Learning to Love Lancaster November 16, 2009

Excerpts from letters received from Sis. Hulet, November 2009

Sister H. w/Pres. & Sis. Bullock

11/05/09
I was assigned to my first area yesterday -to Lancaster Lancashire!
My new companion's name is Sis. Huittinen, also from Finland!
I lover her already, she is so sweet and has such a strong testimony
and desire to share the gospel. I am so excited to be with her!
The streets here look just like Diagon Alley--close together with
tall, brick buildings that cover the entire block and corner. The
streets are brick and cobblestone and it's just awesome! The only
horrible part is that to get to places around town we have have to
take the bus, and I get SO motionsick on the bus! I hope I can
adjust to their horrible, jerky, curving driving out here fast, or
I am going to be ill constantly.

I am excited and a little bit nervous about the coming weeks, but
I know they will be wonderful too. Last night I got to meet a member
family, the Milligans. They were so kinds to us. I can't wait to meet
the rest of the members! Sis. Huittinen did a little bit of street contacting and tracting last night, and it was fun.
We were able to make one contact who said we could come by and teach him next week. What a miracle!

Our flat is adorable--just a studio with a posh-looking kitchen and the best shower I have had in years! 

11/9/09
The members are really great--Bishop Jonson and his wife are a lot of fund, and the rest of the members are
very chatty and open. I have especially liked Sis. Jones and Brother and Sis. Collins who love to laugh. We
have two investigators with a baptismal date that we are teaching, Rowland and Luke. rowland is amazing--he
is so ready to change his life. He was an atheist when S. Huittinen tracted into him, and now he is praying
and has a growing testimony. I can't wait to see a transition like him in others! Luke is a University
student @ U. of Lancaster and is quite open, but is struggling with faith. I think he's just having a hard
time applying faith into his life. But, I hope he will continue to try and eventually get baptized.

Sisters Hulet & Huittinen, Lancaster

We have a new investigator too. Her name is Claire and is a friend of
a girl in the ward. She is from Taiwan and is going to the U. of L.
and she seemes so excited to hear about the gospel. We taught her the
plan of salvation, and prayed with her. We gave her a Book of Mormon
and she said she would read and pray about it. I'm excited to see her
grow and I hope that she will accept Christ's atonement into her life!

Where Heaven Meets Earth – The MTC in England November 3, 2009

Sister Tiffaniann Hulet, England Manchester Mission

Here are some excerpts from the letters we received from Sis. Hulet during her nearly 3 weeks at the Preston England MTC. We wish we could be-see-do-hear everything with her, what a wonderful experience she is having! 

10/20/09:   Things here are going so well! I can’t believe it’s almost been a week. Time absolutely flies here because every second of the day is scheduled. It’s been unexpectedly easy to adjust to! But let me start at the beginning…
The flight over here was extremely long to say the least. But, I did not have to do it alone! there were 6 sisters and 8 (or ten?) elders. It’s been so fun to get to know them! they are all amazing people from all over. The best part of the flight was when we were flying over Ireland, and flew INTO the sunrise! It was incredible!!

England, from what I can tell from the drive from the airport to the MTC looks and feels a lot like So. California, minus the palm trees, horrible traffic, and death smog. And it’s quite a bit colder too. But i’ve enjoyed it so far.

Here at the MTC, we’ve been divided into 3 small districts. (There’s only 31 of us here, which is supposedly a large group for them) and I’m in the Moroni district. My companion’s name is Sis. Ylisaari (said oo-lis-ahr-ee) from Finland. She has been so great! We are both similar in that we’re rather laid-back and quiet, but I’ve enjoyed here so much! The other two sisters that we room with are S. Granier from France and S. Snell from CO. I love them all so much!

10/27/09: Today is my last day here at the MTC, it seems like i just got here! But here we are, almost three weeks out since we left home, and we’re already going to our first area! I’m so excited! It’s a bittersweet moment because we are all so excited to get out there and try our best to find those who are looking for the gospel, but the MTC has become like home. We’ve come to be such good friends! it’s frustrating to leave each other just as we’re starting to love each other so much and come to know each other like brothers and sisters. It’s like we’re having to leave home all over again!

A group of youth from Ireland came to visit the MTC to become excited to serve their own missions. It was so fun to see their faces- some excited, some nervous, some uninterested… and most of all it was so fun to get to sing to them! We sang a song called “one voice” that talks about how our one voice can make all the difference, just like Christ’s one voice did. 2 missionaries were assingned to give their testimony to these kids- Sis. Ylisaari and Eld. Breakall. They gave such wonderful testimonies of answers to prayers and missionary work. While they were bearing their testimonies to the youth, i was thinking to myself of what i would say to these kids if i had the chance to bear my testimony. I thought of a few things, and as Eld. Breakall finished his testimony, Pres Donaldson looked at me and said, “Sis Hulet, I think we need to hear your testimony as well.” I was completely shocked! I hadn’t been asked to talk to these kids, and yet, Pres Donaldson said that he felt impressed that I should speak too. But why me out of all the other 30 missionaries? So I told them about my experience of talking with the Lord while street contacting the week before. 

I told those youth about how we have a gift to give the world, and that this work is the most important thing we can do for our brothers and sisters. It was interesting, I have no Idea if what I said meant anything to these teenagers, but it meant something to me as I told of my street contacting experience.  I am so glad that I had the chance to speak to them, though it might have been more for my benefit. I just hoped the testimonies that were given from us touched them in some way.

Next letter from Sis. Hulet will be from her first area – keep her in your prayers!!

Not “Goodbye”, Just “See Ya In a Few!” October 19, 2009

Small Sister, Big Bags!

After all the months of waiting, all the anxiety of getting ready, all the excitement and sleepless nights… finally the day came to fly away to Manchester England. Wow, what a beautiful day to say farewell to the Rocky Mountains. Clear blue sky, warm balmy fall weather, leaves just turning colors. Picture Perfect.

Tiffani — or Sister Hulet now, had a smile and brave face for us all as she got her two very heavy suitcases loaded (47 & 48 lbs., respectively) and with passport in hand, was ready to go! We had a wonderful week, all the excitement leading up to this moment. It was hard to imagine how it was really going to feel the minute she walked away from us, smiling, through the airport security and outta sight — and the truth is, it was pretty darn hard for those of us staying behind to watch her go, but the smile she flashed back at us as she waved goodbye through the security machines was worth every tear and erased most of the fear. It takes faith — putting hope into action, to go on a mission. For us, Tiffani wasn’t the only one who had to exercise that faith. We found that Mom, Dad, Sarah & Grandma had to do it too.

 

We have no idea if Sis. Hulet traveled alone, or with lots of people. We assume there was at least one other Sister, whom we saw when we first got to the airport — looking nervous like we were! We liked her right away, she was wearing purple like Tiffani was! We should have run to her and talked to her while we had the chance, but we never imagined we wouldn’t actually see another missionary the entire time we were in the airport!  The TSA officer told us he thought there was another Elder going at least as far as Atlanta GA on her same flight, so we took courage at that thought! It was strange being the ONLY people in the security check area, with Tiffani the ONLY person going through security — a pretty surreal experience at a usually busy airport, but it was nice to have her all to ourselves as we watched her pass all the security checks and then off to Terminal “C”.

Our final thoughts as we watched her walk away…”Be happy, be safe, and enjoy every single minute of your new home and country.

Hand-Delivered Through Airport Security. Last Glimpses of Sis. Hulet!

Be English, think English, feel English and teach everyone you meet that the gospel is the happiest news and greatest joy that will ever be found on the earth.”  Good luck Sister Hulet, we miss you but can’t think of a happier way to spend 18 months!

Quote for the moment:  “Your future is as bright as your hope.”  — Thomas S. Monson

Under New Management October 12, 2009

Welcome to Sister Tiffy’s MISSION BLOG! How exciting is this?

So, here’s the deal: Sarah, my dearest, sweetest, only-est little sister is going to be in charge of posting pictures, tales of adventure, mishaps, British things, and gospel musings from Yours Truly.

Also, she will be posting my latest addresses, so that if you have the deep, burning desire to drop me a line, you now have the resource to do so.

I will be entering the England MTC on Oct. 16th! I think I will be there till about Nov. 6th. Wish me luck!

Happiness is…

~Having a long-term plan/goal

~Being supported on my mission by AWESOME friends and family!

~Embarking on a grand adventure

~Feeling my small flecks of faith grow
“Lift up your heart and rejoice, for the hour of your mission is come; and your tongue shall be loosed, and you shall declare glad tidings of great joy unto this generation.”

D&C 31:3

Manchester is the bright green area!