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

Chapter 71: The Fruits of our Labours!

Hi everyone!

Well this week was pretty awesome for many reasons. The first and most important reason is that Paul got baptised!!!! It was so good, the service was really spiritual and he looked like a million pounds! (A million pounds money, that is. Haha.) The whole experience of teaching Paul really testified to me of how prayer really works. I have prayed a countless number of times for him to have the strength to overcome his challenges, to progress towards baptism. Sometimes I felt like giving up. "What's the point?" I would think. "It's never going to happen." But it did, and I was humbled, and God lives. :)

Also this week, we had a really fun BBQ activity with all the Chinese members and our investigators! It was super fun and good to just play outside and have everyone bond together. The thing I've noticed about serving in the Chinese area in Newcastle is that everyone is so unified. This is why most of the new converts stay active. This is why we get referrals from them. They love each other (deep down) and they care about each other. It's a built-in support system and it really works! If every unit of the church was so united, then there would be a lot less lonely people in the ward and a lot more people coming to a knowledge of their Saviour. 

And of course, this week wouldn't be complete without a funny story. I actually have one thought up already. It happened last p-day. It's called "Sister Larson is Victoriously Triumphant but also Shows her Clumsy Side." So basically, we were playing capture the flag as a zone. It's where you have to grab a flag from an opposing team and run it to your side. So, the flag of the opposing team was near the fence in the back of the field. It was being guarded by two tall Elders. A lot of people on my team were surrounding it, trying to figure out how in the world we could manage to capture this flag. Suddenly, those two Elders got distracted. No one was doing anything. So what did I do? I grabbed the flag and ran like the wind, mate! It was amazing! It was glorious! I was running! I was sprinting! I was flying! And then I was falling and tripping and hurting. Don't worry, no broken foot this time. Just broken pride. However, happily a teammate managed to grab the flag from me when I was down and our team eventually won. (Thanks to me.) Haha! 

I hope you all have a great sunny week! Don't forget to smile and just let those peaceful, happy moments roll! Love you all!

Love,

Sister Larson

These are real wontons. They're amazing. But we ate them with this garlic sauce thing that had so much garlic in it... I think I can still taste the garlic on my breath. Basically, I had halitosis for like the rest of that day. The ward mission leader commented on it at Paul's baptism. #embarrassingbutistillreallylikegarlic

Chapter 70: When the Wind Stops Blowing, Start Rowing!

Hi all!

Well first off, don't be confused by the subject line: the wind has definitely not stopped blowing here. (See attached picture of us at the North Sea last week). It blows all day every day. The wind, that is. Missionary work is still cool. Anyway.

This week was a week of some small miracles that would have gone unnoticed if I hadn't been looking for them. Miracle #1: Paul passed his interview WOOHOO!! His baptism is on Saturday and I am just so excited for him. Seriously, he is one of the greatest miracles that has ever happened to any missionary ever. He's the best. He's also become our good friend, so that is just a bonus. Miracle #2: We managed to get in contact with our investigator who hasn't been picking up the phone because he's been so busy. And we taught him about the Plan of Salvation yesterday. And it was just a good lesson. Unfortunately, he'll be travelling a lot this summer, but we'll see him when we can and we'll take what we can get. So those seem like small things but were the sprinkles on the cupcake of our week. :)

... Yeah, that analogy was pretty weird. Well I'll move on to how I grew spiritually this week. So over the week, we did have many discouraging moments. By the time Sunday rolled around, I thought that I had hit my limit. I had had enough. Nothing was going anywhere I thought and nobody wanted to listen to us. I started feeling empty inside. That's when I realised something was probably wrong. I don't know many things, but I know that missionaries probably should not feel empty. So I evaluated what had gone wrong. I realised I hadn't been putting my heart into the work. I'd gone through the motions but the love behind it all was missing. So I read my scriptures and prayed until that empty feeling started to go away as it was replaced my a feeling of love and peace. And that is when I decided I never wanted that feeling of emptiness again. 

So this week, if you feel something is missing from you life, ask yourself honestly what you might need to do differently to fill up the emptiness. And then do it. It will be so worth it, I promise. Thank you all for the encouragement and prayers! You are all amazing! Love you!

Love,

Sister Larson

the beautiful north sea! look at that sunshine and white sand and oh wait it's not that kind of beach. it's really pretty though, in a different sort of way. it was really windy and pretty cold and the sand would hit our legs. also don't look at my legs in any of these photos because you might be blinded. you can tell i've lived in england for a long time.

these are my footprints and my name. it's cute.
and i didn't even need pinterest to help me come up with the idea! haha.

me and sister hurst by the water!! we're both too cute. :)

england has pretty beaches and pretty flowers. and really good chocolate. now if only they could work on perfecting the mexican food here...

my companion made me really yummy noodles that were both tasty and nice looking. she's talented.

i can never resist getting pictures of the gorgeous english sky.
taken from angela's flat, so i get a nice view of the city too.

sister xie cooked dinner one night for me, angela, and rachel. it was super delicious. also we put the cabbage in the shape of a heart. angela and rachel were very proud of that, you should know.

this is steven. he's my friend. he's a bird. he joined us for a lesson with paul in the park last night. he was just too cute so i took like five thousand photos of him but i'll just send you guys the best one. 

Chapter 69: The Week of the iPads

Hello everyone!

So as you can see from the subject line, the biggest change we had this week was that our iPads finally came to us! We can't do a whole lot on them yet except look at cool stuff on Gospel Library and use these super cool interactive pamphlets, but I'm sure we'll use them more and more as we learn more about them. So of course I have included a portrait of me with Harriet, my new iPad. :)

Sister Larson and Harriet

Other than that, this week was one of those harder weeks where it seemed like not much was getting done. However, we did get to meet with Paul a lot this week, and he is still doing fantastic. He is so great and I still just smile every time I think about how far he has progressed from the first time I met him all the way back in September. The gospel really can change people and make them better than anything they or I could have imagined. I love being a missionary, it's just so cool!

Another thing I learned this week was the lesson I've had to learn time and time again: that things sometimes don't work out the way you planned them to. I'm sure you've all had days similar to this one: You wake up excited for the day, with lots of plans to get things done and also have fun. Then one by one, new things come up that you have to do and your other plans fall through and you come home feeling exhausted and cheated at the end of a long day. I've had several of these on my mission, and it is at this time that I am tempted to ask, "But why? Why couldn't I have had it my way this once? What are you trying to do to me?" And it is then that I am faced with a choice: continue to complain about the situation, or take it in stride and learn something from it. There is always something to learn. But even better, there is always someone who is there to comfort us and say, "I know how you feel. I know it's hard. Thank you for doing your best. I know you are trying." Jesus Christ truly understands our frustration, and He can help us be healed, no matter what our pain or discomfort. I know this to be true.

Well everyone, I hope you all enjoy the last week of school before summer starts! Remember to smile and be happy! I'm so grateful for all of you!

Love,

Sister Larson

Chapter 68: The Parable of the Rubik's Cube

Hi everyone!

Well this past week was an improvement on the week before. Firstly, there was a huge massive miracle that I'm just gonna start with: Paul started living the Word of Wisdom completely!!!!!! By himself!!!!! Like we met with him one day and followed up on it and he's like, "Yeah, I'm living it. I decided it was time. No biggie." And I was like "...." Yeah, I was totally speechless. I teared up a little bit. It was fine. :) Miracles happen, guys. All the time. So he is now finishing the preparation for his baptism - I'll let you know how that goes!

Beautiful English clouds (I love the sky here)

Also this week we got to go to a Zone Conference! It was in York this time (ooo, so exotic!) so we had lots of travel to get there and back. The actual conference was really good. Sister Pilkington talked about how attitude is so important. (See last week's e-mail). And President talked a lot about not gossiping or harming others with our words or actions. It was something I really needed to hear and helped me to gain a different perspective on what the word "charity" means. Charity is the pure love of Christ. If you have pure love for everyone, you would never say or listen to anything mean or negative about someone else. So like President Uchtdorf said, when it comes to gossiping, stop it! 

By now you might be wondering what the title of this e-mail has to do with anything. Well I'll tell you. On the bus back from conference, we as missionaries were getting bored. One Elder brought his Rubik's cube (he brings it all over and uses it in street contacting). So my district leader started teaching me how to solve a Rubik's cube. And this is where the parable begins:

And it came to pass that the sister missionary asked her district leader, Behold, how is it done? And the district leader answered her questions and showed her how to move the cube in order to solve the puzzle, the great cube of Rubik. 

And it came to pass that the sister missionary began to be astonished, and slowly started to learn how to solve the puzzle.

But behold, that night when the sister missionary took the cube of Rubik home, it came to pass that she completely forgot how to solve the bottom of the cube. And so during her nightly follow up, she asked the district leader, How is it done?

And the district leader did not directly answer her question, but instead gave her a hint to remind her of things she had already learned. And it came to pass that the sister missionary was satisfied and solved the cube, with much help and guidance and advice from her district leader.

And behold, when the morning came, the sister missionary began to solve the cube again. But behold, she got stuck, and began to be distressed, because she could not solve the cube on her own.

And it came to pass that in nightly follow ups, the sister missionary meekly asked again of the district leader, How is it done?

And the district leader in his much patience and wisdom guided her slightly and then told her to figure it out herself because he had other people with whom he needed to speak. And he also had much confidence in her abilities and so knew that she could do it on her own. (Or at least, we shall assume so for the sake of this parable).

And it came to pass that the sister missionary toiled and laboured and learned how to solve the great cube of Rubik all by herself. And behold, now she is a boss at the cube of Rubik and can solve it in under six minutes. Which is quite impressive considering she has never before learned how to solve such a great puzzle.

A "my companion locked me out of the flat" selfie. :)

The end. Sorry for the really long parable, but there is some correlation between this and prayer: Sometimes we pray for help and guidance, and we receive it step by step. However, we sometimes get to a point where we ask a question and Heavenly Father needs only to give us a gentle prompting to help us find the answer for ourselves. Sometimes he lets us figure our questions out for ourselves completely. The important thing to remember, however, is that He will always help and guide us, though it might be through different methods. :)

I hope you all had a great week and a good long weekend! The work here in Newcastle continues to go forward despite setbacks and miracles happen everyday! Love you all!

Love,

Sister Larson