32 Lessons in one week a new record!

Spiritual thought for the week:

God is our Heavenly Father
All Human Beings are Created in the Image of God
As spirit sons and daughters of Heavenly Parents, we all have a
divine nature and destiny. All of us are looking for happiness, but as
we come to know our Heavenly Father, we can find true joy. If you want
to know if God is there, give a simple prayer and find out for yourself.

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."
Romans 8:16

All the rain in England hasn't affected me!  We had a few flood warnings, but we weren't worried about it at all because we are on the second floor. It overflowed quite a bit down in weston area, but up near Bitterne where I am, it wasn't even unusually high. It looked basically the same as usual. We had a ton of wind though! and lots of rain! some of the other missionaries in england had a bit of service to do, but we weren't hit too bad.

 

My Health is great, and life is good! This week was pretty good. We had quite a bit of success in finding! We had 32 lessons that we taught this week, which is the record in this area for the time I have been here (I don't know about before). Most of those were in the street too! However, getting people to come to church and commit to changing in any way has been pretty hard in this area for the last few weeks. We set a goal to be more patient with people and to have greater faith that they can change their lives.

We picked up a new investigator this week, who we taught twice already he came to church and he accepted a date for Baptism for the 16th of March on the first teach! That was pretty exciting, but we will have a bit of work to do with him because he doesn't have any core beliefs or values at the moment, at least none that he will admit.

No service experiences this week, but we will probably put up a fence for some members because the wind blew it down! 

Thanks for the love and support and all of the wonderful letters!  Thank you guys so much! 

Love you all lots! No pictures this week, I didn't take any sorry!

The Plan of Salvation Pizza!

My new companion is Elder Wilkosz. He is one of the five missionaries in the world from Poland! He has been out for 20 months, so I have another "old man" in mission terms! He is a great guy and is very obedient which is good! He has only been a member for about 3 years, and none of his family are members!

We have already found some good potentials this week, but unfortunately a few of our most solid potentials and new investigators dropped us because their families/spouses don't like the idea of us meeting with them! We have set a goal to ask better questions in finding and to avoid using yes or no questions always. We are thinking of teaching English to polish people sometime in the future if we can find enough people who would be interested.

 

Elder Wilkosz used to serve in Southampton ward one year ago and loves seeing how his old area is doing, and he seems to enjoy being in an area that he knows a little bit already! We didn't have any investigators at church yesterday, but hopefully we can change that soon. We had 3 less active members come though!

 

Yesterday we stopped a lady at the bus stop and began to talk to her. She was a young single mother. She said she was shocked when we stopped her because she has being thinking about God and the purpose of life a lot recently.  It wasn't even her bus stop but she had to get off because the bus was done for the day, and then she met us! She told us of a recent experience in which she had a lot of things work out well for her when normally they wouldn't happen. She got a letter in the mail at her flat, which she just moved into, that was addressed to her and said that she was going to be given some vouchers/coupons for brand new furniture to furnish her new flat! When she opened the letter she felt a sort of presence behind her and heard a voice telling her everything would be ok! That was a pretty good contact! She doesn't live in our area though, so we referred her to Southampton.

 

The pizza went great, it went pretty long though, so next time I do it I will probably try to shorten it and have a pizza for us to eat in the oven, while teaching! I attached a photo of the pizza! 

 

The Plan of Salvation Pizza!

Onions represent pre-mortal existence, Earth life with all the ham as people, and the Spirit World That has both spirit prison and spirit paradise.

The pineapple that looks like the sun is the Celestial kingdom, Red peppers that looks like the moon is the Terrestrial kingdom, and the pineapple star is the Telestial kingdom.

 

Thanks you guys so much! I love you all, and I will talk to you next week.  Hope you guys have a great week!

Elder Brown

 

 

No Transfer, New Companion!

 

Look what I found!  

                          Elder Lamb, Elder Mannucci               Elder Brown, Elder George

 

Thanks for scanning the recipes for me. I am making pizza for the Mexican couple Elder Mannucci and I found ages ago! Elder Lamb and I bumped into the wife at a bus stop, and were talking to her and suggested that we come cook for them sometime! She got super excited, so we have planned what we are going to cook, and have decided to make a pizza at there place and teach the plan of salvation to them by using the toppings to make a diagram of the plan on the pizza! I will send a photo of it next week!

 

We picked up a new investigator that we taught twice this week! He is from Mexico City. He has been taught in the past and his brother is a member. He wants to learn and has tons of questions, but he doesn't think he will ever join. We are hoping he changes his mind.

 

I'm not being transferred. I'm still in the same place, and still the District Leader's companion for another 6 weeks! Elder Lamb is going to be a Zone Leader, and I am getting a polish companion Elder Wilcosh. We were both pretty surprised at the transfers. The entire ward thought that Elder Lamb was going to stay, but we are both excited for this upcoming transfer. I am pretty happy with the opportunity to continue to work with some of the people here.

 

This week was pretty good. We did a lot of work with Less-Active Members and some Recent Converts as well. Unfortunately only a small percentage of our investigators that committed to come to church actually came, but it was still nice to see a few people there. Faith was confirmed this Sunday, and her father came to see it. It went very well, and she is doing great.

 

Elder George and Faith

 

We got loads of potentials that we are hoping to get back with this week. We will just have to stay on top of them all!

My sore throat came for a while and then left again, it just comes and goes but it's nothing huge. My clothes and socks are holding up well. I haven't had to replace anything. My prom shoes are destroyed though! I can't believe how far into school you guys are right now, it makes me realize how fast time passes! I will miss Brother Depratu, it's very unfortunate.

  

I love you all so much you guys are wonderful. I have attached a few photos for you. 

 

Two king like breakfasts I had this week!

 

 

The coins are a cool thing I figured out when I first came, but it took me a long time to get all the necessary coins for it!

 

 

Look at the shield it makes.

Have a wonderfull week!

Elder B

Baptism!

Me and the district Elders

This week was pretty good! We had a fitness activity on Friday, that went pretty well. We only had one non-member there, but because it is going to be a weekly thing, we are hoping to get more and more as the weeks continue!
Faith's baptism on Sunday went very well, her parents were there, as well as her sister. Her mom was crying a little and kept saying how proud she was of her. Faith's family is planning on coming to church next week to see her conformation, and we are hoping that they will be our next baptismal dates. They have already expressed interest in it so it should be good. None of our investigators made it to sacrament meeting, one of them, M__, was ill, but was planning on coming. We are hoping to extend a baptismal date to him as well. He is probably the most committed of all of our investigators at the moment.
I am doing well, we had a great exchange with the Zone Leaders on Saturday, and it was really nice to work with Elder Mannucci again, and see how we have improved since last time. Elder Lamb and I are hoping to have a great week this week! We have set some really good goals for working more effectively and in better unity, and we are both excited from the exchanges we had. I always have interesting door-knocking experiences, but none of them seem funny or crazy anymore, because I have done it so much! We met this African guy, who had probably the coolest name I have ever heard! His name is Chill!
Our family history being in England I would love to come back and visit England with you guys after I get back, it would be really cool!

 

Transfers are on the 5th.

 

Last blogs pictures of the Knife was Brother Hammonds he

 

 got the knife from the Philippians. His wife is Pilipino, so he bought it when they were down there at some point. It is pretty cool innit!

  

I love you all!!!!!!!!! Love hearing from you guys too! I attached a few photos. Unfortunately I don't have one with faith in her baptismal clothes, because we were doing last minute prep, and elder George baptized her, so he has a photo, but I'm not in it. I will send it to you when I get it though.

 

 Picture of a diagram of a street with a LA on it, needless to say it was more confusing than the following statement: when the lots of just you give their is a dogs don't know!

 

 

 The pictures are of faith in the armor of God that we made for her! They are a bit creepy, because her eyes turned out red, but that just makes it better!

 

 

Can't Believe it's been 6 months!

One of the scriptures I like is 2 Nephi 31:13

13 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism—yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel.

compared with Moroni 10:3-5  they both talk about spiritual witnesses, and receiving the Holy Ghost, or the "baptism by fire."

3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

 4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

 5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things. 
 

If we don't receive the holy ghost, we can't speak with the tongue of angels meaning the spirit, for angels speak by the holy ghost (see 2 Nephi 32:2-4).

 

F__ is going to be baptized next week, so that more of her friends can be there, she wants more of them to come and a lot of them couldn't come this week! I haven't been able to get in contact with anyone in the tower yet, but we are hoping to go there and stop by soon. Here are a couple more of my favorite scriptures:

  Leviticus 2:5-7 (not exactly Spiritual but I like it) lol

 5 ¶And if thy oblation be a meat offering baken in a pan, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil.

 6 Thou shalt part it in pieces, and pour oil thereon: it is a meat offering.

 7 ¶And if thy oblation be a meat offering baken in the frying pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil.

 

Doctrine and covenants 19

 15 Therefore I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not.

 16 For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;

 17 But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;

 18 Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—

 19 Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.

 20 Wherefore, I command you again to repent, lest I humble you with my almighty power; and that you confess your sins, lest you suffer these punishments of which I have spoken, of which in the smallest, yea, even in the least degree you have tasted at the time I withdrew my Spirit.

 

28 And again, I command thee that thou shalt pray vocally as well as in thy heart; yea, before the world as well as in secret, in public as well as in private.

 29 And thou shalt declare glad tidings, yea, publish it upon the mountains, and upon every high place, and among every people that thou shalt be permitted to see.

 30 And thou shalt do it with all humility, trusting in me, reviling not against revilers.
 

It is crazy that I have been here for 6 months already, I still don't even know what it feels like to move! LOL I will probably be out of here on the 5th of February! I know nearly everyone, and I have knocked most of the streets! Hahaha, just kidding, there are plenty of streets that I haven't touched!
 

I uploaded a few photos for you! The first few are me and elder lamb holding an exact replica (same size, shape, and materials) of Sir Edwards sword. One of our investigators, B__, showed it to us.

Elder Lamb



 

Elder Brown

 

 

 

The last two are of me and elder lamb holding a Pilipino knife that one of the members here showed us. It is specifically designed to go into the side of a person easily, and come out with all of the insides, including a few ribs, not quite as easily! Hope that leaves a nice mental image in your minds! LOL

Elder Brown

Elder Lamb

 

I love you all so very much and miss the Wasabi crew as well. I can't wait to see you guys again!
Elder Brown

Investigators coming to church!

This week was good, but could have been quite a bit better. We did some service for a lady in our ward, which was really good, because she is one of the ones we knew hardly anything about, but it turns out she went on a mission when she was younger!
We are hoping to get to know more people, and organize some activities, because this ward doesn't have very many at the moment, and we would like to have more things to introduce people in a different way.
We had three investigators at church on Sunday, M_, B__, and F__, which was great! It has been a struggle to get people to church recently. We are finally getting a few people to progress, and we have had some really good teaches with some people that we have struggled to work with! F__ is all lined up for her baptism this week, and we are hoping it will help her family to keep the commitments we have given them!

I love you all so much, and I hope you guys have a good week! Don't really have any pics or videos to send this week sorry!

Elder Brown

Feeling lots better!

Feeling lots better, but it is still there, especially in the mornings! Thanks for all the prayers, there helping! I didn't even realize it was new years eve until about 6:00 while we were out knocking I just didn't even notice it!  We didn't really have much training when it came to family history, but there is some stuff online, that I have seen! Haven't met with any of the people in the tower yet, but we are hoping to this week! 

          This week was pretty good, We didn't get any new investigators unfortunately, but we got a lot of new potentials, who seem to be pretty promising! J__, one of our investigators, is finally starting to progress a little, he wants to come to church, and he asked if he could start paying tithing! I thought that was pretty cool. We taught him about tithing and fast offerings, and we are trying to get someone who is available to give him a lift to church as he can't drive. B__, another one of our investigators, who has been quite busy lately, was finally able to meet with us, as well. He has finally started to give time to the Book of Mormon, and he has proposed to come to church every other week for now. He admitted that he isn't too happy with his church, and he can't hear the sermons very well, so he has just been reading the BofM during the service! We recommitted him to pray about the Book of Mormon and he has accepted. So hopefully he will start to progress soon. F__, our baptismal date, wasn't at church, because she didn't have a ride. We haven't been in contact for a while, and they haven't responded to our texts recently, so we are hoping they are doing ok, but we are going to really try and get the rest of the family to come to church, so that F__
can be at church even if the members are unavailable to give her a lift.
I have been doing well. studies have been going well lately, and I have been learning a lot more which is great! My illness, has finally started to die down. I have just been taking stuff for sore throats, and it has been helping.

 

I have been taking it slow with the chocolate! Out of the 60,000 calories, I would say we have about 30,000 left or so! Not too bad for one week right!

 

We had a fun obstacle course we did at the church for P-Day but I didn't do it because I was sick. I knew that if  I brought p-day clothes I would over do it and make myself even more sick! I was feeling really awful that day. I didn't dress because I was just eliminating the temptation, plus we are supposed to wear pros always unless the activity requires something different, so there was no point in changing for me, the others just changed at the chapel!

 

There have been some crazy storms over here lately, we actually got an evacuation suggestion on our phone, because of an upcoming flood! We stayed with the missionaries in Hedge End just in case, but we are on the second floor, so nothing happened!

 

 I Love you all lots, and I can't wait to hear from you guys again, I attached a few photos! Elder Lamb was pretty happy, he was interviewing M__ for baptism (M__ is the Southampton elders investigator), and he asked him to baptize him. It was Elder Lamb's first time actually performing the ordinance, so that was cool!

Elder Lamb ready for his first time baptizing.

 

Elder Lamb and Southampton elders  

 

 

 Me in front of a cool statue in my area.

 

 Presents that ward members gave us.

 

My first attempt at a balloon animal.