.... And then I broke my toe.

Hello!

Last week was a good one! We had Specialized Zone Training meeting with President Gubler, and the Assistants came and taught us. It was SO good. President Gubler is amazing. He spoke about how usually a missionary gets his mission call based off of the mission president and not the location of the mission. I am certain I was sent here to have him as my mission president because he has already helped me so much. We had president interviews as well and he just told me how divine I am as a daughter of God. It was so nice. 

We took one of our investigators, Albert, to the temple on Saturday to the Visitor's Center and to watch the Restoration. I love that movie! Every time I watch it I always feel the Spirit so strongly and it reconfirms to me that Joseph Smith really was called of God and translated the Book of Mormon through the power of God. It is incredible! Every time I read the Book of Mormon I always learn so much more about Christ. Being on a mission really does heighten the spirit as you read scriptures and it seems like every verse has so much more meaning. Albert talks A LOT. We kept having to tell him to stop talking and listen to the VC sister's presentation. Those poor sisters. They looked so frustrated. He has such a good heart though! He is just so intellectual being a world renowned scientist and all...

Last week we also taught Owen and committed him to setting his own baptismal date. Sisters have been teaching Owen for years and he has never fully committed but he loves the church. Well, this morning we got dropped by him. Such a disappointment! It's okay though because if he isn't ready to commit then someone else will be. 

I gotta say, riding bikes as a sister mish is a love hate relationship. I love that I get to exercise and breath the fresh air (if you can call it that, it seems like EVERYONE smokes here), but it sure gets cold too. Last week as we were riding my brakes decided they didn't want to work anymore, so I ran into a metal fence on my bike. BIKE WRECK. I got the wind knocked right out of me as my handlebars slammed into me. Worst of all, my big toe is broken! It is pretty cool though since it is swollen and bruised. I couldn't walk much on it for a couple of days and I had to wear fuzzy wanna-be UGG boots since I couldn't get any other shoes on. Super missionary professional... 

So something that I have learned about England is that there are a TON of cats here. Everyone has cats. We go visit Sister Georgina every week and she has 11. I LOVE HER. I attached a picture of me holding her one-eyed cat. He had glaucoma. Poor guy. She is so cool though. She is crazy in the best way possible! 

On Friday as a celebration/ hazing for being trained, Sister Torvinen dyed my hair and I dyed hers. I was terrified. I haven't used a box hair dye in so long. It turned out alright. I hear that every sister missionary has to do something like that with her hair. It's part of the culture. 

I am OFFICIALLY done with training. Hallelujah! BEST DAY EVER. As of about one hour ago,  I picked up my new companion and am leading my area, Bracknell BERKSHIRE. I love Bracknell. English people are seriously the best people ever! So the rules changed that missionaries will now be traveling alone for transfers. So, when Sister Torvinen left this morning I was companion-less for awhile. The Hamiltons drove us to the train station, and the Sister Training Leaders came to spend a few hours with me, but for about 30 minutes I was without a companion. It would be so strange to travel alone... and all my luggage on a train during rush hour sounds awful. I think I'll stay in Bracknell FOREVER. 

 My new companion is Sister Lacey from UTAH! GOD BLESS AMERICA. For real though, I love her already. She has been on her mission for 14 months and stayed in the same area the WHOLE time. So, this is only her second area. I think we are going to be great together.

Love you all!!

Sister Hailee 

Sister Coulson with Sister Torvinen

Sister Coulson

Future cat lady!

Visiting  Sister Georgin with Sister Torvinen

At the Visitor's Center with Albert. 

Last Week in Training

Hello everyone!

So I haven't written a 'weekly email' basically since the MTC for multiple reasons, but I am going to try that again.

HALLELUJAH It is my last week in training! I ALMOST MADE IT THROUGH 12 WEEK. I can't even begin to describe how happy that is making me.

This past week was quite eventful.  On Monday the ward mission leader and another member took us to Oxford. It was so nice! I absolutely loved Oxford. It was the 'real deal' English feel to it. They also took us to lunch for my birthday. We went to one of the oldest pubs in England. It was so neat to actually be in Oxford. That night at FHE everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' to me and we ate cake. So nice!! 

On Tuesday we went to Roehampton just outside of London for a doctor's appointment. It takes so long to get there, but it was nice to be able to be out of the area on my birthday. Yay 22! Everyone feel free to play some T-swift for me because I definitely sang it inside my head basically all day. Sister Torvinen took me to lunch as well for my birthday. One thing that the UK is really lacking is some Mexican food, but we went to Portuguese food which was also delicious. After doing some missionary work, one of the members took us out to pizza at Pizza Hut for my birthday as well. They spoiled me! 

Wednesday we were out visiting some less active members and teaching recent coverts and then we went to a family that we teach that lives right next to us. They are Baptist, but so great! I love being in homes with people. They fed us Nachos. We invited them to go to the London Temple Visitor's Center so hopefully that happens. The ward here would love to have another family! Isn't that everyone's dream though? Baptize a whole family? 

Thursday we had District meeting and that was fun. Our district is great. We have the Sister Training Leaders in our district so after the meeting we went on an exchange with them in Farnborough.... not that any of you really know where that is, but that's okay. The 'exchange rules' have changed, at least for our mission. Instead of a going to separate areas with the STL's, we all go to their area for the time. It was basically a big slumber party after planning session. They are great. It is crazy to me how many countries people in this mission come from. Sister du Plessis is from South Africa and Sister Thompson is from Mississippi. We pulled all of the mattresses into the living room and went to sleep there. 

Friday we returned from the exchange and worked in our area. That night, a member, Philip, spoiled us for my birthday and took us out to Chinese food. It was so nice! He is always spoiling the missionaries. Members really take care of us here, especially when it comes to dinner appointments.

This weekend we had stake conference. We took one of our investigators, who is a famous scientist. I'm not even kidding. He always tells us about these science things and the stuff he is working on, and we knew he was really smart. Then, the Ward Mission Leader 'Googled' his name and found a whole bunch of stuff about it. He was on Planet Earth talking about his work and there was all of these other things that were so extreme. We were shocked. He has been telling us how in 2020's there is going to be famine across the world and about how the glaciers in Greenland are melting. Our meeting on Saturday at Stake Conference was about Self-Reliance and talked about different aspects of it (mental, spiritual, temporal) and he loved that our church is preparing for 'destruction'

The people here are what make England the best! 

Thank you everyone that wished me a Happy Birthday. I miss and love you all and am grateful for each of your love and support. It means so much! 

Love,

Sister Hailee

Sister Coulson in Oxford

Oxford is COOL

Lunch at the Pub~ Happy Birthday!

The Reading Zone