Today we just got haircuts and then went shopping and had to carry like 10 bags each of food back to the flat and our arms were shaking. (it wasn't because we are weak... we just bought loads amounts of food to last us cause we eat so much every day... so don't judge!) We just finished eating lunch and then we have lessons later on tonight with David and Charlie and then Andrew so we'll see how tonight goes!
My Current Address is:
17 Chapter House
294 Farnborough Road
Farnborough, Hampshire
GU14 7NH
England
Mail any letters to the above address and pray they make it =)
President Preston and Sister Preston
Thursday: July 16th, 2015
So we went and did contacting inside Picadilly Square and that was, umm... fun. Some people just really don't want to listen to you so that got annoying. I think one thing I learned from contacting is that no matter what people say or the way they look at you, you just have to open your mouth and just start a normal conversation and then apply their responses to a gospel principle.
Friday: July 17th, 2015
Friday just seems to be the fastest day of the week and I don't know why, but it just does for some reason. Anyways, today we just were back in the classroom and were working on more lessons and role plays as a district.
Saturday: July 18th, 2015
So Saturdays in the MTC were just the greatest. Nothing like pizza and root beer for lunch and let me tell you, that is still hands down, one of the greatest combinations ever. (could change soon) But lessons went well again (practice).
Sunday: July 19th, 2015
Now, this was the greatest Sunday by far. To start, Sacrament was focused on the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the spirit that was there was amazing. We each have to understand the Atonement to a personal level and why we need it and why our Savior went through that for us (but more importantly, he would've done it for just one person if it meant saving them) But also, the rest of the day was fantastic! Why? Well, for one, my testimony grew two-fold in just a few short hours of being at Church and then I had the opportunity during our testimony meeting to hear so many wonderful testimonies from the amazing missionaries that were there and I also felt prompted to share mine so that's what I did. One that really hit me during my stay at the MTC was Elder Moraes's testimony. Every time he bore his testimony, I couldn't do anything but just cry... it was so powerful and it has seriously changed me for the better. He's going to be quite the missionary in the London Mission!
Monday: July 20th, 2015
I couldn't believe how fast the time has gone by! Two weeks seriously flew and we were already at the end of our stay. It was so hard to think about leaving cause half of the friends I made at the MTC, I won't be able to see them for quite some time! But one thing I know for sure is that we are all going to do the work of angels for the next 2 years and really work some miracles in our respective missions.
Tuesday: July 21, 2015
So for our final day in the MTC, we just had loads of meetings and role plays to get us ready for the real deal. Again, today being our last day as one big giant group, emotions were bouncing around (for me at least) Again, good-byes are not the best. But for our final night together, we got to do one more temple session with the London Groups which was AMAZING. I had the opportunity to give another blessing to a sister missionary who felt prompted to ask me for one before we left and let me just say this... having the Priesthood is the greatest thing ever. But after, it was time to arrange everything and get it all packed up and ready to go for the morning!
Elders
Sisters
Wednesday:July 22, 2015
FINALLY! So we left the Preston MTC around 6:15am and hopped on a bus to head to the mission home in Newchapel, Surrey. It took about 5 hours to arrive and we were greeted by hundreds of missionaries. IT WAS SO OVERWHELMING, but then it calmed down haha. After going through more interviews with my Mission President and his Counselors, we had lunch and then got ready to receive our first companion and/or trainer. So my Trainer(Dad) is Elder Richins, he is from Utah and we have a TON OF THINGS in common. But after taking pictures and bidding our farewells, we caught a train to Farnborough and then settled in and went to dinner at a recent converts home (Tammy). My Mission President is such a stud. We too have a ton in common and his personality is just pure bliss. I'm blessed to have him as a mission President and can't wait to see how much work we can all get done under his direction.
President Gubler and Sister Gubler
Elder Richins and I seriously just jumped right out of the gate and got to work. We went into the local town center and did some street contacting and although a lot of people just ignored us as they walked by or said some not so nice things... we did have quite a few people stop and actually talk with us. So just a few, we met Daniel, Tek, Miles (I gave him my first Book of Mormon and that was seriously the best feeling ever), Manuel, Jim, and another elderly man that didn't give us his name. But all of them were ready to hear the message we share. Each of them had tons of questions and I got to share of lot of personal stories about how the Gospel has blessed my life and how I've only been a part of the LDS Church for 16 months! People were like.. "What? Really? What was it like for you?" So with a couple, I got to share my story with them and you could see how amazed they were, their eyes just flickered like a light bulb. However, although all of them were interested, we weren't able to set up any appointments at this time. But we're praying we bump into them again or they call us back.
Matthew:
First real lesson and all I have to say is it went super well. If Colton had a British Doppelganger, this is him. But he is Catholic and has met with missionaries for quite some time now and he loves the teachings. He does get distracted quite easily but when we teach, he's focused in on what we are saying and then asks brilliant questions about the topic.
After that lesson, we were walking back to the flat and we ran into Glen... He doesn't believe in anything. His belief is that we are seriously just organisms that turned into humans and then are granted this wonderful gift of a brain that allows us all to imagine these crazy things and gain beliefs that there is a supreme being out there. He also told us that us Mormons are all going to be VERY VERY disappointed when we die and realize that there's nothing there. But as nicely as I could, I told him he was wrong and that when that day comes, he'll know that we were right and we would gladly teach him in the spirit world. =)))
We also ran into another guy named Scott and just shared a quick message with him and then I gave him a Book of Mormon and invited him to read it and pray about it to know it was true.
SO the first full day was quite eventful.
Friday: July 24th, 2015
We did more contacting in the town center and then went and did some knocking and having 50 doors slammed in your face... that's the greatest feeling in the world. I just kept smiling and laughing because people are so immediate to slam the door when two good looking chaps are waiting on their doorstep with a badge and a book in their hand. haha. So after that we said another prayer to help us find someone to teach and nothing... BUT, we did knock and find a members home and they invited us in for some hot chocolate and biscuits (cookies) since it was pouring outside (forgot to mention it was raining super hard all day long)
Later that day, we ran into a man named Steve from Scotland. Now you may laugh at this story or not... but Elder Richins and I seriously couldn't stop laughing after. So Steve is totally hammered and you could just smell the alcohol as he spoke. But he was a nice guy (to Elder Richins), Steve did not like me... not one bit. He was telling stories about how he has 2 girlfriends (Steve is 50, girls are 34 and 46) but then out of no where he asked us if we had any girlfriends. Totally unexpected but then after we both said no, he was like why not? So we explained our selves and he totally just called me out. He told me that I would not be able to get a girl and he could do better than me at age 50, but he said I looked wealthy so I could just go buy a girlfriend or something... but then he told Elder Richins the total opposite... but long story short, I totally got dissed by a drunk 50 year old Scottish man and wasn't even mad.
Elder Richins and myself
We also ran into a girl named Jasmine, she has 2 kids and is 50/50 on the whole idea of God being real so we left her our number and said a prayer with her and then I invited her to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it and she accepted.
We finished the night with a lesson at David and Charlie's (married couple with a baptismal date on August 29th) They are an amazing family, they have a 4 month old daughter named Leya and a HUGE dog named Demon(Husky German Sheppard mix, I fell in love with that dog) but the lesson went well and we're just trying to help them stay on track for their date and then help them reach the temple to be sealed as a family for time and all eternity!
Saturday: July 25th, 2015
Slowest day of the week by far... nothing eventful at all. Again it was a lot of rejection but I did manage to plant two more copies of the Book of Mormon but other than that... nothing. We had dinner later that evening at the Tom's family home and then just went back to the flat to plan. We got a call from our Zone Leaders and guess what... we get to sing a duet during zone conference!!! YES. So we have to come up with a good song revolved around the Savior so taking requests now!=)
Sunday: July 26th, 2015
First Sunday in Farnborough was interesting. We don't have a chapel so we meet at a local school which is new to me but Church is Church! Members seem to be attracted to new missionaries and it was weird for a bit. The ward is amazing and they feed us loads so I'll be expecting a couple of pounds to be added on to my skeletor figure. But today consisted of just Church and traveling back home(planted a Book of Mormon to a nice young chap named Clive on the bus) and then we went and had dinner with the sweetest family ever(Rushforth's) They made us Burgers and they were so bodacious. But then we got a wonderful call from our zone leaders before bed and lets just say, the spirit gave them a witness and they are expecting a lot from Elder Richins and I this week. The miracle season is about to unfold and God's work is going to flourish here in the England London South Mission very soon. Blessed to be a part of this work and can't believe it's almost been a month already... time flies by very fast over here when you're busy, but I love being a missionary and again, wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world right now then where I am right now.
Future Companions Elder Persicke and Elder Rivera
Love you all and thank you for the support and emails, keep sending me more and if you have questions about anything, feel free to ask and I'll answer to the best of my ability! Much love from Farnborough (Reading Zone)!!!
-Elder Rivera
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