called to serve....

After the the one day delay due to a monday holiday the call finally arrived. She was sweating bullets because we thought she would have to wait till 8 to open it. God provided snow, and my classes were canceled so we were able to open it up much earlier. 

Thank goodness. 

Madi has been called to serve as a missionary in the Fukuoka Japan mission. She leaves April 3rd--yes 2 short months away we are freaking out over here. I wish you could have seen her face as she read the call, and basically charged my dad. I wish you could have seen my dads face. I'm glad you didn't see my face because I was a hot mess before she even opened the call.

Ohhh I just wish you could have all been there it was an amazing night. Afterwards we practically sat around for the following 2 hours smiling at each other, and occasionally one of us would say JAPAN in disbelief.

We are feeling so blessed. Seeing where God has called each one of my family members has born witness to me that he knows us each individually. I'm so incredibly jealous that these two will be speaking Japanese to each other....seriously the coolest.

I love that we were able to quickly pull out some Japanese apparel for the pictures. 

sis burgon.

About 2 weeks before I left on my crazy month long adventure Madi and I were on the phone, and she told me she had decided to go on a mission. Shock is what I then entered into, and to be quite honest I knew it was coming. I have had such testimony building feelings and impressions about this changed missionary age. Madi and I had talks about the changed age, and it was as if God was preparing me because he knew I would put up a fight to keep her here with me. 

After we talked on the phone I walked into the kitchen and burst into those achey selfish--how dare she leave me--tears. After we left my parents house I cried the entire way home. The thought dawned on me that Kenny and I might start our family while she is gone, and to think that my sister might not be there when I have my first baby has had me in random fits of sobs for the past couple of weeks. I can't tell you the amount of times I've looked at Kenny tears streaming down my face-- "I really don't want her to leave me". 

I left to Ghana in whirl of craziness and the reality of her putting her papers in shifted to the back of my mind. When I talked to my parents on the phone it would creep back, as they updated me on the progress of her papers. 

However, I had the most tender experience while in England. God calmed my soul. The tears are still in full force, but I have had my own confirmation. Visiting Kenny's mission is one of the best things I have ever been able to experience. Sitting in the homes of those Kenny taught, and listening to their stories touched me in such a personal way. I felt such overwhelming love for my husband, love for the gospel, love for missionary work, and more specifically such excitement for my sister. I would go with her if I could. 

I now just want to weep. Weep for the joy she will experience. Seeing Kenny with those he taught was one of the greatest joys of my life. I want that for my sister. I want her to be able to feel the spirit deeper and stronger than she's ever felt before. I want her to learn to love a new area, and a people different than Utah. I want her personality to be the answer to someone's prayers. I want her to find someone else to be the answer to hers. I want her to understand how God needs her talents, personality, and love for life in this work. I want her to able to write about her experiences to Trevor. What a beautiful building experience this will be for their relationship. 

I want her to experience all of the adventure that come from serving a mission. Even if that means I won't have my best friend here with me for awhile. It's only fair I share her. Not everyone gets to have a madison born into their family. Or perhaps she is going because I'm such a superlative missionary writer...either way. 

Here. We. Go. Again. 

I will keep you posted, her call should be here today! 

I'm hoping in 2 years time I'll be picking her up from her mission so she can show me a little bit more of heart the way I was able to do in Ghana. So crazy looking back at how much life we've experience together. 

the countryside.

Today I fell in love with the countryside. It was the most beautiful day...but I have to rewind because the days started out horribly wrong.

We woke up early, and caught the train for our 1hr ride back out to Hatton Cross so we could pick up our car at Sixt car rental. We arrived showed our booking information, and were told we needed to pay the young driver surcharge because we weren't 23. The only reason I booked with Sixt is because I called them twice and they told me both times they don't charge the young driver surcharge. They advertise that on their facebook page and website, but apparently it is different in Europe. I explained I told the guy when I called I was picking the car up in Europe, but to no avail we were given a 90 GBP charge for the young driver thing. Which just about doubled our entire payment for the car. Did I mention I turn 23 while we have the car...still nothing could be done. We finally agree to pay the amount, and then they check our drivers insurance. We have insurance back home, but because it doesn't cover over some crazy amount they needed to charge us for the insurance which was another 90 GBP. Then there was the VAT tax, british office tax...etc. etc. etc. we were money rapped etc.

Then we discover Kenny doesn't have his credit card, so we have to take a bus back to Feltham where Elder Price lives to find the Credit Card or else Kenny can't drive the car blah blah blah. We get there think it is lost for about the next 40 minutes of searching. I call Doris to see if we've left anything...she wants to know where I am, and isn't understanding my questions.

We eventually find the Credit Card. Call our insurance company to discover Europe requires some ridiculous amount of insurance so insurance from America doesn't cover it so we need to pay that insurance.

Long story short we end up back at Sixt car rental, and pay way over 350 GBP which is like $600 for a blasted car rental. We arrived at the car rental place at 8:30 and didn't get the actual car rented till almost 1. So we were charged like crazy and lost most of our day. We were pissed at this point...in fact I'm still pissed thinking about it. Maybe someday it will turn into something we laugh at, but I'm still not there.

We however got on the road, and I was instantly calmed. I could die in these rolling green hills. They are unbelievable. I was literally obsessing. It was like every period drama timed in England was coming to past right before my eyes, and it felt incredibly romantic. I've been dreaming of this place for almost ever. How can you not picture Mr. Darcy walking up the hill to Pemberley when you see hills like this. I was in a crazy romantic dream world. I think I told Kenny like 10 times how I've been romanticising English countryside my entire life, and it didn't disappoint one bit. I'd like to thank Jane Austen and my mom for making me watch the 6 hour version of Pride and Prejudice for that.

To pay her a tribute we stopped at her house. Absolutely beautiful. I think I could actually write books like hers if I lived under such conditions...okay maybe not, but she really grew up in the most beautifully quaint town.

Afterwords we plugged in the gps coordinates for StoneHenge. We were busy gabbing away not really paying attention, and we came up over this hill in the middle of literally nowhere. Settled in the most beautifully green lush landscape sits StoneHenge. I think I gasped it was so beautiful. I really didn't have any expectations for StoneHenge and I was blown away. I think I was obsessed mainly because of this setting, but I have never seen anything remotely like it. It really does have a spirit about it, and it how those rocks got there is beyond me. I loved the place. I would highly recommend it to anyone. Completely surprised me how much I loved it. I think the sheep grazing around it were just the cherry on top to my obsession.

We started heading to Wales, and we were within probably 40 minutes of it, but decided to not take the rest of the journey because it was already getting dark. I was so bummed and wanted to start cursing sixt car rental again.

We decided to drop in on Juliette so we headed up to Bidford on Avon. Kenny didn't have her number and she had no idea we were in England, but he still had her address memorized from the first day he met her. So we just drove there and hoped for the best. It was completely dark when we arrived, and he was positive it wasn't the right house until he saw a picture on the wall of Rebecca so we knocked, and I wish you could have seen their faces. Juliette and Rebecca both came to the door. Kenny had a shadow over his face, but the minute he stepped into the light they screamed Elder Schreiner!!! It was amazing. They were thrilled, and I was so relieved for a minute they weren't sure who he was apparently he has lost a lot of weight since he served in Redditch.

My heart was warmed to see Kenny's picture upon their shelf from their baptismal day. They said they were talking about him earlier today, and sent a package to us last week. So we came home from England to a package with a union jack tablecloth. So happy about that.

We had been there about 45 minutes when Kenny asked if we could sleep over. ha ha Nothing like dropping in right? It was wonderful to stay up late talking in the kitchen about the growth their family has had in the gospel. I felt so full of God's love listening to her share her story from the day she met Kenny, and the steps to baptism. What a beautiful gospel. God is so mindful of each of us. He picks us up right when we need it most.

Juliette shared of the struggles and triumphs she has experienced over the past 2 years, and she is planning to go through the temple this March. How I wish we could go through with her. She has the most beautiful conviction and testimony.

We finished the with pajamas on, hot chocolate, and laughing together. It felt like I had known her my entire life. What a beautiful night.

london exploring

We started the morning off exploring Kings Cross Station. I'm in love with the exposed brick here. Of course we bumped into platform 9 3/4. 

 

Our plan was to wake up early so we could make it to the tower of London for their first tour. We however slept in till 830- 9ish. We hurried to the London Tower to discover it was closed because of the new year.



To be honest I wasn't too bothered by it. We spent the morning strolling along the Thames River, walking the London Bridge, and just seeing London on foot. It was beautiful, and did I mention the sun came out?!!!

Next we got off at Buckingham Palace. The gates on this place are a bit too ornate for my taste ha ha but it was still interesting to see. The queen was in because the flag was raised on top of the house.

We walked along Hyde Park, and eventually made it to the shopping area so we could see Harrods. I'll be honest I walked in the front door, and exited the next door I came to. Too big, I felt overwhelmed by the entire place.

Next we caught the train to Camden Market. Seriously one of the best decisions. I absolutely loved the place. Crowded yet so picturesque with the waterway, millions of little stores, and all the authentic food.

We ate some asian food from a little booth, and took our seat on the scooter. Seriously one of the best ideas. 

 

In front of us was the waterway with a boat thing set up for concerts. If I ever live in England I will come to one of the shows played on that boat. Loved the entire environment of this place. 

If you've seen what a girl wants with amanda bynes and collin firth this is where they shop together and dress up. Okay so I've wanted to come here since I was a tween. Perhaps that is why I liked it so much. 

We bought the coolest little handmade double decker bus in one of the booths, and I also bought some amazing shoes for 10gbp. Couldn't be happier. 

We made a quick stop on the way home at Leadenhall market to see where they filmed a piece of Harry Potter...the diagon alley part.

annnd we stopped at Baker Street to see 221B...Sherlock Holmes House.