Life Across the Pond: My Tribute to Members

Dear Family-

This week has been absolutely incredible and ended with General Conference. Monday we went into city centre and went shopping. I was on the hunt for a new coat and boots. I found a long down coat that is water proof (I tested it.) I bought water proofer too for after the water proof wears off. It was reasonably priced too. I still haven't found boots that fit me that are within my price range, but the hunt will continue! Monday night we also met these 2 amazing Chinese girls!

Tuesday we taught R and he is SO cool. He had been researching and learning. He had totally connected that if the church is true than that meant that the great apostasy really did happen! Now he is just studying and praying to know if the church is true. He came to General Conference on Sunday and liked it! All of our Chinese investigators had a hard time understanding the speakers for whom English was a second language haha

Tuesday we had members answer our prayers. Sister McMorn had come teaching with us once with L and she was really touched by his earnestness and commitment to the gospel. She invited us over for a dinner appointment with L on Tuesday. It was so good! L got to be in a member home and feel the spirit. Her and her husband have 2 little kids and are a really strong family in the church. L LOVED it and it helped us keep him busy the week of his baptism.

Wednesday was an amazing day! We had our district meeting, and L's baptismal interview (which he passed with flying colours) and we got to talk to a whole bunch of Chinese people! We taught E, one of the chinese girls we found on Monday. She is so cool! She doesn't really know anything about religion, so we had to start at the very basics. It was funny because she asked if God could lift her pen up to tell her He is there. She is amazing though. She came to General Conference too and was really touched by Elder Holland's talk (You can click on the link to listen to Elder Holland's talk again. Or for the first time, as the case may be. Do it. Click the link!)

Wednesday night we popped by to see two Chinese potential investigators who were REALLY nice. We knocked on their door and they said come in! So we taught both of them and their 2 other flatmates on the fly. It was such a cool experience, though it was slightly nerve-wracking. All four of them were listening intently to every word we said! we taught about how God loves us and prayer and invited them to pray to know God it there. It was such a cool experience!

Thursday was L's baptism! We were out finding about 2 hours before the baptism and we talked to this Chinese girl J, who is the most enthusiastic investigator I have had yet by far! She grilled us with questions and then we told her about the baptism that night and she said she would love to come! Problem was, we had to get to the church an hour early to fill up the font. We called Dana, this amazing RM YSA (That stands for "Return Missionary Young Single Adult" for those of you who don't speak in abbreviations) from the U.S. who is getting a Masters degree here to see if she could walk up with her. She was coming to the baptism already and she said of course! So Dana and J walked up together! J had LOADS of questions and loved the service. We taught her a lesson after the baptism was finished and she loved everything! We had a dinner appointment with Dana on Friday so Dana invited J. Then J told us about her friend from China "who really wanted to be baptized." Dana invited her to bring her friend. So Friday we did a dinner appointment and lesson at Dana's with J and her friend Q. They are SO cool. Q is so elect and is truly searching for the truth. She learned that God was there for her in China when she was having a really hard time, and she prayed in her heart after coming across a copy of the Bible. She explained to us that coming to the UK is a gift from God to her to become a Christian and find Him more. She does have some questions about which Christian church to join (all the different Christian churches really confuse the Chinese students) but the spirit will/is manifesting the truth of the gospel to her. Dana watched General Conference with them Saturday night and it was so good because Dana was able to bear her testimony more and help answer some of their questions. Dana was another answer to prayers! She is fellow-shipping so well!

Ok. L's baptism. He made it! When he walked into the chapel Thursday he said "Now my life can begin." He was confirmed right after the baptism because of General Conference. Priesthood power is real! Everything said to him in the blessing after he was given the gift of the Holy Ghost was exactly what he needed to hear. God knows His children perfectly! The ward came out and was so supportive. And L was glowing. The next step for him is a calling and then the Temple!

Now for General Conference. Because of the time difference the Saturday morning session is broadcast Saturday night 5-7, then on Sunday the priesthood session is from 10-12. The Saturday afternoon session is shown from 1-3, the Sunday morning session from 5-7 then the Sunday afternoon could be watched from 9-11. I'll just have to read this session when it comes out in the Ensign or download in on my flash drive. We watched conference at the chapel. It was cool to watch it in the chapel and sing the choir/congregation hymn with an actual congregation instead of just a family :) We had a really good turnout of investigators too! I love being in Harborne SO much! I never want to leave this area! Its fun because now I've been here for 5 months so I know almost all of the ward.

Heavenly Father has been SO good to us this week! We got to teach so many new people, L was baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost and things are looking up! This is an amazing time to be a member of the church. There is so much good all around us! I loved how in Conference they talked about member missionaries and members and missionaries working together. Members make the difference! Especially in the retention of new converts. When the missionaries bring people to church, go up and talk to them! Get to know them, invite them over for dinner, help them feel the strength of your testimonies. The 2 dinner appointments which we had this week with members and investigators were EPIC. It is an important part of fellowshipping. Do more than just say hi and bye. Be their friend! Ok sorry, I'm through preaching about that now haha. I just have had such good experiences this week with the importance of member-investigator relationships.

Tomorrow we get to go down to Gloucester as a Zone to go see the oldest church building in the church! We are going to the Benbow farm and the Gadfield Elm chapel. Wilford Woodruff and others taught there on their missions to England.

This is what President Rasmussen sent us about them:

"The Gadfield Elm Chapel near the village of Pendock in Worcestershire, England, is the oldest existing chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The structure was built in 1836 as a religious meetinghouse by the United Brethren, a group of breakaway Methodists led by Thomas Knighton and John Benbow. In 1840, Elder Wilford Woodruff of the Quorum of the Twelve preached among the United Brethren; ultimately all but one of the 600 members of the United Brethren were converted. After the conversions, the structure was deeded to the Church by Thomas Knighton and John Benbow. Three prophets have spoken in Gadfield Elm Chapel.

At Benbow Farm, Elder Wilford Woodruff first began to preach the restored gospel in Southwest England and at the farm’s pond he baptized many of the United Brethren group, including John and Jane Benbow. These new converts immigrated to America where they made significant contributions to the Church."

SO cool! I'm excited so see this part of church history.

Now for some pictures: