Week #7 Oxford

August 24, 2016

Yooooo,

Crazy how fast time has gone by because I feel like yesterday I was just in the MTC! I Need to do my best to make the most out of every moment I have out here in England. 

    We had a chance to sit down and meet with the ward missionary and talk about some goals and one of the goals was meeting with less actives this week so that's what we did. England has some of the biggest wards and membership in the church but we also have the most less actives, haha. WE NEED TO FIX THAT!! The less actives in our ward absolutely love the missionaries and let us in with so much willingness and love it's awesome. A lot of the people that we have been teaching have had some rough lives... Living in council housing which the government pays for because they are unemployed or have some type of disability in the mental health area can be discouraging. We had a chance to meet with this man named Collin who was baptized 3 years ago and stopped coming to church we were able to get him to come back with us to church so we were pretty pumped about that!! He's such a stud with the biggest heart he has just had some problems in the past with the law so he can't get a job and has been unemployed for over 10 months. With us teaching him he has found peace in reading the Book of Mormon and praying again. He says he knows that as he puts his faith back into Christ everything will be okay in life! Strong testimony this man has. 

    I have read some of my other buddies emails saying how they already have baptisms  and how Jordan Doman set 6 baptismal dates in 8 hours!!? Like what that's crazy, haha. We are lucky to have 6 people stop to talk to us in a week. Lol need to find those people ready to harvest and that need to hear this great message! We have it a little better here in Oxford because elder Menlove was in Bristol for the last 10 months of his mission and he said on average they would go finding for 8 hours a day...He knocked every door in his area! I hope more people care about there salvation here in Oxford! 

    We found one investigator this week from a part member family. A 17 yr old boy named Steve from the Congo. He loves playing basketball and got accepted into an academy to go play. That's how I connected with him and became friends! On p-days we said we would go play with him and give him a message as well and he was pretty pumped about that because none of his friends play basketball so he goes on his own. Maybe we can make a deal that if I cross him up he gets baptized? Idk it's always an option(; 

    Our other investigators Peter, Haytham and Joss have all been on holiday so it's been pretty nice to have Facebook so we can send them uplifting messages or things to study while they are gone. We are also going to teach one of them through messenger or a live skype so hopefully that happens and we can have a spiritual lesson with them while they are away. 

    All is good out here in Oxford and I'm learning to love it more and more! I love you all have a good week! 

-ELDER MCSPADDEN 

Christ Church in Oxford, England

 A University built in the 1200's!

Week #6 Oxford

August 17, 2016  

 This week has been great, full of service and training for Elder Menlove and I. We have been trying to get to know the Oxford first ward more and more so we try to find ways to serve the members as much as we can. So we painted this families fence on Thursday which was fun! The Packington family is from India and have lived here in England for about 9 years. They have a little girl and boy. The boys name is Elias and he's the funniest kid I have ever met. He is 3 yrs old and has so much energy his parents can't control him in church. Haha he just runs around the whole sacrament meeting. When he came and sat by us we taught him high five and knuckles and now that's all he does! 

    The second counselor in the bishopric (Brother Farrent) asked us to speak on charity and love, and how it applies to missionary work! I felt like I did pretty good since I was preparing the day before to give the talk. Bro. Farrent is a stud! 25 yrs old in the bishopric, conducted the meeting, gave a 20 min talk, and taught both Sunday school and priesthood meeting. I'm amazed by this guy because there is no way I could do that! He's also a stud because we then went to his house for dinner and they fed us a ton of good food. 

    We had exchanges this week as well and Elder Menlove left and went to Reading while Elder Johnson (zone leader) and I stayed in Oxford. Elder Johnson goes home next transfer so it was nice to see how a veteran works before they go home. We had a miracle happen when we were out contacting in the city center. A man named Haytham from Sudan just stared walking down the street with us saying how he has no idea why but he wants to here what we have to say. We were pumped out of our minds haha. Got to know him a little more and then scheduled a day to meet up and teach him. We met up and taught him about the restoration and plan of salvation in a small coffee shop. I have never felt the spirit so strong in a coffee shop in my life. He was so interested and kept on wanting to learn more. He committed to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. I'm excited to see where he goes. 

    We also got to teach a man named Peter who has been getting lessons from missionaries for over a year now but has never progressed. He has had some problems with the law and has messed his life up so he has been very up and down with a roller coaster ride of emotions and depression. We showed him the Mormon message refiners fire. It talks about a lady who lost her whole family and how she got through it because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We related that to his life and how this message, if he accepted it, would fully help him in his life. The spirit was very strong and he said he wanted to change his life and find a way to be happy again. So we are going to try our best to make sure he knows the atonement and baptism will fix it all for him. 

    There is this recent convert named James that we go visit once a week and he's a spy or something I promise. 18 yr old lives on his own and works for the government because he's so smart with computers. The reason he got the job is because he hacked into there system and then they gave him the job because he had to go in and fix what he did wrong. I told him he was full of it and that he couldn't hack into everything so he went on his computer and pulled up every device that was searching for wifi within 50 yards of his flat. Which included our IPads and he said he can get into anything he wants. He also showed us some black market website where he goes to find different hackers and hack them. Haha he is nuts. I was amazed with the stuff he showed us!! 

     On Tuesday we had my first zone training down in Reading. It was good to learn how to use Facebook for missionary work and how to be effective missionaries in finding. (P.s. Hit me up on Facebook Elder Dillon McSpadden). When President Gubler got up and gave some closing things he showed us a movie clip from facing the Giants. It's the part when the kid is blind folded and has to crawl 50 yards with someone on his back. The coach said he would tell him when he got to the 50 but to give it his absolute best no matter what. As this kid crawled the coach kept yelling telling him to give it his all and don't give up until he had no more. Once he fell and took off the blind fold the kid made it 100 yards Into the end zone. The coach said sometimes we don't know our limits or our strengths so don't give up. Pres. Gubler related that to missionary work and how we just need to never give up, work our hardest, and good things will happen. It got me sooooo pumped to do missionary work. 

     I know that we can do all things if we have faith in our Savior Jesus Christ and His teachings. I have found that strength and I hope everyone can do the same. I'm loving Oxford even though it's tough at times but a "mission is not easy because neither was the price paid for salvation." 

Have a good week! Much love from ya boy out in England<3 

 P.S.   I bought clippers and cut Elder Menloves hair. Haha next week I'm gunna try to cut mine. Sorry mom(; 

-LOVE ELDER MCSPADDEN  

Packing tons of stuff into storage for a sister from our ward!

 

 Curly Wurly's in Church from Sheila!!  My favorite, chocolate and caramel.  (Sheila use to bring these to Dillon from England when he was a little boy and she'd come to visit.  He would ask his Dad, "When are the English ladies coming with the chocolate?" Sheila continues to spoil him! Love that she's taking care of him.)  

 "Field Is White Already to Harvest...  Thrusteth in His Sickle..."'  Got my sickle ready to harvest.  -Elder McSpadden

Week #5 Oxford

August 10, 2016

Week 2 in the field! 

    I still can't believe I'm in England yet! It all kinda seems unreal but I'm getting used to it as time goes by. This last week has been really different for me just because I was still adjusting to missionary life and learning so much as well. I have been doing a lot of training on computers and stuff cuz our mission is getting Facebook so it's been hard to sit in the church building glued to a computer but it will be way nice once we get out to teach and find people. My trainer is a stud and helps me out a ton so I'm getting used to it all and learning to love being a missionary!!! 

   I had to realize that I have been called of God to serve the people of Oxford England with all my heart might, mind and strength. So that's what I will do. Every situation I have that brings me down I just make a joke out of it and laughing makes me feel better. Sounds so weird but it helps hahah. Weird things you do as a missionary to stay motivated. Every time I leave my flat I say this quote. "If you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe then you will be successful."  Helps me stay pumped about missionary work and it helps me to just love the Lords work. Also praying every second of the day. I read this story about some people asking missionaries how much they pray a day and one said "we never stop praying. We always have a constant prayer in our heart so that the spirit can guide and direct us to do what Heavenly Father wants of us." It's sooooo true. With out the spirit being with you as a missionary you are completely lost. I have a story about that this week. 

     Elder Menlove and I were on our way back to the flat for dinner when suddenly he just turned and started walking to this house. I wasn't paying attention so I had to run to keep up. ( that happens a lot) as he was walking up he said this is the door I can feel it. I'm like thinking in my head he's crazy but I went along with it. We knocked and this lady came out really mad and irritated that we were there so Elder Menlove asked if she knew anyone that would be interested. She pointed across the street to the complex and said try the bottom flat. We walked over and there was like 30 bottom flats... Haha so we got on the intercom thing and just started ringing random flats saying we were missionaries and everyone hung up except one! The lady said to come in and she wanted to here more. At her door step we gave her a quick lesson about the restoration and she was wayyyyy interested in it. We scheduled another day to meet with her and she said she was looking forward to it. For us as missionaries that's a miracle because if Elder Menlove hadn't been following the promptings from the spirit we wouldn't have gotten the referral to find this wonderful lady. She now has the chance to accept the great message we have to share with her that can change her life forever. 

    I have a very strong testimony of God preparing His children for the right time to accept the gospel into their own lives. "The field is white already to harvest" as missionaries we need to find those people already to harvest and the only way is through being IN tune with the spirit. This week and through the mission I'm going to try my hardest to do that. I also challenge everyone else to do the same! Everyone can be a missionary to someone. Whether it be sharing a Book of Mormon or giving service it will help immensely, I promise. Heavenly Father loves His children and prepares them in different ways. 

    I love you all and I can't wait to here of your great lives as well so email me!!(; my p-days are on Wednesday so that's when I can reply. 

    God bless. 

-LOVE ELDER MCSPADDEN 

                                                                   Oxford

                     
                                        We had the opportunity to do some service!


Before we started...

When we were done!

Week #4 Oxford

Week #4  Oxford England

August  1, 2016

 I left the MTC on Wednesday July 27^th at 4:45am to head down to the England London South Mission.  The best mission in the world, right Dad?! (;  It  was a 6 hour drive because traffic here in England is nuts! We arrived late and we even left an hour earlier than we were suppose to. We got down to the Mission Home Chapel area and got to meet President and Sister Gubler.  They’re amazing people and expect a lot out of their missionaries. We had a ton of training meetings but at the end we found out who are comps were and where we were going! My comp is Elder Menlove from Chandler Arizona. He is such a stud and a spiritual giant! He played football, offensive guard in HS, and won a state championship. His school was way good at football and they played John Bascco in Cali and almost won! But anyways we were called to the Reading Zone Oxford area!!!!!! Sooooo sick, I was pumped!  That night we walked 15 min with all our luggage to some ghetto flat where some other elders were, to spend the night before we left to Oxford.  8 elders 2 beds 2 pillows 2 blankets.... It was a rough night! I was like what the heck am I getting myself into.
                We woke up the next morning and hopped on a bunch of different trains and headed to Oxford. Carrying luggage on the train was a pain, haha. We had to stand for 2 1/2 hours on a train with all this luggage, it was a struggle!  But we made it to the flat and we hurried and checked the schedule from the last missionaries and we already had 2 appointments lined up.  So we dropped off our stuff and went right out and started doing missionary work. I was like, wow!  This is real I couldn't believe it, haha! I loved it and my companion likes to work hard, we’ve been keeping really busy.
                Friday we went out to do some door knocking and Elder Menlove said, “Pick your first door to knock wisely it will determine the rest of your mission!” So I picked a place where it looked like an old lady lived.  No one answered... Then went to the next one and knocked. This huuuuuuuuuge guy about 6'7" and 350lbs walks out with no shirt on and has tattoos everywhere! Get this... He had nipple piercings the size of my whole thumb. He got mad at me and told us to leave. So I guess that's my destiny as a missionary!! Lol  Elder Menlove was just laughing so hard!
    One thing I found out here is that English people hate Mormons, Mormon missionaries, Americans, people from Utah, and American football. Dillon is a Mormon missionary from America who lives in Utah and loves American football. Lol I'm hated here but I just embrace it. I even told the bishop these things and he's like ahhhhh really? Like I was a bad person or something! Pretty funny so I just embrace it, I know I’m suppose to be here it just might take a little while for everyone else to figure that out.            
  I went to the chapel to do some online training the other day and I saw a lady named Sheila that my dad met on his mission here in Oxford as well! She has actually been to my house in Lindon a couple of times so I know her well. It was really nice to talk to her and say Hi. Also the Bateman’s from my stake are here so I saw them as well. Small world!
                Something funny that happened to me this week was we were walking down the street and a bunch of old ladies were walking towards us, they all surrounded me and like grabbed me!! One grabbed my butt and said ooo I like a well dressed young man. It was the weirdest thing ever!  I like ran away and Elder Menlove again was just dying laughing because for some reason weird stuff always happens like this to me, on the daily. Then in church on Sunday we all stood and sang a song and this old lady passed out or something and I thought she died... It was nuts! We ended the meeting and the ambulance came and I think she was ok but I legit thought she had died.
                Yesterday we went to a less actives house in the hood of Oxford. It was way sketch but we met this 40 year old guy named Collin outside his flat and talked to him about the importance of coming to church, he hasn't come in a long time. He has had many problems with crime and stuff so his life is tough. Doesn't have a job and is having a hard time passing University (college). He went on to say how he had drinking problems and drug problems in the past and never wanted to go back to it because it messed him up. He said he knows the church is true but it's just hard. It was awesome because I got to do a lot of the talking and bare my testimony to this guy and it really touched him. We are meeting with him again tomorrow to have another lesson, he already says he wants to come back to church! Pretty amazing how the spirit talks to people and they feel the love the Savior has for them, grateful to be one of the Lord’s missionaries!  Collin’s testimony is very strong but he just needs to feel loved!
                As a missionary I have found out that love is very very important. Love those you teach, your companion, leaders, and just everyone. Christ is the perfect example of how to love!  Let's all follow Him by loving others and serving people. Make this world a better place!
                  I love you all and I hope to here from everyone so please write me I can read emails throughout the week I just can't reply until Monday at 4:00 England time.

Much Love coming your way from England!

-Love Elder McSpadden

Streets of Oxford England

Fairview Inn reminds him a little of his favorite place to snowmobile!

                                 First kebab In England! "I love it, it's as good as dad says it is!"

                                  "Eyes up do the work!" - Elder McSpadden and Elder Menlove

                                  Kitchen in our flat and our table/desk where we plan our days!