The. Very. Last. Letter.

Dear loved ones,






I will see you soon.

K bye and stuff






Love,
Elder Goodman




To mom:

Wow....I am at such peace with everything. Words are inadequate to
describe how I feel though.
Just know, I love you
and I can't wait to see you soon!

Love,
BA


To Dad:

Hey dad, I love you! Once again, thanks for the advice. Haha the
members here have really taken it to heart to leave me with all the
advice they could dish out, and these are my top 3 favorite=

Don't rush it.....don't rush it.


You don't know what you are going to do? Why should you know what
you're going to do?!?! You will never know till it happens, but be
ready for anything. Just study what you love, and you can't go wrong.


Be good....and have lots of babies

Not much to say.... ready to come home.

Second to last email, last full week in the mission, 10 days till reunion, and a lifetime of good times ahead. 

Life is good!

I really don't have much to say, other than I am beyond excited to see all your faces once again, and...I'm absolutely shattered haha. We had to wake up extra early to help one of the ward families empty and move their entire house because they were shortly being evicted. Rough times, but it was amazing to see everyone flock together and help at such short notice. So, I am going to cut the jibber jabber short, and talk to each of you individually instead. Sound good? Cool beans.

I love you all!

See ya soon

Peace

Elder BA

p.s. I was majorly impressed by your throw in yo face pictures. They made me laugh out loud in the quiet library like an idiot

Hey dad!

Responses:

Work is slow but good. I'm just soaking in all the moments right now, mostly working with past investigators and less actives. And then trying to do as much service as I can. This week I have my final temple trip, with all of the others in my returning home group. It should be a pretty special session with all 26 of us.

I am so excited for life. My ideas and career paths and lifestyle day dreams change almost daily, but I like it that way. I hope I get to live through multiple paths and experience more...you know, keep things fresh. I am actually really excited to start studying at university again. Oh yeah, and learning to surf. 

After helping out the evicted family this morning, it has made me extra determined to get a solid education and financial plan. My plan is to become self-reliant as soon as possible, having all debts paid off and being able to grow my own food n' such in an area with great outdoors...with a focus on very simple lifestyle. Easier said than done, but that's my dream.

Next Tuesday I have my final interview with President Ulrich, then on Wednesday will be my last transfer meeting. Following that I will go to the mission home for a final fireside, then we will all go spend the night in the AP's flat. Then....in the morning i'm off to London!!! 3 hour layover, then direct flight to Phoenix. Then boom....AZ lovin. 

Elder Moote and I are super tight. It's been a good and chill transfer. I have loved the experience of helping him fine tune and expand his English. 

And yeah, I would love to explore the rest of Europe. Hawaii earned it's way to the top of my travel list, but I hope I get to back pack/longboard across Europe at one point in my life. Within Europe, my top three places I want to explore are Sweden, Prague and Florence.

Ta for now,

your son,

BA

One Door Closing, Another Door Opening....

With this door closing in England, and a new one opening in Hawaii...all I can think is...

Life is awesome. Enough said.

I love you all, and all that you do. 

Thank you mum for your young energy.

Thank you dad for your pragmatic wisdom.

Thank you Randi for your free-spirited example.

Thank you Tanner for your increasing character.

Thank you Tallin for your continual questions.

Thank you Tate for your pure spirit. 

Thank you Heather for your love and friendship.

And thank you to everyone else for your support!!! 

This mission has become the cornerstone that I want to build the rest of my life on. This week, I was able to hear so much real-life advice and profound wisdom from the good members here, and for many many reasons, I know that I am suppose to be here for my last area in England. I love the people here, and all the connections that have been made.

2 weeks left....it blows my mind...but I am so excited and inspired and energized to start the new chapter in my life!

I don't know much else to say...other than...check out our "throw in yo face!!!!!!!!" pictures!!! and remember....keep it fresh

​

I love you all.

See you in 2!!!!

Peace

Elder BA

p.s. I have a challenge for anyone who wishes to accept. 

The challenge is to send me your best "throw in yo face picture!" by next week. 

The goal is to make yourself look as unattractive as possible with no shame.

I will judge the winner.

Game on!

​
**In his letter to Mike:

There are definitely people here in this area that I needed to meet, and it's humbling to see that everything I have learned in my mission was what they needed. God's timetable is brilliant. 

Chelsey, the blond girl on the right in the picture I sent, was totally inactive...now she is active and just received a calling and is strong

David Walshe, an intellectual man and brilliant bible scholar who knows everything about Mormon doctrines and anti-mormon-material, and shook many missionaries testimonies.....was truly overcome with the spirit as him and I had an hour long discussion and he dropped all his conflicts. It was a powerful moment.

And there are so many others that I have come to love, and have helped me out. 

I will miss this mission for sure.​

Emotional goodbyes.

This is a bit surreal right now, and I'm feeling a perfect balance of excitement, anxiety, happiness and peace. Crazy to think I will be home in just about 3 more weeks...

This week kinda shook me in a way I wasn't expecting. When I first got into this area, I was so stoked to go home. My thoughts were back in sunny AZ, definitely not snowy England. Last night though, I went to my final missionary fireside in Manchester, and pure emotion gut-punched me. At the fireside, I saw so many of my true friends that I met over my entire mission. James "Donkey Kong" Williams from Wrexham, the Hills from Stafford, Gary and Ronny from Southport, the crew from Crosby, and the Bluncks, Siti, Yuki, the rest of the YSA gang from Preston, the Rossendale punks and all of my dear missionary friends and families that I met along the way. It was like...I could see my two years of work in front of me, and it was incredibly humbling to see how many lives I was able to be a part of. My eyes were on the verge of being sweaty as I realized how much I truly love and will miss these people and this land. 

Ok, enough being sentimental. Here are the rest of the week's deets:

Celebrated hard on my birthday. Treated myself and bought a new suit, and had a lovely mini party at Irish Palmer's house. Then, we had a combined YM/YW nerf war at the chapel. Forts were made. Rivalries were made. Fun was made. Injuries were made. I was shot dead in the eye, and lost my vision for the rest of the night. Freaked me out, but then God healed me in the morning. Cool. We then had an adventure in Bolton, stayed at Elder Candland's flat, we reminisced about Preston, made our way to Chorley in the morning for a zone conference and interviews, good times. Then on the way home, I was stuck on a bus for 3 hours, slowly plowing our way through the snow. I now hate buses and never want to be on one ever again. When I got home, I re-pinched the nerve in my neck. My body needs some serious recovery, aka swimming in the ocean. We were also able to see a little miracles, through testifying and destroying the anti-mormon material that was corrupting our solid investigator Doreen, and also giving a much needed blessing to one of the members. I will miss having sacred events happen so frequently. 

But with all that said, I miss you all more and I can't wait to see you so soon. 

I love you all, and I am craving jam sessions, mexican food, chilling with the family, and many good times to come. 

3 more weeks.

Till then...

PEACE OUT!!!

Elder BA

One month to go......

Alright...I think my heart is about to explode from all the birthday lovin' and awesomeness!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, I love you all. I want to reply to all of you individually, nice n' juicy, so here are some quick pics to describe my week:

Queen Elsa Farted and blew snow all over the town.

​

My week pretty much consisted of walking in the snow all day (quite epically), getting to know members, having an adventure up in Burnley and having tea with a non-member family from Kiribati, hiking up a mountain, getting lost, teaching an old, spunky lady named Doreen who is close to baptism, learning more knife fighting from Elder Moote, helping a member move house all Saturday, and soaking in the fact that I only have one more month on this adventure.

Words can't describe how grateful I am for this experience and all of you.

Hopefully I will be able to show you instead.

But until then, keep up the steeze, 

and peace out!

Elder BA

​

Rossendale and Snow.

Heyo everyone! Greetings from the land of Rossendale Valley. I will just go straight to the deets!

Rossendale Valley=

Rural farm town, nestled in a beautiful valley.

Very poor and deprived, but well kept.

People speak a very "common" (equivalent of our "hick") accent. 

The ward is surprisingly very strong, and they love missionaries,

80-90 strong, with a lot of young families.

Covered in snow.

​

Companion=

Elder Moote

From the Pacific island of Kiribati (pronounced "keird-a-biss")

Very chill, very islander

recent convert of 1 year

gangster past, scars to prove it

loves teaching me knife fighting and nunchackus

loves Bob Marley

has a rough time speaking and understanding English, but we have learned to communicate through facial impressions and bird signals

never seen snow before, until now

​

Our week has been pretty chill, just exploring and getting to know the area and members and getting lost several times and relaxing to Marley at night. The ward warmly welcomed us, and it feels so good to be back in a ward that befriends missionaries again. We have 6 tea appointments this week! This sets the record for my entire mission. 

They have a well established Book of Mormon class and games night, and the YSA are awesome. Not too many, but good characters. Oh yeah, Bishop Masser is my favorite so far. Young, beautiful family of 5 young kids, friendly, athletic, amazing dad, and is already becoming one of the examples that I want to follow. 

This is a really good area, and with the added bonus of snowing for the past few days straight, it's an awesome adventure to end off on. My companion and the vibe of the ward is making it a perfect transition for me.

I am happy and well, and I am so stoked to see you all in about 5 weeks!

I love you all, and may your adventures continue

Peace!

Elder BA

​

p.s. my investigator Matt from Preston is getting baptized this week! happy flappy

LE suit Burning.

Chillin with Elder Moote

These were used for real.

Snowy view from the flat.

The chapel.

The last Transfer!!!!

Ladies and gentlemen....the last transfer has come. The Majestic Preston Squadron has been dissolved, and I have been called to die in the land of Rossendale Valley. I shall be whitewashing it with Elder Moote from the Pacific island of Kiribati, and I am stoked for this last adventure!!! The energy is high, and I am loving life. 6 more weeks of English awesomeness.

This week has been a mixture of happy adventures and sad goodbyes, as I have really grown to love the people here. The saddest one, was to say goodbye to my dear friend Saroosh, who gave us a departing arabic feast. (schofield, Mo "stay fresh", Saroosh, BA)

For the adventure side, Schofield and I found the three major, mormon historical sites in this area. Here is me, assassin creeding over the River Ribble. We also found President Hinckley's first flat, and also Heber C. Kimbals first flat where he was attacked by legions fo demons.

​

I love you all, and I am beyond excited to see you in 6 short weeks. This has been the greatest adventure of my life so far, and I have grown and learned and loved more than I ever thought I could. I will keep you updated on the deets when I get into my new area, but until then, peace out, stay fresh, and...k bye and stuff.

Elder BA

Schofield, BA, Mongie and Frenchie

 Andrei 3000

 Ottenhoffs

 Yuki and Mona

 Sanj Cat, newest addition to the flat.

 Hinkleys Flat

 Midieval battle happening right over there.

​

​

New Years in Preston.

Heyo family. I just realized...I am so tired of writing missionary emails. I love you all, but I can't wait till I can just say it to your face. Not too much longer now!

Ok, because of my lack of energy today, here are the quick deets:

At my district meeting, we were playing a game, and as I majestically lunged for the ball....it happened. My suit trousers ripped and bursted open...from zipper to belt. Everyone just stopped, had a moment of silence, then all 14 of us were crying laughing, some of us literally crying. I had to tie my jacket around my waist for the rest of the meeting, all the way on the bus and journey home. I had that English suit for nearly my whole mission. It was sad to say goodbye, but now...it shall be burned.

New years eve= massive volleyball tournament and food with most of the missionaries in the zone. Good times.

New years= the 6 of us in Preston chilled at our Bishop's house with his young family and watched movies and had a nerf war. Good times.

Spiritual experience= We knocked on a woman's door named Ellen Smith. She was in tears and immediately showed us her journal. That morning she wrote "Please God, send someone or something to help me". We showed up, taught her, gave her a blessing of physical and spiritual healing...and it was powerful. After the blessing that I pronounced on her, she just sat there, completely dazed, and eventually asked "is it normal to feel this really warm feeling?". It was one of the most reverent experiences I have ever had on my mission, and I was so thankful to be where God wanted me to be.

Other than that, it has been pretty standard missionary life. All our YSA friends are back from their holidays, and now we have actual members and friends who want to work with us. This Saturday we will get our transfer calls, and I will learn of my fate for my last transfer. Anything can happen, so I am excited to see what adventure awaits me.

I love you all, and I will see you shortly!

Peace out

Elder BA

Post Christmas Hangover and New Investigators

Heyo everyone, long time no talk. It was so good to see everyone's bodacious face once again! Even though Tate's teeth are finally growing in and Tallin has metal on his mouth bones and Randi looks like a sunbleached mexican and Tanner has hair on his...face.....everyone pretty much looks the same and I feel I haven't missed too much, and I am stoked to get back into the family flow again. I miss you all.

This week ended off brilliantly. Here are the quick post-christmas deets:

We are making major progress with our two friends John Raven and Serafim. John even picked up Serafim for church on Sunday! It was a double dip as far as investigators go. They are such good friends with us now, and I hope that I can see them baptized before I go. They are so close.

Ok, for more of the food-venture= One night, our friends Saroosh and Mo spontaneously called us and told us to meet them. So we did...and they took us to the newly opened Greek/Mediterranean restaurant in town. It was...incredible. Mum, this is for you. Gourmet lemonade, tomato based chicken liver and greek salad and pita starters, followed by platters of lamb shoulder, greek potatoes, diced herb beef, swordfish skewers, and bowls of char-grilled vegetables, ending off with the always delicious sticky toffee pudding and lemon glaze sponge cake and fresh icecream. By far, one of the best meals I have ever had on my mission, and the price tag was almost as impressive as our friends' generosity.

On a more spiritual note, we had a little miracle happen. We got a referral from mormon.org, named Matthew, so we went over and delivered a Book of Mormon. That was about the extent of the visit, but the next day at church...he totally showed up on his own! He is 19, and is genuinely and independently looking for the truth. His long bus ride to the chapel was proof of that. He said that this was his favorite church he has ever been too, and even invited himself next Sunday! Heavenly Father is definitely looking over the people in this area, and I can see Matthew going far.

Other than that...life has just been good. Even though it's been freezing and covered in ice, we are continuing to work and to have adventures. I want to leave England with no regrets.

I love you all, stay classy, and I will see you at the airport soon. Till then,

peace

Elder BA

Missionary Style Christmas

Hello Hello Hello! Merry Christmas from across the sea. 

Life is sweet, and I love all you hooligans.

This week has been pretty majestic, and the Christmas vibes in the flat are getting pumped! We had a deep Jesus the Christ group study this morning, next to our fireplace and our beautiful Christmas branch, then cleaned the flat, while listening to our traditional and epic "Spirit of the Glen" bagpipes cd.....quite majestically. It may sound lame, but...we are having good times here. I will definitely miss the missionary style Christmas though. Instead of hanging out at a large member

family's home this year, we have decided to spend it with some of the single members of the ward. So on Christmas, I will be at our big ol' Romanian friend, Andrei's flat for when we Skype. His flat is pretty meager, and we are not too sure about the internet connection, but we are praying that it will work out. I will Skype around 3 (my time), but if the connection is rubbish, then we will go to another family's house later that night for backup. So we will see what happens, and I will email you the deets when the time comes. I am so excited to see your faces though. I miss you all.

Other things that happened this week:

*We went to the Temple as a mission again. Again, a very unique experience.

*We had a baptism for Elder Candland and Mongie's Chinese investigator, Guowei! (it sounds exactly like Nacho " Go away...read some books!") It was a very intimate but powerful baptism, and we all know he is going to be a powerful leader in China. He returned to China yesterday, but before he left, he fed the four of us a traditional Chinese meal. It instantly brought back flashbacks of Wrexham, and made me remember how much I love the humble, Chinese people.

*For a ward activity, we had "A Night in Bethlehem". It was actually...super legit. They transformed the chapel into the old Jerusalem setting, and we all wore "traditional" Jewish style clothing, and sat on the floor instead of chairs, and had an amazing Nativity program. It was..a pretty sacred night. Even though people were obviously in costumes, and the props weren't professional...it had a very special feel to it all, and the true spirit of Christmas was very strong. It will definitely be a time I will never forget.

Other than that, Elder Schofield and I have been having some good adventures (we got lost on a different route to the chapel, and ended up walking around in a circle in a forest at night for an hour), and we have been teaching our friends John and Serafim, and they are incredibly progressing.

Thank you mum for the food, and thank you everyone for your love and support and humor. You are the best family I could ask for. Too true. I love you all, and until I see your faces on Thursday, peace out and

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Elder BA

Guowei the man!!!!

 Night in Bethlehem. You have to trust me...everyone else's costume was actually legit. We had to improvise... and cut up a duvet cover. More Nephite than Jewish if you ask me

Christmas season.

Hey everyone, what's happenin. This week was a very interesting week, but Christmas is in the air and the times are good. Here are the deets:
 

The work is getting extremely dead, other than our two solid friends John Raven and Mr. Portuguese Seraphim. They are really our only investigators right now, and everyone else on the streets, and most of the members are all shutting down into holiday mode= don't talk to me. So...we have resorted to having adventures and hanging out with the

remaining YSA here. They are all awesome and super chill. Tonight for FHE, we are having a mega white elephant shindig, so that should be pretty cool. 

As a squad, we have also been making the best out of life by starting a tradition of having a fire every night. Behind our flat is a sketchy little alley way, and it's perfect for a concealed fire. I am glad that I have been saving all my missionary planners, because they are the best fire starters we got. Having a fire has helped bring out that adventure spirit again, and is pumping me up to have some majestic adventures in just a couple short months.

We also got to have another lecture presentation at Bro. Wellingtons house...this time the topic was Temple Symbolism. Dad....you would have loved it. It was incredible. Obviously I cannot share most of it, but my testimony about the eternal nature of temple ordinances (from Adam...to Christ in the middle ages....to the restoration and modern day ceremonies) has strengthened tremendously. With sources from common canon, obscure records and historical artifacts....the true temple ceremony and symbols and clothing has always been the same. The Church is true, enough said, amen.

Other than that, not too much is going on other than our mission temple trip on Wednesday, which I am stoked to go and apply the new focuses and insights I have learned. And I am beyond excited to finally go to the Gilbert temple soon. Not too long left!

I love you all, and I hope you are having a rad Christmas season. Stay fresh, make sure Brien keeps his mustache free of debris. 

Peace

Elder Goodman

p.s. oh yeah, we have a new flat pet....we named him Sanj. He is majestic

Oh Christmas tree.

Hey everyone! Greetings from the land of hail. This has been a crazy week of weather, and let's just say this bones weather is making me miss Arizona even more. This week seemed to blow right by in a blur,
and I don't have too much to write about (even though all the inside jokes and stories would fill up too many pages).

Ok, here are the basic need-to-know deets:

With Christmas around the corner...it was proper that our flat needed a christmas tree. So, Schofield and I went to Avenham Park right across from our flat and got one (to be more specific, I kicked it
down and we dragged it to our flat). Hopefully the picture shows the true character of our Christmas branch. With Sanj as the star, our flat has never been more majestic.

We have a new investigator named John Raven. He has 15 guitars. We had a jam session. He has been to Utah. He loves mormons. He has a yacht.
He is going to be baptized soon. He is awesome. Enough said. Amen.

Other than that, this week was been full of walking in the dark (it's now getting dark at flippin 4:30), enduring the hail, and in the middle of all that, trying to convince people on the streets that Jesus Christ, the family or even Christmas is important. Not gonna
lie, the work has been extremely rough. Everyone either bashes, is Muslim, or simply doesn't care. However, Mormon's powerful words in
Moroni 9:6 is contantly ringing in our ears, and we are continuing to do our part.

I love you all, and I hope everyone is as happy and well as I am. I have heard it time and time again, but I have finally received a strong testimony for myself= we are happiest most when we are serving
others. That is our Preston Sqaudron's focus this Christmas season, and we have never been happier. Try it out for yourself.

I am stoked to see all your faces in a couple weeks, but until then...peace out!

Elder BA

So Cold!

Power stance.

Make sure you zoom in on all the details. You can't get more majestic.

The mighty Sanj.

The Preston Squadron. Party of 6. 

Thanksgiving in Preston.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, mermaids and mermen...hello! In the words of Joe Dirt, "Life's a garden....dig it". And I am diggin it right now. We got our transfer calls, and the Preston squad is all staying together! You all might have heard our battle cry across the world when we received the news. Needless to say, we are stoked to spend Christmas together. 

On other news...I got my trunky call and death letter. The "3 months to go" and "what are your flight plans?" hit me hard. Not gonna lie, it felt super weird...kinda surreal. But it's here and it's happening! Ok, instead of ranting about how I am coping with the trunkiness, I'll just give you this week's deets instead:

Thanksgiving was actually really really good. Way better than last year. Even the hosts are a bit wack, they made some incredible food! A full American Thanksgiving spread, with over a dozen platters of different types of european/american dishes, good ol' turkey, and then some of the best ice cream and truest pumpkin pie I have had my entire mission. 

We had another day over at Bro. Wellington's up in Ribchester. I am not sure if I told you about him last time, but he spent over 6 years in Saudi Arabia, mapping out all the possible routes that Lehi and Nephi and the family took over their 8 years in the wilderness, and finding all the landmarks that perfectly correlated with the record in the Book of Mormon. He gave us the rest of the presentation...and it absolutely amazed me. Basically...the Book of Mormon only gives us a rough outline of what happened, but 8 years of traveling leaves a lot of room to read in between the lines. I won't go into detail in this email, but one thing I learned....Lehi and the company were not alone, especially at Nephi's Harbor. The study of the culture and the land and the hints in the text testify to that, and it now makes it so much more interesting to read. 

We also got to have tea with our Saudi friend Saroosh. Once again, he fed us an incredible home cooked meal, with more traditional Mediterranean and Arabian dishes. He gave us a history lesson and cooked us some samples of the "blessed foods" (the foods that most of the biblical prophets ate). Between Saroosh and Bro Wellington, I have so much more appreciation for the "old world" cultures, and it fascinates me. Hopefully the tension over there eases up sometime soon, cause I want to explore it for myself now.

Other than that, the work has been going pretty well. A little slow, but we are still teaching some good people. With Christmas coming up and the death letter and all of us sticking together, it's been a bit hard to focus, but we are doing our best and working on. 

I love you all, and I can't wait to see your faces in a couple weeks. 

Till then, stay fresh, 

(And I challenge all the boys in the family to grow the most bodacious facial hair that you can for the skype sesh)

and peace out!

Elder BA

A temple trip and spiritual nourishment.

Konnichiwa! And I love you all. This was an incredible week here in Preston. Here are the deets:

On Tuesday, we joined our dear friend Elder Maljanen at the temple with President Ulrich for his farewell. We had a sunny, warm, peaceful, morning endowment session, just the four of us.  Afterwards, while still dressed in our robes, President Ulrich took us into one of the private rooms of the temple...and we had an amazing question and answer session. Powerful revelation. President Ulrich unfolded so many things that I had questions about, and we all received some incredible insights about the temple ordinances that I will remember for the rest of my life. It was a sacred experience to say the least. 

This week, we also had a conference with a General Authority, President Dyches. Once again...another experience I will never forget. 

More on the fun side, we got to hang with all the YSA and we had a chill movie night. Popcorn and homemade sushi, skadoosh. Yuki came with us too, and now she is super tight with most of the other people our age here in the Preston ward. I love it. We are all from all over the world, but it's amazing how we can all just chill together as if we were friends for a long time. 

Saturday, we had the baptism for miss Yuki! It totally topped off my week of spiritual experiences. Elder Candland baptized her, and she came out of the water happy as ever. After they both changed into dry clothes, we performed a song for her. With all the missionaries in my district, we sang the "I like to look for rainbows..." song (yuki's favorite)...and we did it in Japanese!!! With different parts and much needed practice...it turned out beautifully...and Yuki couldn't hold back her bucket of tears. Once again..I will never forget it. 

With all that being said, and finding some new and incredible prepared people and having Hamblin and Lauener spend the night again and getting revenge on them from past pranks (we slipped some laxatives into their breakfast burritos...mwahaha), this week has been awesome. Life is good, and I can't believe it's almost December. 

I miss you all, and I can't wait to see your faces soon. Thanks for all the lovin, and thank you for all being tight! You are a bodacious family.

I love you all, and peace out

Elder BA

The Majestic Sanj.

 Yuki's Baptism

  Our Spirit Animals.

Diversity.

Heyo family! Life is good here in Preston. Just a warning, my brain is so tired right now, so I apologize if this letter is short and sweet. Well, here's what's been goin on in life:

This week was an incredible, multi-cultural week. For a flavor of it...we befriended and ate with a lovely scottish family, I helped teach and interviewed a japanese girl named for baptism for here in Preston (Yuki is the bomb), we taught bulgarians, romanians, polish, and then my favorite...we visited Saroosh. He is a less active man from Saudi Arabia, married a polish woman and now have 4 beautiful. We went over just to get to know them, but were unexpectedly surprised with a whole table filled with a huge variety of home cooked Arabian food. It was...bodacious. I think I tackled and savored 5 full plates of different types of lamb, fish, chicken, rice, squid and shrimp, and all the homemade sauces that mix with them all. Not only was the food awesome, but Saroosh is awesome and he easily worked his way to become one of our favorite people here in Preston. Good times ahead. 

With all 10 missionaries here in Preston, we went to the small and posh village of Ribchester, and had a lunch/fireside with one of the members, Bro. Wellington. At first I thought he was just a posh old man. Wrong. Turns out...he spent over 10 years of his life exploring Saudi Arabia and the middle east in search of possible trails that Lehi and his family took on their exodus out of Jerusalem. He gave us a full presentation, and only later did we realize...he was the author to Lehi in the Wilderness...a book I totally read and loved! It was such a good experience to talk with him, and now i am even more eager to go out and explore something. I just want to grab my backpack and go.

This week, because of their flat being worked on...Elder Hamblin (fellow arizonan) and Launer (swiss) have joined our flat crew...making it a crazy 7 man party every night. Without more detail...we have had some good times. Today, we are continuing on those good times and playing football at the park right by the River Ribble with the 4 Lancaster Elders. 

Other than that, in a couple days, we are saying farewell to our dear Finnish friend Elder Maljanen. We are stoked to go to the temple with him tomorrow, but we are all sad to see him go. He extended his mission time, but now it's time to head back home to the north pole. 

I love you all, and I wish you all well. Keep up the adventures, and peace out!

Elder BA

Preston.

Hello hello hello! Greetings from Preston, the most diverse, character packed place I have yet to serve in. I am beyond happy and well. But because of time, here are this weeks quick deets:

I was kissed by a man.......a chubby, Indian gay man named....Sanj. As of now, he has marked 4 of us with his juicy man kiss....and he has officially became our Preston squad mascot. Haha his name has become a substitute in most of our conversations, and he always randomly appears around town. I don't think I have laughed harder in my entire mission, and if you are lucky enough...I might be able to send you a picture of the Majestic Sanj. 

On a more serious note, we met an incredible lady from Bermuda! Tamara has lived in England for over a year, and told us that we were the first people to really stop and talk with her. Now, she is a solid, new investigator and is living proof that the Lord is directing prepared people to England to hear the gospel, even if they might not know they are looking for it. This is exactly what Elder Nelson was prophesying about last year when he and Elder Holland spoke to us. 

Other than that, we have just been meeting more crazy characters that keep the entertainment alive in our days. Also, the five of us are still really tight, and the laughs and pranks and spontaneous exchanges never cease. Today we are going to check out President Hinkley's and Heber C. Kimbals old missionary flats, then go try out a local buffalo wings shop, then probably play some football at the park, right next to the historic River Ribble. Sounds like a good day to me.

I love you all, I love my mission, I love daily adventures, I love Sanj, I love life.

May the Sanj be with you...

and peace out!

Elder BA

Lee's Baptism and Adventures In Preston.

Heyo everyone, greetings from Preston! Life is so good right now. The 5 of us are super tight, and we are conquering and having radventures in this historic place. It's been one of the continuously happy times in my whole mission, and I am trying to savor every moment of it.

So here are some of this week's deets:

 

Many times this week we have discussed..."if we were not on missions....we would never experience things like this". For example, we knocked on a door and 2 sketchy, shirtless men came to the door and started harassing us. Then their lady friend came to the door, cussed them out, calmed them down, invited us in...and soon we found ourselves in a random home with 3 catholic, alcoholic heroin addicts, their ex-mormon mother, and their Church of England friend, who kinda reminded me of an old, wise hermit and his dog Bonzo. At first, it was a bit dodgy. Then, everyone got to know us, and we got to know them, then Elder Moljanen, Schofield and I were basically teaching 3 separate, simultaneous lessons to the crazy crowd. After a while...everyone meshed together, we had a final spiritual thought, and they agreed to come to church with us. It was all just so...random. But it was incredible. Would I ever go inside a home with those people in it if i wasn't a missionary? Answer=heck no. 

We have had so many things like this happen, from an insane dog-loving Irish lady, to a whole Ecuadorian family who barely spoke English, to a Sikh man who attempted to foretell our future while sitting at the bus stop. Out of all of it though, it just proves that the gospel is for everyone, and it connects us all.

On a different subject, Halloween was pretty fun. All of us played some intense chair football at the chapel, then we put on the "haunted hallway" for the church halloween party. Us three were zombies who chased after the kids...until one of the kids got brave and punched Elder Schofield right in the gonads. He dropped...haha and it was flippin hilarious. The ward is really good though, and I am already growing to love them. 

The best part of the week though was Lee's baptism! He finally made it! Seeing him come out of the water, and do a double fist pump of pure happiness made all the stress and persistence worth it. Lee will be a friend forever. 

Other than that, the week has just been full of work, and pulling pranks on Elder Candland till he almost poops himself. This is such a good adventure right now, and I am surrounded with such good friends, and I am so happy and at peace. 

I love you all, stay fresh, and peace out!

Elder BA

Lee, Elder Plumb and the Patton Family