10/24/2016

Well to be honest I don't have much time to write an email today. We are pretty busy and it has just been a crazy week with the new transfers starting and getting everything in place. But it's alllllll goooood! It was a brilliant week overall and it has gone super fast! Elder Lindsey is settled right in and we are just working hard and having a lovely time here in Duston. The big news this week is that the mission will now be using the digital area Book planner. Which means all of our updates and planning will happen on our iPads. So it will be interesting to see how it rolls out in the next few weeks. 

We were able to teach J and E quite a bit this week. I love Chinese friends hahaha. We have been able to Skype in "I" and it has just been lovely. The spirit is so powerful and they want to be exactly obedient, I know you've probably heard me say that for ages but it's true. They are just brilliant. We have been able to see F quite a bit this week as well! She is in London all week this week but has taken a Book of Mormon to give to her mom!!! So we are pumped about that, she has such a sincere desire to share the happiness that the gospel brings to her with other people, especially her family, she has a powerful knowledge and testimony that the plan of salvation is real and It's been an example to me!  We taught K the Indian friend a few times this week as well and he is doing well! He accepted a baptismal date for the 20th of November! So that will be sweeeeet! He's way cool! He has been to church like 7 times and he really loves it so much. 

We had the primary program this week and it was soooo good. The kids are hilarious and our friends at church loved it. So we were happy about that. 

The Lords Hand 

This week I saw the Lords Hand in my studies. I was struggling a bit while reading Alma 5 and it talked about having a sincere change of heart and being spiritually born of God and maybe I was being too hard on myself like I always am and I really questioned if I had even had a change of heart, I felt prompted to turn to my farewell talk and reread the experience I had up in the Brighton basin and how I had received my answer, I was also able to reflect on a lot of other experiences and the gratefulness I have for repentance and the atonement and being able to improve and change. I really felt Heavenly Fathers love for me. It was something I am really grateful for. I do know I have experienced a change of heart and I feel like that change continues to happen every day. I'm grateful that Heavenly Father reminds us of small experiences that have changed our life. 

I love you guys! The Utes are on a roll. Hahaha I hope you enjoy those nights sitting in rice Eccles. Sad that women's soccer lost, they are always a beast team and always show up to play, so I'm happy for EHWS. Love you Guys! 

Jake

No Short Cuts

 

10/18/2016

Well the good news is I am staying here in Duston!!!!! So I'm pretty stoked about that to be honest. It's a lovely place, lovely Ward, and the work is just moving along so I'm super happy. Elder Ammermon and I will be split up. Haha it's been a solid 3 transfers with him. One in Bedford and 2 in duston, it seems like the transfer in Bedford was twice as long as the two transfers here in Duston, maybe because I was still getting into the swing of things last year. But it has been a good run with elder ammermon, we have seen some sweet miracles and we have had some solid memories together on the mission that we will never forget. I will be receiving a new companion named Elder Lindsey and he's a stud!!!!! Hahah we lived in the same flat together in Britannia Ysa Ward and we had a wicked time so I'm super super stoked for this transfer. We are going to tear it up. He knows how to teach Chinese people very well so we are going to have some success up at the university. 

J and E learning over Skype

We have had a few highlights of the week. We had interviews with President and Sister Stevens. It was the best hahaha. I love them. We talked about the talk in conference (women's session) called "fourth floor, last door" by president uchdorf. It was super powerful and I learned tons. Interviews were brilliant as always. We had some delicious Mexican food when we were in Bedford as well so it was a solid day haha. We also went to a Chinese buffet and it was legendary. We have been able to see J and E quite a bit this week. They are progressing well but struggle a bit with understanding, but it will come. I really wish I spoke Chinese. Still hoping Isaac gets transferred here hahaha. 

Chinese Buffet!

We were able to teach L. W. again on Thursday. He is such a great kid. So his family are all members except for him. He wasn't baptized when he was 8 for some specific reasons but he has grown up going to primary and knows so much, he's super smart and super excited for his baptism. It's been cool to be able to teach someone younger who has such a strong desire. He's a great kid. We have also been teaching this Indian man named K. He is very bright and asks tons and tons of questions, a lot of the time to contradict what we teach him, but this last week we invited him to really read the Book of Mormon, and for the first time, he texted us, told us he had read the entire chapter of alma 32 and that he felt it was true. It was such a cool experience to see that just softening our hearts helps us open to the spirit. 

Sunday was such a solid day. We had ward conference and the bishop and stake president spoke and they did a lovely job. It was perfect for the friends we had at church. They spoke about giving up the one last thing that we struggle with and that is keeping us from coming closer to our Heavenly Father. We had K and F there and the talks were perfect. After church we had dinner with the YSA and it was perfect for Fiona as well. We had a lesson after dinner and we talked about what that last thing was that F had to give up to make the step of baptism. It was so cool to see that she already knew what it was, and she felt that the talks were perfect for her. We watched the Restoration video with her last week and right after the movie she had already received a witness that it was all true. She went on to say that if Jospeh smith could go through all that he went through for the gospel, she could give up anything to make the next step of following Christ. 

Lords Hand

I saw the Lords Hand this week in the love that he has for each and every one of us. For F, for K, for everyone. I realised that a lot of the time, we aren't going to understand principles of the gospel all at once. But I've realised that Heavenly Father is going to give us the perfect amount of spiritual light and guidance, he will never give us to much or to little, just the perfect amount until we are able to fully understand what he expects of us, and once we realised what he expects of us, we have our agency and our faith to act. I've seen the Lords Hand is preparing the way for F the last few weeks with institute lessons, FHE lessons, sacrament talks, and lessons we have had. Everything seems to be perfectly directed at her concern, not in a pushy way but in a soft gentle way, where she understands what needs to happen next.  

I love you guys. Keep sending it and being the best. The mission is the best, England is a lovely place and is very special to me. The Parkin family dinner looked super fun Haha. Grandmother and grandfather looked hilarious hahaha. You are the best. 

No short cuts. 

Jake

Favorite Mexican Food Truck in Bedford

10/10/2016

Another solid week here in Duston! The work is moving along and we are just loving life. Time is flying as well. This is the last week of the transfer. It's crazy that Elder Ammermon will be leaving. He has been here for 6 months and is going to be very sad to leave. So I will most likely be staying and receiving a new companion in a week and a half so that will also be exciting. Elder Ammermon and I have had a good run and a sold 4 1/2 months of serving together in the Northampton zone, but all good things come to an end. But the week has been brilliant!!! We were busy and had tons of fun!

So we had an exchange on Tuesday and I was with a beast missionary from Idaho Falls. We had a super good time and we found some way cool people. It's always fun being with other missionaries and just working. We had some good laughs as well. Hahaha he's like 6 ft 5 in and he is massive haha so we were quoting Tommy boy for the entire day. Then on Wednesday we went into London on an exchange and it was such a good time. It was nice being back in the stomping grounds and talking to all the Chinese students. We played basketball on Thursday morning and balled out with Marcus. We had a good time. He is killing it and loving the area and the mission. He's a stud. 

On Thursday we had a super cool experience. We were waiting for an investigator outside the university and these 7 girls came up to us and invited us to visit the campus church. We started talking to them and they started asking questions. We were able to teach the restoration on the street and testify. It was a lovely experience. The spirit was super strong and it just strengthened my testimony. I felt like I was Ammon or Alma just preaching, or like the first missionaries that came to England. It was a sweet experience, we are seeing them this week and giving all of them copies of the Book of Mormon. On Friday we were able to watch Prophet of the Restoration with F and L. It was soooo good. The spirit was super powerful and it was just a testimony builder for me. It was so cool after, F had all of these questions about Joseph Smith and the restoration and she knows it's true. She now wants to go and visit Kirkland, Nauvoo, and sacred grove. So it was super cool. 

Lords Hand

So I saw the Lords Hand this week in I!!! So I have been able to contact her as she is back from China. I even saw her a few weeks ago when we were in London. When I was talking to her this week over Wechat, she told me she had finished reading the Book of Mormon all the way through. It made me so happy to know she has been reading and strengthening her testimony. I felt the spirit so strongly as she told me. It's been 8 months since she was baptized and she found the little tiny meeting house in mainland China and went while she was home. I have really seen the Lords Hand in helping her continue on the path. I've been super super happy and grateful. I've also seen the Lords Hand in O! He went on a church tour up north with the stake young men. And he visited the MTC and all of the church websites. A few weeks back he decided he is going to serve a mission and about a year. It just is super cool to know that one day he will be able to share the message we shared with him and maybe stop someone on their bike riding past him one night when he is on his mission. The gospel is good! It's perfect. 

Found a lawn to mow!! 

I love you Guys! Glad the Utes pulled off the win. It's been a while since we've beat Arizona. I dunno if we even have. But that's sweet! Sounds like autumn is just rolling in salt lake. Even some snow. Keep living it up. Get ready to shred this season for me Haha. I love you, thanks for being the best. 

Jacob 

NO SHORT CUTS

10/3/2016

This week has been a killer week! General conference was brilliant as always and we just had some sweet things happen! We are stoked! The weather has cooled down quite a bit this week, it was almost a slap to the face to be honest. I didn't really see it coming. We have had the sun come out a few times so we are happy about that! Life is good though. Lots of people coming out of the woodwork. We have had quite a bit of finding time this week with meetings and everything. I've really felt the Lord bless us in that way. 

The first of the week was lovely. I PASSED MY DRIVING TEST! I can officially say I've passed the hardest driving test in the world. So I'm pretty happy about that. So I was stoked. We then drove into London later on Tuesday evening and stayed in the Britannia flat. It was so good to see Marcus again. We had some time to just chat and talk about the good times. He's a stud. I'm grateful to have him out here with me. He's going to love Britannia as well. It was nice being back in London as always. It's the best. It was the first time I've driven in so it was beautiful driving through Hyde park. 

We had another great meeting in Hyde park and we really enjoyed listening to president. He is an inspired man and always knows what is best for the mission. I am so grateful for him and sister Stevens. It was nice to see all the old comps and catch up with them as well. It seems like I say this in every email haha. But it was good. Elder Burgess and elder Mecham are still alive. We still talk about the good old MTC days. 

We had zone meeting on Friday and it was a good time. It was lovely to be with the whole zone and just be spiritually uplifted. We had some wicked insights and we all learned tons! After I was on exchange with elder pasten. From chile. It was our 5th exchange with each other because we also served in the London north zone together. He is also from my group so we had a good time. 

General conference was brilliant!!!!! We had two of our Chinese friends come. E and J! We found E last week while on exchange. He was with 2 Chinese girls that we stopped and they both said they weren't interested. But as they walked away. E came up to us and said, in the little English he could speak.  "hey, I'm interested to know God." It was so cool! We set up a time to see him and he has accepted a baptismal date for November 6th. But....not even the best part, he said he wanted to bring a friend to church that would be interested too. So they both came to church and we were able to teach J today. And J also accepted a baptismal date for the 6th of November. So these two Chinese friends will be growing in the gospel together. They are so willing and ready to act, they are already being converted by the gospel of Christ. It has been a lovely experience to be a part of   already.

LORDS HAND

I saw the Lords Hand this week in E and J. They have been prepared and are willing to act on the answers they receive. I also saw the Lords Hand this week in conference. We are so lucky to have inspired men of god preach and teach true doctrine to us. I know as we apply most importantly, the doctrine of Christ in our lives, we will find joy in every day living as saints in the gospel. I'm stoked to be ambitious for Christ.

"Exhibition Road Chillin"

I love you guys! Keep being the best of the best. Sad the Utes lost but hey, we have a few games left to do some damage. I  love you all. Cannot believe how fast time is going. Love you! 

NO SHORT CUTS 

JAKE