Fw: Mom and Dad!!

HELLO!

Oh my goodness. It is so good to get to talk to you. I feel like it has been ages since I have been able to email you. SO fun to see all of the pictures and hear about such an incredible week! So happy for scott and kerri and it looks like you all have had a blast with the family!! So sad that I wasn't there - looks so fun - I have always DREAMED of the gwilliam wedding. BUT just tell everyone that they have to come up to ours for my homecoming so we can all party then! :) 

AND FOR GOODNESS SAKE. I might write Keith an email and tell him thank you for reminding you to write. If I hadn't gotten one from both of you there would have been serious problems... So thank you!!!

But this week has been good! Its been crazy! Things are going well with training. THe scripture you sent was perfect dad - It really does humble you which is good. I have really relied on lots of prayer and they have been so much more meaningful lately and I have seen the difference because of it - makes me realise i need to be better. Even when things are going well I dont want to let them slip like that. So its been great. And Heavenly Father has been so kind! THe first of last week, as you could probably tell with my email, i was just really overwhelmed with everything. Espeically the mornings I would just wake up and dread having to figure things out and trying to know where to go and praying to find people becuase we didn't have anything - all of it being considered I wasn't having faith and just worried about the bad things that could happen. I spent a lot of time just talking to heavenly father about it though and he helped me sort things out and they have been GREAT! I am back to LOVING london again. IT took some adjustment. Its so funny how different things are here but we get LOADS of addresses and numbers and find people all day long who want to talk - I love africans :) - so the hardest part has been just keeping up with following up on everyone. Which is a great problem to have! :) But its been so good! We have seen MIRACLES too! We came into the area with nothing - 1 LA that the sisters left us! And have found a friend who we have met with a couple times, came to church on sunday, and has committed to baptism at the end of the month and have a teaching pool of about 5 full of really solid people. So its been SO great! We have been really blessed. So the finding is great. I love being in London where it is just so busy and oodles of complexes to knock. Its great!

Sister Steed is so great too! We get along so well. Our personalities just go really well and she is obedient and willing to work hard - what more could I ask for?:) We have a lot of fun together though! Just laughing and staying up with funny stories. ITs been so good. Feel so lucky to be put with such a great missionary - she makes training easy. Which is good becuase I dont really know what im doing...  Or havent really changed becuase of it. Ive taken your advice dad and just really tried to stay the same! I was called as a trainer becuase I know what I am doing! So i have just tried to keep things normal and show her that I am not perfect and make mistakes as well.... which is probably the hardest part about training. Just a lot of things I do set the example and then make it easy for her to think that is normal... so its a lot of making sure Im doing my best which is so good though. Its stretching me for sure and I am grateful for it! I havent had any exchanges yet... its going to be a little crazy! We have our first one on friday to saturday and I am going with another trainer and so sister steed and another new sister will be together! I have no doubt that they will do great but it will be fun to hear about it too! We have been blessed that we actually have a lot of teaching appointments that night so they will get to go be with some of our investigators as well without their trainers. I actually think it will be great - presdient warned me a little about it but he to me and a couple sisters how we are really strong sisters and like to get things done which is wonderful for the work but can also be a danger in trainer - I need to let her experience things and learn and If i just take over to get things done then im not doing my job. So im working on that - giving her more opportunitites and not being dependant so much on me... friday will be great! :) 

And with the fufu question - THANK HEAVENS NO! OH my. I did go to grandmas though... i dont know if you remember her from last year. She is this old Nigerian lady eveyrone just calls grandma and she LOVES the missionaries and she LOVES feeding the missionaries. I think she gave me enough rice to feed all of Africa. I wish i had taken a picture. I just want to laugh when I see what she brings out. Im not exaggerating... i really think it is the amount that we make for our whole family when we have haystacks and it is all on one plate with a tiny bit of sauce and I just have to sit there and eat it. And she sits there and watches you. ITs awesome. But so far I have avoiding fufu. hoping to for the next 5 months... we will see! I am glad you got the package too! Hopefully you all love it! Save some of it and we can make it when i get home as well! :) We can have fufu, rice, fish and chips, and crumble with custard for dessert. Pretty much sums up my mission experience! ;) 

And MOM! I havent gotten the package yet but if you sent it to the other flat I should get it tomorrow. We have another MLC becuase as of tomorrow.... I HAVE FACEBOOK to teach with. Isn't that CRAZY? OH man. Im honetsly dreading it a little bit. It should be cool. We can follow up with people a lot better and even just teach people over the internet if they can't meet in person but at the same time I just have facebook. Meaning I can see updates and posts and pictures from other people as well. IT just scares me a lot. When I was in Sutton it was fine but being here the past couple of weeks, and it is probably just with adjusting to it all, but I have really struggled with focusing... I just get all of this news from mission friends who have gone home and sam updates me on what they are doing and emails saying how weird it is to be home and I am trying so hard to stay focused but its pulled my thoughts a little bit, Makes me mad that Ive let it happen but it has. I need to stay focused and i feel like Facebook can make that a little worse. BUT i know it is what the Lord needs so I will just block a lot of things and pray for help and i Know it will be great. But yeah. working on staying focused. I still have 5 months - actually TO THE DAY from today - until I am home. And I just want to stay focused and be completely here for the rest of the time. So yes. Id love any of your incredible advice. I know it will be great though. Just wanting to remember to enjoy it. but yes sorry with all of that I will just see SIster couper tomorrow so hopefully I will get it then. OH I AM SO EXCITED!!!! THANK YOU!! I LOVE packages. Ah i just love you!! So much. 

With that. Sillly ky. I feel like he thought i was just the weirdest missionary until he is experiences it all now and he realises that he feels the same way! But OH i didn't get an email from him! ;( Probably just since I didn't get to email him this week with not haveing a preparation day but it sounds like from the mass one he sent out things are going better than I thought they would. I was SO nervous for him! But it sounds like he is taking it all really well! Its obviously hard at the beinging but he seems to be having a good attitude. Did he give you any other info? Does his comp speak english? OH man. AND YEAH! Oh my goodness. Already has had a baptism and has a couple lined up. Its so funny how different missions are depneding on where you serve. BUT it is SO good!! I will knock on doors ALL DAY LONG if it means that he can have success there! :) So glad that he is doing okay! How was talking to him too? I never heard about that as well! 

Also I got the pens that Grandpa gwilliam made!!! I have a picture and I will send an email over to thank him but sister steed and i LOVE THEM!!! Will you tell him tahnk you for me? They are the best and I use it every morning to write in my study journal. OH love it and love them. Tell everyone there that I love them too! And poor grandpas back. I feel so bad. Hopefully the doctors can help. I will keep him in my prayers for sure! I bet they are both so tired though. ITs been a crazy week with the wedding and all of the family there. I bet they are loving it though! 

But oh mom. Im with you. I would have LOVED to have been there with you and dad AND KY watching scotty get sealed. How neat it is that all of us could be there though. And how neat will it be the day when Ky and I are back and we can all be in the temple together! Oh im so excited! And i would love to read carries conversion! If she is okay with it i would LOVE IT! I can't wait to meet her.

Im sorry that things have been so crazy with tyse. Cute guy. It is so hard when everyone does their best but no one really does understand completely. I realise too how much work it is for you and dad to try and stay ontop of everything and then watch him constantly too. I really hope you know how incredible you are. I always think of how much you both have to do all the time - just what parents have to do - and how incredible that is but how ontop of it you have had the cutest blessing of tyse which adds a whole new aspect to everything and so much more work. I know that you never expected your life to be like that too and to have cute tyse the way he is - I hope you know with all of it, and especially on the hard days, it is just becuase you are strong enough and amazing enough that you could handle it. Heavenly Father ONLY gives people what they can handle - and gives the harder things to those who are able to do it. There is a quote from Elder Scott about that - I will find it. But honestly. YOU ARE AMAZING MOM AND DAD. I am SO grateful for your example of being parents and all you do in that aspect but mostly the example you have given me of selflessness and true love for tyse and all of your kids. Just willing to do anything for him - when it is always harder and less about you. You both are just incredible. Im always blown away by how blessed I am to be your daughter. 

BUT I just love you! So much! So grateful for all that you do and miss you like crazy! It would have been soso SO fun to be there but its also been a blessing that I havent been sad about it... obviously would have been great. But i know that this is where I need to be and I am loving it. Grateful for the belssing of being happy! 

Another funny thing is that we met a man who is in Love with Sister STeed. Its hilarious. We were teaching him and he just watched her the whole time and went off on how she was an angel. Oh man... funny times here in london! 

But i will talk to you SO SOON!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!

Sister Gwilliam