May 11, 2010

How is everything going for you guys? It's all going good here. We're teaching quite a few people and everything so that's good. Elder Beus and I are getting along good.
I had no idea we had English ancestors. Maybe if I get moved over to Nottingham I'll have to check out a cemetery to see if there are any Chattertons still there. That would be really cool.
I have to tell you a story about a born again guy we met yesterday. So I know this is bad to say but I have a really hard time having any charity for these people. Because I don't think I've ever met one who didn't start an argument with me in the first 30 seconds of talking to them. But this guy takes the cake on them. And he was Elder Beus's first one so that made it even better. So he starts off by telling us he doesn't believe in "Mormonism" because it is tied in with witchcraft. So I asked him how he knew that and he proceeds to tell us how some crazy Satanist guy wrote a book about witchcraft telling people that in order to become immortal you have to collect 12 "strands of magics" from different organizations, the church being one of them. So I asked him how to collect a strand of magic and he couldn't tell me. Then he asked me how I knew I was feeling the Spirit so I related Galatians 5 to him about the fruits of the Spirit and he told me that wasn't a valid answer because that could be a counterfeit. So I asked him to read the Book of Mormon and pray and see if he could feel the Spirit, which apparently I can't feel but he can. And then he goes off to us about how the Book of Mormon is cursed and anyone who reads it invites evil upon themselves and if they read it they become a Mormon because of the curse. Ya. So then we just had to leave because I was getting mad and he wasn't going to listen so it was a waste of time. But ya that was our crazy man of the week. Pretty cool huh.
Thank you for that life lesson today Dad. I think I forget that one alot. I worry so much about getting everything right the first time that it gets a bit discouraging when it doesn't work out the way I want it to. But thank you for that it helped me out alot. Anyways I better get going now. I love you both.

May 6, 2010

Hey I'll be calling you at 10am your time on Sunday. Sorry the time kinda sucks but that's all we can do. So maybe Dad will have an excuse to get out of some meetings. We're doing the calling this time and the member we're using doesn't have two lines so I'm only going to have an hour or so to talk so I'm sorry about that but that's what we get. I was really sad to leave Worcester and especially Elder Rapana. That guy was a legend in my book. But I think it'll be good here. I've already met a few of the members here and they all seem really cool. There's one crazy little Irishman named Gerry. He is the one who is going to have us call from his house. He's a pretty cool guy. He's really funny cuz he's only about 5 and a half feet tall and he talks just like a leprechaun. But he's a way nice guy and I hear he throws a wicked 4th of July party so if I stay here for another transfer after this one I'll get to go to that. Elder Largesse served here a year ago so everybody knows him so thats cool too. I got the card from Kristi but not the others. Don't worry though, Rapana gave me a blood oath that he'll get me all of my post that ends up there so we're good to go. Anyways I better get going now. I love you guys

May 4, 2010

I hope all is still going good for you guys. It's transfer week this week and I'm getting moved :( I don't know anything about calling home from there yet but I'll probably find out tomorrow so I'll be sending another email on Wednesday or Thursday to tell you. I'm moving to a place called Redditch. It's over next to Birmingham, (the new address is listed on my blog site) Elder Largesse was there a year ago so he told me the address and a bit about it. He said it's like JDub heaven over there so there's probably some Bible bashes coming my way. Don't worry though, Dusty trained me up good haha. Just kidding, but seriously. But ya my new comp is Elder Beuss from Tremonton Utah and he went to Utah State before he came out. I don't know much about him yet other than that but they say he's a cool guy. He's only been out for 1 transfer. He might know Kelton Bronson though. There's another missionary from Tremonton who used to hang out with him named Elder Griffiths. So I talked to him for a while at zone conference. We'll see.
Good job bearing (is it bearing or baring?) your testimony Mom. I've done it a couple of times since I got back to England. I can't believe it's almost been 2 months since I was home. That's pretty crazy. It still all seems such a short time ago. I haven't gotten my birthday package yet but it'll probably be at transfer meeting so I'll get it there. I don't have a license yet. You have to first get a provisional (like a learner's permit) and then take a theory and a driving test. I hear the driving test is really hard so that won't be fun but we'll get it sorted.
Thank you for that life lesson today Dad. I like that one alot. And I'm excited to see the new plane. At this rate you might just have it in the air when I come home haha. But I'm excited to fly in that one. Have you decided what to do about the Cessna yet? Anyways I better get going now but I'll email you again with the calling details in a couple of days. I love you both

April 27, 2010

Sorry my email was late last week, we had mission football in Cardiff and I forgot to warn you. Sorry about that. But it's all going good here. We're still working hard and trying to get somebody baptized. The problem is here in England it seems like no one cares about God, but we try to make it all work out. Oh well. So you have been talking to Elder Rapana's mother still. Their family is really cool. Quite a few of the kids are adopted as well, they are way cool.
Elder Spence and Elder Largesse are both going home next week so maybe you'll get a visit from one of them soon. Spence said he was going to go try to play football at ISU so he might stop in on his visit to the campus and stuff and Largesse is going to BYU-I so he'll be up there too. So don't be surprised to see them. I think you'll love them both if you get to meet them. We seem to be getting more DA's (dinner appointements) now than we were before. A couple of the previous missionaries were clock watching nazi's so they were a bit rude to some of the members if they were a minute or two late cooking the dinner and stuff so the members had a bit of a bad taste in their mouth about feeding us but we seem to be rebuilding the bridges that got burned so that's good. I haven't had barbecue anything since I got back here though cuz their idea of barbecue sucks and they don't like that kind of food anyway so we never see it. I wish though.
So Dad did you ever get to fly the new plane before all of the repairs and stuff? You've probably told me this already but I can't remember. I'm excited to get back to flying again. I miss that alot. You'll have to tell me how the memorial golf tourney goes and everything. I wish I could be there to play in it. But later I will. And yes I've gotten a ridiculous amount of mail lately. More cards than I can handle, lol. Thanks everyone for those!! Did you make address stickers for everybody or something? Anyways I better get going now. I love you guys.

April 20, 2010

Hey Mom and Dad. That's really cool that you've been able to talk to Elder Rapana's mom. She asked for your email and stuff last week so I gave it to her. What kind of stuff do you guys talk about? Me and Elder Rapana are doing so good. I hope I don't get moved, that wouldn't be cool. But ya we have lots of fun. We got chased by bulls the other day. I'm going to try to email you the video after I write this so hopefully that'll work. But ya we get along great.
All that volcano business is crap so don't worry about it. It's just like swine flu and everything else. Everyone makes it a bigger deal than it really is. I haven't seen any ash yet and they've been talking about it for a week. So don't worry about that. The next missionaries to leave are going home on the 5th so it'll be cleared up by then I'm sure. Elder Spence and Elder Largesse are going home in that group. It makes me a bit sad to see them go. But Spence said he might come up and visit. I'm glad Cody went through the temple that's really cool. I just wish I could go to the temple. That was the only place I really felt peace. Like I know everything is fine and I know where Blake is but I also know he was there when we went to the temple. Sometimes I still feel like he's with me but it's not like it was in the temple. I've felt the same way about talks and things too, a lot of church talks by the stake leaders and stuff have been directed to that type of stuff that we need to hear. It's so good.
Thank you for the life lesson today Dad. That was pretty deep I'm not gonna lie. I'm printing that one off to show people at district meetings and stuff. That was brilliant. Thank you for that.
President Ogden told me to get started on getting my UK driver's license last week. I know, I was as shocked as you are but he said he wants me to get it so I'll need to start that. The thing about it is I'm responsible for the first 100 dollars of it. The mission covers the rest but the first 100 is on me. And the good news is if I get a UK license that means my insurance back home will go down a bit :) But ya anyways I better get going now. I love you guys!!! Oh ya, and about Elder Rapana being from New Zealand but lives in Australia. He is originally from New Zealand but moved to Australia as a teenager and he still lives there cuz that's where he plays rugby.

April 13, 2010

How are things going on the home-front? It's all good here. We've been working hard and everything so it's been good. And the weather is starting to warm up so that's good too. I'm glad Justin was able to get those letters to you. He told me he had sent them so that's good. I'll let him know you got them. I finally got your package on Thursday with the shirt and everything so thank you for that. I haven't made the biscuits and gravy yet but I told Elder Rapana he's in for a treat cuz he's never eaten that before. Thank you for all of that stuff it was great. And I got your card too I thought that was pretty funny. You can tell Stephanie she can email me if she would like. Sometimes the time is limited so I can't promise a reply every week but I'll do my best. Usually I have a few extra minutes so it should be fine. I'm anticipating getting transferred on the 5th but you never really know so I don't want to tell you a definite yes or no. But it is quite possible. I hope not though cuz me and Elder Rapana get along really well and everything.
I think you should tell Kyle to have the tournament. I think that is a really cool way for him to be remembered and if there was one way I would want to honor him it's by playing golf. Dad you can plan on us playing in that tournament every year until we can't swing a club anymore. It doesn't matter where I end up we will be there no matter what. How long will it be until you get the new plane going? those annuals seem to take alot of flight time away. But at least this time you still have the Cessna right?
As for my birthday the only thing I really need is some new g's. But I don't know if you can send those can you? I figured you guys would know better than I would. Other than that I should be ok. And our flat is around the corner from the Co-Op. It's in a funny part of town so sometimes it's a bit tough to find on a map or gps or anything. But anyways I better get going now. I love you guys. Thank you for everything. Elder Rapana and I are headed to the driving range now in Blake's honor. Talk to you later.

April 6, 2010

Everything is going good for me here. Elder Rapana and I get along so well! We're always laughing and working hard so don't worry, I don't feel quite so sad to have lost Elder Spence anymore. So it's all going good. Conference was amazing. I don't know if Dad told you about the Priesthood session or not but it was so good! I loved it and Pres. Monson's talk in the Sunday morning session was amazing as well. I shed a tear or two during that one. But it was so good. For Easter all we did was watch conference. Because of the time change we watched the Saturday morning session on Saturday night at 5, Priesthood on Sunday morning at 10, Saturday afternoon session on Sunday at 1, and Sunday morning session on Sunday at 5. And it was all shown at the Stake Center in Cheltenham so we ended up just staying at Cheltenham all day on Sunday and hanging out with members. And for Easter dinner we ate cold sandwiches so that wasn't so cool. But other than that the day was really good. I still don't have the package yet but we have Zone Conference next week so I should get it there if they have it at the office. And the next transfer is on May 5th cuz this one is a 5 week transfer instead of 6 for some reason. Tell Cody congratulations for me. I didn't get any emails from Devon surprisingly but thats really cool, that should be a good mission. Anyways I better get going now. I love you guys!!!