week 63

I'm still in Milford for the 6th transfer so at the end of this it will be 9 months in this area.  Unfortunately if I do get transferred on October 31st I will miss the opening of the chapel, but its alright because we don't ever really see the ending result in this life anyway.  We work and work and work then in the next life we see it and how much joy will we have when we do.

I'm working on improving myself, one thing i working on is saying better more meaningful prayers that are guided by the spirit.  If I pray with the spirit he will tell me what to say and I will know that is the will of God.  I'm working on working smarter.  I think and feel I am a hard worker but if I can now work smarter as well that will help.  So many things i want to learn and apply.  It's ok i have time. I want to get in habits of doing things that way when I come home I can still do these things.

Well that lady we found because I wrote down the wrong address is moving back home to North Wales, which is out of our area and out of our mission.  That's ok, we are going to see her tonight and get her details so we can refer her to the elders up there, then she leaves tomorrow.  i hope she continues to progress and wants to learn more.
We got a media referral the other day actually.  Basically if you go on mormon.org you can request a missionary visit and it goes to SLC and then distributes to missions, then to missionaries. so we got one who lives in a small town/village about 30 minutes away.  So we called him and I can't tell if he is a nonmember or a Less active but we are seeing him
tomorrow night so we will find out for sure.  He said he really wants to come back to church so whether he is a member or not, he wants to come to church which is the important bit.


This transfer is dedicated to Thomas S Monson because October will mark 49 years of being an apostle. So everyone in the mission is setting a goal to baptise once this transfer, so that is our goal and I know we can accomplish it!
So we are going to rely on God, work smart and work hard and we will be blessed with a baptism.

My mission is shaping me and giving me these experiences and trials because I have a sneaking suspicion that I will have similar trials later so God is preparing me for that.  I am grateful I came on a mission. The experiences, the friends the memories I have had are amazing and I will never forget them. Tell your seminary kids to go on missions because it is the best decision they will ever make in their life.  It will give them 40 years of life experience crammed into 2
years,  it will make them better than when they left and they will see the change and be grateful for the opportunity they had to be shaped by the Lord.  It is an amazing experience.

week 62

The library internet is under the works so we went to the senior couples home to email.  

This has been a long week, but the Lord is for sure blessing us.  Well so here is the news-- I'm staying in Milford Haven with Elder Dutton so I'll be here for another 6 weeks the next transfer day is 31st of October--Halloween transfer!

It has been good here.  We are working hard and more importantly trying to work a lot smarter. We are trying to be more productive and plan better and be more organised and it is paying off.    It's all about on Friday weekly planning set up all your teaches, dinners, everything then over the next couple of days confirm and get people to come teaching with you, then Sunday confirm the fellowshippers, then your week is set.  It's perfect!  so that's what we are going to do this transfer and we are going to see success.

So here is the update of what has been happening.....

Last week we had a zone meeting and training in Swansea so that was good.  

We have been doing loads of finding trying to find people to teach. 

We have been able to do a couple of service projects for some members

more finding and

more finding

I have learnt on my mission that no matter how much you go out and work if the desire to go out and work and the right attitude isn't there then to be honest your just wasting your time and the Lord's time.  So I have prayed everyday to have a better desire, a better attitude, to be happy, be filled with love, and have faith.  i feel those are the most important qualities we can develop.

On monday we stopped by this potential with a member and we pulled up to the house and I realised I had wrote down the wrong address. and so we were like oh well let's knock it, so we did, and this lady and her sister let us in and we had a lesson and we are going to go back tomorrow and they want to come to church!  The Lord is blessing us for sure!  

Then we spent all day in Pembroke Dock an area about 1 hour away on bike so we bike out there and spend all day and get 5 potentials and a couple of those are families!!! Miracles are happening.

In district meeting we talked about families and how the gospel can bless them and how most of our drive to be on a mission is because of our families and how the gospel has blessed us.  So we are striving to find a family to teach.  So our goal is by the end of Sunday to find a family!  We want it soooo bad!  

Things are good here. I love this area, I love the people, I'm trying my best to love my companion, and I want to see success-- but something we always have to look at is why do we want success, is it for recognition or because we want to bring children of God back.  

I love my mission, even though it can be hard, I have learnt some of the most valuable life lessons ever!!!  I will appreciate my mission forever and everything that it has taught me.  

week 61

Here is a shout out to Cameron for the blog.

Hey Cameron!  It's Michael!  I love you and hope you have an amazing birthday!

Hey Katie!  I miss you and hope you are loving school and Girl Scouts! 

On my mission I have gained a strong testimony that everything that happens, God has a role in it. I know that to be true.  Our agency and God's plan, and desire to help us return to live with him is what composes our life really.  It's amazing though because for me it gives me an opportunity when something amazing happens to say thanks Heavenly Father and when things don't work out I can say alright Heavenly Father what was I supposed to learn from that, and I know its all part of his plan.  My goal for the remainder of my time left on my mission is to build a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.  I want to be able to trust and rely on Him at all times.  I want to be able to know he is hearing and answering my prayers and i want to be able to recognise the answers.  That is my main goal before i come home. 

I have studied the war chapters in the Book of Mormon and I love them!  I know that when i pray for something 50% of the time my answer comes through reading the Book of Mormon.  Someone said that praying is us speaking to God and reading our scriptures is us allowing God to speak to us.  

I have to give a talk next Sunday on Coming unto Christ, and my approach to it is to come unto Christ through his atonement and sacrifice, being made clean through him and being able to push a reset button in a way.  

Things are good here.  im learning patience, love, charity, dilligence, perserverance, hard work, hope, faith, trusting in God, and sooooooooo much more but i am soo grateful for the decision i made to serve a mission.  God is literally our father, he loves us, and cares about us.  Jesus is the Christ and Saviour and redeemer of the world and through him we can return to live with our Father and families.  I know the atonement of Jesus Christ is real!  i have seen it work in others' lives but more importantly in my own.  You feel our Saviour's love and you know he knows exactly what you're going through.  

week 60

Michael giving a Book of Mormon to a squirrel

You have no idea, well you probably do, but post makes my day!  I love it soo much. 

 

This week was a trying week yet again.  We find all day, every day, hoping that someone will want to listen. Then by the grace of God on Saturday we found someone.  She is mid to late 20's with a little son.  She was really interested in the plan of salvation.  We were able to leave her with a Book of Mormon and she said we could come around next Saturday, so I'm looking forward to Saturday! 

Weird beware signs

Floating bikes

I was able to bear my testimony yesterday and I know that Heavenly Father knows and loves each one of us.  He is concerned for us.  "We are the very reason that there was an atonement and that there is a plan of salvation and exaltation." Elder Holland.  I have learned that we laugh at the Lamanites and their eternal pride cycle and we laugh at Laman and Lemuel and how daft they were. But I have noticed how much of a Laman and Lemuel I am and can be and how my pride cycle can sometimes spin faster than the Lamanites.  We are quick to point at others and don't notice that we have it as well.  I know my pride cycle is whizzing around and I'm constantly either humbling myself or unfortunatley for me being humbled.  I am trying my best to really be a Nephi.  When asked to do something just to have a good attitude in doing it.  It's not a difficult thing to do but it becomes hard when something hard is placed in front of us. 

We had Zone Conference and Elder Donaldson of the area 70 came and spoke to us and he gave us a formula that fits in with this.  DESIRE=FAITH+ATTITUDE=ACTION  so our desire is shown by our faith and attitude and if we have both then we can really transform our desires into realities.  I thought that was so cool because you see it.  It is an amazing thing, I love it.

 

Most of the time we cook for ourselves, which involves pasta and sausages and pasta sauce or rice and chicken with curry sauce.  But members feed us pulled pork sandwiches, mexican food, lasagne, spaghetti bolonase.  It's all good food.  

 

I've learnt so many things on my mission.  I dont know if so far on my mission ive done any good for others but one thing is for sure, i learnt to trust in god and know that He loves us and is always watching out for us.