Chapter 78: The Very Last One

Note:  Meagan didn't really describe what she did on her "mission tour" this past week, but fortunately we got an inside source to give us a brief description via Facebook.  Thanks Sister Marsh in Newcastle!

"It was so good to see your sweet daughter again yesterday! She looks so happy and so self-assured. The focus of the zone training was on treating everyone like First Class (as opposed to budget class) passengers. Sister Larson and her companions dressed and played the role of really cute flight attendants, and also gave a presentation on studying continually to be prepared for any emergency. They did great!!"

And now, the final letter:

Dear everyone,

Well here it is. My last e-mail on my mission. Does it feel weird? Yes, absolutely! I never thought I'd get this far. Yet somehow I managed and now here I am in a library in Leeds, trying not to cry my eyes out at the thought of never being able to come back to England as a full-time missionary.

It has been the best eighteen months of my life so far. I love England, I love the people I've been able to meet. I love serving the Lord. If you or anyone you know is considering a mission, just know that a mission is awesome! It has been the hardest eighteen months of my life as well, but that is what has made it so good.

If all of what I have experienced and learned could be summed up in one sentence, it would be this one that I found in Preach My Gospel this morning: "As we share the gospel, we appreciate how precious and meaningful it is to us, and we feel a greater love for God and others." This has definitely happened to me. I have gained a stronger testimony of the gospel, and I have come to love the people I've met more in-line with the way Christ loves them. 

Thank you all again for your continued support and love. I look forward to seeing you all again someday. Work hard, have fun! Love you all!

Love,

Sister Larson :)

The comps and I on our little "mission tour" :)

Me with Sisters Smith and Araujo, drinking our hot chocolate. We look so British and proper! 

Chapter 77: A great way to finish...

Hi everyone,

So sorry about no e-mail last week, I had to e-mail on the iPad and it took ages. It's no fun. I'm not talented with typing things on touch screens. Basically I'm super out of touch with technology. Well I'll give you an update on this week!

The past week was just crazy. The first few days we were in York and Harrogate on exchange with the sisters there, which was so much fun! We saw the beautiful York Minster, which was way cool. Also, we got in for free because we're ministers for our church, which was even more awesome. So we were a bit drained from our exchanges and when we got back, we got an assignment from the mission president for me and Sis. Dietrich to do a presentation in some zone training meetings this week. So basically we're touring the mission this week, going to every single zone, with President and the APs. It's been fun but we've been in the office so much preparing! I feel like I'm an office missionary now. Also, I realised that I'm pretty stupid when it comes to working things like scanners and computers and PowerPoint. I don't remember how to do any of it. That's what happens when you don't use technology for 18 months, haha. 

However, we did get to work a bit in our area in our spare time. We met with a Chinese girl called Millie, she's so cute and so prepared! Unfortunately, she's leaving this week, which is so sad, but we gave her a Book of Mormon and we'll just pray that she can find the church somehow in China. I don't know when that will be but I hope it happens someday. She was so awestruck when she realised that even she, an ordinary girl from China, could pray to God and get answers. It was a very powerful moment for all of us.

We also met with Rowan, a cool guy who has his whole life planned out! He's probably the most ambitious 19 year old I've ever met. He wants to be a professional footballer but knows that he needs God's help to do that. He's come to church a few times now and he has enjoyed the fellowship there. He's great! :)

Well, it's the last full week of my mission. It still doesn't feel like it's happening yet. I'm so excited to see my family and yet so sad to say good-bye to this country and these people that I love. I will go home as a different person, in a good way. I've grown so much and learned so much that words just can't express. I love the Lord. I love being a missionary. I will miss it so much.

Thank you all for your support through these 18 months, you are all so great! Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Larson

The York Minster! It was built originally in the 12th century I think? It was also built on the ruins of an ancient Roman settlement, which is way cool. England's stuff is so much older than America's! :)

Chapter 76: Last Minute Addition

Hi all,

Meagan didn't write her regular email this week, I believe because they were in a rush to go to York and also things got a little crazy with adding an extra companion this week.  So I don't think they went to the library to write emails, instead she sent a few quick notes to family from her iPad, which is not the easiest or fastest way to type.  She asked me to send out highlights from her letter to me, so here you go...

The biggest news is that on Wednesday I was in York for an exchange when the AP called us and told us to get back to our area ASAP because we had a new companion.  She had to get emergency transferred from her area, so now I have Sister Dietrich from Germany with me.  It's been fun but our flat is tiny, so thank goodness it isn't for very long.  She'll be here til I leave at least and then we're not sure.  

Lesson selfie with Leanna, our investigator! 

Then also we had a miracle! Well lots, but I'll share the coolest one. Last week in the city we saw a guy with a poster saying he was a young aspiring author. Sounds likes something I would enjoy. So I talked to him about that and then we invited him to activities and such.  So he says he might come to FHE on Monday and that he lives right next to the institute building. On Monday night we were waiting outside when he comes out of his flat, remembers the activity and says he'll come. He was a bit scared but he loved it even though he's atheist, and agreed to meet with us again.  So later on in the week we met with him and taught him and the spirit was so strong! It was amazing, he felt it and realised what was happening. After he prayed at the end, he was just quiet and said "this feels so different. But it's cool." It was awesome. So he is doing great and we found three other new investigators this week. It was so good! Also we are going to York today so you'll like the pics I send next week. 

Well it's easy kind of to stay focused here, the challenge now is just trying to fit everything in!  My new comp is also an STL so we have even more exchanges to go on and it's just nuts. This is a good time for me. :) I'm working hard and loving it but excited to see all of you!! 

Love, Meagan 

I can't email pics from my camera so this is all you get for now. This
is my Newcastle district! From like a month ago haha

They said keep a straight face. You see how well the Asians did that.
And how the rest of us failed. Ahahahahahahahaha

Chapter 75: Along came a spider...

Note:  The actual title of Meagan's email was "I am too tired to come up with email subjects now."  So that will put the first few lines in context...

Hi everyone!

Sorry for my lack of creativity, but I honestly just can't think right now. This past week was pretty good, with lots of hard work and such, but also way tiring. I went on two exchanges to different areas which was awesome but I think I'm still recovering from that. :) I love working with all of the different sisters in the zone, they are all so great and we had a blast!

Me and my comp just chillin by this cool tree at the castle. :)

Well first off, last pday I got to go to another castle! It was mostly intact and had lots of cool history stuff to tell you about what all of the rooms were used for. I personally liked the little holes they had in most of the walls so you could shoot arrows at intruders. That's a nice touch. I might look into that for my own future home.

Arrow loops where you can shoot intruders!

Beautiful Skipton castle!!

Old 19th century sink!

Also this week, we worked mostly with Emmanuel and Joey, our lovely Caribbean and Chinese friends. They are doing pretty well, we've worked hard trying to help them progress but as usual, it all comes down to personal agency. Sometimes I don't like it and I just want to make them see how happy they could be if they just chose the right!! But I'm sure Heavenly Father feels like that with me often so I can't really complain about it. Patience is something I've definitely learned a lot about this week.

For another funny story: (which coincidentally also involves me screaming). We were knocking, like you do, and I knocked on this door. Just waiting for someone to open the door, ever so casually. I turn to the side, and see THE BIGGEST SPIDER THAT I'VE EVER SEEN okay not true but A REALLY REALLY BIG SPIDER and so I scream. Naturally. Unfortunately, the woman who lived there heard it I guess. I hear this tentative "Hello?" from through the door. And I'm like still dying of fright and shock and my companion has just walked away because she's laughing so hard and I try to gain composure and so I say back, "Oh hello, sorry I screamed, there was a massive spider, but my friend and I are missionaries for our church and we'd like to share a message -" And all I hear back is "No thank you, not interested, dear," and so I just walk away, leaving my dignity at her door. While my companion is still dying laughing. The end.

Me with Bernard, a member who went knocking with us yesterday.

He's so energetic, crazy, and cool!

So basically, we continue to knock on doors and talk to people on the street and meet with investigators, but it's all good and I'm happy and loving England! I hope you all are doing great and talking to people about your beliefs! Talk with someone this week about an experience you've had with prayer or scripture study or something. Then invite them to come over for dinner sometime... and invite the missionaries for the same day. ;) Love you all!

Love,

Sister Larson

Chapter 74: Celebrating the 4th of July is always awkward in Britain

Dear everyone,

Well this past week was the fourth of July! To be honest, I don't think these Brits like or appreciate the reminder of our really bad break-up with them. They might still be a bit sensitive... Haha but it was still a really nice day, it was sunny and hot and I drank American A&W root beer, so of course it was all worth it. :)

In other news, this week was absolutely crazy and all over the place. I had quite a few meetings to go to so that took up a lot of time and then it seemed like we got flogged (stood up) at least 70 times. It probably wasn't that many. But it was a lot. However, despite all of the flogging and the travelling and the meetings, we managed to meet some cool people this week!

We met a nice family from London who have two little boys and we taught them a lot about our church. The dad was super interested in asking us lots of things about how our church is set up and what not. He basically started reciting to us The Family Proclamation when we asked about his views on families, which was really cool, especially in relation to the Supreme Court decision this week. They're really cute. :)

We also met with two Catholic guys, a father and son from Ghana. This experience was cool because it taught me a lot about how the Spirit is the teacher, and not facts or logistics. When we mentioned the Godhead, they basically wanted to start Bible bashing and arguing, but I was not having any of that. The Spirit left the room and I didn't know what to do. I knew I wanted to stop it. So I simply referred them to the Book of Mormon and said that if they read that and knew it was true, then they would know that what we were saying was also true and any concerns they had would be resolved. It was inspiration that led me to say that, and my companion backed it up with her own personal testimony. They both got quiet and the Spirit came back. It ended on a good note and they promised to read the Book of Mormon.

For a funny story: We were walking in the rain (what else is new) on our way to an appointment. I was wearing my raincoat and had my hood up so I couldn't see what was in front of me very well. I'm walking, looking at the ground, when I almost step on a squirrel in front of me! It freaked me out so I screamed, then I screamed again when I saw it was dead. No blood or guts. Just dead. Weirdest thing of my life. But when I look up my companion is laughing and this guy is standing next to her looking bewildered. He's all like "What did I do?" Turns out, he had turned the corner of the street we were on and right after that I screamed. So he thought I was like terrified of him or something. I tried to explain, but I was just too I don't even know, and all he said as he walked by was like, "Gee, I'll try to walk less menacingly next time." My life. Right there.

Well I hope you all had a wonderful fourth and blew lots of stuff up! We sang the national anthem in our district meeting and our British zone leader who was present made sure to thank Heavenly Father for the freedoms we enjoy in England, including the free health care. :) Love you all!

Love,

Sister Larson

Beautiful Leeds and beautiful medieval Sister Larson!! haha

Royal Armoury museum, with lots and lots of old weapons and suits of armour and stuff. It was way cool.

This is a weird helmet from Henry VIII I think.

Sting!!!

 I saw a house where JRR Tolkien lived! Super cool.

Chapter 73: Welcome to Sunny Leeds!

Dear everyone,

This week has been good! Last Wednesday, I got to my new area of Leeds 1! It has been great so far and we have been working like mad trying to find people and teach people. Our most promising investigator right now is named Emmanuel, who is from the Caribbean. He's way cool. He loves Christ and has made so many changes in his life already to follow Him. He's still struggling with some things but overall he is progressing. He's such a great guy and he is so humble and sweet. I love working with him! 

Sister Ribera, my new French companion, and I have had some interesting experiences the past week while contacting... basically, it's always an adventure to be a sister missionary. People like to hit on you. Crazy people. All the time. But I guess that's the price for being nice and smiling at people. We've also met some way cool people! We got the number of a pizza delivery guy the other day while knocking. I wish we could have had the pizza too, but not so. 

Anyway, Leeds is huge and it's been experiencing a heat wave recently. It's been so hot and muggy lately. Probably not as hot as the dry deserts of the States, but hotter than usual for England. So hopefully I won't melt today.

Well i hope you all have a good week! Enjoy the fireworks and freedom! I'm so proud of my country but I love living in this one too and coming to love a different culture and way of life. Love you all!

Love, 

Sister Larson

me and Sister Ribera!!

 here's me with sister chee and elder wheelhouse, from our old newcastle district. 

here's me with the senior couple from newcastle, elder and sister marsh!!! they're super cool.

me with my old pengyou, elder chan! crazy asian. haha.

the view from my new flat (a step up from my old one)

this is a gorgeous rose by my flat (i smell it every morning) 

Chapter 72: Transfer week!!

Hi everyone!

Well, like the subject line says, just last night we got our transfer calls. For me, this is the last one so that is pretty weird. But anyway. It turns out that I will not be staying in Newcastle for my last six weeks. I'm moving to Leeds tomorrow!! Woo! I'm going to go work in the uni area there with a lovely sister from France. So lots of changes. Sister Chee is moving as well, but she's going to Sheffield. So the change is a bit unexpected, I didn't think I'd leave, but that's how life is. Sometimes the unexpected happens!

Other than that, this week was a bit more on the boring side but that's okay. We're still finding and teaching. We taught a new girl named Helen a few days ago, and that lesson was really good! At the beginning, she just wanted to chat and was like "What sort of stuff are you guys wanting to push on me here?" But by the end she was listening really closely and was really excited to receive her own Book of Mormon. She was also excited because it was free haha. But it was a great lesson and probably the highlight of our week, since it's been a struggle to teach new people.

Sorry this letter is a bit shorter but I've got lots of errands to go run today! I have loved living in Newcastle so much, it's pretty much my second home now, and I'm really sad to be leaving. There are so many amazing people here that I will miss like crazy! But I know Leeds is going to be a really fun adventure and it's going to be a fast and furious six weeks.

I hope you all have some fun this week! Don't forget to smile! Love you all!

Love,

Sister Larson

All the sisters with Rachel and Angela cuz they left me this past week. :( So sad! 

These are pictures from the BBQ last week