Breakfast at Hailee's.: January 2016

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Hello Family and Friends!!

I am so happy here. I truly am becoming 'Sister Coulson' and I love it. I think I was born for this! I have learned so much about faith, humility, and the Spirit. I smile basically all the time. Being here this week has already added a substantial amount of strength to my testimony.

Flying into England was so cool. The sun was rising and we saw Ireland and then Wales and then landed in Manchester. The only reason I knew we were flying over those other countries was because the Irish man in the seat next to me pointed it out. He was so adorable. He was a cute Irish grandpa and his wife was next to him. Irish accents are my FAVORITE so far. They gave me jolly ranchers and were so kind during the entire flight. When I got to the airport I was so relieved to see the man holding the MTC sign. My flight was an hour late and customs took a long time so I thought I would have to call the MTC. I flew alone, but was greet at the airport by four other Americans. They are all going to the London Mission. Surprisingly I didn't have jet lag. I was essentially fine.

England is beautiful from what I can tell. We haven't been outside much. Of course it has been raining almost constantly, but I don't mind.

Honestly though, being here is the greatest. I love it. Don't get me wrong, it is hard, but not in the way I thought it would be. The biggest challenge is mentally. For the first two days there were moments when the only thing keeping me from going home was the fact that I was not about to take another 22 hours series of plane rides or however long that was. Just kidding, it was the fact that I knew I was supposed to be here. I wasn't homesick, just stressed. This place is EFY on steroids and you can't talk to the boys. It keeps you focused though.

My teacher is Sister Harkness. She is fantastic. I told her that I would have wanted to be her friend growing up. She has helped me a lot here. I have been so afraid of offending people because the cultural differences are a lot harder than I thought. American humor is so different from other countries.... I know what you are thinking, 'your humor is just different from anyone else'. That's true too, but this really is a cultural thing. The other Americans think I am humorous.

So, upon arrival the MTC President informed us that it was time to clean up our language. He said American slang was no longer appropriate. I have been practicing a lot, but I can't say 'guys, cool, awesome, man, like, ext...' anymore. I have to limit the use of 'good, and great' as well. I have been writing down a list of phrases that English people say and trying to change my language along with a list of adjectives. Google would be so helpful right about now.

My district is the BEST. I am the only American who is going to the London South Mission. My companion is from Madagascar. She has been here for five weeks now and she didn't speak any English when she got here. Yesterday she said the Restoration lesson to me in English and we were SOOOOO happy. She has worked hard. GIFT OF TONGUES PEOPLE. It's a real thing. I am chalking that up as my first miracle out in the field. I love her though. It is fun having a companion. It makes me laugh when she randomly starts singing an American pop song. Now she understands the lyrics.

Four of the sisters in my district are all speaking English as a second (or third) language. They like my American accent because it is easier to understand than the British people. My first day here I wanted to plug my ears all day because all of the variety accents was driving me insane. It was so hard to listen. They all sound so different. Now I am used to the accents. I don't even hear them. It is so funny to be in our room because everyone is trying to communicate but they all grew up with different first languages. Sister Gumares is from Brazil, Sister Mura is from France, and then Sister Andriamihirisoa (took me all week to learn that) is my companion. I feel so under educated compared to them. They all know so many languages. People here seriously speak like five languages. I am so grateful to have grown up learning English.

They definitely think I am a loud, obnoxious American, but it is all out of love. We have a good time. I'm not even the old Grandma like I thought I would be. There are a variety of ages. There are people from ALL over here. Two African elders were supposed to be in my district, but they didn't get their visas. If they had shown up we would have had someone from every continent where humans live. Elder Biddle is our district leader and he is from Australia. We agreed that we have a love hate relationship. We love to hate each other. It's just a joke though because we are actually good friends. He is the only elder going to London South.

Teaching lessons has been pretty easy for me. I about had a break down the second day though. I was so stressed out because I felt like I needed to memorize all of the material, and it wasn't happening. I just had to take a step back and recognize that it comes with time. As of under a week later I am pretty confident in the Restoration lesson and several other things. I am working on the Plan of Salvation. I have since recognized that I need to study the material, but having it memorized isn't what is going to make me the 'best teacher'. That is the Spirit's job. Our lessons have been much better. I enjoy teaching. I am trying to help Sister Andria become a more confident teacher. She is so spiritual and surely has something more substantial to say than I do, but it is still hard for her to communicate. I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to be here companion and help her. The Lord has blessed me with much patience.

At night when we are all going to bed we all talk about what our families are doing at that moment and it is extremely funny (keep in mind that we don't get much humor around here). On Sunday I said 'my parents are still in church' and we burst out laughing because we were all so tired and the idea of still being in church was unbearable.

I know this is so long and I am sorry. You all asked so many questions, but I love you all. Thank you for being so supportive. I am the most blessed girl in the world, no doubt.

Tomorrow we are going to Manchester which is about 45 minutes away and we are doing a street finding activity. I'm excited to leave the MTC for awhile.

We went to the temple here is Preston this morning. I loved it. I am so excited that the London temple is in my mission.

Have a great day, you are loved by me!!

Love,

Sister Hailee Coulson