Week #59 Croydon

Hey!
Ahhhhhh, this week was probably the best week of my mission! Aletta passed her baptismal interview, got baptized, and received the Holy Ghost!! She is so converted to the gospel and it's great to see how far she has actually come. When she was baptized she turned and looked at Elder Dickey and I and you could see she was so happy that she made the decision. Then the next day when she received the Holy Ghost the bishop gave her a chance to bare her testimony and she talked about the power of prayer! She was doing care work and the lady never wakes up on time so she thought she was going to be late to church so she prayed so so hard to have her wake up early. The next morning the lady woke up before Aletta and was like "wow I don't know why I'm up so early" and then Aletta said "it's because I prayed!!" She shared that with the congregation and it was touching for sure! She's awesome!!(:  

    This week has been good we found people taught people and had fun! We had exchange this last week with the assistants that went pretty good! We always get to go to the temple grounds for exchange review so that's always cool! A funny thing that happened this week is while I was driving a guy cut us off and then stopped his car and tried reversing back into our car haha. He was mad at us for some reason but we said God bless as we sped off from his road rage! Some people just need Christ in their lives! Haha.

    I'm starting the Book of Mormon again and I'm pumped for it! I know that this book is true and so glad I have the chance to share it with others(: have a good week! 

Cheers, 

-ELDER MCSPADDEN 

Aletta's baptism day!!

 England's blue skies!

 This cat loves me!

 P-day with the boys! Elder Klobcic from Slovenia, Elder Dickey from South Africa and Elder Dennis from Tennessee.

 Elder Klobcic, he's such a good Elder! Thanks for my BYU shirt!  Go Cougs!!

 Elder Klobcic and I.

Week #58 Croydon

     This week was a good one for sure and it keeps getting better! Started off with a sick penta zone conference where we learned about finding needs in contacting for solid return apts. and using the Book of Mormon in invitations and commitments. I loved it and have used it a lot since then and have seen good success! I was able to see some of the good mission mates which was good! One thing I loved was President Gublers testimony of Jesus Christ. I have never seen a man more dedicated and converted to this work than him. Great servant of the Lord! 

     Found some guys to ball up with again the other day which was cool! We played with a guy who played semi pro all around Europe! He played against Jimmer Ferdette so we talked about how he is a member of the church. His name is Mia and we are going to keep playing basketball with him and some other blokes this week! Fun way to spread the gospel. 

    Aletta!!!!!! She's doing so gooooooood. She has her baptismal interview today so pray that it goes well but I'm confident she will pass for Saturday. She has been reading the Book of Mormon everyday and praying as well. We had a talk with her last night over the phone going over the interview questions with her and it was a really spiritual experience. She kept saying how she was really excited and how it's going to be a special moment for her on Saturday! Love seeing someone become converted to this gospel.

    On Sunday we had no one in gospel principles so we decided to go out and find someone to come and join us! We invited every person we saw and then we knocked on this door and met a lady named Cana right across the street from the chapel! We gave her a chapel tour and talked about the Book of Mormon! She loved it and said we can meet up with her again tonight and she's planning on bringing her family of 6 children to church on Sunday!!! So cooooool. 

    Funny thing that happened this week is Elder Dickey and I went to this look out place where you can see Central London from this hill for our comp study! We got there and there were tons of cows so I started whistling and I herded all the cows to come to us!! Haha I was laughing so hard!! They surrounded this thing we were standing on and came to the conclusion I must  have the gift of cow herding! Lol good times. #idahoblood 

    We had interviews with President at his house as well and that was fun! Sister Gubler let us eat with them after as well which was fun to be with them! Very special people I look up to! 

    We had a DA with the Bells a sick family in the ward the other night! We had each of them write their testimonies in a Book of Mormon and we are going to hand them out to people and use their testimonies as a finding activity! Should be pretty cool! Loved having the Bells help us out with this. It's nice to have families on the mission that remind you of yours back home(: 

      This week I have been doing the topical guide study on Jesus Christ and I have come closer to know him each day!! I know my Savior lives and loves me(: 

Have a good week!

Much love. 

Elder McSpadden

Missionary squad in traffic!!

 The Bell family from USA!

 Interviews and training the Mighty Maidstone Zone!

Week #57 Croydon

    Wow! It feels like weeks just fly by out on the mission! This week went by really fast and I loved it!  We had tons of meetings this week and the first one we had was DLC on Thursday, it went really well. We set some great goals as a zone to move the work forward and become more successful. We had little finding time that night, so we put our shoulder to the wheel and talked to everyone we could for about 40 min before we went in. Pretty sick miracle happened... we were walking down the street and not a whole lot of people were out so we decided to start heading back to the flat while talking to people on our way but as we did that we saw a lady turing the corner towards us on the opposite side of the street. My comp ran over there to talk to her and for some reason I wasn't as haste to do so. Then I saw another lady turn the corner on my side of the street so of coarse I talked to her. So back to back my companion and I across the street found two new people willing to hear our message about Christ. It was exactly what we were praying for(: one of the ladies Sheena is now on date for the 9th of Sept! 

    We had Zone Leadership Training at Presidents house Friday and I learned sooooo much! President Gubler was with Elder Dickey and I doing role plays and corrected us so many times so that we were spot on with the things we were working on. We discussed and practiced using the Book of Mormon while inviting people to act and leaving commitments. Then finding a need on the street to get solid return apts. we used this with Sheena the next day and that's how we got her on date is through the power of the Book of Mormon and letting it speak for its self!! What an amazing experience!

    Aletta is solid right now... she is following the word of wisdom, law of chastity, and wanting to pay tithing and fast! Reading the Book of Mormon every night and loving what she's reading! It's such a cool thing watching her conversion to the church(: we are meeting with her 2-3 times a week so she's prepared for the 26th so pray for her so she can get to baptism!! We delivered a present to her daughter at a nursery school from her mum while she was at work and the little girl was so excited to see us. Haha, she's like two years old but she knows(; 

    Had a sweet exchange with Elder Chapman from Australia this last week and we had a good time! Found a family from Nepal in their area and I can see them being solid members in the church! We also met this Russian lady who saw the Book of Mormon  play and I told her that it was a privilege  for her to meet the real Mormons and she was so excited... we gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon as a present so she can remember the first Mormon missionaries she ever met was in England! She loved it and we did as well but it was just a funny contact.  I was laughing pretty hard! But overall a good spirt behind the exchange we had with her. Loads of fun!

    I think this week I learned that being bold is way important in the work we do! Being bold but with love is what has helped us out this week and something I want to keep on doing in life(: When the Lord is on your side there is no need to fear!! 

Love you all and have a great week😊

-ELDER MCSPADDEN 

Tri Zone Leadership Training!!

 Rodrigo, a member from the ward headed off to serve a mission! He'll do great!

 A little P-day golf!

 The Thames River and across the way is Central London! We did exchange with the Welling Elders.

Week #56 Croydon

Hello my family and friends!! This week in Croydon was such a good one and it went by extremely fast... first off Elder Dickey and I are doing great out here! Doing good as a companionship, working hard, being obedient, and having tons of fun! 

    On that Wednesday night we went and taught our friend Aletta and it went so well! We viewed over the Doctrine of Christ, brought the spirit into the lesson with the first vision, and then extended a baptismal date to her for August 26th! This lesson went so well! We then taught her again in the week and we taught her all about the Plan of Salvation. This was a key lesson because she will actually be out of town for work the weekend of her baptism but when we told her she could live with her mum and brother again someday she said: "Elders don't worry I'll make time for my baptism" ahh it was so sweet to hear her say that. The spirit was so strong and she could feel the Lord telling her this was true! She then came to church and miracles happened there as well. President and Sister Gubler showed up at random and came to church in Croydon. They helped answer more questions she had and offered so much comfort!  Her Auntie and nephew are members in Zimbabwe so they help us out a ton as well. Crazy story... Elder Dickey has a grandma who still lives in Zimbabwe and she helped Aletta's Auntie join the church! Small world with miracles every day the Lord continues to bless her and her family!

    On Monday, I did a baptismal interview for a guy named William that's being baptized in the zone and it was a great experience to see his conversion to the gospel! I felt the spirit really strong in the interview and felt the love the Lord has for William! Good way for me to build faith and find more people to baptize! 

    We had MLC the other day as well and It went way good. Came up with some good way forwards to how we can move the mission forward and keep on moving up. Idk if any of you remember but as a mission we set a goal to baptize 31 souls in one month in October 2016. July 2017 we baptized 36 and that hasn't happened for a very long time. Pretty sweet for the ELSM because all the European missions are declining in baptisms and our mission is going up! Fun to be apart of this great work and see what faith and works can bring forth. 

    After MLC by the time we got home we had 40 min to do some finding... so because Elder Dickey and I set a goal to find 5 new investigators this week we went out and talked to everyone on Croydon high street. Croydon gets pretty nuts at night be we were not going in until we found someone. Well by the end of the night in those 40 min we found Paulo, Thomas, and James! 3 new people we can start teaching! We were so amped from MLC and we had the driving companionship of the Holy Ghost the Lord blessed us with those three souls. Faith building experience for sure! 

    Our mission president did a study council in Alma 26 with us which I thought was sick so I went back and studies it some more and I wanted to share something that stood out to me! In verse 5 it says....... 

"5 Behold, the field was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your might, yea, all the day long did ye labor; and behold the number of your sheaves! And they shall be gathered into the garners, that they are not wasted." 

    I liked this scripture because it talks about missionary work as well as some other things. The sickle is the Book of Mormon and it says as we thrust in the sickle and reap with your might all the day long. (Not half the day but all the day) then behold the number of your sheaves or in other words (converts). And then they shall be gathered into garners or (temples). I liked it because as we use the Book of Mormon as the tool to conversion all the day long then converts will come forth from it! That study council from President boosted my testimony of using the Book of Mormon in my own conversion and in those we come across! I love this church and I'm proud to be a missionary for Christ in this blessed land! 

   Love you all and have a good week! 

 Elder McSpadden

 

The Book of Mormon bus!  

 Aletta and her daughter after a teach! 

 Elder Wright came with his family to church before going home.

 He is with you!

 

Week #55 Croydon

   This week was pretty crazy with all that we had going on but it started off really well with President interviews and training at his house! He let us do it at his house this time which was a treat for sure. Training the zone was great because we talked a lot about using the Book of Mormon in conversion. The Book of Mormon is the sickle and the tool to harvest! Spirit was strong in that meeting for sure. 

    On Saturday, we went to help a sweet family in the ward the Vennerholms from Sweden and we were there for a long time haha. Elder Niuelua and I moved almost everything in the house! It's summer holidays so a lot of the families are gone so we had old dudes there with us missionaries and then this other bloke from New Zealand. This guy Jacen is a less active but now since being around us when we were helping this family move he has come to church more and wants to come back! It's way cool to see how he wants to change because he feels like he's needed. The Vennerholms have done a good job of fellowshipping Jacen. He's a good mate now as well!  

   Sunday's are always a good day because we are blessed to partake of the Sacrament but during church I felt inspired to call this former on the phone named Roy. So after church we gave him a call and this guy was so pumped we called him. He said he was thinking of us and wanted to know why he wasn't meeting with us! So we are meeting with him tomorrow to get him on date for baptism! That same day we found a lady named Aletta who has a brother on a mission in Africa right now! She said she really wants to be happy like her brother and she feels it's through the church he belongs to that makes him so happy! Heck yeah it is, haha. Meeting with her tonight to have a lesson(: excited to see how Aletta progresses. 

    Robinah has to push her baptism back.. she just wasn't ready and her husband is still a big issue but we will keep on meeting and help her progress to be baptized at the end of August! 

    Oh also, Elder Niuelua has left me... good times with him! Created a friendship with him that will last a long time! He was a beast missionary and I learned tons from him. He will be heading to Reading with Elder Burningham a good mate that was in my MTC group! But my new companion... drum rollllllllll Elder Dickey!!!!!!! He was in my MTC group as well and we were in the same room. He is such a good guy and I'm pumped to serve with him. He's from South Africa and we are about to have a blast! Already get along and working hard! 

   I finished the Book of Mormon again and I love it even more than last time haha! Reading this book has changed my life forever. I know that it's true and from God! It has really helped me on my mission get through the lowest of lows and then put me in the highest of highs! It's a brilliant book and I promise if you read it you will feel the same way I do(: love being on a mission and serving Gods children. 

Love you all! Have a good week! 

-ELDER MCSPADDEN 

A member bought us a ton of fruit!!!

 Presidents Interviews

 Preachin...

 Pintos family: Rodrigo on the left is going on his mission to France, great guy!

 No more summer in England!

 Mt new companion Elder Dickey from South Africa.

 Good fun!!!

Week # 54 Croydon

    Hey everybody it's been a pretty good week in Croydon! We've been working with Robinah so she can be baptized on Saturday! We taught her the word of wisdom and the law of tithing and she was excited about living both of those commandments! Our bishop helped us teach the law of tithing to her and the spirit was really strong when he testified through his own experiences of tithing working in his own life! She did bring up another concern about her husband still not being happy about her baptism this week so tonight we will be working to help his heart be softened. She's prepared and knows it's all true but satan can work hard on people who are preparing for baptism. Please pray for her(: 

   We are working with a couple other people right now in the lower stages of conversion. One or two teaches here and there but not progressing as fast as we would like yet. It's all good because we just need to keep praying for those who are prepared! 

   I was reading a talk called Patience by Neal A. Maxwell the other day and I loved it so much! It's something I'm still trying to develop as a human that I feel I need to work on. My companion told me to read it and I had a strong spiritual experience. I want to share a little bit of it with you! 

• "Patience is a willingness, in a sense, to watch the unfolding purposes of God with a sense of wonder and awe--rather than pacing up and down within the cell of our circumstance..." 
• "Clearly, without patience, we will learn less in life. We will see less. We will feel less. We will hear less. Ironically, rush and more usually mean less. The pressures of now, time and time again, go against the grain of the gospel with its eternalism..."
• "Further, the patient person can better understand how there are circumstances when, if our hearts are set too much upon the things of this world, our hearts must be broken--but for our sakes and not merely as a demonstration of divine power. But it takes real patience in such circumstances to wait for the later vindication of our trust in the Lord..."

Reading this made me realize the importance of being patient and the different components of it pertaining to the gospel! Trust in the Lord is key and through that he will bless us! I love this work and I know it to be true(: have a good week! 

Luke tutton from Taunton Ward in the middle. I saw him while I was on exchange with the assistants at the temple. Good man! Then an Elder who was in Reading on the right while I was in Oxford! 

-ELDER MCSPADDEN