Happy Holidays from England

Standards:
"Sunday was pretty intense. Up to Sunday, we pretty much had standards achieved. The only thing we needed was for our investigators to show to church. Well, we were calling them and like none of them were answering or showing up. Then this lady in our ward shows up and her sister came, who has been taught quite a bit in the past, and so we now had one at church and we needed two more. Then, Andy said he got a little sick because of the baptismal font being so cold, so he wasn't going to come, but we told him he needed to come so he could get confirmed a member. So we went with a member to pick Andy up and he has a friend with him named John, who we have taught a bit too. So now we had two people there, and we only needed one more! It was so intense. So we are sitting in Sacrament meeting and this 15 year old kid named Connor walks by. We went out to the hall and talked to him and we brought him into church, so we had 3, and we achieved standards! We were so thankful that God blessed us to reach this goal."


Baptism:
"Back in November, we found this really good guy named Andy. He is huge! He used to be a boxer and I'm pretty sure he would be a heavy weight boxer. We have been working with him and scheduled him for the 10th of December for baptism. He was so excited for that day because it was his brothers birthday, who has passed away. Andy had his baptism and it was really good. We got this phone call from Bishop Skeleton at like 10 AM on Saturday and he said he couldn't get the font to fill up and didn't know what was going on with it. So we picked up Andy and headed down to the church, and by the time we got there, the Bishop gave us thumbs up saying he got it to work. But then there was another problem. There was no hot water. The baptismal font was freezing cold. Elder McCoy baptized Andy, which I think is funny Andy asked Elder McCoy to baptize him because Elder McCoy weighs like 150 pounds and Any weighs like 300 pounds! Elder McCoy was a little nervous about it but luckily he got him under the first time. It was really good and a really good service. I was able to do the confirmation for Andy. The kid holding the microphone kept on hitting my mouth with it, but everyone said I gave Andy a good blessing. I think it is so funny when people say that because it isn't like it was my words, and it wasn't what I was saying, but I just say thank you. Andy's friend was thanking us for teaching Andy and was telling us how it has changed him and how happy it has made Andy. It was so good to hear that and it put a huge smile on my face."


Elder McCoy:
"Elder McCoy is from Smithfield, Utah. I really enjoy serving with him. He is kinda shy, but I just have so much fun with him. We have been working so hard we just come back feeling exhausted, but we are doing really well and things are going pretty good. This past week Elder McCoy had his driving lessons. It was pretty funny because he has never driven a stick before. And don't worry, being the good companion that I am, I took some videos of him driving, and stopping, and starting. Whenever I would take one though, he would do just fine, and when I stopped is when he would stall the car and all that other stuff. It was really fun and we had a good laugh."

"Merry Christmas to all!"

Working hard in Hull

Exchanges:
"I got to go on an exchange with a missionary who has only been out like 3 weeks. It was funny because he still gets really nervous and I was trying to get him to be excited and talk louder, but I didn't have much success. We were laughing so hard though, and it was pretty legit. He solved the rubix cube in 10 seconds! I took a video to prove it and it was so ridiculous I couldn't believe it."

Work:
"So this past week has been pretty.........................................EPIC. We has such a good week and blew our area up. Sunday night last week, we didn't know what to do and we had nothing planned, and so we decided to say a prayer to know what to do. So Elder Hubbard was like I know exactly where we need to be, and so we went to this area called Stoneferry and knocked the street, and we got a bunch of return appointments, and so this last week was so epic, it was great!! We ended up finding 11 new investigators, and it was so good I think as week like 8 or 9 of them came from the area of Stoneferry on one street. Some of the lesson we were having as well were so amazing and the spirit was so strong. It is weird though because when I first came out like, I would have just gone in and taught the first lesson, and tried to make sure they understood our message, but the longer I have been out the more I have learned that that technique doesn't really work. So we have really worked on answering questions and finding out more what they need. It has made the lessons so powerful and we have been able to even help the people we are teaching recognize that they are feeling the spirit, and this is the way it will come. We have been able to make them see how the gospel can apply to their life and how it will help out the situations that they are in."

Cheerio Newton Aycliffe, Hello Hull

Shoes:
"My shoes did have holes in them, but I patched them up pretty good. This area used to have bikes so there was a bunch of rubber to repair holes and Etta bought me like 2 things of super glue to I super glued those bad boys down, and I think it will protect my feet from getting wet. And it does look pretty good. I don't want to waste my money on shoes, I can still wear them and they work just fine. I'm just trying to make this pair last as long as possible and then I have my winter boots that I can start wearing soon."


Testimony Meeting:
"On fast and testimony meeting I bore my testimony about how a testimony is so simple, but is something that brings happiness to millions of people around the world. I then went on to talk about how I hope that my testimony will prick the hearts of the people, Robert D. Hales talks about the in Special Witnesses Christ, so I talked about that. I hope my testimony will touch people and make them listen more. Then after I sat down, a member of the bishopric got up and he was like, I was going to start of my testimony by saying how much I love my wife, but I am actually going to start off by saying how much I love Elder Moore. It was so great!"


Leaving Newton Aycliffe:
"I am so sad to say, but I am on way. I won't be back for many a day, my heart is down, my head is spinning around, I have to leave the Newton Aycliffe Town. I was seriously so sad when I found out that I was leaving. It's going to be harder to leave this area than leaving home. I am going to miss this area and ward because it has been so much fun. I have gotten so close to so many of the members here, it is crazy. I can't express how grateful I am for the time that I have been able to serve in Newton Aycliffe."


Hull:
"I am going back to the same zone as Grimsby! So hopefully I will see some people there! Also, Elder Heidenberg will be in my same zone again so I'm super excited about that. My new companion is Elder Hubbard and he was actually trained by Elder Reeves, so it should be good. I don't know if any of you have ever read or heard of the book Becoming the Bold Missionary, but the guy who wrote that book actually served in Hull so I thought that was pretty legit and pretty exciting."
"I really do love Hull. The Bishop and the rest of the ward council are so great, they are all so funny."
"It's only been my first week here and I already have to cook. It went alright, I made some rice, and it was suppose to be with chicken but the chicken smelt so bad, so we used some beef instead. It was funny our ward mission leader was talking the mick out of me, and telling me how bad the rice looked and how it looked like potatoes. I seriously felt like I was on Hell's Kitchen and he was Gordon Ramsey, and I was like the new chef trying my hardest, and it wasn't going good. But in the end, both him and Elder Hubbard said it was alright, but I will definitely improve and it make it a lot better the next time I cook for him."

Newton Aycliffe, still there!

Baptism:

"We had Angela's baptism, and it went so well. She was so excited and we had a member do both the baptism and the confirmation. She looked so happy and we had a good turn out from the ward members as well. It was really good to see their support. It was the first baptism in Newton Aycliffe this year, and so we were really excited about that."

Investigators:

"We have this investigator who would never let us pray with her. So we left, and she was out smoking a fag, and she said she was praying asking God for a sign of what is true. So she finished her fag, and went inside and her tele was frozen on this picture of a sign with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on it, and it also said Visitors Welcome, and there were people all around it. Then she hurried and changed the channel and then flipped it back, and it was still frozen on it. She said it freaked her out! It was so great though, and we were laughing. Then when we left her after the next appointment, she was like, I am not turning on the tele now, and we just had a good laugh."

Weather:

"I think it is starting to turn into autumn in England. There has been a very cool chill in the wind lately. We have hot days every once in awhile , but lately it has been raining like crazy. We got caught out in it the other day, and the rain was so bad that it was going through my umbrella and we got soaking wet."

Newton Aycliffe

Transfers:
"It was transfer week and I am staying in Newton Aycliffe and Elder Brown is leaving. I have a new companion Elder Heidenberg. He is from Stockholm, Sweden, and he speaks really good English and I was surprised. He has been about for about 5 months and he says my Swedish sucks. We have been working really hard and I am feeling it today, I am really tired and I could just sleep all day, but that wouldn't be any fun. Then as well, we get along really well, and we just joke around. Our motto for the transfer is lets crank it, and things are going all right. We were able to find some new investigators and we scheduled them for baptism. It seemed to be a good appointment but we will see what will come from it. "


Forbidden Corner:
"We went to the Forbidden Corner for p-day. It is like a maze thing and you have to find your way around. It is hard to explain a lot, but I took lots of pictures. So we went through like this castle thing, and there was this really funny song about cats and rats and how that cat is near, and then we kind of scared some little kids as well, I felt kind of bad, but it was funny. We would like scream sometimes because it was kind of scary, and then we would hear these little kids cry, and it was like oh whoops."


Investigators:
"We have been teaching a family, the Coxalls, and we have been having super powerful and spiritual lessons. They have been meeting with the missionaries for like 4 years, and so we decided to go in there and just get to the concerns and make it effective with them as well. We watched Elder Bednar's talk with them the other day, and it was so amazing. They were able to realize how their answer is going to come and how it might not be an instant thing. We then committed them to read Alma 32. Then we went back the next night, and had another powerful lesson. We talked with them about Alma 32, and we're able to explain some of the things they were confused about, and then we talked a little bit about repentance because they were wondering how they could know if their sins were forgiven. Then we talked a lot about prayer in everything. While we were teaching them, he was telling us how while we were talking about prayer, he was thinking alright show me something in this Book that I need to hear. So then he opened the scriptures to Moroni 10:21-23 and he said it was very powerful to him and it was exactly what he needed. It was so amazing and great. I love going over there because all of them ask really good questions and the spirit is always so strong."


Thai Boxing:
"Today for p-day we went and did some Thai Boxing with our ward mission leader. I am so out of shape and such a wuss. I have realized though that I could never be a Thai boxer because I smile too much and I always laugh. I would go to punch the pads, and would just laugh. I don't know why! It was really good though and it felt like it was a pretty good work out, but it made me so exhausted."

So long Doncaster, Hello Newton Aycliffe

Leaving Doncaster:
"The time in Doncaster has been great, but it is now coming to an end. I think the thing I will miss most about Doncaster is definitely the people in the Doncaster ward. There are so many fun and amazing people inside the Doncaster ward. To be honest, I don't really want to go but I guess that is why I need to go."


Newton Aycliffe:
"I will be going to Newton Aycliffe and I will be serving with Elder Brown from the home stake, so that will be really weird serving with someone that is in the stake back in Utah. Well I am really excited about being in Newton Aycliffe and we are seeing so much success, it is so great. I think it is a really great area and it should be seeing more success than it has been in the past. I am so excited to be here and I am excited to see this area start exploding."


The Royal Wedding:
"The Royal Wedding has officially come and gone, and all the newspapers have been covered with photographs from the wedding. Everyone said that it was great and that Kate looked gorgeous and that they really liked her dress. Everyone in England really likes Kate. We couldn't knock, so we helped an investigator paint. Then as well we do this Family Home Evening with a bunch of old ladies. Etta, the house we do it at, had a magazine with pictures from the whole royal wedding in it, and she said that we could look at it, so she was telling me more about it. So many people watched it from like 8 in the morning until like 11 at night, and everyone seemed more excited than they let on. But when looking at the magazine, you should have seen how long her flippin dress was, and you should have seen some of the stupid hats that the girls had on. I was laughing so hard because it looked so funny!"


Skype and the phone call:
"It was talking to you yesterday! Skype was really fun, it was kind of weird seeing the house again, and I cannot believe the jeep! Then as well I can't believe how flippin big Peyton is now, it is so crazy and he doesn't even look like the little boy that was there when I first left. I am glad that you think the first year has gone by quick and I can't believe how fast it goes by. I don't know how people can say the second year goes by quicker because my first year has flown by, and I am amazed at the whole thing."

England Leeds Mission.. all in pictures..

Finally! Brady sent home his memory card and we have been looking at pictures and watching the videos.. In some of the videos, he has a little accent. It's so funny! We are glad to see that Brady is having so much fun and working so hard. We are glad to see Brady is still Brady! Enjoy the last (almost) year in pictures!