Give Me Mountains to Climb

So Nottingham! Robin Hood and oo-da-lally and all of that right? Yeah, actually. Quite a bit of that. There are quite a few Robin Hood references about. There's a street called 'Maid Marian Way' which I think is hilarious. Beyond that, it's mostly companies that want to be cool that take some kind of Robin Hood name. I have not been to the Sherwood Forest—I'm pretty sure it's out of the mission. I have been to the little town called Sherwood, though, so that's something. Two things about actual Nottingham 1: There are a ridiculous amount of people here. So many. And so few of them are English! 2: Everyone calls you duck. People have weird terms of endearment over here in England. 'Love' is pretty standard. 'Butt' is only in Wales. And 'duck' is Nottingham. "Ay up, mah duck! Yeh alright? I'm just off to have a chippy, if you've a quid I'll get you a portion." Britishism for the month. And you all thought that I wasn't speaking a different language. ;)

I've also got a new companion! Sister Marsden is so cute. She is 4'11", from Idaho, a ballerina, and she goes home in a few weeks. #crazy It's been a really fun month with her. Getting to know a new companion is always interesting. I was rereading my first-ever blog post this morning and my thoughts about companion relationships. Very true. We are expected to be one. That doesn't mean always having the same ideas or never disagreeing, it just means that, no matter what happens, you're willing to work it out. Having different ideas is an essential part of a companionship. By bridging the gap between the two of you, you find a highly effective happy medium. I've seen it happen. It's true of all relationships too. Friendships, family relationships, romantic relationships. It's all about finding the place where the two of you can exist together, celebrating everything else, but really focusing in on what you agree on, and what you can do together. 

These last nine months have been absolutely and completely life changing. I have learned so much about who God desires for me to be, and what He wants me to do. I've learned a lot about that even in the past month serving in the Mission Leadership Council. As Sister Training Leaders, we are responsible for looking after the emotional, spiritual and physical welfare of the sisters in two stakes (areas). Right now, there aren't many sisters in the mission (we only have two teams of sisters), but our responsibility is to serve them. There have been countless days in the last month when one of our sisters have needed help, and we just had to drop everything, cancel appointments and do whatever we had to, to put them first. It has been the best feeling I have ever experienced. To put others first. To really put others first. What an absolute joy. I love our sisters so much. 

I realized recently that a year before my nine month mark I summited a mountain called Mount Whitney. If you don’t know, Mount Whitney is over 14,000 feet tall (so like, really tall). It doesn't require ropes and pick axes and all that intense stuff to get up it, but it is about a three day backpacking trip for everyone who isn't super human. About three years ago, my dad and some of his friends climbed this mountain and loved it. My family is pretty outdoorsy so we decided to go again, my dad, brother and I and some close family friends. 

It was an intense three days. The first day, we gained loads of elevation. We were all getting used to our packs and the trail. It was a fun day, but we really didn't have any concept of how big of a task we had undertaken. There's also this thing in backpacking where once you get dirty enough you just don't feel it anymore, but that first day you can still feel the dirt. So that's gross. As I said, we gained a ton of elevation that day. I can't remember our starting elevation, but we ended up at 10,000 feet. It was a long day. At the beginning of the day, I was hyped. I was ready to tackle this mountain. Heck, I felt like I could practically run up the whole thing! Halfway through the day, my tune changed. Part of me just wished I was done already, but I settled into a rhythm and I carried on. By the time we made camp, I was half dead. I fell asleep before the sun even went down.

Then, day two hit. Right when the sun rose, we were up and on our way. Day two was summit day. We had 4,000 feet to gain in one day, 99 switchbacks to climb, the most treacherous part of the trail to navigate, and we needed to get back down below 10,000 feet before night fell. We had a lot to do.  But we set right in and scaled the switchbacks pretty handily. The Windows, as the scary part of the trail is called, we took more time with. And then we had the long, slow, gradual slope up to the summit. I think that was the most frustrating part of the climb for me. I could see the summit. I could see it. But it was going to take at least 20 more minutes to get there. Once we were at the top, we took a short break, took some pictures, ate some celebration snacks and then we headed back down. We still had a lot to do. The end of that day was the most fun, I think. We were riding the high of the summit, gravity was carrying us down, and we knew that, by the end of the next day, we would be home and showered. We laughed and sang a lot that evening, and barely made camp before night fell.

The last day was a riot. We were booking it down the mountain, because there was this little cafe at the bottom that served breakfast until 10:00, and we wanted victory breakfast. They're famous for their pancakes, and I think we adapted about every song in the universe to be about pancakes that morning. We were having a great time. And then, really quickly, it was over. And we were heading home, with the mountain fading behind us. 

The reason I told you all of that is because I have this metaphor for myself that, while Whitney was my physical mountain, the mission is my spiritual mountain. Mount Whitney changed my life. In a way that only climbing a mountain can, it made me evaluate my priorities. It made me think about what I can actually accomplish, and what I want to accomplish. It changed the way I saw myself. The mission is finishing off the process that Whitney started. I have become new on this mountain I'm climbing, and I've started to track my progress by comparing my mission to the Mount Whitney trip. 

My mission has three six month periods, three days, if you will. The first day of Whitney sounds a whole heck of a lot like my first six months. The last three months have totally been the first half of day two. I can imagine that the rest of my mission will follow pretty closely. And June 17? June 17 was summit day. My actual, literal half way. The day itself was pretty uneventful, but it was an interesting moment for me to realise that, from here on out, I'm on my way home, in a way. 

I really don't know how to explain this without sounding like I want to come home now—I don’t…not yet—but there's something really encouraging about knowing that you've hit the summit, the uphill is behind you, and all that lies in front of you is a triumphant finish, family, friends, and a well-earned shower. (I promise I shower... It's a metaphor, okay?) The second half of the mountain is the time that you let the momentum carry you. You don't have to drag yourself up any more, you’re just dancing on down. I don't know if I'm explaining it well at all, but there's this almost imperceptible mental shift that takes place where, suddenly, nine months seems really short. 

Since I'm still pretty much at my summit, I thought I'd share a few of my thoughts from the top: 

1) Nothing is permanent but the love of God. I've been through a lot in the past nine months. Good things, bad things, things that are some funky shade of grey in between, the whole lot. The good things pass, the party ends, but the love of God stays. The bad things eventually end, the trials fade into memory, and the love of God is still there. Whatever happens, you'll be alright in the end. God won't leave you alone.

2) We have no concept of what God wants us to do until He tells us. To assume we know what God wants from us is to put Him in a box, and that is not good. When He tells us what He wants us to do, then we know, and we can act on that. Additionally, once He does tell us, we have a tendency to tell Him that that couldn't possibly be what He wants, which is a little ridiculous for obvious reasons. But hey, I'm guilty.

3) You cannot measure a mission by baptisms. For those of you who have been wondering whether I'm cleverly concealing my 1,000 converts from you all, I'm not. I've yet to see even one baptism on my mission. Well, I've seen them, but they haven't been people I was teaching. However, I have worked hard, I have done God's will for me, and I've seen so many miracles, so many amazing things. I can honestly say that I have no regrets about my mission so far. A mission is so much more than numbers and leadership positions. It's about what you learn, who you meet, and most importantly, who you become. 

4) I've been out for nine months. I still don't fully know how to be a missionary. My companion goes home in two weeks. She still doesn't fully know how to be a missionary. None of us fully know. We just trust the Lord and go for it. God truly does guide and uphold this work.

5) If you try to live life on your own, good luck. I've tried it a time or two out here, and it was an absolute nightmare. I need God in my life. I need His strength and His wisdom. We all do. 

So what did I learn this month? When we ask the Lord to make us better, He gives us a mountain. On mountains, we grow. We become more. We push ourselves past what we thought we could do and reach new heights. And when we've finished, we have a new perception of ourselves. I've learned not to ask for mountains greater than the ones I'm given. I've learned that what is right in front of us is exactly what we need, even if we don't exactly want it. And, most importantly, I've learned that the destination is worth the climb, however big or small the mountain may be. The destination is always worth it. 

So hang in there, keep climbing. Sing a silly song, make yourself a funny video, do things that make you happy! Hiking is not a sad experience! Sure, it's not easy, but it's a time to enjoy the people around you and the beautiful views God has blessed you with! I love you all! Have a marvellous month! 

Love,

Sister Pike

P.S. If anyone is wondering what the 'Mormons' are all about, get yourself a Book of Mormon and start reading. First off, it's a great read. Secondly, it's true, and it will change your life. 

P.P.S. Oh, also, driving here is terrifying. I thought biking was crazy, driving is asdfgkhkgjlhsfkg. That's the technical term.

You'll Never Walk Alone

Well tea and crumpets folks, it's happened again. (Crumpets are actually a real thing and they're super delicious and my favourite).  This has been a wild and eventful month. To start the month, I got to have a lovely Skype call with my family. They are just the best. I miss them to bits. It's hard to be away, but the mission life is good. We've seen some serious miracles in the people that were working with as well as in ourselves. It's been wonderful to see the Atonement of Jesus Christ work in lifting and strengthening, as well as making us all clean and new. I've done a lot of changing in these past four weeks. It's so encouraging to feel that same cleansing and strengthening power we promise to others working in my own life. 

It is a bit of an adventure to become someone you've never been before. Especially in a place where no one knows the person you used to be. To use a trivial example, I am now a lactose intolerant person. That is a person I never was before, but it's a huge part of who I am out here. Mainly because people are cooking for me all the time, and I have to get cozy with the idea that I will forever be a difficult dinner guest. It's still a struggle for me to tell people. I hate being an inconvenience, so it's really hard for me to tell people that feeding me will not be straightforward. My companion usually has to say it for me. I'm working on it. Maybe by the time I get home I won't be embarrassed about not being able to eat ice cream and chocolate. There are loads of delicious things I can eat, but they're not as obvious or common.... It's hard. But it's okay! I'm getting used to it.

One thing that has been a huge change in me its month has been my testimony of obedience. As members of the church, obedience is a huge part of our lives. As missionaries, it is even more so. There are a lot of things that we are asked to do. A very specific schedule we are asked to follow, a specific dress code we are expected to wear, and so many things in our thoughts and our conduct that need to be just so in order to fall in line with what we are asked to do. I believe in obedience. I have always believed in keeping the commandments of God, and I have always believed in following the missionaries standards. What I have struggled with throughout my mission is conviction, and my dedication to that belief. 

This really became clear a couple of weeks ago when Sister Belnap got sick. She had this nasty flu-like thing that totally laid her out for a few days. We weren't really able to do anything. We had to stay in the flat all day, and it was driving her up the wall. I was fine. In fact, I was enjoying the fact that we didn't go out and work every day. That bothered me. I didn't want to work, but I wanted to want to work. So, like the missionary that I am, I set to studying obedience, because I didn't understand why it was so important, and I needed to. I struggled for the rest of the week until that Sunday.

That Sunday was amazing. Because Sister Belnap was so sick, we had literally not done any real missionary work that week. However, we had so many people at church. We had investigators that we had lost contact with, and new people we had never met before. In a talk from General conference that I love, Jeffery R. Holland says that in the gospel, we get credit for trying. I had never really believed that before. I had always thought that maybe that was true for someone else, but that I wasn't even trying hard enough to get the minimum blessings. I learned that day that I was wrong. I hadn't even wanted to be obedient. I had only wanted to want to be obedient. And the Lord has blessed me abundantly for that.

And then it clicked. Obedience gives us power. Obedience to God's laws gives us spiritual power that we need in order to do what we are called to do. As members of the church, we need a certain amount of spiritual power to withstand the rigours of our lives. Because it's hard to be a member of the church! It's a rough world out there for people who are trying diligently to follow God! We desperately need the power that obedience gives us. As missionaries, we need even more spiritual power than we do as members before we are called. We are face to face with the reality of unbelief, and Satan's power over the earth. He is strong, but as we are obedient, we obtain the power that comes through Jesus Christ. And that power has always been and forever will be stronger than our adversary in this word. I've seen that as I've made a greater effort to be obedient. I have had more power and more strength. I have had what I have needed. But it only came after I humbled myself and submitted to the will of my kind and loving Father and my gentle Saviour. I invite you to do what I've done. If you need help from God, look at what you can do to qualify for that help you feel you need. He is a just God. He won't give us things we are not prepared to receive. He is also a merciful God. He will give us everything that He possibly can. He will give us absolutely everything we qualify for. All we have to do is qualify for it.

This is especially applicable, because I've just found out that I am going to need a lot more spiritual power in these next few transfers. Yesterday, Sunday, I got the call from President that I've been called to be a Sister Training Leader, and that I'll be serving in Nottingham with Sister Marsden. I'm excited and nervous, but I know that, as I am obedient, the Lord will bless me. And that's good cause I'm gonna need it.

This is kind of on a different note, but in the same theme. Not too long ago, I saw forget-me-nots for the first time. They are the most adorable teeniest tiniest little blue flowers. They are sooooo itty bitty, and they are the most beautiful blue ever. If sunshine were blue, it would be the colour of forget-me-nots. They are so pretty, but so small and so common that most people don't even notice them. One member actually thought they were weeds when we were weeding her garden! I fell absolutely in love with them on the spot, and I remembered that President Uchtdorf had given a lovely talk about forget-me-nots a while ago. So I looked it up, and it is totally awesome. He talks about how the five petals of the forget-me-not represent five things that we ought not to forget. All of them are great, but the one I really liked was "Forget not to be happy". He talked about how there are so many lovely little moments in our lives that make life beautiful, that we often just walk past, just like we do with forget-me-nots. We don't allow them to really beautify and give colour to our lives. 

I thought about that a lot. I thought about how many little things happen in the day to day life of a missionary that aren't big journal-worthy moments, but that are still good and wonderful and are the little blue flowers of our lives. I wanted to remember those too. So I created my Forget-Me-Not book. It's a little blue book that I carry with me all the time, and whenever something small but good happens that makes my day better, I Forget-Me-Not it. It's brought me a lot of happiness, and I'm already super grateful for it, as I'm leaving Cheltenham. I've recorded a lot of lovely things from here that will bring me joy. It's helped me to remember that even little good things are incredibly valuable. And things don't have to be rare to be beautiful. Also, forget-me-nots are now my favourite flower. Do you think they'll grow in Arizona?

So. We have this investigator named Vicki. She came to the general women's meeting, which was all about serving, and mainly about serving the refugees. At the end of the meeting, the Stake Relief Society president got up and talked about how she felt prompted to get up and tell everyone that she was thinking that the way the stake could get involved might be through putting dignity packs together through a local charity. Everyone thought it sounded like a great idea. The only thing was, there was no program for dignity packs already in place. But it was alright, we thought, we'd figure it out eventually.

Eventually was not good enough for Vicki. That day, she told us later, she sat out in her garden, and a concept for a full on charity organisation blossomed in her head. She gives full credit to Heavenly Father for giving her the idea, but I and everyone else give her full credit for listening. By the time we went to see her the next Tuesday, four days later, she had it entirely on lock.

So the concept is that she would hand out these bags, D.A.P.S, or Dignity Aid Packs, to people with a list of suggestions for things that they could put in. People could then take the packs, fill them with whatever they felt women and children in refugee camps might need that they could afford, and return them to Vicki, who would pass them off to the charity who would distribute them to refugees. By the time we got to her, she had all the graphics done for the stickers and things that would go on and in the bags, she had a logo figured out, she had the funding she needed to get everything printed up and she was ready to go. A few days later, D.A.P.S had both a Twitter ands Facebook account. When the print and the bags came in, we helped her package them up so that they looked all pretty, and they started going out to people. This was all about a month ago. The ward in Cheltenham caught wind of it, and the Relief Society took it on board. And then the stake relief society president, the one who really kicked this whole thing off in the first place, found out about it, and now there is going to be a stake service day in June, centred around filling these dignity packs. 

And then, it really exploded. People had already started taking four or five or ten and handing them out to their friends to fill and return. Through Facebook, a socialite here in Cheltenham caught wind of it, got inspired, and asked for 50 bags. Another woman asked for 25. People all over the country have been asking for these bags. The charity, People in Motion, are doing a talk at a school sometime soon about the refugee situation, and at the end, they'll be handing out D.A.P.S. They're getting another batch of bags made up, because they're already almost out.

But that's not even the most exciting part. The packs have started coming back. Not just a couple. The first round of packs have come back, and there are around 120 bags, from people that Vicki doesn't even know. At first, she thought this would be a kind of localised thing. Now, the perspective is shifting. The local newspaper is going to do a story on it, and Vicki's partner, who just so happens to be a graphic designer and a professional photographer, has offered to put a website together, and take a trip to the main refugee camp in France to do some photo-journalism pro bono. It's amazing what she's accomplished!

I guess this brings everything back around to my big take away from this month. In everything that has happened this month, the hand of the Lord has been so evident.  The truth is, we will never walk alone. God loves us too much to leave us without help for even a minute. The help is always, always there. He cares so deeply about us that He sent His son, Jesus Christ, to perform the atonement that He might know how to help us. When we turn to God in prayer, when we read the scriptures, we always have that help that we need. The only time we will ever be alone is when we ignore Christ's presence right beside us, ever offering us more than we can dream of. Remember that. Christ is there to support and strengthen us through every trial, every affliction. The Atonement does not just cleanse sin, it strengthens hearts. It is the reason we are able to change and become new. It is the way. He is the way. 

I know this is true. I know that God is supporting me. I know that, without the strength that comes from relying on the Atonement of Christ, I wouldn't be able to do any of this. I wouldn't have even been able to get out on a mission. Without Him, I can do nothing. But I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. He is my light and my hope. And I am forever grateful for Him, and indebted to Him. 

This next month is going to be a crazy one for me. I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen, but I know it's going to be awesome! Have a great month, friends! Enjoy summer!!

Toodle pip!

Sister Pike 

I Know I Am Nothing

Hey everyone. Does anyone know where April went? It was just here and now it's gone. So what happened this month?

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