Chapter 3: Halifax

Heyo hope you're all doing good. This week has been quite eventful and busy. Liking the new area and it's a great change of pace I'm liking it.

Being in Halifax has been great. I'm liking the flat and its quite nice to have my own personal space instead of living out of a suitcase and a mattress on the floor in the four man flat last area. A 4 man flat is nice if there's room for everyone's stuff. So the first day we unpacked and cleaned out the flat because it was left a bit messy when quarantine happened and was uninhabited ever since. The downside to no public transportation is that we have to walk 30 min to get groceries unfortunately. 

As for the rest of the week we made a lot of phone calls and asked other missionaries about the area to get up to date with things. We have a super solid friend named Alana who loves the Book of Mormon. She seems super genuine and a little crazy haha. We got to see her in person as well. We trekked 40 min to her house to drop off a come follow me and a physical copy of the Book of Mormon.

Later in the week we met up with some other Elders to play basketball. Basketball courts are very popular here in England but we somehow found one 45 min away. The hoop is about 10 1/2 feet tall but it gets the job done. Our area is very hilly so walking to places is a work out, but it's fun to see everything.  

I'm excited for this new area though we have a lot we can be doing so we are staying busy which is nice in quarantine. 

Funny story real quick. So just before we went to Alana's we needed another come follow me book so we got permission to go to the chapel to grab one. We walk in and the alarm starts blaring loud and we have no idea what the code is to shut it off so we are just standing there while this alarm is going off and people are walking by staring at us. We call some Elders and members who may know the code but no luck. Thankfully bishop was able to respond to our message 10 min later. It was stressful and kind of awkward just standing there while it was going off. We were anticipating the police to show, but thankfully they never did. 

Spiritual thought: 

Let Virtue Garnish Your Thoughts- Elder Burton 

"President James E. Faust suggested that integrity is the mother of many virtues. He noted that integrity can be defined “as a firm adherence to a code of moral values.” He also suggested that “integrity is the light that shines from a disciplined conscience. It is the strength of duty within us” It is difficult for a person to display virtuous traits if he or she lacks integrity. Without integrity, honesty is often forgotten. If integrity is absent, civility is impaired. If integrity is not important, spirituality is difficult to maintain."

I've been thinking a lot about quarantine and other missionaries lately. This is a hard thing to do. A lot of missionaries true integrity is being tried and shown during these interesting times. It is extremely important to make sure we stay disciplined as missionaries and continue the same habits we had been doing before quarantine. Just because circumstances have changed doesn't mean that our habits, rules, and behaviors  should change. We still need to be disciples of Jesus Christ. Your integrity is shown when no one is watching. I am enjoying this time of great learning. Though this is a tough thing I am grateful for the experience and trial. 

Thank you all for the support and prayers. Hope you have a fantastic week this week and feel free to email! Love you all!

Elder Jones 

1-2. Halifax