A Whole New World

Bowling with the Brits

So last night I was invited to go bowling with one of Hayley’s friends, Ellie. She’s 18 and a ball of fun. Her personality is very social but also one of those types that think things are boring really quickly and has a slightly negative outlook on life but we had a lot of fun. We took the bus to this place called AMC where there is a bowling/pool/bar alley. We had to have ID to get in-quite interesting. There were six other youth from the stake there and they were called Dave, Pete, Johnny, Chris, Liz and Sara. It was loads of fun. You may not know this but the English hardly bowl at all, and even though I’m not considered the best bowler in America, I wasted them. Ha ha I’ve never seen so many people get zero pins so many times in a row. It was outrageous and a good time. After bowling we did some typical teenage sit around and do nothing and ended up going home. We walked through a couple of squares on the way to the bus stop and it was really awesome. All of the kids were really welcoming and funny.

Now this story is for Jill Wistisen and she is going to hate it. On the bus home Ellie and I are just chattin away when we hear this shattering. We turn around and there’s this black (not Muslim) man breaking the glass around and emergency alarm or who knows what. Naturally I’m scared to death that it’s going to stop the bus and he’s going to pull out a gun or a bomb, but it ends up being quite humorous because everyone on the bus is staring at him and he is having the hardest time getting whatever is inside out. It’s all wrapped up in this wire and he just can’t get it to go, so eventually he just gets off in a hurry. What he was doing, we have no idea but I have never been so scared in my life. I pooped on the spot. But the really cool thing was that as soon as I turned and saw what he was doing I immediately said a prayer that we would be safe and even though I was so scared, I was perfectly content and knew that I would be safe or even if I wasn’t everything was meant to be and it would all be okay. These couple of days have already been a HUGE learning experience for me and I’ve grown so much. I can’t even explain it.

It’s a completely different world here. You won’t even believe what it’s like. Every time I leave the house I worry that the next man that walks down the street is going to talk to me or attack me, or that every other person on the bus is going to sit next to me and be all nasty or have a bomb and blow the bus up. Everyone drinks and everyone smokes. At the slightest sign of sunshine people start getting naked. It rains every twenty minutes on and off and people drive quite safely but at extreme speeds with pedestrians running across the street. I’m not allowed to walk down the street alone and I get yelled at or called to by nasty men, white and brown, driving past as well as honked at which often results in involuntary bowel movements. It is the scariest place I have ever been and I’ve never been stronger. Heavenly Father holds my hand everywhere I go. I pray at least ten times a day and He comforts me all the time. Even though I am constantly worried and scared in the back of my mind, it doesn’t matter because I know I can do anything, get through anything and survive anything if I stay close to the Lord. It’s the greatest thing!

Today is Sunday and I went to church here in England for the first time. It was fantastic. The ward is considered large here but it’s roughly about half to ¾ the size of our average Utah ward. Everyone there was extremely kind and welcoming to me and I felt so loved; by everyone at home supporting me and everyone here helping me carry on. Tony spoke at church today and he mentioned me and how it was his responsibility to take care of me and that he did it because he wanted to. He was so incredibly nice and said that I was a blessing in his family’s life. I am so comfortable in this house. They also have missionaries in their ward and one of them is from Utah. Surprise! His name is Elder White and he is great. He told me about everything that’s going on and where I should go. He also asked me to fellowship their investigators in RS. They were these darling Chinese girls with a baby name Neo who was easily the most darling baby I have ever seen! So Cute! I tried my best and at the end of church Elder White asked me if I would like to teach with the sister missionaries sometime. I peed. It scares me to death to think about it but I’m going to do it. I might as well because I have been doing so many not-like-Danielle things since I got here. I shall make a list of them and you shall all be so proud.

Exhibit A- As soon as I got here, I immediately to the initiative and called my boss and sub boss. For those who know me I hate calling people on the phone, especially ones I don’t know. I also asked the Collins for everything I needed without restraint and got everything I needed done quite promptly.

Exhibit B- I eat/try every dish of food that is placed in front of me. The food here is very exotic and makes American food look like plain white rice. All the foods here have tons of spices and mixtures, while at home the food is very bland and unoriginal compared to here. I’m not sure I like it but I’m being very open about the whole idea.

Exhibit C- I strut the streets like I own the place, which I might have done at home but here it’s a whole other ball park. I’m very independent and have taken directions correctly twice now. I did get lost once but you can’t blame me because the streets here are chaos. You’d think that numbered streets are harder than names, at least I did. But when applying to real life, I prefer numbers much more because there is some kind of structure and direction. 100 S. turns to 200 S. and so on but here Beachburn Way turns to Wood Lane which turns to Bullring Avenue. Thus you can see how clearly navigatable England is. It’s terrible.

Exhibit D- I am mean. I completely ignore everyone walking by or calling to me. I wear a slightly angry at the world-don’t want to talk to nobody-look on my face as I walk down the street… then I see a darling black baby and my whole façade falls apart. Anyway, the point is I have been working on my rude side.

Exhibit E- Today I set up an appointment to meet with a lady named Natalie who is like what I called before, kind of my sub boss. She is like a manager over the restaurant and bar part of the hotel. We met at three, just after church to have a drink and just chat about what I’m going to be doing. I went all alone and handled it very professionally, I think. We met at this place called the Mailbox which is actually nothing like a post office but rather what the English would call a very “posh” shopping center. We had lunch at this nice restaurant and she told me what I’ll do and asked me about who I was and what I wanted from this. I can’t remember the exact name, but she said they wanted me to be their (something) standard champion- I work in all areas of the hotel and restaurant and make sure that every one is doing what is required as the standard of the Premier Inn chain. So cool! I’m fine with anything that has the name champion in it. J She got me pretty excited and dad, you are going to be so proud. It’s going to be like nothing I’ve ever done before. I imagine it is something you would love to have me do-leadership, communication, delegation. Right up your alley. I will be working mostly in the restaurant and bar, waitressing and what not, but I think I will be trained in mostly everything. For the first two weeks I will work Mon-Fri from 9-5 and then it might change. After it opens I’ll probably be working five days a week, 35 hours. I already made it clear that I have church Sunday morning/afternoons and she was very accommodating. She was very nice, even though she smoked while we were together, she was extremely courteous in that she made sure she was always upwind and she didn’t give me a hug because she was covered in smoke. Interesting experience. I also had to clarify that I don’t drink alcohol or coffee. Pretty fun.

That is my life right now and it is going to be like nothing I’ve ever done before and it is going to be hard and I’m going to do it! I promise the two necklaces I received before I left have been a strength and comfort to me as well. I wear them always. One says “Be strong and of a good courage” and the other is a locket from my sister with pictures of me and my sisters. I adore them both. I will also have the Wistisens know that the blanket and pillow have been invaluable gifts on this trip, and so have the towels Clay gave me. On the planes I was easily the most comfortable as I whipped out my massive blanket and mini pillow from my backpack that carried nothing else. J They also make me happy when I’m homesick, which is all the time.

I love you all so much and miss you. I’m grateful for the support you give me, it means so so much. Love, Danielle

I apologize for the lack of pictures, but I’m a bad picture taker and I’m still working on the battery situation.