Post Turkey Day

Let me preface Alyssa email this week by saying she was able to have Thanksgiving Dinner with some members in her ward that are from the U.S. (she emails Taylor and Cassie and let's them know some fun details of her mission life) As a mother that warmed my heart--Thanks for feeding my missionary! Also I got a facebook message yesterday from a woman Alyssa met on the airplane on her way over to England. Anyway, she let me know that yesterday at church she discovered that Alyssa and her companion are assigned to her ward! Alyssa and her companion gave the lesson in Relief Society. They will be serving in Sister Fry's ward for about a month. Again a comforting thought that Sister Fry is an extra set of "mama eyes" for my daughter.

Thank you so much for your words of encouragement. Oh PS i have p-day on mondays now except for on the week of transfers which won't happen for about a month. As for all my electrical things i am fine. I got a flat iron for over here that works great. And so i'm set. Thank you guys for getting a camera and for checking it out. I trust your judgement, especially you Taylor:) I did just send you a letter and some pictures today so hopefully you will get those soon. I haven't gotten the package yet but i am sure i will get it soon. As far as the mission goes. I am finally starting to LOVE it. It took a good week to get used to everything but now I am just soaking up every minute of the mission life. I am learning so much and feeling the spirit so strong. I am realizing how important the simple fundamental things of the gospel are. And not just doing them, but doing them with a sincere heart and with real intent. Moroni 10:3-5. We share this scripture a lot when introducing the Book of Mormon, but it applys to everyone. The scriptures are coming alive, well at least today they were. Every morning we have an hour of personal study and I fall asleep everyday during it:( I have tried so hard to stay awake. I have done things like standing up, opening up a window so it's cold, praying but nothing was working until today. It was the first day I stayed awake the whole hour. YAY!!!! I don't know what made the difference but I am happy it finally happened. I hope everyone is doing well at home. Always remember to turn to the Lord with whatever your dealing with because HE WILL HELP! I love you all.
Love Sister Alyssa Longmore

Growing Pains

EMAIL FROM ALYSSA
How are you doing? I wish I could just call you up and chat but i
guess this will have to do. Being in the field is much harder than in
the MTC, but it is good. I get home every night exhusted from working
so much during the day and then I wake up and feel like I only slept
for 5 minutes. There are a few adjustments that are a little hard. Missionary work is deffinitely WORK! My companion is great at being very punctual, exactly obedient.
She is a good example, but you know me, I like to fly by the seat of my pants! It is
also a ittle hard for me because I have a lot of feelings and like talking
about those, but she doesn't really like talking about feelings all that much.
She says she doesn't remember her first 12 weeks of her mission. It
makes it so I don't think she quite uderstands how overwhelming it is. I am trying to find times to write my feeling since I don't really get the chance to talk about them. I am finding good coping skills. It is funny because like we have
always said, when I feel something I feel it to the extreme. I go
through rollercoster of emotions in a day.I am so very blessed. I am seeing that more and more. My patriarcal blessing is applying so much to me know in this time of my life. It is great. I love you so so so much.
-Love Lyssa Lou Longmore

Watch out Liverpool ---Here she comes! Alyssa's 1st Area of Service

So yesterday I met my trainer and was assigned in the Liverpool area. We met in a Chapel with all the people that were transfering that day. But they all lined up as we 3 new missionaries of the EMM came walking in and they sang Called To Serve as we walked pass. It was such an uplifting and spiritual experience. I didn't know where i was assigned until we were in the meeting but when our mission president said Liverpool I knew that area was being prepared for me. There are people here that will hear the gospel and it will because I stopped them and opened my mouth. It was crazy cuz it was my 1st day yesterday and we already taught 2 lessons, both of which had members present. It has been going great. I am in a walking and public transportation area. To stay warm and show that we have a purpose behind what we are doing we walk quickly. :) I enjoy that. My trainer is Sister Chuo. I am the first person she has trained but it is going great. Will you please send me some pictures cuz it makes me so happy when i see them:) i hope you have been getting my photos. I am already picking up on some of the English lingo and hopefully the accent too. Don't worry dad I am doing well and feeling well also. I love you all so very much. Oh and yes mom I have been recieving your letters and they make me smile so much. Your so great. I especially liked the one on the doctors mask. lol you are so silly. you can send mail at my house address so it will get to me quicker, just know it will change at my next transfer but for now it is 26 Bethel Grove, Wavetree, Liverpool, Merseyside, L17 2BJ UK. If you want to send a package though it must be sent to the mission office which is different from the mission home. Thank you for your love and support.
Love you
-sister Alyssa Longmore

Alyssa's first Field Companion-Sister Chuo from China

Alyssa is in the field

An EMail from President Prescott

Dear Parents,
Your daughter has arrived in the England Manchester Mission (EMM) safely and is ready to go to work as a missionary. We held a training session Wednesday morning where we covered many things including their mission finances, their first three month training schedule, becoming a “Christ-like Missionary” and the EMM vision and guiding principles. We concluded with a testimony meeting and afterwards Sister Preston fed the group a warm hearty meal. I held a personal interview with each missionary and we then transported them to the Manchester Stake Centre where they were introduced to their first companion and trainer.
As parents, the most important thing you can do for your daughter is to be supportive and encouraging. The first month or two can be challenging for a missionary with many adjustments having to be made in their life. But it normally does not take long until they capture the full vision of their calling, gain a love for the people of the United Kingdom and lose themselves in the work.
Please be supportive of the Church’s policy on communications which allows missionaries to send and receive emails only with family members which, in addition to the immediate family, includes grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Anyone not part of the family must communicate by letter. Occasional efforts by some to circumvent this policy, such as family members forwarding personally directed emails from non-family members, are outside the spirit of this principle.
We often talk and train on the principle of “Becoming a Christ-like Missionary.” While it is good to be an Honorable Missionary, there is a higher principle and that is becoming a Christ-like Missionary. This involves many things but it primarily is a commitment by the missionary to purify and sanctify their life and fully commit their heart and soul to their mission. The happiest and most effective missionaries are those who limit thoughts of their pre-mission life, put the world behind them and get completely lost in the work of serving the Lord. Your encouragement and support of this principle will help your daughter grow personally, gain a greater depth of spiritually and more easily affect for good the lives of others.
Attached you will find a picture of your daughter with Sister Preston and me in front of the mission home and also a picture of her first companion and trainer. Sister Preston and I have three sons who have served missions, so we fully understand the emotions and joys that you are going through right now. Please know that we love the missionaries in the England Manchester Mission and we watch over them with great care. May the Lord bless you during this time of sacrifice in the lives of both you and your daughter.

With warm regards,
President Preston

Beautiful England Fall

Preston England Temple

Home in England

Durham, England

Last few days in the MTC

Alyssa & her sweet MTC companion

Diving in!

Heya,

I am going to copy a journal page i wrote on November 4th about going to town.
Today was incredible! We got on a train in Chorely and rode to Manchester at Picadili Square. Sister Chambers and I started talking to people right away. We talked with a guy and his friend. We ended up giving them a Book of Mormon. The guy that was really interested got a phone call so we didn't get his info and the train came. So Sister Chambers and I decided we must say a prayer in our heart that we would find him again. After we got off the train we walked a bit and there Patrick and Simon were, the two we talked to earlier. We were able to run and catch up to them. Wow does the Lord answer our prayers! Patrick, the one that was really interested, was so sweet. He said that he and Simon were reading the Book of Mormon on the train ride. It made us feel so good that we were able to find him. We got his info and he thanked us and even kissed our hands. Haha Later we talked to more people and ended up giving out 5 Book of Mormons to people that seemed interested as well as some pamphlets and pass along cards. One person I talked to that I absolutely love was Ayesha Daly. She was smoking when we met her but that didn't stop us. She's 22 and moved recently to get a job in education. She really opened up to us. We talked about a YSA ward and she was super interested and asked where they met. She was so sweet and genuine. You could just see her wanting to here more and more. She lit-up, and not just the cigarette, which she was actually so polite about. Once we started talking she just let the cigarette go out. It seemed like she was hearing us and it was ringing true in her heart. She even asked if she could have some sisters come to talk to her, and that was the term she used "sisters," I loved it. I hope i will see her again since she lives in Manchester. There were also a few others and I was so excited about all of them. I didn't even want to stop for lunch cuz I just wanted to keep finding and talking with people. You know when the spirit burns within your heart, well that has been a constant feeling i've had today. There was also a 14 year old girl that really seemed to be prepared by the Lord as well. She was there on a school trip and as we got talking she started saying how she's been really thinking about her purpose in life. She also shared some tough things she has recently experienced and even teared up a little. She said a close friend of her's recently died. and so sister Chambers shared how they will live again and talked about eternal families. This girl, Lydia, also talked about how she's revently been diagnosed with epilepsy. At the end we gave her a Book of Mormon and got her info. Today was incredible. I can't wait to be doing this all the time. I felt so united with my companion. We made up for the other persons weaknesses. it was great. My first day prosoliting we were all so happy. we did have some hard times as well but ultimately we did our best and that is what God asks for. One wierd thing that happened to us at the very end of the day. As we got off the train once we returned to Chorely we saw a woman that sort of approached us like she was waiting for us. So we stopped and she just stared at us for a second or 2. Sister Chambers said it was like the lady was looking into her soul. The lady then touched sister Chambers arm and said in a very conserning way, "I'm lost!" You could just tell it wasn't in the literal sence. She was English and you could tell it ment something deeper. So we responded, "how can we help you?" she just stood there a second and you could tell she was contemplating something, like whether or not to talk to us. Then all of the sudden she looked to the train and saw what i think was her husband. When she looked back to us she shook her head like coming out of a daydream and said, "nevermind." Before we could say anything she and her husband were off and we couldn't catch up to them. It was crazy but i feel there was so much more to what happened...

That day was incredable!!! can you believe all that happened in just 2 and a half hours. I am so excited to do it again this Friday. Well i love you guys so much. Oh and i talked with the mtc councelors and they said that you definitely should come pick me up! :) I went on a church history sites tour on sunday which was awesome and when you come to get me we could go on it again. I have a picture of me by the River Ribble which i will have to send to you. I miss you and love you. The church is true.
-Love Sister Alyssa Longmore

A visit to the Big City!

Not much in the way of emails from Alyssa this week--she has been a busy girl. She got to go into town and experience all sorts of "firsts". Click on the collages below and you can see an enlarged version of what she has gotten to see and do. (I am so grateful for the person from the MTC who took these pictures!)

Nervous Energy

Taylor asked me the other day why I keep "crafting" things for Alyssa. I barked back-"Stop it! It's how I handle my nervous energy." I reassured him that when he is on his mission I will be "crafting" for him too.

E-Mails Week 2

EMAIL TO MOM
I am learning so much. It has felt like i have learned a lifetime amount of information in just 5 short days. I had a rough day the other day, I kind of broke down yesterday but luckily my companion is so sweet. I was a little embarrassed but she helped me a lot and going to the temple today was exactly what i needed. I had just been learning so much and it was getting overwhelming. And I felt a little inadequate to teach and what not but really i shouldn't because it takes time to learn how to be good at teaching and that is why we have 3 weeks in the mtc. I am really grateful for that. By the time i leave here i will be ready to hit the streets and start teaching. We actually get 2 times while being here in the mtc where they will take us to Manchester, cuz we are in Preston right now, and they will let us loose and we will approach people and talk to them. I am so excited. This is the perfect environment. I am glad i got to come to this mtc because we really get more one on one time with the teachers and they can give us so much help. I really have learned to lean on the Lord. I need him in everything i do. This little thing called a mission is going to help me so much in the little thing called life. I think the mtc experience is one everyone should experience. It has been great. I am loving it here and i hope you guys are doing well. it looks like you are having fun on Halloween. Today is going to be exciting because it is the first day we can actually see what England is really like. We get to go to town and go shopping. You cant really tell what it is like from inside the walls of the mtc so I cant wait to get out and see the actual town. i had a few things blow up trying to use the adapter. for one my cd player alarm clock started smoking and i had to set it outside our window so the fire alarm wouldn't go off. My flat iron is now broken as well because of the dang outlets. Cant they just be the same all over the world. So i will try to send that home to you so hopefully we can get a new one since it hasn't been a year since buying. actually i might be able to get it exchanged even over here. hmmm we will see. my blow dryer as well is struggling:( but they have some extras that girls have left that work here so i can probably have one of those.
I love you all so much. I will try to get a camera usb thing so i can send some pictures. Have a fantastic day. adios
-sister alyssa longmore

EMAIL TO DAD
I have had a lot of classes about how to teach by the spirit, and on planning and also on the Book of Mormon. It seems like i am constantly in classes so they all kind of mesh together for me. I haven't had any culture classes so far but we will be celebrating some English holidays. Sister Chambers and I are the only 2 sisters at the mtc and there are only 2 districts, one consists of the 5 German speaking missionaries and the other is mine, the Moroni district, we have 9 people. This has been a really humbling experience. I am realizing how much I need the Lord in all that I do. I have somewhat struggled with things here that I have never struggled with before. For instance, when giving lessons for an investigator I forget everything i planned and just ramble... I really have had to turn to the Lord. Luckily we got to go to the temple which was amazing. I am learning so much more than I ever expected, and I am learning a lot about myself. There is one other missionary that is going to my mission in Manchester. I've heard so many good things about it. I will send you some pictures soon to show you what is like. It is so green and it really looks like fall time here. There is a gym at the mtc and we can go out and run or play soccer. Being dressed up all the time is a little strange and I will have to get used to it. They have recordings of general authorities that spoke in Provo at the mtc there and that is what we watch instead of them coming. It is nice that there are so few of us because we get a lot of one on one time and attention. I love you. Thank you for sharing about your mission, I never knew that about you.

Week Two in the MTC--Learning a new language

I have learned a lot of fun english words.
Nibbles:snacks, Cheers:thanks, Rubbish:trash or crap,
Natta:chat, Cantene:cafeteria, to pinch or nick:steal,
snogging:kissing, plaster:band-aid, rubber:eraser,
daft:silly, chav:thug, trainers: sneakers,
going to town: is going to the mall.