Christmas Day

 

We got to Skype with David on Christmas morning!!  Best Christmas gift ever!!!! 

He and his companion had dinner with a part member family.  They had a big turkey dinner.  Before dessert we talked with David.  He looks and sounds great!  No British accent yet.  :-)
The family he was with had a little girl who sang us 2 Christmas songs via Skype.  She was darling and the British accents were awesome!

David and his companion are on bikes.  They live in an apartment in the town of Hamilton.  Most of their dinners are at members homes.  His companion, Elder Dalton, has saved his life several times already at the round-abouts.  Apparently they are much larger there with stop lights and all.  David has tried to go at the wrong time and his companion has stopped him.  I asked David to please be careful!

First Week in Evesham

David's first e-mail from the field said:

1. So I had to get a bike helmet the other day and I ddn't have any money to get one because I had used all my money to get a bike. It's a pretty sweet bike, not going to lie. So we just went to the bike shop and were looking at the helmets and then this lady member walks up to us and asks if she can then buy us a helmet. Of course we said yes!! What a blessing! Elder Dalton says that was maybe the luckiest thing ever because that sister is a little crazy. We are going to her house tonight for dinner so I can really find out if she is or not. But I was just thinking wow...  Heavenly Father really answers prayers. Even when we don't say them.

 2. We had a leason with this man named Gavin. I asked Elder Dalton what he was like. He just said a little bit crazy... well that was the truth.  We walk into his apartment and it smelled so bad.  Beer bottles and smoke buds all over the ground. It just looked like a hell pit. And the man is crazy.  He was asking crazy questions and I was looking at elder Dalton and he just gave me the "go with the flow" look. So between the smell and him pounding down a few beers we were able to give him a leasson about the plan of happiness. He was really into it and then talked about how his twin brother died and then got really personal. We were able to then tell him how he can be forgiven and then I asked him if he would like to be babtized. He said yes!! And the was my 1st lesson too!! Even in that hell pit you could really feel the holy ghost touch him and see how he felt it. He doesn't have a date because he is going to take some time to change. We plan to meet with him again in the following weeks.

3. The Goddards are this small family who just joined the church this week. So I come here to Evesham and I have 3 babtisms!! I know nothing about the family but Elder dalton had met with them and they are "golden" are that's the truth. So this saturday the 3 of them (mom, dad and little girl) all got babtized!! You could just see how happy they are. The joy on there face can't be put into words.  Then on sunday we gave them the gift of the holy ghost. And wow so powerful everyone at church was crying. The sprit was SO strong! We look forward to binging more people the joy of the gospel.

 

Heading to Evesham

 

Shayne got a phone call this morning from the mission home.  The lady there said that David had arrived safely and was now headed to Evesham to serve there with Elder Dalton from Utah.

Here is a picture of David with his mission president, Craig & Julie Rasmussen.

The mission home is in Birminham, England.

Leaving the MTC

David's letter today:  So I'm going by train to Birmingham. Don't worry I'm going with someone who is from england, elder turney, so I should be just fine. My time here in the mtc has been crazy just gone by so fast as you guys all said it would. okay don't tell anyone but i have gained a few pounds here in the mtc!! The food is so good. But don't worry. I'm on my 2 year get sexy plan so I'm going to be really good looking when I get back. 

 

I'm going to miss the mtc here. The teachers, the food, the pet ducks we watch everyday, the people. It's such a good place here. We started with only 8 missionaries and we end with 8. No other missionariess came to the mtc. The next group is like 30.

 

All right well got to run. Love you all and miss you. Tell Allen that I'm very happy for him. Until next time!!

National Anthem Day

Sunday in Choir they had "National Anthem Day".

Among the eight missionaries, there are five countries represented:

England, Fiji, Armenia, United States and Romania.



Each person told one thing they like about their homeland.

They sang some more... because it is choir practice...

 

And then more pictures!



Best of Britain Dinner

The MTC serve a "Best of Britain Dinner" for the missionaries and sent us pictures. 

 (We are so spoiled... and I so love these photos!!!)

 

Remember now... this is cafeteria food.

They served a "typical" British meal of fish & chips and cornis pastries.

The cafeteria was decorated and they wore red, white and blue.



 

After dinner they all learned how to sing the song, "God Save the Queen". 

I love it!!



 

Street Contacting

One way to share the gospel in England is to go out on the street and just talk to people. 

They call it "street contacting".  And the missionaries did it earlier this week.

 

 

Sometimes no one is interested in what you have to say...

 

And then sometimes someone wants to know more.  Awesome!

 

Festival of the Nativities

Last Sunday evening the large church building there (the Stake Center) hosted the Festival of the Nativities.

There were many displays set up that centered around Jesus Christ.

There were even outside decorations.

Downham, England

As part of the church history tour they visited Downham,

where President Hinckley once served as a missionary 

with great success.

Downham is owned by Lord and Lady Clitheroe and they have preserved the outside exactly as it has been for hundreds of years.

All utilities are underground and the homes and flats are rented out. 

Do you think anyone is home???

 

One of the most beautiful views from a church in England.

The inside of their little church which is still in use...

The church dates back to the 1200's.

Church History Tour

 

 Preston City Square

 Sis. Walker told of her father's (Pres. Hinckley's) first day of his mission which was in Preston.

 
 
 

 Avenham Park runs along the River Ribble where 

the first baptisms took place.

Manchester, England Temple

All Eight of Them...

Photos

The elders reading e-mails from home.

Halfway Through the MTC

David's letter home today:

I'm still going strong here in England. I'm halfway done in the MTC (mission training center). Next tuesday or wednesday is when I leave for Birmingham. I'm pumped for the idea of going out and doing this work.  You know the gray dark raining days in Seattle?  Well that's everyday here in England and it's so cold. The street preaching was very hard. People don't even stop to look at you or even say hi. They just hold up a hand like stop or just run away. So after 3 hours of preaching and looking for people I only had 4 church conversations.

Something very cool here is that Sister Walker is President Hinckley's oldest daughter. So we got to get a little extra info about what it's like having your dad as the president of the church. The stories she has are so cool. She showed us places where he came on his mission, the 1st market he went to and his first apartment. 

I feel like with only 8 of us missionaries here we are growing very close.  I feel like it's going to hurt when we all leave. Oh well that's life. Thank you for the support and love. I can feel it even though I'm thousands of miles away!!

(I have lots of pictures to post on the blog once my computer decides to cooperate! --  Michelle)

First "P" Day

FYI:  "P" day for a missionary is "preparation" day.  The day a missionary does all his errands, laundry, etc.
David's e-mail to us say: "Today we went to the Preston temple. What a powerful experience. I was an escort for elder Popa who is from Romania. (He had never been through the temple before.) He had that deer in the head lights look. But very powerful." 

"Everything here is a big change from the food to the people to the cars. But one thing is the same, the gospel. I have two companions. elder Popa and elder Wienhimer. Elder Popa has a very strong testimony and when he teaches it comes from the heart and you can just tell the gospel means everything to him and he wants everyone to know. We work very well together. Elder Wienhimer comes from Utah."

"Also today we went into the town to look around and get some things. It is kinda like home only everything has a different name. The weather here is pretty much just like home only you have to cover every part of your body. They say this kind of cold goes right to your bones. I can tell you that what they say is true, it does."

First Sunday at the MTC

David's first Sunday at the MTC included a lesson on how to lead music! 

Because all missionaries need to know how to lead the hymns, just in case.

 

Here is a photo looking out the main front window of the MTC on a non-rainy day.

And each missionary stood and told a little bit about themselves...

 

Love this picture of Elder Doty!!

MTC Photos

A few photos of David learning at the MTC...

And some photos of the foyer at the England MTC all decorated for Christmas.

This is what David sees every day.