Weeks just fly by when your having fun on the mission and that's what I'm experiencing right now! Sometimes I can't even remember what has happened in the week because it has gone by so fast... what a brilliant time it has been being here in Bristol, I'm loving it! The other day one of the members said that Bristol has been ranked #5 in the top places to visit in the world!! I thought that was so cool because I've been blessed with the opportunity to be serving the people here right now! It's a bit different from other places where I've served and I like it a lot. Old British Architectural styles in the city center just like Oxford but the people have a very different accent and style than all the other places I've served. Some of the old Bristolians speak like pirates with hard R sounds. Haha it's sweet.
First off... I'm staying another transfer, which I'm pretty excited about! I kind of expected it because I've only been here for a short period of time. Should be good to ship shape it up in Bristol fashion!! Started off the week with traveling 3 hours to the area of Poole to spend the night for zone conference the next morning! The tough thing about being in the western part of England is everything is so spread out that any travel takes us a long time... We traveled down with Elder Allen from York and Elder Lawson from Kaysville Utah. Good Elders! The conference was amazing for sure! President Gubler knows how to bring the spirit into any situation he's in, that's what I love about him! We talked about with the new year we all need to step it up with our obedience so we can continue to be blessed and see miracles in the ELSM. Something that the spirit really hit me with was when he talked about who we really are and what our purpose is on this earth. What is our true identity? He brought us to the scriptures reading from Abraham, Alma, D&C, and Moses to show us doctrine that defines who we are and what we can become. He reminded us all we are sons and daughters of Heavenly Parents who have chosen and saved us for this time. The time of the restoration in preparation for the second coming! He talked about the noble and great ones discussed in the scriptures waiting in the pre existence and how those "other choice spirits" were us!! It really helped me remember who I am and what I'm here to do! President has done that presentation often throughout my mission but every time I receive new insights and spiritual experiences while listening to him speak! I Love it. I was also able to see Elder Menlove the lad, it was such a good time catching up with past companions🤙🏽
In the next two days we have about 10 teaches lined up and for us that's a lot so we're pretty hyped about it! We've been working really hard to find those souls who are prepared to listen to our message! Two of them seem to be progressing right along which is great. Daryl, who is a Doctrinal Master of the Bible, is investigating right now and he's reading from the Book of Mormon and studying about Elijah. He has real intent to find truth so I pray he will find it and feel the spirit testify to him that what we are teaching him is true! The next one is Henry who is from Nigeria! I was so excited to teach someone from Africa again because in Croydon that was our whole teaching pool. Henry is also a seeker of truth... he said if God told him what we are teaching him is true he would join and teach everyone about it! Again, we're so excited to see how we can work with him and bring the spirit into his life. One of the hardest things we face each week is getting people to church!!! It's tough to get people into the chapel to see the fruits that come from it! We're always trying to find ways to help them get there and feel the spirit that is waiting for them.
We're still teaching Becky and Charlie but they're still having a hard time meeting up with us consistently and coming to church! We did give them and a bunch of their friends copies of the Book of Mormon so that was cool! Shawn and his family who live by Becky came to church on Sunday!!!! Ahhh it was so good to see them. The little boys love us Elders and they were so excited to be at church with us and the other kids, haha. Good to see them happy with the trials their family goes through!
Yesterday was soooooooooo long... we had the chance to serve one of the sisters in our zone who has some medical problems and bring her to the temple as she is moving. The office asked us to do it and we did it with a smile but man it was a long day. We woke up at 5am to bring Elder Allen to the train station then went to Taunton to pick up this sister and drive 3 hours to the temple with her and Elder Lawson. We dropped her off and picked up Elder Lawson's new companion and drove them to their area Weston Super Mare and then back to Bristol! Another 3-4 hours. We had a DA at 7pm and barley made it. I was so tired during the DA I almost fell asleep but the members were chill because I told them what we had been doing all day! It was a good road trip for sure 😂 we were able to catch up with my mate Elder Dickey. We also saw Stonehenge on the way back so that was cool! You come over this hill and it just pops up in the most random place haha. Pretty sweet!
I was reading a talk by Neal A. Maxwell the other day and I found a quote I liked so I'm going to share it with all of you! It says..."Spiritual submissiveness means, instead, community and communion as the mind and the heart become settled. We then spend much less time deciding, and much more time serving; otherwise, the more hesitation, the less inspiration." The more time we try to decide to serve others or plan to be Christ like the less inspiration, charity, or other Christ like attributes we will have! We need to bring ourselves to Christ and then by doing so we will be able to accomplish His purposes! I know this to be true and I have seen it in these last 18 great months in England.
Have a great week!
Much love,
-ELDER MCSPADDEN
Stonehenge
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