Ilford rocks!

Dear Friend's and Family,
I love Ilford!  Seriously, it's a great place.  I'm excited to be here, and to be with Sister Kuoppala.  She's from Finland, and pretty much the cutest thing ever  :) .  I'm way excited to be working with her.
Well, where did I leave off.  Oh yeah!  Last Tuesday Sister Strunk and I went into London, and we went to Buckingham Palace, and all these other way awesome places.  It was super fun.  Plus I bought a way comfy London sweatshirt with the Christmas money from Grandma and Grandpa.  I love it!  Thank-you so much!  Then in the evening we went to the M. Toffoletti's for dinner.  It was so good, and I was glad to get to see them before I left.  They are such a cute family.
Then Wednesday morning we got all ready to leave.  It was crazy to say goodbye to everyone.  But I know that Enfield is in good hands with Sister Strunk and Sister Abellan (from Spain).  I always love seeing everyone at Liverpool Street.  Sister Bidwell is home now.... madness!  Oh how time flies.  So I got my new companion, and also my new ward mission leader and wife, Brother and Sister Stevenson, were there and helped us to get back  :)   They are so great!  I knew from right then that I would love Ilford.  On the train ride to Ilford we saw the site where they are building the Olympic Stadium and everything, so that was pretty cool.  And then I arrived at the Ilford "flat", which is actually a house!  I couldn't believe it!  It's a three bedroom house, and we have it all to ourselves.  Madness, haha, but very exciting.  Then we did some planning, and we went out to see a woman named Bella.  Bella was baptised some 6 years ago or something like that, but she was never confirmed!  So we're teaching her again and preparing her for baptism.  Then we went to see a less active girl named Michelle.  She's super cute, and has an adorable little daughter.  it was a great day.
Thursday in the morning we went to see a man named Noel (pronounced Nole).  He's the Deputy Head of Discipline at a Catholic secondary school.  He's a really nice man, and I guess he approached the missionaries and asked to learn more sometime before Christmas, but he's had a lot of medical stuff going on so they hadn't been able to see him much until now.  Then we went to the chapel and met with a recent convert named Brother Yankson.  He's really funny, and loves to talk.  Then we met with an investigator named Abenaa.  She knows that the church is true beyond a shadow of a doubt  :)   She's great.  The only sad news is that she might be moving, but the first thing she asked us is if the church is in her new area (in South London).  We said most definitely.   :)   Then in the evening we went to the Stevenson's for dinner and Correlation.  It was great.  When we came out there was snow everywhere!  I can't believe this weather!
Friday in the morning Sister Stevenson came with us to see a man named Tom.  He's from Hungary.  He's a funny guy.  He told us about how before he found Jesus in his life, he had a hobby, and it was to hit all religious people.  But then he said that after he found Jesus, one day he was on a train in Hungary and these guys were harassing this girl on the train.  He went up to them and he told them to stop because Jesus loved them.  Then he said that they started hitting him!  But he said that every time they hit him he just said, Jesus loves you.  He was happy because the girl got away.  He said that was his testimony of what goes around comes around.  Then we went out to lunch with this excellent man named Brother Beasley.  He took us out for chinese food.  He loves to give all the missionaries nicknames.  He calls Sister Kuoppala Nokia because she is from Finland.  And he's decided to call me Carrot Top.  Haha, he's a good man.  Then we went to see a recent convert named Suresh.  He's from India.  He doesn't speak much English, but he's very obedient, and he loves the church.  He's great!  Then in the evening we went with the Stevenson's to see a woman named Baetsi and her children Linda, and Mark.  They are such a cute family, and we had a really good lesson with them.
Saturday we did 6 hours and 35 minutes of Finding (OYMing and tracting), but it was a really good day!  My feet were so tired at the end of it though!  But it totalled up for our 15 hours.  Also, we were able to see Bella, so that was really good.
That brings us to Sunday.  In the morning we had PEC so I got to meet some of the leaders, and that was good.  Then we had church.  I loved it!  Noel came to church  :)   So did Bella.  Also, the nephew of one of the members came.  His name is Mfundo, and he's from South Africa.  We set an appointment to see him this week.  I'm so excited to be here.  Then after church we went to the Stevenson's for lunch with one of the recent converts named Samuel.  It was really good.  Then we went to see a woman named Joyce.  He sister is actually a member of Ilford Ward, but she has a hard time coming to church because she has a daughter with severe disabilities.  She's really sweet, and he daughter is cute, so I'm excited to start working with her.  Then in the evening we went to the Muir family's house for dinner.  They are from New Zealand, and I love them!  Brother Muir is funny because he just teases his wife all the time. Oh, and I pretty much forgot it was my Birthday until President Foulger called in the evening to wish me a happy birthday!  Haha.
So that was my week.  I was feeling kind of sick yesterday, and I'm not feeling so hot today, so I'm super glad that it's preparation day, and we're just going to relax today.  But I'm soooooo excited to be here in Ilford, and I'm happy that I have a nice comfy sweatshirt to snuggle in  :-P .

Mom- Tell everyone hello for me and that I love them!  I want to see pictures of everyone.  I'm glad to hear that Grandpa is feeling a bit better, and that everyone was able to make it to see him.  I love him so much.  I love you too!  :)   I hope your visit is great, and you get home safely.

Dad-  Thank-you so much for the start date  :)  That's crazy about the flat tire.

Nathan-  I love you!

Ben-  Excellent!  Good Job on your Vocab test.  When are you going to get your Eagle  ;)  ?

CJ-  That's your name, not Curtis  :-P   Congratulations on getting accepted to BYU-Idaho!  I'm so excited to get to go to school with you!  :)   Keep on working hard!

Elder Ison-  So do you not get any post because of the strike?  I thought of you the other day because I saw this shop and it was called, "Zak's Travel Agency" or something like that.  But they spelled it your way!  :) 

The Bowers-  Thank-you so much for the Birthday Package!  You are so thoughtful!

Grandma and Grandpa-  I love you soooooo much!

Love,
Sister Ison