Week 19

This week has been lovely. We have had no snow, the grass is still green, but the October air is definitely present and it is still, as usual, cloudy and rainy. I'm not complaining though. The only thing I don't like is that it gets dark around 5:30 now and soon it will be even earlier than that.
     We had some great miracles this week. I felt inspired to go down a certain street last Monday, Temple Green. We went down the street and to our dismay, it was mostly old folk's apartments that were pretty much inaccessible. I then thought why I would feel inspired for the street if nothing was even there for us to do, and it was dark and empty. We knocked the few houses that were there, and we didn't get much response. then there was a lady and her daughter walking their dogs and they were about to walk right past us when I just felt I had to say something because they were the only ones on the street and probably the only ones outside at the time.
   This lady, surprisingly said, "Hey! We were just talking about Mormon missionaries!"
    My exact thoughts were "......really?!?"
    I was shocked. Who does that? Who thinks about missionaries? haha.

Marsden Bay

     Well, they had just walked passed the church and apparently the topic of missionaries came up. We continued to talk, and found that this lady has three daughters and she is more than happy for us to come around and visit her and her family. Unfortunately, we were supposed to go around last night but her daughter was sick and had to be taken to a walk-in clinic. Nothing to worry about though, we are seeing them on Thursday. :D
     Another miracle happened last night. We were knocking, and knocking, and as usually getting  the door shut in our faces. It is sad because with the Training Program (12 week program_ we have 2 hours of companion study and an additional hour for language study, plus personal study. Which means that we don't actually get to go out for very long especially on Sundays. I didn't want to waste this precious hour, and I really felt we could find someone who needs the gospel.

Marsden Bay

     The hour was winding to a close, and I was pretty discouraged and a bit frustrated. I said a prayer for a miracle, that we could find just one person. I felt distinctly that we should knock ONE more house. And so we turned back, and we knocked one more. AND, the man didn't even open the door, he opened the top window and told us to go away.
     I was not happy.
     We walked back toward our flat, and I saw a girl, and her boyfriend (they were pushing their baby in a pram) and I decided I better talk to them. This girl, Jessica, was interested and we have an appointment to see her tomorrow.
     God really does care about every one of us.
    After we got back to the flat, we said a prayer of gratitude and I felt uplifted and happy. It is crazy how things happen when God is on your side.
    This week has been so nice. I don't really know what else to say but that I love my Savior and I have felt the impact of the Atonement in my life more now than I ever have. I love South Shields and the ward is incredible.
     The other day during our lunch we stopped down at Marsden Bay. I will send you photos. Needless to say, it was absolutely breathtaking.
Love you all,
Sister Lybbert

p.s. sorry mom, no photos are allowed to be taken in the Bronte Parsonage, it was really nice though. I saw the couch that Anne Bronte died on. Pretty neat. haha

p.s.s. last p-day we watched The Sound of Music Part I. All of my wildest dreams came true right there. hahah [She had previously asked for the sound track]

plaque at the top of the
 stairs to the beach

 

First week in South Shields

This week was fantastic. transfers came and my new companion is lovely. Her name is Sister Nigido and she is from Italy. She's from a city near Venice. She showed me some photos of the city where she is from and it is completely breathtaking. She is sweet, and quiet (but she's coming out of her shell as she's becoming more comfortable with her English and the work). It's funny that I haven't had any companions that have English as their first language. I learn a lot. I know how to say "Good Morning" in ten languages (roughly) haha.

View from our Keighley flat

     I love South Shields. It is the perfect place and it's just south of the River Tyne which is also beautiful. There are quite a few lighthouses near and I've heard (and seen) that the South Shields beaches are some of the best in the UK. I look forward to exploring the coast a bit more. We live a short distance from it.
   While we were waiting for our flat to be furnished (we're still waiting on some essential, but no matter), we stayed in Gateshead with the sisters there (Sister Peck and Sister Benner). We went finding in Gateshead and had some great miracles. In a couple of hours we had found two investigators for the Gateshead Sisters and I was feeling so inspired by it. I love the people here, and the Geordie accent isn't too difficult to understand (usually).

View from our Keighley flat

     Also, we knocked around our street to get to know some of our neighbors, and there's a lady who is a Born Again Christian and she said we can visit her again! She has lung cancer and is determined that she will be healed by faith and prayers. She is improving and it's incredible. I really want to help her and also tell her about priesthood blessings. I know she could benefit from one and so I hope she will be open to it.
  I love the work. I know I say that in every e-mail but this week I have felt so much happier, motivated, uplifted, and everything else. I love knocking and street contacting, and talking to everyone. It has been a really good week.
I know that the gospel is true and I am grateful to be here to tell people about it.
Thank you for all of your love and support,
Love,

The wet dogs. It was a rainy, rainy day.

Sister Lybbert

Leeds Zone A

Our district with the crowns Elder Berrio (DL) made for us

Betty, Marie and me

The cemetery at Bronte Parsonage

the moor by the Bronte Parsonage

Our fancy schmancy bedroom

ugly fish wall paper!

Our wardrobes!

The Sea! (bad picture from a bus window)

Transfer #3

Dear Family,
     Before I tell you what is happening with transfers, you said you wanted to guess where I'd be going. So I will let you do that and then tell you in a few paragraphs the big news. :)
     The song Angie re-created was fantastic, I hope you took a video of it! I'm happy you all had a great Thanksgiving. I didn't even remember it was Thanksgiving but I knew it was coming up sometime. I didn't have turkey this week, but I guess last week we went to Toby's Carvery with Tracey. I wish we had carveries back home because they are delightful. There is an over-abundance of the most delicious food.
     This week has been pretty splendid. We visited quite a few ladies who have non-member husbands and they were so sweet. the thing about visiting elderly ladies, is that they have a lifetime worth of stories and they love to talk and talk and talk. We were running to other bus and other appointments a few times this week because of it, haha. I love visiting them though. Sister Audrey Page is one of the ladies I recently got to know and she's incredible. Her testimony is amazing and my favorite thing is listening to the conversions stories of all of these people. There are so many converts here because a lot of the English people who were converted back in the 1800's moved to America to be with the Saints there.
     Also, this week we found some new investigators. We went back to a lady's house that we had knocked a few weeks ago. This lady is Catholic and was so kind and wonderful to us. When we went back she was excited to see us, invited us in and made us some peppermint tea and biscuits, put the fire on, and we had a lovely visit with her and her husband. Their names are Anne and Arthur. We talked about the importance of families and family history, and they showed us so many of their family photos that they love. I really see potential with them and am excited for them to progress.
   Also, yesterday after District Meeting, President Pilkington took Sister Jodicke and I to have a lesson with Dennis from Leeds 3. It was because Dennis contacted the Mission Home and President thought it would be good for us to have one last lesson with him so he can transition to new missionaries. He's pretty attached and so it was good to go and help him realize it isn't about the missionaries but the message that they share.     Oh, and I'm sorry mom, I will send the photos as soon as I can, [I asked her about the ones from Haworth] but the library here in Keighley is horrid and the photos don't work well. As soon as I can, I will be sending a lot of photos. ;)
     Now, for the big news! I am being transferred to South Shields [30 min from Newcastle] and I am training! I'm pretty excited about it because that is near the coast and I've heard that South Shields is beautiful. There are only four sisters coming in, and about 20 elders. It's funny because Sister Jodicke is training again, and the other two sisters who are training are also companions and they're in our zone. Sister Peck from the MTC is one of them and she's going to be in Gateshead which is in my new zone as well. I'm so happy about that. She's a doll.
   Conference was incredible. I loved M. Russell Ballard's talk as well. It is true that the members are scared that missionary opportunities will come, but I know that as they come and we rely on the Spirit that we will be directed as to what we should say.
     D. Todd Christofferson's address was also one of my favorites because right now the world seems to make the wrong things its priority.
     I also thought that Henry B. Eyring's talk from the Priesthood session was incredible. The Good Samaritan was not just taking a stroll, he was busy and on his way to get somewhere important, but he stopped and made service and being Christlike his priority. Ulisses Soares' talk about meekness and developing Christlike attributes was very inspiring as well. Especially right now in the mission because President Pilkingon always tells us that our goal is to become like God is. In the mission we have a new personal goal that we are to make every transfer. We choose a Christlike attribute and work through the transfer to develop it. I'm looking forward to understanding Christ more as I apply these new goals.
    Things are going well, and I'm always feeling the support from my family, friends and from God as I continue to try and bring people closer to Christ.
Love you all,
and I'm grateful for you,
Sister Lybbert

October 7, 2013

Dear Everyone,
I don't even know where to begin. i am on the hugest spiritual high right now because General Conference was INCREDIBLE. I didn't' even get to watch the last sessions because of the time difference, but I will be listening to it as soon as possible. We watched the first sessions live (so, yes we all watched it together!) at 5 p.m. and then the next morning us Sisters felt it would be uplifting to go to the Priesthood Session. the ZLs were mocking us for it but we went and had a miracle. Yep, we did. :)
     After the session on Saturday, we were catching a ride ( and some McDonald's :D ) back to Keighley with the Skipton Sisters ( Sister Kuhn - Australia and Sister Edgington - Utah whom I love dearly). We had a brilliant idea. Since  we were going to conference the next day together we asked the APs if we could stay over in Skipton together, and he said YES! The Skipton flat is gorgeous. Its' in a restored mill that is now apartments. We had some fun for sure and we all loved conference.
     On the way to the Priesthood session, there was a lady standing on the corner by the church (it's not an actual church but the Church is renting out the old courthouse for the Skipton branch. It's adorable.) Anyway, her name was Sue and she was wanting to come to church with us. She was waiting until she saw someone! She came and watched the Priesthood session with us, and she really loved it. the Skipton sisters will be meeting with her again. :)
     I have so many notes on conference and sadly...really sadly... I forgot my notebook so I'm just going to have to tell you other things that I can remember.
     I loved President Monson's address to the Priesthood about the importance of being a shepherd. It really made me excited to be the best Visiting Teacher after my mission. Also, I loved what L. Tom Perry said about the Articles of Faith. I started to study the first one today and while I read them this morning I realized how powerful they really are. I want to continue to study them every day and memorize them again.
     I also wanted to mention that M. Russell Ballard talked about us. As a matter of fact, he looked right at Sister Jodicke and I [when he gave a conference for the missionaries in Leeds this summer]. So, when he spoke about the missionaries in Europe that he saw, yep, I was one of the ones he was talking about. ;)
     I really love Skipton. I love Keighley too but Skipton is so quaint and beautiful.
    During the last session we were allowed to watch ( Sunday morning) the reception for the internet kept cutting out in Skipton. We wanted to hear the Prophet SO badly. All four of us ran out of the church in Skipton, to the flat, jumped in the car, and drove as fast as the law would allow to Bradford where they were broadcasting it AND we made it. It ws worth it too.
     AND the World report featured MY MISSION! President Lindley, Sister Lindley, Elder Weitzel and Elder Gee (my first AP's) and if you look back in the photos I sent, elder Juran was the one they featured and he was my first Zone Leader. He's Czech and so he was working in Sheffield with the Slovakian people. We meet so many Slovakians. We actually have a Slovakian Investigator right now, Joanne, who doesn't know English so we have to meet with her when her daughter is there to translate. We also meet a lot of Polish people that don't know English. One of Sister Kuahn and Sister Edgington's investigators that came to conference is Polish and she loved conference even though she didn't understand any of it. It was so nice to know she was feeling the spirit and that's all that mattered. Also, Sister Mcreyolds is in my zone and she is SO great. She was Sister Jodicke's companion before I was.
     I would really love to learn a language so that I can communicate with either the Polish, Czech, or Slovak people here. I can only say "Hi, how are you?" In Slovak. "Ahoy!" is Hello. haha.
     Next week is transfers again. I can't even comprehend that. Sister Jodicke and I have predicted that she'll be transferred to Newcastle and I'll be training here in Keighley. I would be perfectly happy with that. I will miss her though. She's been fantastic.
   Oh, and I haven't said much about the actual week because I was sick and we had a few days of staying at the flat. (Plus, I can't really remember things from day to day anymore...) It was not pretty. I am doing better now though which is a miracle because usually my colds/asthma problems last way longer. I'm hardly having any breathing problems at all. And yes mom, I have been taking my inhalers religiously. ;)
     I love you all and am so grateful for all of the letters. I feel like the luckiest missionary out here. I got some wonderful letters from Kaiah, Grandma and Grandpa Atwood, Jen, Mom, and then some I think I forgot to mention from Camille, Nicole, Sister Hillary Bennett, Shawna, and a package from BROOK SCULLY and LAURA HAMILTON (THANK YOU AND I LOVE YOU).

Love you lots,
 Sister Lybbert :)

Past two weeks...yes I'm catching up

September 23, 2013
This week has been pretty great. We did 30 hours of finding, which was insane, but I'm enjoying it. It is something I want to get better at as well. it's hard to think of how to introduce yourself to people and make it genuine, especially when you really just want to have them open  their hearts to the gospel. I'm working on it though.  Today we are going to visit a lady who is a wedding planner and has teenagers. We gave her a For the Strength of Youth pamphlet last week and hopefully from that she sees how the gospel is such a great blessing. I'm praying that she will be home. So often we find incredible people, make appointments and then they "aren't home." It can be really discouraging. However, I did meet some pretty great people this week and I love the ward. The Stake President is in our ward as well.

Kirkstall Abbey

     President Pilkington and the Stake President, President Stewart, are really encouraging missionaries to build relationships with the members and never to ask for referrals, but to just get the members excited and involved in missionary work. this way, we love the members instead of annoy them. It is so hard sometimes (depending on the ward) because members feel like they are their own 'church' and the missionaries are their own. The greatest way for missionary work to progress is to work with the ward members.
     I didn't have any more crazy experiences like last week's but I still have good ones. Sister Jodicke and I were feeling discouraged last week, and so we prayed that there could be miracles and that we'd be happy and ready to work our hardest. After the prayer, we looked out the window and there was a full rainbow! So, naturally, we decided the end of the rainbow is where we'd go finding next. This is where the lady lives that we are meeting with today. :)
Love,
Sister Lybbert




September 30, 2013

Things this past week have been pretty good as far as the work goes. right now I can't really thing straight though, I have a terrible cold and it is not fun. I was also sick with a horrid stomach ache last Wednesday and had to take the whole day off.

Lewis, Natalie & Sis. Lybbert

     On Saturday, Tracy came out to work with us again. She's from Leeds and she knew Sister Jodicke when she was serving there so she likes to come help us out. We went finding and saw so many miracles that day. One of the miracles happened later that day when we were all exhausted and didn't know what to do next. I wasn't feeling too motivated and my head was hurting so I  was going to just settle for whatever Sister Jodicke and Tracy decided to do. Then, out of the blue, I had a burst of energy and motivation and I looked at Sister Jodicke and said, "We're going finding!" and off we went on the next bus heading to Haworth. We didn't know where we would get off, but relied on the Spirit. We got off, chose a street and went knocking. We were happy and even though people didn't really respond like we would have hoped, we kept going. We finished the street and then started walking to the bus stop. I felt we should knock one more house though. We went to a house, and it was impossible to get the gate opened, so we went to the house next to it. A lady answered and she was in the middle of baking. the miracle is that people usually pretend they're busy when they're not, but this lady was busy and she actually stopped to talk to us. She said she's been through some struggles and has been wondering if any body is allowed to attend our church services. We were thrilled at this, talked to her about the blessings of the gospel and she is now our new investigator! She's so darling. she's probably in her late 50's and her name is Amanda. :)
     Church yesterday was great. We focused quite a lot on missionary work because Priesthood and Relief Society were combined. I think we helped the members understand that missionary work doesn't have to be difficult, it's as simple as inviting someone over for dinner and letting them know you are a member of the church.
    I'm not sure what else to say other than I can't believe September is over. Time is flying and in two weeks from now, it's transfers again.
Love,
Sister Lybbert

Happy Birthday Dad!

Hello! and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DAD AND SISTER JODICKE!

This morning for Sister Jodicke's birthday we had French toast and all kinds of fruit and ice cream and golden syrup and everythin'. It was delightful!
This week has been a good one. There are days where I feel like whitewashing is the devil, but at the same time it isn't so bad. We have met some lovely people this week, and we love our ward.  We are going to be getting the members SO excited to be involved in missionary work. There are over 200 less actives here, and there is not a chance the four missionaries in the ward can bring them back. It is the member's job to re-activate people. Missionaries come and go, but the members are the fellow-shippers. So, if you are giving the missionaries less-active families to visit, go visit the families with them! There is no pint if the missionaries just go on their own. Eventually, the missionaries will not be t here and the less-active people will still be less-active.
    We had some fantastic miracles this week. We were going to visit Marie and Betty, and we got off the bus too soon and had to walk up the hill more. I wasn't too thrilled about that, but there wasn't anything we could do. We walked past this guy, said hello, and then he started to ask us questions!  His name is Dan, he's 30 and he wants to know about what we believe. He has some pretty strong opinions about things but we were able to tell him a bit about the Restoration.  We asked him if he'd come to a baptism that the Keighley Elders were having on Saturday, and he actually came!  Not only that, but after the baptism, President Pilkington talked to him for an hour!  It was great! We then had a lesson with him and he actually let us talk. Usually he's pretty chatty.
     Yesterday morning, President phoned to ask if he'd be able to come to further lessons with Dan, and we are so excited. It is a bit intimidating, but I love President and Sister P and it will be fantastic.
A few days ago, we were walking in the pouring rain and our feet were soaking wet. (My black shoes don't have a sole any more, I need to buy new ones... I thought they'd last longer but I guess not...haha.) It was somehow so great though. We were walking in Riddlesden, and it is beautiful there with the rain, the front gardens of some beautiful houses, and the scenery of the hills. We visited a member from the ward, Sister Ratcliffe, and she made us hot chocolate and crumpets with lemon curd and then we shared a spiritual thought. I love days like that.

     There have been such wonderful things happening in the area and I'm excited to continue teaching the new investigators we found this week. We found a man who's in his 60's who likes to talk a lot about life, and about how the world is going downhill and he loves talking with us.  We were able to open his heart a little bit but he's still pretty stubborn and won't read the Book of Mormon or pray. I never understand how people say they won't read things after stating how open-minded they are. It will eventually happen with him, but will take a bit more time I think. He just needs to open his heart to the Spirit. I love it here, and I love the members as well. they are great!
Tell Baby C I love him!
Thanks for all you

We ate at a legendary place called "Chicken Cottage."
It's the greasiest, cheapest chicken in town. It only cost £2.00!
Whoo!

do,
I hope you have an excellent Birthday Dad,
Love,
Sister Lybbert

Last P-day we went to Haworth and went to the Bronte Parsonage. It was absolutely lovely! I saw so many great things, including the first edition of Wuthering Heights, and Charlotte Bronte's dress she wore while travelling to her honey moon, and so many other great things. It is a beautiful little place.
[Sister Lybbert added that her camera had died so she was unable to send the pictures this week]

On to Keighley

This  week has been pretty crazy. On Tuesday for P-day we went to Kirkstall Abbey and threw a Frisbee around, which was really nice. I will send you some photos of it. It was built in the 1200's. It is all just ruins now, but very pretty ruins.

During transfer calls Monday night, we were informed that neither Sister Jodicke or I were moving. To be honest, I kind of wanted to move just to experience something new. I felt like the work in the area wasn't really going anywhere, and I wanted to have a fresh start somewhere new. It was NOT that I wanted to leave Sister Jodicke though, she's the greatest.

The next day we had a P-day and Sister Smith was still with us. She left that evening. It was insane because 6:30 Tuesday night the phone rang, and it said it was the Assistants. Before I answered the phone, I said, "I bet this is them telling us we're both moving..." I was completely kidding. When I answered the phone, to my surprise, it was President Pilkington. The first things he said were, "Hello Sisters, we are transferring you out of the area." I was stunned. I was also pretty excited because we both got to move together to Keighley.

It was nice that we did say good bye to everyone the week before because we felt we were moving. I was able to get pictures with quite a few people as well.

We went to transfer meeting but didn't move that day because we had bought a whole week's worth of food thinking we weren't moving and we couldn't exactly get on the bus with our 5 suitcases and all of the food, and because there were problems with transporting everyone else's suitcases with the coaches, we didn't end up getting moved until Friday night. When we moved all of our things in the new flat, it was pouring rain and we were so tired. I love the new flat, except the room with the shower and the sing is upstairs, and the toilet is in a room by itself downstairs...weird.

Keighley is amazing so far. We have met some wonderful members and less-actives, and we have had a good time finding. Whitewashing again isn't the nicest thing but I really can't complain. Sister Jodicke has only ever whitewashed, and she was training after week 5. It has been splendid. Keighley is very beautiful. There are SO many hills, but it looks gorgeous with the mist and the trees and all of the housetops.

Oh, and last Saturday we had another baptism! I don't really count it as ours (not that it matters anyway) but it was a girl named Natalie who has a four year old son, Lewis. She was being taught by the Elders and then they decided having her with some Sisters would be nice for her and so we taught her the last couple of weeks before her baptism. She's so cute.

Sister Smith is going to come back and work with us because she loved the two weeks so much. I am so excited because we all have such great fun together.

Yesterday was Stake Conference and Elder Dallin H. Oaks came. It was incredible and he spoke to the members about how it is their responsibility to help the missionaries find people, it isn't the other way around. He stated that the keys to preside over the missionary work in the area are actually with the Stake President, and that President Pilkinton has the keys to preside over, teach, and direct the missionaries so that we can work with the wards we serve in better. It was nice because members seem to think they don't have to do anything except bring their families and themselves to the gospel. It is everyone's responsibility, so, please family go out  on exchanges/splits and be member presents for the missionaries! They will LOVE you. I know it's probably hard in Magrath, but missionary work is still somewhat possible.

Before the meeting, everyone was greeting each other and we were sitting in our rows. A man was shaking the lady's had a few people down from me and kept coming down the row. It wasn't until he got to Sister Jodicke that I realized it was Elder Oaks. He did shake my hand. This is the fourth apostle I've seen I think. President Uchtdorf [before he was in the First Presidency], Elder Scott, Elder Ballard and Elder Oaks. Unless I can't remember one from when I was little, I think that's it.

Things are great and I'm loving the missionary work. The Lord loves every one of His children and He will bless them as they put their trust in Him.

Love you,
Sister Lybbert

p.s. today our oven was not turning on so I had to microwave the batter for German pancakes. It actually turned out okay...haha.