9/22/13

Dear amazing family and friends,

I can't believe I am coming home. I never thought this day would come and now that it's here I wish it weren't. This week has been very humbling. I have learned that our strength alone will get us nowhere. In my study I was reading about Zeniff and his army and what they were doing to prepare to fight the Laminites. Multiple times throughout Mosiah chapters 9 and 10 he mentions how they went forth in the strength of the Lord to fight. In the account this phrase was used and I loved it. It's with the Lord's strength that we are successful. Mentioned how they remembered the Lord and prayed to him and because of that their prayers were answered. The Lamanites were strong according to man but were lacking according to God and we can be strong like that too. But if we put all of our trust in the Lord he will take us to heights we didn't know were possible.

As this is my last week I related this study to preparing myself spiritually as I go home. I will not have that protection of being a missionary. I won't be able to preach the gospel full time. But if I go home and continue to read pray and make goals I will be protected by Heavenly Father. If I will go forward and remember the Lord everything will work out. If I continue to serve and do God's will there is nothing to worry about. So grateful for this amazing mission. I have laughed and cried all the way through but it has been the most amazing journey that i have taken this far in my life. If we put our lives in the Lord's hands we will be amazed at what He helps us achieve and who He helps us to become! we can substitute all of the I's for We's because this can apply to all. :)

I am so grateful for all of your support and love through this whole thing. Your testimonies and letters and emails were what got me through a lot of weeks. I love you and will be seeing you soon!!

Love Sister Pitcher!!

Favorite Scripture and Why

Doctrine and Covenants Section 6:34-36

34 Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail.

35 Behold, I do not condemn you; go your ways and sin no more; perform with soberness the work which I have commanded you.

36 Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.

This is my favorite scripture because it has brought so much comfort to me. It helps me to understand that Heavenly Father loves me and tells me that if I build my life on Jesus Christ I will be ok. I feel that He is patient with me and my weaknesses and if I do my best, always trying to improve then I have no reason to fear. Serve with all my heart and turn to Him always. My favorite bit is the last verse. I don't need to doubt or fear but look to Him who knows what is best.

9/15/13

MUM and PA and family
Hi this week has been good. Time is flying by and it's sad. But we are seeing a lot of miracles as always. One of the things that I really gained a better understanding of this week is the Atonement!! It is so incredibly REAL! It is such an amazing thing. I cannot even put into words the way I feel about it or how indebted I am to my Savior. This gospel is glorious and the fact that we can rid ourselves of all of the horrible things is miraculous. That if we make a mistake or are hurt, we can be physically and spiritually healed. I can't even comprehend the atonement but am so glad for that little bit that I do understand. I love that the gospel, and life is all about progression, about becoming better. We have such divine potential. We always have something to learn. We always have something to overcome.

Something that I have really realized on my mission and especially over the last few months is the importance of goals. If we do not set goals we will never improve. Goals are a huge part of our lives. A goal with a plan will lead to success. Something that I heard the other day, is that "What we view success as, is not always what the Lord views it as." Goals will help us become our best selves. I am not the best at goals but I want to be haha.

Anyway life is great. Fall is here and it's starting to get a bit chilly but I am loving it.

love you

Syd

9/8/13

Dear Family,

First of mom i want to apologize because i keep forgetting the picture of the door. i am so sorry. we are sandwiched between some businesses and live on top of them. basically we live by loads of pubs but our flat is way nice. the nicest i have been in. it's so great. We are finding a lot of people and working hard to achieve our goals and the Lord is helping us to succeed. so incredibly blessed.

we went on exchanges this week so i was able to go to a place called weston-super-mare. It is beautiful. they are right on the sea front so that's fun also you can see wales from the coast so i have seen wales haha woo woo. it's so much fun to be able to work with other sisters and learn from them and to see how they do missionary work because everyone does it so differently. This week i am going to a place called bath.

We found a 92 year old lady the other week and she was the sweetest thing ever. We were knocking and she invited us in. we didn't have a lot of time so we talked to her about the book of mormon and gave her one. she wanted to pay us for the book but we abviously said no no it's a gift. She was so chuffed. It was such a good feeling to see how grateful she was when we gave it to her. we are hopefully going to see her tomorrow. she was so lovely and very mobile so that's good.

So that is so exciting that hannah made the vb team. I am so happy. and so excited to see what happens with homecoming! when is the date for that? When you told me he was asking a girl to HOmecoming i about fell over.. i knew he turned 16 but i completely forgot about the whole dating thing.. ahh. 

as for what to wear.. it's getting cold and i am starting to freeze again. and dad if you want to wear cowboy boots do it. :) who cares if they think it's too redneck haha. also sorry about the candy.. you will have your fair share here :) trust me! if you want me to send more i can do that just let me know.

love you and miss you

love syd

9/2/13

hey mum and pa! and family,

I love Bridgwater. It is a great area and i am glad that i get to serve here for my last transfer. My companion is way good. She is so focused and works so hard and i am so glad for that because she helps me to stay focused and i want to finish strong and not be a waster. ha so it's good!

Being a sister trainer leader is so much fun. It seriously is such a privilege and is also something that is helping to stay on track and focused as well. My main role is to support the sisters in my zone. so me and sister Cowley get to go on exchanges with them and help them and exchanges are such a good learning experience for me and i hope for them as well. so this week i will be traveling to weston-super-mare for and exchange so that will be fun. i also have a few meetings so that's fun!! it has been a wonderful experience so far.

the ward here is so good! i really am excited to be in their ward. they are all super funny. and there is a french family that is so funny and we went to their house the other night with and investigator and we ate ratatouille.. i can't spell it. and then we ate a lot of french cheeses and just had a lovely time.

all of our appointments fell through this week but i know it was for a reason. we found a lot of solid people and we will try and teach a lot of them this coming week.

We had a zone training last week and that was in Bristol and that went really well. they are always very inspirational and i always learn a lot and come away from them with an even stronger desire to work. i will be in bristol again tomorrow morning. I think there is going to be a lot of traveling this last transfer because of the calling. it's all so exciting. i try not to think of coming home because it's a really scary thought. home is not comprehend-able to me. it's so weird.

Also i am so close to Exeter. it's only 30 min on the train. crazy! i see it all the time and i miss it!! i don't think we have a place to stay in exeter but we can figure it out!! i will let you know it's really hard tho because i don't have time to plan for stuff.

anyway things are going great and still loving it.

love you all and miss you so much.

syd

8/25/13

HIYA!!!

Things are really good! I love the area and my new companion. Her name is Sister Cowley and she is from mesa, arizona! but yeah we get along great and i am so excited that i get to serve my last transfer here in brigewater and with her. she's a solid missionary. Last week was a lot of traveling but it was so fun. i got to go to mission leadership council and that was fun. It was with the zone leaders and the sister leader trainers. Elder herbertsen presided so that was cool to meet him. it was such a spiritual day and i learned so much. It was at presidents house and we had breakfast and lunch with them all. It was such a huge privilege to be able to be apart of that.

As for the new area I must say it is a rather great area. The ward was so welcoming and I am excited to work with them. sister cowley and i just seem to be on the same page and we are both ready to work. We have made some solid transfer goals and we are excited to get out to work. I know that with faith, diligence, and hard work we can achieve the goals that we have set.

We are already seeing miracles in Bridgewater. We were contacting a man and he wasn't interested so we carried on walking down the street when a lady came up to us and told us that she was from our church. Sister Cowley asked if she was sure and the lady assured us she was from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She then told us that she had moved here from Portugal a year ago and has been a member her whole life but just wasn't sure where the church was here. So that was a great miracle and we are excited to meet with her.

I met elder gunnel and sister wolmsley i think it is. It was fun to talk to them both. sister w nearly started crying when i told her that i knew the fletchers, she loves them so much. also i ditched the big suitcase already and as for the phone andrea jones said she has one we can use and it's super cheap,  

but sounds like you are doing well, i will get pics next week. we can't email pics today sadly!! have a good week. love and miss you all
 syd
 ps what day do we check out of the hotel!! i need that info asap

8/18/13

HIYA!!!

 

Things are really good! I love the area and my new companion. Her name is Sister Cowley and she is from Mesa, Arizona! but yeah we get along great and i am so excited that i get to serve my last transfer here in brigewater and with her. she's a solid missionary. Last week was a lot of traveling but it was so fun. i got to go to mission leadership council and that was fun. It was with the zone leaders and the sister leader trainers. Elder herbertsen presided so that was cool to meet him. it was such a spiritual day and I learned so much. It was at presidents house and we had breakfast and lunch with them all. It was such a huge privilege to be able to be apart of that.

 

As for the new area I must say it is a rather great area. The ward was so welcoming and I am excited to work with them. Sister Cowley and I just seem to be on the same page and we are both ready to work. We have made some solid transfer goals and we are excited to get out to work. I know that with faith, diligence, and hard work we can achieve the goals that we have set.

We are already seeing miracles in Bridgewater. We were contacting a man and he wasn't interested so we carried on walking down the street when a lady came up to us and told us that she was from our church. Sister Cowley asked if she was sure and the lady assured us she was from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She then told us that she had moved here from Portugal a year ago and has been a member her whole life but just wasn't sure where the church was here. So that was a great miracle and we are excited to meet with her.

 

I met Elder Gunnel and Sister Wolmsley I think it is. It was fun to talk to them both. sister w nearly started crying when i told her that i knew the fletchers, she loves them so much. also i ditched the big suitcase already and as for the phone andrea jones said she has one we can use and it's super cheap,  

 

But sounds like you are doing well, i will get pics next week. we can't email pics today sadly!! have a good week. love and miss you all
 syd
 ps what day do we check out of the hotel!! i need that info asap

8/11/13

MUMMY!!! and Family!!

Hi this week was good but had a couple rough days but you take them as they come and make the best of them. The days are getting shorter and it's starting to get a bit chilly! It was nice to have a proper summer here unlike last year where I wore my winter coat all summer hah. But as for the work things are still going swell!! ha. We are managing to get a teaching pool and some solid investigators. :) the mission taught over 2000 lessons last week and that is the highest number since I have been on the mission! It's exciting!! Things are really progressing.

Faith is still my favorite topic right now. because Sister Morgan and I are experiencing it first hand and the power that comes from it. I love it. You can tell a huge difference in the day when you just try and do everything yourself compared to when you have faith in all that you do. love it.

 We have started to teach a boy called Joe. He is really cool and really interested. It's amazing how things work out. He has been going to youth for a while and is going to ym camp this week. and is super excited. let you know more about him later. we have only officially taught him once but he is awesome. and the family he stays with is awesome as well.

A proper English breakfast!

Oh i got my package thank you so much. you haven't forgot about me because you still know what my favorite things are :) haha. (ps I


have been genuinley concerned that you might forget everything about me haha) and the necklaces are really really cute! thank you so much!! :)

love and miss you!

love syd