Neal gives a tour of the small flat in Shrewsbury. They moved to a bigger one, for obvious reasons!
And now for a few funny pictures:
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Video & Pictures from Neal - Received 6-26-09
Neal gives a tour of the small flat in Shrewsbury. They moved to a bigger one, for obvious reasons!
And now for a few funny pictures:
Monday, June 22, 2009
E-mail from Neal - Received 6/22/09
Hello to all (including all visitors)!!!!!!!
Well this has been an interesting week to say the least. We found out last Monday that E. Driscoll is on house arrest! That was really disheartening for him, and myself. The good thing is that we talked to president (where the order came from) and he said that he was going to talk to our leaders and set up lots of exchanges. I love president. So I have had a new comp everyday since Wednesday. The zone leaders came over on Wednesday, I went with E. Phillips during the day, then E. Nelson at night. They stayed the night and then I went with E. Phillips the next morning. Then on Friday I went to Chorley and spent 2 days with E. Naylor. Funny story though…. E. Naylor was at the Warp Tour concert that me and Troy and Porter went to in Utah in July 2007! How funny is that. He is a great guy, and a great missionary. It was good to be in Chorley again, and when I was there I saw a bunch of Shrewsbury people at the Temple!!!! It was amazing. I did hear that one of the really great and strong men of the ward died though, that was way sad!!
Yesterday was INSANE!!! We had Elder Kerr of the Seventy in our ward, and he is just amazing. He is from Scotland, and you can tell why he is a 70! It was a greatly spiritual day and it was topped off by some very interesting changes. We got a new bishop yesterday. Bishop Frohock got released, and it is now Bishop Pattenden. Bishop Pattenden is probably 28ish, and has 4 kids under the age of 7 I would say. The youngest one is I think 1. He was quite overwhelmed, but he is ready and worthy to do it. He is the most switched on man when it comes to missionary work, and we are very, very, very excited about that!!!! He called us in yesterday and told us that he really wants to be super involved in everything that we do! He wants to see us every week, he wants to help us out, he wants to get to know us as people, not just as missionaries, and he wants this area to explode!! We are very excited and both of us want to stay. Transfers is next week by the way so I will be emailing on Wednesday probably. I have a funny feeling that we are both staying, but with E. Driscoll being ill, I am not sure about that one. I want to stay and so does he. We have so much untapped potential it is insane. Here is what I told president in my letter to him today…
“As I said at the beginning of the transfer, good things are going to happen in Blackburn. It has taken a bit to get it going, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t happen. Satan is just trying to hold us back, but he can only do that for so long! This area is going to be great, and Bishop Pattenden is going to make sure of that.”
That is truly how I feel about everything. When we can finally get E. Driscoll better, this area is going to EXPLODE…. Mark my words.
So we went to an amazing dinner appointment last night. Bro. Brox is our ward mission leader and he and his family are from America!! Oh my gosh Sis. Brox is amazing. They have a family very similar to Robin and Craig, but there kids are a bit older. Their little American accents totally crack me up! Anyways they had us round for dinner last night and she asked me what I missed. We get Mexican all the time, so I didn’t ask for that, but what I did ask for was Proper AMERICAN STYLE roast beef. She knew exactly what I was talking about and she did it. It made my week. Proper roast beef, proper gravy, and really good potatoes! Oh man I was on cloud 9. I love America!!! It was a really cool appointment too, cause they are a really awesome family. They are expecting Twins as well so that will bring there total to 5. Bro. Brox is studying medicine so he is here doing some training stuff. They are leaving in October. Sad Day.
I think that that is about all for me. I have had a few uneventful weeks being in and all. I have gotten to go out quite a bit this week, but I still have spent more than my fair share of time indoors! I really say boo. E. Driscoll finally cracked on Saturday night and went insane. I got videos don’t worry! I am hanging in there.
I love you all so so much. Thank you for all of your support and love. I know that you are all behind me! Until next week…..
Love,
Elder Neal
Pic 1: Do I look old now?
Pic 2: That the biggest bottle I have ever seen
Well this has been an interesting week to say the least. We found out last Monday that E. Driscoll is on house arrest! That was really disheartening for him, and myself. The good thing is that we talked to president (where the order came from) and he said that he was going to talk to our leaders and set up lots of exchanges. I love president. So I have had a new comp everyday since Wednesday. The zone leaders came over on Wednesday, I went with E. Phillips during the day, then E. Nelson at night. They stayed the night and then I went with E. Phillips the next morning. Then on Friday I went to Chorley and spent 2 days with E. Naylor. Funny story though…. E. Naylor was at the Warp Tour concert that me and Troy and Porter went to in Utah in July 2007! How funny is that. He is a great guy, and a great missionary. It was good to be in Chorley again, and when I was there I saw a bunch of Shrewsbury people at the Temple!!!! It was amazing. I did hear that one of the really great and strong men of the ward died though, that was way sad!!
Yesterday was INSANE!!! We had Elder Kerr of the Seventy in our ward, and he is just amazing. He is from Scotland, and you can tell why he is a 70! It was a greatly spiritual day and it was topped off by some very interesting changes. We got a new bishop yesterday. Bishop Frohock got released, and it is now Bishop Pattenden. Bishop Pattenden is probably 28ish, and has 4 kids under the age of 7 I would say. The youngest one is I think 1. He was quite overwhelmed, but he is ready and worthy to do it. He is the most switched on man when it comes to missionary work, and we are very, very, very excited about that!!!! He called us in yesterday and told us that he really wants to be super involved in everything that we do! He wants to see us every week, he wants to help us out, he wants to get to know us as people, not just as missionaries, and he wants this area to explode!! We are very excited and both of us want to stay. Transfers is next week by the way so I will be emailing on Wednesday probably. I have a funny feeling that we are both staying, but with E. Driscoll being ill, I am not sure about that one. I want to stay and so does he. We have so much untapped potential it is insane. Here is what I told president in my letter to him today…
“As I said at the beginning of the transfer, good things are going to happen in Blackburn. It has taken a bit to get it going, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t happen. Satan is just trying to hold us back, but he can only do that for so long! This area is going to be great, and Bishop Pattenden is going to make sure of that.”
That is truly how I feel about everything. When we can finally get E. Driscoll better, this area is going to EXPLODE…. Mark my words.
So we went to an amazing dinner appointment last night. Bro. Brox is our ward mission leader and he and his family are from America!! Oh my gosh Sis. Brox is amazing. They have a family very similar to Robin and Craig, but there kids are a bit older. Their little American accents totally crack me up! Anyways they had us round for dinner last night and she asked me what I missed. We get Mexican all the time, so I didn’t ask for that, but what I did ask for was Proper AMERICAN STYLE roast beef. She knew exactly what I was talking about and she did it. It made my week. Proper roast beef, proper gravy, and really good potatoes! Oh man I was on cloud 9. I love America!!! It was a really cool appointment too, cause they are a really awesome family. They are expecting Twins as well so that will bring there total to 5. Bro. Brox is studying medicine so he is here doing some training stuff. They are leaving in October. Sad Day.
I think that that is about all for me. I have had a few uneventful weeks being in and all. I have gotten to go out quite a bit this week, but I still have spent more than my fair share of time indoors! I really say boo. E. Driscoll finally cracked on Saturday night and went insane. I got videos don’t worry! I am hanging in there.
I love you all so so much. Thank you for all of your support and love. I know that you are all behind me! Until next week…..
Love,
Elder Neal
Pic 1: Do I look old now?
Pic 2: That the biggest bottle I have ever seen
Monday, June 15, 2009
Pictures from Neal - Received 6/15/09
Pic #1 - TOM'S BAPTISM!!!!!
Pic #2 - The Best Zone Picture EVER!!!!!!
Pic #3 - This picture was taken by accident, but I think that it is one of the coolest pictures thatI have ever gotten on my mission. Notice how everyone has a huge smile on their face!!!! I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!!!!!
Pic #4 - E. Phillips and I on exchange. We have known each other our whole missions, and this is the first time that we have gotten to serve together. He is my Zone Leader, and an awesome one to boot!!!
Pic #2 - The Best Zone Picture EVER!!!!!!
Pic #3 - This picture was taken by accident, but I think that it is one of the coolest pictures thatI have ever gotten on my mission. Notice how everyone has a huge smile on their face!!!! I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!!!!!
Pic #4 - E. Phillips and I on exchange. We have known each other our whole missions, and this is the first time that we have gotten to serve together. He is my Zone Leader, and an awesome one to boot!!!
E-mail from Neal - Received 6/15/09
HEY EVERYONE!!!!!!
Well this week has been a tough one to say the least. Elder Driscoll has been sick all week and so we really haven’t gotten to work all that much. We have gone and taught most of the lessons that we had planned, but finding was non existent. It was tough staying in all the time, but I love my comp so I will do what it takes. He has been sleeping a lot, and the joke in the Zone is that he has Mono. I know that that is probably not true because he hasn’t shared a cup with anyone, and he most definitely has not kissed any girls!!!! He is trying to push himself, but he just can’t. He is really, really, really frustrated. This is not like him at all. He was more active than me before his mission if that’s even possible, so something is not right with him. We called and talked to President last night and he kinda eased ours minds a bit. President is such an amazing man, you all really have no idea! He talked to our leaders and arranged a bunch of exchanges this week, so I will be able to go out and work. Elder Driscoll is not happy that he is having to submit and give in, he feels as though he is wussing out, and he is not happy about that. It is going to be really hard to get going now after staying in for so long, so I am going to need prayers!!!! We are going to be resting most of today so I hope that he will start to really turn the corner soon. He has become one of best friends, and one of my most favourite comps to serve with, so I will do what it takes to get him better, even if that means hardcore sacrifice!
The baptism was amazing!!! Tom is the coolest person I have ever taught! I know that I say that with every baptism that I have, but I really mean it each time. Tom has been an absolute joy to teach, and he is so excited to be baptized! He had all of his family there, and a lot of his friends. He had A TON of YSA there as well which made things really great. His dad and his wife didn’t look as though they were too thrilled, but his mom is really cool. She came to church on Sunday to see him get confirmed and she really liked it. We have taught her once, and I really could see her getting baptized someday. She is really nice, and very curious. She has a slight problem with how young we are as missionaries, but I think that when she realizes that we have been given talent and knowledge beyond our years that will calm her down. We have taught her once, and I thought that it went really well, but we will just have to wait and see. It was kinda funny though. Tom got confirmed twice. The man that was doing the confirmation messed up the words, so we had to go the bishops office after sacrament, and do it again. It was good, and Tom totally understood. It was great.
I think that that is about the length of my week. Nothing really else has happened. I have looked though mostly all of the New Era’s from about 2006 on wards. I still feel like a teenager and so I like reading those more than the Ensigns. I know that I am 21 but I will be a kid forever I think. We got bored (no surprise) and so we pulled all the Mormon-ads out of all of them and posted them all over the house. It makes the house look a lot more missionary like now. This is the things that you come to when you are bored. I actually found some chopsticks lying around the flat, and you could only guess, that I turned them into drumsticks. They are really small and hard to play with, but I can still bust out some good licks. E. Driscoll didn’t quite know what to think. He knew that I was a drummer, but he didn’t know that it was my life for a lot of years. He thinks that I should go buy some sticks, but I would feel dodgy I just know it. He was very impressed and my talents, and took a video. I will try to send it home.
Well I best get going. I love you all and hope that you have a good week. I will hopefully be getting back to work here very, very soon. Please pray for Elder Driscoll!!!! He really needs it! I hope that everything goes well this week, and that you all have great missionary experiences!!!!
Love you,
Elder Neal
Well this week has been a tough one to say the least. Elder Driscoll has been sick all week and so we really haven’t gotten to work all that much. We have gone and taught most of the lessons that we had planned, but finding was non existent. It was tough staying in all the time, but I love my comp so I will do what it takes. He has been sleeping a lot, and the joke in the Zone is that he has Mono. I know that that is probably not true because he hasn’t shared a cup with anyone, and he most definitely has not kissed any girls!!!! He is trying to push himself, but he just can’t. He is really, really, really frustrated. This is not like him at all. He was more active than me before his mission if that’s even possible, so something is not right with him. We called and talked to President last night and he kinda eased ours minds a bit. President is such an amazing man, you all really have no idea! He talked to our leaders and arranged a bunch of exchanges this week, so I will be able to go out and work. Elder Driscoll is not happy that he is having to submit and give in, he feels as though he is wussing out, and he is not happy about that. It is going to be really hard to get going now after staying in for so long, so I am going to need prayers!!!! We are going to be resting most of today so I hope that he will start to really turn the corner soon. He has become one of best friends, and one of my most favourite comps to serve with, so I will do what it takes to get him better, even if that means hardcore sacrifice!
The baptism was amazing!!! Tom is the coolest person I have ever taught! I know that I say that with every baptism that I have, but I really mean it each time. Tom has been an absolute joy to teach, and he is so excited to be baptized! He had all of his family there, and a lot of his friends. He had A TON of YSA there as well which made things really great. His dad and his wife didn’t look as though they were too thrilled, but his mom is really cool. She came to church on Sunday to see him get confirmed and she really liked it. We have taught her once, and I really could see her getting baptized someday. She is really nice, and very curious. She has a slight problem with how young we are as missionaries, but I think that when she realizes that we have been given talent and knowledge beyond our years that will calm her down. We have taught her once, and I thought that it went really well, but we will just have to wait and see. It was kinda funny though. Tom got confirmed twice. The man that was doing the confirmation messed up the words, so we had to go the bishops office after sacrament, and do it again. It was good, and Tom totally understood. It was great.
I think that that is about the length of my week. Nothing really else has happened. I have looked though mostly all of the New Era’s from about 2006 on wards. I still feel like a teenager and so I like reading those more than the Ensigns. I know that I am 21 but I will be a kid forever I think. We got bored (no surprise) and so we pulled all the Mormon-ads out of all of them and posted them all over the house. It makes the house look a lot more missionary like now. This is the things that you come to when you are bored. I actually found some chopsticks lying around the flat, and you could only guess, that I turned them into drumsticks. They are really small and hard to play with, but I can still bust out some good licks. E. Driscoll didn’t quite know what to think. He knew that I was a drummer, but he didn’t know that it was my life for a lot of years. He thinks that I should go buy some sticks, but I would feel dodgy I just know it. He was very impressed and my talents, and took a video. I will try to send it home.
Well I best get going. I love you all and hope that you have a good week. I will hopefully be getting back to work here very, very soon. Please pray for Elder Driscoll!!!! He really needs it! I hope that everything goes well this week, and that you all have great missionary experiences!!!!
Love you,
Elder Neal
Monday, June 8, 2009
E-mail from Neal - Received 6/8/09
Hello to my amazing Family,
Wow!!! This week has been full of spiritual feasting!!!! I will give you a quick overview about what happened this week, then I will go into details.
-Zone Conference – All about personal conversion
-Clifford Dawson’s Baptism!!!!!!!
-Priesthood Meeting – Pres. Uchtdorf, Elder Neil Anderson, and Robert C. Oaks
-Stake Conference - Again Pres. Uchtdorf, Elder Neil Anderson, and Robert C. Oaks, plus Sister Lant of the Primary, and Sister Dibb of the Young Womens
NEED I SAY MORE!!!!!!
*Zone Conference*
It was amazing. It was all about personal conversion because that’s what President thinks that we all need. We can find, we can teach, and now we just really need to know about all that teach and tell people. It was really, really good. President gave a talk about the Apostasy and the Restoration. You will all have to go to his home coming in Colorado, I am going for sure. He has been called of God, and you can tell by the way that he speaks. It was amazing. The Zone Leaders talked about Christ like attributes, and how important they are to posses in our conversion. Then The best thing ever happened. The Assistants, (my dad and E. Ayers) really committed us hard to pray again and again about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. Then they did the most amazing thing ever. They played the bit of the Restoration DVD where the first vision happens, but instead of playing the sound they played Jon Schmidt’s Baptism hymn. YOU COULD TASTE THE SPIRIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so powerful. We are going to do the same thing at Tom’s Baptism this week while they are changing! It is going to be amazing.
*Clifford’s Baptism*
I have never seen a more well attended baptism in my life!! There were so many missionaries there, and we were even missing two that couldn’t make it (E. Hastings, and E. McIntosh)! It was a marvelous day, and Clifford was beaming! I got to say the opening prayer, and E. Garcia gave a talk. It was a really spiritual service. I will be sending lots of pictures today if I have time to. He got confirmed that same night, and you could tell that he was on cloud 9. Mavis was all a flutter too. They are now looking forward to the Temple, and I hope that all goes well, and that they make it there. They really do deserve it!!!! I had a great time, it was a great day. Tom came as well, and he really, really loved it! It was great to see Clifford please his heavenly father in such a great way. The Heavens were smiling on him that day, I know it!!!
*Priesthood Meeting and Stake Conference*
Powerful!!!! All they did was really answer questions that leaders had submitted from all over the UK and Ireland. It was a great broadcast, and I really learned a lot. I love Pres. Uchtdorf, he always speaks with power and authority, and the past two days were no exception. He really laid it down and taught well. He was really funny too, as apostles usually are. He answered all the questions very well, and when he got to one about Pornography his whole tone, and demeanor changed. You could tell that that subject is a very tender and serious one. He really put out very heartfelt caution against that evil that is plaguing the world. Neil L. Anderson is not the shy junior apostle that he has been putting himself off as. He is an apostle called of God, and he is powerful as well. He really delivered an amazing message about the financial state of the world, and how if we pay our tithing then everything will be ok!! It was really amazing. Robert C. Oaks slammed missionary work HARDCORE!!!! I love him. He is really amazing as well. He kinda rebuked the UK and told them the things that have to happen if they want this place to boom. Basically they have to do the missionary work. All the Missionaries in the room were shining. He really talked us up and built us up, and told the members that they need to help us! It was a great conference, and I got to see a lot of old friends from Chorley. It was a great weekend, and I have a ton of notes. Most of all I could really just feel of the love that the Lord has for this country and how much love the First Presidency has for us as well. Tom really loved the conference, he said that it was very powerful. He really enjoyed hearing from apostles. I love this church!!!! I love the organization of the church, and the fact that we get to hear from such wonderful men all the time!!!! It is a great time to be alive, and to be serving a mission. I have had so many spiritual experiences in the last year it is hard to know where to start. I am going to just have to go through all my journals at the end and think about it all. That is going to take me DAYS!!!!!
Ok, anyways, I am doing really well. E. Driscoll has been sick all week so that has been tough, but we are still pushing along. We got flogged a lot this week (either porter or troy call it punted). We are still happy and having a great time. Last week for p-day we had a zone activity. We ended up learning something called the Hawka, which is a really cool Maori dance. There is an elder in the zone from Australia and he is Samoan so he taught it to us. It really united our zone, and so that has helped the week. We are seeing miracles in the zone- I love it! You will be getting the video of that sometime soon.
Anyways I have to run. We are going to go have another Zone Activity so that will be great. I love you all, and I hope that you have had a good week. Keep studying and praying, and I promise that I will do the same. Tom’s baptism is this week so keep him in your prayers. He is so prepared there will be no problems, but you do never know. I love you all. Have a great week!
Love,
EJ
#1 me and Clifford (after the baptism)
#2 Mavis and Clifford and E. Naylor
#3 All the Missionaries (missing 3 that have gone home, and 2 that couldn't make it)
Wow!!! This week has been full of spiritual feasting!!!! I will give you a quick overview about what happened this week, then I will go into details.
-Zone Conference – All about personal conversion
-Clifford Dawson’s Baptism!!!!!!!
-Priesthood Meeting – Pres. Uchtdorf, Elder Neil Anderson, and Robert C. Oaks
-Stake Conference - Again Pres. Uchtdorf, Elder Neil Anderson, and Robert C. Oaks, plus Sister Lant of the Primary, and Sister Dibb of the Young Womens
NEED I SAY MORE!!!!!!
*Zone Conference*
It was amazing. It was all about personal conversion because that’s what President thinks that we all need. We can find, we can teach, and now we just really need to know about all that teach and tell people. It was really, really good. President gave a talk about the Apostasy and the Restoration. You will all have to go to his home coming in Colorado, I am going for sure. He has been called of God, and you can tell by the way that he speaks. It was amazing. The Zone Leaders talked about Christ like attributes, and how important they are to posses in our conversion. Then The best thing ever happened. The Assistants, (my dad and E. Ayers) really committed us hard to pray again and again about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. Then they did the most amazing thing ever. They played the bit of the Restoration DVD where the first vision happens, but instead of playing the sound they played Jon Schmidt’s Baptism hymn. YOU COULD TASTE THE SPIRIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so powerful. We are going to do the same thing at Tom’s Baptism this week while they are changing! It is going to be amazing.
*Clifford’s Baptism*
I have never seen a more well attended baptism in my life!! There were so many missionaries there, and we were even missing two that couldn’t make it (E. Hastings, and E. McIntosh)! It was a marvelous day, and Clifford was beaming! I got to say the opening prayer, and E. Garcia gave a talk. It was a really spiritual service. I will be sending lots of pictures today if I have time to. He got confirmed that same night, and you could tell that he was on cloud 9. Mavis was all a flutter too. They are now looking forward to the Temple, and I hope that all goes well, and that they make it there. They really do deserve it!!!! I had a great time, it was a great day. Tom came as well, and he really, really loved it! It was great to see Clifford please his heavenly father in such a great way. The Heavens were smiling on him that day, I know it!!!
*Priesthood Meeting and Stake Conference*
Powerful!!!! All they did was really answer questions that leaders had submitted from all over the UK and Ireland. It was a great broadcast, and I really learned a lot. I love Pres. Uchtdorf, he always speaks with power and authority, and the past two days were no exception. He really laid it down and taught well. He was really funny too, as apostles usually are. He answered all the questions very well, and when he got to one about Pornography his whole tone, and demeanor changed. You could tell that that subject is a very tender and serious one. He really put out very heartfelt caution against that evil that is plaguing the world. Neil L. Anderson is not the shy junior apostle that he has been putting himself off as. He is an apostle called of God, and he is powerful as well. He really delivered an amazing message about the financial state of the world, and how if we pay our tithing then everything will be ok!! It was really amazing. Robert C. Oaks slammed missionary work HARDCORE!!!! I love him. He is really amazing as well. He kinda rebuked the UK and told them the things that have to happen if they want this place to boom. Basically they have to do the missionary work. All the Missionaries in the room were shining. He really talked us up and built us up, and told the members that they need to help us! It was a great conference, and I got to see a lot of old friends from Chorley. It was a great weekend, and I have a ton of notes. Most of all I could really just feel of the love that the Lord has for this country and how much love the First Presidency has for us as well. Tom really loved the conference, he said that it was very powerful. He really enjoyed hearing from apostles. I love this church!!!! I love the organization of the church, and the fact that we get to hear from such wonderful men all the time!!!! It is a great time to be alive, and to be serving a mission. I have had so many spiritual experiences in the last year it is hard to know where to start. I am going to just have to go through all my journals at the end and think about it all. That is going to take me DAYS!!!!!
Ok, anyways, I am doing really well. E. Driscoll has been sick all week so that has been tough, but we are still pushing along. We got flogged a lot this week (either porter or troy call it punted). We are still happy and having a great time. Last week for p-day we had a zone activity. We ended up learning something called the Hawka, which is a really cool Maori dance. There is an elder in the zone from Australia and he is Samoan so he taught it to us. It really united our zone, and so that has helped the week. We are seeing miracles in the zone- I love it! You will be getting the video of that sometime soon.
Anyways I have to run. We are going to go have another Zone Activity so that will be great. I love you all, and I hope that you have had a good week. Keep studying and praying, and I promise that I will do the same. Tom’s baptism is this week so keep him in your prayers. He is so prepared there will be no problems, but you do never know. I love you all. Have a great week!
Love,
EJ
#1 me and Clifford (after the baptism)
#2 Mavis and Clifford and E. Naylor
#3 All the Missionaries (missing 3 that have gone home, and 2 that couldn't make it)
Monday, June 1, 2009
E-mail from Neal - Received 6/1/09
Hello One and All!!!!
Boy oh boy, is it ever summer over here. It has been really hot this past weekend and today is another hot but beautiful day!!! I tell you what, this country can be nasty and cold and wet, but when it is nice and sunny, it really is a quite enjoyable place to be. The only problem is that when the weather gets nice and sun comes out, the clothes start to become less and less covering. It is really annoying, but you just have to deal with it I guess. I have been wearing short sleeve shirts for the past 4 days or something, and my arms are starting to go red! The Humidity is really what is getting to me. I am a Colorado boy through and through so I am not used to all this muggy, wet air. I am having to drink loads and loads of water to keep myself hydrated. We fasted on Saturday cause it was fast Sunday yesterday and we almost died Saturday night. It had been a long day, and it was dang hot!!! E. Driscoll has been not feeling 100% all week so that didn’t help at all, but the work must push forward. The reason that fast Sunday was this week is because we are having a special stake conference next week. It is a UK wide broadcast from the Hyde Ward Chapel in Manchester. Pres. Uchtdorf, Elder Neil L. Anderson, Elder Robert C. Oaks, and a few others are going to be there. I am way excited. We aren’t having any mission conferences I don’t think, but you never know. They kinda dropped Boyd K. Packer on us all so you never can tell. I would love to see Pres. Uchtdorf again. Can you believe that it was a year ago that he spoke to us!?!?! It is going to be a good week that is for sure.
We have zone conference on Thursday, so I will be getting everything that has been sent to me over the past like month! I haven’t gotten any post in who knows how long. I guess everyone has forgotten about me. Oh well, I’ll live. After zone conference is Clifford’s Baptism!!!! I am really, really excited. Tom is going to come and see it, and he is really excited as well. Tom is the kid that I told you about last week remember? He is amazing, and doing really well. He is loving the YSA, and he is so ready for baptism!! He asked us why people go out of their way sometimes to ridicule the church and us as missionaries. He has been getting some opposition from friends and so he has really been wondering that. We could only really give him one answer…. That it is true!! He agreed with us, and then told us that he wants to serve a mission. My heart leapt for joy, and I know that E. Driscoll’s did the same. That is the most amazing thing to know that he has a desire to serve his God in the best way that he can!! It has been a dream to teach him! We took him and his Mom to walk around the Temple last Thursday night. It was great cause all the YSA were there for baptisms, and they all knew Tom and they were so kind to him Mom. She isn’t too interested, but I feel that she will come around soon. She felt the spirit on the grounds, and we taught her all about the Restoration, and so now it is really in Tom’s and God’s hands. Tom has a solid beyond solid testimony, and so I am really not worried at all!!! It was a really great night. As soon as they dropped us off back in Blackburn we were so excited that we just starting speaking to everyone around us. Tom and his mom both saw us, and she was very impressed. Tom was really curious as to what we were saying to them, and what the outcome was. I think that he is doing research from when he goes and does it! Blessings are coming from everywhere.
I have been reading all of the conference talks now that I have the ensign, and I am loving them. I read at least one a day, and they are really helping me out. I read Jeffery R. Holland’s talk a few days ago, and basically the whole second half is highlighted!!! That talk is defiantly on the top of my list of Favourite talks ever!!! You all know that Elder Holland is my favourite, and this talk just reassured that completely! I am going to be reading L. Tom Perry’s talk tomorrow, so I am really excited for that. You all said that I would love it, so I am looking forward to that!
We are going to Burnley today for a zone activity. We are going to have a BBQ and then play capture the flag with water balloons! The weather is amazing, and I could not be more excited! It is great serving in Chorley again because I love the size of the Zone. There is 12 of us, and that is like perfect for anything. Manchester was huge at one point we had 10 in our district alone!!!!! That is one district out of the 4 that are there. I like smaller groups!
I love you all so so much
Elder Neal
P.S. – You really should send more pictures. I have no idea what is going on back home. I don’t care what you send them of, just send some.
P.s.s. - Don't just read Preach my Gospel.... STUDY it!
Boy oh boy, is it ever summer over here. It has been really hot this past weekend and today is another hot but beautiful day!!! I tell you what, this country can be nasty and cold and wet, but when it is nice and sunny, it really is a quite enjoyable place to be. The only problem is that when the weather gets nice and sun comes out, the clothes start to become less and less covering. It is really annoying, but you just have to deal with it I guess. I have been wearing short sleeve shirts for the past 4 days or something, and my arms are starting to go red! The Humidity is really what is getting to me. I am a Colorado boy through and through so I am not used to all this muggy, wet air. I am having to drink loads and loads of water to keep myself hydrated. We fasted on Saturday cause it was fast Sunday yesterday and we almost died Saturday night. It had been a long day, and it was dang hot!!! E. Driscoll has been not feeling 100% all week so that didn’t help at all, but the work must push forward. The reason that fast Sunday was this week is because we are having a special stake conference next week. It is a UK wide broadcast from the Hyde Ward Chapel in Manchester. Pres. Uchtdorf, Elder Neil L. Anderson, Elder Robert C. Oaks, and a few others are going to be there. I am way excited. We aren’t having any mission conferences I don’t think, but you never know. They kinda dropped Boyd K. Packer on us all so you never can tell. I would love to see Pres. Uchtdorf again. Can you believe that it was a year ago that he spoke to us!?!?! It is going to be a good week that is for sure.
We have zone conference on Thursday, so I will be getting everything that has been sent to me over the past like month! I haven’t gotten any post in who knows how long. I guess everyone has forgotten about me. Oh well, I’ll live. After zone conference is Clifford’s Baptism!!!! I am really, really excited. Tom is going to come and see it, and he is really excited as well. Tom is the kid that I told you about last week remember? He is amazing, and doing really well. He is loving the YSA, and he is so ready for baptism!! He asked us why people go out of their way sometimes to ridicule the church and us as missionaries. He has been getting some opposition from friends and so he has really been wondering that. We could only really give him one answer…. That it is true!! He agreed with us, and then told us that he wants to serve a mission. My heart leapt for joy, and I know that E. Driscoll’s did the same. That is the most amazing thing to know that he has a desire to serve his God in the best way that he can!! It has been a dream to teach him! We took him and his Mom to walk around the Temple last Thursday night. It was great cause all the YSA were there for baptisms, and they all knew Tom and they were so kind to him Mom. She isn’t too interested, but I feel that she will come around soon. She felt the spirit on the grounds, and we taught her all about the Restoration, and so now it is really in Tom’s and God’s hands. Tom has a solid beyond solid testimony, and so I am really not worried at all!!! It was a really great night. As soon as they dropped us off back in Blackburn we were so excited that we just starting speaking to everyone around us. Tom and his mom both saw us, and she was very impressed. Tom was really curious as to what we were saying to them, and what the outcome was. I think that he is doing research from when he goes and does it! Blessings are coming from everywhere.
I have been reading all of the conference talks now that I have the ensign, and I am loving them. I read at least one a day, and they are really helping me out. I read Jeffery R. Holland’s talk a few days ago, and basically the whole second half is highlighted!!! That talk is defiantly on the top of my list of Favourite talks ever!!! You all know that Elder Holland is my favourite, and this talk just reassured that completely! I am going to be reading L. Tom Perry’s talk tomorrow, so I am really excited for that. You all said that I would love it, so I am looking forward to that!
We are going to Burnley today for a zone activity. We are going to have a BBQ and then play capture the flag with water balloons! The weather is amazing, and I could not be more excited! It is great serving in Chorley again because I love the size of the Zone. There is 12 of us, and that is like perfect for anything. Manchester was huge at one point we had 10 in our district alone!!!!! That is one district out of the 4 that are there. I like smaller groups!
I love you all so so much
Elder Neal
P.S. – You really should send more pictures. I have no idea what is going on back home. I don’t care what you send them of, just send some.
P.s.s. - Don't just read Preach my Gospel.... STUDY it!
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