October 27, 2014

Dear Family,

This week has been.... tiring. Yup. Tiring. 

Looking back at the week... we played ping pong for p-day, did some service for an African family in the Ward, painted a lady's house and taught her neighbor, contacted lots, taught a part-member family, made a new Area Map, had District meeting and Ward Correlation in the same day, had an exchange that was not what we planned at all, got flogged a couple times, had an emergency exchange because Elder Herrod got sick again and they had some appointments that needed to be attended to, got new furniture in the Flat, attended the other Elders' baptism, had church and taught a less active lady.... and now I'm here.  

We haven't been able to seen John and Tasha or Du or even our recent contact, Mark, for awhile, now. Everyone seems to be so busy, including us. It's half-term, though, so Du's kids finally were able to come to church for the first time in ages. I was glad to see them there. We also got the number of a returning member and will be teaching him and his nonmember wife this week. When we do our Weekly Planing it seems like we have loads of investigators but a large number of them are struggling to progress in the gospel. 

I'm very excited for this week, though. I've been studying "A Marvelous Work and a Wonder", by LeGrand Richards, and have had many very spiritual experiences from that. We're just so blessed to have the restored gospel in our lives. Along with that, this week is what Elder Adler has coined Consecration Week. We will be contacting a minimum of 4 hours every day and will be expected to find 4 new investigators this week and to be teaching more than 10 proper lessons by next week. It's going to be pretty hard but it's just what the mission needs - a little boost. 

Hey Pops - The part of London that I live in is not the part of London you want to visit. I have been to Central London, like you know, but I still don't really know where to go. For the most part I just stay in Woolwich, Plumstead, Abbey Wood, Thamesmead, and Welling, occasionally. Yup, they aren't exactly the most touristy places. We'll always have the Isle of Wight or Oxford. I suggest Oxford. I know both places REALLY well.

Oh, how I miss fishing. I've been looking for an opportunity my whole mission, but I just can't seem to find any. Glad you could get out with Bro. Matthews, the resident Pro. 

Mom - I totally do know Elder Ganta! That's so crazy. He's a really great missionary and a funny guy, and his Sister is no doubt awesome there in Mesa.

Sadly, this Halloween we will not be doing anything at all. Well, actually we're going to go have dinner with a Nigerian family, which I always look forward to. But no Halloweeny stuff. We'll probably have to stay indoors for the most part on the 31st. That's my guess, anyway.

I finally had Ethiopian food! It's defiantly my favorite of all the African foods. One of our investigators made us Samosas with some steak and veggies. It wasn't with Zigny or Ingera, our Ethiopian investigators, though. But we'll be going over again this week if they have the time.   

It sounds like you guys are very busy back home. Almost as busy as me. haha. 

Just remember that whatever happens to us, our personal salvation is just that, personal. It is up to us, individually, to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. It doesn't matter what anyone else does, so long as we are doing. 

I'm so grateful for the restored gospel in my life. It just makes so much sense and brings me so much comfort and peace. I am so blessed to be born at this time, in this family. I always tell everyone that I have the best family in the world, and I thank the gospel of Jesus Christ for it. Remember that.  I love you all very much and pray for you daily. 

Elder Glasgow

October 20, 2014

Dear Family,

 

When you talk to your family and friends only once a week time flies by much too fast. Much too fast. My little niece, Campbell, is already a month old! I feel like she was only born a few days ago. It's so strange. She looks so cute, though. I can't wait to see her for real. Is she strictly Campbell or does she go by Bell for short? And who is your photographer??

 

This week has been pretty crazy for me. We had DLC (District Leader Conference), which was pretty intense. Last Transfer the mission had a big change in how we do missionary work by cutting out street teaches. And this Transfer we've been doing lots of fine tuning. The Mission Training Plan consists of three big focuses: Finding by Revelation, Accountability to the Lord, and Teaching People, Not Lessons.  Accountability to the Lord is my main focus for the District, though. I'm training myself that whenever a situation is presented before me I ask myself, ''is this going to help me fulfill my purpose as a missionary?'' A missionary in DLC brought up a very interesting concept. So we have a little white handbook full of rules, right? Well, he narrowed the whole thing down to 2 rules. Always remember your purpose as a missionary and always be wise and mature in your conduct. And that was it. When we follow those 2 rules, the rest kind of just come along with it. Of course there's been mistakes in the past so that's why there's all the little details in between, but if we are following those 2 rules, the rest are easy.

 

Zone Conference was one of my favorite. Elder Adler, of the Seventy, came and talked with us. It was his very first Mission tour but he did very well. Most of the Zone Conference was based off of a talk given by some guy to a mission in the states. Its called the Donaldson's papers. It is a wonderful piece of Doctrine, and how to improve as a missionary. I'll send it to you guys to check it out. It's really cool. What President Millar taught us about was teaching like Angels. Exciting huh? It's really cool.

 

Elder Ye took the IELTS on Saturday in Lewisham, so it involved me waiting outside for like 4 or something like that hours while he took it. It seemed like an eternity. But if he did good he'll be able to go to BYU. I hope he did alright. He had to pay a pretty penny for that test.

 

We didn't really have loads of time to work this week. We were able to teach John, though. Tasha was out and about so we didn't get to teach her but John is doing really good. They are trying their hardest to understand the Book of Mormon and find out if this is all true. Pray hard with me so that they will. They are a great family that the church could benefit so greatly from.

 

Next week should be good for us, though. We'll have lots more time to get out and teach and find new people that the Lord is placing in our path.

 

That sounds pretty gutting to hear that Sis. Bickmore is leaving. She left quite a legacy in the Windsor Ward. Remember the next one that comes has just as much power and authority as the last. Keep on helping them.

 

Today we're going to go play some ping pong at the chapel. We're almost running out of ideas for p-day..... oh well. I didn't take any pictures this week but hopefully I'll be able to get some off Elder Herrod and I'll send them in a bit.

 

I love you guys and pray for you all everyday.

 

Elder Glasgow

(my District before last Transfer)

October 13, 2014

Dearest Family,

Well, another week here and gone in London. Time flies much too fast here. We can never really manage to get all that we want done in a week. All sorts of appointments and service and dinners with members and investigators and studying and meetings. It's just crazy sometimes. But I love it. I love teaching people and eating African food and gardening and studying the gospel. Oh how I love studying the gospel. It is one of my favorite pastimes here on the mission. 

​Thank you so very much for the letters this week. I know sometimes it can be difficult to write long, nice, lovely letters when nothing really happens during the week. I struggled soooo much to write Aubrey and Cedar. I would pick up the pen…. and just sit there….. and think….and think….and think….and then I would write a line…. and then crumple it up and get a new piece of paper and start aaallll over again. I'm excited for this little package, though. You guys are the best. 

Sadly this p-day wasn't as epic as the last. We kind of just wandered around and I ended up finding a good jacket that will last me through the winter. I like it a lot. Nice and British, with toggles. haha. 

Grandma- I feel for you. I'm soooo tired all the time. Missionary work is tiring. 

To answer your questions.  Dad: there isn't that much nationalism in England. It's a very old country and I think the people are tired right now; at least where I live. There are loads of Africans anyway, so they are much more proud of Africa. haha. The work is moving. We've been having a lot of success working with members, getting referrals and getting people back to church. One lady in particular, Jackie, has been meeting with the missionaries for ages. She knows it's all true but she just can't shake off smoking. We'll be taking her to the Addiction Recovery course tomorrow, though. That program works miracles. I love what they teach there. Elder Ye and I are doing great. We both enjoy spicy food and that's enough for him. haha. This weekend he's going to be taking the IELTS test (Int'l English Language Testing System), so that he can apply to BYU, so I'm helping him prepare for that. Hopefully he will pass. The District is great. Elder Ertmann is the new guy. He's only been out six months. He's from Morgan, Utah, and is neighbors with my MTC comp, Elder Butterfield! He's a great guy. Proper small town Utah boy. I love him. There's a handful of missionaries from England here, but the bulk are from America. I think we have missionaries from like 50 different countries, though… something like that. It's pretty cool. As for sisters, I'm guessing maybe 80-100 of the 250 missionaries in the Mission?  The Senior couples always talk about how much they LOVE it here. 

Oh! so Elder Schumann finished his mission, so we got a new Zone Leader and guess who it is??!! It's Elder Rogers! Yeah! Both of my Zone Leaders have been my companions. It's so weird, but I love them both and am really glad I get to serve around them again. 

This coming week is really busy for us. We are having Zone Conference on Wednesday. Elder Adler, from the Seventy, will be there. The next day is District Leader Council, and Saturday is Elder Ye's test and there will be two baptisms as well. One was taught by the Zone Leaders. His name is John and he's only 11. His family went less active for a while but one day the Mum felt she needed to go back so she did and now her son is getting baptized. He's a great kid. I really enjoyed interviewing him. The other is Paul. He's a middle-aged fellow who was taught by the other Elders in the District and I'll be interviewing him this week. I hope he's ready. I taught him on exchange awhile ago. We'll see how it goes. 

So, last night we had dinner with a family and they had proper American pickles! Those don't exist here, just so you know. Only these nasty things called gherkins, eww. The dad was raised in American so he always gets his parents to sent him stuff from the states. haha. 

Well, that's pretty much my week. Moves (again, I dislike tri's so much!), new missionaries, baptism interview, member work, and all the other good stuff. 

Thanks again for the letters. They help a lot. 

I love you guys,

Elder Glasgow

October 6, 2014

Dearest Family,

General Conference is the greatest thing in the world!  We are so blessed to have Prophets, Apostles and Seers here on the earth today preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It's truly wonderful.  I just love it.  Sadly, I haven't been able to watch all of it, yet.  Only all the the Sessions from Saturday.  I think the Saturday afternoon Session was my favorite, ever.  Elder Anderson and that Ukrainian guy (Elder Klebingat).  Wow!  The Ukrainian guy was my favorite, rivaling Elder Cook's talk in the Priesthood Session.  He knows how to lay it down!  I'm super excited to listen to the rest of it.  I'll be downloading it after I'm done emailing everyone.  We'll be getting the November Ensign here so don't worry about sending me one.

Winter is finally here in England.  It's been raining on us for the last few days.  It was a beautiful summer, though.  I'm surprised it lasted all the way through September.  I heard somewhere that it was the hottest September in a long long time here.  I enjoyed it a lot. :)  I still miss the AZ life, though.  It's so nice over there. Seriously, though, I do like cloudy skies.  But maybe that's the remnant of the AZ kid in me that has survived all this time.  Gray skies are nice. 

London is so much different that anywhere I've been.  SOOOO different!  It looks different, it smells different, the atmosphere even feels different.  It's just its own place.  Super different from Oxford and the Isle of Wight.  I can't decide where I like most, though.  All of my areas have been legendary!

So, you'll be happy to know that last week our District got Presidents approval to go to Central London!  I have soooo many pictures this week and I know you guys will love them so much.  I loved it!!  It was so surreal to be there.  I never thought I would have the chance!  There was Big Ben, the London Eye (that huge ferris wheel thing), and Westminster Cathedral and all!  It was great!  Loads of fun.  The Queen was even at Buckingham palace when we walked by! 

I'm glad to hear everyone is so busy, too, especially Chase.  Being busy is good.  It keeps you occupied, not lazy. Laziness is bad.  Chase, even if the volleyball team stinks that doesn't mean you have to stink.  Lead by example and show 'em who's Boss.  Do Work!! 

As for our investigators, John and Tasha are really difficult to tie down.  They are so solid when we get them nailed down and just teach, but when we aren't around it's harder.  But, we will persist.  We will take the Ballard approach and Follow Up. (April 2014 GC)  We also watched a Session of Conference with Du and her kids.  Du was very attentive during it all and I'm guessing she will watch more on her own. 

District News:  Elder Embulu is leaving to Waterloo and Elder Da Bisschop is getting a new comp.  So, we'll be in a Three-some 'til Wednesday.  Don't like Tri's.  They're a bit awkward. 

Man, time is just flying.  One more transfer and I'll be 20, and one more after that is Christmas!  Crazy. 

To answer your question mom.  PMG - A study of Doctrine will improve behavior much much faster than a study of behavior.  True doctrine, understood, changes lives.  It's as simple as that, really.

I hope you guys have a great week.  Enjoy my pictures.  Don't get too jelly ;D

Love you guys,

Elder Glasgow