Leap

Before we get started, let’s have a little British geography lesson. I found this helpful graphic because it’s something we needed to get straight in our heads.

Okay, moving on…We realized Thursday was February 29th, Leap Day, and we were having the sister missionaries over for dinner. So we decided to plan a fun little activity for them. I found these cute little cardboard suitcases at the craft store and we painted them to create time capsules. We each filled out a paper telling our favorite things right now and wrote a letter to our future self to be opened on February 29, 2028. We’ll also add little trinkets, pictures, etc. into the time capsules. It’ll be fun to open them in 4 years on the next Leap Day!

Happy Leap Day!

And to continue the “Leap” theme, we continue to take leaps of faith every time we get behind the wheel of the car. This week we had a driving lesson with a kind and patient local senior missionary whose day job is as a driving instructor. We each spent a few hours behind the wheel receiving lots of good tips and feedback. But boy, at the end the lesson, we were exhausted! You don’t realize how much you drive on auto pilot until you’re put in a situation where your brain has to be on high alert all the time in order to be safe. Pretty soon, we’ll stop talking about driving because it will become auto pilot for us here, and then we’ll have to adjust all over again when we come home haha.

Yesterday, we took another leap and went on a big driving loop around our area to visit another National Trust site—Greys Court. The area where we live is called “The Chilterns” (or Chiltern Hills) and is designated an AONB or Area of Natural Beauty. We would definitely agree with that designation!

Of course there's a phone booth on a country road in the middle of nowhere.

We toured the elegant house and though it’s still not even officially spring yet, we can see the promise of how beautiful the gardens will be. Apparently the wisteria vines will be worth a trip back in a few months.

I don’t know the origin of this bowl, but I love the message on it. When love is our guide, we can never be led off course. ♥

I’ve noticed a theme in a couple of pictures I’ve taken these last few weeks, so I think I’ll continue looking for these doorways/entries…

Are we willing to step through a doorway that holds something unknown on the other side? Much like a leap of faith, we can only see a small part. These particular doorways reveal a hint of something beautiful on the other side. But it isn’t always clear what we’re stepping into. We’ve felt that every step of the way in our missionary journey so far. I’m sure we’ll get to a point when we’re in a little bit more of a routine, but I think God encourages us to continue to step through new doors. We would miss so much if we just stayed in one place, never venturing out of our comfort zone. In just the two weeks we’ve been here, we already feel such a love for this place and for the people we serve alongside. I can’t imagine not opening the door, taking a leap of faith, and saying yes to this experience.

Here are a few other random pics from the week…

Elder Lund may be an “assistant area legal counsel” by title but he is the host with the most in our area office—he served “high tea” (don’t worry, herbal tea) with some delicious Italian Easter bread.

It's pretty nice to be in a place where we have access to our (my) favorite stores. We drove an hour to get to IKEA to get some cozy bedding just like we had at home. It has made all the difference in our sleep this week. And of course finding a craft store made me happy!

And we’ve been taking walks around our neighborhood every chance we get and exploring new paths. Truly a lovely place.

♥ Until next time, we love you! Cheerio! ♥

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Words of the Week:

(Words or phrases we hear “on the street” that either delight, confuse or amuse us.)

Lovely - no definition needed for this, but it’s just a word that is used often and I think it’s just lovely. :)

Brilliant - also no definition needed, but another word used often, it really makes you feel extra smart when someone replies “Brilliant!” in response to something you said or did.