Starting From the Beginning.

Wednesday May 28th 2008. Letter from Rachel to her Mother.

hello, my beautiful mother. it is so nice to hear from you every week and especially about all the details about the family. keep it up please. i really have very little time to write anybody, but i will make sure to write you every week and if you could just send it to everybody in the family and tell them to write me back that would be great. and eventually i will take turns writing somone back. but tell them not to be offended. i just have such a short time and i am penniless, now me and my companion are broke, but well be fine im sure. so i cant send your letters yet because i cant even buy food let alone stamps. were going to work something out with the mission president im sure. the bad thing is we are not allowed to have tea appointments with members. only if they have an investigatior that we can come teach. they just made that rule of course.
anyways, yea i am ok. satan is really trying to keep my mouth shut. when we got home that night the spirit just kept warnign us to leave. so we placed knives around the apartment just in case. we were preparing for something thats for sure. we knew it was comeing and we knew we needed to be prepared. england is a terrible place by the way and is not safe at all in any way. every single person here does major drugs and drinks constantly. and yes there all unhygenic,and dirty and wicked in every way. its really sad. and we live in the ghetto. well actually everywhere you go is the ghetto, so it doesn't matter. england is a dump amy should be thankful she didn't get to come. and no it doesnt' rain a lot. more thatn in utah though. it was realy hard for me at first to love the people,because of there complete wickedness and there acceptance to be misereable. they all have the worst trial s ever just know were blessed in america. but through al ot of prayer i have developed a true love for these peopole and can now empathize with them. and i work harder because of it. because if i could bring the gospel to just one of these people and make them happy it would be a miracle. and we have. we have a baptism on friday. her name is serena and she is a university student and she has been prepared her whole life for this so as soon as she heard our message and felt the spirt testify of the truth of our words she wanted to be baptized and actually we have a couple more hopefully coming up. i feel blessed most people are lucky if trhey get one baptism there whole mission. but it didbn't come easy i work so hard. my body is completly broken but with the help aof the lord i get through every day somehow. and thats why i have had so much oppposition.
> on monday president uchtdorf came to speak to our mission. i have never met an apostle before. he jsut randaomly came because he was in the area and only came to our mission. i was the very firts missionary to meet him and shake his hand and then i go t to take a picture with him and sit right in front as he taught us. it was so strange here was this man of god here with us treating us as friends and he really did have a great love for all of us. he cried many times. when he entered the room there was a literal change you could feel the power of the spirit with him everywhere he went. and there were many times where i just had to stop my note taking and just listen. because the spirit was so strong. and as i listened he looked straight at me many times and held my gaze and i knew he was talking directly to me. and i felt equal to him because he is still a man and together with the apostles and the missionaries were are all there for a common cause to brings souls unto salavation. and you felt that kinship and equality with him as he spoke. i think i will never be the same. i was changed literally, and it happens every single day. the spirit changes you and feel the lord molding you to what he wants and needs you to become. i know why i was sent here i have been prepared my whole life to be here. the lord has lifted me up from many things and i have exercised the atonement in my life so strongly that i know that because of his mercy towards me i am now meant to serve him and show my gratitude towards him by being his servant the rest of my life. i am now here to do his work for the mercy he has shown me. i know this and it is confirmed to me every day. i jsut cant't understand why he picked me, why out of all my friends and people i know he picked me to truley understand the gospel. that i may bear testimony of him the rest of my life. i could have only learned the things i am learning here in england on my mission. despite the wickedness here this is a specail place there is something different about this particular mission thatn any other and many peopel and leaders have expressed this as well. i love you mom and family. but i have to go. there is a lot of work to do. but i will try and write to some of the boys next week and dad you better write me. this is ridiculous. love sister colemna