Happy New Years!

Hello family!

I know that it has been ages since we last talked, but I wanted to let you know what happened with exchanges. The family all guessed that I would be staying in Manchester South. It appears that dad's phone call to the president didn't work though, either that or he forgot to call, because I am now serving in Whitefield. Yes, I am on to my third area. It appears I may know and see a lot of the Manchester area by the end of my mission at the rate I am going.

I am serving with Sister Low. She is from Murray, Utah. Sister Low was studying exercise science at BYU before coming on a mission and has two siblings. I know a few others things, but not too much at the moment since we have only been together for a few hours. I will be sure to report more later, but if I forget do give me a reminder.

I hope everyone enjoys the new year. Happy 2012! I am excited to have another year of growth, learning and exposure to a new culture. I continue to learn each day and am having a fantastic time. There is such a special joy that comes from serving a mission. Not to mention the weather has been surprisingly good. I don't have a ton of time today, but I will be sure to write and give you some more updates next week. I am not 100% sure if I will email on Monday or not since the libraries are closed, so if you don't hear from me on Monday expect an email a bit later in the week.

Love always, Becca

Christmas Time

Can you believe that Christmas is already here? I feel like we just started December. We received our first snowfall of the year here in England (see the pictures attached). Plus we had some slippery sidewalks of rain/snow that froze. For better or for worse, I think winter is finally here. I am excited to talk to you all on Christmas day and see your smiling faces. It will be great to be part of your Christmas celebration, even if I am thousands of miles away. It won't be the first time one of us is gone in a distant land for Christmas now is it? We are definitely a blessed family to be able to travel and see so many wonderful sights, including the beauty of England and the people here who are searching for something more. I am continuing to love being a missionary and helping others to improve their lives and find greater happiness.

My thought last week was all about Christmas, and I know there is probably a lot more I could say concerning the matter. However, this week I have been focusing a lot on goals for the upcoming year (2012). As a missionary, we set lots of goals. We have daily, weekly, transfer (every 6 weeks), and yearly goals. However, as much as a mission is about finding, teaching, etc., it is also about becoming. We can become the person we want to be if we are willing to work hard, sacrifice and expect to achieve that potential we see in ourselves. I remember when people asked me what I expected from a mission, I would usually respond, "It is going to be a really good experience, and I am going to learn a lot." That answer is probably because I honestly didn't know what to expect and I am an optimistic person, so I almost always see the glass as half full. The more time I have spent here in England, I am finding that I was more right that I originally realized. In Preach My Gospel (a missionary's guide to the work), it states, "The first person you need to convert is yourself." When people think about missions, they often ask if we have been able to convert a lot of people. The reality of it is there are people who the Lord converts through our assistance, but a mission is really a time of conversion for ourselves. As much as we focus on others, we also focus on ourselves. For example, I cannot help someone else achieve happiness until I have found that joy in my own life. Furthermore, if I am not a good teacher, then I will never be able to convey the message I am trying to share and help others understand. There are aspects of my life that I need to focus on and improve in order to become a missionary that can help others find these things out for themselves.

Therefore, I have been praying, pondering and studying about goals for the upcoming year (2012). An idea that keeps coming to my mind is the importance of thoughts. We know that thoughts lead to actions and that God is the only one who knows our thoughts, but what is the significance of thoughts? As I have pondered thoughts, I have come to understand that we can master our thoughts. While no one else around us may know what we are thinking, they are still a significant part of who we are. In my mind, I came up with two potential problems with our thoughts—bad thoughts and good thoughts that are not acted upon. The first can be solved in different ways such as “delete keys” (a subtle action just like on a computer that will erase what you were thinking about), replacing it with a song, etc. However, the second is much more difficult to overcome. How often when we have a good thought and don’t act upon it or record it, do we forget it? For me, it happens probably more often than it should. We need to make sure the good thoughts are brought into action. Once we have achieved this transition from thoughts to actions, we are able to accomplish more good and better follow the promptings of the Spirit. We are even able to have more charity in our lives with an optimistic outlook on the world. I am continuing to ponder my goals for the upcoming year, but I think mastering my thoughts and doing good will be part of who I want to become this next year.

On another note, many of you asked about my companion, Sister Gallozo. She is from Spain, specifically the north by the border with Portugal. She didn't know English before coming to England really, so I am impressed by what 16 months of living here has done because it is pretty much flawless now. There are still a few times where I have to double check what she is talking about, but that is a rare case. It is amazing how many different languages there are and yet you have the ability to learn multiple of them. She was studying literature (Spanish literature) at university before coming on a mission, but now she is not exactly sure what she wants to do. She was kind of hoping that her mission would help her recognize what she wanted to do with her life, but unfortunately, that wish has not come quite true. It makes me grateful for my decision to be a math teacher because it gives me direction in my life and I know it is something that I will enjoy. One of the greatest things I have learned from Sister Gallozo is hard work. Even when she is tired, she desires to do good and wants to work hard. That persistence and ability to push through tough times is definitely something to look up to.

Well I hope everyone is staying warm. Merry Christmas and enjoy the time spent with loved ones! Speak to you soon :) Thanks for all your love and support.

Love, Becca


p.s. Here are some comments about the pictures:

1. This is my district at the moment. They are great and we are doing a fun skit/song at the mission Christmas party that I am excited for.

2. This is me out the day when it first snowed. You can't see incredibly well, but it is snowing. I was grateful that I bought a warm coat that day.

3. This is Sister Gallozo on the day with the first snow. I will admit the snow didn't stick, but it was still snowing for the record and cold to say the least!

A note from Annie: Sorry, this is last week's letter. We got to Skype with Becca on Christmas, and it was fun to see her face and hear firsthand how everything is going. Yesterday was Boxing Day and this week is transfers, so she'll be writing a bit later this week.

The Christmas Season Has Arrived!

I feel like it is finally time to be able to celebrate Christmas and enjoy the holiday season. I love seeing the decorations all around, not to mention all the good food! It is honestly a great time to be here in England, and I am excited to learn some English holiday traditions that I will hopefully be able to share with you. I am especially grateful to be sharing the message of the Savior and charity at this time of the year. How often do people get wrapped up in the presents, parties, and people and forget the true meaning of Christmas? I asked myself, what is the true meaning of Christmas? Yes, it is to celebrate the birth of the Savior. However, I feel that it is something more--charity. Some may say that charity is doing good for others. In The Book of Mormon, charity is defined (in Moroni 7) as the pure love of Christ. I have come to know that charity is more than an action, it is a way of thinking. As we think about others with love and kindness, we are motivated to action. The starting point is our thoughts though. Once we get the right mindset and see the world with rose-colored glasses (as Grandma Shelley always did), we have developed charity and the rest is history. That love that we see the world with will be demonstrated by the way we live our life, including the service and good we do for others.

This week I have spent some time calling people that missionaries have met in previous months. From this experience, a few people commented on my accent. The phone calls went about like this.

Me: Hello ____, my name is Sister Jack and I am a missionary from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and you met some of my friends a few months ago. We are sharing about The Book of Mormon.

Other: Oh yeah. I remember them. Where are you calling from?

Me: From England, but I am originally from America.

Other: Yes, I could tell...

Okay that is not the exact conversation, but it is close enough. Bottom line, people kept asking me where I was calling from. It's funny because I thought I would be all set to understand and speak English, but clearly our idea of English is a little different than here. For whatever reason, I have a thick American accent so while I may be able to pronounce aunt correctly (rather than ant), people still recognize I am not from around here. I hope you are able to feel like you are part of the work happening here now and appreciate our unique heritage.

Well life is great. I look forward to speaking to all the family on Christmas! Keep up the good work and I hope each of you are able to develop a little greater charity in your own lives this Christmas season.

Love always, Becca

p.s. We even got to decorate some cookies this week. So I attached pictures of Sister Gallozo and me with our decorated cookies! Tis the season :)

Four months already

Can you believe that I have been gone for 4 months already? But who is counting anyways? Time has surely flown by, and I am continuing to learn and grow each day. First, I need to tell you about an experience that I had last week. I was sitting on the bus next to a girl who I talked to for a few moments, but she quickly went back to reading her book (which happened to be Harry Potter). About 5-10 minutes later, she asked, "What church do you belong to anyways?" We were able to get into a further discussion about religion, family, and life. We came to find out that we are both Math Education majors! It was fantastic. We were able to talk about mathematics together and education as well. It was interesting to learn more about how England's university works for studying Math Ed. Furthermore, I was just really excited to talk about math, probably because I haven't really been able to do so in the last 4 months. It is not everyday that you meet someone who also likes math. As I reflected back on how I light up and got excited while talking about math, I realized that Heavenly Father has blessed us each with individual personalities and interests. While we may have similarities with other people, there are no two people who are exactly the same. Furthermore, our passions about life are what keep us going. Whatever it is that we are passionate about, we need to pursue. It is as we pursue the things that bring us great happiness that we truly are able to find peace and joy in this life. We do need to explore different paths and keep our lives in balance, but I know that we have particular interests because of our talents and the true happiness it brings into our lives.

Next, I finished reading The Book of Mormon this morning! It was absolutely wonderful. I grew up reading it but never really enjoyed all the pages. I will admit, the book started off a little slow. However, by the end I was excited to finish it. I realized that it is like other books in that sense, it may be slow at first and then once you get into it, you just don't want to put it down. The excitement that comes from reading is simply fantastic. There are so many lessons to learn from the pages of The Book of Mormon. As I read, I know that my mind was able to relate experiences and other knowledge I have to these words of ancient prophets. It has been a blessing to be able to learn from others' experiences in the book and then see how I can better serve the people around me as a result. I know that there is always more to learn from those pages, and I am excited to read it yet another time. The fact of the matter is that you can't ever read a good book too many times :)

Hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas season! Know that I love each of you and am thinking about you.

Love, Becca

The first and last pictures are of my companion, Sister Gallozo, and me. The middle picture is from yesterday. It hailed on us, and I was a little bit confused by the weather. Well actually I just want the warmer weather to stay a bit longer, but I guess that winter has finally hit. Oh well, right? It was bound to happen eventually.