'Tis the week after Christmas, and all through the house.

Picture 1- This probably means nothing to you, but it's a very empty high street on Christmas morning. It was weird.

Picture 2- Most of my presents!


Hello! Christmas as a missionary is weird!

For Christmas, all we did was eat at people's houses. We tried to service at an old folks home but they didn't want us, haha, so we just went and ate other people's food. There was no transport on Christmas, so we did a lot of walking. We walked from our flat all the way up past Brixton which is just over 3 miles I think. I know that's not a terribly long distance, but it is substantial when you're used to riding buses and trains everywhere. :) But we ate so much food on Christmas, I never want to eat again. And we have a fridge full of leftover dinners and desserts. It's great, and I hope we can eat it all before it all goes bad. Because that would be a waste of the most tragic kind.

Other than Christmas this week, it was pretty slow. In fact, it was very very very slow. But now that Christmas is over, we're going to be spending this whole week finding! Seriously, we're going to get about 30 hours of finding this week, and it'll be great. We need to find people who are willing to learn and willing to act, so that's my goal this week, to find some people like that.

So thank you everyone for the Christmas wishes and packages and thoughts and stuff. I love each and every one of you, and hope you had a good Christmas and will have a really great 2011. Set a resolution that means something! And then do it, because that's the whole point of resolutions or commitments in the first place! I know I need to set a few good resolutions to make myself better, and I don't want to forget about them in a few weeks, I want them to be actual! Alright, talk to you later, bye!

Merry Christmas week!

Picture 1- Temple Christmas Conference.

Picture 2- Crazy Snowstorm!

Picture 3- Aftermath. (This was taken about 2 hours after the one of the snowstorm. Yeah.)

Picture 4- Ward Christmas Party.

Merry Christmas! This week was good, we had a Temple Christmas Conference on Tuesday. It was good and uplifting and got me very excited for Christmas. And then on Saturday we had a Ward Christmas Party, and that was good too. This week has been good, but tough. It's hard to go out and talk to people when it's cold outside and they don't want to listen to you, but this week is going to be great, because it's Christmas week and hopefully people will be more willing to talk! :) It's also hard being a missionary at Christmas time because you see everyone celebrating and stuff, and then you remember that you have to still be working to serve others. But it's also very good being a missionary at this time of year, because like I said, this is when a lot of people's hearts and minds are more open to learn more, and there are lots of opportunities to serve.

I don't really have a lot to say this week. Plus, I have to save some stuff to talk about on the phone on Christmas. ;) I'm pretty excited for that.

Thank you everyone for everything you do, and have a merry Christmas! I love all of you! Bye!

Hello hello hello, December!

Picture 1- Me chilling with my homie Sonic the Hedgehog. I'm so glad I saw this.

Picture 2- We got Christmas cards from someone in the ward, and mine had significantly less stickers than Elder Keck's. Hence the sad look on my face.

Hello, where did December go? Christmas is in two weeks, and that's weird. It came so fast! I'll only send you one more email before Christmas. Whoa!

This week was pretty good. It was really long, but at the same time I can barely remember a single thing I did. But it has a positive vibe in the end, so it must have been good. :) The guy who was baptised last week passed the sacrament this week, so that was really cool to see. He's changed his life, and he says he's learning a lot and it's a change for the better, and that's what it's all about! This last week I went on an exchange with Elder Henderson, and that was really good. We had a really good time, and I spent the night in the Wandworth flat. It was only the 4th time I've slept anywhere other than my flat in the last 6 months! So yes, Brixton is my temporary home, because I called it my flat. :D Hmm, this week we also met some really cool people, but the week went by so fast and slow at the same time that nothing seemed to happen! Oh yeah, yesterday we got a text from a lady we had been teaching and she invited us to her house for lunch because it was her Birthday. So we went and had some of the best jallof rice I've ever had, and I've had a LOT! She said she was really greatful we could come, so it was really nice. Also yesterday, there was a Christmas music program at the church and it was really good. We got to see some missionary friends who moved out of the zone, and they played some really good music. The choir here is really good too, it's so gospel. :)

This next week should be packed with action! In fact, tomorrow we're having a Christmas conference at the temple, and that will be really good. And Saturday we're having the ward Christmas party, so I'm well excited about that.

That's about all I got. I'm doing good, I'm still learning and growing and stuff. I'm actually having a really good time, so now I just have to harness that good attitude and use it for good! :D Ok, I love you guys. Bye!

Current Contact Info

Hi Everyone,

People have asked and I am trying to cover all the bases, so here is Eric's info:

For letters during the next five weeks (perhaps longer, pending future transfer) you can send to--

Elder Eric M. Boothe

Flat C, 233 Streatham High Rd.

Streatham, London

SW16 6EN

      ENGLAND

Use the following address (including the phone number as written) for packages that could otherwise not fit in a mailbox and thus get stolen :-)

Elder Eric M. Boothe

England London South Mission

The London Temple

West Park Road

Newchapel, Surrey

ENGLAND RH7 6NB

      Phone: 44-1342-833-916

If you would like to be notified of blog posts, let me know; If you would like a forward of his emails, let me know. I don't promise anything but I will try to accommodate as many wishes as possible :-). My email is blouella@gmail.com.

Lou Ella, Louie, Lou, Mom, Grandma, etc.

Heya!

Hello there, everybody! Happy December! I can't believe it's this time of year already. Time has flown!
This week has been a pretty good week. I've told you about everything up to Friday morning I think, so I'll start from there and let you know about my weekend. Let's see, Friday night there was a wedding reception for someone in the ward so we stopped by there for our dinner. :) It was my first African wedding reception and it was definitely something! It's kind of hard to explain, but the food was quite good. I really wish I could explain it better, but... it was just a bit undescribable. Haha, sorry. Everyone was having fun though, so that's what matters! Then on Saturday, the guy I've been telling you about was baptised! He's a cool guy, and hopefully he'll continue to grow in his spirituality. So it was a pretty good weekend, but I don't really have a lot else to say. It's still quite cold, but not as bad as it was last week. The wind is the worst part, I don't know if I've mentioned that before. Oh, people from the ward have already asked us over for Christmas, so we'll probably just be going around from family to family all day. So that will be fun.

Well, the last week was really weird with moves and the cold and everything so I'm very grateful for a p-day today to recover from that. :) And I'm hoping to do some good this next transfer, which will (very most likely, almost 99%) be my last one in this area. That's going to be weird, since this has just become my home for the past few months. We'll see what happens.

I love you guys, have a good week! Talk to you next Monday, bye!

Picture 1- Merry Christmas!

Picture 2- Merry Christmas!

Picture 3- Liam's baptism!

Well, turns out moves was today!

Hello there, transfer day was today! And I'm actually staying in Brixton for anoth 6 weeks! So I'll be here for Christmas, isn't that cool? Elder Keck is staying as well, so we figured out that by the end of next transfer we will have been together 24/7 for 5 out of the last 8 months. That's a very long time. Luckily we get along very well, and we're practically brothers. The only thing is that we were both just ready for a change, and we're starting to get a bit... relaxed. So hopefully in 6 weeks we will both get a change that will be good learning experiences for us. :D But yeah, just wanted to let you know that you can continue to send stuff to the Streatham address for the next 6 weeks. Packages though, would best be sent to the mission office. But don't feel obligated in the least to send anything, because postage is really expensive. Okay, well that's that! I love you guys, have a good week! I might send another email on Monday? I don't really know when p-days are supposed to be, but we were once again told to email home and let them know what the results of moves were. Ok, talk to you soon, bye!

AHHHHHH, what's going on? I don't know! :D

Note from the mission president about Christmas and address for packages:

We are already anticipating the Christmas season.  We are hoping to have a wonderful celebration with our missionaries.  In addition, we know that you will want to send Christmas gifts to your children.  Could you please send all packages to the Mission Office?  Last year, some of our missionaries received their gifts at their flats.  Unfortunately for some, once the postman left the package, someone came by and stole everything.  More than one returned to their flat to find an empty box sitting in front of their door.  By sending your parcels to the Mission Office, someone will always be there to receive it and place it in a secure location.  We shall distribute the packages throughout the mission, and they will receive them in their assigned areas sometime before Christmas. 

The office address is:  

            Elder Eric M. Boothe

England London South Mission

The London Temple

West Park Road, Newchapel

            Surrey  RH7 6NB

England

Eric's Email:

Picture 1- District picture

Picture 2- A Snowman that someone built on the common. :D! 

Picture 3- A picture from our window. This is a lot of snow for London!

Oh my DAYS have I got a lot to tell everyone! For starters I have less time to write emails this week, so this might be a shorter length than required to portray the events of the last week. Here goes.
Well, it's really snowy here! And even though London had quite a bad winter last year, they still aren't prepared for snow! :D So the last 2 days or so everything has kind of been all over the place. Our bishop asked us to go and get rid of the snow at the chapel, but they didn't have any shovels so we just threw grit salt everywhere. :) I don't think they have invented snow shovels over here because I haven't seen one. Everyone is just using garden spades and stuff like that, haha. And I think they said a third of all train services in London yesterday were delayed or canceled, so everyone is in a tizzy (That sounds like a British word but I don't think it really is a word at all.).

As for moves day, it was SUPPOSED to be on Wednesday, remember? Well, it wasn't, and last week they moved it to today. Is it today? No, no it is not. Is it tomorrow? Don't ask me, I have no idea. It's been delayed as well, because the new missionaries can't get from the MTC to the Temple down here because of all the snow! So moves day could possibly be tomorrow, or it could possibly be on Monday, or it could even possibly be sometime after that, who knows? But I'll send another email on the day it is and let you know who's moving where. So the reason I'm emailing today is because we've been granted 2 hours of P-day today to email home and buy food because we have none and we don't want to starve. That's one of the tender mercies I suppose, haha.

Let's see, the guy I told you about last time who was preparing to be baptised is still preparing for this Saturday! So hopefully I'll be here to see it because that would be really cool.

The last few days have been crazy in a lot of ways. Because of the snow messing everything up, because people are feeding us a lot, maybe even too much sometimes. I had 4 meal appointments in one day, and I felt like I was going to explode. Luckily I didn't, and luckily the food was all very tasty, but I think I've gained about 10 pounds in the last 3 days! :D Also it's been crazy because lots of other things that I don't have time to explain about right now, but trust me! :)

Phew, well happy December to everyone and I'll hopefully be in touch in a few days. I love you guys, and will talk to you later! Bye!!

 

Good Morning!

picture 1- Me in an incomplete beanie (so a yarmulke) that I crocheted!

Picture 2- Me in a beanie that I crocheted!

Picture 3- Our gospel principles class. 2 missionaries, 2 BYU girls, 1 investigator, 4 members of the ward.

Picture 4- Us and Brother Hanson. He's a cool guy from Germany. :)

Hello there, this week has been good. At the moment we have one guy preparing to be baptised, so that's really cool. He's a really nice guy, and very humble. We're teaching him, and it's so cool to see him really understand it. I've come to notice that a lot of people don't really understand what we're really talking about or saying, so that's something that I still need to work on: Teaching more simply and checking with them to see if they do understand.

Let's see, there was a day this week where Elder Keck and I were both feeling just terrible. We had a bad cold, and the first day was the worst. So we came back to the flat a bit early to get some extra rest. And during that time, Elder Keck taught me how to crochet! So I crocheted a hat, which I sent a picture of, and a camera bag. So there, mom, that's one more step towards me dressing warmly. :) I also bought a good warm coat and some gloves, just so you know that I'm being wise with the cold.

I don't have a lot of funny stories this week, but it was overall a good week. Oh, I finished the Book of Mormon since being out on my mission this week! And I'm nearly done with the New Testament. I only have Mark, Luke, Corinthians 1 & 2, Romans, and (dun dun dun) Revelations. So I'm pretty excited about that, I've learned a lot from reading the scriptures. I don't know if I'll ever get around to reading the Old Testament on my mission, to be honest. It's a lot harder to read, but if you have any favorite scriptures from there, let me know. :)

Oh, next week is transfer day, December 1st! And most likely I'm going to move from this area, so if you have any letters addressed to the Streatham address, send it NOW so I'll get it before I leave. :) It's going to be really weird to leave. This place has become my temporary home, and I'll miss it quite badly I'm sure. I'll update you on the first of December, and I'm sure it will be a much more eventful update than this one. I love all of you, thanks for everything. Cheerio, bye!

Good day, there!

Picture 1- Watermelon on the Tube?

Picture 2- A sweet car!

Picture 3- Pizza box men! They were on sale...

Picture 4- On exchange with Elder Judd and Elder Obike.

Hello! This was a really good week! In fact, it was probably the best week of missionary work since I've been out here. And I really hope I'll be able to say that about this next week too, but who knows? :) We had a great first few days of the week. I was feeling better, so there wasn't really anything in our way. Elder Keck and I did some good work, met some nice people, did some fun things. But really the best part of this week was on Thursday. We had a surprise exchange with some missionaries that day, Elder Judd and Elder Obike. Basically they are homeless missionaries and just travel around checking up on missionaries and doing exchanges to teach us stuff. So on Thursday I went with Elder Judd and Elder Keck went with Elder Obike, and we both did work in our area! I learned a LOT that day, especially about finding people. We talked to so many people, and most of them were really nice, even if they didn't want to listen. But one thing I learned is to keep it simple. As simple as possible, because then people can understand and won't get bored. I mean, I knew that before but I didn't really know how to go about being simple, haha. So I'm hoping to have more weeks like this in the future. :)

Another really exciting thing is when Elder Keck was with Elder Obike, they found this guy who is really interested and he wants to be baptised! And he came to church on Sunday. It was really weird because I'm not used to people following through on their commitments. Lots of people I've met over here say they'll do something and then they don't do it. I can't really complain because I'm like that! :D But I want to change and become more reliable. So that's another thing I learned this week. It was a good week. :)

Well, that's about it. I love you guys, I'm doing great. I'm grateful for all the things you do. I'll talk to you next week! Bye!

Sick This Week; More News Next Week

Eric hasn't felt well this week; he had a virus and had to take it easy for a couple of days so he didn't send pictures or blog info. I'm sure prayers would be appreciated. More news next week.

Halloween in London is Weird . . .

Picture 1- Severus Road. Like Snape's name in Harry Potter, almost.....

Picture 2- A ski and snowboard festival held in our area over the weekend. We saw parts of it from the bus and sidewalk. :)

Picture 3- Taking pictures of each other at a dinner appointment.

Picture 4- Me on a bus making a face.

Hello! How are you? This week has been a bit uneventful. In fact, it's been the longest week in the mission so far, haha. Not that that's a bad thing, it's just how it was. Oh yeah, remember the 9 dinner I was so excited about last week? Well, those are about the only things that went through. Everything else cancelled or just didn't happen, so even though I ate more food than I wanted to and now have a fridge full of leftovers, I feel a bit unfulfilled this week.

We spent a lot more time than usual trying to find people to teach this week. But we didn't find a single person, haha. But this next week looks more promising. I think I said that last week, but this week really does look better. So hopefully it doesn't deceive me like last week did. :)

There were two days in a row this week where basically nothing happened. So at the end of those I was naturally feeling quite down. But then we listened Joseph B Wirthlin's talk, "Come what may and love it", and that talk made me feel a lot better. And I think consequently, the rest of the week I had a much better attitude and I learned quite a lot actually. So overall I guess it was a good week in a way.

There were quite a lot of funny things that happened this weekend, and a lot of them involved people being drunk. Probably because it was Halloween. But there was this one guy who was drunk off his rocker who was walking down the street and he tried to steal a bowl of bananas from a fruit vendor. He then dropped the bowl, tried to pick it back up, and totally faceplanted into the ground and was blacked out for about 5 minutes. After that, he just got up and staggered on down the street, completely forgetting about the bananas. Haha, it was quite funny to watch, but I do feel bad for him. Another drunk guy tried to kiss Elder Keck on the cheek this weekend. So yeah, drinking is bad for you.

Halloween was weird, there weren't a lot of kids trick or treating. But there were a lot of people getting drunk! I guess that's what Halloween has become in the minds of most Londoners.
Alright, well I've got to be going now, but thanks for all the emails and letters and everything! I love you guys, bye!

Hello

Picture 1- A.... bowtie...?

Hello there! How are you? I've been good this last week, but it was a bit of a hard week. Lots of things cancelled (what else is new, haha) but that's ok. This week is going to be really good though! As of yesterday, we have NINE MEAL APPOINTMENTS this week!!!! :D We have a few with members who are bringing their friends, and a few with less active members. So I'm well chuffed for that! But that's not the only reason it will be a better week, there will be a lot of other good things. :)

Recently I've been studying the teachings of Joseph Smith, and I've got to say that they are just great! They make me really think about, and then afterward, understand things I've been thinking about. I really love what he says about missionary work, and also how to live in peace with others. So I'm studying both of those things and am trying to use them in my missionary work. One thing he said was that he "never felt to force his doctrine on anyone, but he loved to see truth overcome prejudices" and I think that's a really good thing. Once we find the truth we should offer it to people! And then it's up to them if they continue to search for the truth or not.

Hmm, well I honestly didn't have too many funny stories this week. Oh, except for this one! We met this 67 year old guy who used to be a world class boxer! He stood on his head for us, haha! He was in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Dad, maybe you remember those, haha. :D But that was a pretty cool experience, seeing a 67 year old man stand on his head. He also offered to train us to box! So maybe after my mission I'll come and train to be a world class boxer? Who knows! :D

Well, that's about all I got this week. But next week I'll tell you the weirdest or best thing I ate at those 9 meal appointments. :) Alright love you guys, bye!

Hello, I'm staying in Brixton again! :)

Picture 1- Anti-Hitler posters. Hitler was evil.

 

 

Picture 2- Me in my rastafarian tie! Elder Keck has one too, hehe.

 

 

Picture 3- That's what we're here to do, change lives! (I had just been flexing and stopped right as the picture was taken, hence the weird stance.)

Hello, I'm staying in Brixton for another 6 weeks, woohoo! At the end of this transfer I will have been there for the first quarter of my mission. That's a bit weird to think about. Chances are that I will move in 6 weeks, but no one really knows. So I guess we'll find out at the end of this transfer! Elder Keck is staying as well. The only thing different in our District is that Elder Rantsa is getting a new companion. So not much groundbreaking news there.

 

I really like this area, the members of the ward are really nice. The work is hard in this area, but there's always something worthwhile to do. So I'll have to make the most of these next 6 weeks! :) Let's see, this week was good. We met some nice people, we met some weird people. Someone called the mission office and requested a book of mormon and a restoration DVD, but didn't give his exact address. We called him and he said he lived in 666 Atkinson House. Which doesn't exist... so chances are he is pulling our leg. Or maybe he meant 66, I don't know. I'll find out when we call him again this week. But I thought that was pretty funny.

 

Hmm, well the only other thing I can think of that happened this week is that Jehovah's Witnesses were EVERYWHERE! One day we had been to 4 houses, and 3 of them either had JW's there or had their literature there. I personally don't have anything against JWs, but the ones we met were not very nice to us. Plus they just confuse people, which isn't nice. But oh well, hopefully we can clear the confusion for the people we meet with and hopefully they won't be so rude to us next time. :)

 

Well, that's really about it. I'll have more exciting things to talk about once they happen. This week and last week Elder Keck and I have been a little sick on and off, so a lot of what I remember is just me blowing my nose. And I don't think you want to hear about that. :) So I love you guys. Talk to you next week, bye!

Hello, Last Week of the Transfer

Picture 1- Pac-man!

 

 

Picture 2- A spider we found on the street.

 

 (Sorry, I didn't take many pictures this week, and I'm not in either of the ones I did take! Oh well.)

 

Well hello there! It's the last week of this transfer, but you can still mail post to the streatham address. I'll let you know if it changes in next week. Next week the transfers are on Monday, I think, so that's good! I don't know if I will stay or go, but I actually think that I'm going to stay. But I don't know everything, so I guess we'll find out! :)

 

Well this week has been pretty good. I feel less controlled by the area and more in control of it. I'm still getting the hang of it though. But this week we had a Zone meeting with President Shamo, and that was really good. He is such a great guy. He interviewed us as well to see how we are doing, and when I when into mine my mind just went blank, so I guess I didn't really have any big concerns or problems! :D Also this week, we met with this guy who has been playing football with us. He's a great guy, and we had a really good teach with him. He opened up to us, and we are now trying to help him with what's going on with his life by having him grow closer to God. Because sure we can help him, but God can help him in the areas we can't! So that was a good thing that happened this week.

 

Hmm, something else that happened this week... Ah! Ok, on Friday night when we were returning to our flat, about 4 Muslims stopped us and started asking us a lot of questions and basically tried telling us how Christianity didn't make any sense. I explained how it does actually make sense, and started answering their questions but then they just kept talking and talking and then really didn't give me time to talk anymore, which told me that they weren't really asking questions, they were just trying to confuse us or something. So we just left, because it's pointless to talk to someone who isn't willing to listen. (For the record, most Muslims are really nice, but some are just a bit contentious. Just like how there are some contentious people in all religions.)

 

So yeah, those were some things from this week! I got to go, but I love you guys and will email you next week regarding transfers! Bye!

Hey!

Picture 1- Missionary work is tiring, yo!

Picture 2- Haha, a funny picture. It was completely unexpected. [They must have been trying to catch themselves in mid jump with the timer! And it actually worked! That's my guess :-)]

Picture 3- The Brixton O2 Arena or whatever it's called. A band was playing inside, and we walked past and tried to take a picture of all the people outside, but it was too dark.

This week was a pretty good week. We got to watch General Conference, so that was cool. It was a bit weird though, I'll explain. We watched the Saturday Morning session live at 5 PM on Saturday. Then on Sunday we watched the Priesthood session at 10 AM, then the Saturday afternoon session at 1, then the Sunday Morning session live at 5 PM. We didn't really get to watch the Sunday Afternoon session, it would have been from 9-11 PM. But it was a really good conference experience. The saturday morning session and priesthood sessions were my favorites. There were some really good talks about missionary work, and patience, and pridefulness. I just wish I could remember exactly what they said, but I don't because it was too dark to take notes. So I'll just have to exercise my patience and wait for the Ensign. :)

Other than conference, this week was alright. We didn't meet with people as often this week, because everyone seems to be busy or going through something big in their lives. I guess that's how it goes sometimes. So this week we're going to try and find new people since the ones we have been meeting with are too busy or lazy to meet with us. :) So hopefully we will find some good people who actually want us to teach them and help them. I'm feeling better about this week than I have been. I think it will be a good week. Sorry, I don't really remember a lot that happened this last week so this email will end at about here. Thanks for the support and emails and stuff! I love you guys, and will talk to you next week, bye!

September 27th . . . 4 months out, what the heck?

Picture 1- Eric the elephant gummy snacks.

 Picture 2- Elder Keck and me

 

 

Picture 3- Taking a picture of me shaking my head. Haha, it was just a funny one.

 

Picture 4- Eating some rice and African gravy. It was delicious.

 

 

Hello, can you believe I've been out for 4 months? It's weird. But anyways, this week has been quite a hectic one. I think I was just asking for it last week when I said not much had happened. So to start off the week, we had a Zone training on Tuesday, and then I went on an exchange with a zone leader, Elder Fabiano. Then, I lost the mobile phone on the bus... So, that night we stayed at the Wandsworth elder's flat so that we could be contacted and stuff like that. Then the next day, we found out that one of the elders in Mitcham got really sick and had to go home, so Elder Fabiano and one of the wandsworth elders went and took care of Mitcham for half the day, and I and the other wandsworth elder took care of wandsworth for half the day. Then we went to my area, and the other ones went to wandworth! Ahh, it was so confusing and complicated and fun, and it probably doesn't make sense to you guys. It was a really good experience, but a tiring one as well. So that was just a really weird thing, but it was alright. :)

And then on Thursday I has looking forward to a normal night so that I could actually get the amount of sleep I'm supposed to, but then some missionaries from an area called Crawley stayed at our flat that night because they needed to be at the airport in the morning, and ours was the closest to it or something.

Phew! So this week was really just a lot of running around and traveling. We didn't have a lot of time to actually teach people until Thursday, but it was alright. 

 

Haha, let me know if any of that made any sense to anyone.

 

Let's see, a kind of awkward thing happened this week as well. We were at this African lady's house, and we were just talking about repentance. She has an 11 month year old daughter that she was holding while we were talking. All of a sudden, she starts breastfeeding it right in front of us! She didn't cover it up or anything! It felt quite weird to be teaching a lady when she was a bit exposed (when I say a bit, I mean COMPLETELY), but we did maintain a level a professionalism. So yeah, that was an interesting experience. Let's move on.

 

I can't really pinpoint a really spiritual experience this week, but because I spent a few nights this week with a group of other missionaries, I had a lot of good discussions about missionary work and the gospel in general. It was really cool to talk with other missionaries and just talk about how we can be better and help the people over here better. We decided that we need to be bold with people in this area. Not like "hell-fire and damnation", but we just have to go to people and really invite them to repent so that they can receive blessings from God. We can't be wishy-washy about it, and we shouldn't be anyways because really we're just trying to help people.

 

Okay, I must be going now, so thank you for writing me and everything. Love you guys, buhbye!

I'm Sorry! I Thought I Posted Last Week But I Didn't!

From Lou Ella: I think I slept for several days [ :-) JK!] after getting home from Val's on Monday, and then got busy catching up with school and house work . . . I didn't realize I had missed blogging until I talked with Carter at church today! So here is last week's email and tomorrow I'll post tomorrow's!

 

Picture 1- A sculpture/statue/something that magnetizes pennies to it. Mine is the one in the top right corner.

 Picture 2- The return of the Subway man! Mwahaha

 

Picture 3- Me being electrocuted.

 

 

Hello there. I'm doing good, and I can't really think of anything to talk about. It's been kind of a crazy week. We had a lot of stuff planned out, and it was going to be a really great week, and then lots of things were cancelled... But that's just how it goes, I'm doing good, so no worries. :)

 

Well, there were a few miracles that did happen this week! There is this one lady that we taught a few months ago, and then she disappeared. And last week we just ran into her on Brixton High Street! And she was actually happy to see us, so that's good, haha. But I just think it's cool how in an area of so many people, you still run into people you know. It's just really cool. :)

 

Oh, so for P-day today Elder Keck and I went up near Big Ben again, because he hadn't seen it yet. So we went, and I ran into the Subway guy again! So the pictures this time are all from earlier today. It was good, and now after this we're going to go buy hair clippers and try cutting hair, so that will be interesting! :D Haircuts are way too expensive around here.

 

Um, let's see... There isn't much else exciting to say. I'm sorry, but this is a bit of a quick email. But thanks for the love and prayers and stuff you send my way! I appreciate all of it. I love you guys, bye!

Transfer Day (Moves Day)

(The keyboard I'm using is terrible. The space key is EXTREMELY sensitive, so that's why some things might have extra spaces or other mistakes.)

Pic 1- Zone picture.

Pic 2- Us with Elenor, a member of the ward I'm in.

Pic 3- A very funny picture Elder Muller and I took of ourselves. :D

Pic 4- Me and Elder Keck.

Hello, I am staying in Brixton! Elder Muller is going to Bracknell (don't ask me where that is.) and my "new" companion is really my old companion from the MTC, Elder Keck! It's pretty exciting, and the next 6 weeks will be really fun! :) But I think it's so cool to serve with my MTC companion, how often does that happen?? I talked to President Shamo today and told him and he said that he didn't even know that we were MTC companions . It was pretty funny. So I am well excited for the next 6 weeks, especially since now I'm in charge of the area! We might get terribly lost, but I guess that's alright. :D  It will be a learning and growing experience though, I'm sure.

This last week was a good one. It's kind of weird switching companions, but it's alright. I'm sure I'll get used to it by the end of the 2 years. But we had a good week. I don't really have any  funny stories for it... Hmm. Well, there is one kind of funny thing! We met these guys who own a Ghanaian restaurant and they told us to stop by. They showed us around and we even spent some time in the VIP lounge. :D I'm not even kidding about that, it was really funny. It seems to be like a bar restaurant,  and it even has like a dance  floor! So I think sometime next week, not on the weekend, we'll stop by quite early in the day and get some good  African food. :)

Umm, well I'm just excited to serve with Elder Keck again. We're both quite new to the mission, but still older than about 30 missionaries now, so our group has to learn how to lead quickly so there will be enough in leadership positions. :)

Alright, I'm running out of time, and getting a little impatient with this space key malfunctioning! I've fixed most of them, but trust me, there were a LOT of extra spaces!!

Thanks for  your support. :) Keep writing me emails and letters and things like that. I'll email you again on Monday, so bye!

No Pictures But Good Week

Hello, I'm sorry but I haven't taken any pictures this week.

This week has been good. I can't really even remember what I said last week, but I'll just tell a story or two from this week.

The guy I talked about last week that we knocked in on, turns out that he raps about the Bible and things like that! He is a funny guy, I don't think he's interested in the message we have, but it was really cool to meet him. He raps about all sorts of biblical things ranging from "Proverbs 31" which is of course about how to find a virtuous woman. :D And he has a chorus of one of his songs which goes, "I don't pack a matic(as in an automatic gun), but I pack a Matthew Mark Luke and John." Haha, he gave us each a CD and I listened to parts of it. I'm definitely keeping the CD and bringing it home with me, it's just a great souvenir.

Well, also this week, we had a missionary training of some sort. It was good, it was uplifting, but it was quite long. But I endured. :)

Well there really isn't much to report this week. It seemed like nothing much happened, but we were constantly busy this week so I don't even know where the time went! All I can say is that next week I will have more to say, because next Wednesday is Moves day! So I will most likely get a new companion and it will just be full of changes, so that'll be exciting. Thanks for writing me and stuff, love you, bye!

Mario Star, Rock DJ, and Chinese Buffet

Picture 1- A Mario Star!

Picture 2- Me on Exchange with Elder Evans.

Picture 3- The MI6 building...!

Well, this week has been good! I had an exchange with Elder Evans, my district leader, who is going home in just a few weeks! He lost his a tooth, and the temporary crown cracked, so he is missing a tooth for about another week. Poor guy. But it does look pretty funny, so it's all good. :D It was a good exchange, we had a lot of fun and taught some nice people. One lady's husband is kind of not happy with the church for some reason, but we talked a bit to him and apparently he's a 50's rock DJ! He's actually played with some famous people and known them quite well, but I can't remember any of their names. Dad would know them though, I'm sure. One was the guy who sang "In The Summertime". Anyways, I just thought that was cool.

Oh! This week I had my first "Knock-in" lesson. That's when someone lets you in just from knocking, and that happened on Tuesday. The guy seemed like he was trying to trick us or something, but he did set up a return appointment for tonight so we'll see how that goes. :) They are a nice couple, so it was just a good experience.

Also this week, we started painting a lady's dining room. She gave us the paint she wanted us to use, and to be honest it was terrible paint. It didn't go on the walls very well at all. But we did about a whole wall with it and then she walks in and says, "Oh! This color is terribly dark, it makes me want to weep!" (She really did say that it makes her want to weep! :D) So then she gave us some white paint and we started painting the other walls. So we get to go and finish that up this week.

Well, as for spiritual experiences this week, I guess I'll just say some things that I've learned. I have been reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning while I've been out here, and I'll be honest in saying that this is the first time I've really understood it, and therefore enjoyed reading it. It's good to realize that it actually is a helpful book, not just "Ancient Scripture". The examples in it, both good and bad, teach you things to do and avoid doing. Also, I can't remember if I told you or not but I read John recently and I really learned a lot. So I guess I'm just trying to say that I've learned the scriptures really do give good counsel. So that's good. :)

Well, I'm going to go to a all you can eat Chinese buffet and then going to play some chair football now, so thanks for writing and emailing me and everything else you're doing to support me. :) Love you bye!!!

Pigeons and Mangoes!

Picture 1-Amen to this sign!

Picture 2-Me eating a mango that was only 50p! So good.

Picture 3-Brother Kearl(?), My companion, and Bishop Cooke!

Hi, I don't remember what I wrote last week, except for the story about that crazy lady and the weird conversation we had. But just as an unexpected update on that, I saw her again in a completely different part of our area! It must be some sort of sign or something.

This last week has been good. We met a Chinese guy named Jin Ming Wang, and he is awesome. He doesn't speak very much English, but we could communicate a little and we brought him to church yesterday. It's really cool to meet people from all over, as I have said many times before. :)

This week hasn't been terribly eventful, except I guess for the fact that there seemed to be more people at church than usual. Most of them were visiting while they are on holiday or something, but still, the singing sounded a little better than normal. I don't know if I've talked about how cool the bishop of this ward is, but he is really cool! Yesterday we had a dinner appointment at his grandma's house, (She's an old Jamaican lady, who I can't understand a lot of the time.) and there were lots of people there. In fact, one of the bishop's counselors (Brother Kearl) was there who is moving back to America next week, so I think I'll give him your email address so he can send you pictures that he took there. I didn't take any because my battery died. :(

Well, sorry there really isn't much news this week. But I'm still learning a lot, and I'm becoming more comfortable with talking to people on the street and stuff. But like dad says, you can't fall into a routine with it. So I try and keep it interesting. I love being out here, and it's such a growing experience! I am looking back on myself even just 6 weeks ago and seeing how much I've improved. So it's really cool, and I just have to keep trying my hardest. One thing that I've really come to realize is that this church, even though the people in it are definitely not perfect, myself included, is that it's here to help us become more "perfect". Sometimes if even just to strengthen our patience and tolerance with other people. :D Well, I guess that's all I've got this week. So, talk to you next week! If I forgot anything, then it probably wasn't too important. Or, it was, and I'm just too forgetful. Love you, bye!