Lessons and Blessings.

Whats up everyone! Greetings from the land of constant drizzling and stumbling drunk people. I love you all. Thanks for all the lovin! This week has been pretty alright. It seems like 99% of our plans fell through, but we rolled with it and saw some mini miracles that came along with it. It just proves that as long as we are doing whats right...we'll be alright.

We were able to have another meeting with Jagtar, and it was way cool. He showed us all of his pictures from India and his other world travels and his mega huge house that he built for himself back in his home town. This man is crazy wealthy and brilliant. Anyways, we had a good discussion again on religion, and he opened up even more to the Book of Mormon. That book is powerful. Enough said. We challenged him again to read it, and we even invited him to Elaiyna's baptism this tuesday. I hope he shows!

One night, after our plans fell through and we had literally nothing going on, we got a random call from Sis White. She asked us if we could come over as soon as we could, because her daughter Emma (non-member) was haveing crazy anxiety attacks, so that we could give her a priesthood blessing. Our total lack of plans made it perfect for us, so we rushed on over. After getting to know her and her husband Jason and their cute little baby Luna, I was able to give her a priesthood blessing. It was a bit emotional. I am amazed at how many chances I have been getting to exercise my priesthood lately, and its been a huge blessing to the people on the other end, but especially towards me. I know, now more that ever, that priesthood is purely, unselfish service. It is real, and it is powerful.

Other than that, we were able to give a lot of service to Alfred Badger by helping him with his huge garden for a couple hours. It felt really good to get dirty and hack stuff up. We also have had good lessons with our newly active member Paul Mcmanus, our Bulgarian friend Sarov who speaks very little english, and the Johnsons down in Penkridge. Yeah, that was an adventure in itself. Our train home was delayed, so we caught a late one home which was almost overflowing with drunken, Saturday night partiers. "God Squad GOD SQUAD!!!!"....and the rest of it I dont feel comfortable repeating. Party on drunk people. I'm just glad that none of them got violent like the ones over in Wales. Persecution puts hair on our chest.

Haha oh yeah, we had another drunk event. We were walking home late last night and we say this man stumbling down the rode, almost into traffic. So we caught up to him, and escorted him all the way across town to safety. Along the way, we got to know him a bit better, and even set up a future lesson with him! It probably was just the beer talking, but he said he was interested. Hey, we will take what we can get. We will see how that goes!! Just dont get run over Mick.

Well everyone, I love you all. I miss you, but I hope you all have a bodacious Halloween. Rock on Tate Ninja!!!!

Till next time, peace out!

 

Elder Goodman

aka BA

 

p.s. I get to dress up as a missionary for Halloween, beat that!!! best costume ever

A Flippin Tank...Rain and more Rain....

Hello everyone! My heart is crazy full from reading all your words and love....thank you. I love you all, and miss you like crazy. Its raining really hard outside, and the lighting is warm and I'm on the third story balcony, overlooking the entire library...so the vibe is pretty dang cool. I dig it.

Well, its only been a few days since I wrote last, but some good things have happened! The cool before the spiritual:

We went with a member to go hometeaching a man called Peter Davis, and he lives way out in the country side! It was beautiful. We pulled into his lot, only to find that his house is right next to a Landrover graveyard and workshop. Words cant describe it really well, but it was way rad. He rigged up his workshops with traps and tripwires and shotgun shells so that people wouldnt steal from him again. It was really misty outside, which only added to the whole "zombie apocolypse vibe" and guess what I found in his shed........A FLIPPIN TANK! Why does he need a tank? Because its flippin awesome, thats why. And he has a huge white, American pitbull named Benson. I love brother Davis, but throughout thelesson while sitting next to a fire, I kinda felt like I was in the Walking Dead or something. Good times.

Ok so the more spiritual....I got to witness a total change of heart. Paul Mcmanus, a member who was way less active, wanted to get back in touch with the church. He was going through a financial crisis, which made him rethink his life a bit. After talking with the Branch President, he wanted us, the missionaries to come over. So we did! In the depths of humility, he asked us to help him get his life back on track. We then taught him an in depth lesson about the Atonement and power of the scriptures, and the spirit was so strong. We could literally see light coming back into his soul. After the lesson, Paul got up and without even being asked to, he started cramming all of his smoking supplies into a plastic bag. With all of it packed up, he told us to "get rid of it". With pleasure (throwing away cigs and ash trays and pipes is one of my favorite perks of being a missionary). Now Paul is back at church, and with joy he kept telling us that he's back for good, and it feels good.

On top of all that, the rest of the weekend was really good. The primary kids performed a super funny, but really spiritual primary program, i got to talk to the whole primary about serving a mission and getting them stoked about it, and I was also able to give Sister Barney a blessing that i will never forget. Without going into details, this was the first real time that I could literally feel the spirit taking over, and only really serving as the mouthpiece. My testimony is growing stronger everyday, especially with experiences like these. I love this gospel and I love this church. It is true.

Well, thats about it for the past few days, other than walking a lot in the rain! I actually and strangely enjoy it. I love you all, and thank you again for all your love and lovely emails. Till next time, peace out!

 

Elder Goodman

aka BA

 

p.s. Favorite district anti-joke at the moment:

 

Why did Susy fall off the swing?

-Why?

She didnt have any arms.

Knock knock

-Who's there?

Not Susy 

A cool pond

The misty Rain

  The Flippin Tank

Land Rovers

  Cool Teddy Bear

Not a Meth Lab

"Life's a Garden, Dig it."

Hello there you dirty beach bums! It sounds like you all had an adventurous trip. I love you all. I'm super pumped to join you there one day, but right now...I'm having some good times here in England! I am in love with all of the diverse cultures that I get to come across, and its giving me a taste of becoming a world traveler. One thing that I've noticed, back at home....most of us are pretty much only concerned and exposed to events and things happening in America, leaving us in kind of a cultural bubble...but its way different here. There is so much interaction and communication between cultures and ways-of-life and intertwined relationships, and I love it.

A couple days ago we were tracting, in a random and very posh neighborhood, and we knocked on the door of an older, Indian man (Jagtar) who turned out to be a devoted Seek. After a bit of hesitation, he invited us in, but then something amazing happened. We began to open up to each other, and we all instantly clicked! For nearly three hours, we had deep spiritual and theological discussions. We openly shared our beliefs and principles...only to find out that our messages were nearly the same (the main differences only being they followed under their Guru rather than a prophet, and the obvious lack of proper ordinances). It was all centered around loving others, and loving our Father in Heaven. But really, Jagtar had the spirit of truth with him, and I learned so much from him. It really opened up my mind to a greater capacity to think and discern truth. And the best part, he warmly accepted and agreed with the messages and principles in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as well. We shared much with him about the Book of Mormon, we he kindly accepted as a gift, and told us that he will read our "holy book". I cant wait to see him again, and I have a lot of faith because he said that "it was his life's journey to find the truth, wherever it may be", and I know that this church can fill in all those missing gaps and answer the questions which he is searching for.

Oh, another thing that made me incredibly happy.....I got the news that someone that Elder Chong and I found and taught in Wrexham just recently got baptized!!!!!! It took a lot of work, but Shutyee finally accepted the gospel on her own time. I never thought that I would be so happy seeing someone come into the church.

Oh yeah, another less spiritual thing that made me happy. We are working with a less active to bring him back into activity (Rob Moseley, the one with the weapons and metal shop), and he gave me a gift. Its a super rad and vintage, military pocket knife from WWII. I love him to death, and I will remember him forever.

Other than that, things have been pretty normal. It rains nearly everyday, but people walk around as if it wasnt. We explored a neighboring town, Penkridge, and found an incredible less active family there who we are now working with. Elder Hatch and I will be together at least another 6 weeks here in Stafford, which is good because we are getting along quite a lot better. We are working hard, and working a lot with the branch leaders to help out the best that we can. We are slowly building up our teaching pool, and we are soaking in the culture and the sights and all the little qwirks in people that make us laugh. I am loving my mission, and I'm at the point...where I dont want to come home, or not yet at least. Its a huge adventure, and the world has so much to offer. We just have to explore. "Life's a garden...dig it" - Joe Dirt

Kill Bill

Punk Rock Baby

Stoke zone missionaries and zone leaders

WWII knife

Coordination Meeting with the Deans

I miss you all, and I love you, and I hope my prayers for you are being answered that you are being kept safe and feeling the extra love. I will talk to you again on Monday, but for now...peace out!

 

Elder Goodman

aka BA

 

p.s. IWANTTOGOTOTHEBEACH.IMISSTHESUN

Wall of Weapons, teaching and conference.

Hello everyone! Thanks for all the lovin. Not gonna lie, I'm a bit jealous about missing out on the beach camping and rad concert-ness, but luckily I am happily serving. I love the UK, but even though the sun hasnt gotten the memo that it needs to shine, I am in love with all the cultures and diverse accents and the humor and all of the people I have met and built relationships with. There are some truly amazing people here, and the people of England and Wales will always fill a chunk of my heart.

So about my week!:

I have been able to get really close with a lot of the branch members, especially Sister White (super funny and loud and busy older business woman, the only member in her family but has amazing kids), The Deans (internet crazed, hip and young family that make us hot chocolate and feed us fish n' chips and we laugh till our faces fall off, usually Elder Hatch is the victum of the humor, but he brings it on himself) and Brendon Mansfield (recently returned missionary who served in Canada, is very posh and eloquent, at one point I questioned if he was gay, but now I know he is just a normal guy who likes the classier things in life, and has a very british sense of humor. He is one of my best friends in the branch!). There are so many other lovely and crazy and lovely crazy families in the branch, but I think I would run out of time if I described everyone. But anyways, bonding with all of them has helped me to feel more at home here, and there is a greater sense of "family". I miss you all and no family could replace my own (because you are all bodacious), but these Staffordians are the next best thing I have.

We were tracking down and finding less actives one day, and we came across Robert Moseley. Oh my goodness, as soon as I walked into his home....my eyes caught sight of his wall of weapons and my heart and brain nearly exploded, at the same time. Rob was way friendly, and he let me handle each sword and knife and antique little gadgets, and he really opened up to us. He then said "hey, I want to show you something"..and he led us into his big metal working shop, and he had all the tools and lathes and welding supplies that anyone would ever need! I felt like I had entered into my own personal paradise. Words cant describe it....but my face was happy. After browsing everything and hearing about how he made broadswords and restored old motorcycles and letting us shoot his air-rifle, we had a good discussion with him about the church. Basically he was baptizd when he was 13 and doesnt remember squat, so we are going to help him get back onto the right path. I'm pumped! He is such a good man and has a good heart.

We were also able to teach Paul! He was the one who randomly showed up to our chapel and caught the last part of Elder's quorum with us a couple sundays ago, but we were able to teach him this week! We met him at our chapel, gave him a little tour and showed him all the paintings, got to know eachother, then we had a powerful Restoration lesson. It had been awhile since I rehearsed Josephs first vision, but when it was time to say it, it came out natually, and the spirit was strong. Paul is so prepared, and I have a strong feeling that he will be baptized in the near future. The Lord's work is happening, here and now!!

General Conference was incredible. First off, I love watching it with a lot of my fellow missionaries, and then being able to hang out with eachother and eat and have piano jam sesh's between the conference sessions. There is such a strong sense of friendship between all of us, and i hope it stays that way even after the mish. But the actual Conference messages were way good, and they seemed to say everything I needed to hear, both for myself, and for my district. My favorite was probably Elder Uchtdorfs talk from priesthood session about RISING UP! It hit the spot, and I want to give that german a proper nice man hug. And of course, I love our dear Prophet. It was so sad to hear him talk about missing his wife, but it was inspiring to me and helped me with missing Heather. We will all be together again, which is such a simple yet beautiful statement. I know it to be true.

Thank you for everything, and especially the CD that you sent!! It was so good to hear all your voices and all your love, and especially thank you Randi for that incredible song. My eyes may or may not have gotten a bit sweaty. I love you all, and I cant wait to hear from you again! Till next time, enjoy the waves, enjoy the sunshine, enjoy life and peace out.

 

Elder Goodman

aka BA

 

p.s. can you believe it, the transfer is almost over already! I will find out whats happening on Saturday, but I wont be able to email until next thursday. Lame sauce. I'm pretty sure I am staying, but we will see what adventure awaits!