A God of miracles!

"God lives! And He is most definitely a God of Miracles!

 

 

So first of all, let me tell you a little bit about P.! He is an Investigator that approached Elder Desir and I. He was incredible! By the second lesson we had with him, he’d already read from 1st Nephi to Jacob! However, when we were supposed to meet him on Friday, after transfers, he didn’t show up so I didn’t speak about him at all in my last letter to you. My whole family asked me about him though and I had to tell them we lost contact with him, as he does not have a phone, and we don’t know his address. I finished my email to my family telling them that I knew a Miracle would happen and we would get to teach him again someday. What I didn’t realise was how quickly this Miracle would happen! As soon as we step out of the Library, we saw P.! We spoke to him and he told us that he had been sick on Friday and asked God to let us know he wouldn’t make it. So this past week we were able to meet with him twice more. We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he understood it all pretty well, in fact, he was really excited to go home and pray for repentance so that he could feel all his burdens be taken away. Then when we saw him again we taught him about the Word of Wisdom, and let me tell you something… It was amazing! Unfortunately he wasn’t able to make it to Church  but God obviously wants him to keep meeting with us as we got to the Library and who happened to be sitting just behind us? P.!

 

 

We see Miracles every day! It is so great! And I have been able to learn a lot of amazing things about the Lord during this week. For example, on Thursday we had a free evening without any appointments so we decided we would go tract. During Weekly Planning Elder Debenham and I prayed for the Lord to give us a street to work on, and we both felt good about a street. Before we went to the street however, we had a tea appointment at some members’ home which was on the other side of town. It was alright though, or so we thought, because those members ALWAYS offer us a lift. Not this time though. We both felt terrible as we would never be able to make it to the road on time by walking, but neither of us was able to muster the courage to ask the members for a lift either. So we decided to street contact back to the flat. We spoke to two amazing women!
One of them just lost her dad 2 weeks ago, doesn’t believe in God, and has lost 2 children to adoption. She must be in her early 20s. We had an amazing conversation with her and the Spirit was so strong! We set up an appointment with her and should be seeing her tonight.
The second woman when we first started speaking to her, she was very atheist, but by the end of the conversation, she came out as an agnostic who is very close to believing in something. The moment that I could see in her eyes the spirit working within her was when we spoke about the Pre-existence and how we accepted God’s plan for us. Such an amazing experience! We confirmed the appointment with her yesterday and she is very excited to see us again.
The thing that I learnt from these experiences was that God inspired us with the name of a street because we asked for it, and we were trying to bring to pass righteousness out of our own free will, but even though he gave us an answer to our prayer, we forgot to ask him that His will be done. Obviously, His will was that we would meet those two ladies.

 

 

Another great Miracle I saw this week was during my exchange with Elder Cox. We had an appointment at the library with a young man who seemed amazing. While we were waiting for him, we were contacting people, one on each side of the road. I tried to stop a young man carrying a suitcase, and his response was “I will be back!” which I just dismissed really because no one ever comes back. However, he came back! I don’t know why I have so little Faith at times! There ARE people prepared! I spoke to him for a while and he asked me if it would be ok to ask me a few questions that he always thinks about when he sees us walking about but never had the chance to ask. When we realised that first young man wouldn’t show up, we invited him to come to the library with us. He was about to get a train to go see his girlfriend in Oxford but he said she could wait. At the library he asked us A LOT of questions, and really he answered most of them himself! When we told him what we do as missionaries, he asked if he could have a copy of the Book of Mormon so that he could read on his train journey. It was amazing! My favourite bit however, was when it was obvious that the Holy Ghost was working through the Light of Christ within him."

MIRACLES ARE HAPPENNING EVERY DAY!

"These last 3 days with Elder Debenham have been amazing so far! I don’t think I have ever biked so much in my whole life! If you are wondering why I had never biked so much before, it was mainly due to the fact that I had never understood how bike contacting was supposed to work until Elder Debenham got here. Now, bike contacting is definitely my favourite contacting style – even if I still find it hard to speak properly after cycling up all the hills here in Shrewsbury.

 

The first miracle I’d like to share is about a young man. He must be in his early 20s and is a pretty average person. Well, I was on the phone speaking to a Less-Active Member so Elder Debenham went off to some tracting and street contacting. He stopped young man and had an amazing conversation with him, about how families can be together forever which he was really happy to hear! When I joined the conversation they were setting up an appointment – a super solid one in fact – and then before leaving, we prayed with him. We actually invited him to pray, but he said he was slightly scared but he would do it Monday. So we are seeing him today! Should be amazing!

 

Then, the very next day, we had my favourite Miracle of all! There was this boy cycling towards us so we say hello and he immediately stops! It caught me off guard!  He was also in his early 20s. We asked him if he had any religious beliefs at all and he said “I’ve read the Bible, but I don’t think I have enough Knowledge and Information to know which church is true”. I thought he might be quoting Joseph Smith or something! That reply helped us to briefly teach him about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. He is very excited to meet with us on Wednesday! The best is still to come though. As we were saying goodbye, I explained we would love to leave with a prayer, and explained how we pray. Before I even had the chance to say “But I can say the prayer today”, he said “So you want me to pray?” and prayed right there and then. Elder Debenham and I could not believe what had just happened when the young man rode off, and we had to thank God for such a great Miracle and call Elders Cox and Coomes to share this amazing Miracle.

Elder Debenham and I are getting along so well! We have a great desire to see Miracles happen, and to find those who will receive us."

In Shrewsbury with.... Elder Debenham!

"My new companion is... Elder Debenham! From Sandy, Utah! He is great! Such a good Missionary! 

 

 

“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.”

I think that that quote clearly represents how I have felt this past week!

 

 

This past week was the best of times! It was so great to see and speak to my family again! It was really strange though… 7 months is a lot longer than what it sounds like! And the one hour went a lot faster than I thought it would. Anyway, it was good to catch up with them and see how they were all doing. I had a lot of laughs while speaking to them, and even though I think I have changed quite a bit since I have left home, I think I’m still myself in the sense that it wasn’t awkward speaking to my family at all.

 

 

Spending Christmas and New Years with the members here in Shrewsbury was a lot different to what Christmas and New Years were like back at home! But I truly enjoyed that opportunity to build and strengthen relationships with members here. I have met people who I had never met before, who are less active members of the ward, and I think the members also got to know Elder Desir and I in a more personal level.

 

 

This past week was also the worst of times. Obviously, every time you or your companion moves away it is a sad event. You learn to love them and trust them. They are your best friends, your brothers even! And then you are split up. Very sad indeed! But luckily enough, we always get a new best friend also! Some things that I loved about serving with Elder Desir are that he is very fun, and he built very strong relationships with the members.

 

 

But what shook my week the most was the news that I got yesterday. While I was in Barrow, Elders Leimgrub and Matute, and I taught Sister Jenny Singleton and helped her to progress to the waters of baptism. In fact, she was the very first person that I taught when I got to Barrow! I grew very close to her and the rest of her family. It wasn’t always easy for her but she had a pure heart and good desires. However, Jenny had been in a fight against cancer for the last year or so, and even lived 10 months longer than what the doctors expected her to survive. Yesterday I found out that Sister Jenny Singleton passed away last Saturday. It was really hard for me when I heard the news! She was such a good lady, and like I said, during the teaching process I grew very close to her and her family. As I kept thinking about her, I realised that maybe it was for the good. Now she isn’t suffering anymore! In 2 Nephi 2 it talks about how God prolongs the days of Men so that they can repent and that is exactly what happened with Jenny. She lived long enough to be baptized, help reactivate her family, and now she has returned to the God who gave her life, and she can be with her grandson once again. I am so thankful that we have the plan of Salvation! God is definitely a loving God!
 

Elder Debenham is such a good missionary! Obviously we haven’t had much time together yet, but he KNOWS how to do bike contacting! I have never gone backwards and forwards so much in such a short amount of time and space! I was feeling dizzy almost! But he is great. He is very personable and likable. He teaches simply and clearly. And we are getting along very well indeed! It seems that we have a lot of the same likes and dislikes, and we have been able to be completely honest with each other so far.

 

 

Another Miracle that I would like to share is about a man called P. So, last Thursday, during our lunch break during Weekly Planning, Elder Desir and I needed to pick something up from town so we quickly biked there and back. In town, while Elder Desir was putting his helmet on, a man approached me and started asking me questions about myself and the church. I then found out that he’d been taught by missionaries before (about 10 years ago) and that he had read the Book of Mormon! We were in a rush so we set up an appointment with him for Saturday at the Park. He doesn’t own a phone and told us he lives in the hills so we had no way of contacting him… I was a bit suspicious!

 

 

On Saturday, we got to the park 15mins early, and guess who was there waiting for us… P.! We taught him the Restoration lesson and he pretty much remembered it all still. He accepted to be baptized, and we invited him to read from 2 Ne 31.

 

 

We then met him at the Park again on Monday. When we sat down we asked him if he’d read from the BoM and he said he read a chapter or two. When I asked him which chapters, he said “Nephi 1, Nephi 2 and… Jacob.” Those weren’t even chapters! They were books! But I decided to asked him what he had learned from his reading. This was his response: “Well, in one of the Nephis it talks about ‘A Bible, a Bible, we need no more Bible’ and that really struck me because that is how I used to think. And in Jacob, I think, it talks about a vineyard and how the Lord plucks branches and plants them somewhere else, and grafts them again and just gives them lots of chances. That really struck me because that is what the Lord is doing with me”

 

 

I was absolutely dumbfounded! Not only did he actually read the first 3 books of the Book of Mormon, but one the bits he really liked was Jacob 5, the Allegory of the Olive Trees?! He is such a golden investigator!"

 

Elder Pereira and Elder Debenham

The end of the World hasn't arrived!! ;)

"Looks like the end of the World still hasn't arrived! But if I am honest, I am not too surprised! It kind of makes me feel invicible though! In my lifetime I have survived the Year 2000, Swine Flu, the Rapture and now the End of the World according to the Mayan Calendar! And I am not even 20 yet! I have to admit though, it does sort of make life more interesting!

Now onto things that really matter! It's Christmas time! How exciting! I truly have had a great week, and now I am looking forward to this week to strengthen our relationships with members, speak to my family back at home, and play some games!

I really enjoyed the Christmas training at the Mission Home! I had no idea what we were going to do!In the Wrekin District, none of us has had a Christmas while on our Mission yet, so I couldn't even really ask anyone what usually happens. I loved it!
I enjoyed doing the mini Preach My Gospel chase! It looks like my Scripture Chase skills are slightly rusty! I need to start practising properly! I really hope that during this Christmas Season, as we work and go from place to place, that we can find many people that we can render service to and help them learn about the Gospel.

I also really enjoyed the Zone Leader's training. I completely agree with what they said about Obedience and Pride. As our Harvesters say, Everything is underpinned by Obedience! However, just knowing about that does not make it easy to be obedient to every guideline and rule that we have. I really want to make sure that I am as obedient as I can possibly be though. The reason why we have Law is so God can bless us according to our Obedience, and not just us, but also those around us.

What I love about the Gospel, the Plan of Salvation and the Atonement, however, is that we can improve, always! When I went to EFY in 2010, one of my favourite songs had really great lyrics! My favourite part is where it says that "Mistakes of the past don't define you, they refine you" - I am excited for this new year!  I want to bring to pass many things out of my own free will. I want to accept counsel and commandments with a glad and willing heart. In short, I want to serve the Lord with all my Heart, Might, Mind and Strength that at the last day I may stand blameless before God.

We had such a great Sabbath yesterday!
First, the chapel was FULL! Instead of the usual 70 people in Sacrament Meeting, we had about 110! How incredible is that?! A lot of members got their family and friends to come to Church for the Nativity and Carol Services, many of which were Less Active Members and Non-members! After the Meetings there was a Munch and Mingle where I got to talk to some of these Friends of ours! There was a couple that had been to Portugal on holiday so it was easy to get a conversation going with them! And I also had a really good conversation with a lady whose daughter is a member. Apparently, that lady and the daughter still keep in contact with the missionaries that taught and baptized her! I love Missionary work!"

Great week... planting lot of seeds!!

"This has been such a great week! I really enjoyed it and had a great time!
This week I had another opportunity to go on exchange with my great friend Elder Coomes! I am always excited to serve with Elder Coomes as we were in the same District at the MTC, and so, our friendship, trust and faith just makes us see 1000s of miracles!

On Tuesday, our first day together, we spoke to a lot of great people! We were working in an area here in Shrewsbury called Sutton. We were tracting there, and guess what! We didn’t have a single door shut on our faces. In fact, everyone that we spoke to we were able to have a Gospel Conversation with. If our maths was right, we had about 25 quality gospel conversations in the space of an hour or so. I loved it! Even though we weren’t able to get any return appointments, we were able to plant a lot of seeds!

As we were approaching a car that had just pulled into the drive way, the phone rang so I took the call while Elder Coomes approached the man. Turns out that when Elder Coomes first spoke to him, the man actually swore at him and said he’d had a terrible day at work. Elder Coomes asked if there was anything that he could do to help at all, the man’s heart was immediately softened. By the time I actually joined in the conversation the was already smilling and having a great conversation with Elder Coomes.

Also, as we were street contacting in town, we met a lady. The Spirit completely guided our conversation with her. We were able to quickly find out about how she had lost her daughter and her brother, and her marriage had broken up, and how she had turned to Alcohol for comfort. We were able to tell her that she has a Heavenly Father who loves her and knows how strong she is. We gave her the hope that she can see her daughter again and be with her. As we prayed with her, I just felt so much peace and love from Heavenly Father. Hopefully as we visit her, she will want to learn more about the Gospel and take the necessary steps she needs to take to bring her life in harmony with Christ’s teachings.

On Wednesday we also saw a great Miracle together! We were once again Street Contacting. We were making our way to the flat to have some lunch. I just felt impressed to speak to a lady who was walking past us, so I did. She told us that she didn’t believe in God, but she believed in a life after this one. She told us that the only thing anyone can believe in is themselves. We told her about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon, but she told us she thought it was all false and that we could not convert her. As a final try, I bore my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I told her that I know life is not easy. I haven’t gone through the same things as she has, but that as a missionary, life is not easy either! Sometimes things happen, or people do things that demoralize us or just brings us down, but because of the Book of Mormon I have been able to find that Courage to keep going despite what everyone else says or does, because I know that I have a loving Heavenly Father. The lady, then said that maybe what she needs in her life is that courage, to what I said “We can help you with that! When can we come see you tomorrow?” She set up an appointment with us and she was in waiting for us and everything! :D"

District meeting and exchange!!

"So the week started with a great District Meeting from Elder Bunker! I loved it! He is such a great District Leader! I love how humble Elder Bunker is as he teaches the district, and yet at the same time, he is so knowledgeable. The most amazing think is that he already is such a great example of what a missionary should be like, and he is not even a year old!

After the District Meeting I was on an exchange with Elder Watts until Thursday morning. It was really nice to see how he works! He is definitely himself as he speaks to people! In fact, I was able to learn a couple of “tricks” from him to get people to stop and chat before introducing the gospel! It’s fool-proof! Whenever I use them, people always stop for long enough to have a conversation (even if only for about 10 seconds)

We were able to see quite a few miracles together. Last week I had been looking through the Formers in the Area Book and decided to try by a couple of them.

We also spoke to a Jehova’s Witness, and his next door neighbour. Because he was walking his dog, Elder Watts ended up speaking to him while I spoke to his neighbour. We both had really good conversations though! The lady I was speaking with has a son and has gone through some hard times in her previous relationship – that is the reason why she doesn’t believe in God. I pointed out to her that she was a lot stronger due to the experiences she went through, and her eyes kind of changed, almost as if she hadn’t realised that God HAD answered her prayers, but in his own time. I shared with her my testimony of how God answers prayers in his own time, and shared about how reading the scriptures helps me through tough times. The change in her eyes and face made it obvious that the Holy Ghost was working within her.

As for the JW what interests him in his religion is that, in his own words, “we are persecuted! In some countries we aren’t even allowed to speak to people!” I think that once he watches Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration he will realise that Jesus Christ’s real Church on the Earth has suffered even more persecution, as Satan really does not want anyone to know about the truth."