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