Hiya family!

To start off, British people always say hiya. It is their informal way of saying hello, so I thought it may be fun to introduce you all to some of the English vocabulary I am learning. There are probably a lot more; such as an apartment is called a flat and mom is pronounced mum. I can't think of many now that I am actually sitting at the computer, but I will introduce you to the terminology as I become more familiar with it.

We had exchanges again this week, except this time I stayed in Wigan and served with Sister Gong. I am not going to lie, at first I kind of felt like it was a punishment. Honestly, whose idea was it to leave our area to me, the newbie, who has only been around for 4 weeks? I was definitely more scared than I was willing to admit, yet I went forth with a positive attitude. By the end, I realized the experience was not a punishment at all. It was a wonderful growing experience. I recognize that I am a lot more capable of missionary work than I realized. I was able to find my way around and we never even got lost! Furthermore, we met and taught some wonderful people. Everything went more or less according to plan. I am grateful for the exchange and my opportunity to grow.

On another note, I have come to a deeper understanding of why I am on a mission. Sister Davis and I went out last night on a "stroll." It is our nice way of saying we walked and then talked to people on the way. Oftentimes we refer to this as street contacting (SC for short) but calling it a stroll just seems so much more enjoyable and we got just as much work done! None the less, while we were out, we ran into Tina. She was out walking her dog, CJ, along with her daughter, Nadine. [The dog was actually quite similar to Blackjack (Rob and Michelle's dog), so that is kind of a fun side note.] In our conversation, we found out that Tina was actually a member of the church; she was baptized 13 years earlier. Then we also found out Nadine was 10 years old. I couldn't help but realize I was Nadine's age when I was baptized! Tina said we were welcome to come by, and we arranged to see her and her family on Saturday. My heart was filled with joy! I know that the whole 18 months of my mission would be worth it if I could baptize just some little 10 or 11 year old girl like myself. As I look at the influence I have had, I doubt the sisters who taught me realize the impact that one baptism would have on the world. I can’t accurately describe how I felt, but I know that it is a wonderful work that I am doing!

Furthermore, as Sister Davis and I spoke, she told me how people are called to a specific mission for one of three reasons—to learn the language, to meet the mission president, or to influence particular individuals. As soon as the words came out of her mouth, I knew that I was here for the last. I was even told in my blessing when I was set apart that I would reach people that only I could reach. It was great to have that realization and be more aware of the people around me that maybe only I could reach. It is wonderful to have this perspective of missionary work and why I am here. I know it will bless me as I continue to see the good I am doing.

Hope all is well! Keep up the good work and hear from you soon.

Love, Becca

Another Week

This has been a good week. I had an exchange to Liverpool. An exchange is when we switch companions for a few days and spend time serving with another sister in the mission. I served with Sister Chuo, who is from Taiwan in her area of Liverpool. It was crazy to see missionary work in a city. It was a bit harder to stop people from the hustle and bustle of the city to talk to them; however, it is clear there is some great work being done there. Sister Chuo and her companion, Sister Gong, are actually Chinese speaking missionaries. They are teaching people in Chinese, which is great! It was a totally different experience for me because there was part of the conversation I didn't understand. Everyone was nice though and tried to talk in English as much as possible. It was great to experience some new faces and help others learn more about our beliefs. Our focus during the exchange was to help the investigators recognize answers to their prayers. As missionaries, we always invite people to pray and receive a witness for themselves about what we are teaching. However, if they don't know what these answers are like, then how are they ever suppose to receive an answer? Therefore, I focused on identifying the change they are noticing and the feelings they have while learning more about the gospel. In other words, I tried to help them recognize the Holy Ghost in their life and how they can know for themselves that the message we share is true.

A couple people asked about cooking and what I eat. I basically have the same food habits as at home. The ward members are good at feeding us. On average I would say we have 2-4 dinner appointments per week. On the other nights, we come back to our flat (English term for apartment) and cook our own meals. I will admit the sweets here are delicious and I haven't had any food that I disliked. Things are pretty much the same as at home, except I don't have 5 roommates to share the cooking burden with. It is a little harder to cook for 2 than it is for 6. Therefore, we don't always have the best variety of food, but it's okay. We exercise every morning so I am staying fairly healthy! Plus I do a ton of walking. We take buses and walk everywhere we go. None of the sisters have bikes. I think there are a few elders who ride bikes in the mission, but I haven't talked with any of them extensively about it. The buses are pretty reliable and come frequently, so we do just fine. Our flat is a less than 5 minute walk from the large bus station, so everything is really quite convenient for us.

Let me know if you have any other questions; otherwise, I will just have to think about the amazing stories I have to tell from the week. Hope you are all doing fabulous! Thanks for the support.

Love, Becca

A Week of Miracles

Well to best summarize this week, it has been a week of miracles. I made sure to recognize miracles on a daily basis this week, and as a result, Heavenly Father blessed us with an abundance of miracles. We were able to talk to people wherever we went and most of them even had conversations with us! Furthermore, we found some new investigators. (For those of you who are unaware, investigators are people that we meet that are willing to sit down and chat with us about what we believe. They have not been baptized as members of our church, so in other words they are investigating the church.) I could go on for hours about all the miracles I have seen, but instead I am going to answer some of the questions that Eric (my brother-in-law) asked.

My mission president is named President Preston and is the most loving man I have ever met. He is constantly smiling and has a giant heart. It's funny because as I have talked with Sister Davis about the last mission president, President Preston seems a lot more laid back. However, since he has only been in the field 10 weeks it is unclear how much with continue to change or what is set in stone. Some of what I am learning is left from the last mission president, but it may change with some time. As I was thinking about it, the way he runs the mission is a lot like the way I was raised. My parents never really believed in punishments, but rather they loved me. From that love, I didn't want to disappoint them or do something that would make them sad because I knew the happiness my love and obedience brought. President Preston seems exactly the same way. He will love you no matter what, but if you ever saw him not smiling, I know it would be absolutely devastating.

As for the rules, we are not allowed to listen to EFY music. We are only allowed to listen to music produced by the church. However, to be honest it doesn't really bother me. I don't even pick the music because I just don't care that much. Surprisingly enough, it is kind of nice to live by mission rules and not have to worry about the latest movie or how I am missing out on the latest fashion trends. In some sense, mission life is fairly straightforward and easy to live.

My daily schedule mostly consists of teaching lessons and street contacting. We also spend a fair amount of time traveling on buses, so we will talk to people there as well. As for tracting, we don't do a whole lot of it. We maybe will tract a few streets a week just depending on how much time we have. I forget if I explained tracting yet or not, but it is when we knock on people's doors and see if they are interested in the message we are sharing. When you write it out, it sounds kind of crazy, yet it is pretty fun. It is easier to gauge how interested or friendly someone is by the way the hold the door open or start closing it on you. I enjoy tracting just like the rest of missionary work.

Now for the people we are teaching, we will go in order we met them:

Danny. He is in his early 20s and his girlfriend, Emma, is a member of the church. As a result, she suggested that he started meeting with the missionaries. He comes from a rough background, but he has given it all up to live a better life. He recognizes the happiness and joy that comes from the gospel. You can tell that he is grateful for the changes he has made and feels better about his life. He is getting baptized on Friday night, so that is exciting!

Daniel (aka Brother Andrew). He is in his early 30s and has the cutest daughter named Ellie. The sisters met him outside his house I believe sometime before I got to the area. He works some type of construction, but is going to night school to become a teacher. Daniel fits right into the ward and many people don't realize that he hasn't been baptized yet. He will hopefully get baptized soon, but he currently is struggling with the Word of Wisdom. He doesn't quite understand what is bad about having a cup of coffee or drink of alcohol every now and then. Besides that he is strong. He reads from the scriptures on a daily basis and is very inquisitive. He is always wanting to learn more, which is great. Although there is a balance between teaching and answering questions. I think these teaching situations are preparing me to be a math teacher in more than one way.

Brian. We met him just walking in town one day. He told us how he recently had a near death experience. He accidentally cut his ear off and a neighbor found him. He was rushed to the hospital and ended up being alright. However, if his neighbor hadn't found him, Brian wouldn't be here today. Brian knows that someone (God) was watching over him. As a result of this experience, he gave up drinking alcohol. He is ready for some change in his life, so now is a perfect time for him to receive the gospel.

That is about all I have time for now, but I will be sure to write more about the people I know next week. Let me know if anyone else has any questions.

Thanks again for the love and support! Much love.



And now for some photos:

Have fun finding me in this one. It's kind of like where's Waldo.


This photo is from the church history tour. It is of me just being kind of silly and fake knocking at a door. Mostly I just liked this photo, so I passed it along.


The baptism photo is from last week. Walter is Hayley's boyfriend, who was baptized earlier this year, and he baptized her. Hayley is the one who got baptized, and I think I told you about her briefly another time. Then Dylan is her little boy. He is adorable! And he has a ton of energy at the same time. He is well behaved, and Hayley is a great mother to him. Then you have Sister Davis and myself.


Another photo is of Sister Davis and myself during the church history tour. I just thought I would show the world who my companion is and the person I have been spending the last 3 weeks with. She is a bundle of fun! And has a ton of energy. She loves the gospel and shows it daily as she talks to people.

Hope you enjoy seeing my smiling face again!

I Am Getting the Hang of Things

Dear Everyone!

Well I have been out for a month now and I think I am getting the hang of things. Sister Davis tells me I have a fast learning curve, but I think the Lord somehow just prepared me before my mission. It honestly feels like I have been out for a long while; I have to keep reminding myself that it hasn't been very long. I am grateful that missionary work is like second nature to me because it means that I haven't faced too many challenges or hard trials. It is truly a blessing to be enjoying the work I am doing and loving each moment of it.

I will admit it is tiring work. We get 8 hours of sleep each night, but somehow it seems like less sleep than college (where I usually got 6-7 hours each night). Isn't it funny how those things work out? As a result, I have had to rely on the Lord for strength. I have noticed that I can't maintain my positive attitude or energy throughout the day if I forget the Lord. Remembering the Lord and how this is His work helps give me strength to make it through each day. It is amazing how much He helps me as well. I truly have felt lifted up by Him, given a helping hand along the way. It is good to also remember that this next year and a half of my life is a simple sacrifice of my time for everything Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have done for me. I am honestly happy to serve because I know it is the Lord's work.

We had a baptism on Friday. I forgot my camera though, so unfortunately I will not be able to send pictures. I will be sure to remember it for next week though.

I want to speak about one of the ladies in the Wigan ward. Her name is Sister Lynn Higham and she is probably one of the best examples of service I have seen. She is always willing to drive us places, come teaching with us, feed us, or anything else we may need. I have felt blessed for her service and willingness to help us out. I have noticed how her example of service is something to learn from. Throughout my life, service is the way I found true happiness and joy. When you serve someone, you cannot just help but love them. I know that as we serve we can truly bless others' lives as well as improve the quality of our own. I am grateful for all my opportunities to serve, whether they were in small or large capacities, and I encourage each one of you to serve as well. Look for someone around you who may need that extra smile, friend or gift and find a way to make it happen.

The mission is great! I am learning a lot and having fun while I do it. Fall appears to already be here (we even had some hail this morning), but that's alright I think there will be some beautiful fall colors. Hope all is well at home!

Love always,

Sister (Becca) Jack

My First Week in the Field

Well family, it is that time. For the record, my p-day (preparation day) is usually on Mondays. However, yesterday was a bank holiday so the library wasn't open for emails. In the future, you can expect to hear from me on Mondays.

To start things off, I need to make a correction to one of my first emails. Thanks to my mom I realized I made an incorrect mathematical calculation. Apparently there are 52 weeks in a year not 56, so my bad. As a result, I will be gone a total of 78 weeks not 84 weeks. Hopefully this error is not representative of how my math will be when I get home because then I may be in trouble.

I have been out in the actual mission field for under a week now, but it honestly feels like forever. It is simply crazy how fast the time flies by. I am learning a lot and loving the people I am meeting. One thing I especially enjoyed was meeting the Wigan ward (the church congregation where I am serving). It reminded me so much of Georgetown, my home ward. Everyone was really friendly and welcoming probably because there are under 100 members so you know everyone! I already feel at home, and I have only been here a few days. I know that they will be great people to work with and get to know. There is a lot of energy and enthusiasm about missionary work, which makes our job all the easier. I will tell you a bit about the church members once I get to know them a little better.

Next, I have met a ton of people. We are basically encouraged to talk to anyone/everyone, which is sometimes an easier task than other times. It definitely takes a lot of courage to be able to say hi and strike up a conversation with random strangers. As a result, I had to rely on the Lord a lot this week. I prayed for strength and courage to be able to talk to people. Through the process I have noticed a change within myself. I can talk to just about anyone now. Some people are a little nicer than others when you talk to them; however, it is still a wonderful experience. I find it really interesting to discuss with others about their religious beliefs and differences/similarities between our religions. I am learning a lot about how to have direct conversations and ask good questions. From these experiences, I have come to meet some wonderful people. I haven't had much contact with anyone after our initial conversations, but I hope in the future I will be able to tell you more about some random person I met in the street and then got to know better. I am sure it will happen sometime in the next year and a half.

One person I have got to know well is named Hayley. She is 23 years old and has the cutest baby, Dylan. Dylan is 18 months old and the most adorable baby. Hayley takes really good care of him and is a wonderful mother. She is very humble and teachable as well. Hayley is not afraid to ask questions, but is also very accepting of everything we teach her. The amazing thing is you will ask her to do something and then she goes and does it. It is clear that she desires to know for herself the truthfulness of the message we share rather than just taking our word for it. I feel the same way as a missionary. I remember from a talk I heard at the MTC that the first person missionaries need to convert is themselves. It is only after I have a testimony about the doctrine that I can teach others about what I know. In a lot of ways, I am learning myself. As I study the scriptures and doctrine, I am learning things that I didn't know before. I am coming to a better understanding of what I already knew as well. It truly is a wonderful experience.

Now in response to some questions I had:

I explained a bit about my companion. Sister Davis and I are still getting to know each other, but I will tell you more as I learn more. Sister Davis is very musically talented and has a ton of energy. She told me that she has had a new companion every transfer, except for her trainer. I am hoping that I don't run of out of energy. Although I will say that I am making sure to let her know how I am feeling; that way I don't get run into the ground. Who would have thought? I always expected that I would be the super active companion. I guess this is a nice way of humbling myself.

The MTC life was amazing. I truly enjoyed learning from my teachers and the people around me. One of the best things was that I learned to truly love all the missionaries. Since there were only 50 of us, I got to know all their faces and most of their names. (It's okay if you forget their names because then you can just look at their tags.) As a result, it was truly a wonderful experience to be able to look to everyone as an example. Everyone had a different talent and strength that I was able to learn from and desire to be more like.

Finally, I have not heard of the new exercise classes for the Sisters. I am thinking that maybe they were implemented in the Provo MTC. Although, I did play a lot of football (otherwise known as soccer) in the MTC. Our teachers even came out and played with us, so that was some fun competition. Who knows maybe I will be a football pro by the time I get home. Although probably not because I haven't played much football since.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks for all the love, support and prayers! I am truly grateful for it all. Hope all is well in your lives.

Love always,

Sister (Becca) Jack