July 24 Email

Dear wonderful people! 

Well, this is it. This is the last email that you're going to get from me. I'm going to be home next week on Wednesday. So yeah, here's this past week.

Monday - Today was awesome! We saw Sue Jackson in the morning. She's doing well. We discussed repentance and forgiveness with her. It was really good. Then we went to Cambridge! I got to see Uncle Gerry and auntie Sue at their shop, Wen and Evelyn at their new home, the Westenskows at their home, and Paul and Carla at their home. I also got to show Elder Woolley the grand arcade, kings college, and a few other colleges. It was really fun. It was really nice to be able to see some of the old friends that I got to make while in Cambridge. It really is wonderful to see how I was able to have a good influence on some people on my mission. I guess it's these relationships that the lord speaks of when he says, "how great will be your joy!" Well, it was a great experience and I can't wait to come back in a few years and see how these people are progressing through life and the gospel.

Tuesday - Today was fun. We had interviews with president and sister Stevens in Ipswich today. We got there at 11:00 and didn't leave until 6:00. It was awesome. We had some trainings from the president and his wife and some of the other mission leaders. Then we had some of sister Stevens world famous brownies! They were awesome as always. Then we had our district meeting while president and sister Stevens interviewed us. After district meeting finished, we all got together to watch conference talks while president and sister Stevens finished up the interviews. Then we went home. After we got home, we went to stop by sister hall to see if Richard was in. He wasn't, but we're hopefully going to see him on Thursday. Then we went home for dinner.

Wednesday - Today was really good. We had a lesson with Gary in the morning. He's doing really well. He really wants to be baptized. We had to move his date to August, but he's still as good as ever. He also talked about how he has a burning in his chest when he reads the Book of Mormon. And to make it even better, no one has ever mentioned to him the the Holy Ghost brings that feeling when he's testifying of truth, so that's proof that he's feeling the Holy Ghost. So awesome! After the lesson, we went and mailed off some important letters. Then we went to the flat and ate lunch. After lunch we had companionship studies. After studies, we went finding in the town. We didn't find anybody, but we did meet quite a few nice people. That's always nice. Then we went back to the flat to change into our service clothes. Then we went to Witham so we could help finish oiling the Gough's decking, and also we removed a tree stump from their garden. Then they fed us dinner. It was delicious. Then we shared a lesson about Joseph smith, sharing the gospel, and the nature of God. Then we went back to the flat for gaps and call ins.

Thursday - today was fun. We saw Deborah in the morning. She's doing super well. We actually put her on date for the 28th of October, so that's pretty exciting. Then we went back to the flat and ate lunch. After lunch, we went finding. We tracted down that road that we met Shannon and Georgia on last Sunday. After that, we did companionship studies. Then we ate dinner. After dinner, we stopped by Richard, a less active person in the ward. He was home luckily, so we got to step in and have a chat. After that, we drove to the chapel for Bowles club. It was really fun. I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. While we were at Bowles club, I moved my pictures from my iPad to my USB since I need to have my iPad cleared by the end of next week. So, after moving my pictures over and bowling like a champ, we went home. :)

Friday - Well, fun times today. We were supposed to see Gary in the morning, but he was in colchester, so we went back to the flat, did gaps, and ate lunch. After lunch we did our weekly planning. It took a long time. We finished around 3:45 in the afternoon. Then we did a very short companionship study. After that, we went to Witham to tract. We tracted one road, but no one was interested, then we tracted another road where no one was interested. But we did find lots of yummy berries and fruits and such. Then we were going to drive over and visit some less actives, but Elder Woolley hit the curb and popped our front left-hand tire. I also needed to go to the bathroom really bad, so we parked the car, ran to the nearest pub and I went to the toilet. After that, we went back to the car and we replaced the tire with a spare. Then we drove home, because we didn't want to drive too much more with a crappy spare tire. Then we ate dinner and my companion did call ins. All in all, not a bad day. :)

Saturday - Today was fun. We went to kwik fit in the morning to get the tire replaced. After that, we came back and did our personal studies. After personal studies, we went finding in the town. We met some nice people. After that, we went back to the flat to have lunch. After lunch, we stopped by a few less actives. Nobody was home, but I guess that's to be expected on an early Saturday afternoon. After that, we went to an appointment with our friend Philip. So, with Philip, we don't schedule the appointments, he does. So earlier this week he called us and said to come over on Saturday. So when we showed up, we found out that it was actually his son's birthday party. So that was fun. After that, we went to colchester for a baptism that the sisters were having. The person being baptized turned 9 on Thursday, so we showed up for a baptism/birthday party for him as well. Two birthday parties in one day. Double fun. After partying for a while, we went home. 

Sunday - Today was good! Every Sunday is good. We went to church. Deborah was there! That's was pretty cool! She enjoyed it. After church, I had to move some stuff from my iPad over to my iCloud, so I did that for a while. Then we went back to the flat to eat a bit of lunch. After that, we went to deliver the sacrament to the pews. After that, we went and saw Leona. She's doing well. We talked about becoming a desciple of Jesus Christ. After that, we went tracting. We met a cool guy while walking up on the road we were going to tract. We're seeing him and his family next Sunday. Then we tracted the road. We met this older couple who weren't interested in our message, but they love America and we talked to them for nearly 30 minutes. It was super fun. Then we went back home for dinner.

Well, now that I've gotten that bit over with, I'll give you a bit of a final report.

Well, after being out for 23 months and 4 days, I want to say that I've learned everything there is to know about everything, but I'm still learning. What I can say is that now that I'm coming to the end, I have really recognized the Lord's hand in this work. It is his work, and whether or not we try to help, it will go on. So, make the better choice! Choose to help! God supports his helpers. I know this work is true, and it has brought more happiness to me and many, many others, more than we could have ever expected. I encourage all of you reading this to remember the one who directs this work. Look to him, do his will, and you will be better. 

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Warburton

Letter from Mission President

July 17 Email

Dear wonderful people! 

This week was great! I can't remember what happened, but luckily I have a journal to help out. Well, I hope you enjoy!

Tuesday - Today was fun. We had district meeting in the morning. Then we began our exchange with the zone leaders. We all went out to lunch, then I went with Elder Tragante from Brazil, and we went finding. While we were finding, it started raining, so we were thinking about doing something else and then going finding later, but we decided that we had planned finding for that time, so we kept going. Then we met this awesome guy named Cameron. He loves Jesus, and didn't know that there were people in England who do what we do. So we sat down and taught the restoration. The Zone Leaders are going to see him again tomorrow. Then we got the car and drove home to do companionship studies. After that, we met up with one of their investigators and talked with him briefly. Then we went finding. We talked to a guy name Paul. He's got a group of friends all investigating the church, but he's not that interested. Then we went and stopped by some members. We met the bishops councilors and shared some scriptures with them. Then we went home and did our exchange evaluation. Then we went and stopped by some of their investigators, but they weren't home. Then we all went back and I made some spaghetti for everyone. Then we just hung out for the evening until bedtime.

Wednesday - Well, today we got back from our exchange. When we got back, we stopped by a couple of our investigators. They weren't home. Then we ate lunch. Then we went and bought some stuff that Elder Woolley needed. After that, we had companionship studies. Then we saw our friend Deborah with Melissa, a member in the ward who speaks Portuguese. We taught very briefly about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Then we went finding. After finding, we met Gary at the library. He's great. We taught him the first half of the plan of salvation and the word of wisdom. He's pretty much good with the word of wisdom. He just needs to finish giving up smoking. He said that he doesn't even like smoking, so he'll be good. Then we went and ate dinner. After dinner we went to B&Q, essentially the British equivalent of Home Depot, and bought a new light bulb for Elder Woolley's bathroom. Then we went and stopped by The Cespedes. They're doing well. We're going to have dinner with them next week Thursday! Yay. Then we went home for call ins.

Thursday - Today was good. We went finding in the morning. Then we went to the flat for lunch. After lunch, we went to stop by the prices, an elderly couple in the ward. After talking with them, we went to Witham to see sue Jackson. She's doing super well. She wants to get to the temple so she can be sealed. Then we went to stop by Tina Austen to see what service she needed (because she gave us a call and we couldn't understand what she was saying). She wants us to come back tomorrow to help out with her front garden. Then we went back to Braintree to stop by some less actives. None of them were home. Then we went back to the flat to eat dinner. I made some of this honey mustard chicken in the slow cooker. It was delicious. Then we went to the chapel to open up for the Bowles club. I was doing really well today. I got some awesome shots in. Then we went home and got ready for bed.

Friday - Today was fun. We did weekly planning in the morning. Then we went to Philip Clark's home to help him out with his computer, but it has a critical failure, so he'll have to buy a new one. That's too bad for him. Then we went home, made lunch and changed into our service clothes. We went to Tina Austen's house to clean up the front garden a bit. We also jump started her car. That was fun. Then we went to the house of another person in the ward to dig out all of the plants in her front garden. She bought us slush puppies and dominoes pizza afterwards. She's so nice. After that, we went to pick up a member from the previous service project and brought him back home. Then we ate the pizzas that she gave us for dinner, then went home. 

Saturday - Today was super fun. We went finding in the morning. After finding we went home to eat lunch and get ready for the Ipswich stake sports day. We drove over to Ipswich and played football with the stake. Our friend Gary was there. He's pretty good at football. By the way, our ward won the football tournament. We won every game we played. After all of that was over, we had a lesson with Gary about the plan of salvation and the law of chastity. It was really good. Then we drove over to colchester so Elder Woolley could interview the Sisters' investigator, Arthur. He's 8, but he turns 9 before his baptism, so its the charge of the missionaries to teach him. He's awesome. Then we dropped off the Baptismal form at the Sisters' flat and drove to Witham. I changed into missionary clothes then we tracted a street that the English Frys told us to tract. We found a couple of nice people. No new investigators though. Then we went home and had curry for dinner.

Sunday - Today was fun. We had church in the morning. It was really good. The Sunday school lesson was about missionary work, so it was good for us. Then after church, we went to the Varneys/Powles house for lunch. I love both of those families. They are super fun. We shared a message where you use 3 knives and 3 cups and you have to make a platform to hold up the Book of Mormon. Then we compared the 3 knives to reading our scriptures, praying, and going to church. Then we committed them to refocus on doing these things. I'm sure that they've been doing these things for longer than I've been born, but it's always good to put a refocus on things that seem commonplace. Then after that, we went finding in town. We started tracting, but a few houses down from where we were tracting, there were these two women smoking out front. It was kinda awkward to talk to people on the door step while they were there, so we decided to just talk to them. It turns out that they are actually somewhat interested and we're seeing them next Thursday. So that's pretty cool. Then we went to see Leona. She was at church this week, so that's really good. We shared a message about service, then we hammered in a few frame holders to put up some pictures. She has lots of pictures. They're all pictures of either tigers or native Americans. She loves native Americans. Then we went to stop by some less active members, then we went home for dinner and call ins.

Well, there you go! Hope you enjoyed! I love you all!

Love,

Elder Warburton

July 10 Email

Dear wonderful people!

This week was good, but I can't really remember most of it, so I guess we'll go back to my weekly summary to see what actually happened. Well, see you at the end!

Tuesday - Well, today was nice. We went finding in the morning. We met a nice girl named Morgan. We're seeing her on Thursday. Then we contacted some of our friends on Facebook. Then we ate lunch. We made tortellini. Then we went to see our friend Jamie. He wasn't home. So we decided to do our companionship studies. We went to the chapel to do that, then realized that Elder Woolley forgot the chapel key. So we drove 7 miles back to the flat, picked up the key, then drove 7 miles back to the chapel to do our studies. We studied the talk, "Why the church", by D. Todd Christofferson. It's a great talk, and I would highly recommend re reading it again soon. It's from the October 2015 general conference, in the Sunday afternoon session. Then we went to the English fry's house to do some service. We were helping Derek with planting some plants in the garden and doing a bit of weeding. Then we ate dinner and shared the message of Mosiah 24:15. Its about bearing our burdens with patience and faith. Then we came home.

Wednesday - Today was awesome. We only did two things. Zone conference and a dinner appointment. This was my last zone conference. So we had to get there super early for a district leader meeting, since my companion is the district leader. So I hung out with the other district leader companions. Then we had our zone conference. President and sister Stevens gave a training on teaching repentance, then the departing missionaries gave their departing testimonies. I was first, so I had no time to prepare. It was really fun though. Then we had a zone goal setting session, then we ate pizza for lunch. Then we continued with more trainings from other missionary leaders. Then we had some more departing missionary testimonies, then we finished up and drove over an hour back to Braintree to get back just in time for our dinner appointment. We went to the Pan's house. It was really fun. We shared a message about Helaman 5:12. We compared the Book of Mormon to the foundation and a can of beans to Satan's shafts in the whirlwind. I put my finger on the Book of Mormon, then he slammed the can onto my finger. My finger was fine because of the solid foundation it was on and the can was dented. Then we committed them to pray for a street for us to tract. Then we went home.

Thursday - Today was super fun. We had lunch at 10:30 because at 11:00, Elder Woolley had three hours of driving instruction from a member in Hyde park ward. So he commenced driving at 11:00, while I cowered in fear in the back seat as I witnessed the horror of an American learning to drive in England. It was quite fun. No accidents, thank goodness. He's actually not all that bad. It was only scary at first. After a while, he got used to it and I was able to relax a bit. Then, after 3 hours and 15 minutes, we arrived safely back in our parking bay at the flat. Then we immediately changed into our service clothes, because we needed to go to Witham and oil the deck for the Goughs. I've really learned to love doing service ever since I've become a missionary. So after two hours of doing that, we went to have dinner with the Powles, a family in the ward. They are awesome. I love them so much! We ate a bunch of random stuff. Like cheese and crackers, bread and butter, sausage, potatoes, falafel, salad, etc. It was delicious then I did my usual back flips on the trampoline. Then we ate ice cream. Then we shared the message we've been sharing with everyone about Helaman 5:12 and the can and stuff. We committed them to share the Book of Mormon we used as our foundation with one of their friends. Then we went to the chapel to have our coordination meeting with the bishop, Bernie, and the ward missionaries. It was really good. We discussed our ideas for the fifth Sunday lesson this month. Then we played some Bowles with the Bowles club, kicked them out and locked up. Then we went home.

Friday - Today was really good. First time in a long time that everything went to plan. We had a lesson at 10:00 with a less active lady named Sue. We taught her about entering the temple, because she wants to be sealed to her husband who died a bit more than a year ago. Then we had companionship studies, then we went to the library to see a Portuguese lady named Deborah. We got there and we didn't know if she was going to come, bit she showed up and we had a really good lesson about the restoration. We're seeing her again on Monday. Then immediately after we finished her lesson, we had another lesson with a man named Gary. He's a really great guy. He wants to be baptized. He's on date to be baptized on the 29th of July, and he's chugging along nicely. As long as we can see him frequently enough and if he comes to church every Sunday, he'll be baptized on that day. We taught him the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was really good. Then we went finding. After finding, we stopped by a few less actives. We saw the Tomlinsons. They're doing well. Then we went to see Philip, our wonderful, faithful, eternal investigator. His son, who's about 6 or 7 saw the acne on Elder Woolley's face and not so quietly asked his dad if he had chicken pox. Lol. It's extra funny because Elder Woolley is super self conscious about it. After a bit more small talk, We read Mosiah 24:15 and talked about how the lord can lift our burdens. Then we went home for dinner. I was going to make a smoothie for dinner, but when I put everything in the blender, it blew up. Not really, but it died. Immediately. So now I've got a container full of barely blended ingredients sitting in the fridge. Yay. So I made toast instead. I wasn't feeling up to making anything else.

Saturday - We'll, we really didn't do anything today. We did weekly planning, ate lunch, went tracting down some road, then we visited some less active members. Then, after all of that, we went to Wetherspoons and got some dinner. We did some other stuff, but I can't remember what. :)

Sunday - Today was awesome. We had a friend at church, albeit he was in Colchester ward. So that was good. Then after church we had a munch and mingle. After that we went home and did our companionship studies. Then we went to visit a lady in the ward with a less active son. He wasn't home, so we talked with her for a bit, then we went to visit Bobbie. She wasn't home, so we went to our ward mission leader's house and ate a sandwich and then visited less actives with him. We met a really cool guy named Andy. He's the son of a less active member. He used to go to church about 20 years ago. We talked about church and stuff for nearly an hour. He's really cool and would like to go to church again, but he's always super busy. Then we went home and I made cottage pie for dinner. It was yummy.

Well, that was fun, wasn't it? I hope you enjoyed! I love you!

Love,

Elder Warburton 

My zone plus the Norwich zone.

My companion in church.

July 3 Email

Dear wonderful people!

Well, I just wanted to start off by saying that I have one month left! Isn't that crazy? I'm not sure what to feel about that, but hey ho, such is missionary life. So! I'll just get on with my week!

Tuesday - Well, today was good. We went finding in the morning. We didn't find anybody. Then we contacted some of our investigators. Then we ate lunch. That was good. We finished off the remaining burgers from the ward barbecue a few weeks ago. Then we went finding again. It was fun. Then we went to Witham to help Derek with extending the chicken coop. We took a bit of a break to eat dinner with them, then we went back to to finishing it. We finally finished at around 8:00. Then, since it was rainy and cold the entire time we were making the coop, we drank some herbal tea and played uno with them. Then we shared a message about how we know enough to follow the commandments and to be good people. Then we went home.

Wednesday - Well, today was fun. We went finding in the morning. We didn't find anybody, so we went to the library to contact some of our investigators. We got an appointment for later in the day with one of them, and Elder Woolley contacted a referral that we got yesterday. He wants to meet with us, so he became a new investigator. Then we went home and had lunch. After lunch, we went tracting, we actually found someone who is interested, so that's pretty cool. He's also a new investigator. Then we came back to the flat for companionship studies. Then we went into town to mail off a letter to the mission office. We were also supposed to see one of our friends, but they didn't show up. But, after we sent off the letter, we bumped into here so we taught her the restoration and gave her a Book of Mormon. After the lesson, her friend walked up and started to talk to us as well. They both became new investigators. So yeah, craziness. Then we stopped by a few members and less actives, then we went home for dinner. We made this really terrible satay chicken. It just kinda sucked. Darn. But the rest of the day was awesome! :)

Thursday - Today was crazy! We had district meeting in the morning. Then we came home and had lunch. We made tortellini. Then we went to see the guy we tracked into yesterday. He wasn't home, so we went back to the flat to do our companionship studies. Then we went and picked up some cleaning supplies from Sainsbury's. Then we went and mowed the yard of sister Hall. It was a lot of fun. Right as soon as we finished, her less active son showed up, so we went in and had a bit of a spiritual thought with them. After that. We went to see Leona, a less active woman. We shared a message about having an eternal perspective when it comes to life and death. Then we went to the chapel to open up for the Bowles club. It was a really good game of Bowles. My team won by two points. Yay! :)

Friday - Well, today was sick. We went finding in the morning. After finding, we saw our investigator, Gary, at the Library. We taught him the restoration and put him on date for the 29th of July. He's sick! Then we went to Witham to do service for Tina Austen. She's a lady in the ward. We were there to completely destroy a cherry tree in her yard that's causing problems for the fence. So, after a few hours with some axes, we nearly destroyed this tree. It was a lot of fun. Then we came back, showered, and ate dinner with The wheelers. It was really good. We shared the Mormon message "Voice of the spirit" and committed them to follow the voice of the spirit when it calls them to do missionary work. Then we went home, and I cleaned the kitchen while my companion did call ins with the district. 

Saturday - Well, today was fun. We did weekly planning in the morning. Then after that, we ate lunch. Then, after lunch, we went finding in the town. I think I met more argumentative people in Braintree today than I have in the entire time I've been here! It was crazy. But, we all know that miracles proceed trials. We met a really nice lady named Deborah who we are going to see next Tuesday. Yay! Then after a few more hours of finding and such, we went to The Forconesis for dinner. They made a barbecue. It was delicious! I love all the barbecues we have in this ward. So good. Then we shared the message that we shared with the sagripantis on Monday, with the can  and the Book of Mormon. It was fun. Then we went and stopped by some less actives before coming home for the day. 

Sunday - Well, I officially have one month left. Crazy. We had church in the morning. It was really good. After church, we went home so I could eat lunch. Then we had companionship study. Then we went finding. After that, we met with a less active lady in the ward. Then we went to visit a lady in the ward with a less active son. Then we came home for dinner. We made German pancakes. It was delicious. 

So, there you go! My week in a couple of paragraphs. I hope you enjoyed! I love you all!

Love,

Elder Warburton