Another Baptism coming up!

December 16, 2013
Dear Family,
I have some excitifying news. Talyia is going to be baptized this Saturday! WHOO! She's definitely ready and we love her to bits. She's also hilarious and she always makes fun of my Canadian accent. On my birthday we're going to have FHE with her and tonight we are going Christmas caroling. It's so fun to teach her as well.

Christmas Tree FHE with the Herns

     There are more miracles this week as well (as always...but this one is especially nice). On Tuesday someone rang the Bishop's office to ask about meeting times (miracle #1), then the bishop forgot to ask for their name and number (-1 miracle, haha), then Brother Jones dialed some magical code in the phone and got the number (miracle #2), and then gave the number to us. Then we phoned a few days later and made an appointment for the next day to introduce the church to her (miracle #3), AND she came! (miracle #4). We had an incredible lesson with her. Her name is Ashley and she's definitely prepared. We taught her the first two lessons and she accepted a baptismal goal! (miracle #5). AND Talyia came early for her interview so she sat in at the end of our lesson and, bless her, she testified so beautifully! (miracle #6). We are so happy and very grateful. And Talyia is as ready for baptism as she'll ever be. She's reading regularly and she has been having a great time at church. It's so cute because she wears her "I love Ed Sheeran" hoodie to church and comes on her Penny Board. She even came to church when she slept over at her friend's house the night before. She's really making it a priority. I will most definitely miss her when I'm transferred.

With Sister Munroe

     There have been more miracles. I found a warm coat! Sister Monroe and I bought the same ones so now we are all matchy matchy. And we are writing a most fantastic Christmas Carol melody. I will video it so you can see it in the future. Christmas is so soon! AND I am 21soon...argh...I want to be `5. I don't believe I've had a full year of being 20...that's not okay!
    No snow! (miracle #780921340978) and there is a lady in this library who is wearing a string of Christmas lights shaped as Santas. (-1 miracle)
   What else? Well I loveyou all.
   Happy Christmas!
Love,
Sister Lybbert

p.s. thank you for the girts, and letters, and cards, and thank you to Grandma and Grandpa L for the Mickey Mouse bandaids because I had a paper cut when I opened the card, and because I know when I was little I'd always use up all of your super durable fabric band-aids. :)

Fabulous Week

December 9, 2013
Dear Everybody,
     THANK YOU for the whackload of e-mails today. I don't have time to reply to all of them, I'm in a bit of a rush today but I do appreciate every single one.
     To all of you who inquired about sending Christmas things, they are to be sent to my flat, not the mission office (to avoid chaos). However, since it will probably arrive after Christmas, it is alright if you send them to the mission office. If you need my flat address, contact my mom (assuming you know the telephone number) and she can give it to you or e-mail it, or facebook it.
     This week has been so so so great. Gwen is progressing! Before we met with her on Saturday, I was feeling a little doubtful that she has been working on the Word of Wisdom like we had committed her to because she flogged our appointment on Friday. We felt that we should go by on Saturday and see how she was doing.
     We went to her house, and there on the table was a cup of coffee, therefore, by doubts were still somewhat present. But, when we asked her about it, she said she's improved from drinking 15 cups a day and is now only drinking SEVEN. Whoo! And, she flogged but it was because she had to help her daughter and our appointment just slipped her mind. It made me so happy. She's even looking for options to help her to stop smoking. She is praying sincerely for help as well. I am so so happy.

Talyia

Talyia and Trish

     AND Talyia...golden. We were able to meet with her quite a  lot this week, and we even met with her mum and Marcy [her sister]. It was so nice and she's been reading the Book of Mormon regularly.  She's on chapter 11. She texts us whenever she reads a chapter because she's so excited. She came to church again yesterday and although we weren't in Young Women's or Sunday School with her, Clair (the YW president) said that Talyia was answering all of the questions, and even doing the writing on t he board. She also brought a friend to the activity on Wednesday. She's a great example to her family and friends. And she's only 12! She's not much older than Joshy. I feel like Josh must be so old now because Talyia is clever, mature, and she is gaining a real testimony of the gospel.
    We've had a fabulous week.

Our Family Christmas tree photo

What else? I love having flatmates. It makes everything so funny and exciting.



And I'm so excited for Christmas.
Love you all,
Sister Lybbert

Weeks 24 and 25

November 25, 2013
Excitifying news with transfers! I'm not moving, Sister Nigido is also staying and WE'RE GETTING FLATMATES! There is another set of sisters coming to South Shields and I could not be more  thrilled. It is Sister Monroe and her trainee whom we will meet tomorrow. There is a good chance, since there are only three sisters coming in this transfer, that it is Sister Neilson, my fellow Canadian / long lost cousin. I am so happy. Ah, the joy!

On the metro at 5 a.m. for zone conference

     The weather hasn't been too bad. Today it is quite nice but on Wednesday it was hellish. (I'm convinced hell is a place where there is freezing rain, cold winds, boisterous thunder, lightning, and nobody has proper coats or boots or mittens.) Our appointment fell through Wednesday evening and we were knocking in it. I am going to buy a new coat sometime soon, but when P-day rolls around the weather is nice and I fell more motivated to do other things, like be at the chapel with all of the missionaries. Last week, Elder and Sister Marsh, the missionary couple in Newcastle, brought loads and loads of apples they'd picked from a member's tree and all of us were slicing them and then they made apple pie. That's something I miss, is Dad's apple pie. We watched Monster's University. I think I loved it better than the first one. It was hilarious!

across the Tyne to North Shields

Sister Nigido (my daughter), me,
Sister Decker (my sister), Sister Jodicke
 (my mother) and Sister Burningham
 (my grandmother)

     On to the more spiritual side of things, Talyia is the most adorable friend of ours. She is so excited to come to Young Women's with us tomorrow and she came to the ward buffet / Georgina's baptism on Saturday. Georgina was being taught by the Elders. Elder Saolotoga, from Australia and Elder Wells from Utah. It was a miracle because not only Talyia came, but her mom slipped in the back just as the dinner was about to start. I'm so grateful her mom came to be with her. The other night, her mom stayed and listened for a little bit while we were reading the Book of Mormon with her. Talyia is the sweetest girl in England. If I'm ever rich enough, I'm flying her over to visit me in Canada. She is only 12 but she has real desires to know more about Jesus Christ, and about how she can find peace in this life and the one to come. It was so cute because she was outside with her Penny Board when we showed up for one of our appointments, and her dad was in but her mom wasn't so we couldn't go inside. So, we ended up teaching her while we made laps around the block. We probably walked around her block 12 times and it was so cute because I fell like she's just like Ashy in some ways and I care about her just like a little sister.

Sisters Cavallero and Nigido...
my friends from Italy

     I love South Shields. We went on exchanges with some of the sisters in the ward last week as well and I had such a great time. I don't know what else to say except I love it here.
I'm so happy Kaiah is loving her job, and things are going well.
I love you all so much and I'm always praying for you. The Lord is mindful of all of his people and he will guide us and help us when we humble ourselves and ask in faith.
Love,
 Sister Lybbert




December 2, 2013
Dear Family,
Oh, bless! Penny and Erik are adorable! [cousins' babies that I sent pictures of to Sister Lybbert] I am so happy that you were able to go down and see them and that I was sent photos. Mom, you look hot (young, vibrant, happy) ....so do Grandpa and Grandma.
     This week was excellent. It is really funny because the flatmates that we gained in South Shields are Sister Monroe and Sister Neilson, my long lost cousin from Cardston! It was so strange to meet another person from home. We were looking through photos and it's odd to see people that I know or when we were looking through Mara's wedding photos, it was weird for her because she's really good friends with Kirsty.
     I still haven't found a warm coat, I was going to today and then we decided to go to Newcastle for P-day and watch anime with all of the other missionaries...yes, we do that on our p-days and I'm not complaining...I'm actually enjoying it. I think because with my Chinese missionaries, and all the other missionaries it is just so funny. I know how to say "What are you?!" in Mandarin. Sister Wu taught me. :) She's from mainland China and was converted when she was at school in Greece. Her MTC teacher was the missionary who taught her in Greece. Small world ;)
     This week was great. We saw some miracles as we extended the Word of Wisdom commitment to Gwen, and she accepted! Gwen is so sweet. She has so many struggles, nevertheless, she is willing to exercise faith and try giving up her smoke and coffee.
     Talyia is a doll. She came to church on Sunday and she loved it, and she came to young Women's last Wednesday and loved that as well. WE made pizzas. She made a sweet one with peanut butter, jam and all sorts of sweets. It is hilarious because people here don't even comprehend how peanut butter and jam go together. Sister Nigido thought I was off my rocker when I put it on my toast. She loves her giant jar of Nutella and all of her other Italian things. She has real Parmesan cheese and real mozzarella cheese... like not the kind you shake out of a tub. Fancy schmancy.

   What else? Well, I love this ward to bits.

I've been asked to sing at the Relief Society Christmas Party and I was wondering if you could e-mail me some songs or things that we could maybe do? I don't know if I'll have time next week but I'd like O, Holy Night if you could send it. :)
   I'm so excited to see your book! I cannot wait.
   I don't really know what else to say, except that IT"S DECEMBER AND CHRISTMAS IS SO SOON!
I'm not sure how the Skype thing works, but will any time work for you? We'll probably do it in the evening or late afternoon here.
Love you lots,
Merry Christmas!
Sister Lybbert

No Snow Yet

November 4, 2013
Dear Everybody,
I am still grateful for the lack of snow here. It rained pretty hard for a few days this week, but we managed to avoid a hurricane last Sunday. (It wasn't going to be crazy, but enough to keep us in.)
Halloween...i can't believe that it is over and I can't tell you how much I am glad because of that. Halloween has never been my thing, especially here where they don't even sell mini chocolate, just ugly gummy candy.
     For Halloween P-day, we dressed up (not really me, I've never been creative with the costumes) and met up as a zone at the Newcastle Chapel. There, we were sorted into houses (it was absolutely hilarious. There was the music, the sorting hat, and all) I was Slytherin, of course. Then we had contests. One was the Weetabix Whistle challenge. It was horrid. We had to eat a whole Weetabix as fast as possible, and then whistle. the first team to whistle, won.

Elder Harris & Elder Richards...yes they brought the carpet
(Aladdin and Jasmine for those who couldn't tell)

     On actual Halloween though, we had to be in at 6:30 so Sister Nigido and I celebrated properly by making a Christmas paper chain advent, and listening to Christmas music.
     There were some incredible miracles this week. Our goal for new investigators at the beginning of the week was 4. Half way through the week we were still struggling. I was struggling with having the faith to find people who are sincere about learning more of our message. We had decided one night that we would go knock some houses at Beaconside just before a tea appointment at a nearby street. We did, and I just had the feeling somebody would be interested. A man earlier on in that street even said, "I bet you'll find someone along here somewhere" (he was most likely being sarcastic, and trying to get rid of us, but I decided to just add his comment to my faith, hahaha)

Real Holly!

   Well, at the perfect time, an elderly lady, Joyce, answered her door, and we talked to her for a few minutes. then she let us in! We taught her and her husband, David, and it went wonderfully. I could see David's eyes become brighter as we taught more about God's love for us and about eternal families. We left with a commitment for them to read the BOM, and they became our new investigators.
     Then, Friday, we were knocking a street that I felt a while ago that we should make our way to. It was incredible. the first house let us in, we taught him, and he believed everything we said was true! Except he said that he's a Baptist and he believes God is ruling all of the churches...and that he really feels the Pope needs to change some things about the Catholic church... So, I don't think he really understood what he said when he mentioned God rules all of the churches... in a way I found it comical and a tad frustrating. Haha.
     The rest of the street was really receptive as well. We met a man, Oley, who became another new investigator. He doesn't believe in God, and he doesn't even believe in spirits. He's an engineer with some big company somewhere. He GAVE his daughter a brand new BMW. Anyway, he doesn't even see how if there were spirits, they could find each other because the earth is moving so fast that when the people die it's always in a different position. It was something I've never heard before, but I guess it will take a bit of understanding about the nature of God and this life.

Sister Mitchel...one of my greatest friends from Leeds.

    Then, yesterday, the last day we could have found any new investigators this week, we went to see Gwen. Sister Stromberg was on exchange with me here two weeks ago and we knocked into Gwen. She talked to us, and told ust that she wasn't interested and not to bother coming back. Then last week, Sister Nigido and I were out finding and I didn't remember that we had already knocked that street. We were half way down the street and of all of the doors we knocked on, it  was Gwen's. She was the only one on that road that we talked to previously. It was a miracle. I didn't' even recognize her at first but when  I did, and I realized she was happy to see us, I saw that it was a great miracle and that we were definitely guided there. She told us to come back on the weekend, and so that's when we went last night. She is our newest investigator! We taught her about the plan of salvation, and because of some hard times she is going through, she was feeling inadequate this past week and I felt that my faith to make miracles happen was waning, but the Lord has blessed Sister Nigido and me so much for our willingness and faith. We could have stayed in the flat last night because we technically had our tea hour and then language study, but I felt seeing Gwen was worth a try. It was definitely worth it.
     God loves us and he is watching out for us. We just need to humble ourselves and press forward in keeping His commandments and heeding the promptings of the Spirit.

Love you all,
Sister Lybbert




November 11, 2013

 Dear family,
I hope that you are all well and that you have been enjoying the snow because I'm still happy that we have no snow, just rain.

     There have been some great miracles this week. Saturday though, our fourth appointment with Anne and her girls fell through. I was pretty discouraged about it. It is so frustrating when things get in the  way that I know only get in the way because SOMEONE is trying to stop people from progressing in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I happened to us most of this week with all of our investigators. I felt like our work was going no where. (Although we were visiting less-actives and that is just as important.) Anyway, yesterday Anne and her 10 year old daughter, Niemph, said they would be coming to church. We have Relief Society, then Sunday School, and then Sacrament Meeting. they said that they'd come for Sacrament. However, it started and they still weren't there. Then, just after the opening prayer, there they were! I almost jumped out of my seat I was so happy. We also had Audrey, a less-active who hasn't been to church in 20 or more years come too! It was a fantastic miracle, especially since we are whitewashing and have only been here for three weeks.
     Whitewashing for the third time does not make it any easier but I have seen so many miracles come from it and I feel that it helps me keep strengthening my faith.
   P-days are probably the most stressful days of the week and I forget everything I meant to tell you about.

It's autumn time!

     We found some great new investigators this week. Our neighbor, Marilyn, who has lung cancer and is praying herself free of it (and she' is improving). She's Methodist and very strong in her faith. We had the Elders go over and give her a priesthood blessing. ( We didn't go with them since that isn't allowed), but they were able to teach her a little bit which we hadn't been able to do yet. So, we now have an appointment with her Friday. We are praying all will go well with that.
     We met some more less-actives this week. One couple we went to see has the biggest dog I've ever seen. It is an American Bulldog but it is honestly the size of  the fake massive dog on the Sandlot, or bigger. I decided I really, really, really don't like dogs unless they are Ozzy's size or smaller. Even then, that's pushing it.
     I love this ward. Our Ward Mission Leader is the absolute best on the planet. I'm not joking you. Brother Mcfadyan is the kindest and the most enthusiastic about missionary work. We have meetings twice a week, plus, he is always willing to hold more if we need them. He is the greatest.
   I don't really know what else to say, except that things are going well and the work is definitely hastening. We had another great p-day at the beach last week, and one of my favorite (worldly) things is Ambrosia Rice Pudding from a can.

Love you,
Sister Lybbert


November 18, 2013

Dear Family,

I'm glad your Remembrance Day was nice. Mine was too. We had a few minutes of silence, and in Sacrament Meeting the talks were based on sacrifice.
     this week has been one of some great miracles. Last week we stopped by Marcy and Talia's house to see if they were in. I'm not sure if I told you about Marcy and Talia. Marcy is 18 and she  is interested in the church since her best friend, Johnny, died in August. Johnny was in our ward and so we are close with his mom. She want's to know more because the church was important to him and she believes there must be a god somewhere.

Our socks from Sister Docherty

   Talia is Marcy's 12 year old sister. She's adorable. She is reading the Book of Mormon and she wants to be a missionary. We told her she's going to have to be baptized first, haha. She's so sweet. We are so excited to help her and Marcy progress. Anyway, last week we met Talia and she's going to Young Women's with us on Wednesday.
     Another miracle was Saturday. We went by a potential to see if they were home, and they weren't. I was feeling a bit discouraged about it because it is a somewhat common occurrence. We walked and knocked the doors down their walk, I wasn't really feeling inspiration to do it, my feet were just taking me that direction. then, Imogen answered the door. At first she said, "Are you Mormons?"
"Yes! Do you know much about us?"
       "Yeah! I watch this guy, Shay Carl, on YouTube and he's a Mormon!"
 "Really? Well. could we share a message with you for a few minutes?"
     "Sure, come in!"

A card from Eve W. in Primary

It was crazy. She let us in, we met her and her little brother who is 14 and they are so excited to take the challenge we gave them to find out if the message that we share is true. They love Shay Carl and how family oriented he is. It's funny because Imogen told us in one of his videos he says if you ever have missionaries knock on your door, let them in and listen to what they have to say. I was so so so so happy. the Lord has great ways of preparing people.
   Among those big miracles, we had millions upon millions of small ones. A lady that has been less-active for 20+ years ( Audrey) came to church again yesterday! Whoo!
     This week has been great and tomorrow is ZONE CONFERENCE! I can't believe it has already been three months since the last one. And Transfers are next week. I don't think we'll be transferred so I'm not worried. I could stay in South Shields for the remainder of my mission. It is incredible.
     Thank you to the Relief Society (Sis. Taylor) and the Fishers for the emails and thank you, thank you to the Hubbards for the letters, and to Cammie for the card with the Thomas stickers and all of the other cards, and to Kaiah for being a regular writer. I'm working on her reply. AND I LOVE EVERYONE, so thank you ;)
Love you all,
Sister Lybbert









   

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