week 81

Well my b-day is on a Tuesday.  Not on a Monday lol lame, missed a p-day birthday by one day!  We don't have any good plans yet,  just a normal day really.  Mission birthdays aren't too special lol. We might go out to dinner or something.  But on the 8th, that Friday, Donnella is taking us to Pizza Hut because its QB's birthday on the 1st so its like a MEGA celebration.  It will be grand! 

Right now I'm studying in depth the restoration. So im breaking it down sentence by sentence and finding scripture references to back it up and thinking about how it affects me and my life. So today I studied God is Our Loving Heavenly Father. That was good. I found a good scripture in Hebrews chapter 12 (I believe).  So hopefully I will be able to have an in depth understanding of the basic doctrines.  It will be good.  I'm excited for it. 

Things here are good. it was hailing/snowing/raining lol one night and we were riding our bikes and it felt seriously like i was getting pricked in the face by a billion needles hahahaha it was the most painful bike ride of the winter for sure!  We had rain so all the snow is melted which I must say I'm quite glad about because the snow only turns into ice and then we can't really ride our bikes and it just makes the work alot more difficult to do. So now it's nice outside, looks like spring to be honest. A slight wind but its all good. 

Our investigators are struggling.  We have a couple that are sooo close but one struggles with faith and the other struggles accepting the Book of Mormon because she has been raised only with the Bible.  So its a struggle, but we have a member in the ward that is from Oregon actually, and he served his mission in Alabama so he helps us to help her try and accept it.  They are doing well and if they can overcome these hurdles I know they will be baptised.  Then we have a couple other people that just aren't showing the commitment and its quite frustrating because they talk the talk but they just dont do anything.  They sound solid but they don't act. So we have been trying to kick them in the backside saying get to it, if you want it prove it and they havent been so we have had to drop a couple people.

We are working with this returning member and she has a interview with the bishop setup for next week to get her temple recommend!  We are sooo excited for her! She really wants to go to the temple and now we are helping her get ready for the temple trip on february 9.  It will be good! 

This past week has been good. We cleaned the flat really good so its nice and clean and we are keeping it that way :) we did some more service for a member. He is remodeling his house so we went and helped out and we did roofing. So we took all the tiles off and stacked them on the ground.  It was cool! literally it was sooooo cold we had just got some more snow the night before!  But it was really fun, I enjoyed it!

We took this massive tree out of a members front garden and here is a piece of it!  

This was my weapon of choice for taking the tree down. The funnest service project ive ever done!

week 80

It's almost February!  How weird is that! 

Hahaha We sometimes say that we are pesterers for salvation haha.

Diligence is one of the best learnt characteristics ever!  It leads to great things and shows your desire and love for things.

 

Things are crazy! So with transfers.........I'm staying in lufbra. My new companion is........Elder Quackenbush. lol we are both staying so it's cool. 

Things are good here! We taught Donnella last night at the chapel and afterwards we got our food that a member had dropped off.  All the young men were there about to start, so we left and we are walking down the stairs.  We turn around and they are all charging at us with snowballs!   We get into a massive snowball fight hahaha and we are running out of the car park chucking snowballs. We were like retreat its 2 v 7  and we are not prepared hahaha so we booked it hahaha it was soo funny!

 

Our investigators are doing well. They are progressing at their rates but I think we can commit one to baptism for this transfer.  He wants it so now he just is working on showing it.  It's been a really long week since last pday.  We have been working hard. finding, teaching and doing loads of service.  Just yesterday we did roofing with this member, we were up putting tiles on. way cool!  The snow is still here so we have been doing a lot of shoveling.  On Sunday we went up to the church like 2 hours early and shoveled all the walkways, and the entrance and half the car park and laid salt down so when people came it was all clear and safe.  That felt good.  It's been a really rewarding week. 

 

Today the sisters in my group went home :( scary to think that means i only have 4 transfers left. 

 

PS  I feel really bad because I have loads of pictures but I forgot my camera cord so I can't email them so I'll get them to you I promise!

 

week 79

"God will put prepared people in the way of His prepared servants who want to share the gospel. You have had that happen in your own life. How often it happens depends on the preparation of your mind and your heart."

—Henry B. Eyring

That is such a good quote by President Eyring.  It is sooo true as well.  As we prepare ourselves and we are willing to make the changes neccesary and do what it takes, God places his elect children in our path or guides us to them so that we can receive the blessings of teaching and they can recieve the blessings of the gospel in their lives.  

Transfers are next Wednesday.  So you will either hear from me on Wednesday or on Thursday depending on what happens.  

It's snowing here today-- we have a nice layer on the gound.  It's mostly on the grass and stuff.  Oh well its snow!  It's cool!  

President is changing a lot of things and it's hard to take it all in and accept it all. We used to have a transfer meeting where the greenies stand up and introduce themselves. Well he has ended transfer meetings, so now we just go straight to our new area.  

Also the standard of excellence has changed to 1 baptism by the end of the transfer, 2 with a date by the end of the transfer, 3 investigators at church and 3 new investigators a week, 4 potentials a week.  So there are a lot of changes so I'm going to need to be praying a lot to have help accepting that these changes are from God and having a positive attitude about it.  I'm working on it. Other than that things are going really well. We are teaching 4 people. we have 3 good investigators.  We are seeing the hand of the Lord in our work. We are finding people and really just working hard and smart. 

So my bike kept breaking and I was spending some money on it. Well I brought it in and the guy that worked there was really nice and he fixed it all up for me for free! He saved me like £30! It was a tender mercy and such a nice gesture from this man!  I couldn't thank him enough. 

 The other day we were at the Leslies (they are the kids who you met over skype at Christmas). Well they started shooting us with nerf guns lol so we run upstairs to their stash and grab it all hahaha.  I had the sniper and was laying on the stairs. QB had this like 20 round gun fully auto was right by the door and we ambushed them. hahaha It was sooo funny lol and we play cheese touch from Diary of a Wimpy Kid all the time. You'd be proud hahah they love those books!

I'm sooo grateful and happy everyday that I'm serving a mission.  I have learned SO many things and I'll never regret serving--I know that. 

My Darth Vader pose!

week 78

The Lord is blessing us major time!  Our investigators are progressing and understanding.  They still have a few struggles, but we are helping them understand and use the atonement and read the Book of Mormon to recieve that help they are looking for. 

 

Things here in Loughborough are doing well!  We are teaching, finding and helping the members. its perfect.  

• On saturday we had a teach, then lunch with a member and service, then a teach, another teach, and one more teach, then we finnally got home around 8 and we ate dinner. i was absolutely shattered!  it was a crazy busy day!  The Lord is blessing us and is in the details of our lives.  

We have a good planned week:

• we just got a new ward mission leader so we have a meeting with him tomorrow to fill him in on the work and everything, then we have some service at his place and some dinner then out to a teach 
• then on Wednesday we have a zone conference in Nottingham so we will be at that for AGES!! lol then I'm on exchange here and we have a DA and a teach that night
• then Thursday we are helping this family move house, its like a ward activity getting everyone involved. so that will be nice, then we have another DA and two teaches that night
• then Friday we have be-a-u-tiful weekly planning! lol then some finding and dinner and 2 teaches.  
• Saturday will be a long finding day and a couple of teaches. 

Thats the plan so far. It will be a good week. Yesterday in church Donnella bore her testimony!  It was awesome!  She did so great and she got her temple recommend for baptisms!  She is loving it!  We are sooo excited for her!

 

I love being on a mission.  My testimony has become simplified but sincere. I know that Jesus is the Christ, that the atonement and the power it holds is REAL.  i know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and as we read it we can hear the the spirit of the Lord speaking to us.  I know this church is true and that all the principles and ordinances have been brought back to the earth through a living prophet. 

 

week 77

It was good to see you on Tuesday, I loved seeing all of you. 

 

I got the stomach bug Christmas night and wasn't feeling so well, so I was in the flat all boxing day as well:(

It wasn't too fun but I enjoyed sleeping hahaha.  It's okay because all is well now and I'm feeling back to normal. 

Things are well here.  We went to a New Years Eve party last night at some members house.  lol it was really fun they made some of their homemade chinese food.  It was SOOO GOOD.  We are just working hard trying to find people to teach and enjoying teaching the people that we have.  We helped one of our investigators understand the importance of prophets and why we need them.  She struggled with it, but she understands!   It was a huge step toward her progression!  We are so excited, next step, church!

 

I'm loving my mission so far!  So many amazing things and experiences have happened and so much more will happen in these next 6 months!  I'm excited for what is going to come!