The Wettest Month In English History is Now Over!

Dear Everyone,

The Wettest Month In English History is Now Over!

I did make a bit of a comparison between my prayers for sunshine and the fasting on the West Coast of the U.S. for rain. Also, I hadn't thought that the rain was that much worse than normal (of course not having experienced a normal January here). The only problem with the rain and cold and wind has been that, missionary work being an outdoor sport (yes, and I'm going to make a petition for Rio 2016 and 2018 in S. Korea somewhere), it is a bit tougher in the pouring wind and rain.

So anyhow, this week has been one of those weeks for breaking down before building back up again. I was sick on Tuesday and thought I had recovered sufficiently so was excited to exchange to Cheltenham with one of our awesome Zone Leaders, Elder Gorouhi (don't even ask how to pronounce that one as I don't know...). We had a marvelous time and I learned loads. The one thing is that most Zone Leaders stay warm and dry in their cars but not these ones! We were out in the rain and cold all day and it was epic. I cannot even say how awesome it was to learn all the things I did and get the chance to take them back to the rest of the Gloucester District. After that exchange (Wed to Thurs), I headed up on a mini-exchange for a baptismal interview in the Forest of Dean. Unfortunately, it was in the English part of the Forest so I still haven't been to Wales but it was a really amazing experience as well. Then we got back in time to get to bed and then wake up on Friday for Weekly Planning and then another exchange with Gloucester A and the newest missionary in our District, Elder Hunter who is one of two Albertans who are two of the three Canadians in our District (the other is from B.C.). That exchange was epic and we both learned a lot as well-including the most successful and amazing door-knocking experience I've ever been part of (and it was only like the 8th door knocked on his mission so it was great) and more biking in the pouring rain out to Brockworth (home of world famous cheese-rolling). So then, I was sick again with different and worse symptoms on Saturday evening and worse still on Sunday. Then I got a Priesthood Blessing from Elders Orr, Hunter, and Decaudin after church and felt much better-not quite enough to risk the cold and wet for Sunday but I'm now miraculously at 95% and excited to have a real work week ahead of us. It should be good. Heavenly Father has really blessed me! I'm so grateful! Also, I hate hate hate being sick! I'm chowing down on Vitamin C and doing all sorts of other things that my parents have been telling me to do for years (and, note, have been doing thus far on my mission (lest there be any unnecessary chastisement from the parental health advisory council (Dad!)).

Some cool/weird things:

1. The man who wrote the Star Spangled Banner was born in Gloucester... or something like that anyway.

Gloucester Cathedral, of Harry Potter fame

2. Much of Harry Potter was filmed in the Gloucester Cathedral. We should be going there some P day soon...

3. We found a French Family to teach after Elder Decaudin noticed their French License plate and decided to knock.

 The Gloucester District + Zone Leaders who came to District Meeting.
Back Row: Elder Williams (Zone Leader, Arizona I think, Cheltenham
A), Elder Hunter (Alberta, Gloucester A), Elder Parham (Arizona,
Forest of Dean), Elder Haynie (Utah I think, Forest of Dean), Sister
Muhlman (Germany, Gloucester B. Also, there should be two dots
over the u...), and Sister Lambert (British Columbia, Gloucester B).
Front Row: Elder Orr (Alberta, Gloucester A), Elder Gorouhi
(Zone Leader, Germany, Cheltenham A), Elder Decaudin
(France, Gloucester C), and Elder Houghton (Californ-I-ay,
Gloucester C).

4. The Gloucester District is AMAZING!!!

5. I got to add a language to my"List of Languages that People I have Taught have Needed Materials in Because they weren't Totally Fluent in English"--Portugese while on exchange in Cheltenham. Also, the "Department for making ridiculously long names for lists of things that I make up when I'm not at a public library so my time isn't as constrained as normal" got a metaphorical funding increase this week because we're not emailing at the 2 hour limited public library.

6. Elder Decaudin almost got killed by a hydroplaning Volkswagon while I was on exchange with Elder Hunter.  BTW, Elder Decaudin is doing great. His English is getting better and I can understand him better than at first (His English was pretty good to start out with). We're learning a lot together and he mostly avoided the illness. He's also really really funny which is good because I can be a bit boring.

The glasses!

7. My vision has been going blurry so I got glasses ----------->

8. I realised that my diet changes dramatically depending on the area and companion. Also, a member fed us this really good and easy Pasta dish that I'm going to make some time this week. Perfect Missionary food!

9. Number seven was a joke but the glasses were £1 at Primark!

10. I have mastered Pancakes. They are great but require a bit of pre-planning to have time to make. 

Ok, I'm going to add some pictures before things get too crazy. I'm really loving having a bit of extra time...

(Me trying to remember the codes for letters in French which Elder Decaudin is lacking because he's using an English keyboard:  é0233 ñ0241 ç0231 û0251 ô0244)

By the way, I sent the wrong address earlier. The correct address is:

Elder Houghton

Flat 1, 4 Cheltenham Road

Gloucester

GL2 0LR

England

Ok, so this week has been a really wonderful week for study and learning. I'm studying Matthew and learning a lot from the Saviour's example as a teacher and servant. It's really good.

I love you all loads and loads! February should be a bit warmer and less wet hopefully! Also, this week should be much better for missionary work!

Elder Houghton

It's a shame because we don't eat Hot Dogs from Cans in America! I don't know why but they label a lot of things as American style that aren't American at all...

Feel free to include that in the blog in some form...