Last email of 2014!

 

 

Hi!

So, this week was really great. On Monday we had a short p-day and then we went and visited Vita Williams, we had a really great lesson with her and talked to her a lot about the Plan of Salvation and Jesus Christ and how it can help her in her situation. Vita is a 42 year old woman who has been beaten several times by different partners, she has a court date in a few weeks to testify against the man  who most recently beat her. She has post traumatic stress disorder and probably some other mental problems too. We went back again yesterday and her door was hanging open, and her TV was on, but she wasn't there. Talking to her neighbours they think she is crazy and she leaves her door open all the time. Hopefully we'll get  to meet up with her soon.

 

Then Christmas Eve we had a district meeting (see picture) and we did a gift exchange (I got the lego movie) and then we talked to people on the street for several hours before coming in. Elder Jaegers mom sent us matching T shirts of red and yellow m and m's. (see other picture) it was really fun. Then Christmas day we went to Bishop Millingtons and had a full English breakfast, and opened presents and then we went to the Johnsons where they had this huge Christmas dinner with all their family and we brought and investigator named Sarah, (Who btw is getting baptized on January 10) and that was great. Then we went to Sister Thompsons and Skyped!

 

That night the zone Leaders (Elder McGinnis and Mullen) came and picked us up and we spent the night in their flat in Gateshead, and then we got up super early the next morning and went to the Metro Center (the biggest mall in the UK) which is right near their flat. We got there at 630 and left at about 11, it was great. I bought a skinny grey suit at Topman 50% off, it's super nice (see picture as well).

 

Also another thing that has been on my mind a lot, Elder Jaeger and I talk about it all the time, and we are meeting tonight with a guy named Peter who is struggling with this concept a lot. It's the concept of our potential as human beings to become like God is. We have been studying this talk by Tad R. Callister called 'Our Identity and Our Destiny'. [It's Janine -- you can click here to read this talk]  It has enlightened me quite a bit. For anyone that has not read it - I highly suggest it. It speaks about our potential to become like God, if we follow the plan he has set forth and keep the commandments that we have been given to keep in this life. It has helped me a lot to put my problems and the temptation that I face in check because it helps me see how short this life really is in comparison to the eternity that we have to live in after this life. It strikes me that this life is just a test, and that if we don't make and keep all of the necessary sacred covenants in this life, or in the Spirit world, then we will just hit this brick wall in the next life where we will not be able to progress, and I really don't want that.

 

Anyways, that's what I've been thinking a lot about. Also how short this life is in comparison to eternity. And how short a mission is in comparison to the rest of my life.

 

Love you guys.

 

This is from an email to James:

 

 

So every week we do weekly plannning to talk about what investigators were gonna teach this week. Right now were teaching Cheyvonne, an older woman who is a spiritualist and smokes a lot, Margaret, an older woman who drinks a lot but loves what we teach, Vita, And Tracy and her son Peter, who we helped move. We've taught lots of other people but these are the ones were mainly focussing on this week.

 

Side story you might like to hear, about a month ago we knocked a street and this Elderly born again Christian lady let us into her house. She was a heavy smoker and she had three massive dogs and a talking parot. IT was really funny becasue the parrot kept being like 'Jesus is Coming!' 'Praise the Lord!' it was strange. Anyways this woman watches all these preachers on TV and was convinced that we were wrong. We went twice and then accidentally the second time left a book of mormon on her couch, like not even on purpose, and the next time we went she freaked out at us and told us she'd thrown it away because it was blasphemy. She then showed us all this anti mormon stuff and these preachers on TV and tried to convince us we were wrong. She then had the audacity to pray that we would know the book of mormon wasnt true in her prayer before we left. Needless to say we are not going back there again. Nothing we said could help her.