Prep, Travel, And Some Quarantine in Wales

What a trip! The long awaited time is now here! I am definitely not in America anymore. 

 

Last Wednesday I got up throughout the night to say goodbyes to my district until early morning the final 3 of us remained. We took 2 Trains and 3 Busses until we got to the airport. There was a little mishap with my passport, but it was a little error on my part and that disaster was avoided haha. We took a 3 hour flight to Chicago and then from Chicago a 7 hour overnight flight to the London Heathrow Airport in England. I was able to talk to my seat-mates on the plane and man, I love just talking to people! Everyone has got a story for sure. And I just wanted to hear about it and offer help.

 

Anyway, after a long plane ride with very little sleep we got to meet the Mission President and a few others who also are in the mission. I said goodbye to Conner for the next 2 YEARS. It's somewhat hard to think about that.

 

Then I got in a Taxi and Died. Like I just collapsed until I woke up and, what the heck? A castle in the distance, some wild language with 13 letters a word on road signs, and weird houses? That was my first impression of Wales. It is so green and so sweet out here though. 

 

I got to my flat. It's 3 stories, but it's small. I think it's quite cute however. We were locked out for about an hour, but we were able to talk to the local "Zone Leader" missionaries in the meantime. We have come mid "transfer" (the time in which missionaries change locations, companions, and the usual time for arrivals) which made it to where we were not properly introduced. Now I am in Quarantine. For 6-10 days. Me and my temporary comps. are making it work though

 

Elder Stock (the one w/o glasses) is pretty easy going. We do our studies and stuff all together well. He is also good at offering spiritual insights.

 

Elder Henderson (circular glasses) actually came from another mission. He was serving in Florida, but this was his original assignment. He's been out 6 weeks now as a missionary there, so he's helped me and Elder Stock learn some ropes of missionary life. Though we all are quite foreign to this culture and barely understand what we actually just stepped into. The best I can gauge it is what I see, hear ,and smell out of the window and the food that we eat. He also is a fantastic cook and is helping us make some enjoyable meals with the portion of food we do have.

 

So I will definitely have much more to share as I go on and get out of Quarantine haha. 

The food here is so much healthier than the states though. Way less sugar, salt and fat. A little bland, but ehh. The issue was that we didn't have salt for a few days haha. They have really good Chocolate. The Cadbury factory is in my mission and they have this chocolate bar with chocolate flakes inside. Sooo good. We cooked 16 chicken breasts and now we just make that with rice and sauce, make soup, quesadillas, omelettes, and such. The accent is definitely here and its just different. Deeper Vowels, no R sound really. Like I said, we are not in the culture yet. The driving is so confusing tho. Oh boy, that is gonna be something. It's not just backwards, people drive fast and everyone is out walking. And like no signs?!

 

For passing time in the flat we play Risk, monopoly, cook food, and listen to talks. It's been good having a trio to help the time go by. It is so pretty outside, too bad this is like the best week of the whole year in Wales and Im in Quarantine. Expect my mission to be very cloudy and quite rainy. 

 

Its been a haul, but I'm happy to be here and just wanna get started haha. That's all. 

 

-Onward and Upwards

 

Elder Berry

 

 

1. The view as I write this    

2. Our little Trio

3. What we got to eat

4. The view of the world around our flat

5. That chocolate twirl Cadbury bar

6-7 The interior of our flat