This week has been a mixture of things....

January 27, 2014
Dear Family,
This week has been a mixture of all things. I'm currently battling another cold but this time it is making my lungs rattly and so that's not good. At church yesterday I left sacrament meeting to cough (as usual_ and then there were a few members that came out after and were all telling me to go home and get rest because I wasn't looking so good. Brother Power and Brother Cave gave me a blessing so hopefully things will start looking up tomorrow.
   I'm so sorry to hear about Chrissy's Dad. Tell her that I am praying for her and thinking about her, Scott, Penny and her family. The gospel brings so many blessings, one of which is the knowledge of life after this one. I've had some powerful contacting this week as we've testified of that. It was even emotional for me as I bore testimony to these people who I didn't even know.
    If Laycee is reading this, I am overjoyed for you! You know Lace, the gospel never became as real for me as it has in the past 8 months and I know without a doubt in my mind that the way to true peace and joy comes from following the example of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The Priesthood is real, and through it we can find  our purpose of this life and reach our God-given potential to become like our Heavenly Parents. I know it. You've always been a great example and friend. I wish I could be there!
     Ashy got a bearded dragon? How excitifying! Will it still be around by December though? ;)
     A Sister from our ward brought me maple syrup. :D
Another sister from our ward that's a nurse gave me this bottle of herbal Chinese medicine for coughs. It looks like t he medicine from Nanny McPhee but I've been taking it and it seems to be doing something...I think.
     This week we had some great miracles, one of which was while we were knocking .When the lady opened the door, we were able to take President Pilkington's council and be conversational at first, (he also tells us to mention the things we have given up to come here and mention where we're from so that people will see the importance and effect this message has on us). Anyway, we had a great lesson at her door and we are seeing her again Friday! She was emotional as we talked about the potential that God has given us, and we were able to relate to her the First Vision. She is a sweet lady, and miraculously has some connections to the ward here. It is crazy how that works out!
     Fun Fact: Elder Sim (from England) is serving her (in England) and he is "famous" on YouTube for his "What Mormons Say" videos that he has done with Bryce Hardy (who is from Calgary, and who I used to play with when I was 4 years old...small, small world).
     Also, I forgot to mention that Elder Olson is serving in Alnwick which is where the Alnwick Castle is, which is the HP castle. He's not in my zone but had they not recently split the zones, he would have been. I haven't seen him yet because we were in Sunderland instead of Newcastle last P-day but for some reason, President is banishing all of the Canadians to the north..hahaha. There's Sister Neilson (Cardston), Me (Magrath), Elder Dotschkat (Calgary), Elder Veitch (PEI), Elder Olson (Magrath) , and I'm sure there are more. We're taking over the North!
     I remembered a huge miracle !

     On Saturday, Ashleigh was going to come to a baptism in Newcastle with us and I was so excited. but then, she sent us a text saying she was tired and the weather was rubbish so she didn't want to leave her flat. We were devastated because we didn't know what we could do in t he awful weather and me feeling sick. We tried to call other people to come, but none of them could, and then we decided to say a prayer.
   After the prayer, the sun came out, and we got another text.  It was Ashleigh saying that we could meet her at the Chichester Metro! I knew Heavenly Father was looking out for us because our back-up plans were less than desirable.
     Ashleigh really loved the baptism and she started to talk about when she gets baptized. She came to church with us yesterday too and loved it again. She said being at the baptism made her realize how she really wants to try harder to read and pray and make these things priority. I feel so blessed.

Well, bless you all.
The Church is true.
Love,
Sister Lybbert :)

   

Life is Good

Dear Family,
    This week was pretty great, although e-mail time means that my mind goes blank and then I can't actually tell you about it.
      Dad, Keeping bees is on my bucket list! If you get started you can teach me the ropes later. How exciting! You should definitely do it! And Mom, that is class that you are getting a harp, except what about a new piano? (Then you can save your piano for your second daughter).
      This week we had interviews and Zone training. In President's Interviews, he told me to tell you (in case I haven't) That he likes me because I'm from Canada and Canada (Medicine Hat) looked after his father for three years in the Second World War. President is absolutely one of the classiest and most motivational people I know. I really wish you could meet him and Sister Pilkington.
     This week we scheduled appointments after church Sunday which we try to do sometimes but it's not always as effective as we hope, but these past two Sundays, we've done quite good. So, we stayed busy, but also made finding a priority, which was something I don't love to do because the weather was rainy and I go through phases where I crawl back into my shell and lose all confidence to talk to strangers. But, the Zone Meeting was all on Finding, and President is inspired. He is encouraging us to never again approach someone and say, "HI! My friend and I are missionaries...blah-de-blah-de-blah" because that will not make anyone listen. Instead, we are encouraged to be real people and try different approaches. the best ones we have started to use are, "Hi, can we ask you a question?  What makes you happy?" or "How do you feel about your ancestors?" That way we can talk about the gospel without spouting at them or talking at them, but talking with them and being conversational. It reminded me of a project that I was doing with a friend a few years ago where we wrote down a load of questions like that just because we wanted to see what different people were like, but we never got around (or got the courage) to actually go around and talk to strangers.
    The adventure for this week was that we had a flat inspection from a gas company of some sort, and our boiler was condemned. Which meant that we had to freeze for only one day and then temporarily move to Gateshead with Sisters Peck and Benner until it's fixed. Hopefully that gets sorted soon because that means we have to commute on the metro from Gateshead to South Shields every day.
     OH! I forgot! Yesterday evening we went to a Born Again church service. We met some people from there when we were visiting Marilyn from a few doors down our street. Anyway, we said that we'd come to theirs and they were invited to ours, only fair right? Right. Well, it was...interesting. The first half an hour I felt like I was at a gospel rock concert. The music wasn't weird or bad, it was probably something us missionaries would listen to in the morning, but the Spirit was lacking as the sermon went on because they were missing some important truths. It made me so grateful to not have to feel like so many important doctrines are unclear or missiong. After the sermon, the people were  very friendly and all interested to talk to us but didn't exactly let us get a word in. I'm so grateful for sacred sounding hymns, and having the Spirit in the building throughout the meeting, not just when bits of truth are told.
    This week has been great, thank you for your prayers and support. It is always appreciated.
 Love you all,
Sister Lybbert
 

Incredible week

Dear Family,
This week has been pretty incredible. We had some wonderful visits with the members, and transfers didn't change anything here in South Shields.

Sweater from Auntie Trishy
 and Uncle Mark

     Talyia met us at the church last week so that we could read the BOM with her and originally she was supposed to come with her friend, Ellie, but Ellie wasn't able to make it and we were somewhat disappointed, but we went and to our surprise, we saw Talyia coming up to the chapel with a friend! It wasn't Sally or Ellie either so we knew she has really been inviting all of her friends to hear about the gospel. She's  a great example to me. Her friends are all looking at the changes she's made in her life and her example and I don't think they realize how immensely these things change lives. Of all of the people I've ever met, these 12 year olds are the most powerful. understanding, and receptive of all of the people I've taught. It's absolutely breathtaking how the your are so strong.

With Talyia and Brother
and Sister Power

     The great thing is that the youth are the strongest people we meet, but they can also be the complete opposite because the gap between good and bad is definitely widening and it is happening fast. It seems that the teenage girls here are either getting drunk on the weekends, or they are discovering the role of their Father in Heaven and their Saviour. I feel so much responsibility in bringing them to the knowledge that there is more to life than just living and dying. I feel so much love for them because I know that being that age is hard, and peer pressure is hard, but I know that they can be powerful and become great disciples of Jesus Christ. Talyia has opened my eyes on the greatness of the youth, and to think that our Joshy is now 12 as well, I have such great hope for him.

This is for Keith...Christmas morning!

     So, please read your scriptures, pray with all the energy of heart, and prepare yourself to partake in the ordinance of the Sacrament every week. Invite the missionaries over.
   I have really loved to hear all of your stories about Family History work and it got me inspired. We are going to hold a class in a few weeks that we can invite people to as we're knocking, for them to find out how they can know about their ancestors. I am also VERY excited because on lds.org you can order your ancestor's patriarchal blessings (I discovered that back in June) andI kept think back on that and how I needed to order some of my great-grandmother's, and so I did and I can't wait. I think that is incredible that we are able to do that.
   Some scriptures that I really love lately are:
Romans 8: 35-39
2 Corinthians 4: 8-10
Alma 37: 35-37

A Cemetery. They're all neat but
I like the ivy

    They have really helped me and strengthened my testimony that God is always on our side and we can rely on Him through all hard times. I also love what Elder Kearan (1st counselor in the European Area Seventy?) said at the last Mission tour. He told us that we need to realize that nobody is the same person this week as they were last week and that we shouldn't judge others or ourselves because of that. We can become close to Christ day by day and so we must not be harsh on others or ourselves if we are sincerely trying to work toward that. I feel like the time here is going by so quickly and that I don't have time to become the person I hope to be by the end. I can't believe that it is January.
     I love this work.
     I love you all,

  Sister Lybbert

Happy New Year

January 7, 2014
This week has been lots of fun. We had some great lessons, and miracles and good news...all four South Shields sisters are STAYING! WHOO! The intensity transfer night every 6 weeks gets crazier and crazier. I was pretty sure we'd be staying though. Not too much even changed  this transfer with our zone. And, exciting news, Sister Monroe is now a Sister Trainer Leader. It's so great to be able to go on exchanges with them all of the time, and now I live with one. :)
     My mind is blanked...but we found a fantastic new investigator! Her name is Samantha and we met her while we were knocking. I may have already mentioned her (I can't remember anything during e-mail time) but she is incredible. We had our first lesson with her on Thursday and she was so enthusiastic about being able to pray and find out if Joseph Smith really did see God and Jesus Christ. She felt the Spirit strongly and she had a great desire to come to church with us on Sunday. It was all too perfect though (things like this don't happen with ease...the devil always has a way of slowing things down...) and ten minutes before Sacrament Meeting, she texted us saying there was some problems with support from her family and friends. It devastated me, but we are praying that she will get in contact with us again and that all is not lost.
    It's funny Mom, that you mentioned Joseph Fielding Smith's book, because I picked that up today and read through the beginning about his mission. It really made me feel better and helped me again, to understand that this is all in the Lord's timing, even if this isn't Samantha's time, it will happen.
     As for Ashleigh, she's doing brilliantly. We are seeing her again tonight and she loved church on Sunday. She's really motivated to make all of the necessary changes and to gain the courage she needs to change her work schedule around. There are so many blessings that we have experienced this past week. I was nervous to go from having so much holiday to full throttle missionary work, but it has proved to be even greater than before.
    New Year's Eve we spent with Kirsty, her mom, and Sister Dodsworth. I love those three. They're hilarious together. We watched The Sound of Music and had some absolutely canny commentary fro everyone. I loved it. We then watched the end bit of  "Nativity!" because we love it.
   New Year's Day we had off entirely (which is probably the last day of my mission that will happen) and there was no transit going that day so we weren't able to go to Durham Cathedral like we had planned. Not to worry though, because we had a really spiritual and uplifting time in the flat. We read through our Patriarchal Blessings individually and then took some time to make goals for this year that would help us with becoming who God needs us to be. Then, we shared our goals with each other. It was actually so incredible and the Spirit was strong. I'm very excited for the year 2014. I just can't believe that it is already here. It is THE YEAR where Sister Lybbert will work harder and be stronger and become closer to God than she ever has before.
   I love you all and I'm grateful for your love and support. I am so grateful that my little bro has taken on the great responsibility of becoming a Deacon. I'm so happy to be here. I'm loving it.
    Oh! and on Saturday, Sister Nigido and I did some service for Len and Elsie Power because they have done so much for us over the Christmas time and when we first arrived here. So, we made them a nice dinner (Talyia helped us too!). We made the mushroom chicken Dad always makes and banana bread for 'pudding.' It was delicious  and they loved it too!
   Now for some more fun stories of how small the world is:
Sister Power (formerly Sister Elsie Deacon - she was just re-married last summer) has a daughter-in-law who lives in Sugar City, Id. He name is Katie Deacon. Could someone ask Marnie and Doug if they know her? AND Sister Power also served a mission as a senior sister in Nauvoo when we would have been there! Not only that, but the lady from the frozen custard shop, Helen Campbell, is a really great friend of hers now AND she is from Magrath [Welling actually]. All too fun :)
The church is true and being a part of this work is beyond incredible.
I love you all,
Sister Lybbert

Thank you to everyone for the Christmas packages!

December 30, 2013

Dear Family,

     It was so good to see you all on Skype as well! I was nervous at first and was trying to think of what I could really say, but it all seemed to go smoothly. I wish I could have taken longer because there is even more to tell you and I forgot to sing you the song I know in German! I was gutted when I realized I had forgotten to sing it for you! haha
     So my birthday was excellent. We had FHE at Claire's (the YW President) with Talyia and Sally and we watched The Polar Express in our onesies. I may or may not send photos...haha.
     Well, it just started raining again...blah.
     Then, Christmas Eve we had District Meeting and then a Zone lunch. Sister Peck and I made chocolate chip pancakes and then we all played a quick game of football in the chapel gym (in our missionary attire...it was fun).
     After that, we went caroling to a couple of the member's houses. We went to Edwige's, I will send a photo. Her and her kids are all so adorable. And then, we had to be in our flats at 4 so we built a huge fort in our living room and then we went to Sister Dodsworth's with Kirsty and Maureen (Kirsty's Mom) and then Sister Burgham. We had an absolutely wonderful evening. We read the Christmas Story, sang carols, I sang the lullaby you wrote mom, and then we ate food and told funny stories. It was a Christmas Eve I will never forget. I felt so happy.
    That night, we had t he greatest dance party to our wonderful selection of Christian Rap and Disney songs, and then we had a sleepover in our fort AND we were allowed to lie in until 8. To be honest, it still felt like half six but it wasn't. We then sand some carols and opened our gifts.
     So, thank you to the Fishers for the album, to my family for the Celtic necklace, the hat, the music and everything: Tirshy, Becky, Grandma and Grandpa, the Hubbards for the package and the basket of fruit (MUCH appreciated because everyone is just giving us chocolate and biscuits...haha), and all the other people who sent things. I really loved everything that was sent over. I appreciate it all so much and love you all for it. I am so grateful to you all.
      Later on Christmas we went to Ashley and Mick Cave's for dinner. It was lush, we had the works, turkey, ham, and so many good things and then for pudding we had sticky toffee pudding. Delightful!
  Then we went to the Kinghorn's and watched "What a Girl Wants" (because we all love it haha) while others Skyped, and then I Skyped. Then we went to Marian Deacon's so that another one of us could Skype and then we watched Home Alone 2.
     Boxing Day was nice as well. We had the day off for the most part so we chilled out, cleaned up the Christmas mess and then we went to the Hern's to play some games (YES, I played games!) We played Logo's and then I taught them how to play "Things". It was really fun.
     Then we had some good lessons with Ashley, and quite a few less-actives the following days. Ashley is so great. She has some concerns but nothing that is too hard to deal with. She's so solid. I really enjoy teaching her because she is so understanding and feels the Spirit strongly as we teach.
      I have had a fabulous Christmas season. I can't believe that it's almost over. New Years Day we have to be in at 4 again. We get to sleep in until 8! Whoo!!
   I love this work and I'm grateful for all that you have done to help me in it.
Love,
Sister Lybbert

Happy Birthday to Me and Merry Christmas!

December 23, 2013
Well folks, yep it's my birthday. I'm 21. That is unreal. Yay.
     Last week was fab. We had our Christmas party where the Billingham, Newcastle, and Sunderland Zones got together and partied. President and Sister Pilkington were there too. We had pizza, had the best talent show I've ever seen, and then watched "It's a Wonderful Life." I absolutely loved it all. For the talent show, President and Sister P did an Elf-Yourself video and it was probably the best thing I've ever seen.
      We sand a beautiful song, which I will try to send. If not, you'll have to wait until next year.

Sisters L & N with Talyia

Waiting for the metro

     And last week was marvelous because Talyia was baptized! It was the sweetest and the most memorable moment of my mission thus far. She's an absolute doll and she knows the importance of the covenants she has made with our Heavenly Father. In the past month of teaching her, we've had so much fun and felt the Spirit strongly. But the best part was right before she went under the water. I saw her eyes fill with tears and then she had all of us tearing up. I've never experienced such a powerful moment as that and it was a darling 12 year old girl who understood possibly more than anyone i know, how important this step in her live was.\     Then, yesterday, we had the Carol Service and it was adorable. All the kids were dressed up and seriously I wish all children had the accent they have here. It's adorable.\
    Also, Kaiah and Cammie especially, you NEED to watch "Nativity!". It is hilarious. Please, please, please watch it. You'll die laughing.
   What else? Well, this morning I woke up feeling a bit older, wiser and chubbier than usual. The latter isn't as nice but I deal with it, haha.
    I love the necklace, Mom, and I opened the b-day present from the members too. I saved everything else for Christmas though. AND Sister Munroe, Neilson, and Nigido decorated our study room last night and gave me a SPONGEBOB COLOURING BOOK. I could not be happier. Haha.
     We are gong to Michella's for lunch today. It's a famous Italian Ice Cream Cafe.
I love you all and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Love,
Sister Lybbert

with Kirsty

with Sister Monroe at Toby's Carvery