What is Love?

My goodness, here we are again. You and me in this little corner of the Internet. Hard to believe that it's been yet another month. They just slip by so quietly. Even harder to believe that on March 17, I will have been in England for six months. Just think of it- you've all had six months of peace and quiet. How lovely has that been?! Don't worry, I'll be back and rocking boats again soon enough.

Speaking of time, time out here is so weird. It's almost impossible to tell if time is passing quickly or slowly. On one hand, it feels like just yesterday that I was with all of you. On the other, it feels like I've lived here in Cannock all of my life! When I mention to members how long I've been out, they always ask the same question. "Does it go fast?" The only answer I can give that has really made sense to me is "The days are weeks and the weeks are days." Every day feels like forever. Especially when we're busy. You feel like you've done a weeks worth of stuff in a single day. And then suddenly you're at Sunday again and you think "Wait a minute- didn't I just do this?!" The weeks fly by. It's the strangest thing I've ever experienced. 

  Last month was rough, and to be honest, I got really stressed about it. Nothing was going the way I wanted it to and I kept twisting myself into knot after knot after knot until I couldn't even recognise myself through the knotted mess of my emotions. By the time February hit, it was clear that either something needed to change, or I was going to spontaneously combust.

My hope was to untie the knots neatly, one by one, but I didn't even know where to begin. As I prayed for guidance, I got the subtle impression that it all came down to one thing--I needed to learn how to truly love myself.  Something my mom wrote me in a letter really helped me.  She said that when we're in a tough spot, we can check to see if there's some thing we need to do differently, or something different we need to do, or if we just need to stay strong and ride it out. She shared two scripture verses on charity, the pure love of Christ, and how we can use those descriptions of charity as benchmarks to see how we're doing and where we need to improve. . 

Anyway, there are a lot of ups and downs in life, and sometimes it's hard to see how we are improving, or even that we are improving. Those verses my mom talked about help me to understand where I'm at and where I need to go, and it makes it all look a bit more manageable. Life out here it so centred on improvement. It's awesome, but it can be overwhelming. There's this quote I found that I like by Howard W. Hunter, "Our detours and disappointments are the straight and narrow path to Him." Meaning that as we fail and mess up and have to try again, all of those things are bringing us closer and closer to Christ. I totally agree. 

I have to say, I feel like I've been through the mill this last month, but things are finally picking up. Sister Woolsey and I have hit our stride, and we have begun to be busy. We're having a hard time finding the time to do everything, and it is a fantastic problem to have. I'm loving it.

If you remember way back, Sister Pickett and I started teaching this great guy. He was awesome and we loved him, but he just wasn't progressing for some reason. We found out that his sister was super ill with cancer, and that he was spending a lot of his time and energy there. We thought it best to leave it all be for a while because just like we're always telling people, family is super important. Then, not too long ago, we stopped by his house and he told us that he'd lost his sister and that he'd love for us to come by again. Since then, he has been progressing rapidly. And actually, he came to church for the first time ever just this past Sunday! It is super duper exciting. Really really happy for him. You can see him changing, and it is a beautiful thing to behold.

Also in January sometime, this random couple showed up to church. They talked to Bishop, and apparently the woman is the granddaughter of a home bound member. They told Bishop that they'd like to get married in the chapel, oh and also that they'd like to be baptised as soon as possible. 

Right?! How crazy is that?! They just moved into our area, so we've been able to start teaching them. They are super sweet. They know next to nothing about the gospel, but they know that they like the way they feel when they come to church and they really want to be a part of it. It's very, very exciting. Good things are happening in the glorious ward called Cannock, and I love it here.

One last story to finish. So I had these boots for winter, right? Super cheapo, but they kept the rain out and they kept my legs warm, so they worked. They were actually the second pair of these boots that I'd bought because the others had a zipper that had busted. Anyway, they were good boots. Then, we went out on a drizzly, wet, horrible day, and my feet got wet. I was really confused, because my boots looked fine. There were no cracks on the edges or anything, so when we came in for lunch, I changed my socks and tights, called it a fluke and went back out again. And they got wet again. And not just a little wet. I was squelching up a storm! I felt like I had two little swimming pools chillin in my boots. I was totally baffled. I couldn't understand it. Finally, Sister Woolsey said, "Have you checked the bottom?" So I lifted up my foot, and there you go! There was a huge hole in each heel of my cheap boots. We didn't have time to go back and change, but I couldn't hang around with wet feet, so we went to Asda (basically Walmart) and I bought new shoes and tights and socks which I had to put on in the bathroom there. It was a fun adventure. Oh, the life of a missionary. Anyway, spring is here now, so I just tossed the boots and called it good. 

My main takeaway from this month is that, in order to love other people the way we ought to, we first need to love ourselves. We can't really know what it is to deeply love others until we begin to love ourselves. And not the ideal of the way we want to be, but the way we are at this very minute, right now. When we really try to do that, our ability to love increases, and everything gets better. I'm only beginning this journey for myself, but I can see the massive changes that are taking place in my life. I am a different person to the one I was two weeks ago. Heck, I'm different from the person I was two days ago! But that is what life is all about, and it's awesome. 

Live life and love the ride! Have a good month!

Sister Pike

Look Up!

January, in a word, was slow. Our star investigator, Harriet, moved out of our area, and therefore we can no longer teach her, and finding new people to teach has been like pulling teeth. To be honest, adjusting to a new companion is hard. Especially with how close Sister Pickett and I got. The transition was difficult. For awhile, trying to develop a relationship with Sister Woolsey felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall. However, as Randy Pausch once said, and as my mother often reminds me, "Brick walls are there for the people who don't want it bad enough." 

I was sitting there, pounding my head against this wall thinking, 'This is never going to work. There's this wall here, and look! I'm trying, but I can't get through it! What more could I do?' Then, after a lot of pain (possible side-effect of head-banging), I decided to change my approach. Instead of staring straight ahead at the wall and thinking, 'The only way forward is through', I looked up, and saw that the wall was not as tall as I thought it was. So I started building a ladder. Then, after spending some time building the tools, up and over I went! And boy is it awesome on the other side!

Basically, to summarise that extended metaphor, things were hard while I tried to keep doing them the way I'd always done them. But once I adapted and looked for a new way, everything sorted out and is now all sunshine and roses—figuratively at least—it’s still raining all the time. Anyway, Sister Woolsey is wonderful, thoughtful, hilarious, and not completely sane, as I had previously hoped. ;) Then again, I can't really claim to be sane either, so we make a good pair. 

It's actually pretty interesting. While there hasn't been a ton of teaching this month, there has been so much learning. I have changed so much this last month, and it's awesome. One thing that's changed a lot is the way I view and read the scriptures. I've always liked reading the scriptures. I love the stories, I love the teachings, but for me, before my mission, scripture reading was like a five minute thing at the end of the day. Read a chapter, think 'Oh that's nice', and then go to bed. Since coming out on my mission, the scriptures have exploded in my mind. Rather than looking at the page and thinking, "Yes that is a piece of paper", it's gotten to be more like, "WOAH, IS THAT NARNIA?!" They've become like a portal to a whole other world of understanding. The scriptures are awesome! I'm even starting to like Isaiah. Crazy! I have come to love reading the scriptures.

The only thing cooler than the scriptures themselves is prayer and scripture study. Start with a prayer for understanding, read awesome doctrine from ancient prophets, and pray again. So many doctrinal questions that I've had my whole life have just clicked into place this last month as I've improved my scripture study. Honestly, I'm starting to feel like I could learn anything from God if He willed it. Actually, that's something that I really believe. God is not the author of confusion. If there is anything He wants, it's for us to know the way forward. 

Sometimes, that way forward is not what we think it ought to be. I know that it's probably the same for all of us. Maybe you're staring down a brick wall. The Lord knows that. He sees us, and He sees what we can become. He has not left us alone, but He has given us prayer—a constant lifeline to Him—and scripture study, through which our minds can be enlightened. But none of that makes any difference if we keep our heads down, focused on the hard thing right in front of us. We have to look up and imagine that there could be something more than this. When we do that, the Lord can show us a path.

Well, I hope you all had a lovely January! Here's to a love-filled February! ☺

Love you all!

Sister Pike

Don't Give Up!

Jeepers, it's been awhile hasn't it? Sorry about that. I decided mid-month to make this blog a monthly thing. So I waited until the end of the month after the month I was in. Because I'm a procrastinator and I like to do things at the last possible minute. Many things have changed. Unfortunately not that bit. Yet.

Anyway, I'm doing well! December has been a weird month. Halfway through this month, my first companion, Sister Pickett, went home and I got my second companion, Sister Woolsey. Boy has it been an adjustment. I don't know if you all are aware of this, but people have different personalities and different ways of doing things! I guess I had forgotten. As companions, we're literally with each other 24/7 except for very rare circumstances. Your first companion, or your trainer, teaches you about how to do things out on the mission. You can get really attached to your trainer. Actually, it's time to learn mission lingo....

Mission 101: (Sisters Version)

Formal Term                                  Slang Term                     

Coming into the mission                  Being born

First area                                        Birthplace

New Missionary                             Greenie

First companion/Trainer                  Mom

First District leader                          Dad

Others Trained by your Trainer       Sisters

People you Train                             Children (daughters)

Starting to want to go Home            Getting Trunky

Going home soon                             Dying

Gone home                                      Dead

Your companion going home           Killing your companion

Mission family relationships get really complicated. My basic, super simplified mission family is Sister Pickett, who is my mum, Elder Kerr, my dad, then I have two sisters out on the mission, and Elder Kerr trained Elder Clayton, and he's my brother. This is excluding all of the half brothers, nephews, grandparents and great grandparents. It gets weird, but it's entertaining. 

Anyway! The reason I told you all of that was so that I could say the sentence, "I killed my mum", and you would all know what I was talking about. So yeah, Sister Pickett is dead and actually is probably reading this blog. (*waves* Hi Sister Pickett!!!!!!) She is a fantastic missionary and taught me a way of doing things that I really like. I learned a lot from her, and I love her so much. So much that I don't even mind that half of the people out here call me Sister Pickett by mistake. After three months of the two of us being 'Sister Pike and Sister Pickett' I'm really not surprised. I'm proud to be "Sister Pickett's girl", as I've been called a few times.

Alright, alright, I can hear it now, "Gosh, enough of the 'Sister Pickett Appreciation Post' Sister Pike! Tell us about other things pleeeaaaasseee." Ask and you shall receive, my friends. My new companion is very different from Sister Pickett, but just as wonderful. We had a really nice Christmas together, which was super fun. Unfortunately, it wasn't super eventful, so I don't have a lot of stories to tell. Although I may have indulged in a karaoke rendition of 'Let it Go' with a member's daughter. There is no evidence. Anyhow, Sister Woolsey is really sweet and really thoughtful. She's a lot quieter than Sister Pickett, and as of right now, seems to be considerably more sane than Sister Pickett ;) It's a change of pace, but it's so good for me to see a different way of doing things. It's helping me to define the way I like to do things.

The nature of the mission (and life) is change. This is my first real taste of it, and it's shifted my perspective on a lot of things. Before I really get into that, I want to talk about the work for a little bit. A while ago, we met this awesome girl named Harriet. We started teaching her, and she is doing fantastic. We haven't been able to see her a lot recently because of the holidays, but she is so awesome. She quit smoking in a week flat, and has been smoke free ever since. Since the day we introduced The Book of Mormon to her, she has read every day with just a couple exceptions. She's an inspiration to me. She's done some incredibly difficult things, and she hasn't flinched, hasn't turned away from the challenge of changing. 

Right now, Harriet is the only person we're really teaching. We have a couple other people we're beginning to teach, but I want to focus on Harriet. I talked about this in my farewell talk--change is an essential part of the human experience. At some point in our lives, God will ask us to make some changes. Sometimes they are little changes, sometimes they're 'stop smoking' changes. When we invited her to stop smoking, she was more than a little nervous. However, she knew that quitting would change her life for the better, and as scary as it was, she wanted what was on the other side. So she dove right in. It wasn't easy. Not in the slightest. But she's happier now. She's said it, and we can see it and feel it as we talk to her.

This last month, there have been a lot of changes. Some that have just happened, and some that I've chosen to make. In both cases, the challenge initially looked absolutely terrifying, but I knew, and I continue to know, that I want what is on the other side of these changes. It's better. Not that where I've been is bad or wrong, but where I'm going is much, much better. That's not to say that the way is easy. The path to worthwhile change hardly ever is. But, as Josh Groban sings in probably the best song ever--don't give up, because you are loved. 

You are loved. You have your friends, you have your family, I love you and the Lord loves you. The Lord loves you so much. Don't you give up. Stare those changes in the face, whatever they may be, and say, "Whatever comes, the other side is worth it," and dive right in. Reach out to those around you for help and strength. I have asked for help so many times in the past month, and it has been so worth it. It's been the only way I've made it through.

This mission is the best thing that has ever happened to me, and it's only just beginning. I want to bear a firm witness to you that God lives. He loves each and every one of us individually, and He is looking out for us even now. I know that our Savior, Jesus Christ, suffered for our sins and afflictions. He is there with us through ever step of our lives, to help us carry all of our burdens. I feel this, I know this, I have seen the effect of this truth in my life and I can never deny it. And I have gained all this knowledge through serving my brothers and sisters. Serving, helping others is the greatest thing we can do. As we reach out to others, showing them the love we have for them, we learn just how much we can become. And we have a lot of potential. 

I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve the Lord and my friends here in England, and I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to share my thoughts and feelings with you all. If you ever have anything you'd like to share with me, please email me and tell me about it! I promise I'll be thrilled to hear from you :) Remember "Everybody wants to be loved. Don't give up, because you are loved." Have a great month and a brilliant new year! (And seriously look up that Josh Groban song because it's fantastic :)

The Lord loves you and so do I,

Sister Alyssa Pike