apparently she had traveled like 45 minutes to some whole food place where she found it. Crazy. But that was fun and a good way to celebrate!  

 THe weather here has been so nice until about 2 days ago when a cold spell came in and FLIPPIN HECK its FREEZING!!! So cold. Its one of those things though where it looks really nice - we are blessed that the sun has been out the whole time so it hasn't been raining... knock on wood... but its crazy how cold it gets. Time to pull on the leggings and then thermals and then tights again! :) 

And dad I was laughing about your comment about almost falling asleep becuase I DID THE SAME THING THIS WEEK! I have always heard of the crazy stories of missionaries falling asleep in lessons and thought that was CRAZY. How can you fall asleep in a lesson? Well this last week I went on exchange with Sister Calle who is a spanish speaking sister. THey had a lesson that day so we ran over to teach their investigator and I couldn't understand anything, made me respect and appreciate ky so much more! But becuase I wasn't engaged as much, or i dont know what it was, but I was nodding off SO BAD! It was awful. I was so embarrassed and mad at myself. But i would sit there and just feel myself dosing a bit... oh mom and dad it was so bad. I almost started pinching myself. I kept moving around to keep myself awake. The spanish lady probably thought I was crazy. Did that ever happen to you dad? Oh im just glad i didn't fall asleep entirely. But lucky that has never happened in english! :) 

Starting this transfer I start doing Myplan. But we have to set goals for our lives and one of them is for how we will honor the sabbath. I think that is one that I will change the most from how I was before. I am excited to set goals and then honor the sabbath like we should! It will be GREAT!

And it does seem like ky is homesick. poor guy. I was thinking about it and it hit really hard for me too about the same time he has been out - the 6 months mark. I know it was hard too when sister barnes went home thinking how she was seeing her family and I still had so much time until I got to see you. president gubler talked to me about it a lot - and I talked to you both about it too. Just something I really struggled with. So i will definitely send him a good email and try and help. Its really hard being away from all of you and I always thought that the longer I would get out it would change - It would become easier. And i realised that it didn't. The whole time it has been hard. But the lord can help and give us peace to make us strong enough to do it! Grateful for him and for your help this whole time too!!

But we were able to go to presidents house this week! iT was the best! We kind of had thanksgiving there - but no stuffing which is my FAVORITE! But it was great! So fun to get to be with presdient and sister gubler. And there were so many missionaries that are such good friends that were there too! So it was so fun to get to see everyone. We almost got to sleep over again... another set of elders baptised 3 as well last transfer so becuase of the tie they counted key indicators. And the elders beat us by 6! BY 6! Ah it was so close. But thats okay! It was still so fun to get to be with everyone and celebrate gods help in the work! 

THings are going really well in the work too! Charlie is still doing so well! He came to church on sunday and has accepted the commandments easily! We taught him the word of wisdom and he was suprised about the tea and coffee- said he had it every morning- but then was silent for a minute and said "well it looks like I will be drinking a lot more water"! Ah he is the best! We are teaching him again tonght and then he will be taught everything and ready for his baptism next friday! We also had a miralce this week where a RC from mitcham ward moved into peckhams boundaries and has a little girl who is 10 and really wants to get baptised! So we got her on date for the 30th and are seeing them twice a week now. it just blows my mind in gods kindness. he really just prepares people and brings them to us. Im so grateful! SO so grateful! I also think heacenly father might be preparing me for either a lot of kids or a future primary president - a lot of the people I have taught on my mission have been kids! Which i LOVE! they are the best to teach. Its just kind of funny. 

I LOVED your quote you sent over mom. THANK YOU for reminding me about it! That quote has helped me so much throughout my whole mission with almost everything! That idea of not stressing. THANK YOU! And for both of you reminding me to just stay focused and take it a day at a time. I think that was my problem last week. I was looking so far into the future and that can sometimes make us worry BUT i am going to apply that quote and just live in the moment and enjoy it! Just LOVE this time i Have here. I do have a lot of people ask about plans and talk about it but I am doing my best not to bring it up to not make it harder on sister dorich as well. No one likes a companion who only talks about home. So thank you! That was the perfect reminder for me!! 

BUT I HAVE SOMETHING URGENT i need your help on!!! So this is really funny - but I have really been working on eating well but as you know dad I am a snacker... or a vulture as you like to call it.... :) BUT with that I have just resorted to eating a lot of carrots. I eat A LOT of carrots. I just snack on them at meals and throughout the day. Just lots of carrots becuase they are delicious and I dont feel bad for eating them. well I have had lots of comments (even from a nutritionist we are teaching) that I am looking slightly orange. ORANGE! a tint of orange. NOT GOOD. And from taking nutrition I know it is a real thing - if you eat to many your skin turns a little orange. SO its a problem/ I will get celery today at the store but will you google it and make sure it isn't toxic. I know its funny but just make sure I am okay and I will get celery to switch it up. THANKS! Love you! oh and please send me and email to let me know. :)

AND YOU HAVE MY FLIGHT PLANS!!!?? OH my goodness. What are they? I know i need to stay focused and I wont let it get me off - Sister AUbuchon was at the dinner (she is flying home with me and going to byu the next day with me as well! Can't wait for you to meet her! :) ) but we just wanted to see if she and sister bills and I are all on the same flight. We woudl assume we are but we watned to check. If you are willing to send it over! 

OH and iwth your question with preparation days - last week we went over by the water and to bourough market again. Im obsessed with it! ITs like a super posh costco - they give our samples! :) But its of fancy cheeses and yummy bread with olive oils... :) But we will DEFINITELY go when we come back some day! you all will love it! But sister dorich and I were saying how we had to start doing all of the fun things on these days! Obviously making sure we do the most important things first but I only have a few more days to get to go see London so we are going to try and use them! Hopefully lots of cool pictures coming up! 

BUT i just love you all so much! Thank you for all of your help and support and love. SO grateful things are going so well and you are all happy and safe! :) Im so grateful for you. Truly when I think about all of the blessings I have been given you are at the top - so grateful to have parents who are just always there no matter what. It has brought me the greatest comfort. Thanks for being my biggest fans and support team while i am in england too! I know i say it all the time but i couldn't do it without you! 

I LOVE YOU!!! Have the best week!!! 

Love, 

Sister Gwilliam