Hemel Hempstead

Dearest Friends and Family,
Oh my goodness.... things keep getting better  :) 
Tuesday Bruna spent the day with us and came with us to see Govanni and Susan.  It was a really good lesson and they agreed to come to church and they said they'd bring their two youngest boys with them as well.  Then in the evening we went to dinner at Sister Mason's with her friend Vickie.  They are both so sweet and they have little babies  :) .  We talked about the importance of motherhood, and it was really nice.
Wednesday Elder Voneiderhausern arrived, and we had correlation with Brother MacKenzie.  It's so crazy.  We have 5 missionaries in Watford ward now.  Then in the evening, we went to the Stanbury's with Micheal.  He's doing very well.  We watched Special Witnesses of Christ and talked about sustaining the Prophet.  He said he'd prepare to be baptized on 22 August  :) .  It's exciting to see how he's growing.  He also told us that he was actually looking for a church when we met him, so that's pretty cool.  It was just a perfect lesson and the Stanbury's are a great help.
Thursday we did our planning and then we went to see Carol Shooter with the Barratts.  The Barratts are such sweethearts, and Carol promised to come to church every other Sunday (instead of the first Sunday of the month), so that's excellent!  Then we went and got to meet the McShanes.  They are so cool as well.  Watford Ward is so great.  Then in the evening we decided to tract Cecil Road.  So we were knocking on doors when to our surprise Marco Martins opened the door!  Haha, he's a member of the ward, and we hadn't realized we were tracting their street.  It was a funny surprise and then, to make it even more fun, he said to us, "If you would like to come back in half an hour, you can eat dinner with us."  It was so sweet!  So we had an excellent meal, and found out that he knows more about geography (even in the United States) than I probably do  :-P .
Friday (Happy Pioneer Day!)  was crazy because we spent a good part of the day packing.  But in the evening we went to the chapel and taught Micheal about the Ten Commandments and keeping the Sabbath Day Holy.  He said he'd do better on his reading, because he wants to make sure he's being baptized for the right reasons  :) .  Then we went tracting a bit and it was really funny because the first house we walked up to the guy was just getting out of his car, so we said hello, and asked him if he believed in God, and he threw two squishy balls, one at each of us!  Haha, he let us keep them, and then after we talked to him a bit and got his number he also gave us each a packet of delicious jelly beans.  Then we went to the chapel and Elder O'Toole (who is now Luke....weird) was there visiting, and the Barratt's very kindly gave us a lift home.
Saturday we spent our day finishing packing and cleaning, and transporting, and a bit of tracting in Rickmansworth before leaving.  We got checked into our new flat.  It's so nice.  I love it!  It makes me happy.  It was so nice as well because Brother Gary Snailham and the three Elders helped us move in, and with so many hands it only took like 5 minutes to get all our stuff up and in!  It was so cool  :) 
Sunday was pretty much the most perfect Sunday ever.  All in all between the Elders and us we had about 19 investigators at church, including 3 families.  Micheal came (of course, he's part of the ward now  :)  ), and so did Govanni, Susan, and their two boys, Alex, and Sam.  The sacrament meeting was all about Family History and Temple Sealings.  The Gospel Principles class was the "Lord's law of health", and Priesthood/Relief Society was "Sacred Homes Sacred Temples."  It was absolutely perfect.  Govanni and Susan enjoyed it.  Susan already knew one of the families the Elders were teaching and one of the women from the ward, so that was pretty cool.  Then after church we had lunch with Sister Hughes, and that was awesome.  I love her a lot, and it was also pretty cool because they have their Canal Boat parked directly behind the chapel.  Then we went back to our new area in Hemel Hempstead, and went to visit a lady in a home named Kathy Taylor.  She's really sweet.  We met some nice people as well.
So it's been an excellent week.   :) 

Mom- That is so cool!  I love Nauvoo.  I've already told everyone it's my favourite place.  Brother Mackenzie has some relatives that work on the pageant, so that's cool as well.  Our new flat is so perfect.  It came furnished and with dishes and cleaning supplies as well!   :)   Oh, and yes, that's our new mailing address  :)   That's so cool to think about the bookends  :)   I have the best family ever!

Dad-  I am in desperate need of new shoes..... and I'm trying to make mine stretch, but they are literally falling apart...so yeah... .I'll be spending the money anyway  :-P   The character in my ward is "Jane".  She's the black lady who helped out "Anthony".  Do you know who I'm talking about now?

Nathan-  Nauvoo is the greatest!  I love you!

Love,
Sister Ison

I really am having a rough time coming up with a clever subject line for this email.

Hey guys!
How are you? I am doing pretty good. We had a good week and worked hard. We painted our apartment this week and it looks a lot better. President Gamiette wants it temple like, so we have been working our butts off here to make it like that. We also have been working hard with investigators and finding new people. We have been working hard with the Bonbon's son Jonathan. He wasn't baptized with the rest of his family and went to France for a year on his own and lived a pretty gangsta lifestyle, but he came back of his own free will and choice, because he didn't like who he was becoming. He is a really quiet guy, but you can tell that he has a good spirit in there. We are praying for him because the Bonbons do so much for us and it would be nice if he could get baptized and sealed to them. Fun story, Saturday, Elder Olsen and I were walking home from teaching Jonathan Bonbon, and we both got this strange eerie feeling, but we couldn't figure out what it was. We called Elder Colling and he suggested we ask Frere Bonbon to come and bless the apartment. Long story short, He came and gave one of the coolest blessings ever. The feeling went away instantly. He is the best. We also have some other investigators whose strength is not quite sure at the moment. They could go both ways, but we are hoping and praying that they go the Lords way. We had a fun activity this week and played soccer with all the members in Guadeloupe. It was a really good time. I am way excited to see my room though. How was your week this week? I hope it goes well. I hope that there are no more health issues either. I love you guys so much! I gotta go so I will ttyl!


LOVE!

Elder Ison

Busy week!

Dear Friends and Family,
I love my life! This week has been so cool, and I hope I can remember everything.
Monday was a good day. We went bowling with Elder Hatch and Elder Jentzsch. Then in the evening we went to dinner at Lee Snailham's house. He's the Elder's Quorum President, and he's fantastic. It was really nice to meet his family (his wife isn't a member). It really was a good evening.
Tuesday in the morning we went to visit a potential and found out that he's actually our mailman. Haha, genius, he was busy, but hopefully we'll be able to contact him again. At lunchtime we made over 40 no bake cookies :) We gave them to various investigators and members, so that was super fun. Then in the evening we saw Micheal and taught him about the Word of Wisdom. Sister Bettridge came with us and she was great :) She's so good to us. Micheal was pretty shocked that tea was on the list of No-no's, but we promised him blessings and he said he'd put the Lord to the test and give it a shot, and he's been doing good on that. :) Then in the evening we went to see a man named Govanni who invited us back to meet his wife, Susan. We taught them and it was a nice lesson. They already had a Book of Mormon that Susan had picked up out of curiosity a few years earlier, so that was pretty cool. She's part of some Reverend Moon church, that I don't know a whole lot about, but that's okay :) We're going to see them again today actually. So that's cool.
Wednesday we had District Meeting, and then we went out to deliver some of our cookies. We went to see Shanti. She seemed to appreciate the cookies, but is still very busy. Then we went to see the Gurney's. They loved their cookies and invited us in to see them, so that was great. They are such sweet people! Sister Gurney said that even though she doesn't make it to church she is definitely a mormon at heart. I thought that was cute. Then we stopped by Jill, and she was very touched by the cookies. She's very friendly and her daughter Zoey was happy to see "The ladies", as she calls us. Then we stopped by a potential investigator named mark and got to meet his wife who just had a baby 2 weeks ago. She was really sweet, and even though it was the first time we met her, she let us come in and see little Luke, and she took the cookies. Hopefully when things settle down a bit we'll be able to go back and teach them, they are such a sweet family. Then to top it off we gave some cookies to Louise and Stephanie. Louise seemed a bit cold, but Stephanie was so happy :) It's amazing what a few cookies can do :) Then in the evneing we went to meet one of the Elders old investigators named Carol Shooter. It was nice to meet her and we're going to start teaching her now, because she has some concerns that might be better resolved with the gentleness of sisters :-) Then to top off an already great day we went to meet a woman named Amy. She was so sweet, and even though she had worked an overnight shift, and was very sleep deprived, she still made time for us. It was a really good lesson. :) Thursday morning we had correlation with the Elders and Brother MacKenzie. It was really good and we got a lot accomplished. Then we went around the chapel and had lunch. It was the first day of the "Weathering the Storms of Life" Exhibition which was sooooo cool! Plus I got to see Brother Tony McGary! He's alive. Oh my days... haha... and also Brother Brezzo, so that was really fun. We went around a bit distributing flyers to encourage people to come, and we went around the Exhibition with Carol Shooter who came. Then we answered a lot of questions for a theologist named Jemma. It was really interesting, but what I loved the most is that through all the questions, and in every answer I felt the spirit prompt me what to say. I loved it! haha. Then we met up with Micheal and went to the Stanbury's for dinner. Did I mention how much I love the Stanbury's? It was great. We watched the restoration and Brother Stanbury expressed his desire to baptize Micheal :-P It was great! It was also so cute, because their autisitc son, Sebastian, was sick, so he stayed upstairs. They gave him some ice cream, and then he came downstairs and told us that the ice cream had given him the ability to walk, and that he needed some more so that he could be healed. So cute! It was great and then afterwards Micheal came with us to a special fireside about the exhibition. It was so good, and a lot of people were there. Cool stuff really :) Friday we did our planning and then some finding. Pretty low key day.
Saturday was another fun day full of finding, and then in the evening we went and did teacher training at the chapel. While we were waiting for Elder Hatch and Elder Jentzsch to pick us up at Watford Town Center we did some OYMing in Babylon. Haha, I decided it wasn't my favourite activity :-P , but the Elders saved us and we went to the chapel. They were cleaning up from the exhibition and it was really cool because we got to take some more pictures from helping hands and they had pictures from the pond we made! It was sooooo coool! It's actually a pond, and we helped to make it :) So that was really fun.
Sunday was such a spectacular day. Micheal is like a part of the ward now, we just need to get him to be baptized. We taught Sharing time and that was really fun. The Stake President and his whole family spoke in sacrament meeting (including Isaac, William, and Austen, who are all age 8 and under). Then after church we went with Micheal to the Feredays for lunch. Then we had the most amazing appointment with Kiyonori Asano and his family. He joined the church when he was 17 in Hiroshima, but stopped going when he was around 19. He has a wife and 3 children, a girl who's 15, and two boys who are 10 and 7. The whole family came for the lesson, and all the children seemed really interested. I think Kiyonori wants this for his family, but he's afraid to push it because his wife doesn't like religion much. We weren't able to get a return appointment because they want to discuss it as a family, but we have a phone number and we're going back to give his wife a Japanese Book of Mormon. It was just really nice to teach a whole family, and they were all very nice and involved and asking good questions, and Kia, the 15 year old, seemed particularly interested in it all. It was especially cool to start from the beginning, because they didn't even really have knowledge of Christianity or the bible at all.
Monday was equally as fantastic. We had District Meeting at Brother Gibbs house, and he made the hottest Indian Curry I have ever eaten. Oh my days, I nearly died. haha, but I survived, and then we got to have another great appointment. Not far from where we live there is a restaurant called the Thai Orchid. We got to go teach one of the chefs, Tyson, one of the waitresses, Am, and their friend Pianee. They are all from Thailand and have no Christian background at all. Tyson has looked at the Bible before and that's it. We had one Thai Book of Mormon for them to share and we talked a lot about God and prayer. It was so nice, and they were so nice, and they really got it! They were very happy to have the Book of Mormon in Thai. I'm really excited about them. Then we spent the evening finding and met some nice people. Then we went to wait for the bus to come home and it never came! How rude! haha, so we had to call Sister Bettridge to bail us out, and she very kindly came to pick us up. What a life saver!
So it was a really great week! As you can tell I haven't moved yet. Oh and moves calls were last night and they are taking the Sisters out of Enfield and putting Elders there! I was shocked. So, I'm staying in Watford for the rest of my mission..... that's so weird to think about. We should be moving to Hemel Hempstead this weekend, because the papers are all in the process. So yeah... That's my week :)
New Address (as of Saturday):
50 Tattershall Drive
Hemel Hempstead
HP2 7QF

Mom- I hope that you are feeling better. Give Sister Shepherd-Kent my love, and also the Gauthier family. I pray for them.
Dad- Thanks for looking that up for me :)
Nathan- You are so silly! I love you!

Elder Ison- I did get your letter, and I wrote back, so hopefully you'll get that soon :)
Love,
Sister Ison

Je voudrais deja etre roi!

Hey guys!

What is going down? I am a little jealous of your awesome week. I am glad the boys have started running, because they are gonna have to be in shape for when I get back. I wish I could go to the Dollar store! Anyways, on my end the week wasn't too bad either. We have been asked by the Mission president to make our apartments clean as a temple, which is a challenge for us, because our apartment isn't in the best of shape. We have spent some quality time this week scrubbing the walls because we got permission to paint them. We still got some work to do, but the landlord is happy, which is a step in the right direction. Other than all that, we did find time to do some good old fashioned finding and teaching. We finally were able to see a lady named Sabrina and her family. She has 4 children between the ages of 12 and 8, and lives with her sister who has a child who is 8 as well. The kids are awesome and really eager to listen, so I am excited about that. We also taught a really good lesson to Frere Bonbons niece and nephew (twins of 17), and their brother in law. They were really nice and had alot of cool questions. They even talked about baptism. We also found a couple people with potential tracting, so our investigator pool isn't as shallow any more. All in all, it wasn't a bad week. I didn't appreciate that comment though, Dad. I am not Vain. I just am trying my best to take care of the gift God gave me. Anyways, I love you guys, and I hope this week is another fun adventure!(I just realized that sounded sorta Barney-esque)
I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

Elder Ison

PS. Have you got your letter yet, Sister Ison?

Moving Day

Dear Friends and Family,
Oh how I love being a missionary.
Here we go. Monday was pretty laid back. We did our shopping and stuff and then had teacher training with the Elders. It was a fun day.
Tuesday we saw Jill from South Africa again and Sister Ip came with us. Sister Ip was great! Jill still really respects us, but sees no need to change from being Catholic. Then in the evening we saw Micheal. He's doing okay, but he still hadn't read his Book of Mormon. We read with him , and it seemed good, and we assigned him one verse a day to read (starting small :) ) and he agreed to come to the Friday night activity, so that was nice.
Wednesday we had Zone Conference and it was soooo good. I love President and Sister Patch. President is so funny. I had to give a spot talk on Virtue, but I knew I was going to do it... haha... somehow you just can feel it :) It was bittersweet however to say Goodbye to Sister Berrett, because I probably won't see her again before she goes home... crazy. Then that evening we went to dinner at the Rebelo families. I don't know how they can contain so many amazing families in one ward! It was great to hear their many stories about missionary work. Brother Rebelo talks to anyone and everyone about the church. It's great. They have 2 daughters and 2 sons and they are so cute. I love it.
Thursday we did our planning. We also called just about every estate agent in the area, because we were alerted on Sunday that we needed to move out of Sister Bettridge's house by the end of the month. Most people just laughed at us because we were looking for something at about £450 per month, and they all said that their cheapest were about $550 or £600, which was crazy! We found a couple flats to look at so that was good, but only after we decided to look at anything under £500 per month. Then we did some finding and we met some really nice new investigators on a street that apparently the Elders had tracted on Monday (and we didn't realize it), so that was pretty funny.
Friday was a great day. We went to lunch with Denise Sim. She is so great, and afterwards she dropped us off in Hemel Hempstead (where we are moving), because we had a couple of appointments to view flats. We viewed three flats and found one we really liked, but it was £495 per month. We weren't sure if we'd be allowed to take it, but it was really the cheapest one we had seen that was available before the end of the month. So we talked to the office Elders and eventually "sold" them on it as well :) So we have a place! We may be moving in as soon as Saturday... so I'll update you next Monday as to my current location and new address. Then in the evening we went with Micheal to the ward activity and it was great. What was most exciting was that Micheal did his reading, and then some, and he loved it! :) Also they had a Young Single Adult activity at the chapel and Julia (from Milton Keynes) was there. It was fun to see her! I also saw some people from Enfield, so that was pretty cool. We made Pizza's and played Volleyball. Saturday was a day full of finding. We went tracting all day, but we also found 6 new investigators, so that was fun. In the evening on our dinner break we crashed a Single Adults dinner because it was at Marge's place. It was really fun, and we got to meet a woman from our ward who I've had my eye on for a while. Her named is Fiona Smith, and the reason I've been looking at her is because she looked exactly like Jane from the Joseph Smith movie. Well we got to officially meet her, and guess what! She is Jane from the Joseph Smith movie. Isn't that cool? So that was a fun discovery.
Sunday was exciting because Micheal came to church. What was exciting about that was that he had a really good excuse not to come, but he still chose to come. I love it! Then in the afternoon we were supposed to have 5 appointments but instead we got 4 hours of finding. It's disappointing when people don't keep their appointments, but I guess they have their agency. I like finding anyways :) . So it was a fun way to end the week. I love so much how the Lord is preparing people and how he leads us to them! I love so much how the gospel blesses every aspect of our lives. We may not be able to answer every question, but with faith we can make it through any question or trial. I love it so much! Thank-you to everyone for the wonderful support you are :)
Mom- I have the best family ever. You are so much fun :) I love the Lincoln quiz :-P Thank-you so much for the cookie recipe. By the way, the attached pictures are for Sister Stevenson. She asked for them. Do you think you could get them to her via facebook or something?

Nathan- You are such a good boy. I love you!

Elder Ison- Stop being trunky :-P I got your letter. I was so excited that it was so big, until I realized that it was mostly not from you :( Haha.... thanks anyway :)
Everyone Else- I love you!

Love,
Sister Ison

That'll be four thousand dollars, or you can join our club....

So, Nathan making a new language is pretty much the craziest thing I ever heard of. Anyways, I am so hungry right now. Brats? Corn on the Cob? Ice cream? AHHH!!!! I'm happy you had a nice 4th of July! My week helped me to grow. We had to drop a few people, but other than that we're good. We found some pretty cool people to teach and hopefully they will be ready to act on our message. I am super excited to see my new bedroom. I bet it is awesome. Our landlord has been fixing up our shower and He did some painting and I got a little trunky because the smell of paint is always in our house in the summer. I got over it though, don't worry. I am glad Mom made it home safe and that all is well with her. It stinks that it rained all the 4th of July though. It is crazy that Ian is getting married too. I can't believe it. Everybody is getting married all of the sudden. Cool story: I saw Lionel the other day. He is doing really good. I talked to him at a fireside a couple months ago and he bore his testimony to me about the blessings that come from paying tithing. I was so happy to hear that because he almost didn't get baptised because of tithing. Now he is a fully active, full tithe paying, melchesidek Priesthood holder. That is pretty awesome. I also saw Helene and Jean, if you remember them. Jean still isn't baptized, but he comes to church every week. Helene still calls me her son and is doing great. David is renting a house right now from Lionel, and is doing really good too. It was nice to see all of my Recent Converts and how well they are progressing in the gospel. I want to get a few more. I will keep you posted on that. Well, unfortunatley, I must wrap up, but I love you guys and will TTYL!

Peace out!

Elder Ison

Oh say can you see?

Mount Kidsmore

Dear Friends and Family,
This week has been a great one.... of course what week isn't when you're on the Lord's errand  :) ?
Monday evening we went to Ursula's house and we got to meet her family, and she fed us a wonderful meal, and return we helped her sort through her stuff.  It was actually a really nice evening.
Then on Tuesday we got to see a woman named Jill.  She's really cool, because, although she's Catholic, she used to live with members, and has had really good experiences with the church in South Africa.  She was really excited to have a Book of Mormon, and it was a nice lesson.  People are always watching you, and I'm so grateful for the wonderful examples members have been in her life, and it reiterates to me the importance of always being a good example.  Then in the evening we went to the Hughes for dinner.   We had a super nice barbeque, and it was especially fun because the Hughes live on a canal boat.  Haha, it's pretty cool.  It's kind of like permanent camping.  They don't have a permanent address or anything.  It's pretty fun.
Wednesday morning we had District Meeting.  Then in the afternoon we went to see Louise again.  She seems confused about the purpose of the Book of Mormon, and doesn't see why she should change from being Catholic... so yeah...  Then in the evening we went to see Micheal.  He's doing pretty well, but we also aren't sure how committed he is, but we'll keep working on him  :) .
Thursday was a really good day.  In the evening we went to the Stanbury's for dinner again with Micheal, and it was great!  They are such a great family.  It was a happy night.  It was also a very hot day... in fact... the whole week was sweltering!  Oh my goodness, but I love it!  Haha, I'd take the heat over the cold anyday  :) 
Friday was so cool!  We had interviews and I got to meet President and Sister Patch.  They are sooo great! Sister Patch immediately came up to me and said that she met one of my Aunts at the Seattle airport.  That was pretty cool.  President Patch told so many stories about President Hinckley and President Monson.  He talked a lot about change..... so I don't know what he's going to do, but I'm sure it will be great.  Then I went with Sister Olsen to Enfield.   :-D   Yup, we had a workover and I got to go back to Enfield.  It was soooooo much fun!  I got to meet Alex Berry and she came teaching with us.  We went to see Cecelia with her little baby Faith.  It was sooo great to see her.  She's doing well.  She still needs to be married and come to church more regularly before she can be baptized, but I think she'll make it  :) .  Then we went to see Hayley Parish and she is soooo pregnant!  It's cute.. Haha, I can't believe she's having another little girl.  Also it was Brother Parish's birthday so they gave us loads of cakes.  Haha...
Saturday was a cool day.  In the morning we went to Regina and Victoria's house.  Victoria is AMAZING.  She reads the Book of Mormon and understands what she reads.  If only her mom were more active in church.  Then, in celebration of the 4th of July we had Pizza and watermelon for lunch.  It was great.  Then we went finding, and the very first door we knocked on this Romanian woman opened the door and invited us in.  Her name's Helena, and she met with the missionaries 8 years ago when she was in Romania.  Since then she's lived in Poland and just recently moved to England, and even though it's been a while she immediately recognized us, and experessed her desire to come to church, but she didn't know where it was!  It's so cool.  And not only that, but she has a husband and 3 children at home with her who want to come, and also, one of the family friends was there as well and he also said he would like to know more.   :)   I love how people are being prepared.  Also, it made me think about how we can't always see our influence.  Those missionaries who taught Helena 3 times in Romania may have thought they didn't accomplish anything, but they obviously made an impact on her and prepared her for now.  Cool eh?  :)   Then we went to see Icilda Williams, who is her same old self.  Then we traveled to make the switch back.  I loved being in Enfield again.  It was a lot of fun.   :)   Sister Jensen also did a great job taking over the area after only being there for 3 weeks.  I would have been petrified to do that.  So that was excellent.
Sunday was Fast and Testimony meeting and it was so good.  The youth are so strong here in Watford, and they have dynamite testimonies.  I really felt the spirit.  The gospel blesses families and strengthens youth!  I love it!  Then we had a meeting, and found out that they want us to look for a flat in Hemel Hempstead, so we should be moving before the end of the month.  I'll keep you posted.  Then after church we went to the Siu's for dinner. They had a friend visiting from Hong Kong as well.  It was a great dinner, and fun to get to know the family.  Brother Sui is on the Bishopric.  Then in the evening we did some finding and found some pretty cool new investigators.
So that was my excellent week  :)   I love Watford.  I love being a missionary!  I love the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It's so great!

Mom-  You rock my world.  I can't believe Ian is getting married!  Tell him congratulations for me!  Also give the Maxey's my love.  I have a request.  Could you send me a recipe for No Bake Cookies?  I would love it!   :)   Thanks  :) 

Dad-  That picture is hilarious?  Who made it?  Sister Jensen is from Hailey (sp?) Idaho.

Nathan-  You are so silly!  I love you!

Love,
Sister Ison