Christmas Happenings

Family,

It was SO nice to talk to you on Christmas day! 40 minutes really does go by so fast. I felt like I hadn't even talked to you for a minute. (I guess that means when I get home in November I'm going to have a lot of talking to catch up on).

My week has been really good. I guess I'm actually emailing for 2 weeks, but I'll just tell you what I remember of the past 2 weeks. So. Christmas. It was really good! We were so blessed because we were able to be with some really good members Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Christmas eve we were with the Daleys, a family from America. They are so cool. They have 4 kids (the cutest kids ever). Tender mercy: they have pretty much the exact same :Christmas Eve traditions as we do, including dinner, opening up pajamas and watching the animated Christmas story video. When we woke up Christmas morning that consensus was between the 2 of us that is didn't really feel like Christmas. On christmas day we spent time with 3 wonderful families that took us into their homes and pretty much helped us feel like we were family. It was great! and then... I GOT TO SEE YOUR SMILING FACES!! I'm glad that everyone is doing well. It was so fun to talk to you all. I also was blessed with some really sweet emails from friends and family that emailed me which I got to read today. Its like Christmas all over again!!!

As for the missionary work the past couple of weeks, we had an epic week 2 weeks ago and found new people to teach and were able to meet them several times. This past week the work slowed down a little bit because of Christmas and Christmas eve. But don't worry, it'll pick back up. New years is a great time to share the gospel while everyone is trying to be better. I'm excited to see the miracles start rolling in.

During my personal studies this week I read the Christmas story (classic) and I studied a lot in Preach My Gospel. I've also started reading Acts because its all about missionary work. It has been really good. I love filling spiritual hunger being satisfied as I study and learn more of the doctrines of the gospel and how to be a missionary. During combined Priesthood/ Relief Society meeting on Sunday the Bishop taught about hastening the work about the 4 areas that members of the church can help in the great work of salvation. I thought is was so cool. This work of salvation is a team effort between members and missionaries. I honestly believe there is no limit to what we can accomplish in finding, teaching, baptizing, activation and retention as the members and missionaries truly team up and work together in this work of Salvation.

These are two quotes I really liked from General Conference (I've been slowly reading through the talks again) :

"It is impossible for us to fail when we do our best when we are on the Lord’s errand." -M. Russell Ballard

"The most important part of your service will be your own daily spiritual preparation, including prayer, scripture study, and obedience to the commandments. We encourage you to dedicate yourself to living the gospel with greater purpose than ever before." I love this quote from the first presidency. It is really cool and I feel like it really applies to me as a missionary who is teaching all the time. It also applies to anyone who is teaching.

 

Now, for some pictures.

 Walking to the library.... its been like this a few days this week. Pouring rain with hurricane force winds. I have a pretty good coat though, it keeps me fairly dry :) Also, in that pic you can see my new boots.... got them for 17 pounds, over 50 percent off!!! (That's about 30 American dollars)

 District picture on Christmas Day! After our caroling service.

Its a tradition around here to have Christmas crackers (google it) basically you and one other person pull the cracker apart and whoever is holding the biggest part gets a joke, a tiny trinket and a crown. Its a tradition!!! This picture was from a DA last sunday. Best food ever, including homemade cheescake. I'm pretty sure I wobbled around for the next couple of hours.

 

I wore the pajamas you got me on Christmas eve ;)

Love you all! And Happy New Years :)

Sister Roscher

Merry Christmas!

Hello everyone! This is Allyson, Meghan's sister. We didn't get an email update from her this week (her p-day was moved) but we did get to talk to her on skype! She's doing fantastic and has been well taken care of over in England. Just goes to show there are incredible people everywhere. Next Monday there should be another email from her so check back then! And, just in case you've missed seeing her face this week, here's a picture or two :)

I Went by Coach (and Train) to....

SWINDON! Ok, you all might have known it was coming... I guess I didn't, or I was in denial. But it happened, it really happened! I'm out of my greenie (first) area!
You'll have to look it up on the map. It's pretty far away from where I was before. It is a 30 minute drive from being in the London mission. Crazy stuff!

Swindon is very different from Harborne. It feels a lot more like the suburbs. Some people work here in Swindon, but there is also a size-able population that commutes to London for work. The areas we are in are way more posh than Birmingham, but don't worry- we are still going to be able to find and teach plenty of people. There are 3 sets of missionaries here: 2 sets of Elders and one set of Sisters (us). These 3 sets consist of our district. Its weird having a smaller district, but I already love it. We already know each other well. 

My new companion is Sister Forbes. She is from Scotland! She is way cool. She has two transfers left of her mission so I will probably be the one to send her home. She is so sweet and kind and I already love her! Also, she's Scottish through and through, which is SO fun! Scottish people rock.

I was only in my new area for a day when we went back to Harborne for the Christmas conference! This should tell you how far away we are. We got up at 4:45, caught the bus to the train station at 6:10, caught the train  at 6:51 and then caught the coach with the rest of our Zone at 8:30. Its fun though. I love riding trains and coaches, its a hoot! At the Christmas conference I got to see everyone again. It was so fun!!! Sister Miller and Sister Sopi are both doing well and I got to see Sister Merrill (after only missing her for a day) . I also saw all of the other missionaries I have served around or was in the MTC with. There was a musical program, we ate homemade Cafe Rio (whoa!), caroled, and listened to President and Sister Rasmussen talk. It was fun! the conference went from 10 -4 then we all headed back to our areas. We made it back home at 8:45 pm full of Christmas joy, candy and Cafe Rio :) 

Getting to the mission home on transfer day was pretty easy, but getting from Sutton Coldfield to Swindon took a little more effort. Especially becuase I had my bike! All the missionaries being transferred to my new Zone (the Cheltenam Zone) took a coach down to Gloucester and then we all went our separate ways by train and bus. The coach was about 2 hours and then it was an hour train to Swindon. It was a fun adventure. English countryside is beautiful (I think that every time). Packing was also really fun because I had accumulated A LOT during the 7.5 months I was in Harborne. Sister Merrill just laughed at me as I started to pull stuff out and pack (and then she offered to help :))

It was sad to say good-bye to my recent converts and those in the ward I had grown close to, but it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. They are in good hands with Sister Merrill and her new companion Sister Williamson.

Sister Roscher

Oh, and on Monday we went caroling in the city centre with the YSAs. Here's a (blurry) picture!

My new companion, Sister Forbes!

Love and Laughter

This week sister Merrill and I have really enjoyed breaking out the Christmas music and singing ALL THE TIME. Christmas music is where its at! 

Also.... tonight we get transfer calls!!!!! AH! Except, I don't think I'm going to be transferred. I think I will stay here until the end of January (1 week away from my 9-month mark). There are a couple reasons Sister Merrill and I both think I am staying. You'll have to find out what happens from the mission blog or wait until we email next week :)  We'll find out tonight around 10:00. Strangely, the suspense isn't killing me. I really really think I will be here for another transfer. 

This week the weather was really pretty nice. We haven't had anything super eventful happen this week for me to tell about other than we are really excited for "Come unto Christ" month. This week should be an exciting one for us to find and teach new people! R was interviewed to receive the priesthood on Sunday, Wahoo! Z2 was taking a friend to the airport so he wasn't there this Sunday but will be interviewed next Sunday for the priesthood. Z is doing good as well. 

Also, L (you remember L) should be receiving a calling this Sunday so I am excited to see him get more and more integrated into the church. He still very diligently studies the scriptures and is doing well. Tony has been struggling a little bit but we have the YSA (Young Single Adult) ward on board and we are going to make sure that he stays strong in the faith. He has just been really swamped by school this semester. 

I am excited to see the miracles that come around this time of year and to be a part of this massive effort of bringing others to Christ. 

oh.I also got my hair cut!!! I got a bob. It was daring.... but turned our super cute!!!! I don't have a very good picture of it at the moment, but I'll take one this week and send it :) 

ooh, AND this week is the mission Christmas conference!!!! This is the only time each year the whole mission comes together. It is this Friday at our Chapel (because we have the biggest chapel in the mission). 300 missionaries, food, and Christmas fun. I'm excited! And I'll get to see Sister Miller and Sister Sopi and the sisters in my MTC group. 

I love you! Thank you for your love and support!!!!

Sister Roscher

NOEL

Happy thanksgiving! I am glad that it was filled with family, fun, and FOOD! I am so glad that everyone traveled safe and that you were able to have some quality bonding time. That is always good. It is hard to believe that it is already December and that Christmas is near approaching. We are in the last full week of the transfer and it feels like it went by in the blink of an eye!  

If I could describe this week in one word I would say FUNNY. I think we have the funniest investigators and recent converts ever! They are just so charismatic and unique. I have oodles of funny things to tell you! But first before I do that, I just have to tell you a cool food story.... This Sunday after church and the baptisms there was a 'hot pot'. Its a Chinese thing. Click here to read about hot pots! The YSA chinese recent converts put it on to get more involved in the ward and because they love to display and show us more of their culture. At the hot pot I ate..... FISH BALLS! I felt pretty neutral about them. It was like a whole bunch of fish pureed then put back together in a ball and then fried. It was pretty cool though. And I ate some delicious fried tofu with Udon noodles (Japanese) and fried beef slices. It was pretty tasty! 

Other big news, last P-day we got to go to the Birmingham-Frankfurt Christmas market! I pretty much died and went to heaven. It was just so fun to be a part of. I'm sure there are pictures online that you can look up if you want to see it. We walked up and down New Street to see all the stands and what they had and it was fantastic! They also had a craft market going at the same time at the end of the Christmas market. Totally up my alley! At  the Christmas market there are loads of places to eat, there are stands with little Christmas trinkets, German food etc. I really enjoyed seeing everything. I didn't really feel like I was in England for a few second;, I felt like I was in Germany! Its really funny- alcohol is huge here, and they had a pub set up in the street as part of the Christmas market. For lunch we bought a monster bratwurst with some onions and sauce on it and we got crepes for dessert. Then we sat in Victoria square and ate them and people watched. I spilled onions and sauce on my skirt, the ground, and all over my face. Typical haha Sister Merrill thought it was hilarious, but I think she was also a little embarrassed she was sitting next to me :) To close our fun day, we rode the Ferris wheel!!! It was so fun! The Ferris wheel workers spun us around each time we got to the base too. Then we walked around the new library of Birmingham. You should google it and look at pictures of it online! They also had coolest library I've EVER been to! It just opened 3ish months ago. It cost a few billion dollars to build. It has light up escalators spiral bookcases and is basically the coolest thing ever. We're actually emailing from there because we wanted to go back. I can proudly say I have a library card from it too :)

Sister Merrill and Sister Roscher

The pub in the middle of the square

"Happy Christmas Birmingham"

   

With their brawtwursts

On the Ferris Wheel

 Z, R and Z2 are all doing really well and were able to receive the Holy Ghost this Sunday.

When we met with R this week, he shared his testimony with us about the word of wisdom. He had to stop drinking alcohol, coffee and tea before baptism. He is rock solid. He explained that he had given up all those things but had still been cooking with a lot of alcohol and that he had found and new better method to cook his food. He told us he had a testimony of keeping God's commandments and he wanted to keep them well. 

Z is doing really well. She has set such a good example for her friends and has touched them with the happiness and peace she has found through the gospel of Jesus Christ. We're now teaching 2 of her housemates! Funny story about Z, it was Sunday school time (Sacrament Meeting is last) and she still wasn't at church so we called her and got no answer. Then we called her again and she told us she was at the hospital. Turns out, when she woke up in the morning she was really sleepy and stubbed her pinky toe on her bed and hurt it, so she went into the ER to get her stubbed toe checked out HAHAHA She still made it to Sacrament Meeting but it was after the other 6 confirmations took place and so she had to be confirmed by herself after the sacrament. Although we had a baby heart attack that she wasn't going to to make it, she did! Stubbed pinky toe and all! It was just SO SO funny!  

Z2 is awesome I don't think I've ever seen anyone so excited to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost! We saw him the night before and he was just SO excited.

On Thanksgiving, we were reminded by an investigator that it was Thanksgiving because we had totally forgotten!! It was just a regular day here, no classes canceled or anything. For our Thanksgiving feast we ate pizza and cheesecake. It was pretty fun, and delicious! But I did think about all of you and hoped that you were having a wonderful feast with the roast beast! Apparently she's already forgotten we eat turkey on Thanksgiving ;)  

At the start of the Christmas season, we are doing a "December to Remember" in the mission with a Come unto Christ month. We each choose at least one thing to give as an offering to Christ this season and to dedicate our efforts to Him. It will be an exciting month in the EBM. 

We had the Stake Christmas program last night and we were able to invite the spirit of the season in to members and non-members alike.One of the speakers gave us an acronym that I really liked. NOEL. N-Name. Take Christ's name upon us this season. O- Obedience. Show our love for Christ by being obedient to his commandments. E- Emulate. Emulate Christ this season. Do what he would do. L- Love. Show love for all those around us and our Savior. So this Christmas, think of NOEL! 

At the end of this Thanksgiving season, I also want to say how grateful I am for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for the many tender mercies I have in my life and the wonderful experiences I am having here in England! 

The message we share with the world is life changing. It changes us and helps us be better the more we serve, pray and read our scriptures, try to emulate Christ, and learn about Him and be better! If you don't feel like you personally know your Savior, now is the time! Don't delay!!! 

I LOVE YOU ALL! 

Sister Roscher

Chinese Book of Mormon and Name Tag

With a map :)