BIG OL' THANK YOU

This is my last blog post as a missionary! I'll be coming home this Wednesday! I am sad to leave but excited to see all the fam!!! Thanks for all your love and support and I couldn't have done it without all the prayers and letters and emails. I also know that my Saviour Jesus Christ has made my whole mission possible.  I have been given so much strength and seen His tender mercies.  My mission has been the greatest blessing and privilege for me to serve God and His children.  I have loved it and will miss it.  I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true.  I know God lives and loves all of His children individually. He sent His Son Jesus Christ to perform the Atonement so we could return to our Father in Heaven.  I know if we continue in faith and put the Lord first in all we do, He will bless us for our efforts. I'm so grateful for Joseph Smith and all the sacrifices he made to restore the fulness of the gospel.  I know the Book of Mormon is true and I love reading from its pages.  I am always learning from them and I'm grateful the Holy Ghost is my companion to help inspire, guide, and comfort me.  I love the Lord and I love His gospel.  Being in His service has been the best experience of my life.  I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Scripture of the week: D&C 123:12-17 and D&C 4. They're way too long to copy and paste, but these scriptures have been my inspiration throughout my entire mission.  Thank you, thank you!! See you all soon! 

Comp. Item. - Best One Ever - Homemade Blankets

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YSA FHE in Portsmouth

These people are so great! I love them!! We always have a good time in Portsmouth!
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What a Week

I can't believe I have 1 week left. This past week has been up and down and all around.  We've seen some really great little miracles, got to go on exchange, and faced a bit of opposition with some investigators dropping us, but we don't let it get us down.  Of course, we are sad when people decide not to carry on meeting with us but we must respect their agency and choice.  The seed is planted.  We feel like we've done the best we could.  I love the quote, "Do your best, and the Lord will do the rest." That is so true.

One of the highlights of my week was visiting the Isle of Wight. I went on exchange with Sister Stigant who is an English sister, only been out in the field for 4 weeks now! She's doing great.  I loved working with her!  She helped me recognize all that a mission has taught me and I admired her faith in the Lord and in the work.  We focused on the importance of learning the lessons from Chapter 3 in PMG.  These are my testimony.  Being on my mission has helped me understand the WHY of the gospel and not just go through the motions.  Before my mission, I knew I loved the Lord and His gospel and I knew it made me happy and my family happy, but now I feel much closer with Heavenly Father and know His plan is truly perfect.  I more fully understand the Atonement and the commandments and I know as we trust in Him, He will made of us more than we could ever make of ourselves.  

Scripture of the week: "32 Verily, verily, I say unto you, as I said unto my disciples, where two or three are gathered together in my name, as touching one thing, behold, there will I be in the midst of them—even so am I in the midst of you. Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward. Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail... Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not." -D&C 6:32-34, 36, let's be honest, all of D&C 6 is great. :)

​Sister Stigant and I on our morning exercise.  All bundled up!! :)

Still So Green!

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TRAVEL PLANS! SAY WHAT?!!

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Pumpkin Carving!

Halloween P-day at the McCoys!! From left to right: Elder Day, Elder Gugyelka (ZL), Elder Rife, Elder Hare (DL), myself, Sister Maddocks, Elder VanDongen (ZL), and Elder Yu. PARTY!

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Consecration Week

What a wild week it was! We received many blessings and saw lots of miracles, but it sure wasn't easy.  For consecration week, as a mission, each companionship committed to 4 hours of finding a day from Tuesday to Saturday.  This pushed us all in the right direction.  Sometimes I need a little push to "stand a little taller, and be a little better" so I'm grateful President Millar had the inspiration to invite us to do that. It was great.

The best part of the week was when we went out street contacting on Wednesday.  It was a drizzly day, with puddles dotting the high street. As we walked, we just felt like we weren't in the right place.  We took a random left turn and followed the road around, past Priory park, and then right back onto the main strip.  It was then we met Serge! Serge is from Croatia but moved to England when he was a teenager.  He has had a very successful business life, but still feels empty inside.  He has great faith in God, and loves being around "god-fearing people," but still feels lost.  We talked with him and he talked with us for 45 minutes out on that busy street.  He agreed to a chapel tour later in the week and it went really well!! He agreed that baptism is something he wants to do if he comes to know the Book of Mormon is true!  He even already had a Book of Mormon from missionaries he met a few years ago! I love meeting people that are prepared and I'm so grateful Heavenly Father literally guides us where we need to be.  I'm excited to help him progress. The Spirit helps us so much so we know what to say and how to say it and I'm so grateful to be a part of this great work!

Scripture of the week: And he that will hear my voice shall be my sheep; and him shall ye receive into the church, and him will I also receive.

 22 For behold, this is my church; whosoever is baptized shall be baptized unto repentance. And whomsoever ye receive shall believe in my name; and him will I freely forgive.

 23 For it is I that taketh upon me the sins of the world; for it is I that hath created them; and it is I that granteth unto him that believeth unto the end a place at my right hand." -Mosiah 26:21-23From left to right: Serge, me, and Sister Maddocks after the chapel tour! :)
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Morning Exercise Adventures

Hope everyone has a great week! Thanks!
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Professional Chapel Tour Givers

I'm sorry this blog post will be a little short and maybe scatterbrained because we are doing our emails with a lot of other things going on with a lot of other people around.  But I'll do my best!

Wednesday was our miracle day this week!  We got to give Morgan a chapel tour with the McCoys and it went really well.  We are trying this new teaching technique called "teaching like angels" where we use the gospel art to help the investigators see, feel, and understand the lessons better.  It's amazing how the artwork in the pamphlets and in the chapels truly does invite the Spirit and we've definitely felt it this week as we've given a few tours. I am also really grateful to have a chapel in Chichester, since we didn't have one in Salisbury and there is definitely a special Spirit that the chapel houses. We were also able to give Ian a chapel tour and he came to church this week as well! We are really grateful for the people that we're working with and the people that Heavenly Father has prepared for us to teach.

Scripture of the week:

"They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name and were baptized after the manner of his burial, being buried in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he has given. Wherefore, all things are theirs, whether life or death, or things present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ's, and Christ is God's. And they shall overcome all things." -D&C 76:51,59-60

Fall Time at the Chichester Cathedral
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Last One! Crazy Hair on the Coast

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​HAVE A GREAT WEEK EVERYBODY!

This One's For You Cass!

We met 7 different Polish people in one day while contacting in Bognor! I love you so much! I tell everybody I meet that's Polish that my cousin is there too! :) I think they like to hear that and I love telling them. What really good Polish food should I buy from this shop?! :)

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This One's For You Dad! Finally Got to Ride In a Rolls Royce...scooter.

Thanks to a nice old man at the bus stop! Hahaha!!

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Salisbury Reunion at Zone Conference! And PRESIDENT MILLAR IS THE BEST!

I love these people! From left to right: Elder Robinson, Sister Smart, and President Millar)

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God's Pocket

The other day this lady told me that a nickname for Chichester is "God's pocket." How perfect is that?! She said the reason it gets its nickname is because this is one of the sunniest places in England. Don't quote me for fact on that one, because I'm pretty sure it's just hear-say, but I wholeheartedly agreed with her.  Not only is the weather nice here, but the people are too.  I loved hearing that comparison and it made me think just how many blessings we receive as we strive to draw closer to our Heavenly Father.  I'd love to think that when I have the Spirit I'm in "God's pocket," and that's where I want to spend my life. :)

We had an amazing week of miracles.  One of them being our new best friend Morgan!  We met her at the bus stop last week and had a first teach with her this week at Josie's (member) house. It went really well and we felt the Spirit.  She is really eager and excited to read the Book fo Mormon.  I'm grateful for these lovely people Heavenly Father places in our path that are truly open and want to understand how religion and the gospel can help them in their own life.  We just help them make the right decision.

Another miracle this week was Ian! We met him down in Selsey (down on the coast, just south of Chichester) We went to visit a person on the ward directory, but he said she didn't live there anymore, so we gave him a card and invitation to church and didn't think much more about it! He ended up calling us later that day and told us he actually wanted to come to church in Chichester because he'd been married there 4 years before. .....? Interesting. We told him about Stake Conference in Portsmouth instead and he decided he'd rather just wait til next week when church was back in Chichester.  Then, you won't believe what happened! Sunday morning we got a phone call during our personal study and it went like this: "Hi, this is Ian... I hope it's not too early to call but I was just thinking that I'd actually like to come to Portsmouth today for church..." We were thinking, "OH MY GOOOODNESS!!! THIS GUY'S AMAZING!! He didn't want to come on Thursday when we last talked to him!!!!" So then we said, "Oh great! That sounds really good! Do you need us to arrange a lift for you?!"  Ian: "No, that's fine, I'll just drive. What time does it start?! 10?" Us: "10:30" Ian: "Okay great, well I'll find a close parking space then." Whoa. Just blew my mind. I couldn't believe what just happened!  I had felt so sad that no one was able to come to stake conference with us and I was wondering what I could've done better to find someone that week, and then at the last moment, Ian called and Heavenly Father provided a way and a change of heart. I know it was a blessing for us as missionaries and it was a blessing for Ian because he really seemed to enjoy coming to Stake Conference. My heart was so full of gratitude that morning and my testimony was strengthened to know that Heavenly Father really does love us and is truly mindful of each of our situations and scenarios. What a tender mercy moment it was! I am so grateful for that!  We are planning to meet up with him again later this week!

Scripture of the week:  "7 Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

 8 For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.

 9 Or what man is there of you, who, if his son ask bread, will give him a stone?

 10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" -3 Nephi 14:7-11

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​1st Temple Trip for John (baptized in June) :)

Last One - THE WEATHER!

The fine line between a beautiful sunny day and a monster of a rain storm. :) Hope you all have a great week!

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Waiting for the Bus After Callum's Teach!

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Ruth is the best for coming with us to teach Callum!! Never a dull moment.

I've Learned On My Mission....

​"The Lord is no respecter of [schools.]" :) Haha!

"The Last Melon"

This has officially been one of THE CRAZIEST weeks of my mission. Seriously. Sister Watt left last Monday, she actually went back to the Visitors Centre after all that! Another sister got assigned to Eastbourne.  I was with Sister Brown for 2 nights until Wednesday when we both got our new companions.  Sister Maddocks is my new companion but we hardly had any time to settle in and get to know each other because on Friday I was so blessed to go to MLC (mission leadership council) for the last time!  Two sisters from Bournemouth came and stayed at our flat Thursday evening and then Friday morning Sister McLeod and I went up to Staines for the meeting most of that day.  On top of that I've been battling a head cold!!!!!! So, yes, it's been a little wild around here, but we've finally settled in and I'm starting to feel better thanks to my Vitamin C drinks. :) Sister Maddocks and I are getting to know eachother much better now because I'm feeling more like myself and we've actually been able to spend some time together and she's gotten to know the ward a bit better since she came to church in Chi for the first time yesterday.

Despite all the movement among missionaries, we had a really great week! We were trying to get "No Zeroes" in our key indicators and the only zero we really had was investigators with a baptismal date! We had done well with everything else! So that was a really great miracle and now we're just doing our best to find someone who's prepared to be baptized! I'm really excited for the coming week! One of the best parts of the week was that our 18 year old investigator Callum came to church for the first time yesterday! He's been to a YSA activity once and we've invited a member to come teach us with him and so he finally agreed to come to church and he came!! Yay!!! And now he's been invited by the members to be a part of the "Roadshow" which is like a little skit competition they do in the stake and Callum is in drama so he's the perfect man for the job! :) We're really grateful and happy to be teaching him.

So today starts the beginning of my last transfer!! There is a lot of work to be done in 5 weeks and I'm really excited to keep working as hard as I can for as long as I have left. I got a letter from President Millar this week in the mail that's basically a "job well done" letter to all the missionaries going home.  I read it and thought, but I still have 5 weeks President, don't kill me off yet! :) I'm grateful to be spending it with Sister Maddocks in Chichester and I'm planning to enjoy every second of it.

Scripture of the week: "Hearken, O ye who have given your names to go forth to proclaim my gospel, and to prune my vineyard. 

3 Behold, I say unto you that it is my will that you should go forth and not tarry, neither be idle but labor with your might—

 4 Lifting up your voices as with the sound of a trump, proclaiming the truth according to the revelations and commandments which I have given you.

 5 And thus, if ye are faithful ye shall be laden with many sheaves, and crowned with honor, and glory, and immortality, and eternal life." -D&C 75:2-5

This is Sister Maddocks!!! and this was the windiest day in Chi yet!! Time to bundle up!

This One's for You Daddio! :)

​Name that tractor. :)