[SENT 8-8-16]

                                                                                   The Zone 

Hello family!

Hope you had a great week. I shall endeavor to type fast to share some experiences from this past week. 

Events in my week

We had MLC! It was super good to be with Elder Jensen again. We received training on online   proselyting (ex. using Facebook, facebook messenger, skype, etc.). It's very exciting! We've already used skype a couple times in lessons.  

Skype Lesson
 

After MLC, I was able to see Connor Richardson! He told me he was in London, so I told him to come to the Hyde Park Chapel! It was so cool to see him again. He will be getting married in the London Temple on 4 Feb! How exciting is that?! He's been a member for over a year. 

Alec, Connor and Kalyleigh

I failed my driving test on friday.......... I was turning left, and as I was doing so I saw a red light that was intended for the cars opposite of where I was going. I stopped, but by doing so I automatically failed the test. Yay me. haha but it's alright. I'm still a missionary so that's fun.  

The Work

We found this girl named Roseanne. She's 18, plays Bass, and is a funny girl. She reminds me of Aubrey Headrick! She came with us to an 8 year old baptism on saturday, and to church for half of sacrament meeting. She really enjoyed how welcoming everyone was, and said she wanted to go for the whole thing next week. We will see her on Tuesday with a recent convert named Abi and then have dinner with Abi's family and Roseanne! It'll be super good. 

Funny

Last night we were walking back to our flat and an eastern european guy stops us (imagine it being dark and on a footpath AKA sidewalk). He tells us he has something for us. Out of his grocery bags he pulls out a small box of cigarrettes and offers it to us. (What a nice Christian gesture. After all, sharing is caring!) We tell him we don't smoke. And he puts the cigarrettes back. He has us take his phone number so we can call him if we need anything. He then shakes Elder Mthombini's hand and gives him a kiss on the head. In fear, I await my turn. He then shakes my hand and gives me a fat smooch on the top of my head. I was definitely not expecting this to happen to me yesterday. I hope you enjoyed this story, and I hope you never get kissed on the forehead by a stranger.

What I learned about myself

I will likely develop even more patience as a future father. My patience with kids was tried a couple times this past week. But I feel I did pretty well :D Kids are cute and fun so that makes it not so bad.

Love you guys! I will send some pictures and personal emails.

Elder Withers

 

 

 

 

 

[SENT AUGUST 1] 

The District

Hey Gusters,    

I'm trying to think of a non cliche way to begin this. I want to break the routine. "Routine is the enemy of time. it makes it fly by." I'll send the video I got that from. Elder Parkin showed it to me. It's amazing. It'll probably change your life :) Let me know what you think of it. 

I shall share my weeks stories:

 

Things That Took place in Tottenham

I said goodbye to Elder Parkin on Wednesday and was joined by Elder Mthombeni. I sent this description to mom but here it is for everyone! His first name is Senzo (super cool). His last name is pronounced m(small emphasis)-Tom-Benny. Elder Mthombeni. Last transfer with Elder Parkin is an absolute blur. It's very strange...I mesh super well with Elder Mthombeni.  Hes a funny guy with a great work ethic and sense of humor. He is the oldest of two siblings (17 year old sis Presentia and 15 year old bro Tumelo). His step dad is the branch president in Johannesburg and his mum joined the church when he was 3. He's super good at African dance. He worked at home as a customer service consultant at a bank. People only came to him for complaints (that was his job). So I guess you could say he's pretty patient. He liked lifting at home. He's 5'6 and he packs a (spiritual) punch. No worries, he hasn't hit me just yet. 

I really like transfers; whenever there's a change of companions or areas I feel it gives me more motivation to work hard. It's a fresh start! 

On Saturday there's a woman I spoke with on the bus named Mabel! She was super cool. She's from Ghana and she'll be here until October. We actually missed our stop on the bus by a long shot because I was finishing talking with her. We met with her yesterday and she accepted a baptismal date! I really do know the Lord is preparing His children to accept the Gospel. 

 

On the bus

 

Humorous Happenings Here in Heaven

On Thursday, we had dinner with Brother Malcolm. He fed us mucho food, but it was good. Rice, wings, salad, and watermelon. After the lesson, we sat in his living room. His cat decided to make himself at home on my lap. Thus the video that I sent.  

 

 

Funny quotes from Brother Malcolm (Jamaican) who fed us: "I think you guys are ready for your melon now" 

Talking about Thomas, the cat sitting on my lap, "He's a spoiled cat. He like that". Ahh  

One of the missionaries said I looked like Riley from the 3rd Twilight movie Eclipse. I don't know who that is or what he looks like. Hopefully it's a compliment.  

Lessons Lovingly Learned 

After a really powerful spiritual experience in Seven Sisters, we talked with a man of great faith and knowledge. It basically turned into a back and forth kinda argument. The spirit left and I just felt angry, annoyed, and frustrated. It's just silly to argue with someone; it brings hard feelings, drives away the spirit, and 100% of the time the person won't want to meet with us. Overall I'm pretty good at being charitable and non contentions, just for the record :D 

There was guy we went on a walk with last night. We talked a lot about reasoning and finding truth. As we spoke, I felt charity for him. I understand the part of the Doctrine and Covenants that says the teacher and learner will be edified and rejoice together. My understanding and appreciation of the gospel has grown so much on my mission. During our conversation, everything he said fit into what I know and feel to be true. It was such a positive conversation, even though he was too busy at the moment to pursue the Gospel. The first time I spoke with him (Saturday) I felt a bit of resistance/contention. But yesterday I felt love, I listened, understood what he was saying, and it was a really positive conversation. I'm actually now really interested in what Socrates taught about.  

Superb Spiritual Sensations

Here's the powerful experience I referred to! We were finding in seven sisters on Wednesday and I talked with a man in Spanish. As I spoke with him, I really felt the Spirit strongly testify of the truthfulness of what I was saying. Sadly this man rejected my invitation to meet with us because he works 7 days a week. It's sad that worldly priorities interfere with what matters most, but I'm grateful for the powerful experience that I had. I actually think that was the strongest I've felt the Spirit while talking with someone on the street! And it was in Spanish :)

On a bus yesterday I talked to a guy and missed our stop by a bit (notice a common theme?). While waiting for a bus, I asked a guy walking by "what's the best thing about your day". After this question ensued a seven  second pause; it was so long I found it humorous. To illustrate this moment, imagine me, my companion, a dark night, a bus stop on one side and a store on the other, with a short Italian man with his shirt partially unbuttoned, playing music from his phone. He answered my question, and we continued talking. Later in the conversation he told us he could feel our presence. This was a neat experience. I felt the spirit while talking with him. Sadly he lives in the London South mission. But hopefully we can get him to move to Walthamstow/Tottenham Hale region ;) 

I love you all! Have a fun filled week. 

Love,

Elder Withers

Benjamin Rhama, Alex and Elder Parkin

 

The Vargas Family

 

 

 

[SENT JULY 26, 2016]

Hiya everyone!  

Its been a great week. 

Funny

I have a lot of funny things from this week. Enjoy! 

There was a funny Jamaican woman we talked with. My nose was a bit runny, and when I went to wipe my nose with my sleeve she slapped my arm. Ha! She gave me paper towels, and gave us advice to take care of our mums.  

On a blitz with the Sisters in London North, there was a guy that we were talking to and we asked something like "Do you have any religious beliefs?". When we asked it, he was looking at Sister Fitts' name badge so he said "I see Jesus". The timing that he said it was perfect; it was as if he was answering my question about his religious beliefs. And I was like "Whoa you've seen Jesus?" After talking a bit more I think we found out he was Buddhist... 

On the blitz, there was another guy that we were talking with. He asked about the Book of Mormon I was holding, if it was the only one. I told him it was the only copy in the world. I of course told him I was kidding, and I later gave him "the only copy". 

I texted a Seventh Day Adventist and invited him to the ward barbeque on Saturday. He responded saying he'd be going to church. Classic :) I got him to commit to meeting with us by asking him to share some scriptures with us about the Sabbath day. 

In Alex and Rhama's house, I had to use the toilet. Their bathroom door isn't' the best, and sometimes it opens while you're in there. While I was standing and using the toilet this happened. To maintain privacy, while using the toilet, I balanced on my right foot, and used my left to close the door. Yes.

At the Barbeque on Saturday, there were games. One of them involved me wearing a skirt over my trousers and running back and forth. I sadly tore my trousers on one fateful change of directions. A couple of members noticed as well... Brother Roosendaal helped me out by giving us a lift home in his car. You could say that he 'saved my behind'. I got some nice tan/burn lines from the barbeque. 

I had my first DA in 5 weeks at the Ojukwus. They don't feed us very much here :) 

Things in the week

We had interviews with President and Sister Stevens in the Hyde Park chapel. 

We went to the Vargases on Friday for dinner. Our appointment was for 4pm, and the food was ready at 5:30... So we had to eat quick and go. The food was Columbian and it was AMAZING. So Sabroso. Rice, juicy pork seasoned amazingly, and super good salad, with a good bean soup.  

The missionaries in Lea Valley ward hosted a barbeque on Saturday! Alex and I were the cooks. It was fun!

Spiritual Promptings/Experiences

On the way to the church on Tuesday, we took the tube. There was a sleeping woman across from us. I was prompted to wake her up and talk with her. So I did! She agreed to meet with us again, but she didn't show. I feel good anyways for talking with her. 

We saw Hanson! I may have said this in my last email, but he and his family have moved to Brixton...When we first saw him he told us he felt sad. We talked to him and watched a couple Mormon messages sitting near our flat in Tottenham Hale. Afterwards Hanson felt much better. He told us as well that he's been reading the Book of Mormon and praying every night! And that's with no recent follow up from us! 

The Work

We met with a former investigator named Fernando. Elder Parkin called him. He originally met Elders Parkin and Tonks in the Tottenham hale retail park a while back. He actually approached them, and called them Elders. He's been to the church in Columbia and he likes it. The only concern is his busy work schedule. He had a job interview on Monday (what a miracle) and we fasted for him yesterday that he'd get it. He is working towards 4 Sep as his baptismal date! 

We taught Jorge and Marcella last night with Brandon Vargas. He shared a cool story of how his brother was in a coma and he prayed hard and long for him. His prayer was answered and his brother was alright. I applied this to all of us; if we just pray and say "is the BoM true? Amen", that's good, but when we are really invested in what we are praying for (ex. a brothers life), when we put our heart into our prayers, that's when we are more likely to receive an answer. Maybe that's what Jorge and Marcela lack? I don't know.... I need to study and pray more about it because they are still not receiving/recognizing an answer to their prayers yet... 

Elder Parkin will be transferred to Northampton tomorrow! I am staying in this area and will be joined by Elder Mthombeni, from South Africa. He is from my MTC group! He's a good guy. I'm excited! 

Love you all! Have a great week 

Elder Withers

Brother Ojukwu

Lovely salmon lunch

Hello familia!

Its been another great week. The weather in London today is absolutely beautiful.

English Culture

This isnt really english culture but we baked Salmon yesterday. It was good

A missionary from Brazil made Coxhinas and chocolate covered straweberries. They were the best chocolate covered strawberries Ive EVER HAD IN MY ENTIRE LIFE! The chocolate coering was made from condensed milk and chocolate and it had chocolate sprinkles. So it was really guey and soft and didnt break apart when you ate it. I guess its english culture because I was in England when I ate them...

Funny

We saw a black cat and I called it a dirt bag. And as soon as I did it looked right at me. I actually took a video of this event. I will send it to Brock. If you like a copy, consult him. D)

We got a nice text from someone I talked with on a bus. It said “Sorry i can don text me or call me anymore bye”. I took a picture of it because I found it humorous.

Miracles

On Tuesday, the Victoria Line was closed due to a suicide, so we took an alternate route into Central London for a District Meeting. On the tube, a guy started talking to us. He told us he seen missionaries before in Greece. We found out, to our surprise, that he lives in Tottenham Hale as well! What are the odds... We will see him this week.

Spiritual Experiences

After dinner on Tuesday, I was feeling pretty tired. Regardless, we went out to find. I received a very specific prompting that if we stopped everyone, we find someone who would meet with us. Soon enough, we met a guy named Eugene that we set up an appointment for. I was energized by the Spirit. Sadly, the appointment hosed, but it was a cool experience.

I had a couple neat experiences with prayer this past week. For one of them, I was kneeling in our living room in our flat praying, and I just really felt the Spirit strongly as I prayed. On another occasion, I was praying to know what I need to do for the zone. The inspiration came to “Light the Fire within” (Something Sister Stevens shared in a recent training). Before my personal prayer, I had received the inspiration to remind a missionary of his own conversion, and help him desire to help others feel the same way as he.

The Work

I gave a training on lesson plans on Wednesday in District Meeting. We also had a really good lesson on the Sabbath day with Jorge and Marcela, with a focus on the sacrament. And they came for the first time yesterday! Yes!! They're practically a supermodel couple...

Alex received the Priesthood yesterday! His wife is working towards her baptism in August.

What I learned

I had a cool insight while talking with Elder Parkin. He shared his experience of feeling the Spirit from an ensign article he read on Friday morning of a dad helping his handicapped son pass the sacrament. My insight was that people feel the Spirit when there is something related to and interesting to them, that they connect with. We must connect with the things we read, hear, and see in order for our hearts and minds to be opened. Thats the reason why you feel the spirit especially strong when watching a video of someone in a similar situation to you, or when you read a passage of scripture that applies directly to you you have a powerful spiritual experience, or when someone says something in sacrament that speaks to you you start crying, etc. For this reason, we need to teach, testify, and invite with authenticity, and give people relevant and related lessons and commitments.

Have a great week familia!

Love,

Elder Withers

 

[SENT 7/11/16]

Windsor Castle

Hiya Family!                                                                           

I shall format my letter in a similar way as I did last week. Enjoy :)

English Culture

Today we visited Tower Bridge and a Freemason temple. Both were amazing! I think we were at Windsor Castle as well... I'm not sure the name of the castle we saw. I'll send some pictures.

 

Events in My Week

We had Zone Training Meeting on Friday in the Hyde Park chapel! It went really well. 

 

Zone

 

We had lunch with Alex and Rhama on Saturday! Elder Parkin and I helped prepare food. 

 

 

We did two hours of service for a lovely Ghanain family that we met last week! We helped them clean up their back garden, and then taught them (Mom, and two daughters) the Restoration. Service softens hearts :)

My Growth

My perspective on leadership continues to develop... I realize more and more how much of an opportunity I have to impact missionaries for good; to really help them and make a difference in their work. 

I have lost over 10lbs since the middle of June! I'm still not where I want to be, but I'm committed to get healthier. Follow up with me next week and keep me accountable! :)

Alec on Tower Bridge

Miracles
This is kinda a miracle/heartbreak story... But here we go. On Tuesday while street contacting we come across this woman with a cup of alcohol in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Her name is Marie and she's 31. She's had a tough life; she lost both her parents, she no longer has custody of her 2 kids,  and she's practically thrown her life away because of drugs and alcohol. Since we found her in Walthamstow, we were close enough to walk with her to the church. We took her into the chapel and to the sacrament table. We talked about how Jesus could help her since He knows what she's going through. I was prompted to play the Mormon message that tells the story of a man who went through a similar experience to her. It's called "The Savior Wants To Forgive." Watching the video with her invited the Spirit so strongly! She was crying at the end of the video. We set up another time to meet with her, but sadly she didn't make the appointment for Wednesday, and the successive appointment for Saturday. She has lost control of her life because of her addictions. It's heartbreaking, especially since I could picture her changing her life. 

So remember how I was debating getting a new suit? I had decided not to get one until the end of my mission. Not long after that decision was made, I was looking in my closet and I saw a suit that I hadn't seen before! It was a suit someone had left behind. I tried it on, and the jacket was pretty good, but the trousers were too short and too baggy. So I took them to a Dry Cleaning/Tailoring place near our flat and got the trousers adjusted! So I got a new suit for about £23. What a deal! "There can be miracles...when you believe" (quote from Prince of Egypt)

Lessons Learned

We had an AP Exchange with Elder Steuer. He's a great guy. He shared a really cool spiritual thought with us from Moses 5:5-7. The "firstlings of our flocks" is the sacrificial offering. In our day, we offer our agency, since it's the only thing we can put on the altar of sacrifice (see verse 5). Some times we don't know why we put our will on the altar, or why we are obedient, but we do it anyways (verse 6). The promise with obedience is that we grow in our knowledge and understanding of the Atonement. We come to know Jesus Christ (7).  Cool, huh?

I love you all! Have a wonderful week.

Con amor,

Elder Withers

 

Two more categories to add to my list [sent in separate email]

Funny

Someone told me they heard Mormons were born dead, and someone else said that we believed black people had no souls. Thanks for the misconceptions, Satan. 

The Work

Last night we had a lesson with a Romanian guy named John. He's a man of great faith, and not as great English. As we were trying to teach him, he confused "prophet" for "profit", as he told us that he wasn't here for money he was here to pray. At one point, we busted out google translate on our iPad's to convey to him the idea of baptism. Thank goodness for technology. He accepted a date for baptism on Drake's birthday :) So we'll see how it goes.

Our investigator is doing well. There's a concern that could keep him from baptism regarding a difficult situation with one of the commandments, but he has a really great testimony and understanding of everything we've taught him. He brought his mother to church with him on Sunday, and we gave her a cake we made (it was her birthday on Saturday) I think we made a good first impression ;)

Alex was confirmed in sacrament meeting. The next project is his wife, Rhama. I love their family so much...

Love you's!

Elder Withers

Inside the Freemason Temple

Tower Bridge

Panoramic from flat

Freemason Temple

 

On Tower Bridge at mission boundary


 

 

Elder Parkin, Unknown Elder and Elder Alec

Hola!
 

Happy Fourth of July! I hope England shoots off some fireworks today... But I'm not too optimistic. 

I'm going to structure my email a bit differently today. Let me know what you think:

English Culture:

- I Visited Buckingham Palace Today

 

Buckingham Palace

 

- The Weather is really moody

- There is diversity everywhere

- It's fun to travel on the Tube and get to know the stations and the tube lines better. 

- People don't usually talk on the tube. Until you talk to them first... (Insert smug face here)

 

 

Funny experiences

We accidentally bought a ton of fruit today. We just kept loading up our cart at Lidl and spent more than we intended. Hopefully it lasts :) Fruit is life. 

 

"Fruit is Life."

We were waiting for the train yesterday while travelling to Ilford for a baptismal interview. We were sitting on a bench, and talking, when I look across the tracks to see a small boy with his back towards me. He's at the edge of the fence facing the trees, and a stream of fluids comes from within his body. All the while, his dad stands proudly at his side. What has the world come to. 

Lessons I learned this week:

- I had an exchange with a certain elder this past week. He goes home later this year, and he's been having some struggles. During the exchange evaluation, he shared with me his struggles. Once again, I realised you can never judge someone, because you never know the full story

- A Quote from Jeffrey R. Holland stuck out to me. In essence it said "my morning schedule and routine will tell the tale of my day, month, year, mission and life" Wow...

Spiritual Experiences:

President Kearon came to our mission on Wednesday and it was amazing. Some of the things I gleaned from the conference with him, his wife, and President and Sister Stevens are as follows: 

-Pray every day that the Lord is preparing people in my current and future areas (Sis Kearon)

- Imagine the Lord being my companion for the day; How would I be different (Sis Kearon)

- Attack the morning; by praying with real intent, exercising (meaning I must sweat), taking a shower and then ending with a cold blast of water, and having good studies (Pres Kearon)

- Gain greater conviction of what the gospel and specific commandments do for me so I can bear greater personal witness in colloquial terms to those I teach (Pres. Kearon)

MLC was just amazing. President Kearon and his wife came. This was the best MLC of my entire mission... Sister Kearon shared a powerful, personal experience. As she shared, I felt the Spirit so strongly testify that God is so near to each of us, and he will never leave our side. There is no way for me to adequately describe the Spirit that was there, besides what it says in 3 Nephi 17:16 "The eye hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard, before, so great and marvelous things as we saw and heard." The Kearons are spiritual giants.

London Mission Conference

Even though I've been in Leadership for a while, I had my first baptismal interview yesterday! It was held in the Ilford chapel (which looks kinda like a castle). It was a very nice Spiritual experience. The candidate was well prepared, understood the responsibility that accompanies baptism, and had a very sweet, humble, simple, yet powerful testimony. 

Other just good experiences

- On Wednesday we ate dinner at a Columbian restaurant in Turnpike Lane with Valentina and Hanson. I spoke spanish to the chef, and tried to set up a time to meet with him, but he wasn't interested. It's all good though. I tried an Arepa for the first time! I sent a picture of it, but it's basically a rice disk with a burger, and cheese, and tomato, and something random on top. 

 

Arepa

The DeJohns (A Senior missionary couple) took us out to dinner after MLC to a really nice Italian restaurant in South Kensington. I just really enjoyed that time with them. They brought with them a friend that works with them in the archives, with whom I feel I made a positive impact (she seemed less than happy for whatever reason. she's an older lady). I spoke spanish to a couple that sat neighboring us, and gave them a Mormon.org card when they left. I left a Mormon.org card on the table with a brief thank you written on the back. I talked to a less active member from Stevenage on the Tube. And in the tube station, as we were walking I followed the prompting to stop a girl with a shirt that said "Spiritual gangster". She seemed quite interested, and lives in stratford. I told her that we were Spiritual Gangsters, too. haha

 

This was a great week! I really do love London. Thank you for your prayers and support.

Love you all!

Elder Withers

 

Happy Bday, Elder Withers! From Amos Family <3