School Thy Feelings, O My Brother

 I don't know where the time is going. I got my documents today for
coming home, and it looks like it's about a month away. I can't
believe how fast its gone, but in the mean time we're doing an
incredible amount of things all of the time, and it's been really busy
- but also crazy fun.

This week we had two Zone Conferences - and we also went on exchange with:

Elder Livingston & Elder Holyoak, both from Utah, in Bridlington, &
Elder Walker and Elder Callahan, from Calgary & Edmonton, in Harrogate!

Both were amazing, and we also went on a few brief blitzes and visits
with some other missionaries!

Zac didn't come to church this week because he was working day shifts
- he'll come next week though. We went and visited him one night this
week - and we proper laid down the doctrine of the kingdom - faith and
repentance and baptism particularly. We proper preached to him - we
said, Zac you need to stop drinking, it's ruining your life. As you
repent and change yourself to become the best version of yourself you
can be, you will be able to repair the relationships with your family,
you will be able to focus more on your job, you will be happier, your
head will be clearer, you will be free from guilt etc. etc. It's so
true though.

Side note - we had a Fireside on Sunday night and this one recent
convert got up to bear his testimony about how after he had been
baptised, he decided to try to repair relationships with his family,
which were quite bad - and he bore testimony about how the Gospel had
helped him do that. It was awesome.

Another story - went on exchange with Elder Walker (he's from our ward) this week and we
went and played basketball for morning exercise - what a homie.

Also - I went to a Speed Awareness driving course this week in
Harrogate - it was so posh and so interesting. Long story short, they
convince me not to speed ever again. We'll see how long that lasts.

So anyways, let me tell you a story from this week that taught me a
really valuable lesson.

On Friday night, around 9:30, we made our way back to the flat in
Wharfe Valley. We've left our suitcases in that flat, and so we
typically stay there for two or three nights a week to get ourselves
sorted. When we pulled up to our parking spot, we saw our neighbour
looking out the window, and when we came into the flat building, he
confronted us very aggressively and started complaining about the
amount of noise that we make.

Now to be fair, were not the quietest of blokes, we like to joke
around - and we may have been a little too noisy a time or two, but
certainly not on a consistent basis. Anyways our neighbour became
quite aggressive and wanted to start a fight basically, but Elder Rhea
and I just kept our cool even through his accusations about loads of
things that missionaries have done while living there for the last
three years. By the end of the conversation, nothing had really
changed, he was being unreasonable, but we kind of just parted ways.

So we got on, and the next morning Elder Rhea and I were going about
our business, but we were both just so angry at this guy. Anyways we
decided to just park the car and study the scriptures for a bit - and
I came across this talk by Thomas S. Monson from the October 2009
General Conference called: "School thy feelings, oh my brother" which
fit perfectly with what Elder Rhea and I needed to hear at the time.
In the talk it quotes a verse from the Hymn, and Elder Rhea and I
decided to memorise it. It says:

School thy feelings, oh my brother
Train thy warm, impulsive soul.
Do not it's emotions smother
But let wisdoms voice control
School thy feelings, there is power
In the cool, collected mind.
Passion shatters reasons tower,
Makes the clearest vision blind.

So we learned a valuable lesson. We apologised to our neighbour (he
didn't really accept it) and we kept our cool.

This Hymn is such a good reminder to me of what we have come to this
earth to do. The point of mortality is to develop Christlike
attributes. It's to learn to love God and others more than ourselves.

In order to serve others and serve God, we need to live in harmony
with his will. We need to cleanse our inner vessels. We need to gain
control of our emotions and master ourselves. The most striking phrase
from the verse is this: "passion shatters reasons tower". What kind of
passions is it talking about? Anger? Yes. Success? Yes. Fame? Yes.
Even love or romantic passions? Yes. Material things, like searching
for money, or material possessions? Yes.

The point is this - we need to learn to primarily focus on serving God
and others, and we can't do that without mastering ourselves. Self
mastery is the purpose of mortality, and when we do it we experience
joy!

Jesus taught in Matthew 10:39:

"He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life
for my sake shall find it."

So what does it mean to lose our life for Christ's sake?

King Benjamin, a prophet in the Book of Mormon taught that "when ye
are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service
of your God" (Mosiah 2:17)

So when we serve others, we are losing our life for Christ's sake.
Spencer W. Kimball - one of the previous Prophets and Presidents of
the Church taught what it means to find ourselves as we serve others
(i.e. Lose our life in service)

"The more we serve our fellowmen in appropriate ways, the more
substance there is to our soul... we become more substantive as we
serve others... indeed, it becomes easier to find ourselves, because
there is so much more of us to find."

When we master ourselves, we are better able to serve others. When we
serve others, we find joy. When we do this on a regular basis, we will
one day achieve exaltation, which is returning to live with God
forever.

Along with many other things - this is what stuck out to me in my mind
this week. As we've been visiting with missionaries, this is what
we've discussed. On Saturday night Elder Rhea and I went and made some
dinner for the missionaries in a Flat here in Leeds and we talked
about this doctrine - and I felt the spirit confirm to me so much the
truth of these concepts.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ - these concepts mentioned above and others
- have the power to change lives. They will change yours if you apply
them.

Love you all

Elder Pace's District Meeting

MLC

Activity from the North Zone Conference

Notice Elder Walker

North Zone Conference

Elder Price

South Zone Conference

A bunch of return appointments written on Mormon.org cards with  Elder Livingston in Bridlington

I thought you would think this was funny Mom

I'm Getting Later with Posting These Letters!

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!

Time is Flying By! Last Transfer!!

This week has been amazing again! So many awesome things happened!

We spent the week visiting missionaries in areas along the coast. So
we went to (you can follow along on google maps):

- Bridlington on Monday w/ Elder Holyoak & Elder Mills who are both from Utah
- Hull on Tuesday w/ Elder Kearl from Ogden & Elder Hayes from a military family
- Scarborough on Wednesday w/ Elder Barber from Utah & Elder Barff from Tahiti
- Middlesbrough on Thursday w/ Elder Palmer from Utah & Elder Larson from Idaho
- Friday we discussed transfers with President & Sister Turvey all day
- Saturday we went to the Yorkshire Dales & then went to Leeds 4

This week we're going to be in Leeds & Dewsbury for the most part,
should be good!

Highlights:

District Meeting in Bridlington ran by Elder Barber - see pics - it
was awesome, the Spirit was really strong.

We got Fish & Chips w/ Elder Barber & Elder Barff along the coast in
Scarborough, and it was super hot outside, so that was nice. Plus
Elder Barff speaks French so I got to speak to him in French! Also we
found loads of people that day so that was amazing.

Oh also in Scarborough for morning exercise on Wednesday we went to
this football pitch right near the beach, and it was super nice
weather, and there were six of us, so we played 3 on 3 football (as in
soccer) right by the coast near these beautiful cliffs for like an
hour - it was so nice. So much fun.

In Middlesbrough we went knocking in the morning (11-1ish) and Elder
Palmer and I met this guy named Rossan, and I just basically asked if
we could come into his house and he was like "go on then" and then we
taught him - and he wants to be baptised, and the Elders are going
back every single day to teach him more and more. He's a cool chap.
There were other miracles in Middlesbrough too.

Funny story:

We brought our friend Zac to church again this Sunday, and we went and
got him from his house and then took the bus with him to church. On
the way home these people on the bus started talking to us, and Zac
was being super interruptive, so I just distracted him and talked to
him while Elder Rhea talked to the other blokes. Anyways after Zac was
like "so are they coming to church? Did you give them the old razzle
dazzle?" It was hilarious.

Also the whole way home we kept saying hi to people, but in England
people don't say hi they say hiya. Also, lots of people with English
accents, when they say words that end in 'a' it sounds like they're
saying 'er' like instead of hiya it's hiyer. Also in South Yorkshire
people don't often pronounce the 'h' at the beginning of words - so
Elder Rhea and I often go up to people and just say "iyer" and Zac was
getting so annoyed when we were saying it to people haha. It was
hilarious.

On Friday Elder Rhea and I, Elder Klingler & Elder Mikkola, and
President & Sister Turvey came together to discuss transfers. I've
never had a stronger testimony that transfers are completely inspired
than after I came out of those meetings. We discussed and prayerfully
pondered where each missionary should be, and what the companionships
should be, and it was so inspired. A lot of suggestions that I made
were taken, and we participated in the whole process, it was really
incredible.

I feel strongly that the way the Holy Spirit inspires us is through
thoughts that come into our kind after we conclude things logically.
Heavenly Father has told us in DC 9:8:

"But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your
mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will
cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel
that it is right."

And that's exactly how he whole process worked. Somehow we went
through the whole process of deciding transfers - with six of us all
with varying viewpoints and opinions, and we all agreed on the same
things. It was inspiring to be a part of.

So now tomorrow a bunch of missionaries will be moving around. Big
news as well - this is my last transfer 😔 only about 6 weeks to go
before I come back. It's gone by so fast I can't believe it. I'll miss
England so much - it's been so beautiful this week. I'll send some
pictures on iCloud. Take a look at them, England is so pretty. Elder
Rhea and I see so many beautiful things on our drives every day we
just love it

District Meeting in Bridlington

Fish and Chips in Scarborough

Lunch in Hull

Zac

Bridlington

2 weeks because I see that I forgot to post last week

MAY 15

This week was crazy busy, and crazy tiring - but it was way fun. We
spent a lot of time up in the Sunderland Zone again this week, so that
was really cool!

We started off going to South Shields on Monday evening, and among
other things we went to visit this bloke named Joshua, who was
baptised a few months ago, and I went to his baptism. So that's was
cool.

On Tuesday and Wednesday we went to North Shields with Elder Anderson
and Elder Hoather. There was this one guy who gave us two Newcastle
United Shirts! I'll include a pic, it was awesome!

On Thursday we went to Gateshead to work with Elder Schmidt - who is
John Schmidt's son btw.

On Friday we went to Bradford, and that was way fun too - we worked
with two Elders named Elder Tuita and Elder Livingston.

Cool story: on these exchanges there are four of us - but we only have
one car, so often Elder Rhea or I will drive and we'll drop off two of
us somewhere and then drive somewhere else, and then we'll pick each
other up later. Anyways Elder Rhea texted me this address in Bradford
that they needed picking up from, so we drove there and just pulled up
next to these two ladies who were sitting out in their front gardens
and started talking to them out of the car window. At the beginning of
the conversation they were like very adamant that they didn't believe
in God or anything because bad things have happened to them etc.
Anyways near the beginning of the conversation Elder Rhea and Elder
Tuita came over and introduced themselves as well, and then went away
to talk to someone else they saw, so they heard some of these ladies
negative feelings towards God. Anyways Elder Livingston and I talked
to these ladies for a bit and explained a bit about God's plan for us
and why bad things have to happen and a bit about agency and the
atonement and the Book of Mormon, and by the end of the conversation
they were committed to read the first chapter of the Book of Mormon
that night and pray about it and come to church the next Sunday, and
then we said a prayer with them and they thought it was amazing.

Anyways it was so funny because a Elder Tuita just was like: "how did
that even happen, at the beginning they were so against and then we
walked away and a bit later I turned around and you guys were praying
with them..." haha. And then the next day those Elders went back, and
the ladies were waiting in front of their houses reading the Book of
Mormon! When we take the time to explain doctrine simply and clearly,
so that anyone can understand, and leave bold commitments in a way
that we have faith and expectation that people will keep those
commitments and receive blessings from doing so, it seems to just
happen, and people's lives are changed for the better.

Then we went back to Sunderland on Saturday and got some stuff we'd
left behind. Then on a Sunday it was Leeds stake Conference, and
Sister Flinn from Wharfe Valley Ward found my phone number somehow and
asked us to come sing at stake Conference in the choir - so Elder Rhea
and I did that.

Anyways - there were a few nights this week where Elder Rhea and I
were so tired that we just came home and fell right asleep and were
asleep in seconds - we have worked so hard it's crazy.

Love you guys!

MAY 22

This week was incredible! There are so many miracles that happened I
don't even know where to start! We've been on a lot of exchanges, with
missionaries from all over the place.

Monday w/ Elder Pilling from Okotoks & Elder Bailey from Australia in Keighley
Tuesday w/ Elder Fife from Utah & Elder Beadle from Utah in Sheffield
Wednesday w/ Elder Ford from Hawaii & Elder Campbell from California
in Scunthorpe
Thursday w/ Elder Winegar from Utah & Elder Anderson from Louisiana in Bradford
Friday w/ Elder Watson from Idaho & Elder Stumpp from Idaho in Barnsley
Saturday we went hiking in the Peak District in Sheffield and then
worked in Leeds 4

So on Monday I worked with Elder Pilling, who is from Okotoks! He is a
good bloke and we visited this guy who Elder Pilling was like "I think
he's a member that's been inactive for years" and we went in and I
asked him when he was baptised, and he was like "I've never been
baptised" and we were like "do you want to be baptised?" And he was
like "yeah, and my son does too". So that was awesome, we had a
spiritual lesson with him and Elder Pilling is a homie.

On Tuesday in Sheffield there were some awesome miracles. These things
seem to happen when we follow first impressions we receive from the
spirit. Elder Fife said a prayer that we would be led where to go to
find people that are prepared and who would go on to be baptised, and
we both felt prompted to go to this area near their flat. Anyways we
talked to this one bloke who walked us up to his apartment building
but then shrugged us off basically, and we walked back a little ways
and talked to a few more people, and then we stopped this couple from
Iran. We were like "so what brought you to the UK?" And they were like
"we became christians so we had to move" and we were like "were
teachers from a Christian church!" And they were like "come in we'll
make you some food" and then we taught them all about the Restoration
and they love it.

On Thursday in Bradford with the Elders there we talked to so many
people. The elders there are in a ward called Dudley Hill, which
covers like half of Bradford - and they live in Bradford City Centre.
The thing about their flat is that we have to park like a ten minute
walk away, but when you stop and talk with every person you can as you
pass - it can take up to an hour and a half or two hours to get from
the car to the flat. So that was fun!

But also, on Thursday Elder Winegar and I visited a member - and
afterwards he asked us where we wanted dropping off, and we told him a
certain street. After he dropped us off we said a prayer that we would
find someone in the street who would be receptive and have their life
benefited from our message. Immediately after the prayer I turned and
looked around and saw a lady sitting outside in her front yard, and I
had a really strong prompting to go and talk to her. So we did, and at
first she was super hesitant, like "no I'm not interested in whatever
it is" but we just started talking to her like a normal person, and
laughed a bit, and then explained who we were and asked if we could
come in, and she was there with her husband and six daughters, and
they let us in and we taught them all about the restoration of the
gospel, and they are progressing super well now!! So amazing.

On Saturday, Elder Rhea and I took some of our p-day time and went to
this Valley in the Peak District near Sheffield and climbed a big hill
near a dam, it was way cool - we took all the picture on Elder Rhea's
camera though, and we haven't had a chance to get them onto a computer
to send yet... but we will!!

Anyways afterwards we came back to Leeds and weren't too sure what we
were going to do with the evening part of our day. We called Elder
Walker and Elder Saylin in Harrogate, but they were far away and
weren't available for a split. So we sat for a minute and decided that
since we were planning on going to church the next day in Leeds 4, we
might as well go find someone to bring to church with us. So that's
what we prayed for, that we would be led to someone who would come to
church with us and desire to be baptised.

We left the flat, picked out an area (East End Park) in Leeds, drove
there, and then drove down a main road and Elder Rhea said: "this one"
and we turned down a road and parked at the end of a street. We got
out of the car and were like "that door looks good" and knocked on the
door, and this bloke named Zac poked his head out of the window. After
a minute he came to the door and we talked to him and he let us in! We
taught him about the restoration as well and invited him to church,
and he was like "yeah sounds fun". So the next morning we drove to his
house and took the bus with him to church in Leeds 4! It was awesome.

There are so many other things that happened, but those are just a few
stories. Things are going awesome here. I love being a missionary and
being able to help people find meaning in their life through the
Gospel. I love England and the people here. I love teaching about
Jesus Christ every day as well.

It's getting warmer here too! Should be nice weather this week!

Love you guys!

Angel of the North

Our Area