This week I actually really enjoyed.. It went by very very fast, but
also very slow... Especially yesterday!!!
So, the news:

Elder Mattu is leaving and going to Middlesborough
I'm going to stay..............
In the mission and go to Sunderland , so we're both being moved!

I've definitely felt the influence of Christ throughout this training
experience, I've grown in many ways, more than I thought I even could
in many different aspects, I'm glad that this is a gospel of change,
but a change for the better.. We can become our best selves and we can
grow to appreciate so many more things when we apply the gospel to our
lives and do the fundamentals of the gospel. Elder Mattu is a great guy and everyone loves him. He definitely helped me learn that I need to be myself, not caring about what others think of me, to go with the flow and also love people!

But besides transfers, this week we got another new investigator who
has a baptismal date, unfortunately we won't be here to baptize either
of our people, we also had an investigator come to church, who also
stayed ALL 3 HOURS! Which they have never done before, they've been
investigating for a while too!

So, we were sitting in church on Sunday too, I wanted to bear my
testimony but didn't have time, what I was thinking of saying was; I
haven't been on this earth for very long, I don't have the most
experience, but what I do know is that this life isn't, wasn't or
meant to be easy, we will always go through a trial, good or bad, no
matter who you are, people suffer and that's just the way life goes,
we will never be able to escape trials or suffering, but what we do
have is a saviour, we have someone who can walk that journey with us,
who knows how to succour us, who knows how to support us through our
difficulty and hardships, I'm so very grateful for a saviour and
redeemer, who is Jesus Christ.. There's a quote that I said last night
when we were doing a scripture chase, I said: "the son of man hath
descended below them all. Art thou great than he?" (D&C 122:8) I've
definitely had them help me through my difficulties as a missionary
and through my hard times.

Snow in Hull

We had zone conference last week. The thing I took from Zone conference was definitely being patient and finding the good in people. Sometimes we'll be walking down the street and receive verbal abuse or when we approach someone they will just be completely disrespectful and mean, so I want to learn to just take it on the chin and not get aggravated or offended by it and just learn to develop that charity towards these people.

I also took in to deep consideration the relationships with my companion, district and the zone in general and want to develop that love for those whom I'm able to serve and be a true leader, to notice the opportunity and privilege I have to be able to support and encourage those beside me, to help walk beside them and love them throughout this journey of missionary work.

I really enjoyed zone conference and took many things from it, but them two were definitely the highlights from it. I was glad that we made sure to practice the lessons too because president was very close to choosing us at one point, I've learnt a lot just from preparing for zone conference and staying attentive and hope that I can maintain the goals which I have set for myself to develop charity and a love for those around me that will be uplifting and edifying.

This past week was fun...We worked in the snow for two days, it was freezing

cold and my face got frozen! It was very difficult especially because nobody was in their homes or on the street and those who were just weren't interested in what we had to say.. But we pressed on and found an investigator for the first time in 3 weeks. :) 

Hi guys ...sorry I haven't updated for a few week. It's been a tough time. I hurt my shoulder and been in a lot of pain. I went to the hospital and they said the best thing for me to do is take lots of pain medicine. So that's what I've been doing . I'm just trying to build up strength in that arm again.

Our week wasn't very busy but it was still good. ...we've found it really hard to find and keep our investigators. Everyone we have scheduled for baptism has not progressed that far and have fallen away. We find a lot of potentials but no one we can frequently teach or who can come to church so it's been hard to stay diligent and positive, but we are pressing on! This week there was a lot of walking and talking to people...we've been doing super super well with that! I can honestly say there were only about 7 people that we missed. It always feels good to know that we can say we did all we could and not have success rather than not doing anything and getting no success..we know if we are

diligent the Lord will bless us:). In the pictures there is an owl..have a look at the Mormon message "rescued by Christ "

With Halloween last week we had to return to our flats by 6 pm so we decided to pamper ourselves for a change. :D it was a lot of fun ! 

This week Elder Mattu and I were street contacting and we see a girl with pink hair walk past, who we stop of course, we had just an awesome conversation about her hair and her tattoos and we just had a fun conversation for like 25 minutes, she had to run because she was late to meet her friends for the Hull fair, but she told us we could go over the next afternoon, so we did. There were three of them there that day and we started by having a down to earth conversation about life, movies, music and we just had a good conversation, to when it transitioned in to what we do, with them asking the question, no effort of our own, we testified of God and the cleansing effect he has on our life, spoke of personal experiences, conversion stories, this that and the other and how we're really just normal teenagers, but with one difference.. our religion.. None of them flinched an eye-lid through the whole conversation and they want us to come over and teach the more of what we believe.. It really just shows that we are normal people, we're interesting people who have actual lives too, but not many people know how the gospel can change us ..I love how even though we're normal people, we can bring incredible things to pass!

Elder Jackson cleaning the toilet.

The joys of being a missionary....

I just had an incredible week, we found 2 new people to teach, Our investigator came to conference at the chapel and our other investigators watched it at their home..

I thought conference was amazing...The gospel is wonderful and I want to know all the answers, but these things take a long time to understand.. Sometimes when we teach people, it always seems to go into deep doctrine.. But I really do appreciate the fundamentals of the Gospel, having a testimony of a living Prophet, Joseph Smith as the prophet of the restoration and now Thomas S. Monson, knowing
the Book of mormon to be the word of God and that I have been able to receive that answer for myself.
The most significant thing from conference that I've figured out on my mission was when I learnt for myself that repentance is even for saints, not only sinners.. We all need the atonement, we need to apply it 24/7, without the Atonement, we would all be nothing.
I love these Quotes from conference ....

"Something changes within us as we testify of the restoration of the gospel. He will go before us, on our right hand and on our left, his spirits in our hearts and his angels round about to bear us up . "

"Sometimes it is not comfortable to stand up for Christ . But we need to stand up and testify with power and without hesitation. "

There has been a renewed energy in our area this week. We have an increased teaching pool. My district all had an incredible week, the best I've seen in a district my entire mission! I have zero complaints!:)

Things are going really well over here, I've found training again to be a great learning experience for me. 

So, I think this week I found out how to really pray, I thought I had learnt how to already, but this week was the actual learning experience, I remember one day just feeling exhausted physically and spiritually. I focused on the spirit to guide my prayer and it was literally like I was having a conversation with God. I felt like he was talking back to me and I spent this time on my knees. I remember having concerns about the area, wanting to improve as a missionary and so I went to him with them concerns and I felt like we literally had a conversation about everything. Elder Christofferson said that "to come to a point where you have nowhere else to turn, but to God, one truly learns how to pray" normally it is just a feeling that everything would turn out alright, I found that to be so true, I could only rely on God for the immediate need for help, I needed to realize that I need to take the day at the time and just do what the day requires, I need to rely on God to improve myself and the area to which I serve. Whenever I found that I went to bed after that, I've found that I'm having conversations with Heavenly Father rather than just talking at him. I found that he's very easy to talk to, but it takes us wanting and knowing that we need to walk through life with him and so turning to him.

This week for us was good ..we had an investigator come to church, we had a few 

lessons, one more person to start teaching ....I also can't wait for conference ! :D

Elder Jackson and Elder Mattu

This will be a short one from me because it was transfer week but...

Yesterday we had an amazing miracle, whilst walking down the street we hear "are you God's people?" It was a guy who's life was running in to the ground and he said that he felt someone was different about us, he was attracted to us spiritually, he felt like we had what he needed. He was a man who was planning to commit suicide and he happened to come in to our path and we are able to teach him about faith and the atonement on a park bench, he's meeting with us this evening. It's not by chance that these people come in to our paths and I think it's incredible that I'm able to emanate the light of Christ to the point that people can approach me when they long for hope !

My new companion is called Elder Mattu. He's from Coventry and I'm so glad I am able to train him..he's an awesome guy, I've never seen anyone with so much faith ! 

Turns out I'll be staying here for another 3 months, I'm going to be training a new missionary! I'm excited for it, I think it'll be another experience that will help me so much as a person and missionary.I will have spent literally half of my mission in the 12 weeks programme which is crazy! I'm excited to be helping a new missionary again.... so I'm staying in Hull for General conference and Halloween . I'll post next week who my new companion is !  

This week was strange, I thought I'd be moving so we saw some of our investigators, some came to church, they're doing super well and the good thing is, now that I'm staying I will hopefully be here for a baptism. So I'm happy!  

We had a lot of finding this week, I feel so comfortable talking to people now, it's so strange but so awesome because I know that without the powers of heaven I wouldn't be where I am. !

Anyway here is a small thought for the week. Because of the grace and mercy of the Savior, we don't have to be what we have been..You can move past any situation, any problem or any struggle.. But only by relying on the Savior, we can draw on the powers of heaven to change and to move forward.. It is only through Jesus Christ that we can be saved, it is only by letting him guide us to eternal life that we can get there.

It's been a great week for Elder Dobbs and I . We had 3 people at church with us . We found a couple of new people to teach, we've scheduled another of our investigators but we also got rained on a lot too! 

Yesterday we were knocking and a guy came to the door and spoke to us, he rejected us, (obviously..other wise this story wouldn't be so funny )but then the door to his living room closed super hard and crushed his fingers.. moral of the story, don't reject God! haha

I was thinking this week about the heart.. The heart is always the most important thing to have in the right place, if the heart isn't in the right place we will not be focusing on God and the blessings which he gives us. In the scriptures it's always when people harden their HEART when they cannot see God's influence in their lives and which stops them from progressing, it's the same in missionary work.. If we're not focusing on God and all that he's doing and done for us, we will eventually be relying on ourselves and put him aside, we won't get the blessings he has to offer because we won't be willing to open up to them. So I'm always striving to keep my heart in the work and those whom I'm privileged to be working with!:)

I think the topic that I've been reflecting on the most the past few weeks is repentance, I've taught it many times and I've been speaking to people about it, the church is also releasing some videos called "12 steps to change" today talking about 12 peoples personal experiences with overcoming addiction and there was one powerful powerful video which is Step 1, which says a quote:

"because of the love and grace of the savior, you do not have to be what you have been." I have come to love repentance and I used to think that it was always a bad thing to do, he wants to make us become what we want to become.. We can draw on the powers of heaven to change, if we rely on him.. We don't even need to do something bad to apply repentance to our life or the effects that repentance has.. We can become the best selves that we can be, we can improve constantly for the better, we can ask for our problems to be removed, we can ask for our weaknesses to be changed and I have seen that so much especially this past week. I was never the best at finding people on the street, I would do it, but I was never the best.. even whilst knocking, I will admit, I struggled.. But we went on exchange with the AP's this weekend and I was doing both knocking and street contacted with one of them and I just flowed.. I had improved in that very moment, I don't know what I did differently, I don't know how.. But I know that I changed the way I was finding, I know something had changed within me, I remember praying that night and asking for my finding to be as it was that one day.. Ever since it has been better than ever, I have been a good finder and I know that's because of the strength and promises that the savior has given to us.

I have found as well that I have no problem writing down my faults on to paper as well, I found it very hard to find what I was good at, I tried to think so hard at what I was good at, but realized that I always have more in my faults than I do in my strengths, it's always so easy to find our faults, but as I repent of them faults, as I say to my God, I'm sorry for not doing this today, or I'm sorry for not talking to everyone, I'm sorry for being irritated and repenting of them things and then asking for strength to overcome them faults, I have found strength, it's easier to move past them, God had removed them short comings which were stopping me from becoming the best missionary I can be.

I just want to say thank you to everyone that wrote emails and sent cards and gifts to me for my birthday. It was a strange birthday... I missed being around everyone.. normally I don't want to do anything that's birthday related, so I guess I got what I wanted, but it felt so strange! Even receiving and opening the cards it didn't feel like my birthday.. I didn't really tell anyone either, but it was a humbling experience for me, it really made me realize just how much I've changed as a person.. I didn't actually think of myself the whole day.. I could've easily have slacked in the work due to it being my birthday, but I worked and we received miracles from the work that we did! Hard work really does pay off!  I really feel so much love reflecting on the experience and I feel God's arms around me as I think of just how little I thought about myself . 

I've learnt a lot in the past week.. I think I always worried about how others saw me.. I worry way too much on people thinking I'm cool, or thinking I'm funny and pride was and still kinda is a huge issue for me.. I decided to focus my whole week studying pride every single day.. I have felt a HUGE difference in the way that I act towards others. Praying for me has gotten significantly better and it's all because I've been applying humility, I'm so more thankful for the blessings I have and I never realized just how blind I was until I evaluated myself.. Crazy times!

The highlights from my humility studies are:

Pain brings you to a humility that allows you to ponder

Some suppose that humility is about beating ourselves up, humility does not mean convincing ourselves that we are worthless, meaningless or of little value, nor does it mean denying ourselves or withholding talents God had given us. We don't discover humility by thinking less of ourselves; we discover humility by thinking less about ourselves. It comes as we go about our work with an attitude of serving God and our fellow men.

Humility directs our attention and love toward others and to heavenly father's purposes. Pride does the opposite. Pride draws it's energy and strength from deep wells of selfishness. The moment we stop obsessing with ourselves and lose ourselves in service, our pride diminishes and begins to die.

Well it's transfer week and im staying in Hull with my companion Elder Dobbs. We both have our 19 th birthday in the next few weeks so we will get to celebrate together. 

Stay safe and well :D 

Before the soaking 

After the soaking

Yes it's England ...it's been wet this week.

Nothing else to say :D

This week for us was long..

But good!

We taught 10 lessons, with 8 members present which was super good! It's crazy how much it makes a difference bringing a member with us! Their testimonies are always so much different because they have more experiences in many different aspects!

We also had 29 hours of finding! It was a very long week in that aspect!

We were very diligent and I feel as if that was the lesson that I had to learn.. To keep pushing! 

We literally tried to speak to everyone, I could probably count on 1 hand the amount of people who we let pass, but we didn't reap much from our many conversations! We generally pushed that hardest that we'd ever pushed and we didn't get much at all, it was rough but it's something that made me realize that I will now be able to do more often because I was able to do it all of last week!:)

It was a really great week though, not too much interesting other than that really, but it was still fun! 

This week I've been focusing my studies on Preach my Gospel a whole lot more than I ever have done before; I was going through from the front cover and I'm working my way through to the back and really focusing on what's being said and what I can take and apply from it! 

I was looking through chapter 1: Our purpose and just thinking about Obedience vs Disobedience, I decided to base my district meeting off of it and I learned so much through that study and asking for revelation whilst studying it!

One of the thoughts I had was this:

We give up so many things as missionaries, we miss out on worldly opportunities while we give 2 years of our life to others and to the Lord, we make sacrifices, we do all of this to live by strict rules, for instance, I cannot play football every day, I cannot walk my dog in the forest for hours on end, I can't go for drives by myself, I can't be by myself, I can't go swimming, I can't hang out with my friend for the fun of it, I can't watch any movie I please or even go to the cinema.. It's the small things which are the hardest, but I wouldn't have it any other way.. The way I feel every single day and the way I see people progress, I wouldn't replace to be able to do them things again.. I cannot comprehend how much I've grown as a person and as a missionary, I feel my saviours love, I feel the love of God always and I know that through my obedience he will bless me! This gospel is one of those things which I will always do, the blessings which we receive every single day I just cannot begin to comprehend!

What I also learnt was that even through slight disobedience, it throws off the whole day, it blows up missionary work in your face.. Everything which you have accomplished and gained can be demolished by disobedience and is hard to rebuild.. So I constantly ask myself.. What am I willing to sacrifice to be successful? 

I'm willing to give up all of them things which I miss if it results in me coming closer to perfection, I'm willing to give up what I am for what I can become!

It's something which at the time just seemed like a really great study, but it can apply to me throughout my whole life, it can impact me in ways that I can be obedient after my mission to the church and the commandments, to work and to many other things!:)

This week was super good too, we were able to teach 13 investigator lessons and 5 of which were with a member present! It's been great recently to have members come along with us to teach, especially because they can be a lot more interactive when it comes to kids! We taught 21 lessons total though this week, it was a busy one, but a great one!

I wanted to share a few of my Favorite mormon messages with you...these are my top 5 and if you haven't watched them I'd suggest them all:

1) The refiners fire

2) The hope of God's light

3) Mountains to climb

4) Earthly Father, Heavenly Father

5) Origin

They're all such good messages, I love them!!

This week as well I've been focusing on the Christlike attributes and really focusing on going in depth with them in my studies and I would suggest them for everyone too, as you study them it's really a humbling experience, I feel that with just the past 3 days of studying them I've changed so much as a person, I can definitely see how my charity and love has improves, my knowledge too, I would especially suggest studying knowledge, it really hit me hard when I went in depth with the scriptures related and the messages which I noticed when studying them!

This past week the weather has been great..I've looked forward to being able to walk about in my short sleeves! :D

Transfer calls last night! These past 6 weeks went SO FAST! It was crazy how fast it came around! Unfortunately Elder Narine will be leaving me. My new companion will join me tomorrow. He's been out for 4 1/2 months. He's called Elder Dobbs but that all I know about him. I'm ready for the new transfer And I'm excited to work with a new companion!:)

This week went really fast too, we had an incredible week! The best part was definitely Sunday; We had 3 investigators at Church, 4 Less-Active members and now 2 of the LA's that we were working with are fully active again! It was so great! We taught a total of 15 lessons, got 2 new investigators and the 2 people we have for baptism are still looking very promising! A miraculous week for sure!

One thing that I was looking at this week was "The Fishers of Men" parable! I think it's so significant, especially in missionary work! Follow me and I will make you LEADERS of men.. But that means to keep the commandments. Christ has promised us in D&C 84:88 that he will be in front of our faces, on our right and on our lefts and his angels will bear us up, to those who accept us. We can only do this as we're obedient to his commandments and as we push ourselves!

Eric Thomas gives the quote - "You will only be successful in life until you want success as bad as you want to breathe" "You need to be able at ANY moment to give up what you are, for what you will become!" Our investigators come to mind with that last one, people give up so much to keep the commandments, but as they do, and as we do, his spirit, his strength will be with us, to give us that breath that we need to be successful or to give us that strength that we need when we're going through difficulties so that we can overcome any obstacle, that we can climb any hurdle that life throws at us.

Also you can see from the picture we got our iPads this week....sweet :) 

My companion Elder Narine and I working on our service this past week :) 

We are excited as we are getting iPads this week and have two scheduled baptisms in the next few weeks. :) life is all good in Hull ! 

I really enjoyed being able to watch the special multi stake conference this week.  Elder Holland is SO GOOD! I was so fixed on the screen! I always am when he talks though, he's such a good speaker it's unreal! I was writing and heard what he said and thought " OH MY GOODNESS!! " His conviction of the Book of Mormon was incredibly powerful ! There has been a whole focus on the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Book
of Mormon recently it seems for me though, but my testimony on it all
has increased tremendously! It's so wonderful! I find that testifying
about it on the street isn't even scary any more! I'm always prepared
to stand up for the Prophet when he is talked bad about, I have no
doubt at all that he was a Prophet and I'm willing to share that with
the whole world ! 

A week of endurance

The week started off very slow, which at the time wasn't very fun,
especially as it turns out I got sick that week too, but as we endured
and worked, we were able to gain the lessons which we had hoped to
get. We got 8 lessons in the last few days of the week, because we
endured the week despite illness and heavy rain!

We've also been able to see our investigators who were heavy drinkers cut down a very big amount of alcohol, to the extent that they've been sober the past 2 times that
we've gone over there! They've told us that they've wanted to change
their life and they're starting to do that themselves. One of our
investigators sometimes invites us over to simply say a prayer for her
because of the difference that it makes in her home that day, which is
most definitely because of the spirit that we can take to her in here
home, which is amazing to see!

I've also been thinking about the song "I believe in Christ" the past
few days, so I played it on my iPod this morning and I also found some
cards with pictures of the Saviour and writings on the back of them,
listening to that music whilst reading about the Saviour really
brought the spirit to my attention, it's incredible how powerful
writings on the Saviour can be, I will never deny that Christ is the
son of the living God. I love the spirit that we are able to feel and
the powerful convictions that we have!

 We had our Stake conference this weekend! It was really good, interesting but good! The choir was super though, there's always such an incredible experience when there is music playing.. I love how it invites the spirit so well!:) I have developed such a passion and love for the piano on my mission though; Piano instrumentals are the greatest thing that I could listen to on my iPod! I love it so much!

Our week was really good though! We taught 10 Investigator lessons!:) It's been really great teaching, it's also been great to see our investigators make progressions! I love how the spirit can touch people's lives and help them to make the changes needed to bless them. 

But other than having a good week investigator wise, we had a great week fun 
wise! We saw a drug bust, had a ton of girls wave at us, the usual ;)

 Not much else really, but it was a really great week!:D

Transfer week

After spending my first 7 months in Pontefract I got a call to say I'm heading to Hull. I was sad to say goodbye to the companion I have been training for the last 12 weeks. 

But this week was just incredible! I loved every minute of it!:) So, we
found a couple of new investigators, have new people to work with, and
taught a total of 20 lessons this week! A HUGE CHANGE from Pontefract!

Having a fun time in our flat too, it's such a fun but obedient flat!
We end up laughing until our stomachs hurt everyday! It's just been
incredible!I can already see some great things happening for us! We've had the
best week in Hull 2 for a while! It was so good

Our flat is one of the greatest! There is always someone laughing, it's just awesome! The travel here wasn't too awesome, one of the wheels on my suitcase snapped.. But I can probably fix that!:)