Funniest story of the week (well there were a few):
In Australia apparently instead of saying Yahoo - they say Jeehoo.
Anyways Elder Rhea earlier in his mission served with an Australian
bloke who whenever something funny would happen he'd say 'Jeehoo!' Now
Elder Rhea says it, and therefore now I say it a lot. Anyways, one
night this week in the Wharfe Valley flat we were all yelling Jeehoo
really loud, and then all of a sudden one of the neighbours banged on
the door really loud to tell us to be quiet! It was so funny.
Anyways there were loads of things that happened this week. We went on
exchange in
-Dewsbury w/ Elder Tervort from Utah & Elder Manu'a from Australia
-Leeds 2 w/ Elder Pace from Arizona & Elder Rex from Utah
-Leeds 3 w/ Elder Eliassen from Norway & Elder Jereza from the Philippines
We had MLC as well, and spent some time with the Elders in Wharfe
Valley, Elder Clanton from Arizona & Elder Viani from Italy.
Highlights from exchange with Elder Tervort - we went to a tea
appointment with a member, and this was the same place I went to for a
tea appointment on my first day back into the mission back in October,
and they remembered it really well - so that was cool. We had an
awesome day there, we found a few new people for them to teach.
The next day we spent in Leeds 2 area, in a part of the area called
Harehills if you care to look it up on a map (Leeds is split up into 5
areas btw) and Harehills is like the most diverse place I've ever been
to. There are people there from all over the place, Romania, Poland,
Brazil, Portugal, Spain, France, Slovakia, Pakistan you name it. It
was way fun though, and everybody was willing to talk because it was
nice outside and it was just an awesome day.
The next day we went to the other side of Leeds, Leeds 3 area which is
like Bramley & Armley & Farsley if you care to look it up again. That
was one of the best areas we've been to yet - it was amazing. We found
two people that day who ended up coming to church on Sunday & who both
have Baptismal dates set for the next month!
On Friday we had MLC & then afterwards we went to Hull to go to the
baptism of a bloke named Ben who I stopped on the street while I was
there with Elder Verrieras last month! So cool right! It was a great
service and he's doing awesome.
Zac came to church again on Sunday! He's so funny. He worked a night
shift on Saturday night, so we pulled up to his house to go catch the
bus with him at like 8:45 on Sunday morning, and he comes out ready to
go with a beer in his hand... he's like 'man this is my third can this
morning' and we were like 'man that's bad.' But he still came to
church and he loves it haha. He knows loads of the members in the
Leeds 4 ward now, like more than we do - he showed up and church and
he's like "hi Tom, how was your week?" And I was like "who's Tom?" It
was right funny. He left right after sacrament because he was
"knackered" which is fair - but he just like bolted out the door and I
went out and was like "see you later man!" And he ran back up the
steps and gave me and Elder Rhea a big hug before he left haha - he
was like "I'm sober now don't worry" it was hilarious.
So you know how a few weeks ago we went on exchange with John
Schmidt's son? Well this Sunday the Piano Guys came to the Leeds Stake
Centre to do a Fireside! In the middle of their European Tour! It was
awesome - they took the train up! Elder Klingler and Elder Mikola went
to go pick them up from the Train Station in Leeds - they were like
"were going to go pick up the guys" and we thought they were joking
because there's no way that the Piano Guys would be taking the train,
but they were! It was really cool. And the Fireside was amazing! It
was so spiritual - one of the most spiritual evenings I've ever been
to!
Anyways there are so many more stories for the week. Let me explain
briefly something that's struck me pretty hard this week. Elder Rhea
and I had the duty to work with some Missionaries to help correct
their behaviour - and there was one Elder in particular who was
showing a lot of unwillingness to change the error of his ways - and
we very much so had to explain to him the doctrine of repentance and
change.
For any who don't understand - God is real, he listens - and he has a
plan for each of us here on this earth. His plan involves us coming to
this earth to learn and to gain experience so that we can develop
ourselves to become like God. He is perfect, and the only way for us
to be perfected is through his Son Jesus Christ. He sacrificed himself
for us so that we can be made clean through repentance.
But what that really means is that we need to recognise that here are
things that we do wrong that we need to change or give up in order to
be perfected. I've met so many people that sin on a regular basis and
justify those sins because they say "that's just who I am, I could
never stop doing that." That is so wrong. The whole purpose of this
life is to become like God, our Heavenly Father, and if we didn't give
up our natural self to become who God wants us to become, we would
never get there. Our purpose in life could be wrapped up in this
sentence: to joyfully learn self mastery.
On Sunday I got up in church to bear my testimony - which just means
to explain what I believe and why - and I spoke about how much change
I've gone through as a missionary in England. It is all in the end
thanks to Jesus Christ and the sacrifice he made, because I wouldn't
be able to leave my old mistakes behind and move forward if it wasn't
for Him.
For anyone who doesn't believe in Jesus Christ, or doesn't see why
believing would make a difference in your life - try it out. The more
I've learned about Jesus and his Church and his Gospel, the happier
I've become. As I've given of myself, learned to master my natural
instincts and become a better man, I've found that that's where true
joy comes from. Not from the short term relief that comes from
temporary pleasures, but from the long term joy that comes from
lasting change.
Love you guys!
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