Week of Miracles

Dear Family,
This week has been one of miracles. To start off, we were able to go to Durham to see the Cathedral last P-day, I will send photos. It was just like you could imagine on the inside, and the "courtyard" is where they filmed quite a few scenes from Harry Potter, so that was also pretty neat. Durham is a beautiful little place as well. I love places with little shops, cobblestone streets, and a nice castle AND a cathedral. We didn't go in the castle though be cause it is Uni student housing. How neat is that?
     Tal love, love, loved the Temple. I am so glad about it because we had such a short time to get everything organized for her to go. She was able to take the bus with other young women in the stake, and with Sister Deacon, Sister Choi and Sister Kinghorn. She really had an excellent time. she said she was so full of the Spirit while she was there and that she was emotional with the strength of it.

With Sis. N from Italy

     Also, Ashleigh is progressing toward baptism! She is scheduled for February 22nd which is exciting. Sad thing is that transfers are next week (unbelievable!) and so Kneadyourdough or myself will not be here. (Kneadyourdough is a nickname for Sis. Nigido because one of the members couldn't remember her name for the longest time...and then we came up with that. haha)

Do you recognize this? It's where
 a lot of the scenes from Harry Potter were filmed.

     Another great miracle is that we tried by a Church of England Minister that we had met previously. He told us to try by on  Thursday afternoon so we did. He let us in straightaway and we sat down at his kitchen table. I was pretty nervous, as you could imagine, and was praying so hard that I'd just be able to peaceably answer any questions or discuss any scriptures that he might throw at us. Well, the very first thing he did was tell us that one of our leaders was in the paper. I was hoping it would be something positive, as I saw the article my heart sank. I was then informed about the issues going on right now with President Monson and the Westminster court. Obviously, it is all quite ridiculous, but how was I supposed to defend my faith when he had that sitting in front of us? At first, things were a bit contentious just because he was trying to undermine Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. I have a fault of being a bit too bold in these circumstances, but I was trying my best to not let the situation get to me.  He then left for a minute and I looked at Sister Nigido, who has a gift of remaining calm in all situations. It is a great blessing to have a companion like that, because we looked at each other, whispered a few uplifting things, and I was able to better relax. When he came back in the kitchen we were able to testify boldly, ask inspired questions, and we must have done something right because he and his wife have invited us for dinner on Thursday. :)

     Something funny that happened this week was that yesterday we visited an elderly woman from our ward. Just to give you an idea of what she's like, her testimony was probably 25 minutes long last Sunday. She is a doll, and she has a heart as big as the whole outdoors. We were there for ages and being as polite as we could while listening to her. We had just come from tea with the Adlingtons, who provided a beautiful Sunday dinner, so we were completely stuffed to the brim . This dear sister (like everyone else) had assumed that missionaries here are somehow starving (that's how I've gained 15lbs) and she had prepared a platter of food for us. Sister Nigido and I knew that we had to shove it down, and quickly otherwise we'd be there until Monday morning. by the time we left we could have been rolled out of the house. I don't think I've eaten so much in my life.
   Now back to the Spiritual side of things. I've learned this week that God knows exactly how we feel and what we need. I had some prayers answered this week and my testimony has increased a great deal because of it. I love how the gospel is so simple, and that all it teaches us is the directions God has given us in order to let us be the absolute happiest we can ever be.
I love you all,
Keep the faith!
Sister Lybbert :)

Durham Cathedral with Sister N.
 from Mountain View