This week has been wonderful! We started a new and interesting way of doing missionary work! On Friday we had a special conference with President Jordan and he told us ow to use Facebook as missionaries! The England London Mission has been chosen as one of the first missions besides the pilot missions to use Online Proselyting. So after that we got on Facebook! It has been so weird trying to use Facebook as a missionary because I'm used to it being used in a different way! But I'm sure it'll be a great tool to connect with investigators and members on a more personal level by getting to know them better. Plus we can communicate with them in more ways! So hopefully it'll become a great tool in missionary work! One thing is; we can't friend family and friends back home so don't add me. So here in London it's hard trying to find service to do for people! But we got to do service this week on Wednesday for a sister who just moved into the ward. It was great, I love doing service and helping people out in any way possible. Another miracle that happened! So on Thursday we were out trying to find a less active and we tried knocking doors around them. We decided to knock this one door and we ended up having a great conversation with the person about a lot of our similar beliefs! He was great at making jokes too and we set a time to go see him again. Then we tried to make it to an appointment of ours with a member early so we could grab a bite to eat. We went a different way than Elder Botcha is used to and when we got off the tube we walked right into the member! He had just stepped off the tube too and we went with him for a pizza. Turns out he knows my uncle because they both work for Apple and live pretty close to each other haha. Saturday (the day after receiving Facebook) we ran into a guy on the street and had a great talk and both thought it'd be great to talk more but he was going to Moscow very soon and we weren't hah so we invited him to be Facebook friends and he accepted our card. So hopefully that'll be a good testimony that Facebook can bring miracles. Sunday was the British Mother's Day! So HAPPY MOTHERS DAY! We had our fast and testimony meeting which was just fantastic. And at the end I still hadn't had the chance to get up and introduce myself so the bishop just waited on the stand a bit so I could bear mine as well. It was hilarious and I was happy to be able to tell how grateful I am to my own mother for being a great example. Missionary work is a great thing and I'm so happy to be a part of this wonderful cause. Until next week! Elder Jespersen
Hello from London!! This week has been a great week! I've seen so much! It's been crazy. There is so much to see in London! There is also so many people to talk to! It's great. New faces every day.
It was a great first sacrament meeting! The people here in the ward are wonderful and they're a close knit group. I love them already. They welcome so many people! In the meeting an American family spoke about Jesus Christ and His light that each and every one of us have. It was really inspiring because the light of Christ is with everyone and it affects each person in their own way. I think it's a wonderful gift God has given us. So things have been great with Elder Botcha! For some reason we're both trying to read Book of Mormons in different languages haha, him in German and me in Tagalog! It's interesting the conversations about language we get into! He also tells me a bit of Hindi and apparently is going to teach me to make curry! I'm excited haha. It's great serving with him, he's a good teacher and helps people feel comfortable. Pretty much how we travel all the time is on double decker buses and the tubes! It's so fun. And we can talk to a lot of people! It's great being able to teach people here in Whitechapel. I look forward to every day I've got! My new address is Flat 1, 25 Louisa StreetStepney Green, London E1 4NF Pictures soon! I want to add a bit. I had a MIRACLE!!! So today we were going to Big Ben (Elizabeth Tower) to meet with some friends but it turned out we couldn't find them! So we went to Trafalgar Square and then decided to head to South Kensington to see if we could hang out with other missionaries. So when we got on the tube we sat down but then a stop later some people got in and we offered our seats to them. So I was standing in the middle while Elder Botcha was close to the door. There was a mother and her daughter sitting in front of where I was standing were speaking to each other like they were lost and they sounded American! So I said hello and asked if they knew where they were headed. They said South Kensington! So I said don't worry, it's in a couple stops, we can show you. Turns out they were staying near our Hyde Park chapel and were from Missouri and it was their first time in the tubes haha so we started to show them back through the station. As we went along we started talking about what we were all doing here in England. They said they were on holiday and we talked about being missionaries. So we invited them to take a tour of our Hyde Park chapel and they said sure why not! We had a great time touring it with them. Afterwards we showed them out and got their information so we could send some missionaries to them in Missouri. I think the best part about it was that they got to learn about what we believe which was extremely similar to their beliefs and we got to make a good friend. They'll be touring a little more of Europe though so I'm a bit jealous haha but it was a great miracle we could see. God works in wonderful ways to connect people and help them hear about the gospel. Elder Jespersen I'm heading out, going to Whitechapel, in the heart of London where I can talk to the mission president all the time haha but I am also pretty sad. I've grown to love Kent. I loved serving here in G2. The members are great and I've made lots of friends out here. I'm sad to see it go. But I'll be moving to somewhere fast. I'll be with Elder Botcha, an Indian who is a transfer younger than me, we're co companions! It'll be fantastic. This week we've done a ton of service. I love doing service, something I've learned here is that it doesn't happen unless you look for it. There are so many opportunities I know I missed back home to serve so many people but for some reason I didn't. Here I've learned how to see a need and help even if the people don't know they need it at first! It's been wonderful and it's so fulfilling. It makes people happy and it blesses the ones who serve as well! I love it. So I want to invite all who reads this - pray to see those opportunities to serve! They come all the time, and God can help you see them. I promise you you'll see the blessings come as you try to serve your very best, even if it's just small and simple, like helping your parent or your friend or anyone at all. Sorry it's short, busy last days; I've got a lot of people to say goodbye to! Elder JespersenELM 2013-2015 Sorry, I'm short on time. This week flew by! But it's been amazing. The Lord is blessing this area. The spirit has been strong this week and Elder Caluag and I have been working hard.
Something I wanted to share though is how great it is to meet people from other countries! I have learned so much about cultures from my mission and it's widened my ideas. I LOVE Philipino food. Elder Caluag and I have been learning a lot about each other and I live like a Pinoy! Haha I also love learning the language. It's hard but I think it's like anything. When you keep at it and practice it works out. Just like missionary work, when you keep at it and ask the Lord and your leaders for guidance, you eventually figure it out and find success. It's been a great experience to be out here. Next pday will be Tuesday because of transfers. HELLO!
Sorry no email last week, I'll make it up in this week. This week has been fantastic! Lot's of really good experiences. To start; we moved back to Sittingbourne! Our Rainham landlord sold our flat. So we have to vacate this week. But Sittingbourne flat never got sold so we get to move right back into it hah. So our current address is Flat 5, Albion House 30 London Road Sittingbourne, Kent ME10 1NA So a little bit about the week before last -- we did a lot of service. One of our investigators have a mold problem and so we took a day and went over to help him take apart some furniture and scrap the walls of their paint in preparation for a anti mold thing and to repaint and then this past week we helped him paint it! But bad news is that it is still wet, after a week from being on the wall. And the mold is creeping back. Cheep anti mold stuff.... Oh well, the investigator is a great man and he came to church yesterday!! It was such a good thing for him. It helped him a lot to take some steps towards the ward. On Friday we the ward had a mini olympics game night and we took him to it and he just clicked with everyone! We were introducing him and he was just talking and talking. He was doing really good! And because of that he wanted to come on Sunday. It was a really spiritual meeting and there were a ton of people there to bear their testimonies. Our investigator even wanted to bear his! But he didn't know how.., so next month. And then in Priesthood they were talking about priesthood blessings and asked if anyone would like one just to show how it is done. Our investigator jumped right up and said "That'd be me!". So (being the missionaries and knowing him best) we were able to give him a blessing and have a wonderful experience with him. Now he is really excited to come back and partake of the joy from the spirit. Then we saw him again that evening and I made grilled cheese sandwiches for everyone. With Encona HOT sauce. Really good. This past Monday was a really good day. It taught me a lot. We had interviews with the president and got to hear from him and his wife. A lot about becoming consecrated missionaries and how we can do that. There was a great talk by Tad R Callister and he spoke on this and so we went through it and all thought to ourselves what we needed to do to become more consecrated. I think that's a good thing to think about for anyone because becoming consecrated means we give up our will and submit to Gods will, those humbling ourselves to be teachable and God can help us become the men and women He wants us to be. It changed me a lot. Tuesday was pday and we went to a place called Bluewater.. Apparently is the biggest shopping centre in all of England. Or Britain. Not sure which. But it was massive. It had two stories and stretch in a gigantic circle of shop upon shop upon shop. We didn't get anything haha but it was cool to see. Something that made this week so great was that for almost all of our appointments we were able to get members to come along and help us teach. It was so much better than teaching on our own because the member created a friendship that we weren't able to. Because of that we have more progress in our area. I want to invite everyone who reads this to think about their life and think about what they might hold back from the Lord, whether it be pride or sin or fear or time or anything. Think of what you can consecrate unto God and apply it. It brings so much more happiness and blessings. |