Grimsby 1

Only in Grimsby...

"My first couple of days in the Grimsby area have been quite interesting. Some kids were throwing water balloons at the bus, and then we walked by, and they thought it would be fun to start throwing water balloons at us. They didn't explode on us, they would just hit us, and then bounce off and break. I really wanted to yell out, 'No wonder you live in England and play football, because you throw like a little woosey!'. Elder Gentry got into an argument with a little kid, it was funny, but then they went and got more water balloons to throw at us. I only got hit by one, but Elder Gentry was pretty soaked."

"When we were out walking to an appointment, I stopped this old lady and I asked how she was doing. She said I shouldn't be doing this, and I asked doing what? I am just trying to find out how you are doing. She said sharing your beliefs with me. I responded with the did I say anything about religion, I was just wondering if you were having a good day. She ignored me, and just walked off. So about 5 minutes later, we were walking down the road, and a cop comes by, and pulls over and calls us over to talk to him. He said some lady told us we had been heckling her, and all this other stuff. I told him I asked her how she was doing and he said that is fine if I were to do that to him, but she took it offensively."

"Then, one night we were walking to a flat, and some girl thought it would be fun to spray us with a super soaker. We asked both kids why they were doing that, and they said it was because for what we do. We said that is really lame, and we haven't even done anything to offend you."

"...Other than that, the people in Grimsby are really great. We have meal appointments like almost every day, and they feed us really good food. Somehow though, I have still managed to lose like 10 pounds so far, and I feel like I have been eating so much. Fish and chips in Grimsby are really good, and they are kind of cheap, and they are so good. I am addicted to them."

Elder Gentry:

"Elder Gentry is really funny, and we are having a lot of fun. His personality is kind of like mine, and he is a lot of fun to be with. He is from Richfield, Utah. We have been working our butts off, and it has been really good to work with him. He is so knowledgeable about the gospel, and he understands things so well, and we are finding so many people to teach."

"We went shopping on P-Day and bought companion ties and some sick sunglasses that we are going to wear. I will send pictures when I take some of us in our sunglasses and ties."

Investigators:

"While we were out knocking, it was my turn to knock. I felt like my door approach was awful, but this guy named Matthew Cartwright ended up letting us in, and I was very surprised. We taught him a little bit, and then went and saw him again. He had some really good questions, and we brought him to church on Sunday and he really enjoyed it. He is really humble, and he is very understanding, and loves to hear the messages we share. We took him to a baptism on Saturday night in Scunthorpe, which is like 40 minutes away, and out of our area. He really enjoyed it and said he had good feelings when he was there. He has also had answers to his prayers. He is doing really well and he is so much fun to teach. Right now, on the 31st of July we have him scheduled for baptism."

"Another one of our investigators is named Ben Smith. He is doing well right now, and yesterday at church he enjoyed it so much. He reminds me so much of John Carson, the old man from my last area who just shouts out random questions. Ben, like John, likes to participate in church, and sometimes asks some weird questions, and gives some weird answers, but it is really good though. He is progressing nicely towards his baptismal date of the 31st of July."

Missionary Grandma:

"The missionary grandma in the area is pretty legit, and her name is Jene. She got mad at us because we didn't have a meal appointment on Sunday, and she said we could have called and she would have made us some stuff. So she made us promise whenever we don't have a meal to go over to her house. She also gives us all these sweets, and she takes good care of the missionaries. She is a really sweet old, old lady."

"I think that I am being blessed with missionaries that know how to have so much fun, and also accomplish a lot in missionary work. Thanks to all for the letters. I enjoyed reading them, and it was nice to hear from them."

Cheerio Leeds

Brady went through a lot of changes this last week. He got a new Mission President, new companion, and new area. He is now serving in Grimsby. However, we are going to recap his last week in Leeds.

Baptisms:

"The baptisms ended up going really well. John Carson asked me to baptize him, and I was really nervous on Saturday. I had to do it twice because the first time, one of the witnesses said his foot popped up. All the other people said it was fine, and that he did go all the way under. I guess its better to be safe, and if you are not sure to just do it again. I was so nervous that I couldn't even tell you what the people talked about it because I was just thinking about what in the world I was going to be doing. I was really nervous because he is in his 60's, and they didn't fill the baptismal font very full. I just told him to bend his knees, and that it will make everything go a lot smoother. Elder Remington baptized Giuseppe, and it was really good."

Transfers:

"I have found out that the Leeds 1 University area will be shutting down, since barely any students will be in town. This means that I am getting transferred to the Grimsby 1 area in a place called Hull. My new companion is going to be Elder Gentry. Last Monday-Wednesday we had to change our flats (homes in England terms). We spent 10 hours at our old flat on Wednesday cleaning it out, and it really sucked. I was so certain that I would staying that I decided to unpack all of my stuff, while Elder Davis, Remington, and Valdiva, decided to live out of their packs. I was kind of rubbing it in, and I feel really humbled now. I guess maybe I shouldn't have dished out so much crap."

P-Day:

"On Wednesday we went up to harrogate military base for p-day. We started off by bowling, and I bowled a 150. I am still pretty good at bowling I guess. We then went and played basketball for like 2 hours. I am already starting to play so bad, and I have only been our for a month and a half. I couldn't believe how bad I was, but luckily I was still able to grab the rim, and I still can dunk it."

Brady & Elder Remington with a chav named Kevin. His sister Tracy put the extensions in their hair and made them take a picture.

Brady & Elder Douglass way back in the MTC on their church history tour.