What Even Happened This Week??

I can't believe its Monday again already. and it's almost over :( time seems to be picking up speed lately. I've been thinking back on this week and all of it is kind of a blur. it's been good though. we've been at the Visitors Center a ton and this next week we are there most of the time. when we were there this week I was talking to this man and he was telling me about when he served his mission and we were talking about how amazing it is and then he asked me how long I have been out and I said 11 months and he got tears in his eyes and said 'you don't have much longer' and then talked about how awful it is when you get released...probably the most depressing conversation of my life. I got soo sad. it really really is going by so fast and the longer I'm out the more I love it and the faster it goes by. it is so crazy!

I am enjoying working at the vc. it is wierd, I feel like I haven't done a full week of proselyting in months cause first sister keogh and now this. sister keogh is doing great by the way! I saw her today at the temple cause our zone went to the temple and she is in my zone! she's had a few upsets but she is doing much better.

there are some major plus' to working at the vc. president has given us permission to go do temple sessions twice a month so we went on wednesday and we were able to go again today. I love it there!! I have been soo lucky to go so often, some missionaries haven't been since December. I am spoiled :)

I got to see a few High Wycombe members this last week. I saw a bunch of them today, they were leaving the temple just as we got there. It was so much fun to see them and catch up!! they told me Emanuel Smith has a calling now and gave a talk on Sunday. man, I miss High Wycombe. I loved it there so much. I also saw the bishop and his wife at the temple over the weekend and we were able to catch up a bit. that ward has such great people there.

sorry if this email is so scattered. my mind is shot from everything that has been going on lately.

Elder Bednar is coming on Saturday!!! yay! I am so excited. :) president shamo asked me to put a couple songs together so I've managed to get about 16 missionaries to be part of a choir. we can't practice until that morning so hopefully it will turn out ok.

as far as Crawley goes, things are going well! It's still taking a while to get things going cause we aren't there that often but it is starting to pick up a bit now. last week we met a guy, Chris, while knocking and he is already progressing a lot! he is agnostic and believes something is there but he isn't sure what and he has been very open to learning about the gospel. he even came to church on sunday! he came late so we were all sad but then he showed! my companions and I were in total shock! I couldn't believe it haha but we were so excited. sunday mornings are always so stressful so it was a huge relief so have him there. we are also teaching this woman Zoja. she's Russian. she is amazing, the lanuage barrier has been tough but she's awesome. she's been taught by missionaries since I think January and there is still a lot of work to be done. she works sundays and that's the hardest thing right now, is getting her to church. our wml offered to pay her anonymously this week if she will come to church. how cool is that? I think she might come too..

I like Crawley a lot, the ward is really great and it has been a lot of fun so far. I'm hoping I stay here till at least Christmas but I have a feeling that since I was in HW for so long I'll just be moving around the rest of my mish.

things with sister burrows and howard are great. we are still having tons of fun. you meet some crazies out on the streets so we are laughing all the time...

I think this has been the hardest part of my mish but also the best so far. it's been amazing.

anyway, sorry about this email. I don't know if it makes any sense haha but things are going really great! I'm Lovin it, I love being a missionary. it's hard but it's good!

thanks for everything!! I love you!

love, sister gregson

On the Road Again- Aug 22, 2011

hello! how are you this week? thank you for the letters. It sounds like everyone is doing great! I can't believe Josh is 5! he'll be soo big when I get home..crazy.

this week has been about the same as the last couple weeks. We are still constantly rushing from one thing to another but now we pretty much know what we're doing at least. I had driving lessons this week and we got a car on Friday. I was so nervous to drive here but it's not even bad. round abouts are a little scary and the roads here are tiny but it's actually pretty fun to drive. most of the time :) It's so much better having a car because we can get a lot more done now. The bus services aren't very good in Crawley so it's much easier for us to see people now so hopefully things will start moving forward a little bit quicker.

It's still been pretty tough to handle two areas. the Visitors Center is pretty fun. I like working there. they are training us so right now we are pretty busy but once we're done training I have a feeling we'll have tons of down time while we are there. We have a few ideas of how to get members to bring their friends. we're going to try and do FHE on Monday nights at the Visitors Center and the ward seems pretty excited about the idea of that. the people here are so good with sharing the gospel with their friends but it's always hard getting them to come to church so this will be an easier way to reel them in :)

things in Crawley are going alright. we haven't had too much time to do contacting and when we have gone out we've gotten loads of potentials but they tend to drop like flies. we got a couple of new investigators last night that we will be meeting with this week. we're seeing one tonight, he says he's agnostic but when we talked about meeting with him to teach him he said yes and he was really surprised that he had agreed. His name is Chris and he is really cool, he had a few questions about life after death and a few other things. keep your fingers crossed! we need someone to teach!! It's been pretty hard trying to balance the visitors center and crawley but we are also having a ton of fun. I love my companions. we get along really well and they are amazing missionaries. I've been so blessed with awesome companions my whole mish I'm scared to see what is coming...there's bound to be one that I don't get along with.

we were able to meet with president shamo this week and talk to him about working in the visitors center and in crawley. Sister Howard and Burrows are called as visitors center workers and he said that next transfer we are getting 3 more and he has no idea what to do with them or where to put them haha I think he might end up putting all the vc workers in crawley so there can always be full time missionaries in the area but it's all still up in the air. he has no idea what he will be doing with them. he also talked to us about this new chat thing where you talk to someone online who came on the lds website and wants to know more. we are supposed to be doing that when we have time at the vc, which we don't, and when we have computers, which we don't haha that probably won't get going till next transfer though. who knows if I will even be in crawley anymore by then.

anyway, that is pretty much my week. its still so crazy but it is a lot of fun :)

I hope everything is going well back home! I love you so much!

love, chels

Crawley, Visitor Center, Jo Bishop and...Mary Ungricht??

heeeyy. how are you this week? things have been so crazy here. I'm still trying to adjust and we're still running around everywhere but I'm getting there. I haven't even had time to finish unpacking yet and it's been almost two weeks!!

I haven't started driving yet but I am taking driving lessons tomorrow and then we will get a car. I'm scared to drive here but it will be good because I think we can get so much more done with a car.

 we're pretty much at square one with Crawley. the Elders worked hard but didn't leave much for us to work with when they left. a few investigators...all of which have already dropped... It's been tough and it's taking us a while to get going but I think things will start picking up soon. it's just hard to figure out how to balance the visitors center and the entire Crawley area. I'm doing my best but it is definitely discouraging at times.

 this week has been great though! it was a hard one but it was a lot of fun as well. we see some of the coolest things at the visitors center. we are there about three days a week. this last week a couple from salt lake was staying in London and wanted to see the temple grounds so they called up a driver to take them. the driver stayed in the car for a while but he said he felt the spirit so strongly that he had to come out and see what this place is. he eventually made it into the visitors center and we were able to teach him a little bit. he was very interested. he said he felt like it was an answer to his prayers cause he's been needing something more in his life. he was so excited about his experience there. we got his info and he will be meeting with missionaries this week. the sad thing about working at the visitors center is you meet so many cool people but then you just have to hand them off to other missionaries cause they don't live in your area. lame.

on Saturday I was at the visitors center and that afternoon Elder and Sister Waters come walking through the door. they are the senior couple that were serving in Chichester. they walked in with a man that I reconized but it took me a minute to realize who he was but then when I shook his hand I realized it was Jo Bishops husband!!! I was so excited! next thing I know, Jo Bishop walks through the door!! it was soo good to see her :) she looked amazing and so happy. it was fun to catch up with her and hear how she has been doing. her husband is doing great as well. I couldn't believe the change I saw in him. I had never seen that side of him before. he is such a good man, hopefully one day he will choose to accept the gospel. that totally made my day when I saw Jo. I was in shock the rest of the day. I'm hoping that when she comes up on her year mark she will make the decision to go through the temple so I can go through with her :) that would be amazing. she is the best!!

so I know you already know this and have heard this story but I saw MARY UNGRICHT this week! yay :) that was so weird but so fun. she looks so great! sadly I only got to see her during my lunch break, shortest hour of my life, but it was so fun to see her! it almost didn't work out. she called the office and gave them the phone number I was supposed to call her on but when I called it the number didn't work. I was so sad. I knew she was staying at the holiday inn so I pulled out our phone book and called the number for the holiday inn and told them the situation and the woman asked me which holiday inn mary was staying at and i was like. ummm...the one in london? and she was like. ma'am. there are 30 holiday inns in london.....oh... haha I was so sad after that cause I thought I wouldn't get to see mary but she ended up calling the office again a couple days later and I got the RIGHT number this time. it was so fun to see her and catch up. I was sad when it ended. It went by way too fast.

that pretty much sums up the exciting parts of my week. I'm still just trying to adjust to all of this madness. we are supposed to be meeting with president soon so we can really figure out what we should be doing. we'll see. Until then I'll just keep calm and carry on I guess...

anyway, thank you for everything!! I love you so much and I'm grateful for all of your love and support! have a great week! love ya!

love, chels

ps.. in one of the pics please take note of the passed out companion in the backround :)

STRESS!!

heeey:) wow things are soo crazy right now!!! I feel like we're just constantly running around and trying to figure everything out. I've called the old crawley elders like a billion times to ask about investigators or where to find something. they are probably so sick of me haha white washing is nuts. we've done most of our work so far at the Visitors Center, which is cool, you always see some really cool things happening there with members bringing non member friends in. lots of miracles.

yesterday was the first day that we actually got to do work in Crawley. our area is HUGE. The ward is massive but I already feel at home. there are some really great people here so I'm excited to work here. we met with our ward mission leader after church and he is so cool, plus we have TEN ward missionaries who are all very involved as well. this ward is so driven with missionary work. it sounds like all these ward missionaries were elders quorum presidents and high council members and relief society presidents and the bishop released all of them recently and called them as ward missionaries. this is gonna be fun :) I'm excited! but I'm a bit confused to see what president has in mind for us. I don't know how we can handle such a huge area when we will only be here for half the time... we'll see. supposedly we will be talking to him about it tomorrow to work everything out and maybe get a bit more direction.

training two girls is crazy but it is a lot of fun. they don't even need me though. they are already so good, I don't think I have anything to teach them haha they are cute though. sister burrows is from utah and it seems like we have all the same stories all the time. our families are even the same. two older brothers and 4 girls, all dark hair and dark eyes. it is so funny. she's a major clean freak. never ever stops cleaning haha but she is so great. sister howard is from alaska. she is awesome to. you can't help but love her to death. she is so innocent and she always has the funniest comments. and she will never disagree with anyone cause she is just too sweet. I love them both already, this is fun. but being in a tri is crazy at times, I feel like we're attacking people when we approach them on the street haha.

I haven't started driving yet, thank goodness. I don't know the point of me getting a uk license. I can use my US one till October but apparently it costs a ton to get a license and it takes a long time till you actually take the test so by then I'll almost be done with my mish. it seems like president knows what he's doing though so I'll just leave it to him. Crawley definitely needs a car though. we can't get around anywhere very well.

I'm excited that you are having sister boleska over for dinner tomorrow! I wish I could be there!! she is the best, I miss her. I learned so much from her. don't stress about her being vegetarian. she's not picky. just do veggie burgers or something. I'm so jealous! I wish I could be there!!

thank you so much for everything! I miss you guys but I'm having so much fun out here. I'm feeling a bit lost still with whatever president shamo has in mind for us this transfer but it's still fun :) being a missionary is the best!

I love you! have a good week!

love, chels

 

pps sis k is fine. she's in tunbrigde wells in a tri. they didn't think she could handle high wycombe on her own so they white washed. elders are there now.

Drumroll Please!!

ROBERT'S A MORMON!!!!!!

that's right, he actually did it!! can you believe it?!?! :) it was soo amazing. I forgot my camera cord so I can't send you pics but hopefully next week. The service was perfect, minus the fact that he showed up late. but hey, he showed:) i wish you could have been there!!! it was so perfect. it was such a great experience. the whole thing. I've been teaching Robert since my third day in High Wycombe (yeah, I know...) and it was so amazing to see him really study it out and work at it. you wouldn't believe the change I've seen in him through all these months but even after his baptism there was something different about him and he looked soo happy. it was the greatest day ever. Sister Allred got to come which was cool cause we taught him together for 4 1/2 months together. the whole thing was just amazing. i can't even describe it! i don't know how anything to come on my mish can top that...haha

soo...transfers... any last guesses?? there's no point, you'll NEVER EVER guess this one. i think president shamo has officially lost his mind. he called me on saturday and told me he has some wild ideas for me and he sounded soo excited about whatever he was going to have me do. then he called me again on tuesday to tell me what i was going to be doing. you won't believe this. he calls and tells me he wants me to white wash Crawley. white washing is when they take elders out of the area and put sisters in.. my worst fear..but it doesn't stop there. then he tells me he wants me to white wash train! what???? so then I started getting pretty nervous but it still doesn't stop there... president then tells me that I am not only going to be training one missionary. I'll be training TWO missionaries!!!! what is he thinking? I told him he is crazy and he just laughed and said 'I know!'

don't ask me why he chose me to do this....I'm still trying to figure that out

but guess what? I'm still not done. I get a car!! ha! most the missionaries in the mission don't have cars except zone leaders I think. driving in England is crazy. this is going to be soo wild. i have to start taking driving lessons soon. I feel like I've been running around since I got the call and haven't even had time to process it.

I got my girls yesterday. when you train everyone calls them your 'baby' so everyone keeps saying I have twins hahaha they seem great! they are sister burrows and sister howard. sister burrows is from orem utah and sister howard is from alaska. they are trained as visitors center missionaries so we'll be doing contacting and knocking in Crawley and then doing work at the visitors center maybe three days a week. Crawley is about a 15 minute drive to the temple and since we'll be back and forth a lot that's why we have a car. but until i get a couple lessons in i can't actually drive so we're being driven by the elders everywhere right now. this is sooo crazy!!!

Crawley seems really great. the ward is huge and it sounds like all of them are very missionary minded so I'm excited to work with them. we even have someone preparing for baptism! the elders met him their last night before transfers. they are way jealous! his name is Jeshan. we met with him today. actually it's kinda wierd. he seems way into the church. he actually contacted the office somehow and said he wanted to meet with missionaries so the elders taught him and he's totally golden. we met with him today but then after we taught him he called and started creepin on me so i don't think we can teach him now. the elders will probably have to...lame.

other than that I still don't know all the details of this area cause i haven't even had a chance to look at the area book or anything. we've been all over the place. i'm at the mission office right now and then I'll be at the visitors center all night.

My mind is so scattered at the moment. i'm still trying to process all of this..

I was sad to leave high wycombe. there are some really amazing people there and i learned so much while i was serving there. I miss it but I'm on to new adventures. this is going to be fun! I'm scared to death but it will be a blast I think. I have no idea why president chose me to do this though... it's a lot of pressure. maybe he just thought i got WAY too much down time with sister keogh..(I think we hit around 45 sick days?) or maybe this is why i served with sister keogh. so i could relax before I have to white wash double train. what? I told ya president has lost his mind.

 

 

anyway, I have to go. thanks for everything!!! I love you!!

 

 

love, sister gregson

 

PS

ps here is my new address in CRAWLEY!!!!

1 grove court

158-162 Three Bridges Road

Three Bridges, Crawley

RH10 1LE

crawley flat is sweeeeeet :)