Wednesday, September 21, 2016

BDs and Palaces

Hello from the other side of the pond! (at least from most of you)

Elder Thomas here. It has been another stretching yet fulfilling week. Some of the experiences of the mission are experiences you cannot experience anyplace else. For instance, have you ever heard 50 different languages in one day? Only in England. This really is where I'm supposed to be though, and the faster time goes by, the more I realize how short my time is here...I'm like more than halfway done, which is crazy! I feel like I've been out forever, but I also feel like I'm coming home soon due to the fact that I spend most of my time with people who are going home this month. I guess I just need to serve as if I have one month left.

There are definitely some highlights worth mentioning this week!
-exchange with Elder Redd from Idaho Falls
-ZLT (Zone Leadership Training) at President's home
-drove past the hotel we stayed at 2 years ago before I knew I'd be serving here...whoa
-got a family on date for baptism!
-went to a spectacular palace today

Alright, if you ever come to England you need to do a few things. First of all, you need to get some proper fish and chips from a fish and chips shop. Then you need to get some proper curry from a proper indian "take-away" restaurant. And then you need to visit every palace and castle you can. Preparation days are definitely not wasted here! We just got back from Hampton Court Palace, which was the home of King Henry viii. I learned so much there and I love palaces. Sure hope they have palaces in heaven!

But our week began with the beautiful journey to President Gubler's house for some training, which took all day long but was totally worth it. I can just tell you that our President is in tune with the Lord and knows what this mission needs to do. I also know that Sister Gubler's cooking is imcomparable! We were trained on how to work with members, how to build a solid foundation with a new investigator, and how to help people make and keep commitments. I took some really good notes, but then realized that it was nothing that isn't in preach my gospel. The Spirit just gave me a better understanding of how to work smart! 

Two of the elders in the zone should have finished their missions last week, but they chose to extend their mission as long as they could: 2 weeks.  Elders Price and Redd are total warriors and they get to finish their missions in Guildford, where Elder Holland served a portion of his mission many years ago. One of my favorite parts of the work is spending time with a missionary hours before he leaves for home...it doesn't happen very often, but I exchanged with Elder Redd and learned LOADS! He's developed so much power and authority in his words over the last 2 years, it's amazing to watch. It's so cool to see what the Lord can do with somebody in only 2 years! And Elder Redd wasn't even that trunky either. It was pretty inspiring.

Now for the big news: remember that Pakistani family we've been teaching? With the 2 kids who always ask when we're coming? We had a really solid lesson with them last night and things just fell into place! The member we brought was from Spain and happened to click really well with them. They are set up for baptism on the 29th of October! They've still got a long way to go, but we believe they can be ready by then so we'll get to work. The Man family is prepared and on top of that, they never fail to feed us when we come over. So keep them in your prayers, folks! I'm so grateful for your emails and I love all of you! Please remember the Lord and His hand in your life!

Love,

Elder Thomas

ELSM

District Leadership Conference

Lunch with the APs

Hampton Court Palace


Hedge Man

Elder Senkans and I

Hanging out with the statues


At Hampton Court Palace


Tennis with the Kensington District
These two boys fly home on Friday



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