May 31st, 2017

Once again, as always, it's such a blessing to be a missionary. I love it!! Lots of ups and downs and lots of things to learn and lots of miracles, and it's just such a cool experience.

This week, we have seen so many tender mercies and progressive steps with the people we are working with. Members, non members, former members, all of the above. It's such a cool experience to see how the gospel can just bless everybody.

There is this really young part-member couple we love to meet with who made us this "american night" meal and it was so good. We had curly fries and burgers and then rocky road cheesecake, and they had gone to the store and bought some American candy like Hershey's and lucky charms for us to take away.

One of my favourite days this week is a chance we had to go out teaching with our favourite member, and we brought along our 15 year old friend who isn't a member, although some of his family is. And we went and taught a few lessons, and he absolutely killed it! He did so good! He bore such a strong testimony of Joseph Smith and his experience, and how the spirit had played a role in his life personally. It honestly just warms your heart seeing that in the people you're working with. Plus he rolled up in a shirt and tie!

The best lesson we had this week was with a part member family who we teach regularly and who are progressing so well. I feel God has for them so strongly when we teach them. My favourite member went teaching with us too and something I love about him is he is so funny and slightly inappropriate but so spiritual. Before the lesson he is talking about farts and we are all laughing super hard then 2 minutes later he is testifying of the power of the Holy Ghost and how it plays a major part in our lives. I have learned a ton from him about the importance of being true to yourself. It may not be doctrine but I think the spirit will flow more naturally when you are being completely yourself. This is something that I love by and because of it I have been able to develop so many strong relationships with the people I have met on my mission.

May 24th, 2017

   Mission life is going really well. Just got a call from an Elder crying because him and his companion are really struggling and that is always hard to deal with. Comp issues are so difficult to deal with as a zone leader because there is never a magic solution to people's problems. The only way a companionship can love each other and get along is through hard work and effort put into the relationship. So I've found it most effective to just listen to missionaries who are struggling tell them I love them and they need to keep trying and then tell them I'll call them again to see how they are doing. This seems to help people a lot and listen to other people's problems has taught me a lot about myself and why I have had certain struggles with companions. I find it almost always comes down to pride. Pride of not wanting to be wrong or not wanting to change usually. It's funny too how it's so easy to see pride in other people's companionships but much harder to see it in yourself. Thats the tough thing about pride. That's also another reason I love Elder Aguiar is because he is such a humble person and so whenever there is a problem between us i am able to see my pride so much easier because I know he doesn't have any haha

   The work is still going pretty slow. Susannah is so hard to teach. The doctrine just doesn't go in her mind or heart and she really struggles to feel things. I'm not sure if she ever feels guilt or remorse or even fear... it's crazy. This weekend she went to a big London hospital to get her heart checked because she has been having troubles and she got diagnosed with this heart beat disorder that is nicknamed sudden death syndrome. She seemed completely unfazed by this news that she could randomly die at any moment. Maybe she is just optimistic or maybe she feels nothing... IDK and it's so hard because she is so open and so willing to keep all commitments. We taught her the Word of Wisdom and she didn't even bat an eye. She is very logical and everything for her needs to make sense not in a stubborn or prideful way but just because that's how things click for her so we have tried teaching more doctrinally and less feely. It's weird though. Any suggestions?

That's my life. I'm in a very good place with the missionary work and I'm loving it.

Here is some of beautiful England

Almost got into a car crash but that's pretty standard on some of these roads haha

May 17th, 2017

   This week was scary... so Elder Aguiar has had some health issues that he has had for over two months but he never told anyone. Finally he told me and I told him he needs to tell the mission president. He said no because he didn't think it was a big deal so I called the mission president myself and told him. President Gubler told us to schedule a doctors appointment and that appointment happened on Thursday. We get into the GP and the doctor checks Elder Aguiar out behind the curtain. I could hear everything and the doctor says pretty quickly and definitely that he has a hernia. He said it seems stuck as well Aguiar will have to go immediately to the surgeons to get the bit of bowel that is sticking out to get pushed back in or he may need immediate surgery. That was so freaky. he gave us a letter and told us to go to A&E. we rushed to A&E both scared because surgery means he will have to go home off his mission. When we parked the car Elder Aguiar asked for a blessing so we both got into the back seat and I gave him a blessing. It was SO powerful and we could both feel God's love for us so strongly and we were filled with peace. We got into A&E and they said they can't take us to the surgeons immediately because he has to see a doctor there first. It was a good thing we did because this doctor said it wasn't a hernia but it maybe something worse or something much less worse. He wasn't sure which it was, whether it was the result of something cancerous or if it was something called a hydra-seal. It wasn't very helpful to use the word cancer so Aguiar was even more scared at this point. Well after about 4 hours of being in the hospital the doctor sent us home with an ultrasound appointment for early the next morning. Elder Aguiar didn't sleep very well knowing that his chances of going home were very very high but he still had the peace from the blessing known everything would be ok. We get into the ultra sound the next morning and they confirm that there is no cancer but in fact it is a hydra-seal. The doctor then set a follow up appointment with a specialist that probably won't happen for about 3 months because the NHS is slow but the end result is Elder Aguiar doesn't need surgery and is staying in his mission. Well at least until he sees he specialist because he still may need surgery. But all is well now. That was a scary experience and I am so sick of being in hospitals for my companions haha

   This week, we had the fanciest Dinner Appointment with a member that I think I've ever had in my life... our friend Paul spent two days on this meal for us. First thing you've got to know, his house is literally a museum. My guess is that ever 6 inches of his house averages 2 antique items of some kind. Like vases, dishes, fancy canes and old school jewelry boxes. And it's spotless. It's unreal! So, just the table set up was crazy. (Plus he's British and those accents just make you feel like you need to eat properly). After he taught us how to use our six different utensils, he gave us this super fancy smoked salmon appetizer. For the main course we had stuffed lamb hearts with delightful parsnips and red cabbage and all this stuff. SO GOOD. and then for dessert, Eaton-Mess, the best thing England has created. The best part though, was the whole time we got him to tell us stories about him and the Queen!! Aha he literally had tea with her and the Duke of Edinborough - just the three of them! And he goes to her private birthday party every year. It doesn't get more British than that. So that was fun!

   On a more spiritual note, missionary work is fantastic. It's such a learning process, no matter what point of your mission you're at. This week, that young Hindi family decided to stop investigating. Also, my favourite people ever, who we were getting really tight with and who were progressing so well, just got a little busy and seem to put their search on the back burner. We hope to see them this week though! Pray for them :) the rest of our friends are doing awesome! It's so great to get to share the gospel.

   One of the lessons I've most learned is that we just need to live in the moment. There's a season for everything! Sometimes I get caught up in thinking about the future, life after a mission, or sometimes just overthinking appointments we have later on in the week. But I've started to learn that we have the best experience and have the most fun doing it as we just buckle down and be wherever we are in the moment. It's the whole "Take it one day at a time and just make it the best day of your life" kinda attitude. Yesterday, we had a lot of time to go and knock some doors, which was great, and Elder Aguiar and I made it the most fun thing! We were both super happy and just having a good time, and it felt like people were a lot more willing to talk to us to! When we live in the moment instead of breezing through the motions looking for tomorrow or next month, that's where we start to find joy in the journey.

May 10th, 2017

   This week we got transfers info.... and I'm still with Elder Aguiar in Burgess Hill!! See that I will only have one transfer after this one it's more likely then not that me and Elder Aguiar are going to be together until the day that I die! This is definitely a major prayer answered as I know he is going to help me finish strong. He is such a good friend and so easy to work with. He is so eager to go out and work so it is always easy and fun when we are out and about in the Lord's errand. Sad new though. Elder Pongbundit is getting moved... the area he is in is getting closed so he is going to another zone. He was only here for one short transfer but I am so glad I got to be with him.

   Alright, where to begin... this week has been full of a ton of fun stuff! Last Thursday we got to run a Young Men's activity, and we ran a mission prep activity to help them get ready for when they go on missions!  It was quite funny. We made them iron our shirts (we had to re-iron them..) and eat strange foods and answer doctrinal questions and stuff. At the end we had a Q&A session where we were able to tell funny stories and bear testimony about why we are on missions.

   Elder Aguiar used to own a little land scaling business before his mission and this old couple in the ward found out and they had us redo their whole garden. It was pretty funny because they treated Elder Aguiar like a pro and he kept telling them he didn't know too much. They bought £100 worth of plants for him to plant. I had no clue what they were talking about but it was good to learn how to plant things. I've learned a ton of random things on my mission.

   More on a spiritual note, this week I have LOVED how much God prepares us for the things he wants us to learn!! Elder Aguiar and I have been working so hard the last few weeks, but we've been feeling like things haven't been clicking. We had a couple really cool experiences over a few days, and then one day as we sat and talked about it, we recognized that even though we were working hard, there was more we could do to be working smart! We have been praying about it and working on it a ton, and now we feel like our efforts are more effective and we are using our time in a better way. It's amazing how much God wants to teach us and wants us to learn. Sometimes it just takes stopping for a sec to re-evaluate where you are at and where you want to be. It can be so helpful to take some time to get on your knees and ask God how He sees you and your efforts. You will find more satisfaction and feelings of accomplishment, it will help us see how far we have come but also see what we can do to change and improve.

   The area is doing really well! Our progressing investigators are slowing down a bit though. One lady, Susannah, just doesn't seem to get a spiritual answer, but we are working with her on helping her let go of some fixed ideas she has. We've pushed her baptismal date back several times just because she's not ready yet. Chris and Freya seem to still be reading and studying but this week they've been dodging us a bit!! So that's always rough. That usually means they've found some anti or something, and it breaks our heart but I know they've felt something different about our message so we are working with them. Our little Indian family is reading the Book of Mormon in Hindi :) we are going to better gauge their interest later this week and we will see if we can get them to church! We are also working with Alex, who's parents are split and mom is a Less Active. Him and his mom are amazing people!! And he wants to be baptized!! The issue is getting Dads permission... we keep working with them. and then finally this less active just had a baby with Ryan, who is starting to have lots of spiritual experiences. We are working on getting them married so he can be baptized and they can get sealed!

2x comps and current comp all in the same zone  

This is Elder Pongbundit's life... haha