May 17th, 2017

   This week was scary... so Elder Aguiar has had some health issues that he has had for over two months but he never told anyone. Finally he told me and I told him he needs to tell the mission president. He said no because he didn't think it was a big deal so I called the mission president myself and told him. President Gubler told us to schedule a doctors appointment and that appointment happened on Thursday. We get into the GP and the doctor checks Elder Aguiar out behind the curtain. I could hear everything and the doctor says pretty quickly and definitely that he has a hernia. He said it seems stuck as well Aguiar will have to go immediately to the surgeons to get the bit of bowel that is sticking out to get pushed back in or he may need immediate surgery. That was so freaky. he gave us a letter and told us to go to A&E. we rushed to A&E both scared because surgery means he will have to go home off his mission. When we parked the car Elder Aguiar asked for a blessing so we both got into the back seat and I gave him a blessing. It was SO powerful and we could both feel God's love for us so strongly and we were filled with peace. We got into A&E and they said they can't take us to the surgeons immediately because he has to see a doctor there first. It was a good thing we did because this doctor said it wasn't a hernia but it maybe something worse or something much less worse. He wasn't sure which it was, whether it was the result of something cancerous or if it was something called a hydra-seal. It wasn't very helpful to use the word cancer so Aguiar was even more scared at this point. Well after about 4 hours of being in the hospital the doctor sent us home with an ultrasound appointment for early the next morning. Elder Aguiar didn't sleep very well knowing that his chances of going home were very very high but he still had the peace from the blessing known everything would be ok. We get into the ultra sound the next morning and they confirm that there is no cancer but in fact it is a hydra-seal. The doctor then set a follow up appointment with a specialist that probably won't happen for about 3 months because the NHS is slow but the end result is Elder Aguiar doesn't need surgery and is staying in his mission. Well at least until he sees he specialist because he still may need surgery. But all is well now. That was a scary experience and I am so sick of being in hospitals for my companions haha

   This week, we had the fanciest Dinner Appointment with a member that I think I've ever had in my life... our friend Paul spent two days on this meal for us. First thing you've got to know, his house is literally a museum. My guess is that ever 6 inches of his house averages 2 antique items of some kind. Like vases, dishes, fancy canes and old school jewelry boxes. And it's spotless. It's unreal! So, just the table set up was crazy. (Plus he's British and those accents just make you feel like you need to eat properly). After he taught us how to use our six different utensils, he gave us this super fancy smoked salmon appetizer. For the main course we had stuffed lamb hearts with delightful parsnips and red cabbage and all this stuff. SO GOOD. and then for dessert, Eaton-Mess, the best thing England has created. The best part though, was the whole time we got him to tell us stories about him and the Queen!! Aha he literally had tea with her and the Duke of Edinborough - just the three of them! And he goes to her private birthday party every year. It doesn't get more British than that. So that was fun!

   On a more spiritual note, missionary work is fantastic. It's such a learning process, no matter what point of your mission you're at. This week, that young Hindi family decided to stop investigating. Also, my favourite people ever, who we were getting really tight with and who were progressing so well, just got a little busy and seem to put their search on the back burner. We hope to see them this week though! Pray for them :) the rest of our friends are doing awesome! It's so great to get to share the gospel.

   One of the lessons I've most learned is that we just need to live in the moment. There's a season for everything! Sometimes I get caught up in thinking about the future, life after a mission, or sometimes just overthinking appointments we have later on in the week. But I've started to learn that we have the best experience and have the most fun doing it as we just buckle down and be wherever we are in the moment. It's the whole "Take it one day at a time and just make it the best day of your life" kinda attitude. Yesterday, we had a lot of time to go and knock some doors, which was great, and Elder Aguiar and I made it the most fun thing! We were both super happy and just having a good time, and it felt like people were a lot more willing to talk to us to! When we live in the moment instead of breezing through the motions looking for tomorrow or next month, that's where we start to find joy in the journey.