Home again, home again, jiggidy jig...

Dear Family,
Oh mixed feelings..... I think I'll just write about this week  :) 
Monday was so much fun.  We went bowling as a district, that was so fun.  In the evening, we went with Sister N'jie to see a man named Jeff.  He's super nice, although he didn't have time to talk much, we got another appointment, so that's good.  Then we went to the MacKenzies and had dinner and I got a hair cut.  I love it  :)   So that's good.
Tuesday was also a great day!  In the morning we went to visit Klaudia Hondrado.  She's so great!  She does a lot of missionary work!  Then in the evening we had Amy N'Jie with us again, and we tried to stop by and see Debbie Stanbridge one last time and she was in!  It was such a blessing, because Amy used to work with her, so that is so cool!  Then we had to most amazing appointment with a man named Steve.  He's so prepared.  He never used to believe in God, but so many things have happened to make him believe, but he's still not sure, and there are so many churches and he's confused.  After we taught the lesson he said, "I've listened to a lot of people about religion, but something about your message is different.  It doesn't sound like a sales pitch."  So cool!
Wednesday was great.  I had my last District Meeting.  Then we went to see Carol and finalized things for her baptism.  She's so cute!  She asked Brother Barratt to baptize her.  She's super excited.  |Then we went to the Hughes' for dinner.  What a fun family!
Thursday we did planning and had lunch with Fiona Smith!  She is so cool  :)   Then Sister Jensen and I did a workover!  I came into South Kensington with Sister Garcia, and Sister Carnioletta went with Sister Jensen.  It was so good!  That evening we went to dinner at a Portuguese family's home.  I had no idea what was going on  :)   But it was fun.  The family had invited over their friends to dinner and then after dinner the family asked their friends if they would like to meet with the missionaries and they said yes!  It was so cool.
Friday was crazy!  But I realized something!  I'm allergic to London!  I have horrible allergies all the time when I am here!  Anyways in the morning we saw this super cute less active named Katty and her friend.  It was an amazing appointment and we just got to talk about God, and who he is, and why we sometimes suffer, and Katty's friend wanted to learn more!  Haha, then we taught a man named Alberto who speaks only Spanish, so Sister Garcia taught the whole lesson.  Fun  :)   Then we switched back and Sister Jensen and I went to the Sui's for dinner.   Sister Jensen got to practice Violin for Sister Shooter's baptism, and I got to look at Alaister's mission pictures.  It was fun because I knew quite a few of the people, because he served in Birmingham.  :) 
Saturday was crazy because in the morning I got a call from President Patch telling me I was moving to London on Sunday until the end of my mission!  Madness!  Then we went to help the Martin's move into their new house.  Then after that we did some finding and had an appointment with a really nice kid named James.  Then we went home and I packed.  and packed.  and threw out stuff.  Haha, I got rid of so much stuff!
So Sunday was crazy!  Sister Jensen and I were teaching both Sunday School and Primary, and then when I got there Brother Perry asked me to speak in Sacrament Meeting (ah!).  Then afterwards we had a munch and mingle, and  the ward gave me a really cute card.  It was so great.  Then at 5:00 pm Sister Clemente came and they took me away.  Oh my goodness.  Then I got with Sister Umurshadyan.  It was fun.
Monday morning we OYM'd around Hyde Park.  So cool!  OH my goodness!  We also OYM'd by Harrod's.  Let me tell you, it's really distracting to try and OYM in London!  Haha.  Then Sister Feller and Sister Kuoppala came and we taught a man named Fredrico.  He's so golden.  Then Sister Feller and I went OYM around Hyde park for 3 1/2 hours.  It was so cool!  Haha.  It's so crazy.  Because Sister Feller is training, so she's my companion until the new Sister comes, and Sister Kuoppala and Sister Umurshadyan actually belong to Brittania Ward.
So now I'm here in the office e-mailing, and EVERYONE is here.  Crazy! and I want to go see them, so I'm going to run.  But I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!  I'll see you on Thursday!

Hugs hugs hugs and kisses,
Sister Ison!

After the trial of your faith....

Dear Friends and Family,
This week has turned out to be a really good week, but it's been hard work!
Monday was good. We did some finding and went to Amie N'Jie's in the evening. She gave us some food, so that was great. She's the sweetest lady. She makes me laugh.
Tuesday we also did a lot of finding. Then in the evening we went to see the Mason's. I love that family! It was so great. David "Danger" Mason told us the story of how he came to join the church. He said that he was working at the coast as a surf instructor, and had no interest in religion at all. However there was this one girl that he was working with that seemed so strong in her faith. He was intrigued by how strong she stood in her faith even when surrounded with so much worldliness. He started to ask her questions, and even met her family. He saw that they were all the same! He didn't understand how they could have such faith that would affect every aspect of their lives. He wanted something like that. But he said, that little did he realize that it came with a whole package, like a testimony and the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was great.
Wednesday we had District Meeting. It was supposed to be our last District Meeting with Elder Voneiderhausern, but then he wasn't there! That was sad, but it was a good District Meeting anyway :) Then we got to see Carol Shooter. She was doing well, and we talked a lot about Visiting Teaching. It was cool. We want to get her involved as soon as possible. Then we had a very long bus ride home... oh boy. haha, and then we went finding for the rest of the evening.
Thursday was a busy day. Early in the morning we met with a young man named Felici. He's great. He's honestly trying to look into a lot of churches. Then we went with Elders Hatch and Spekschinder to see Carol so she could have her baptism interview and she passed! :) Then we went to see a woman named Aldjia. She's searching for something, but she's not sure what. Then finally in the evening we went to do some service at Ursula's. We helped a bit in her front garden with some trimming, and with hanging up her washing. It was really nice. And she made us an amazing meal. Then in the evening we went to see Dominique with the Lidders. I don't think she's ready, and not very interested... but maybe someday she'll figure it out.
Friday haha, welllll..... we had a lot of meetings. We did planning all day, and we had correlation. Then in the evening we did some service, in helping set up for a wedding at the chapel. AND it was Jonathan Young and Rebecka Lee's wedding! Jonathan said to tell Micheal that he loves him very much :) I thought that was so much fun, because it was an unexpected service opportunity. Then we went to a barbeque with some of the ward members by the canal. So that was great.
Saturday morning we went with Mr M to the Martins house and watched The Testaments. I love that movie. So that was really nice. Then we did some finding, and we went to see Amie N'Jie again, because she's soooo sweet and she wanted to feed us again. So that was good :) Sunday was an amazing day! We arrived at church and none of our investigators were there. Then we looked out the door and Sylivia Hollands (less active) was standing there with her nonmember friend Sandra. That was sooo cool! And it turns out that Sandra was the one that convinced Sylvia that she should come to church, because she had heard so much about it, and she wanted to come. Awesome, eh? Then as we ran outside to greet Sylvia someone came up and tapped Sister Jensen on the shoulder, and it was Susan, Giovanni, and the boys, Alex and Sam! It was a wonderful surprise because we hadn't been able to see them in a long time. Sacrament meeting was phenomal, the whole thing. Especially when Elder Green spoke about how he found his testimony on his mission. Giovanni was touched by his sincerity, and afterwards said to Sister Jensen, "That's why I invited you back. A lot of people knock on our door, but there was a light about you." It was AMAZING. Also, the boys were about to not go to primary again, but then the ward mission leader's son, Matt, came and asked them if they would come with him, and they did! Giovanni and Susan loved Sunday School, and the boys enjoyed Primary. It was perfect! Sister Jensen and I had to teach the youth Sunday school, and it was so good. The youth here are amazing! They were so well-behaved, and thoughtfully answered every question we asked, and after it was all over Nichola Perry even thanked us for the lesson! :) Then after church Sandra asked for a Priesthood blessing, so she got one and it was great. And we went home with the Lidders, and after church Reginda said that missionary work had never been her thing, and that this week was the first time she had ever been teaching, and in church she interacted with the investigators, and then she said, "I think I like it." haha, it made me so happy. The Lidder's make me so happy. They are a funny couple. Sunday was so perfect. And it doesn't end there. Because even after that, we went finding for the rest of the evening. We got a lot of appointments and even one really cute Muslim young woman who invited us in, let us teach her, and is going to let us come back later in the week! It was a wonderful way to end the week, and I am so grateful for the Lord's tender mercies, because, to be honest, this past week was hard work, and spiritually draining. It seemed like no one wanted to listen, and some people were very anti, but Heavenly Father is in control, and the blessings come after the trial of your faith!
I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. It doesn't always immediately make sense logically, and it can't be proven by science, but if we test the seed, we will see that it is good. :)

Mom- I can't believe school is started already! Crazy! The trunkiness has set into the ward here, because Elder VonNeiderhausern went home on Saturday and Elder Green and I are preparing to go home. It's so weird, and everyone keeps coming up to say goodbye. I'm going to miss it here. But I still have a week and a half left :)

Nathan- You are so silly! It sounds like you are a very good boy in school. I love you!

Everyone- I love you!

Love,
Sister Ison

Would a better time be better? no...

Dear Friends and Family,
Being a missionary is so cool.  You just get to know so many different people.  Monday night we stopped by to visit Amy N'Jie.  She is so amazing.  She has her sister visiting, and it's stressful for her because her family doesn't know that she's Christian yet.  But she said that her sister must be suspicious because she doesn't say her Muslim prayers anymore and there are pictures of Christ everywhere.  It made me happy in a way to hear that, because even though she's afraid to tell her family, she's not pretending to be something she's not.  She needs a lot of prayers.
Tuesday morning we went to visit Claudia Honrado.  She really misses Portugual, but she is so sweet.  It was so nice to get to know her and see little Isaac.  He's so funny.  Then in the evening we had a reallly cool lesson with a man named Nathan.  He's a Hindu, and we taught him the message of the restoration.  It was so amazing because he just understood everything we were talking about.  His wife was really sweet as well and gave us muffins and apples and water and coffee (which we had to decline :-P).  At the end she said that she works for a Catholic School and asked if we do set prayers.  When we explained that we don't Nathan said that prayers said from the heart were much better, so that was pretty cool.  The only sad thing is he was moving back to India on Saturday for two months.  But we gave him the website and he's coming back to Birmingham in two months, so he promised to look the church up.   :)   He was so cool.
Wednesday we did a lot of planning and a bit of finding  :)   In the afternoon we went to see Carol Shooter, and are working with her to get her baptized on 1 September  :) .  She's doing well, and working hard to get ready for that day.
Thursday was Zone Conference and it was a really weird day.  I can't believe that was my last Zone Conference.  I had to bear my departing testimony and everyone kept asking me what it was like to be going home and if I was okay and stuff.  Oh my days, I don't think I like it  :-P .  Then in the evening we went to see Dominique again and Sister Butcher came with us.  Dominique had read a little, and is open minded to a point, but she doesn't really understand to importance of Jesus Christ.  She is willing to learn though so that's really good  :)   It was a really nice lesson and great to have Sister Butcher there, as usual.
Friday we did a lot of finding then in the evening we went to visit Kathy Taylor.  She's such a sweet heart.  Then we went and had a marvelous dinner with the Ips.  They are so funny.  It was a lot of fun.
Saturday was a really neat day!  We were tracting before a lunch appointment with the Martins and Mr M, and then they called to say that they were running late.  So we got to keep tracting for a little longer and we met this Hindu man.  We were talking to him on the doorstep and he said, "It's windy, would you like to come inside?"  His wife was upstairs so we went in and started to ask him questions and he told us that he had met Mormons before and that he had a Book of Mormon.  I already thought that was pretty cool, and then as we kept talking we found out that he had actually only met the missionaries 2 weeks previous in Florida when he was staying with his son.  They had taught him about the restoration, and he had wanted to come to church, but with everything being so busy to prepare to come back to England he wasn't able to.  Then we knocked on his door, so we taught him a bit about the Plan of Salvation.  He kept asking us what he could do to find peace of mind.  We talked about God's plan for us, and how following the commandments will bring us peace, and he really liked it.  But, sad day, he is leaving to go to India for 2 months soon, and then he's going back to Florida.  He got all of our information and said he'd be in touch.  I thought it was so cool how the Lord sent missionaries to him in both Florida and here.  He must really want Ramniklal Sangami.  :)   Too bad we keep losing all our cool new investigators to India.  haha.  Then we went to the Martins for Lunch with Mr M, and it was really nice.  We had Tacos, and talked about the Priesthood.  Then in the evening we went finding so that was cool.
Sunday was fun.  I gave a talk in sacrament meeting on Personal Revelation.  So did Elder VonNeiderhausern, because it's his last Sunday!  Crazy.  Then we met with Brother Ip and one of our investigators to discuss some financial stuff in order to enable them to pay tithing.  It was crazy.  They used a lot of big words that I didn't understand, but I did learn one thing.  Stay out of debt! Haha.  Then Sister Jensen and I taught Sharing time.  Then after church we went with the Flandros to their house.  It was so cool.  They have a BEAUTIFUL house, and they are such fun people.  They made me laugh.  Brother Flandro served his mission in Rome, Italy.  He told us some cool stories.  Then we did more finding in the evening.  It was a great Sunday.
So that was my week.  Pretty awesome although it's so strange to have everyone keep telling me I'm so close to going home.  Oh well  :) 

Mom-  I can't believe Brooke is married!  Send her my love!   Oh and Ian!  Tell him congrats as well.   Haha, it made me laugh about Sacrament Meeting.  I love my family  :) 

Dad- Thank-you sooooo much for everything.  Thank-you again, you're a life saver!  P.S. Your e-mails keep getting shorter and shorter as well  :-P 

Elder Ison-  Man, French Guyana sounds so cool.  It'll definitely be an adventure for you!

Nathan-  You are so cool!  I love you!

Love,
Sister Ison

P.S. The subject line is something that Sister Jensen said on the doorstep and it just made me laugh.   Of course a better time would be better, but the person still said no.... oh boy  :-P 

I love my family! :)

Dear Friends and Family,
How are you!?  Life is great.  Being a missionary is the best thing ever.
Monday night at the Snailham's was great as usual.  They are a cute family.
Tuesday was also a good day.  We went finding in the morning, and we met this woman named Elizabeth who immediately let us in.  She's a very wise woman, and understands a lot, especially about the importance of the family.  It was a nice lsson.  Then in the evening we had an appointment with another woman named Dominique.  She's from France.  It was a great appointment, and I love how the spirit gives us the words to speak.  Dominique didn't understand the point of going to church because she believes God is everywhere and in everything.  I wasn't sure what to say, but the spirit definitely gave me the words, and I was able to explain how she was right in that God will listen to and answer our prayers no matter where we are, but he's given us the church in order to have access to the highest of his blessings.  it was cool  :) 
Wednesday was awesome!  The Elders were picking us up for District meeting so at around 9:30 am when there was a knock on the door, we assummed it was them and ignored it, and prayed.  But then the doorbell rang, so I just yelled, "We're coming!"  And then we got all our stuff and went to the door, and the poor postman was standing there!  haha, But he still gave me my parcel.   :)   Thank-you so much!  I LOVED the pictures so much!  They made me smile all day.  Also, the CD is FANTASTIC!  Did you listen to it?  It's so cool.  Thank-you.  Then after District meeting we went to see Carol Shooter.  She's doing so well.  She's working on a way to come to church every Sunday, and she wants to be baptized on 5 September, so that's good.  Then in the evening we went and met with the Mc Shanes's (Micheal was supposed to come, but due to miscommunication, that didn't work out exactly.)  Then we went to see Govanni and Susan with Sister Butcher.  At first Govanni wasn't there, but in the end it ended up being a good thing, because it was really nice just to talk to Susan and find out what she was thinking, because she's very much involved in her own church.  We had a really good lesson about really investigating the church with real intent, and we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  And then Govanni came in at the end, so we got to see him a bit as well.  Then we went to travel home, and we got to Hemel Hempstead Train Station, and sat there for like 20 minutes, and our bus never came! Oh my days, it drives me mad when buses don't come.  But the Lidders very kindly picked us up and took us home after we called them for an emergency favour  :)   People are so great!
Thursday we did our planning and some finding, so that was a good uneventful day.
Friday morning we went to see Elizabeth again and Sister Ip came with us.  Elizabeth, although very wise, doesn't seem prepared to open her heart to accept that there would be any one true church, but we were able to bear testimony, so that's good.  Then we called to Elders to ask them a question and they told us that we had interviews at 1:30!  That was definitely a shock, because by that point it was already nearly noon, and it would take us nearly two hours to get there by bus and train!  Not possible!  So after a bit of panicking, the Elders very kindly offered to give us a lift and to go early.  *phew*, so we made it on time and had a very nice interviews.  President and Sister Patch are great.  They make me laugh.  As we were walking to have interviews, President Patch looked at me and said, "Looking at you just makes me sad."  Haha, oh man.  Then we were able to go with Sister McShane to Mr M's house for dinner, and it was SOOOOOO good.  I think that coolest thing (for me anyways), was that he prepared mashed green bananas (I can't remember the Uganda word for it), and they tasted really nice.  It tastes almost like mashed potatoes.  Then we went to the Friday Night activity and played chair football.  That was cool.
Saturday morning was Angela's baptism (one of the Elders investigators).  It was so nice to be there.  She is such a sweet woman, and had faced a lot of opposition, but she said, "It's true, what else matters?"  She had a great fear of water, and had never in her life been swimming or anything.  She had a really hard time, but she was so brave and she had so much faith, and after much prayer she was able to do it.  It was amazing.  Then in the afternoon into the evening we went finding.
Sunday was another great day!  When we got to the bus stop to go to church there was this little Latvian lady there, who had been here visiting and was trying to go to the airport to go home.  She spoke almost no English, but through showing us her various tickets, and a few things that her friends had written out for her we were able to figure out where she was trying to go, and then she said, "You help me?"  Hehe, so of course we helped her get to where she was trying to go.  Then Sister Jensen went to give her a card for a Book of Mormon, and when she saw it, she pointed at it and nodded and indicated she had seen it before, and between gestures and very broken English she indicated that in Latvia she was learning English in that church.  Three Boys who were American were teaching the class.  Then she smiled and said, "Snowflake City" .  I loved it!  She was so cute.  Then we got to church.  Angela got confirmed.  The spirit was so strong there.  The topic of Sacrament Meeting was Charity.  Sister Jensen gave a talk.  She's amazing!  She speaks like a general authority.  Also Alastair Sui gave his homecoming talk, so that was pretty cool as well.  Micheal, of course  :-P , was there.  After church we went to Paulo Martins house for lunch.  They are such a fun family.  Then we came back to Hemel and met with a member named May Cook.  She is a sweet sweet lady.  It was nice to get to know her, and she gave us so much food.  Watford Ward takes good care of the missionaries.  Then we went finding.
So all in all a great week.   :) 

Mom-  Thanks for the message from Sister Stevenson!  Oh my goodness I'm soooooo excited!  Tell her to give Justian Evans a huge congrats from me!  That's so cool.  :)   Sounds like you had a fun week.

Dad-  Mom is great at finding bargains, haha. 

Nathan-  No more monkeys jumping on the bed!  I love you Nathan!  Thank-you for the beautiful picture!

Elder Ison-  What?  You're no longer on Gaudeloupe?  Crazy!  Good luck in your new area!

Sister Arnquist-  You rock my world!  Sounds like really awesome things are happening on temple square.

Sister Besso-  My Favourite Australian Companion!   :)   Hey, tell Sister Bidwell, that I respond to every letter I receive  :-P   Hehe.

Love,
Sister Ison

Zone Leader Council

Dear Friends and Family,
So monday turned out to be a fun day. We saw Govanni and Susan with Sister Butcher in the evening. They enjoyed church and Sister Butcher bore powerful testimony about how this is the fulness of the gospel. Tuesday was so cool! President Patch invited Sister Jensen and I to come to ZLC (Zone Leader Council). It was really cool so see what the Zone Leaders are up to :-P They discussed a lot about how to improve missionary work on an area to area basis. It's neat how individual each area is. That took pretty much all day, but when we got home in the evening we had time to do a little bit of finding. It was actually our first time tracting in Hemel Hempstead! Cool! :) Wednesday we had District meeting, and then afterwards we went to see a less-active woman named Heather Hiscock. She is a sweet lady who is experiencing sooo many trials in her life right now. It was wonderful to be able to talk to her about how the gospel really brings us that peace and hope that we need to get through trying times. Then we went to the Stanbury's for dinner. I can't get enough of that family. Mr M was busy working on some assignments so he couldn't make it. Thursday we saw Sister Shooter. She's doing well. She even said half a prayer out loud (she doesn't like to pray out loud). So that was progress :) We did planning the rest of the day and finding. Friday was pretty cool. We went finding in the morning, and then in the early evening we went and met another branch of the Martins family, Alberto and Tina. They are all such sweet people. It was really fun. She actually taught him and he got baptized while she was on her mission in Portugual. Then he served a mission as well and then 8 years later they met again at some mission reunion thing, and then started dating....etc. I thought it was cute :) Then we went and saw Micheal at the chapel and talked about fasting. Then we played a rowsing game of dodgeball for our Friday night activity, and I decided that I don't like it much anyway :-P Saturday was cool because the ward had arranged a temple trip and Mr M got to go on it. He really enjoyed it. :) Then in the morning we taught a woman named Kathy. She's sweet and under a lot of stress right now. We aren't exactly sure how much she understands but it was nice anyways. Then we went with a member Amy N'jie to visit her neighbour Simon, who has been taught by the Elders. It was sooo cool! Simon is so prepared and Amy is just a gem. I love member missionary work. Amy actually used to be Muslim, but she is now a Latter-day Saint through and through. Simon used to be very active in his own church, but then one day he prayed to God to show him the place to go, and he just stopped going to his church and never went to church again until the day he met the Elders. Cool eh? Then in the evening we went to Teacher Training with Elder Hatch and Elder Spekschinder (spelled completely wrong by the way :) ) so that was cool.

Yesterday was great. I love Fast and tesimony meeting. President and Sister Patch were there! Mr M came and so did Sister Shooter. Sister Mason shared with the whole Relief Society how cool it was to have us over to visit her friend Vicky and told them all to do the same :) And Sister Jensen and I got to teach the sunbeams. And they are 3 of the cutest little sunbeams I have ever seen :) So that was super fun. Then we went finding and found quite a few potential investigators. All in all, as usual, an amazing week.

Haha.... guess what. Fiona Smith just walked into the Library and is e-mailing next to me. She's so cool :-P
Mom- I love my pictures too :-P I love our new flat so much! It's really nice. :) I'll give you a virtual tour. (you didn't happen to send me a memory card by chance? :-P ) I can't believe it's already August. Time flies.

Dad- Thank-you for your testimony! More and more as a missionary I just think that the sweetest thing to hear is someone bear their testimony :) It's excellent.

Nathan- That was such a nice e-mail! Everyone loves Nathan! :)
Love,
Sister Ison

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

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

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

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

Heat Wave

Dear Friends and Family,
I love my life  :) 
Tuesday was a good day.  We went and saw Adam, although we had to teach him in the park because we didn't have a member, but that was okay anyway.  Then we went with Sister Sim to see a young man named Jason.  He's sooo cool.  He pretty much knows everything about the beginning of the church and he's read the Book of Mormon.  He has friends who are members of the church.  It's awesome.  Only sad news, he's moving to London South (for lame  :(  haha).  Then in the evening we did finding so that's cool.
Wednesday afternoon we saw a woman named Shanti.  She's Hindu and has been struggling because her husband and son are unwell, and according to her religion, her struggles are her own fault because of something she did in a previous life.  I think she really felt the spirit, and it's comforting to know that we all have our own trials in life.  Then we went to see Micheal with Sis. Sim.  We taught him the plan of Salvation and he loved it.  He's being a self described "lazy reader" though... Oh well, we'll get him to read and pray  :) 
Thursday was planning day and in the evening we went to the Stanbury's for dinner.  It was great.  Their youngest son has autism, although he's very highly functioning.  They are such a nice family.  I love it.
Friday was a busy day.  In the morning we were meant to see Adam but he couldn't make it so we went with Sister Butcher to see Betty instead.  It was nice.  Then we went to see this woman named Louise.  She's had a rough life, and is a single mom with 2 sons and a daughter, but she's strong, and she wants more in her life.  I'm excited about her.  Then in the evening we went to a Birthday party at the Martins (Bruna's 17  :)  ) and Adam came.  It was really nice.  Watford ward is amazing.
Saturday was the coolest day of my life.  It was helping hands day.  We went to Ruislip forest.  It's an ancient forest.   It's really cool.  And we..... dug a pond.  Yup.  haha.  It was pretty intense and very.....muddy.  That's the best way to describe it.  There were toads and stinging nettle.  Elder Green even found a slow worm (it's actually a legless lizard!).  It wasn't too bad because I borrowed some wellies at first, so I wasn't too muddy, but then I slipped and fell straight into the mud, and that was pretty much the end of it.  And if that wasn't enough later I was "team working" with Elder Peiffer and I was "slicing" the mud into squares with a shovel and then he was picking it up and throwing it onto the bank.  Well, he threw one and it was too sloshy and it splashed all over my face.... Haha... it was fun anyways.  Micheal came and he got right in there with the rest of us.  And we did it.  We dug a super awesome pond  :)   Then we all went back to Hayes chapel for a barbeque.  It was rerally nice.  I tried squid (very chewey.....).  Also a load of people from Enfield were there!  The Doninyas, Felix Okrah, both Toffoletti families, Rose, Becky Lee, and more.  It was so cool to see them.  Oh yeah and Brother Ghartey said I've lost weight  :-P   Haha.  It was generally super awesome.  Then we went home and de-mudded.... that took some time.  I'll send you pictures sometime soon.... It's pretty intense.  Then we went finding.
Sunday was fun.  Micheal came to church and he wore a suit!  It was excellent.  He also stayed for the baptism after church.  He's doing very well, and he LOVES church.  We just need him to read and pray.  By the end of church I was nearly dying though.  I was soooooo sore, and I could barely move.  Even now as I type my arms are very sore.  I definitely need to work on upper body strength.  After church we went finding and it definitely took me some time to loosen up.  It was very difficult to move.  Haha.  But we got going  :)   I definitely slept very well.
Today we are in London.  It's very hot.  We're saying our last goodbyes to President and Sister Foulger.  *sniff*  But we get to meet the new president on Friday, so that's pretty cool.  So all in all it's been a great and very warm week.
*There's sunshine... blessed sunshine.... *  I love it!

Mom-  Have a safe journey home!  It sounds like you had a great trip.

Dad- Yeah, our new mission President is President Patch.  He's from Orem, UT, and apparently he used to be assistant to the Presiding Bishopric or something like that... pretty cool  :) 

Nathan-  Yes!  I'm a missionary!  I love you!

Sister Besso-  You rock my world.  Watford is fantastic  :) 

Elder Ison-  Did you send my letter?

Love,
Sister Ison

Okay, so still Best Week ever, altough I am slightly annoyed......

Yeah, so I typed a ginormous wonderful e-mail about my amazing week, and it's all gone! Nooooo... :) Well... I guess that's life. Here's a fast forward version of the highlights of my week. Monday night we went to the Butchers and they invited over a friends, Ursula. It was really nice.
Tuesday morning we had district meeting at a members house and they fed us a huge roast dinner afterwards. Apparently they do this every week. haha, good thing we walk a lot. In the evening Iliana Flandro took us out to a little Italian restaurant and then came teaching with us to a man named Micheal Bagampangye. He's 30 and from Uganda (Agandi is how you say hello.... haha, I'm multi-lingual). It was a great lesson. He really listened and asked good questions and answered our questions thoughtfully. He agreed to read, pray, be baptized when he knows it's true, come to the Friday night activity, and to come to church. Pretty awesome :) Wednesday we had our last Zone meeting with President and Sister Foulger. I'm going to miss them so much. Then in the evening we had a ward missionary meeting. This ward is so on fire with missionary work.
Thursday we did planning and then in the evening had ward council.
Friday morning we met with a man named Adam Horwood. He's 34 and a native Englishman. He is really searching for more purpose in his life, and loved everything and said he felt really happy after we taught him. He also agreed to come to the Friday night activity that evening. Then we went finding and a sweet old lady named Betty invited us in the teach her. She's a little set in her ways, but sweet nonetheless. We'll see her again next week. The Friday night activity was amazing. The Elders had 4 investigators there and both Adam and Micheal came. Adam and Micheal instantly became friends with almost everyone there. It was great. These activities are a wonderful opportunity. Saturday we went finding all day. :) Sunday was FANTASTIC. Ursula, Micheal, and Adam all came to church. Adam and Micheal loved it so much, and it was a surprise that Ursula even came because no one was expecting her, so that was pretty cool. Then after church we went to the Feredays for dinner. It was really nice.
So that's a fast forward version of my wonderful week.

Mom- Give everyone in Utah my love and give Grandma a big hug for me!

Dad- So I'm not the only one sweating here :) . It's been quite warm here lately. I love you! Happy Father's Day (one day late)!!!!!

Nathan- Your chair sounds so cool! Good Job! I love you!

Sister Shepherd-Kent- I'm so sorry to hear about Brother Shepherd. I love you, and I know that although we miss him very much he is in a better place. I'll be praying for you!

Love,
Sister Ison

Just keep walking, just keep walking...walking, walking, walking walking... :-P

Dear Friends and Family,
What a week! I'll just get started and tell you what's up :) So Tuesday evening we stopped by Bela to say goodbye. We also chatted with Suresh and saw Claudia and Roseanna. Oh my goodness I'm going to miss Ilford so much. It's amazing, and I have so many great memories there. It was really hard to leave.
Wednesday was a most intense day! There was a strike on the London Underground, so a lot of the lines just weren't running! It was crazy! Getting to the Liverpool Street Station wasn't a problem because we just took an overground train. Brother and Sister Stevenson came along and helped me with my extra large bags. It was great. Oh man, I miss them, they are so great. Once we were at Liverpool street the walking began.... well actually the waiting... haha. We waited for nearly two hours for a bus that's supposed to come every 5 to 10 minutes. Then we got on the bus and it took nearly another hour to get to Victoria Station. Then we began to walk and we made it a little bit... but we had Sister Garcia's bags (some Elders had taken mine earlier) and the wheels actually melted because the screws got too hot! So then finally we just had to get a taxi the rest of the way to the mission office. Then we got there and waited a bit because we found out that the new missionaries were late too. That was around 4:00. Then finally I got to meet my new companion. Her name is Sister Jensen and she is amazing! She's from Idaho. She has two older brothers and an older Sister. She's a Violinist, and all around awesome missionary. I'm pretty sure they give me all the new missionaries that don't need any training! So then I pretty much had no idea what was going on and they didn't have a phone to give us or anything. It was pretty intense. But we just did what we could and we had to walk all the way from the office to Green Park Station. And let me tell you that is a long walk. Especially with Sister Jensen's two suit cases, and one of mine. But we made it, and from there we were able to get a tube line that was open and then arrived at Euston station. Then we went to a pay phone to try and call the Watford Elders and find out which station they wanted us to go to and to tell them what time we were meant to arrive, but they didn't answer so we just took a guess and took a train to Watford Junction. There we used a pay phone to call the Elders again and they answered and said that they were there! It was soooo exciting after a very long day, because by this time it was 8:30pm. They took us to our new house. We're living with Sister Marge Bettridge, the Stake President's mum. She so great! I loved it immediately. We also met Paulo and his two children Bruna and Miguel. They are so helpful. They got us in and settled, and we got to bed around 11:30pm. Oh my goodness I slept so well :) Thursday morning Paulo came to pick us up with his daughter Bruna. She was so helpful! She spent the whole day with us! First we met a member named Ruth. She was super cute! Then, we went to Watford town center and OYM'd all morning. Then we met the Elders and they took us to correlation with Bro. McKenzie. Oh my goodness, he is great! I'm so excited to be here. We discussed our assignments, and we as the Watford Sisters are going to spend our time in Rickmansworth and Croxley Green. So then we went back to our neighbourhood with Bruna, and finished up our studies with her. Then we went and met a less active family that lives near us, the Gurney's. They were very nice :) Then we went finding on their street and we saw a Police Seige on a house. haha, it was really interesting! Then Brother Martins (Paulo) came and picked us and Bruna up and we went to his house for dinner with the Elders. Then in the evening President Bettridge came and gave us a ward list and suggested some good starting places for us, so that was great!
Friday in the morning we did more finding. There are so many people who are prepared. It's kind of fun to start from scratch down here :) Then in the evening we went to a ward activity and played volleyball with a basketball. Haha, a little painful, but also a lot of fun. Also Brother Paulo Martins brought his friend Kwase, so that was great. I can already see that these Friday night activites will be a great missionary tool.
Saturday was an amazing day. We went tracting and street contacting all day and met some more wonderful people. We met one woman, Stephanie, who had almost every question of the soul. The first thing she asked us when she opened the door was why there were so many churches. Then she asked us if God really answered prayers and why there were so many trials and tribulations in life. We were able to give her a Book of Mormon and we'll see her this week. It's amazing how people just open up and tell us their problems! What's even more amazing is how the restored gospel is the solution! So it was an all around great day until we came home and I realized that I'd dropped the key out of my bag while we were in the house and we were locked out. We hoped that Sister Bettridge would be home soon (and there wasn't much to do anyway, because we didn't have a phone), so we just sat on the porch and did our planning. Then time passed and it was past 10pm so we decided we'd better do something. We could see our neighbour's were home so we knocked on their door, but I think we scared them knocking so late at night because they immediately turned out the lights and didn't answer. So then we were stuck again... but just then a man drove up and got out of his car so we went up to him and asked if he had a phone we could borrow because we were locked out. Luckily he did, and he very kindly let us call the Elders, and they got ahold of the Stake President who had a spare key and came and let us in. Haha.... he also took pity on us and invited us to Sunday Dinner, so that was great :-P Sunday was amazing. We got to meet so many amazing people, and especially youth. Watford has some of the strongest youth I've seen. It was fast and testimony meeting, and they almost all got up and bore very mature testimonies. I love it! Plus the ward is so excited to have sisters, and Bruna (who is a ward missionary in charge of dinner appointments) said that she couldn't get any dinner appointments for the Elders because everyone wants to feed us. Also several people have just told us that they have friends who they would like to introduce to us because they think they'll be receptive to Sisters! Isn't it nice to feel wanted? :) Then in the afternoon we went and had dinner with President Bettridge, his wife, his three boys (Isaac, William, and Austin... they are soooo cute!), Sister Marge Bettridge, and his brother Kevin. It was so nice. They are an adorable family. Then we did a bit of finding in the evening, and for the first time since we arrived in Watford we went to bed by 10:30 :) That brings us to today. This morning we've been cleaning and unpacking, and then we went to the library and got a library card, and we're sitting and e-mailing :) So it was a great week :) I'm so excited to be in Watford, and to have Sister Jensen here. Oh, and I almost forgot! Elder Jentsch (how to spell that I actually have no idea) is my District leader (the one who was in Stratford) and his cousin Elder Jentsch is my Zone Leader (here in Watford with Elder Green). I thought it was pretty funny.

Oh and this is my new address:
42 Middleton Road
Rickmansworth
WD3 8JE

Mum- That sounds like a busy but great week! Give everyone in Utah my love as well!

Dad- This ward is definitely one of the largest I've been in (I'm not good with numbers though :-P) and definitely the most missionary work oriented! They have over 20 ward missionaries each with specific assignments. It's great!

Nathan- Congratulations on your gold and bronze Medals! I love you!

Everyone- I love you very much!

Love,
Sister Ison!

"Those missionaries are doing a good job..."

Dear Friends and Family,
May I submit that life just keeps getting better and better and better.  Haha.
Monday evening we saw Brother Evans and organized his baptismal program.  He was so thoughtful and made sure to find ways to include everyone.  The change in him is amazing.  Also Suibha and Kahn came to family home evening for the first time.  We actually haven't taught either of them, but they both seemed to really enjoy it.
Tuesday was District Meeting and then my driving test.  Before you get too excited....I failed.  Why, you may ask?  Because I'm an idiot... Haha, actually I just habitually forgot to check my blind spot.  I was so worried about the Mirror-Signal-Manevoure thing that I totally forgot.... but next time  :)   That was it.  Then that evening we went to the Fowles for dinner.  I love that family soooo much.  They make me laugh.
Wednesday morning we met with a less-active named David Greenhill.  He's pretty funny, and seems interested in coming back so that's good.  In the afternoon we saw Brother Evans, and we talked about the tree of life.  Nicholas was there as well.  Nicholas comes more and more often.  I think he's becoming more keen, but I think he mostly comes because he's bored.  haha.  Then we went to the Freita's for dinner.  And one of Sister Frieta's friends joined in the lesson!  That was great!
Thursday we had lunch with Brother Beasley at the noodle bar.  He's the sweetest man ever.  He told me to warn you that he will be calling when I come home.   :)   Then in the evening we had correlation with the Stevenson's.  They rock hardcore.   :) 
Friday in the morning we saw a young woman named Laura.  She is really sweet and we had a really good lesson with her.  Then we stopped by to see Doreen and her new baby girl, Cedrica.  Oh my goodness, she is the most precious thing.  Doreen had to have an emergency C-section and the baby almost didn't make it, but now everyone's fine and Doreen is recovering, so that's good.  They are such a cute family.  Then we saw Brother Evans and talked with him about service to others, using King Benjamin.  Sister Stevenson came along, and it was great, as usual.  Then in the evening we went with the Stevensons to see a less active Michelle, and then we went to see Oke, Jane's Husband!  He even let us read from the Book of Mormon with him, which is a huge step!  I love it!
Saturday was pretty much the best day of my life!  haha.  In the morning we saw a woman named Geraldine.  It was one of the best first lessons we'd had in a long time.  She really had questions about what we believed and as we shared about the message of the restoration she really liked it.  Then we had a quick lunch with Bishop and Sister Theed, it was really nice.  Then we went to the Hyde Park Chapel.  We had a mission picture.  I also got to see Elder Martin and Elder Shunke from my MTC group because London South came as well!  Then we had a giant mission conference with President Uchtdorf and Elder Andersen.  Oh my goodness.  It was AMAZING!  Plus they shook all of our hands.  That was pretty cool.  I can't even begin to explain how amazing it is here.  I'll have to write you a letter, because time is of the essence.  Then after the conference we all had to leave quickly because of the Priesthood Session which was directly afterwards, and I ran into Patryk Tomezewski (sp?  oh my goodness I already forgot, haha).  He said that he put in his mission papers 3 weeks ago and he's just waiting now.  That's so exciting!  Missions are the greatest!  Then on the way back to Ilford in the tunnel we ran into 4 different members who were visiting.  Then on the tube we ran into 3 BYU study abroad students.  I was talking to one of them (I'm ashamed to say I can't think of her name) and in the conversation I found out that she served her mission in New York and that she was companions with Sister Colbert!!! Isn't that cool?  What a small world.
Sunday was also a most fantastic day.  Bela gave us a lift to the new members meeting before Stake Conference.  It was really great.  Bela, Sam, Suresh, and Justian all came from Ilford ward.  The conference was fantastic!  President Uchtdorf, Elder Andersen, Sister Dibb, and Sister Lant all spoke.  What an amazing opportunity!  Then the greatness of the day continued.  We went tracting and we met a man named Terry who had a lot of questions and invited us to come back.  Then we met a woman named Anna who was totally confused by all the different churches, and she really just wants to find the truth.  Then we went OYMing in Ilford and met a man named Eddie who told us he was having a very interesting day, and that on any other day he would have never stopped and talked with us, but that day he just was full of questions.  It's amazing how people are being prepared.  Also we ran into a man named Ted, who was also a member who's been backpacking with his family across Europe for the last 5 weeks, and we just happened to run into him in Ilford.  Haha.  This weekend was just so great!
Yesterday was really good as well.  In the morning we had a combined Zone District meeting/farewell for Elder Smith.  Then the Ricks treated us to lunch at Nando's, which was sooo nice of them.  Then we went to see Brother Evans and Brother Tavner came with.  We read Jose Texiera's talk from the last conference and talked about how we can keep a strong "signal" with the Holy Ghost.  It was really good.  We looked at baptismal clothes and finalized a few things for Brother Evan's baptism.  Then we saw Suresh and helped him get started on his talk because Brother Evan's asked him to speak at his baptism.  Then right before family home evening I got a phone call from President.  He wants me to train this next moves and I'm going to open up a new Sisters area in Watford!  It's pretty intense.  There will be both Sisters and Elders in Watford Ward now.  I was entirely shocked.  It's pretty overwhelming.  Brother Evans came in at the end of the phone call, and he's sad, as am I, that I won't be at his baptism, but it was always a possibility.  Then in the evening we has Family Home Evening and both Brother Evans and Suibha came entirely unsolicited.  It was really great, and Suresh really took care of Suibha.  Oh my goodness Ilford ward is so great.  The whole evening was sort of twinged with sadness because I really don't want to leave.  I love the people so much here, but I know it will be in good hands because Sister Feller is coming, and she's the cutest thing since sliced bread.  Oh my goodness! And you'll never guess what else!  Sister Strunk is training!  haha, I'm having a "granddaughter."  I'm excited about that.
So as you can see, it's been a very eventful week.  But a great week.  Ilford is sooo great, and though I'm sad to leave, I know that everything will be great.

Mom-  Haha, you make me laugh with your "dancing with the stars"  By the way, Sister Stevenson wants you to check your facebook.

Dad-  Thank-you so much for taking care of everything.  I'm sure it's great  :)   Speaking of driving tests..... I kind of need money to take it again (sorry  :(   I know I'm lame)  It costs £64.

Nathan-  It sounds like you had a great week!  Oh my goodness  :)   Camp-I-Can is awesome!

Elder Ison-  It sounds like things are going very well! Your picture's make me laugh.  I'm excited for your letter!

Everyone Else-  I love you very much!

Love,
Sister Ison

Heat Wave

Dear Friends and family,
I love you all soooooooo much!  I also love the gospel of Jesus Christ!  Oh my goodness.... life is great  :) 
Monday was a fun day.  We ended up going to the science musuem.  The space part was pretty cool, and I saw Wallace and Gromit... haha, but after that I got kind of bored of it.  I think it would be more fun under less time contstraint, but it was still pretty cool.  Then in the evening we went to a ward Family Home Evening.  It was so much fun.  I love Ilford Ward so much.  Plus, the Stratford Elders announced Joice's baptism.  Ah!  I'm so excited that she got baptised, but I'll talk about that later  :)   In the evening we went to see a woman named Glory.  She has a little newborn baby girl named Favourite.  She was really cute and it was a nice lesson  :) 
Tuesday was great.  We had district meeting, and then afterwards we went to Sister Rudloff's for lunch.  It was pretty much super fun.  Sister Rudloff is from Brazil, and Brother Rudloff is from Germany.  They have a little son, and Sister Rudloff always speaks Portuguese to him and Brother Rudloff always speaks German to him, but they speak English with each other.  Haha, Sister Rudloff says that she feels sorry for the confused little boy  :)   He does know how to say Danke, however  :)   It was really nice.  They are moving to Germany in a couple of weeks, and I'm going to miss them.  Then we went to see Brother Evans, and Brother Tavner came with.  We talked about Zeezrom and the power of forgiveness and making restitution.  We also talked about forgiving others, and being patient with other's imperfections.  It was a nice lesson, and Brother Evans seems to be doing very well with baptism preparations  :) 
Wednesday it rained and was windy allllll day.  Also all of our appointments either hosed or cancelled, so we did seven hours of finding.  A good chance to earn some husband points, that's for sure.  It was good though because we found 6 new investigators as well  :) 
Thursday the weather took a turn for the better, and ever since it has been hot and sunny!  Even now as I type the sun is a-shining.  Oh, it makes me smile, but anyways.  So in the afternoon we saw Brother Evans with Sister Robertson.  We went over the baptism interview questions and everything was great, and we talked a bit about Alma (the elder) and admitting our wrongs and trying continually to be better.  Brother Evans seems excited for his baptism, and he seemed ready for his interview, so that was great.  It was also really exciting because Brother Evan's sometimes has a bit of a temper and is a little impatient with people, but he was telling us how he was annoyed with someone, but then he said, "But nobody's perfect."  I LOVE IT!  Haha, even in the little things, the gospel of Jesus Christ slowly perfects us!  Then in the evening we went to the Stevenson's for correlation.  Oh how I love the Stevenson's.  They are pretty much the great Ward Mission Leader and Ward Missionary ever  :)   They say that they didn't have so much of a problem with crazy people until I got here... haha... I seem to attract them, but that's okay  :) 
Friday was another great day.  We saw Gertrude in the morning.  She seems a bit stubborn about coming to church, but she's a sweet lady, and hopefully we can get her to come.  Then in the afternoon Brother Evans had his interview and he passed!  He's going to be baptized 13 June 2009 at 11:00 am.  It's great  :)   He seemed very pleased as well.  Then we went to the Lighten's for dinner.  I love the Lightens.   They make me laugh.  It was a really nice meal, and afterwards Sister Lighten gave us a lift to see Brother Conteh.  We saw him and talked about Patriarchal Blessings using True to the Faith.  He seemed very excited about it, and really wants one.  Haha, I think it's the most excited I've ever seen Brother Conteh, because he's a very mellow guy  :)   We told him to pray about it.  He's so great.  Then on the way to the bus stop we saw this little boy streak out of his house in his underwear, and then this older boy ran out after him to catch him, and the little boy was just laughing.  It just made me laugh, so I thought I'd share  :-D 
Saturday was pretty much the most perfect day ever.   :)   In the morning we did enough finding to finish off our 15 hours for the week (plus an extra half an hour), then we got to go to Joice's Baptism.  It was wonderful, and the best part is that Joice seemed soooooo happy  :)   It made me happy to see her so happy, and I just feel so blessed that even though she moved I was still able to attend her baptism.  Her Brother-in-law Brother Kangetsambo (Ilford Ward Clerk) got up and bore his testimony about how when she had first come to the country she had moved in with them, and they told her that since she was staying with them that she would have a special assignment to help the family.  They assigned her to read the Book of Mormon out loud to the family every night.  For over a year she lived with them, and read to them, but she would never come to church.  He said that we first came to him, and told him we were teaching a woman who claimed to be his relative and after he figured out who it was, at first he was excited, and then he was a little frustrated, and he said to himself, "She lived with me for over a year, what did I do wrong?"  But then he smiled and said that now his investment was paying dividends, and that he was so happy to have her not only as part of his earthly family, but now that she could become part of his eternal family.  It was just wonderful.  :)   After that we went to see Bela, and Sister Stevenson came.  It was a really good lesson.  Then in the evening we stopped in to see Sarah, and by a miracle she was home, but only because she was very sick  :(   We just shared a short message with her so that she could rest.
Sunday was very nice.  They announced Brother Evans baptism.  Also, Bela came to church!!!! It was sooo great.  She seemed very happy to be there  :)   It was great.  Also it was the 1 year anniversary of Brother Conteh's baptism!  He's getting kicked out of Gospel Principles to Gospel Doctrine.  Ah man, I'm going to miss him in class, but it's great to see him progress  :)   Then in the evening we saw a man named Christopher.  He's a Bible Scholar.  He doesn't think it matters what church you go to, and he wouldn't take a Book of Mormon with him, but he said that he'd read it with us anytime...... We didn't have time to properly explain the restoration because he talked a lot, but hopefully next time we can help him see why it's so important  :)   Then we were at the bus stop waiting to go to our next appointment and this man from Romania, named Emmanuel, started to talk to us about how much he loved the church, and how it gave him such a special feeling.  He was talking about the Book of Mormon, The Pearl of Great Price, The Doctrine of Covenants, The Liahona, President Hinckley, and President Monson.  Finally we asked him if he was a member and he said no.  It's really kind of sad, he loves the church so much, and he wants to got there, but he thinks he can't because he was born Christian Orthodox, and he thinks he must stay there.  We managed to get his number before our bus came, and we certainly hope to be able to help him see that religion isn't something you're born into.  It's amazing the stumbling blocks that satan can use to put in people's way.
So that was my marvelous sun-shiny week.   :)   Today we have to go all the way to Colchester so that I can practice driving because my driving test is tomorrow!  Please pray for me!  I'm kind of nervous, because I haven't driven in a long time.  But I'm sure everything will work out.  :) 

Mom- I can't believe Brooke is engaged!  Do you know anything about him?  Oh my goodness.  It sounds like you had a good week  :) 

Nathan-  Wow!  It sounds like a good year coming for you!  I love you!

Elder Ison-  I want a letter  ;) 

Sister Arnquist-  That's so cool that your speaking French now!  Ah!  Keep up the great work!

Everyone Else-  I love you!

Love,
Sister Ison