June 16-23

 I. SAW. THE. KING 👀👑

Yes, you read that right… I, sister Russell, on Saturday the 21st of June 2025, not only saw, but waved at the King… and he waved back! I am now one step closer to inheriting the crown! Weekly story time 


☀️Spider-topia… as well as being closer to becoming the next queen of England, I also came closer to acquiring the web-slinging powers of Spiderman during a service project on “Chews-day”. We were helping take down a shed for Bishop and let the record show the trust this man has in me as he handed me a crowbar and let me get to work. As we were tearing the roof off though, the city of spiders that was established in the walls began to riot and started crawling from all directions. As many of you know by now, sister Keeler did not miss a beat in running to the furthest corner of the yard and I got the honor of having spiders the size of a baby's hand, crawling all over my hands as we moved the walls and roof. An experience I will never forget no matter how hard I try…
☀️ I have a theory that London traffic is designed to cause accidents and tickets because it's their largest source of revenue other than baked beans and tea. You have a lot of time to think about these things when you're in traffic for two and a half hours. I also may or may not be bitter because I received a ticket… revolutionary war part 2. Coming Soon 
☀️ IT. WAS. SO. HOT. THIS. WEEK. There is no escape as air conditioning does not exist to ‘preserve the history’... I suppose I will be history as well as I melt away. My Canadian companion has utilized all the ice in our freezer though, so survival is possible. 
☀️ Service for our friend Vera! We got to help with her gardening and after we finished, we had a lesson with her where she asked us about baptism! Vera has been meeting with missionaries for 4 years and this is the first time she has felt ready to start working towards being baptized! We are so excited so stay tuned! 
☀️ Amazing Lesson with our friend Myllon on Sunday and we were joined by our new member Pete! His teaching was incredible and Myllon will be on date to be baptized in July! The progress he has made in building his relationship with Christ has been so amazing to see and I know it is going to continue bringing him so much joy and peace! 
☀️ Playing Rummy for Friday night activity and I got to continue bluffing my way through and surviving on pure guesswork all the way to the coveted last place. But I wasn't in the negatives this time so I'm a winner in heart. 
☀️ Now the story you've been waiting for… My encounter with the King. We had a family in the ward reach out and let us know that the annual ascot horse races were going on this week and that would mean the royals coming to see as a part of the event and they wanted to take us. We. Were. Stunned. We went on Saturday with the Hortons and got to do the most intense street finding of my life as we were in the midst of thousands of people, got spit at, and got a lot of comments about the Book of Mormon Musical… I honestly had too much fun with all of that but even more fun as we went to the fences where we were about 20 meters away from the track. Then came the moment as the royals came down in their carriages. We got to wave and I'm proud to say, I weighed my options and resisted the urge to toss King Charles a Book of Mormon because I know I would not be able to outrun the police on Horses…yet. We then got to watch the races and had an amazing picnic with the Hortons in the rain while eating scones with cream and jam. How English is that sentence? 

Here's a quote I really loved this week by Ezra Taft Benson, 

“Every man eventually is backed up to the wall of faith, and there he must make his stand”

I think it can be too easy for our human nature to want to understand the why behind everything God does. I know for me, I like having the answers and the challenge comes when it feels like the receiving is not matching the desire. I've truly come to know however, that faith is the bridge that closes the gaps in our knowledge. It's what we can hold on to when we need that steady place in a shifting world and it because it's built on the rock that is Jesus Christ. Hold to the faith, add a brick each day, and the foundation can't fall. 

Love you all so much, my brain is a ringed sponge so I will go now but have a great week!

Dust your cupboards, 
  Sister Russell 







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

From Sage

Image
Sage wrote an e-mail she wanted me to send to everyone!  Hello everyone!      It's been a beautiful (rainy) week over the pond here in Preston, England (we're actually in Chorley but no one really knows nor cares where that is so we just say Preston). I didn't write an email last week (I know it's horrible) because I felt like it would be about 90 pages with how long those days felt. Looking back they went so fast though which is incredible. So I be will summarizing the highlights for your entertainment!      Beginning with travel which was not as bad as I expected because I was asleep for most of the flight over here. So knocked out and still in fact, that the lady next to me decided I would be an excellent table to hold her things! I now know if my career options fall through, I have a promising path as an in flight shelf.  The rest of the trip was alright and I got the honor of being pulled by the UK airport security but now I get to avoid the ...
Read more

First 2 weeks!

Image
 November 25, 2024 Sage began her 18 month mission!  Her first week she was able to stay at home and do some of her Missionary Training. She woke each morning at 6:30.  Sage and her dad did about 30 minutes of exercise,  she ate breakfast, dressed, and began her hour of personal scripture study. At 9am she would join in with other missionaries online so they could learn more about the culture in the UK and do scripture study as a class. From 12-1pm Sage had a break so that she could eat lunch and work on packing. She was able to spend time with her sisters, mom, dad, aunt, grandparents, and cousins throughout the week. Sage joined back online with other missionaries from 1-4pm.  She enjoyed her classes and hearing other peoples insights about scriptures. She would give us a summary during dinner and as we played games together in the evenings.  On week 2,  December 2, Sage began her journey to the UK.  Goodbyes, for long periods of times, are NEVE...
Read more

April 14-21

Image
Happy Easter everyone!!!! Alrighty folks this is going to be a crazy one… or is it…. You decide 🫵 ☀️P-day in Hyde park which is always good! 10/10 good walk and saw some really big trees as well as a really cool rock! (District Leader is upset that we have the statue of Liberty and they just have a rock but I feel like it makes sense) ☀️Interviews on chewsday which is always so good! Sister Keeler and I got to tackle the trains and tubes together as we navigated into London and we made it there in one piece (not a reference) which is good! We finished the day with a DA at sister Lee's house where we learned so much about living off the land and got some chocolate eggs! ☀️I got to watch sister keeler get snap, crackle, popped by a chiropractor which was one of my favorite things to witness! ☀️ Weekly planning in a café and tracking down some friends but we have this amazing friend Friday who went MIA, turns out he left his phone on a bus so it was gone for the week. Fret not, he...
Read more