Sunday, September 6, 2015

Week 14-August 30, 2015

Week 14-September 1, 2015
New Transfer
Hey fam! if there is one thing i learned this week, its that somehow since leaving california and america and flying over the Atlantic Ocean I now love my family a lot more. your pictures and emails become my ipad wallpapers and i think of each of you in my prayers every night! I also am so sad that i dont have much time to email. from now on with my new companion i think ill get more time but with Elder Chronister we have super busy pdays. super sad news: elder jackson is going home tomorrow and i just said goodbye to him for the last time. it was really really sad... he has made me laugh more than almost anyone i know and being in the flat with him for 3 months has been so helpful to me. an example of a goofy humble hard working missionary who accomplishes so much by being humble and loving. I will miss him a lot and until him and ashley get married youll probably never see him either.
This week was good! Dad, you asked about Chris, the man we spoke to in the rain. he is on vacation, but has said he wants to be baptised in the beginning of october and so this week he's getting back and we will see how he progresses! I am super excited for him- but as much as i want him to progress i know itll be up to him ultimately. Thats the thing about being a missionary- we do what we can and then at a certain point each person has their agency. And thats the way it needs to be! this week me and elder chronister and augusto strangely enough talked about how seeing angels or having visions doesnt garauntee anything. many of the witnesses in the beginnning of the book of mormon fell away from the church.. laman and lemuel spoke to angels.. and the list goes on. Then it occurred to me that it is their pride that kept them from eternal life. They knew in their hearts that the gospel was 100% true, they knew god exists.. yet the chose to distance themselves from it all. And that must be because their pride prevented them from humbling themselves to God and to the leaders of the church and recognizing their own mistakes. That brought me to the idea that ultimately, thats what Satan personifies. He, of all people, knows who Jesus Christ is. Heavenly Father is his father too, and he knows very well who he is, but he's the devil... because of his pride he has seperated himself. He's also the perfect example of what happens when we do that. Anyways, just a really interesting thought that was on my mind.
This week we had a lot of goodbyes because we knew one of us was leaving so every time we visited someone it was a little bit sad. The big news of the week is that Joey Folwell (a 24 year old guy whose mother is a member and who was baptised as a child but hasnt gone to church in years and years since he was a kid. he now has a 9 year old daughter and a partner and a 4 year old boy who he is basically a father too as well) came to church!!!!! his brother Andrew is our YM president and told us it would be a miracle if we got him to church. anyways, we have over the months gotten really close to him and talked a lot about church and God and scriptures and faith and he has softened so much. He came to church 3 hours late (yes thats after church ended) with his partner Steph and the four year old, Lucho. we went to the YSA sacrament meeting with them at 1 and he told us yseterday that he has been thinking and talking with Steph about going again, possibly every week. Steph is not a member and she told me church helped her feel at peace with herself. I love this crazy family so much... i cant help but see what they could be if they accept the gospel and joey leads the family through the craziness they face as a real Dad. Side note joey got a ukelele and so he has been learning it and they think im some sort of professional because i played guitar and so i can play the ukelele a bit. They ask me to play whenever we visit now and it has made me wanna buy one myself! Hahaha. anyways this was a highlight of the week for sure.
Another huge highlight was that a man named paul cardall ( the son of a senior missionary couple that direct the Visitors Center here) gave a devotional on sunday evening. He is an incredible piano player, look him up. he wrote the score for ephraim's rescue! anyways we invited augusto to come to it that day at church because he was supposed to be going camping but it got cancelled so he was around. the devotional was one of the most incredible experiences. it was incredible. the way that he played his songs and told the stories of how they came about were inspiring. the best part of all though was that after the devotional, augusto told us that Paul's testimony had made him decide that he was going to come back for good. and not come back in the sense of just coming to church, but the whole shebang. Completely come back.. this has been the culmination of me and Elder Chronister's entire time together, and it means the world to elder Chronister. We had lunch with Augusto today and cooked altogether in a super super nice flat he watches over, and it was a tender experience.
So the big news is that Elder Chronister is leaving! He is going to train another new missionary and he's literally in the area just above Hyde Park 2, still in London, just up the street. So we are going to be able to see each other quite often still which makes me so happy. I will be taking his place as district leader here and I will also be training a new missionary. pray for him.. i dont know how im gunna do this
mom, i spent 90 pounds on some jackets from elder chronister for super good prices because he doesnt want them anymore and so im set for the winter! also, a few things.. augusto reminded me that i need to tell you that i have changed! I love vegetables and fruit now! what is happening to me... Hahaha also, im finally going to have to learn how to cook rice and do real cooking stuff now cause who knows if my new companion will have ever cooked either. Maybe we'll just have cereal for every meal. Side note: theres an american food store that me and elder chronister go to all the time and we know the worker super well at this point. i bought 8 boxes of chocolate chex.. they were on sale for 50 pence a peice............. i had to...

I love you each so much! Lydia, good luck in school this year, tell brother rossiter i said hello for me, would you? also, you are growing up and look so much older now. to think of you driving and being a junior is so crazy.. Stop turning into a full fledged woman!!!!! youre supposed to be my little sister. Natalie- sounds like youre enjoying being the top dog in Foothills now as an 8th grader. And hahahaha i sure hope mr. mcculley doesnt call you Taylor... that'd be uncomfortable because that means either you look like a boy or (more likely) i looked like a pretty blonde girl. good luck in web! Mandy, YOU"RE IN MIDDLE SCHOOL!!! I love you so much :) you'll be just fine don't let yourself worry. Benjamin... I drew a picture for you ill send it to you soon. i think you'll like it. love you little broski! keep up the good work in soccer and cub scouts!
ASHLEY!!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU DA BEST OLDER SISTA EVER! I hope you have a great day.. love you and miss you sis <3
Have a great week everyone! eat some peanut butter and think of me
 you are in my thoughts every single day! i dont know what i could do without you all. J-squad for life

Elder J 
Last weeks pday- throwing the football (american football) at Olympic
park in the rain!!! 


Me, Augusto, Carlo, and Elder Chronister having a farewell barbecue before Carlo and his family left for the philipines for a month.
 
he district for the last time.. The two in the front are leaving tomorrow to go home. (Elder Jackson from Alabama and Sister Phillips from southern England)

The final pop tart. The last time we keep the tradition of eating a pop tart together once a week on Friday. 

Scotch bonnets. Flat 17 yo 

Joey and his family (missing Ella his 9 year old daughter) 


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