Read Your Scriptures!

I think I'll be here a little longer. It takes 2 weeks to get a snail mail letter to here. My address here is 77 donnington road s22rf United Kingdom. I haven't sent my letter yet, but when I do, it'll take about two weeks to get there. I'm trying to send a bunch in the same envelope, so I'm still writing to some people.

how is your leg? (My leg is much better, thank you. As Reid Wuthrich said, it's good to see me hobbling without crutches or a cane).

One thing about adversity that I've been reminded of almost constantly is to accept things as they are (not necessarily as I perceive them to be, of course), because everything is part of the plan. When I feel as if something goes "wrong", I am prideful in that moment, thinking that I know how to bring about Godly purposes better than God does. I live in the logic of should. Saying "life, in fact, should be the way I consider, think, expect, and want it to be; not, in fact, the way it occurs. And whenever it occurs in a way that differs from the way I think it should, or expect it should or want it to be, God is wrong and I'm right, and I'm personally offended. Not to be resigned to keeping things as they are, of course." (did you catch that?) 

I love JD. Miss that bloke.basically, most of my letter is just a copy of his letter to JD. We know who he loves :)  Miss all of you. It's not a debilitating feeling though. 

send me pictures!!! I looooovee pictures!! 

Lulu: hey cuteness, how are you? I hope school is so much fun! I miss you! How is church? Who is your favorite scripture hero? Are you staying happy? I love you! Be sure to take pictures to send to me! Are you in dance and gymnastics? 

Lando-pants: beanie beanie, how is tae kwon do? Are you reading scriptures? Who is your favorite scripture hero? Mine is Ammon because he made sure that the King knew that he cared about him before he taught him. That, good sir, is one of the most poignant things we can learn in this life! Nobody will care about how much you know (you can know everything in the world and beyond) until they know how much you care! Love you, buddy!

K: yo dawg, how are you? Are you still doing gymnastics? Dance? How are those things going? Are you remembering to read your scriptures? They are the most important things we will ever read, especially the book of Mormon!

Megira: hey beanie, how is my bedroom? How is school? Glad to hear that you're feeling better. apparenty you threw up? dang. the worst is when you bleep buh bleep buh bleepity bleep(I didn't think you needed to see that)... hahahahahaha. I miss you. hey, make sure to read scriptures. I'm only coming to realize just how important they are. I wish I would have spent more time reading scriptures than playing dark souls. still play dark souls, but not as much ;) I love you, dear sister. send me pictures of your adventures!

*****

This is Shannon. Remember, we talked to her on the bus, but had to get off and weren't able to progress the conversation far enough to leave her with a book of Mormon, so we left her with a card that had the mormon.org website on it. She referred herself an hour later, got our number from the website people and texted us, wanting to meet. She researched everything. Whenever we went to teach her, she had literally studied the topic the hour before, not even knowing what we had prepared. Crazy stuff. The field is white and already to harvest.

this is an excerpt from an old newspaper some potential investigators.
Do you think he's trying to find a piano to baptize? 

We helped Danny paint a room in his house. Danny is trying to get all the papers from certain embassies in order to be able to get married to his fiancee so that he can get baptized. Such a lad! He is super into jui jitsu, and I talk to him about wrestling and stuff. Someone who actually understands! He is way good at jui jistu.

Elder Boswell and me, playing some bball.
Do you think he can ever find someone to cut his hair or am 
I going to have to go over there? 

A cat friend I found out contacting.
Is anyone surprised he has a cat friend? Or that he is looking to baptize pianos?

All the mickey D's that Elder Palmer and I ate because we were dying of hunger.
It maybe looks like E. Palmer is eating that good burger and you are having 8 dollar burgers? 

smoke pot. mmm. love!

It's a b-b-q joint, right? that came out wrong. It's an eating establishment?

.

Old Jamaica ginger beer is the closest thing to Cock and Bull. Not quite as fiery, but it's alright. It'll do.

Watching the Superbowl?

If this is the most obedient mission in the world, I'm pretty disappointed in missionaries.

I know that obedience brings miracles. 

We baptize Shannon on the 25th of February, which I am so stoked for! She has also been talking about turning her papers in when she turns 19, which would be so slick! We also have the possible opportunity to baptize 3 Kurdish people, T, E, and R. We've got to make sure that there is no chance that they'll be deported back to Iraq or Iran, because they'll be crucified upside down for converting to Christianity, and then the people who baptized them would be in their sights as well, putting us in danger of being crucified too. Crazy stuff. I already know that 2 of them are safe. All we need to have in order to make sure that they're safe is a card from the border patrol that acknowledges their presence in England. T and E. All we need now is R's card. Here's the thing about Kurdish people, they are so faithful to whatever they believe. They make some of the greatest members of the church because they truly consecrate themselves and their resources to the Lord. I'm excited for them to be blessed with baptism and other ordinances.

 We had a zone meeting thing that wasn't necessarily a conference, but it was way sweet. One of the themes was "what would elder Calhoun do?" from The Best Two Years. I've never actually seen that movie, but we watched a couple scenes from it, and likened it unto ourselves. In the meantime, President Turvey took us for interviews one by one. I can tell that President is an inspired man. 

We're watching the superbowl at a members house right now, and I threw out some doctrine about how value is subjective, and that not everybody enjoys watching football, and all my flat mates thought I was insane for not thoroughly enjoying watching football. hahahahahaha their salty tears are tasty :P

 I am surprised that the Lord is even able to bring forth His work through them. Brother Peel said, "The work is done through you, sometimes despite you, but definitely with you." I can only imagine the frustration Heavenly Father experiences. Eh. I'll let it go. The only thing I can control are my actions, my words, my possibilities that I have created for myself and my life.

There is a missionary who has serious depression. She ran away from her companion who was so confused and upset, she went to a members house and called president, so Elder Stirling (one of the zone leaders) and I had the opportunity to go find her and pick her up. The sister with depression. turns out that this is a recurring thing, so she's going to go home. She only had 4 months left. Crazy stuff.

If I remember anything else, I'll try to let you know.

Love. Love is what I create for myself and my life. Love is what I choose to make present for others, whether or not they are able to feel it. 

Christ is love, Christ is life, Christ is Light.

How is your leg? pictures? Send me lots of pictures. And not just of your leg haha. That's weird hahahaha. Lemme know if you need me to respond to anything else that I've forgotten, like names to pictures and such. 

I love you guys. 

Let's Get Down to Business!

Finally out in the field: Been doing well so far. I'm becoming focused on my purpose here. Inviting others to come unto Christ through faith, repentance, and baptism. One of the things President Turvey really stresses is authentically teaching repentance. Which is, in a sense, what repentance is. Unbecoming what you've become so that the Lord can mold you into what you are supposed to be.

Gotta tell you about Shannon. Holy miracle, Mom. Met her on the bus, talked to her a little bit, gave her a card because we had to get off. Didn't write our number on it or anything. She ends up texting us easily an hour later, telling us that we gave her a good first impression of Mormons. Turned out that she referred herself online, wanting to know more, and that's how she got our number. Crazy! So we meet up with her, talk to her about the restoration and stuff. Give her a Book of Mormon. She's getting baptized in two weeks. Guess who she asked to baptize her?? Me!!

Last week: Donny Osmond stopped in for a quick hello because he heard I would be here. Ha! nah, turns out one of his sons served in an England mission and came to this MTC in Preston (Chorley). He spoke in sacrament meeting. It was a boss talk. Talked a little about "being a man." 

my notes from his talk: 

Every missionary has authority. An obedient missionary has power

Joy. Find joy in your work. Always remember to see the collateral beauty.

Elder packer: The trouble with you is that you want to see the end from the beginning 

You must learn to walk to the edge of the light, then step in the darkness, the light will appear

Dispute not because ye see not... 

Go forth with joy

Constantly ask for a renewal of your testimony. It is a fragile thing that must be constantly taken care of.

Selfie: Preston MTC Style

This is Gary, the Swan. His MTC stay was shorter than ours because he didn't have to learn the language. 

now Elder Beadle is just fan-girling it for his mom :)

Not sure who this gentleman is. An Elder practicing a discussion with his companions.