December 26 Email

Dear Mom and Dad,

It was great to see you all yesterday! I always look forward to the hour or so of time I get to talk with you. 

After I finished with our call yesterday, we watched Alice through the looking glass with the family I was with. It was really fun. I do miss watching movies with you guys. We'll definitely have to do that when I get back. 

After our lunch and movie, Elder Dunning and I went to a nonmember family's house and had dinner. They made some really nice Malaysian food. We also talked a lot about business and economics. They are very successful and really want to impart that knowledge with us young missionaries. They are also very religious people. They definitely give the credit back to God. They are really great people.

Well, this week was great. I'm not really feeling up to writing a general email this week, so if you want to post this for the Christmas blog post, you can. 

I love you!

Love,

Elder Warburton 

P.S. Or I could send in my journal entries from the past few days to use for the blog post.

21/12/16

Today we had breakfast with the Jackmans and a catholic monk named Brother Clements. He was really nice and funny. He's from Zimbabwe. That took our entire morning. We also did some caroling in the evening. We visited the people up Ely way. It was a lot of fun.

22/12/16

Today we had a lesson with Paul. It was a lot of fun. We also gave Carla her massive present. It was great. After that we went caroling. We sang to the Lucas', woolstenhulmes, peacheys, Sinclairs, manser, hutber, Pearce, and . While we were going to the Sinclairs, we walked up to what we thought was the right house, but it was the wrong house and the guy who lived there was outside telling us that it was the wrong house. We had a laugh with him about it. He was really nice. 

23/12/16

Today, we did a bit of finding in the morning. We also did some other stuff. We also had sports night. It was only Paul, Jarell, Carla, and elder dunning and I. It was really fun. We played chair football and around the world. During chair football, I smashed my big toe. It's pretty gross.

24/12/16

Today we went in to town in the morning. Afterwards we met with uncle Gerry and auntie Sue. I love seeing them. Then we Skyped. I skyped with Alex and elder dunning Skyped his family. Then we had a dinner appointment with the Lius. We had a festive meal and played games. I love them. We got home super late.

25/12/16

Today was Christmas. We had our church service in the morning. It was mostly musical items, with a few talks thrown in. Wen and Yao Yao came, just in time for the closing song. ,'P Then we talked for about an hour after church. After that we went back to the flat for a bit to change and open the presents we got at church. I got some sick slippers from the jackmans, guylian chocolate from the abletts, and a chocolate santa from another member. After that, we went to the scammells for lunch. I got to skype my family for an hour or so while I was there. They're doing well. Then after lunch, we watched Alice through the looking glass. It was pretty funny. I enjoyed it. Then after that we went to Gerry and Sue's house for dinner. We had a delicious Malaysian meal. They invited another friend over. It was fun to get to know him. He owns his own business, so most of the evening was talking about economics and such. It was really fun. Then we got home and I went to sleep. 

December 19 Email

Dear wonderful people!

This week was great! We had our Christmas conference on Thursday. We played a bunch of fun games. We also had a spiritual bit in the beginning. It was really good. We had a white elephant gift exchange, as well. I got a dumbbell alarm clock and a Lindt chocolate bear. We also made Zone Christmas music videos. I'll try to send the video.

Also, the sisters baptized someone. Her name is Fatima. She's great. She chose to be baptized, even though she's only sixteen, and she was the only one to be baptized in her family.

 

 

Well, today was fun. We had linner with one of our investigators. They're the Chinese family that I've been talking about. We ate dumplings and talked about castles and such. We're going to go look at a castle with them on Friday. It's going to be fun. I'll probably send some pictures.

That's about it.  Well, see you later!

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Warburton

 



 

Here's our district.

 

Here's our district's gingerbread house. It's the Kirtland temple.

 

We also played "chubby bunny". It's that game where you shove as many marshmallows as you can into your mouth. It's pretty gross. This is the winner.

December 12 Email

Dear wonderful people!

This week has been great! We had our Zone meeting on Friday. Lots of fun. Afterwards, we began making our video for our Christmas conference this week. It's going to be lots of fun.

On Saturday we had our ward Christmas party. We set up the chapel all nice then had a huge party! We had musical items with a catered meal.  It was super good.

Well, that's about all for this week. I love you!

Love,

Elder Warburton

P.S. Here's our zone.

December 5 Email

Dear wonderful people!

This week was great! We had transfers, and I am staying, along with everyone else in the district except for one person, because he was going home. So when we had district meeting on Thursday, it was just like a normal district meeting.

Not too much happening this week. Elder Dunning's birthday is on Tuesday, and one of our investigators got him some presents. He got dumpling wrappers(?) If that's what you would call them. So we made dumplings today! They were awful but so good (they're supposed to look a certain way, but instead they looked more like road kill....but they tasted good!)

Other than that just normal missionary work stuff. Also we went to go see the Ely Cathedral. It was massive. I'll send pictures.

Well that's all! I love you!

Love,

Elder Warburton

November 29 Email

Dear wonderful people!

This week was great! I forgot to mention it's also transfers. Elder Dunning and I will be staying together this transfer! And Elder Dunning is the new district leader! Yay! That means I get to go to bed early on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday nights, because he will be doing call ins. We also get to stay together for Christmas in Cambridge! Speaking of Christmas you guys should all send me presents.  My address is 75 Wycliffe Road, Cambridge, CB1 3JE, England. ;)

So now about my week. Well, we have these awesome investigators, that one family that I've been talking about that walked into church a few Sundays ago. They come to church every week. And their little girl was in the primary program last week! She's only been to church for times that she was already in the primary program. Aren't they just the best? They also had us over for dinner twice. They make really nice Chinese food. That's like the best part.

We also have a few other awesome investigators. They're all doing well.

Other than that there's not really much else that happened. I hope you have a wonderful week!

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Warburton

November 21 Email

Dear wonderful people,

This week was great!

We had an exchange on Wednesday with the district leader. I was with the district leader. Funny story! My current district was my district leader nearly a year ago. He's pretty hilarious. He's also going home next week.

On Friday we had sports night! I love sports night. We always have at least one family that comes. They love it.

We had a service opportunity this week.  We helped rake leaves at a local cemetery.  The people there love the Mormons.

Church was pretty funny this week. In the gospel principles class, we had someone who is learning about the church in there spreading false doctrine. Yeah, lots of fun. He really enjoyed church, though.

Well, That's all. I love you all!

Love,

Elder Warburton

Here's a photo of me on an English path.

November 14 Email

Dear wonderful people!

This week was great! We have lots of solid people that we're working with. One in particular is great because we meet with him nearly every day. He's on date to be baptized on the 24th of December.

We also have another great person that we're working with. She is on date to be baptized at the end of this month. The only problem is that she works 12 hour shifts 4 or 5 times a week, so it's hard to see her.  So we went to where she works and had lunch with her and the senior couple missionaries. They're great!

We had an exchange with our Zone Leaders. They live in another university town called Colchester. It's fun to find there. There are a lot of great people to talk to. 

We also are teaching the Mira me family that walked into church last week. They had us over for dinner on Saturday. They taught us how to make dumplings. They were super good.

Basically that's all that happened this week. I hope that you all of have a great week!

I love you!

Love,

Elder Warburton 

P.S. Here's the video of us making dumplings. :)

November 7 Email

Dear wonderful people!

This week has been great! On Monday we went to a less active member's house to go see their haunted house that they made. They really outdid themselves. It was so good, probably the best I've ever seen in England and better than most  I've seen in the states. Afterwards, on
our way back we got a call from the president saying that Elder Chong was going to be leaving to Bletchley. So now he's gone and we are sad. :(

On Tuesday we had district meeting. That was fun. We also had a lesson with a less active member and his wife who is not a member. Their family is so much fun. They're all just crazy.

On Wednesday we took Elder Chong to London. That took forever. When we got back we went to go see a less active member. His name is Ian.  And just to put in context, Elder Chong's birthday is November 8. So Ian baked him a cake and wrote him a card. He barely missed him by a couple of hours. So now we have a really nice looking cake and no way to get it to him. Darn.

On Thursday we went and visited a less active member who is from Fiji.  The only reason why he's less active is because he had to take care of his mom and work long hours. Now that he has all this free time he can come to church. In the evening we went to institute. That was a lot of fun. We read about Nehor and Sharom and such. It was really interesting.

On Friday we had sports night! Yay! I love sports night. We played ping-pong and chair football. That's always fun.

On Saturday we had a service project where we cleaned up the graveyard of a local church. The church is at least 300 years old, actually way older than that. I'm not sure how much older though. After the service project we had a lesson with our friend Joseph. We had a really good conversation about the importance of coming to church...but he didn't come to church so we rebuked him.

On Sunday we had a cool miracle. While we were at church a family just walked right in and said they wanted to learn about the church. They went to Provo in 2014 and they were really impressed with the church.  And now that they live in Cambridge they found out that they live right next to the chapel. So they decided to come in on Sunday. Now we're seeing them on Tuesday. They're super cool.

So that was our week. I hope you guys all have a wonderful week. I love you!

Love,

Elder Warburton

October 31 Email

Dear wonderful people!

This week was great! We have lots of people to teach, so I get to keep busy.

We had our monthly zone meeting on Friday. It's always fun to gather together as missionaries. We had lots of good trainings. We also took a great photo in the leaves.

Autumn is a great season.  Well, other than our zone meeting, nothing too special happened. Here's a funny picture we took.

Well, I hope you all have a fun filled week! Enjoy life and keep up the faith!

I love you all!

Love,
Elder Warburton 

October 24 Email

Dear wonderful people!

This week was great. I'm now settling in in Cambridge. I love it here! There are so many people to teach! And the ward's pretty friendly. We also have tons of activities because we have lots of YSA aged people. It's super fun.

On Wednesday I got here in Cambridge and I was sick, so I took a nap. Then later in the evening, we taught one of our investigators. He's great.

On Thursday we had a busy schedule. We met with a few of our investigators. That's about it.

On Friday we met with even more of our investigators! Then in the evening, we had sports night. I love sports night.

On Saturday, the sisters had a baptism. Some of our investigators came to that and we taught them afterwards. They really felt the spirit.

On Sunday we had a miracle! We were in sacrament meeting and our phone rang while I was in the bathroom. Two guys from Kazakhstan were calling and they asked if we could teach them more about the church. They came after church and we taught them with our newly called ward mission leader. It just so happens that the ward mission leader served his mission on Moscow, so he spoke Russian with them. It was awesome. So now we're seeing them on Tuesday. They are so cool!

And that's my week here in Cambridge. It's great.

I guess I'll share a spiritual thought.

30 Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me. (Mosiah 26)

We're here to teach repentance to everyone. I know that if we truly repent, God will forgive us. Only then can we move forward.

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Warburton 

I am in a trio. I love my companions! They're so great! One of them is
Elder Chong. He's from Singapore. The other is Elder Dunning. The
entire mission says that we are twins. Now after living with him for a
week, I agree.

October 18 Email

Dear wonderful people!

This week was great! We did lots of fun things. Also I turned 20. I'm no longer a teenager. How sad.

On Monday last week we had a celebration for my birthday. You probably saw my duck beheading and burning video.

On Tuesday, I actually had my birthday. We went to a restaurant with our ward mission leader. It was too much. I had food triplets after that.

On Wednesday we had district meeting and an exchange with our District Leader. After district meeting, we had a funeral for one of the missionaries. He's finishing his mission tomorrow, so we threw a funeral for him. 

After district meeting we had our exchange with the District Leader. We had tacos for dinner. Here's how I eat tacos.

The true Mexican experience.

On Thursday, I can't remember. I'm sure we did something, but it's gone now.

Friday and Saturday was normal missionary stuff.

On Sunday we had our primary program, and we watched the Sunday afternoon session of conference. 

On Monday, we found out about transfers. I'm going to serve in Cambridge ward in a trio! I get a car!

Well, that's all! See you all laters!

Love You!

Love,

Elder Warburton 

Birthday Traditions

Elder Warburton celebrating his birthday in the English way...

October 10 Email

Dear wonderful people!

How was your week? Mine was pretty good.

We had interviews with the President and Sister Stevens. I love being able to meet with them personally. They are just so great and I am blessed to be able to have them lead this mission. President Stevens always has some good insight and interviews is the best time to receive of it. 

We also had an exchange with the Zone Leaders. One of the Zone Leaders, Elder Silva, will be going home next week from his mission. I was with him on the exchange. He's such a great missionary. I hope to be more like him before I go home.

Other than that, just normal stuff happened this week. 

I'll share a quote from conference.

"Sharing the restored gospel is our lifelong Christian duty and privilege. Elder Quentin L. Cook reminds us, 'Missionary work is not just one of the 88 keys on a piano that is occasionally played; it is a major chord in a compelling melody that needs to be played continuously throughout our lives if we are to remain in harmony with our commitment to Christianity and the gospel of Jesus Christ.'"

We need to constantly be aware of the fact that we need to do missionary work. That doesn't mean that we need to always be like the missionaries, knocking on doors and such, but we need to be on the look out for missionary opportunities as we go about our daily life.

I love you all, and I hope you have a brilliant week! 

Love,

Elder Warburton 

October 3 Email

Dear wonderful people!

This week great! We had an awesome miracle happen to us!

On Wednesday, we went tracting so we could try and find some new investigators, but nothing came of it. So afterwards, we went to the chapel to message some potential investigators. While we were there, we got a phone call from some random guy that I had never met. He said that his name was Jonny, and he had been learning about the church on his own in France. He got in contact with church headquarters and they referred him to us. So he called us and asked us if we could teach him. He was so prepared. He had already studied the restoration, the plan of salvation, the word of wisdom, and a few other things. He's reading the Book of Mormon at the moment and when we had our first lesson with him, we put him on date to be baptized!  He's super good.

We also found a nice couple to teach. They are really good. They are both "church of England", but they go to any church really. When we were talking to one of them, he said that he has lots of faith in Jesus Christ, but he said that he doesn't really believe in the
trinity. So we have the answer to that question and many others that he was telling us about. I'm really excited to meet them again. Also, even better, they live only two minutes from our flat! Miracles everywhere!

Also we got to watch conference this week. I love conference! It's such a great opportunity to learn and grow our testimony. My favorite talk was president Nelson's talk. I love all the ways that  he said that we can be happy, even when circumstances might not make it easy.  I will definitely study that one again soon.

Well, that's about all from this week. We had a great time.

I love you all and I hope you all remember to send me presents for my birthday! ;)

Love,

Elder Warburton

P.S. This is our zone

September 26 Email

Dear wonderful people!

This week was great! We just did normal stuff, but it was great.

We have a couple of people that we are working with and we hope that they can start meeting with us more. Prayers are always helpful! :)

We had a district meeting on Wednesday. Our zone leaders were there and one of them had a cold. He was like, "If I give it away, it will go away faster!" So he hugged everyone and coughed at the same time.  So the next day, I got a cold. And I still have it. As well as my companion. :/

So, prayers for that as well.

Well, that's about all!

Here's a spiritual thought.

2 Nephi 9:41

41 O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One.  Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.

Remember, the path is narrow, but it is straight. Just walk straight up the path, and you will get where you need to go.

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Warburton

My companion - Elder Minamide

My new haircut.  I swear I told the barber 2 on the sides. :p

This is Lewis.  He's a member of our ward.

September 19 Email

Dear Wonderful People!

This week was fun! We had our Zone conference with the President. It was super fun. We had lots of good trainings on how we can improve our missionary work. I also got a chocolate bar to  commemorate the birthdays of everyone in the zones for September, October, and November. So don't forget, my birthday is coming up. (October 11th!  Don't forget! My address is 59a Saint Peters Road, Dunstable, LU5 4HY.  Send packages! You could also send them to the mission office if you don't think I'll be here for another transfer.)

We also had an exchange with our district leader. I got to go with Elder Paakkari and help out at a soup kitchen. We also got to discuss the gospel, the bible, and Ghanaian food with a Ghanaian born again Christian lady for nearly an hour. She wants to have us over for
dinner, so please pray that we'll be able to meet again! Not only for the dinner, but for her salvation! (The dinner would just be a nice side-blessing.)

Other than that, just a lot of looking for new people to teach and finding a couple of shaky people. Pray that they'll stop being so shaky and just meet with us. I love teaching people and it's hard to do that when you don't have anyone to teach.

I guess I'll share a spiritual thought I had this week.

1 Nephi 15

11 Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?--If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you.

As we do these things, life will become easier for us because God will help us learn what we desire, if it is righteous.

I love you!

Love,

Elder Warburton

P.S. Here's a photo! See if you spot me!

Here's a picture of the sunset in Luton....I edited it....it isn't really that pretty.