Mother's Day in the UK!

Hey fam!!

 

How is everyone?! First off, Bennett is so stinking cute! I could pretty much eat him!! Secondly, Dad, there is a senior couple serving in my zone and the husband is Ron Browning. Funny story, so he came up to me at zone conference and was like, " do you by chance know a Tanya Firth?" and I said "YES! That's my aunt!" He then went on to tell me that he dated Aunt Tanya and that he coached Uncle Tim in baseball when he was about 14! And he said that Grandpa Rex was his one of his leader's in church or something!! Funny huh!! Small world! and I guess that Aunt Tanya "Dear Johned" him while he was on his mission. We laughed. Haha so ya random huh!!

 

It was Mothers Day in the UK yesterday so......MOM HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!!!!!!!!! (yesterday) haha Love you mama!! Oh and i got packages from mom, whit, and Tammi Minnick!! So fun! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and i finally got my clothes from the mission home so that was like Christmas! ha

 

Anyways, life in EK is grand! Paul came to church! Whoop whoop!! He is right on track for his baptism! He is getting baptized on the 11th now! So we're excited for that! He is doing great! He knows so much and he participated in the combined lesson yesterday in church! So that was great!

 

Jack who is 10, is so smart! He asks so many questions and is such a cute little boy! We are teaching him this week with his mom and his dad! His dad isn't too keen on having him learn about the Mormon church so he wants to be in on the lessons. Lets hope HF softens his heart!

 

Matt is, well, very all over the place! Ha we taught him for the first time last week and oh boy, he asks so many questions! But it was alright. One thing I've learned out here is patience! ha so it was interesting teaching him!

 

That is pretty much what our week was! Zone interview training was great! Prez. Brown is awesome! He is so kind and always willing to help! Love him!

 

I've been thinking a lot about my mission this past week. It's taken me a long time to truly gain the desire to want to share the gospel to everyone. My goal has been to truly love my mission by the time I go home and to leave with no regrets. Well, I decided to make a deal with God. It won't be easy but I'm gonna do it! For the next 9 months, I'm going to strive to be as exactly obedient as I can, work hard every day, and do my best to share the gospel to EVERYONE! It says in PMG that if i do those 3 things, I will be a successful missionary. So I'm FINALLY ready to commit myself to it! Yes, its taken me a long time but I'm ready and I finally have the true desire. So lets do this!! :)

 

I love you all!! Thanks for everything family! Boy do I miss you guys!! Hope all is well back in good old UTAH! xoxo :)

 

love,

Sister Firth :)

p.s. sis watt and I bought Beatles shirts....dad you should be jealous ;)

"More From Across the Pond..."‏

Hey family!!

 

Okay first things first, Meg, Bennett is sooooooo precious! And sooo cute! OH MY!!!!!! He is such a clone of Beau! Ah love him! And thanks for the package Meg! I'm wearing the earrings! :)

 

This week was great! So Paul came to church! So the plan is for him to get baptized on the 12th of April! Whoop whoop!! So excited for him!! He is such an example to me of courage. He was so scared and nervous to tell his parents that he wasn't going to stay over on Saturday so that he could come to church but he did it!! So he is doing great! He is our only progressing investigator now because we haven't gotten ahold of Craig all week. We hope he's not dropped us....we'll see!

 

We have a few potentials that we are working with. Three of them are kids, 12, 9, and 8. So we'll see if anything comes out of it! :)

 

Not too much going on with EK but we'll hopefully see lots of success soon! So I definitely gained a testimony of listening to the Spirit this week. First story is.....yesterday, we were trying by Craig to see if he was home. He lives in some flats and so we have to walk up 3 flights of stairs to get to his flat. Well, as we got closer to the top, I got the worst feeling but I didn't know if it was just me being dumb. Well, once we reached the top, Sis Watt turned to me and asked me if I had a good feeling and I said no, so we just left. I have no idea as to why we felt that way but I'm grateful we were able to listen and recognize it.

 

Second story is...last night we were chapping before we headed to our appointment. Well, literally everyone was slamming the door on us. We were getting pretty down and were about to just stop and go catch the bus but then we decided to knock one more door. I always hear stories of how missionaries knock that last door and that one person let them share about the gospel. Well, that happened to us! His name is Matthew. He was so nice and we told him all about who we were and he couldn't believe that two girls would come all the way from Utah and Colorado just to share a message. We are going back on Saturday! After we left, I had told Sis Watt that before we knocked on his door, I had a good feeling about it and she said that she felt the same thing. Its funny how the spirit can warn us but also give us strength to keep going.

 

I decided to study about diligence this morning. I gained a testimony of it. If we are diligent in missionary work and in life, we will have success and will be rewarded. I'm grateful that sis watt and i didn't give up because we would have never met Matthew.

 

Life in EK is going great! Sis Watt is great!!! I love being her companion so much! I love being a missionary. Its hard, but its worth it. I love you all!! miss you! xoxoxo :)

 

Love,

Sister Firth :)

Another week in Scotland!! :)

(Callie Firth wrote--I'm on! Anyone else?

Megan Bland wrote--I'm in labor! !! Having an Irish baby on St Patrick's day today in honor of my favorite Irish Scottish missionary!

Callie Firth wrote--MEG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! oh my gosh hi! are you okay?? i cant believe your in labor! i got your letter! thanks!! ah an irish baby!! fun :) cute little Bennett! how are you?? is Dev with you?

Megan Bland wrote--Yes we're doing okay.  Very tired. ... its been a long night.  Lots of pain.  But we're so excited!  Baby is struggling just a little so say a prayer for him.  I know we're close!  Hopefully pushing goes fast! 
Callie Firth wrote--I prayed for you last night! well, i always do but i felt the need to say an extra one! ah let me know okay?? get some sleep!! talk to you next week hopefully! and dont forget to send me pics!!!! :) i love you meg!!! hang in there! he'll be fine!)

I  finished emailing with Callie about a 1/2 hr ago and she just missed the news of her sister, Megan, delivering her baby just moments ago!  As many of you know, Megan went into labor at 28 weeks.  They were able to stop her labor with meds.  Her doctor just took her off those meds on Friday afternoon and she went into labor Sunday morning (the little guy's due date is April 6th).  He weighs 6lb 15 oz. and he and Megan are doing great!  He is our little St. Patrick's Day baby!!!  That would have been cool to have Callie in Ireland on St. Patrick's day and her nephew born on the holiday!  Oh well, she is just miles from Ireland! :)  Happy Holiday!! Ah, so many blessings!!  Lisa :)

Hey fam bam!!

 

How are all of you? Meg, have you gone into labor yet?? Ah I can't WAIT to see the little dude!! Can you all believe I've been out over 9 months?? Crazy!! Thanks for the package mom! Loved it! :)

 

So things here in EK are great!! I am loving it! Sis Watt and I are pretty much twins! ha seriously though...we are so much alike its scary! We love it though! And, we have girl talk...like every night. It's awesome! makes me feel like I'm in moms room having girl talk with her! good times!  Oh and guess what I found out...Sis Watt and I both worked at REsponse MArketing!!!!! Small world huh! haha We were meant to be companions! :)

 

Anyways....here's the update!

 

PAUL: He has a baptism date!!!!!!!! for April 12th! Whoop whoop!! He still hasn't told his parents that he's learning from us yet so that's holding him back. He needs to come to church so we'll see what happens. He is soo knowledgeable though! wow, its great! He received a priesthood blessing last week from Elder Crosby for strength to tell his parents and to live the WOW. So lets pray he gets the courage to tell them.

 

CRAIG: Craig is great! he was so prepared. We taught him 3 times last week and invited him to be baptized and he said ya probably! So that was a blessing!  And guess what....he came to church!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He fell asleep in sacrament which was kinda funny but he liked it! and lets be honest, i used to sleep in church all the time! ha not anymore though! anyways, he's great! we are teaching him again tonight. In his lesson last week, the spirit was so strong and he kept saying that he could feel something. We explained what it was. Lets hope and pray he accepts a date soon!

 

GRAYS: The grays are a family who we have taught once. They are great! At first, Janet wasn't interested at all but then we brought up the POS and that got her. ha We had a great conversation and they accepted a BOM and we are going back tomorrow! So I hope they progress soon!

 

So those are our 3 investigators right now. We went and visited a LA last week (Barbara Graves). She has Alzheimer's or something and lives in a home just like the one that grandma was in. Oh my did it bring back memories!!! I loved it. I just pictured grandma in there and it made me sad but at peace. Barbara was so cute. She kept repeating her self but I loved it so much. I felt like I was talking to grandma again. Precious memories.

 

So this past week...I was studying about the Temple because we were teaching a lesson on it. And fam, I know this is soo missionary style but hey, I'm a missionary so why not. ha but I want to challenge all of you to make it a goal to attend the temple as much as you can. I just know that there are so many blessings that come out of attending. Some that we may not even recognize or some that may come to us a while from now. I just love the temple and why not go to the place where we can be the closest to God? :)

 

Well  fam, I am doing great!! I am loving it in EK! Its so fun and lovely! I hope your all doing great! Thanks for being the best fam eva!!!!!! :) love and miss you all! xoxoxo...

 

love,

Sister Firth :)

 p.s. sis watt and I waiting for the bus!

(This except is from Caryn Jackson’s blog that she kept while in East Kilbride!!

Our new flat is really nice and the location is especially neat.  It's in the original part of East Kilbride so it's really in an old Scottish village with cobblestone streets, and lots of wee stores and pubs.  We live right above a bridal store which I thought was kind of funny for a few reasons haha.  We have a big kitchen and even have a washer/dryer (a washing machine that dries as well) so we feel really blessed.

 

This is Callie’s new apartment and area!!  Sounds so cool!!  I love it that it has cobblestone streets!  Can’t wait to see it.)

Rain, People, Lessons, City life!!!!!! :)

This is a picture of Sister Firth and her new companion Sister Watt, whom Callie knows from BYU!!  They lived on the same street in Provo!  Small world :)  I can't believe she is at the half way mark!!  Her mission is finally starting to go quickly!  Yes, I admit it, I have missed her like crazy :) ha :)  Callie is so so happy and loving her mission!  Thanks everyone for all your support and interest in Callie!  xoLisa

Hey family!!!

 

Well, im in East Kilbride and i love love love it! I miss Stornoway a lot but i like it here! can i just tell you that i love people! haha So this might be a short one because i just barely got here last week. So it rains more here than anywhere! I just let my hair go curly and wear no makeup because it runs down my face....ha k im just kidding mom, i know you're probably rolling your eyes....i wear makeup still! Dont worry! :)

 

So we have one progressing investigator. His name is Paul! He's 47, he has some form of autism but is great! He has a fear of telling his parents that he's learning from us so we're working on that with him at the moment. We have a couple of other investigators as well but i havent met them yet.

 

I am loving being in the city and with other missionaries!! I actaully know who is in my district now! haha Sister Ashdown is in my district!!! :) i love love love her! Sister Watt and i are pretty much the same person! ha I LOVE serving with her! She plays the guitar and sings....saweet!!! I love listening to her! So we are working great together! We always have girl talk....its great!! So it should be a great transfer!

 

Well fam i am doing great! I am loving it!! I hit my 9 month mark this week! crazy...time flies!!!!! I love you all! hope you're all doing great! meg, i cant wait to see the baby! ah precious! :) love you all! miss you! xoxoxo :)

 

love,

Sister Firth :)

 

(FW: You have an awesome daughter! ‏

 

Dear Sister Firth,

I just wanted to tell you how much we love the young Sister Firth. It was a joy to serve with her in Stornoway. Everyone here misses her a lot. I love her giggle, her beautiful smile and her “blondness” but most of all I love her testimony and that she is a strong and valiant missionary. One of the members said this week, “I know we aren’t supposed to have favorites, but Sister Firth is my favorite missionary.” You have every reason to be very proud of her.

Sister Sharp

 

Oh Sister Sharp you just made my day!!  Actually this makes me a little teary, but so so grateful to hear your kind words. Sister Firth has a very deep and abiding love for the people of Stornoway and for the area.  She is going to miss the members, investigators and just all the great things about Stornoway.  It is a very special area for her to have served in.  She wrote home several weeks ago, expressing her love for Stornoway and the people because she feels that this is the area she truly gained her testimony!  Stornoway will forever be a special place to all of us Firths!  I can't wait to visit the people there and see this great island.  THANK YOU for watching over our daughter!  It was comforting to my husband and I just knowing that you were on the island with these sisters.  I know that if she needed anything she would have gone to you for help or advice.  She expressed how kind you and your husband were to her and Sister Rousseau.  Callie is a very fun girl!  We miss her like crazy and all the energy that she brings to our home...it is a little dull without her here :)  When is your mission complete??  I would love to come to your homecoming and hear all the great adventures of your mission.  Have you been in Stornoway the entire time?  Thank you so much for the email!!  I will have to let Sister Firth know of your kind words.  Please let the members in Stornoway know of our great appreciation and love for helping, watching over and loving our daughter!! I can't wait to meet them in May, 2015!:)   Take care.
Love,
Lisa Firth

 

Hi, Lisa!

We entered the MTC just a couple weeks after your sweet Callie, on July 1^st. We arrived at the Mission Home in Edinburgh on July 9^th and arrived in Stornoway on July 11^th, so we have served in Stornoway our whole mission to this point. We don’t know if we will be here for the next 9 months of our mission or if we will be transferred at some point.

We made one trip to Edinburgh in February for a Senior Missionary Conference. That is the only time we have been away from the islands since arriving.

It was special to watch Callie grow as a person and as a missionary here in Stornoway. We did watch her testimony grow so strong while she was here. She and I both miss our families so very much but we are determined to stay in the mission field and finish our missions, then go home and love being around family again. It was nice to share those feelings often with each other. We left our five children and their spouses and our 28 grandchildren.

Callie is a strong missionary and bears a strong testimony to everyone. She has smiled through getting doors slammed in her face and being told she has been brain washed and that she needs to do her homework and find the truth. You have raised a wonderful daughter.

I am sure your house is a little dull without Callie there. She is a fun girl. She lit up the branch with her giggles. We all miss that. It seems to me that the English and Scottish people don’t laugh as much as Americans do.  I think that is sad.

We are from Herriman so we aren’t too far away from you. We will let you know when our homecoming is. We would love to meet you!

I will pass your kind words onto the branch members.

Love, Sister Bonnie Rae Sharp)

Farewell Storny, Hello Glasgow!!!!!!!!!!! :)‏

Hey family!!!

Well, we got moves call and guess what.....I'm going to Glasgow!!!! I'll be serving in East Kilbride with SISTER WATT!!! I am soo excited! I love love love Sis Watt so it should be lovely!

This past week was good! Investigators are doing great! still status quo with them! I sure am going to miss it up here. I don't even know where to begin with it...lets see...

The branch members are the best!! They are the best member missionaries I've ever met! I will miss all of them so much! I have loved serving up here in Stornoway. Its funny that I've been isolated for almost 6 months. Boy have I learned a lot. I guess that when you are on your own (kind of) for a while, you really get to know what kind of person you are and what kind of person you want to become. I've grown a lot up here and I will forever be grateful for the time I've spent on the island. Most importantly, I came to know my Savior. Through all of the hard times I've been through up here, I've always known that Christ was right by my side cheering me on and helping me along the way. And I have no doubt that my loved ones on the other side were helping me along as well. I am so grateful to be a member of this church and to be sharing the gospel with my brothers and sisters. It makes my heart hurt when they wont listen or accept it but its all part of the plan.

I will miss Stornoway so much but I am excited for my new adventure. I love this gospel! I love my wonderful family. I'm soo grateful to have the knowledge that I do of eternal families. I love my Savior and am so thankful for Him and I love my Heavenly Father. I'm grateful I chose to accept His plan so I can make it back to Him. I love the Book of Mormon. It has taught me so much and I can't wait to learn more.

I love you fam!! thanks for everything!! I will be seeing you in 2 short months!! I miss you all loads!!! xoxoxoxo :):)

love,
Sister Callie Firth :)