Thursday, April 30, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
E-mail from Neal - Received 4/27/09
Hello All,
We all got to see President Packer this past week, and it was really really amazing. This is the first time that I have ever heard President Bullock talk about his connection to Pres. Packer. He told us that it would probably be the last time as well. I really respect that about the Bullocks. Everyone knew that they were connected, but no one ever heard it from them! It was a really great conference. I love all mission conferences!!! Pres. Packer really didn’t talk all that much. He is quite old, and he had had a very long weekend, and he looked really tired. He answered quite a few questions and then just kinda chatted to us about some things, mostly about obedience. He talked about how we need to do it the Lords way, cause it’s the Lords work. We can do it our way, but when we do that we are alone in our pursuit (D&C 82:10). He used the example of Martin Harris and the lost manuscript. He asked, and the answer was No. The Lord knew what would happen, and so he said No. He asked again. The answer was still No. The Lord always knows best. So what does he do he asks a third time and what happens…. The Lord says yes, but you are on your own. The lord told him the answer, but Martin wanted to do it his own way, and because of that he had to face the consequences. It was an amazing thing to think about, and an amazing way to explain it. I love how much I am learning on my mission. Studying is the best, and receiving revelation on topics is amazing!!! I am going to look back at all my journals one of these days and just be so full of joy at the things that I have learned!!!!
The end of this week was really really great. Can you believe that a year ago I was in the MTC!!! On Saturday which was my Hump day we had a great great day! We taught a family that I have found the day before. I stopped the Mom right in front of our new flat (not a coincidence), and I got an appointment to teach her and her family. Her and her husband have 5 kids, and they are a great family. They lost a child about a year ago, and ever since then they have been coming closer and closer to God. We taught them about the plan of salvation briefly on Saturday, and we are going back on Wednesday to teach the Restoration! This gospel is amazing, and when we can share it with others, that’s the best!!! Please pray for them, and hope that all goes well. I will keep you posted.
I will probably not get to email next week for two reasons. 1) is that we are going to Chorley again, and going to the MTC. E. Wheat’s brother is going into the MTC on Friday (he is serving in Scotland), and we got permission to go and see him. We are probably not going to have time to go to the temple ( I SAY BOO!!!!!), but it will still be a great day! 2) is that it is another bank holiday, so the libraries will be closed. I will probably be able to email on Tuesday just so you know. The MTC is going to be way different. All of the teachers are different, and the President is different too. It is going to be weird, but it will still be great.
I think that that is all for me this week. Thank you all for sending my presents to me for interviews. If anyone else wants to send anything package wise, you can just send it to the flat. I will be able to get it with not much hassle. I will be here until at least the 20th, so you have time. I hope to hear from a lot of people for my birthday!!!!
Know that I love all of you, and that my prayers are always with you! You have always been an amazing support system for me, and you always will be! Thank you for all that you do! You raised me right, and I am sure that you are reaping the fruits of all those hard labours that you had with me. Stay strong and always remember that you are not alone.
Love,
Elder Neal
Pic 1: Shrewsbury Castle at Night
Pic 2: He lost his mind when he went Assistant
Pic 3: It's all in the family!
We all got to see President Packer this past week, and it was really really amazing. This is the first time that I have ever heard President Bullock talk about his connection to Pres. Packer. He told us that it would probably be the last time as well. I really respect that about the Bullocks. Everyone knew that they were connected, but no one ever heard it from them! It was a really great conference. I love all mission conferences!!! Pres. Packer really didn’t talk all that much. He is quite old, and he had had a very long weekend, and he looked really tired. He answered quite a few questions and then just kinda chatted to us about some things, mostly about obedience. He talked about how we need to do it the Lords way, cause it’s the Lords work. We can do it our way, but when we do that we are alone in our pursuit (D&C 82:10). He used the example of Martin Harris and the lost manuscript. He asked, and the answer was No. The Lord knew what would happen, and so he said No. He asked again. The answer was still No. The Lord always knows best. So what does he do he asks a third time and what happens…. The Lord says yes, but you are on your own. The lord told him the answer, but Martin wanted to do it his own way, and because of that he had to face the consequences. It was an amazing thing to think about, and an amazing way to explain it. I love how much I am learning on my mission. Studying is the best, and receiving revelation on topics is amazing!!! I am going to look back at all my journals one of these days and just be so full of joy at the things that I have learned!!!!
The end of this week was really really great. Can you believe that a year ago I was in the MTC!!! On Saturday which was my Hump day we had a great great day! We taught a family that I have found the day before. I stopped the Mom right in front of our new flat (not a coincidence), and I got an appointment to teach her and her family. Her and her husband have 5 kids, and they are a great family. They lost a child about a year ago, and ever since then they have been coming closer and closer to God. We taught them about the plan of salvation briefly on Saturday, and we are going back on Wednesday to teach the Restoration! This gospel is amazing, and when we can share it with others, that’s the best!!! Please pray for them, and hope that all goes well. I will keep you posted.
I will probably not get to email next week for two reasons. 1) is that we are going to Chorley again, and going to the MTC. E. Wheat’s brother is going into the MTC on Friday (he is serving in Scotland), and we got permission to go and see him. We are probably not going to have time to go to the temple ( I SAY BOO!!!!!), but it will still be a great day! 2) is that it is another bank holiday, so the libraries will be closed. I will probably be able to email on Tuesday just so you know. The MTC is going to be way different. All of the teachers are different, and the President is different too. It is going to be weird, but it will still be great.
I think that that is all for me this week. Thank you all for sending my presents to me for interviews. If anyone else wants to send anything package wise, you can just send it to the flat. I will be able to get it with not much hassle. I will be here until at least the 20th, so you have time. I hope to hear from a lot of people for my birthday!!!!
Know that I love all of you, and that my prayers are always with you! You have always been an amazing support system for me, and you always will be! Thank you for all that you do! You raised me right, and I am sure that you are reaping the fruits of all those hard labours that you had with me. Stay strong and always remember that you are not alone.
Love,
Elder Neal
Pic 1: Shrewsbury Castle at Night
Pic 2: He lost his mind when he went Assistant
Pic 3: It's all in the family!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Pictures from Elder McIntosh's Mom - Received 4/23/09
Elder McIntosh's mom sent us a CD with some pictures and a couple of videos. Most of the pictures are very similar to the ones that Neal has sent, but there are few new ones to share:
The video that is probably funnier than the "Neal vs. the Chair" is too big to put on here, but I'll try to get it up on Facebook.
ALSO: Tomorrow (Saturday the 25th) is Neal's Hump Day. Also, his 21st birthday is May 16th. Let's flood him with birthday cards!!!! And do it soon, because the price of stamps is going up in a couple of weeks!
The video that is probably funnier than the "Neal vs. the Chair" is too big to put on here, but I'll try to get it up on Facebook.
ALSO: Tomorrow (Saturday the 25th) is Neal's Hump Day. Also, his 21st birthday is May 16th. Let's flood him with birthday cards!!!! And do it soon, because the price of stamps is going up in a couple of weeks!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Pictures from Neal - Received 4/20/09
The view from our flat window. Not a great shot, but it is really nice. That is the River Sevren that runs all though Shrewsbury.
The 3 left from the 4 man flat in Stretford oh so long ago. Can you imagine what it much have been like!!!!
E-mail from Neal - Received 4/20/09
Hello, Hello, Hello!!!
How is everyone back in the rainy English like state of Colorado? Sounds like you have had the same weather that we have been having. On Thursday it dumped all day long. I have not seen it rain like that since I was in a threesome, and that was in December!!!!! This is the first time that I have had to pull out the big umbrella since in who knows how long. That is definitely the first time that it has rained like that since I have been here in Shrewsbury. It is gone now though, and we are back to sun. Oh my goodness this is the most beautiful area I have ever served in. The upper mid-lands are amazingly beautiful. The pictures do some justice, but not too much really. When the sun is shining and the sky is blue it feels like home, just greener. I have already pulled out the short-sleeved shirts, and it is only the middle of April!! I am really glad to be serving here right now, it is great!
We are travelling up closer to Chorley tonight. We are going to be staying in Middleton (North Manchester) tonight, and then leaving early tomorrow to get to Chorley in time. The cool part about that is that we are going to be staying with Elder Adams, who came out with me. He was one of the guys that sang with me a lot in the MTC, and that is into sound like me. Out of all my MTC group I would love to serve with him the most. He is a stud, and from what I hear just an amazing missionary. I am really excited to spend time with him and to talk about the past year!!!!!!! The down side to all of this is that we had to pay about £50 to get to where we need to go. We just spent about £25 to get to Manchester last week, and now we are doing another £50! I don’t know how Craig did it with his mission, but we have to pay it out of our JP Morgan (mission fund aka. Brother Morgan) and then get it reimbursed. The problem is that the reimbursements have to get approved by president, and he is only in the office like once a week, and that is usually on Monday. We might starve for the next week or so, so please pray for us!!!! HA HA HA!!! It is going to be worth it though. All the bishops of the mission met together with Pres. Packer, Elder Ballard, and 3 members of the 70 on Saturday, and our bishop said that it was really really amazing! I am really looking forward to hearing from Pres. Packer for sure. It is so cool to see them close up and to really know that he is speaking to just us, not the whole church! I will send the picture soon after I get it so you can display it along with my Pres. Uchtdorf picture. I wonder who will come next….. My vote would be Jeffery R. Holland, he is my favourite!!!!!!!
Ok now that I have blabbed on forever I am going to tell you about some really cool stuff that happened this week. The Zone Leaders came over on Thursday for an exchange and that was great. Me are E McIntosh talked a lot about Chorley, and E. Pimentel joined in because he was the District leader when I was there. Oh man I found out about everyone that I was working with!!!! I was so happy that night. So many great things are happening. Karl is doing amazing, his parents are amazing as well. I heard that some other less-actives and struggling members are doing great. One of them that we worked with quite a lot named Terry Riding actually went to the Temple. We were trying so hard to get him ready and excited, and he finally went. E. McIntosh said that he went almost everyday after the first time!!! He loves it!!! I LOVE THIS WORK!!!! It was really great to remember the old fun times that we had there, I really wish that I could have been there one transfer longer, and working with E. McIntosh for a bit longer. It was a great time, and he really liked the new flat. He was bummed because he wanted to go to the old one and reminisce, but he was way excited for us.
I didn’t get to actually go on exchanges with him, but it was great going with E. Pimentel. He is a great missionary, and really really smart. He was going to Stanford before his mission. At the end of the exchange we review what happened and talk about each others strengths and also where we can improve. He gave me a really great compliment. He said that he was looking through the book of Mormon for a phrase that described me. He laughed when he found it cause it describes a wicked war lord. It describes Jacob the leader of the Lamanite army who was also a Zoramite (this is in Alma 52:33). It says that……
And it came to pass that Jacob, being their leader, being also a Zoramite, and having an unconquerable spirit, he led the Lamanites forth to battle with exceeding fury against Moroni.
E. Pimentel told me that I have an Unconquerable Spirit. He said that I have so many reasons to be unhappy, depressed, discouraged, down, and angry, but I am none of the above. He said you are in a tough area, with a struggling companion, but that hasn’t affected you. He said that I am always happy and working hard, and that is a great attitude to have. I have been thinking about that the past few days, and I have seen that as well in myself. I really must accredit some of that to E. Garcia (who is now an Assistant, I don’t know if I told you that). He would always say “Hey, it could be worse,” and the truth is that it can. I am happy, and that is the only way to be. There is no point in getting down or discouraged because it never helps the situation! You get distracted when you are down, and then you have to take the time to pull yourself back up. Why not just skip all that hassle and not get down in the first place. Being happy is the best place to be, and that is where I like to stay. I was really thankful to him for giving me that compliment and telling me that I have an unconquerable spirit, I was really grateful for that!
I am doing great. I am happy, the weather is great, and the work is moving forward. We have one girl dated for baptism right now, and her name is Emma Louise. She is dated for the 27th of May, and at the moment she is doing really well. She is not quite like Gus, but she is great in her own ways. We are helping her though a lot of trials, and she is showing a lot of progress. She came to church yesterday, so that was great!!!!
I love you all very very much, and I am so glad that you are all doing great. Hang in there, and study the gospel daily! I do, so you have to!!!!! I have gained such a great love for studying, and especially the Book of Mormon since I have come over here. I can only imagine what the next year is going to bring!!!
LOVE,
Elder Neal
How is everyone back in the rainy English like state of Colorado? Sounds like you have had the same weather that we have been having. On Thursday it dumped all day long. I have not seen it rain like that since I was in a threesome, and that was in December!!!!! This is the first time that I have had to pull out the big umbrella since in who knows how long. That is definitely the first time that it has rained like that since I have been here in Shrewsbury. It is gone now though, and we are back to sun. Oh my goodness this is the most beautiful area I have ever served in. The upper mid-lands are amazingly beautiful. The pictures do some justice, but not too much really. When the sun is shining and the sky is blue it feels like home, just greener. I have already pulled out the short-sleeved shirts, and it is only the middle of April!! I am really glad to be serving here right now, it is great!
We are travelling up closer to Chorley tonight. We are going to be staying in Middleton (North Manchester) tonight, and then leaving early tomorrow to get to Chorley in time. The cool part about that is that we are going to be staying with Elder Adams, who came out with me. He was one of the guys that sang with me a lot in the MTC, and that is into sound like me. Out of all my MTC group I would love to serve with him the most. He is a stud, and from what I hear just an amazing missionary. I am really excited to spend time with him and to talk about the past year!!!!!!! The down side to all of this is that we had to pay about £50 to get to where we need to go. We just spent about £25 to get to Manchester last week, and now we are doing another £50! I don’t know how Craig did it with his mission, but we have to pay it out of our JP Morgan (mission fund aka. Brother Morgan) and then get it reimbursed. The problem is that the reimbursements have to get approved by president, and he is only in the office like once a week, and that is usually on Monday. We might starve for the next week or so, so please pray for us!!!! HA HA HA!!! It is going to be worth it though. All the bishops of the mission met together with Pres. Packer, Elder Ballard, and 3 members of the 70 on Saturday, and our bishop said that it was really really amazing! I am really looking forward to hearing from Pres. Packer for sure. It is so cool to see them close up and to really know that he is speaking to just us, not the whole church! I will send the picture soon after I get it so you can display it along with my Pres. Uchtdorf picture. I wonder who will come next….. My vote would be Jeffery R. Holland, he is my favourite!!!!!!!
Ok now that I have blabbed on forever I am going to tell you about some really cool stuff that happened this week. The Zone Leaders came over on Thursday for an exchange and that was great. Me are E McIntosh talked a lot about Chorley, and E. Pimentel joined in because he was the District leader when I was there. Oh man I found out about everyone that I was working with!!!! I was so happy that night. So many great things are happening. Karl is doing amazing, his parents are amazing as well. I heard that some other less-actives and struggling members are doing great. One of them that we worked with quite a lot named Terry Riding actually went to the Temple. We were trying so hard to get him ready and excited, and he finally went. E. McIntosh said that he went almost everyday after the first time!!! He loves it!!! I LOVE THIS WORK!!!! It was really great to remember the old fun times that we had there, I really wish that I could have been there one transfer longer, and working with E. McIntosh for a bit longer. It was a great time, and he really liked the new flat. He was bummed because he wanted to go to the old one and reminisce, but he was way excited for us.
I didn’t get to actually go on exchanges with him, but it was great going with E. Pimentel. He is a great missionary, and really really smart. He was going to Stanford before his mission. At the end of the exchange we review what happened and talk about each others strengths and also where we can improve. He gave me a really great compliment. He said that he was looking through the book of Mormon for a phrase that described me. He laughed when he found it cause it describes a wicked war lord. It describes Jacob the leader of the Lamanite army who was also a Zoramite (this is in Alma 52:33). It says that……
And it came to pass that Jacob, being their leader, being also a Zoramite, and having an unconquerable spirit, he led the Lamanites forth to battle with exceeding fury against Moroni.
E. Pimentel told me that I have an Unconquerable Spirit. He said that I have so many reasons to be unhappy, depressed, discouraged, down, and angry, but I am none of the above. He said you are in a tough area, with a struggling companion, but that hasn’t affected you. He said that I am always happy and working hard, and that is a great attitude to have. I have been thinking about that the past few days, and I have seen that as well in myself. I really must accredit some of that to E. Garcia (who is now an Assistant, I don’t know if I told you that). He would always say “Hey, it could be worse,” and the truth is that it can. I am happy, and that is the only way to be. There is no point in getting down or discouraged because it never helps the situation! You get distracted when you are down, and then you have to take the time to pull yourself back up. Why not just skip all that hassle and not get down in the first place. Being happy is the best place to be, and that is where I like to stay. I was really thankful to him for giving me that compliment and telling me that I have an unconquerable spirit, I was really grateful for that!
I am doing great. I am happy, the weather is great, and the work is moving forward. We have one girl dated for baptism right now, and her name is Emma Louise. She is dated for the 27th of May, and at the moment she is doing really well. She is not quite like Gus, but she is great in her own ways. We are helping her though a lot of trials, and she is showing a lot of progress. She came to church yesterday, so that was great!!!!
I love you all very very much, and I am so glad that you are all doing great. Hang in there, and study the gospel daily! I do, so you have to!!!!! I have gained such a great love for studying, and especially the Book of Mormon since I have come over here. I can only imagine what the next year is going to bring!!!
LOVE,
Elder Neal
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Pictures from Neal - Received 4/15/09
The English Bridge
The Welsh Bridge
Overlooking Shrewsbury
The Wrekin District + Zone Leaders
Hitch hiking in England (Funny thing is that a little later a member did actually pic us up so that we didn't have to walk home!!!!)
A corn snake that a member has!!
One of the Flats that we viewed (we didn't get this one!)
E-mail from Neal - Received 4/15/09
HEY EVERYONE!!!!!
Well let me tell you that the new flat is AMAZING!!!!! I feel like a king now. It is big and open, the kitchen is actually a kitchen, I don’t bang my head anywhere, the view is great, it is right in the middle of town….. its perfect!!! We are really loving it, and it has really helped our overall happiness!!! I will take a video for you. I got one of the old flat, so you can compare.
Alright some business items first……
Yes E. McIntosh is my zone leader now, and it is going to be awesome. I haven’t seen him in 7 ½ months!!! He was in Chorley for the 6 months that I was in Stretford, and he loved it!!! We had Zone Conference yesterday and it was so good to see him. Karl’s mom and step dad finally got baptized so he was really happy about that. We are going on exchanges tomorrow with them, and so I will get to talk to him more!
Ok I think that that might be all, so onto the good stuff…..
We are having an all mission Conference next Tuesday in Chorley, and guess who is coming….. Pres. Packer and his wife!!! We are so excited! We are going to be getting a big mission picture with him so I will be sending that home later on in the summer. It is going to be a great day. I am not looking forward to travelling up there and back, and it will totally be worth it! Pres. Packer is Pres. Bullocks father in law, so I am really kinda surprised that it has taken this long to get him over, but I am still really excited!
So I have really been getting to know some really cool people on my mission. I have now found spitting images of Mom, Brian and now Shauna….
Mom – Sister Hafen, the CES/YSA missionary is just like you. She took such good care of us at Christmas, and I absolutely love her to bits. I love it when I get to see her and Elder Hafen because they are amazingly wonderful people. They are from St. George and live right close to Troy’s Grandparents I guess. I am going to have to go out and visit them.
Brian – My old Zone Leader E. Aughney. He is a pirate, and he is Brian to a “T”!!! Absolutely everything is just like Brian!!! I would really like them to meet someday and so you can all see it.
Shauna – A Sister in the ward named Carrie Harrington. She is your TWIN!!! She loves camping, hiking, and doing fun and crazy stuff. We went to a BBQ at there house, and I got talking to her. I told her about you and she was really happy. She really wants to meet you… maybe I will have to show her a picture sometime!!!!
Well I have to get going. Know that I am doing great. I am working hard and praying even harder!!!! Prayer is the key, and that is all that there is to it! I love you all, and I am so glad that I have you behind me! I am looking forward to hearing from you again soon!!!!
Love you,
Elder Neal
P.S. I hope you enjoy the pictures!!!!
***EDITOR'S NOTE***
The pictures will be in a separate blog, coming very shortly!
Well let me tell you that the new flat is AMAZING!!!!! I feel like a king now. It is big and open, the kitchen is actually a kitchen, I don’t bang my head anywhere, the view is great, it is right in the middle of town….. its perfect!!! We are really loving it, and it has really helped our overall happiness!!! I will take a video for you. I got one of the old flat, so you can compare.
Alright some business items first……
Yes E. McIntosh is my zone leader now, and it is going to be awesome. I haven’t seen him in 7 ½ months!!! He was in Chorley for the 6 months that I was in Stretford, and he loved it!!! We had Zone Conference yesterday and it was so good to see him. Karl’s mom and step dad finally got baptized so he was really happy about that. We are going on exchanges tomorrow with them, and so I will get to talk to him more!
Ok I think that that might be all, so onto the good stuff…..
We are having an all mission Conference next Tuesday in Chorley, and guess who is coming….. Pres. Packer and his wife!!! We are so excited! We are going to be getting a big mission picture with him so I will be sending that home later on in the summer. It is going to be a great day. I am not looking forward to travelling up there and back, and it will totally be worth it! Pres. Packer is Pres. Bullocks father in law, so I am really kinda surprised that it has taken this long to get him over, but I am still really excited!
So I have really been getting to know some really cool people on my mission. I have now found spitting images of Mom, Brian and now Shauna….
Mom – Sister Hafen, the CES/YSA missionary is just like you. She took such good care of us at Christmas, and I absolutely love her to bits. I love it when I get to see her and Elder Hafen because they are amazingly wonderful people. They are from St. George and live right close to Troy’s Grandparents I guess. I am going to have to go out and visit them.
Brian – My old Zone Leader E. Aughney. He is a pirate, and he is Brian to a “T”!!! Absolutely everything is just like Brian!!! I would really like them to meet someday and so you can all see it.
Shauna – A Sister in the ward named Carrie Harrington. She is your TWIN!!! She loves camping, hiking, and doing fun and crazy stuff. We went to a BBQ at there house, and I got talking to her. I told her about you and she was really happy. She really wants to meet you… maybe I will have to show her a picture sometime!!!!
Well I have to get going. Know that I am doing great. I am working hard and praying even harder!!!! Prayer is the key, and that is all that there is to it! I love you all, and I am so glad that I have you behind me! I am looking forward to hearing from you again soon!!!!
Love you,
Elder Neal
P.S. I hope you enjoy the pictures!!!!
***EDITOR'S NOTE***
The pictures will be in a separate blog, coming very shortly!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
E-mail from Neal - Received 4/8/09 *NEW ADDRESS*
Hello Everyone!!
I am moving…… Sort of. Me and E. Wheat are both staying in Shrewsbury, but we are moving into a new flat. Our house right now won the award for the worst flat in the mission, and so president wants us out of there. Everything was bad about it…. Location, living conditions, sanitation, you name it, it was bad. I will be getting some pictures and probably a video before I go don’t worry. On Friday we are moving into a really, really nice new flat. It is right in the center of town, and it overlooks the River Sevren. It is fully furnished, and it is going to be really nice.
The Address is…
79 Benbow Quay
Shrewsbury SY1 2DL
England
“Quay” is pronounced like “Key” by the way.
We are really excited to get out of the barn and into a nice place. We have been having to do a lot of prep work for the new flat this week, and that has been lame. There have been missionaries in our current flat for about 10 years, so you can only imagine ha ha ha!!!! We will be in there on Friday so any mail needs to go there!!!
General Conference was AMAZING!!!! I really wish that I didn’t waste all of those years sleeping though it. I was on the edge of my seat that whole time. Jeffrey R. Holland is the best, and his talks always seem to be directed straight to me. I do not know how anyone in their right mind can watch that and not know that all of the apostles and the prophet are not called of God!!!! They know what this world needs, and if everyone in the world was able to hear what they said last weekend and could apply it, this would be an amazing world!! I had some really amazing feelings during conference. I had a ton of questions answered, and I am so thankful for that. That week had been tough, but God knew what I needed, and he told the Prophet and Apostles. I guess the really cool thing is that I was not the only one that needed to hear that stuff!!!! As always we don’t get to see the Sunday afternoon session, but I am sure that the talks were amazing. I cannot wait until I get the ensign and can read them, but I guess that I will have to. I am jealous that you all get to watch conference again and again!!!! Can you believe that that was my second conference in the field, and that this time next year I will be pretty much on a plane. I still have a long time left, and I still have a ton to do for the Lord.
This week I have really been gaining a really strong testimony in a principal that I should have ages ago, and that is in prayer. I have been on my knees a ton this week (as I am sure you would have guessed), and the comfort and peace and strength that I have received is unexplainable. The only way that I have been able to make it though the days is by praying. I have been pouring out my whole soul to God, and I know that he is listening to me. He is there, he does live, and he does love me! The prophets told me that this weekend, but I don’t need them to tell me that. I know for myself that prayer is in fact a communication with God. It is a two way communication, and there is nothing that is hindering that conversation but ourselves. Prayer is the passport to spiritual power as Pres Monson says, and it is true. I have really begun to cry unto the Lord for everything. I plead with him everywhere…. On the Bus on the Streets, and he hears me cries! I know that Gods will is what is best for me, and I am trying my hardest to accept his will and his help to do the things that he wants me to do. They talked about in Conference about how we will not be given any trial that we cannot bear. “We have a labour to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay.” “There must needs be an opposition in all things.” “All things will work together for good.” The scriptures go on and on, and the stories are always true. When we are faced with a trial it is for our own good and learning! We are given it to prepare us for something else down the road. God’s will is ultimately what will happen and we need to accept that. I am accepting God’s will right now, and I am finding happiness in it.
I guess that I kinda just mounted my soap box again, but I just know that what I just said is completely true. I guess you all just got a taste of what I can be like on the street, on doors, or in lessons sometimes ha ha ha. I am not shy about what I believe in anymore. I have noticed that my boldness has really increased since I got here in Shrewsbury, its fun being bold with people. I don’t know why I wasn’t as bold in my other two areas. People say “so what you are saying is that you was the only church that has the authority do those things…..” I used to beat around the bush, but now I am just like “YES!!” This gospel is true and we are the only ones that have the right to teach it in the fullness. I know that what I am doing is right and true, and that there are so many blessings that have come and are coming from that knowledge.
I love you all so much, and I was so happy when we were watching the live session of conference over here because I knew that you were watching the same thing. You were hearing the same words and feeling the same spirit that I was!!
Stay strong in all that you do and remember that I love all of you.
LOVE,
Elder Neal
P.s. We will have P-day this Monday but it is a Bank Holiday so the library will not be open. We have Zone Conference on Tuesday so I probably won’t be able to email again until next Wednesday. I know that that is lame, but that’s what we have to do sometimes.
I am moving…… Sort of. Me and E. Wheat are both staying in Shrewsbury, but we are moving into a new flat. Our house right now won the award for the worst flat in the mission, and so president wants us out of there. Everything was bad about it…. Location, living conditions, sanitation, you name it, it was bad. I will be getting some pictures and probably a video before I go don’t worry. On Friday we are moving into a really, really nice new flat. It is right in the center of town, and it overlooks the River Sevren. It is fully furnished, and it is going to be really nice.
The Address is…
79 Benbow Quay
Shrewsbury SY1 2DL
England
“Quay” is pronounced like “Key” by the way.
We are really excited to get out of the barn and into a nice place. We have been having to do a lot of prep work for the new flat this week, and that has been lame. There have been missionaries in our current flat for about 10 years, so you can only imagine ha ha ha!!!! We will be in there on Friday so any mail needs to go there!!!
General Conference was AMAZING!!!! I really wish that I didn’t waste all of those years sleeping though it. I was on the edge of my seat that whole time. Jeffrey R. Holland is the best, and his talks always seem to be directed straight to me. I do not know how anyone in their right mind can watch that and not know that all of the apostles and the prophet are not called of God!!!! They know what this world needs, and if everyone in the world was able to hear what they said last weekend and could apply it, this would be an amazing world!! I had some really amazing feelings during conference. I had a ton of questions answered, and I am so thankful for that. That week had been tough, but God knew what I needed, and he told the Prophet and Apostles. I guess the really cool thing is that I was not the only one that needed to hear that stuff!!!! As always we don’t get to see the Sunday afternoon session, but I am sure that the talks were amazing. I cannot wait until I get the ensign and can read them, but I guess that I will have to. I am jealous that you all get to watch conference again and again!!!! Can you believe that that was my second conference in the field, and that this time next year I will be pretty much on a plane. I still have a long time left, and I still have a ton to do for the Lord.
This week I have really been gaining a really strong testimony in a principal that I should have ages ago, and that is in prayer. I have been on my knees a ton this week (as I am sure you would have guessed), and the comfort and peace and strength that I have received is unexplainable. The only way that I have been able to make it though the days is by praying. I have been pouring out my whole soul to God, and I know that he is listening to me. He is there, he does live, and he does love me! The prophets told me that this weekend, but I don’t need them to tell me that. I know for myself that prayer is in fact a communication with God. It is a two way communication, and there is nothing that is hindering that conversation but ourselves. Prayer is the passport to spiritual power as Pres Monson says, and it is true. I have really begun to cry unto the Lord for everything. I plead with him everywhere…. On the Bus on the Streets, and he hears me cries! I know that Gods will is what is best for me, and I am trying my hardest to accept his will and his help to do the things that he wants me to do. They talked about in Conference about how we will not be given any trial that we cannot bear. “We have a labour to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay.” “There must needs be an opposition in all things.” “All things will work together for good.” The scriptures go on and on, and the stories are always true. When we are faced with a trial it is for our own good and learning! We are given it to prepare us for something else down the road. God’s will is ultimately what will happen and we need to accept that. I am accepting God’s will right now, and I am finding happiness in it.
I guess that I kinda just mounted my soap box again, but I just know that what I just said is completely true. I guess you all just got a taste of what I can be like on the street, on doors, or in lessons sometimes ha ha ha. I am not shy about what I believe in anymore. I have noticed that my boldness has really increased since I got here in Shrewsbury, its fun being bold with people. I don’t know why I wasn’t as bold in my other two areas. People say “so what you are saying is that you was the only church that has the authority do those things…..” I used to beat around the bush, but now I am just like “YES!!” This gospel is true and we are the only ones that have the right to teach it in the fullness. I know that what I am doing is right and true, and that there are so many blessings that have come and are coming from that knowledge.
I love you all so much, and I was so happy when we were watching the live session of conference over here because I knew that you were watching the same thing. You were hearing the same words and feeling the same spirit that I was!!
Stay strong in all that you do and remember that I love all of you.
LOVE,
Elder Neal
P.s. We will have P-day this Monday but it is a Bank Holiday so the library will not be open. We have Zone Conference on Tuesday so I probably won’t be able to email again until next Wednesday. I know that that is lame, but that’s what we have to do sometimes.
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