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 :)