Starting off the New Year:
"So this last week has been a bit of an interesting one. On Thursday night, we had a meal appointment, and the food was really good, up until 2 in the morning when i was sitting over the toilet having it all come back up. Both me and Elder Peavler got food poisoning, and on Friday we both just felt worn out and tired, and the whole day just was dragging on. It was amazing though, because President Lindley called us in the morning and was asking us how we are doing, and we told him we had food poisoning, and he was like well talk to Sister Lindley. She told us to drink coke, and that helped a little bit. Then we went over to this less actives home named John. We told him we have food poisoning and so he made us eat a piece of toast and that really helped for the rest of the day. It was an awful way to spend New Years Eve, and we didn't even make it until 10."
"Knocking on doors New Years Day was really fun. People were so wasted so the nice thing was that they wouldn't slam the door in our face because of their hangovers."
Doncaster:
"Friday we had to walk every where, which is never any fun. While we were walking, we looked over and there were some ducks there. So Elder Peavler had some crackers and so we started feeding the ducks and throwing them some crackers. Then all of a sudden, we hear a horn honking, and some members of our ward pulled up, and were like 'Elders, what are you doing??' We were like uh, feeding the ducks, and then they gave us a ride to where we needed to go, and that helped out so much and made things so much easier and nicer. We had members giving us rides all day to the areas we needed to go to, and it was so nice. The Doncaster ward is so nice at helping people out and they support us so much."
The Fun Side:
"At this store called Next, I bought some taz cuff links for like 7 quid with some Christmas money, and now all I need to do is buy some double cuff link shirts so i can wear them. But the tie selection has been very disappointing right now, and the only good things that they have for us to buy is suits, but I have only bought one really nice suit from a store called Burton. It is amazing how much better suits fit in England and how much nicer they really are."
"We were at this less actives home the other day, and his son was showing me some basketball shoes he really wanted, they were some of the hyper dunk shoes, or trainers as they call shoes over here. I was like no way, if you want some really good basketball shoes, you have to go with the Jordan's, so I told him to go to footlocker and look at some shoes. His dad was like hey, are you going to be paying for those shoes cuz they aren't cheap. So then I told his son that he needs to work and save up his money so he can buy them himself, and then the dad was a lot more happy with me and it was so funny."
The Work:
"The interview with President Lindley was really good. I asked him how I could improve my door approaches, and get people to listen to me more. He told me to come up with like 4 power statements, and then don't have any in mind and wait for the spirit to tell me which door approach to use. I have been trying to do that, and it is amazing how much better people are listening and we have been finding a lot more people who are interested. And then when I was meeting with Sister Lindley she told me this saying, which I really liked. Instead of have a good day, she said 'Make Yourself a Good Day!' I really liked and appreciated that saying."
Weather:
"The weather in England this past week has been a little warmer, which is really nice. So I decided to wear my sketchers, and they have some little holes in them. The one day I decided to wear them, the weather went all crazy and it started to down pour, and my socks got soaking wet, and it didn't help as well that our appointments flogged us, so we were knocking doors, and I was just like wow, this is just my luck, and it was no fun."
Driving in England:
"I got a call from Elder Armstrong, one of the senior couples who works in the office. He told me that President Lindley wants me to start working on getting my license, and so I guess that means I need to learn how to drive a stick. He told me to start working on it as soon as possible, and some things that I need to do, but since I have still been out under a year, my American license is still good, but I just need to learn how to drive stick. So it should be an interesting experience. I am hoping to find a member to teach me, so I don't have to pay money for a teacher to teach me, but we will see what happens."
Classic Brady:
"We had an appointment with this really funny lady named Ester. She spoke like 90 words a minute and she was really hard to understand. We tried to teach her, and things weren't going the best, and it was hard to get a word in as well. But she told told Elder Peavler when he talks she just puts a wall up, and doesn't really listen, but when I spoke, the wall came down, and she would listen a little more, and for some reason she liked to call me the action man, or the faith man, and it was really funny. Afterwards, she was telling us what she thought of us, and all that stuff. She told Elder Peavler that he tries way too hard and that he tries to force it on people and that he needs to smile and have some fun with the missionary work we are doing because we are doing a great work and helping out, and he should be happy. She told me that she loves my smile, and told me she can really tell that I know these things are true when I talk, and that is when she told me I am the action man. Afterwards, Elder Peavler was really pissed off, and I was asking him why and he was all like, 'you idiot, you don't talk about it, you are only making things worse.' Then he started to walk a little quicker and went way ahead of me. So then I started to sing songs to him like We're Not Gonna Take it, but he didn't appreciate it too much. I think I should have sung like Bad Day or something, maybe that would have made him feel a lot better. "
