TRANSFER TUESDAY!!!

Hi my best friends!! I honestly can not even remember a single day this week aside from Sister Becker's birthday on Sunday and MOVES CALLS yesterday!!! We went tracting and met so many wonderful people who really wanted to learn more about the gospel and about how it can help them in their lives. Then my poor little companion crashed on her bike and got pooped on by a bird, and then they told her she is leaving Cambridge! And our assistant to the President called us at 7 at night to tell us that i am follow up training again!!! I am so stoked for another transfer of 12 WEEKS!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!!

A member took this for us on his super fancy camera, when the man we are teaching didn't show up to his appointment.
Classic Majid.  I was so annoyed at him, but my companion reminded me that ISOK!!!!
And we got this cute picture out of it haha.  

This is right next to our flat.  The evenings have been so beautiful, and when we bike home I feel so blessed to live in the most beautiful city in all of Cambridgeshire!  (Hahah because it's like the only city in all of Cambridgeshire.)
(I'm hilarious) 

I am so sorry I don't think ive ever been more scatter-brained in my whole life. This week was awesome and we met a lot of cool people who have a ton of questions about the Book of Mormon, and I almost never know how to answer them lolz, but it's been incredible to see how much the spirit can make or break a situation. When we can feel the spirit in a lesson the small little details of the questions dont seem to matter as much and everything else just melts away. that is something i am really working on-- always having the spirit with me so that people can just feel something DIFFERENT.

anway, sorry this is so nuts and does not make any sense. ill send some pictures in a second! love you all!!!!

Shoutout to my main man Adaines.  

xoxo sister daines

"WAIT! I have to bless my mouth!" --Sister Decker

Hello my best friends in the world!!! Happy P-day sorry I know it's tuesday but we had interviews yesterday so today is our prep day! Woot Woot!

This subject line comes from cute sister Becker who, during companionship study, sprinted off yelling about how she had to bless her mouth (what!?!??!) which, after much interpretation, I learned that she needed to blow her nose. That little goose.

The weather this week has been SO beautiful-- I feel like it's actually finally summer! We were just informed that the sun will only last for one more day and then tomorrow it will rain again, but THATS OK. because I got to have three FULL days of SUN!!!! That is a real-life miracle let me tell ya.

This is Cambridge, like two minutes from our flat. There are so many beautiful parks here and it's just unreal how pretty everything is.

I think the highlight for me was getting all of your letters and postcards. they seriously made me so happy and made me smile so big. thank you for looking out for me and for MAKING ME FEEL SO LOVED!

Another highlight-- Dad sent me a card and it had a scripture on it of Proverbs 3:5 (which was so good and inspiring and i really needed-- all about trusting God and not relying on my own understanding (because i have basically NO understanding of ANYTHING) so that was really beautiful) but i thought his handwriting said Proverbs 5:5-- ''Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell''

and i was like. hmmmm... thanks dad? hahahh!!! i seriously was so confused! but it made me laugh a lot when i realized what the heck was going on.

so i guess this week i learned to always double check your scripture references! lolz.

This is our flat!  Super cool, huh?

i love you guys so much and i am so happy to hear from  you. thank you for always making me feel loved and appreciated and THANK YOU for the prayers. sister daines xx

I Just Pilaufed My Skirt

HELLO MY BEST FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAPPY MONDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh my goodness. this week. i dont even know where to start. first of all i am writing this letter at the chapel where i just spilled pilauf rice all over my pink skirt. hence the email title. im not going to say spilling indian food all over my skirt is the biggest tragedy of the 21st century but.................. IT IS. hahah just kidding. anwyway. i pilaufed my skirt.

ok so this week we were so so blessed because we got to travel to London to go on exchange with our Sister Training Leaders and it was SUCH A BLAST. Sister Becker and I didn't have to plan anything, or worry about where to go or who we needed to teach, we just got to take the train for two and a half hours into Ilford (my favorite place to be because there are so many Ghanians HEYO) and teach SO MANY COOL PEOPLE. I was with Sister Epicoco and she taught me so so much about how important it is to remember who I am. like who I really, really, really am. I am a daughter of God and I need to remember that! We all need to remember that! Sometimes I get way too stressed about, well, everything, but if I can remember the important things then everything else seems to work out.

These are the two sweetest people from Nigeria who we met on the street and carried their groceries for like a mile, and they were SO thankful. It was just so nice to be able to help someone and actually just help them. They were so sweet and kind and wonderful. I don't remember their names though. 

-THANK YOU TO AUNT TINA FOR THE AMERICAN CANDIES AND FOR THE DRY SHAMPOO!!! it made my whole life. seriously thank you so much to everyone who has sent me packages or letters or even english sweets (s/o to Lisa Pearson!) because it really means so much to me. seriously.

Look at this weird house!  LOLZ England!  What are you thinking?  

Baby Becker being adorable

-on thursday we probably biked for like 40 miles (ok probably not but it felt like we did) and when we got home for dinner we just sat on the floor of our flat. i was too tired to even eat dinner, we just lay there on the floor.

Look at my little district! 

-THANH IS GETTING BAPTISED!!!! he is the sweetest and kindest man i have ever met. seriously he is such a miracle and loves learning about God so much. When he prays i want to cry because his prayers are SO sweet.

This is another family that was getting baptised in two days. I seriously love them so much and I cried when we were teaching them because I felt the spirit so strongly. 

And this is a family that was just baptised!!!! I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!! 

 I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY REAL LIFE BEST FRIEND HENRY CHRISTIAN MITCHELL DAINES!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY REAL LIFE BEST FRIEND HENRY CHRISTIAN MITCHELL
DAINES!!!!!!!!!


The biggest tragedy and worst part of this week was this morning before studies when I was trying to draw this sign and I forgot what the American flag looked like. Aaron I am SO sorry I know that is the biggest disappointment to you and you basically want to disown me at this point. LOLZ!!! But nobody worry I righted the wrong and found little American flag toothpicks in our flat (probably from the sisters who were serving here a year ago today) but don't worry I chose my outfit very strategically today. Only for you little hitschie, only for you.

This week was WILD. We traveled into London for mission conference and got to hear from President Kearon which was probably the highlight of the transfer for me. It was so incredible to hear from him and to learn about the choices that we all make, and how to choose to grow our faith. I learned that the success that we see as we missionaries depends on our faith, and the problem is never someone else or never the area that we are in. There ARE people that need to hear our message in this area, it just depends on how diligent and faithful we are. So this week I am studying faith a lot, and sister Becker and I are ready to see some major miracles!!!

We have been biking around Cambridge this week and it had been the rainiest summer I have ever seen, but isok!! Haha we will be sweating and hot and then three minutes later it will be rainy and so cold and then half an hour later-- sticky and hot and humid. I love English summers!! Lolzies.

I'm sorry I don't have much more to say- today is the happiest I have been in a long long time because it is PDAY AND THE 4th OF JULY ON THE SAME DAY. So, of course, we are gonna pig out on hot dogs and smores made with digestives. I love you hitschie, and I love America, and I love England, and I love working hard! And I love my family!! Thank you for all the letters. I got them all on Thursday and just died. I love you guys - thank you for your prayers. I need them and love them and I love you ALL!!!!

This is a street we tracted. No lie.

Sorry this was so dysfunctional hahaha!!!! Next week will be better I promise!!!!

Parting thought: sister Becker always carries an "emergency ketchup" around in her bag with her. At all times. That little goose!!!

Also-- this week we were talking to our district leader on the phone and we were asking for advice and tips on how to improve and how we can be better missionaries and he goes "ummmmmmmmm..... Get some ice cream. Ice cream helps with everything. Except for being fat." Thank you elder coon. Wise, wise words. So my advice for all of you this beautiful Fourth of July is to eat some ice cream and remember how lucky we all are to live in such beautiful places (aka I'm trying to be politically neutral but what I really mean is that AMERICA IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE!!!!!) go look at some fireworks for us !!!!! Love you more than elder coon loves ice cream and more than sister Becker loves emergency ketchup and more than I love free, recycled, lunch. (Which ps we had this week. Some lady came up to us in the park and was telling us about a free 3 course meal that they serve in Cambridge every week and we were like UM YES PLEASE. I kept asking her what the catch was and she kept saying "nothing! Nothing! Nothing! It's just free!!" So we, of course, went and it was dang delicious. Lots of homeless people who I absolutely loved. But anyway the point of this story is that the cute lady we were talking to was telling us that NO ONE was taking her up on the free lunch thing. She was literally standing in the park shouting "free lunch!! Free lunch!!!" And everyone was ignoring her!! Lolz!! Sister Becker goes: sister Daines. That makes me feel better. If people are passing up on the joy of free lunch then it makes the fact that they are passing up on the gospel a little bit easier.

RETWEET SISTER BECKER. Sometimes things are too easy and we don't realise how precious it is because we are always looking for the catch, like free 3 course lunch or, I don't know, free lessons on how to change our whole lives for the better!! Does that metaphor make sense? Not at all. I guess what I'm saying is that sometimes our own scepticism gets in the way of our salvation. It's so important to just trust, to just have faith, to just try. That's what I'm learning this week, that president Kearon repeated over and over and over... "Don't worry, just work hard" "don't worry, just work hard" DONT WORRY. JUST HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE FAITH.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX, 

Sister Daines 

SAMANTHA JILL DAINES

This weeks email title comes to you from our favourite German who
thinks that my first name is either Samatha or Jill. WAT. hahaha that
little goose is so silly!! Do I look like a Sister Samantha Daines?!?
Apparently our little green bean thinks I do!

Ok!!! This week was so great and crazy and I am learning a lot about
how to follow the spirit EXACTLY. I feel like Sometimes we kind of ask
for the guidance of the spirit and then we kind of just do what we
want to do, but this week sister Becker and I have been working on
doing EXACTLY what we feel prompted to EXACTLY when we feel it. I
think we have pulled our bikes over to the side of the road in a
screeching storm of squeaky brakes to talk to someone probably 15
times in the past three days haha! (Shoutout to SJ for teaching me
that I need to talk to EVERYONE--- even all the way in Watford that
lady is teaching me how to be a better missionary!!) oh also-- I SAW
HER TWO WEEKS AGO. forgot to tell everyone that. But look at how cute
these pics are--- seriously SJ is the most beautiful bean in the WHOLE
WORLD!!!

This week we were trying to track down someone who the bishop wanted us to go see and we were biking around these housing estates trying to find the right number and this ANCIENT lady comes scootering past and goes "you can come in for tea if you like. I live at number 89" and then just scooters off!!! Lolz WHAT?!? Her name was Ann and she was so happy to meet us and to visit. Hashtag not interested in learning about the gospel but we just thought it was so funny that she wanted us to come into her home so badly! Side note: I have never seen so many animals in such a small space. Nor have I smelled so many animal smells..... It was a hard lesson for those of you that know me. LOLZ. but anyway the reason I am telling you this is because of my favourite quote from her at the end. We were asking her who we could share a message with and she was telling us about her neighbour that we should go see and she peers over the rim of her teacup and goes "but watch out...I think he's on drugs."  I wish you could have all heard it in her tiny English accent. It was unreal.


Ok... Best part of the whole week by FAR..... I GOT TO TALK TO JADE ON THE PHONE AFTER SHE WAS BAPTISED!!! I couldn't wipe the smile off of my face the entire day. That girl just glows and even over the phone I could just feel the spirit so so strongly. I was SO happy. It made me so happy! It was just such a good reminder to me of why I am here. Even when it literally SHOOTS hail out of the sky at us on our way home (honestly have never seen anything like the hail storm that we biked home in. It was INSANE.) anyway, even when we are so tired and our backs are "like grandmas" (in the words of sister Becker) and we fall asleep in the middle of eating breakfast and old English people curse us off of their porches (lol sorry friends) IT IS WORTH IT. because we will find people who want to hear the message of eternal happiness. Scratch that, eternal JOY. People want to hear it and we know they do, and when they do, it is ALL worth it!!

I miss you guys and I love you guys and I am so happy that I get to be here. And I am so thankful for your examples to me of being faithful and kind and Christlike and trying your hardest. I LOVE YOU!!! Sorry I took 0 pictures this week! Next week!!!


Ps----- It's our mission tour this week, so we get to hear from President Kearon again. YES!!!!! I love that man so much.... I seriously can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love you guys!

Last funny thought: this week the elders were debating whether or not cats can be exalted. What. WHY WOULD WE EVEN WANT THAT?!?!? Haha. I have dealt with more cats this transfer than I ever thought possible. Hashtag opposition in all things am I right ladies? Jk. Sorry sister Becker. She loves cats.🐱🐯

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!
Xxx

Sister Daines