Sister Pursglove in the England Manchester LDS Mission: Weekly Letter #39: June 29, 2020

9 months left :(

All righty. Should we get back into our normal groove of emails? This one is for my Uncle Ian, and has been stocked with plenty of entertaining aspects.

Let's dive into our weekly update!

LOCKDOWN?
Hallelujah finally finally there are some big changes that are happening on July 4th in good old Jolly England!
- Barbers and hairdressers are opening.
- The 2 metre distancing is being reduced to 1 metre (however the 2 metres is still recommended).
- Restaurants are going to start slowly opening.
- 2 households can now meet inside or outside while still maintaining at least a 1 metre distance between the households.
- Groups up to 30 can meet (we might be having Zone Conferences soon AND Sacrament Meetings are being planned and waiting for approval).
- Marriages can now happen with up to 30 people.
- Libraries are opening so we can meet our friends in there as well again.

Obviously we're going to be safe and still be wary, but it's nice to start having a few more options.

FUNNY STORY?
A new fun trait I have developed on my mission is that I make impulse decisions because why not? This trait kind of popped up when quarantine started because I think I got bored and was willing to do anything to stay entertained. My big impulse decision for this week was to have my companion dye my hair brown. Now let us note, my companion has never dyed hair before. Let us also note that I have never really fully dyed my hair a normal color. I have dyed my hair pink, but never a normal color. And finally, I am a missionary and if it went wrong, there is not a whole lot that could be done to remedy that as hairdressers are closed. With those facts under my belt, we bought the hair dye and began. Folks I am pleased to announce that it turned out great! Sister Sellick (my companion), did an amazing job and I am now a brunette (even though it looks reddish in pictures). Pics included.

SPIRITUAL STORY?
This week I hit my 9 month mark. I am officially halfway through my 18 month mission. I only have 9 months left and then my mission is over. How do I feel about that? How has my mission been so far? What has been the biggest lesson I've learned? All good questions and we'll go through and cover them all right now.

I have absolutely loved my mission. This is probably one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life. The amount of things I have learned and experienced in this brief amount of time has been absolutely crazy. I cannot imagine what my life would be like without this. I know this is all cheesy mush, but it's so true. I think I always kind of rolled my eyes when people said that missions were the best time of their lives, or that missions see like 10 years of real life condensed into 18 months. However, I get all of that now. It's so true! I don't know how it is, but it is!

I would say the biggest lesson I've learned on my mission is that Jesus Christ and His Atonement can change our lives, but only if we let Him change us. I've learned that Heavenly Father loves me so perfectly and that He loves all of us more than we can ever imagine. I've learned that the purpose of this life is to have joy, and to experience everything to the fullest, even if we make impulse decisions sometime. The Church is true (and the Book of Mormon is typically blue—sorry for the rhyme—I had to).

I love this gospel. I love my Savior. I love my Heavenly Father. I love the Book of Mormon. I'd invite you to find out why I love it so much, whether that be by emailing me, or talking to members you know, or even texting the missionaries.

And one more thing before I go: on Sunday, July 5th, we have another Why I Believe Devotional coming up (6:30 PM here, 11:30 AM Utah time)! They're amazing and you should join in! I'm not kidding. Here is the link.

I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!

Photographs Below :)