12/12/2016

Well! What a week it has been! To be honest a lot of planning and not much time in our area at all...but it has been a solid week this week, we had some solid friends come to church and we also had some sweet miracles this week that we really were so beyond grateful for. So that was just brilliant. The Lord has been so mindful of us this week. Even with all the crazy things going on, so we are really really grateful. Life is good out here in Duston. It's so crazy that Christmas is coming so soon!!!!! Skype will be such a good time, I'm stokeddddd! But Christmas is always the best on the mission, I really have a testimony of that.

So first things first, on Tuesday we were blessed to be able to find 3 new friends that are way cool. One of them name is E and he is from Italy and is living with his family here! We were able to go and teach him and his sister on Friday and they both accepted baptismal dates! They are so willing and they love the Book of Mormon already. Tuesday night was a long night to be honest, we drove into London without satellite navigation, as it was stolen.....and it was an adventure to say the least. We did pretty well because we take the M1 all the way to central London, but once you get into central London it's a different story without a sat nav, especially trying to get to Kensington. Pretty sure 100+ taxi drivers honked at me and yelled at me but we just had a good time. We drove pretty aggressively and made it through, it was so brilliant though, we drove down oxford street and right past Marble Arch and everything was lit up with Christmas lights, so that was cool, we had a good time and to be honest it was meant to be that Elder Lindsey and I were together because we have spent about a year and a half in London combined so we could make our way through. But it did feel nice to finally arrive at the Hyde Park chapel. So that was a highlight of the week. We had a meeting and it was also super super powerful, I love President and Sister Stevens. They are the best. They always know how to lighten the mood and bring the spirit. They are special. We had zone meeting on Friday and it was nice to be with everyone in the zone all together!!! It was a powerful meeting and I learned tons.

We had a way cool miracle on Saturday. So we were helping a recent convert put up some curtain hangers, which was a bit difficult with the tools that we were given, but we made it work, it took a bit longer than we thought but it all happened for a reason because before we were leaving we started sharing the Christmas initiative video "light the world" and as we started it, a man came downstairs and we invited him to watch it with us. As we watched the spirit was super super strong. We left outside with the man and offered him a Book of Mormon. We talked for  quite a while about the Book of Mormon and the restoration. He was very interested! We were standing out in the English rain for about an hour testifying to this man about the restoration and the Book of Mormon. It was a lovely experience. We were able to extend a baptismal date and he accepted. He came to church the next day and expressed how he truly felt that this church was true and that it had to come from God. It was such a lovely experience. His name is "I" and he is a such an amazing guy.

Sunday was a sweet day. A, I, and a few other friends came to church! We had dinner at the Hirsts after church. They are such an amazing family, so over all it was a solid week!

LORDS HAND

I saw the Lords Hand this week in the ability elder Lindsey and I had to make it into London safely and on time, well almost on time. We were comforted as we knew where we were at certain moments and what we needed to do. I also saw the Lords Hand in "I", and how prepared he was to receive the message of the restoration. I saw the Lords Hand in the fact that it took us a bit longer to put up the curtains which made everything work out perfectly. I know that it all happened for a reason. It was so cool to see that the message of the restored gospel in a way, filled a gap in "I"'s understanding of religion in general. I love that the Book of Mormon is the converting tool through the power of the Holy Ghost. I have complete confidence that it can change the life of anyone that reads it to come closer to God and Jesus Christ, as long as we are truly willing to read and pray about its truthfulness.

Love you!

No short cuts

Jake

Teaching via Skype