Cold and Snowy Manchester

We have received some snow this past week, but none of it seems to stay. We are bundling up and staying warm as much as we can (until your boots fall apart quite literally). I truly have never had so many problems with boots in my entire life (maybe because I didn't really own boots), but the sole came off the heel of my boot this past week. Not so fun, but we will get it repaired today and all will be well. Life is good none the less!

This week we have been able to teach some new people. These people were each found in a variety of different ways—street contacting, bus contacting, and referrals. One thing I have been impressed by is my district leader, Elder Matute. Elder Matute is from Honduras, and he is constantly giving us referrals. Just the other day, he told us how he wanted to build the district and so he looks for YSA for us to teach. (Since we have a YSA ward, anyone between 18-30 years old are supposed to be taught by missionaries in the YSA ward.) It is clear that he loves the people he serves and truly wants to help us. I am very grateful for how he exhibited and continues to exhibit love for our companionship as well as others. I’ll admit there have been very few leaders that have gone to such an extent to help my companionship. Basically, I am grateful for his humility and charity. He is a good leader and understands those things of greatest importance.

On another note, one of the talks at church yesterday was about pride. The speaker, Brother Cain, talked about a beautiful bouquet of flowers and how as soon as they are cut off, they begin to die. I always admire bouquets of flowers, but I never thought of the beautiful bouquet as dying as soon as it is created. It opened my mind to a new perspective. He then related this analogy to how as soon as we rely on our own strength we begin to die (spiritually). It is important to be humble and rely on the Lord for strength. He can provide us with that greater motivation and desire to serve others, but only as we rely on Him. This analogy really helped me to see the reality and importance of relying on the Lord, and mostly I just liked it.

On a more comical note, I have come to understand the sentence in the white handbook which says, "bathe daily if possible." I always thought this sentence was a bit ridiculous because if you can bathe at all, wouldn't it be possible to bathe daily? However, I have come to a greater understanding. Last week our boiler broke, leaving us with no heating nor hot water. Let's just say we didn't bathe that day. Honestly, it would be ridiculous to bathe in cold water when the temperature is freezing outside. Thought I would share some of the fun and experiences we are having over here as well :) 

Hope you have a great week!

Love, Becca

Photos:

1. A place we went tracting (part of the AUF program for the record. We didn't just go see the country side...)

2. My boot broke and Sister Crookston lost her glove on the same day.