This past month has been really exciting in the England Birmingham Mission (EBM) because we had our first ever Mission-Wide Challenge Week! Those of you who have been on missions likely know generally what that means, but I'll explain for the rest of you. 'Challenge Week' is generally organised by mission leadership, i.e. a district or zone leader for their respective district of zone. Everyday, a message goes out to each of the teams, telling them the challenges for the next day and the points that accompany each one. If it's a zone challenge week, it's district against district. If it's a district challenge week, it's team against team. It's a fun little competition and it usually helps to get the district or zone fired up about missionary work. And, of course, there's some little prize for the winning team.
This challenge week was on a whole other level. The zone that won would get a zone p-day and EBM T-shirts. To put that in context, district p-days are organised fairly regularly. Zone p-days are not allowed and are unheard of. Cheltenham zone wanted that p-day. Our whole zone went 100% for the challenges for three days. That's a whole stake full of missionaries not missing a single challenge. Thursday and Friday were rough, but we picked it up through the weekend. And on Monday, we found out. We won. By one point. We were so hyped. Cheltenham pride so strong.
Winning was great. It was a priceless moment, and an amazing week of zone unity. What was even better than that was the feeling of waking up. We did everything I'm our power to hit those goals, and then prayed with all our faith for the power we didn't have, and miracles happened left and right. The craziest thing was, and we saw this as we went through the week, we didn't have to go too far out of our way to hit the goals. We just woke up to the work that was around us. And it feels good to be awake!
The zone p-day was, in a word, amazing. President organised us all, and then he said that we would be separated into teams for the games that day, but that there was a Harry Potter theme, so we would be sorted into our houses by the Sorting Beanie. President made the final decision. I ended up in Slytherin. Don't read too far into it. It was great though, cause some of my favourite people in the mission were on my team too. We got cool green ribbons and then we played QUIDDITCH. I don't know how to describe it except to say that it's exactly what you think it is, just without the flying and magic. It was so much fun, and so exhausting. Slytherin didn't win the tournament, but Gryffindor didn't either, so I was happy. #SlytherinPride
After the Quidditch, we had a massive hog roast provided by a Tongan family in Cheltenham that was amazing. It was the funnest day of my mission, and it ranks as one of the funnest days of my life. Every time a big group of missionaries gets together, it's for a meeting, and we're all in our formal wear. This will likely be the only time on my mission that I will have gotten to just hang out with missionaries- no pressure, no business. It was nice to just relax and have some fun.
That was the end of our month. It was a good end of the month. Honestly, we had a lot of heartbreak this month. Sometimes, people that you grow to care about and love with all your soul decide to take a different path than the one you hope they will choose. We had a couple that we were really excited about that we had an absolutely heartbreaking lesson with. It turned out that, though they were lovely people and wanted to be friends with us, they weren't interested at all. That was a rough day. Only a week later, a member friend, that we care very much about, lit up a cigarette right in front of us and ended up by asking us to leave. That was rough. She called us later and apologised, but the fact of it is that the mission, if you put your heart into, involves heartbreak.
Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ. That's a very personal, very involved process. You get close to people. You're there as they struggle and try to change their lives. You get to see the victories and experience the indescribable joy. You also get to see the failures, ranging from disheartening to devastating. I've felt it all in spades this month. And if there is one thing that I've learned, one take away from this month, it is that, without God, I am absolutely nothing. All things that are good in my life, God has given me. All good things that are a part of me, God shaped within me. And any strength I have to deal with the life I live is borrowed from the strength of Him who gave me life.
He is everything. He created everything. He is in everything. He is my light, my life, my strength, and my hope for my future. I don't know what will happen to me even six weeks down the line from here, but I know that I can do it, simply because, wherever I may be, whoever I will be working with, my God, my best friend, my loving Father in Heaven will always always be there. There is nothing He can't do, and He is eternally on my side.
I know that I am nothing without God. I know, without His strength, I am weak. If ever I boast, it is not of myself, but of my God. In His strength, I can do everything He needs me to do. I have seen so many miracles that have been worked by His eternal love. And for this, I will praise His name forever.
Please know that God is there for you. You may have a hard time seeing His hand in your life. You may have a hard time believing that He really does love you. You may even have a hard time believing that He exists. If you cannot believe for yourself, believe me. God is there. He loves you. He knows you by name and waits for you to ask for help so that He can pour His love upon you. If you have questions, ask Him. And listen. And watch. And ask again. He will answer you. He always does.
I love you so much. I miss you, but I know that we are all where we need to be, and that God will guide us all back to each other in His own due time. Have a great month!!
Sister Alyssa Pike
