This week and last has been hectic. So on Monday for my birthday- I FINALLY bought myself a winter coat (first picture). It's been really off and on (the weather) and some days it's freezing with pouring rain and others it's bright and sunny and great hah. And it changes in seconds. So I'm glad I got a coat! We also got to go and see some investigators who fed us and gave me cake. It was pretty great. Tuesday we had to take a train to Luton (out of our whole zone!) to go to a police station! Elder Ho was an illegal!!! Just kidding. Kinda. Because he's Chinese he has to go and register at a police station everytime he moves as soon as possible otherwise he's an illegal. So because it was already half throught he transfer we figured we should probably get that done. Then we went to a members home and they celebrated my birthday again! More cake and candles hah and then we went to youth with them and got to play some chair football in our pros clothes (shirt and tie). I almost ripped my trousers! But I still got second. Friday we had a service project planned for someone we didn't really know.. We were just going with one of our investigators. So we planned it and then we got their and she wasn't there! So we called her and she was next door so she invited us to her friends house and we went in and apparently it was her birthday party or something hah so we got to meet a ton of new people and we ended up giving out our number to them all and set up to go paint at one of their houses (before the person we were originally going to paint for) So it was really random and we got to pray with all of them. And our investigator we were with kept whispering in my ear to teach them about the gospel and tell them what we do as missionaries! It was pretty awesome that he was so excited to share the gospel. Sunday we got to go to a recent converts house and do some crazy stuff. We got to hold their Leopard Spotted Lizard (I think) and pet it and then I got to put on some shoe things with springs on them and jump around! It was a good appointment ha Monday the internet was down here at the library- hence me not emailing then. But we did get to have an adventure. We went with the sisters to buy some chinda dishes to throw! Apparently it's good for stress! And fun hah so we made a long bike ride to a country town (where they have some "sheds" that are gigantic. They also filmed parts of Batman: Dark Knight Rises in them! Second picture) and had a picnic of wild blackberries, candy, and cereal. We started throwing dishes at a tree but it wasn't satisfying so we went back to the church and threw them there. It was a pretty good, long adventure. On Tuesday we had a workover with our Zone leaders. I went to Northampton and got to drive for the day again. It was really cool and we met some pretty interesting people! I even got to help Elder Tautfest (my temporary companion) get his first appointment while tracting! And he's been out for over a year! It was really fun. Wednesday (yesterday) we had zone interviews at the Bedford chapel. We got a great training from our President about Christ and what he's done for us and then we got a training from his wife about how we can be more obedient. They are really wonderful leaders and they know so much. I learned a lot. Then we got to go to a dinner appointment and we played a really cool game called the missionary game! It's kind of like monopoly but you work towards baptisms and you have to use scriptures and gain love and inspiration and member work and such. -Elder Jespersen
So on Monday we got to go bowling in Kettering again! And we had an amazing things happen afterward. We were all sitting in a members home and their friend came over. She already knew the missionaries that worked there so she sat in the middle of all of us and started asking us all sorts of questions like why she should be mormon and why we do certain things. It was really cool to have us all there and sharing our experiences. We could all feel the spirit. And she decided that she would actually listen to a full lesson from the missionaries and start progressing towards baptism. It was great. Tuesday we met with the bloke from Portugal who just showed up at church. We've seen him everyday since then and he wants to be baptised. He just doesn't know when. He loves learning about the Book of Mormon and he loves talking with us. He can also see how it's helping him improve his language and what all God is doing for him. He's a great guy. Wednesday started the week of pouring rain in spurts. We got drenched on our way back to our flat and then had to rush off to another appointment. It was pretty fun though! Friday we had a workover with the Kettering elders and Elder Leavitt came to Bedford with me. It was a really good day. We got to see our Portugese chap and then meet our Nigerian investigator. It was a miracle that we got to see him. He wasn't home when we knocked so we decided to tract a few doors. At the end of the street we talked to a nice lady about her garden for a while and then decided to head back home. As we were going we saw the investigator in the distance! If we hadn't taken the time to tract or talk to the lady we wouldn't have been able to meet him. We had an amazing spiritual experience with him. He got really frustrated because he felt like it was all true. But he wanted it to be more of a challenge haha so it was a good frustrated. Saturday we played some chair football and then painted with the sisters again. Great day. Sunday I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting about he blessings of missionary work and it helped me to understand how much the Lord has actually blessed me. It's amazing. Then in the evening we went over to the Nigerian investigators again and he fed us fu-fu! I don't know if that's how you spell it but it was really weird and a great cultural experience haha Now today is my birthday and I'm gonna go celebrate!
Monday- was a long p day. We played chair football! It was great. Then we got to go to a fun members house and played a BoM character guessing game with them. We ended up staying way past normal time because my companion and I apparently had the same character and we didn't know it! But really fun. Tuesday was really random! We saw one of our less actives on the street and he insisted on us coming to teach him right away! Then we had to rush off after that to go paint a wall for a wonderful Hindi investigator the sisters are teaching and she fed us some amazing veggie curry with weird tortillas she calls chubati or something. Really good, I probably ate three times as much as anyone else there. Wednesday we went out and talked to people on the street for a long while and had a ton of people who were interested talking to us! It was great. Thursday we had a zone meeting in Northampton which I didn't get to go to! Because as soon as we got there a elder had to go to the hospital for a check up on his ankle he broke a little bit ago. I had to drive him because I was one of the only ones there that could and so we spent a couple hours at the hospital. But it was still a fun adventure. On Friday I completely crashed my bike. I was riding with no hands like a usually do while talking on the phone and reading my planner. I noticed a pole coming up so I put my planner under one arm and the phone on my shoulder and grabbed the handlebars with one hand on the wrong side.. I tried to turn one way but ended up going the other and flew over my bike and rolled on the ground. My bike took and spill but I rolled out of it. I did end up getting a huge grass stain on my shirt which I had to wear for half the day.. It was an interesting crash and I'm lucky I didn't get really hurt. Saturday we had sports day and played SIGNS! I love that game so much. I miss playing it at family reunions! It was really successful and then we went and did some gardening for a less active. At church we ended up having someone we didn't know come and so we met him and apparently it was one of the referrals that the elders before I came to the area had gotten from a recent convert. He came and we got to walk home with him and he's looking forward to us coming and teaching him more. We also got to meet another new investigator and teach him for a really long time. He is studying theology and writing a book about a new view on religion. He's a really cool bloke.
So this week went faster than I thought. Thursday I had my very first Zone Conference. So a zone conference is where multiple zones meet together, a zone meeting is where it's just one zone. So for our zone conference we went into London to meet. It was great. They're practically all day things. We start out at about 10:30 (suppose to be 10 but they're always late..) and have a few trainings and then we eat lunch (I had about 8 slices of pizza) and then a few more trainings and then everyone gets up and talks to everyone for a good hour and a half or two. We didn't get home til about 6! But it was great. I got to see my lsat companion- Elder Brunstad ("step-brother") and that was fun. I also got to see my trainer ("father") and my new "brother" that he's training. I now have two "brothers" from him. The geneology out here on a mission is confusing! But it was great to see some new missionaries and hear from the speakers. Saturday we played some football and met this awesome Indian guy who wants to learn a bit more! It was actually one of our miracles. We had tracted his neighbors house (the day before) and even though he wasn't interested; he pointed us next door. When we knocked nobody answered.. So we decided to knock it the next day. When we showed up he was outside trimming his hedges and we started talking to him and offered to help. He said he didn't need any because he was healthy! So we taught him about the Word of Wisdom randomly and he loved it! So we exchanged details and he's excited for us to stop by again. This week has been pretty good with people giving us referrals. As a mission we've been asked to ask everybody we talk to for referrals and as I've tried to do that I've seen a lot more people are willing to listen or point us in the direction of someone who will. It's great to see how the Lord helps us find these people- especially when it happens through someone else.
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