Week 2 of Complete Isolation

Week 2 of complete isolation! This week we were a bit more used to the lifestyle so it was definitely a lot better than the last week. Still trying to get the hang of this whole online proselyting thing but we are getting there. The ward has still been great at providing us with food and as well the extra time for exercise has been nice. The UK government has been super strict on the lockdown though, everyone is only allowed outside once per day, and also any public gatherings of more than 2 people is illegal. Which means it's just gonna be me and my companion for the next few weeks and we can meet anyone else. It's a sticky situation but we will fight through. 

Tuesday (Mar 24): Today was a great start to the week, in the morning I woke up and really hit the grind on the weights for exercise since we can't go out in the mornings any more, then I got a solid 2 hours of Book of Mormon study in. Then we had a companionship study, which was about come follow me, then did online Proselyting and called returning members. Then we drove to pick up some lunch from a member. Worked a bit more online and studied, then we headed out for our good extra exercise time. Honestly though the highlight of my day was the amount of time I was able to spend reading. Today I read 21 chapters in the Book of Mormon and I learned sooo much! Great day to say the least. 

A little meme of myself for everyone!

Wednesday: Yet another solid say. Also it was my mom's birthday so I got to call her for a bit and say happy birthday, which was great to give me something else to do. We spent a lot of time reaching out to members, and studying today as well. Nothing too specific happened but it was another solid day like yesterday.

Thursday: This morning we went through with a big deep clean on the flat which was nice felt so good when it was done. A member brought us some lunch for today so that was fantastic, also for exercise we headed to a place with a cool football field and basketball hoop but it was quite a ways away, but boy was it fun! It felt great to play some sports. Then a member provided us with some dinner and we showered after our exercise and closed out the day with a bit more online work. But today was wonderful! 

Friday: Another pretty decent day. This morning I studied Jacob 5 and it was like an hour long just focused on that chapter and it was so good oh my days! Then we picked up lunch from a member, focused on online Proselyting and contacting members, and then did our additional exercise for the day. Came home to shower and clean up, then finished off our evening with some good studies and card games. 

Saturday: Our morning comprised of a zone conference via a live stream on Facebook live. That took up a few hours of our day but honestly it was super cool! Then we ate lunch, and did online Proselyting, followed by a few more games for a bit of fun. And in preparation for fast Sunday tomorrow we had to make sure to have a feast so we got a nice pile of rice and chicken that was of course provided to us by the wonderful members, finished it up, then went to bed. It was a chill night! 

Sunday: What a great Sunday! This was the first time that I have ever taken the sacrament in my own home, and it was just myself and my companion. We had our own Sunday service by listening to conference talks and playing a bit of chess. Then we also had a call with the companionships in our district to do a little bit of the Come Follow Me together. It was pretty cool. After that we had a correlation with the STL's about our plan for the next week, and then I was able to call my family and have a Sunday lesson with them altogether as well. So wonderful!

 That was a great blessing to be given the opportunity to call twice a week so that I was able to do that. There's no better feeling than feeling the spirit with your family. We also had a big old dinner of Pasta to close out our fast. Then tonight we just did our usual Sunday evening routine of call ins and relaxing. It was a really good close to the week. 

I would really love to hear from you guys this week. Please send me an email! We are doing ok but just get hit with a lot of boredom especially towards the end of the day when it's night time. Please feel free to email me I would really appreciate it! Love you all lots! Have a great week. 

Elder Orchard

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