I hope everyone's week has gone well and you're enjoying yourselves! It's crazy to think that it's already August! Time just seems to fly by out here and the next thing you know, it's another p-day. This week was awesome! We had a ton of miracles happen and we can really see the Lord's hand in the work over here in Farnborough! But I hope everyone is doing swell again!
Monday: July 27th, 2015
So after we finished emailing and all, we had a lesson with the Baker family and they also had a friend (Ryan) sit in on the lesson and we were teaching the Plan of Salvation and he was really interested in a lot of things and kept asking questions about it all. We drew out the plan for him and we gave him a Book of Mormon to read and to join us for the next lesson.
Tuesday: July 28th, 2015
Today was special. We had lunch at the Johnson's and they gave us four referrals to go visit after and so we Elder Richins and I did just that. So we were so happy to have some referrals finally and we went and walked to each home and guess what.. none of them were interested. One slammed the door right on our face and we just stood there and were like... k..? But the others talked with us for a bit but declined to meet with missionaries again so we'll just have to keep them our prayers and let the Lord do the rest!
Wednesday: July 29th, 2015
TODAY WAS THE BEST DAY IN THE MISSION SO FAR!!! We had our district meeting in Bracknell (which took about an hour to get there) but we learned a lot of things and what we could focus on for helping the Baker family get ready for their baptismal dates on August 29th. But here's where things get CRAZY. So we went over to the Baker's for our lesson with David, Charlie, and Ryan was there as well. Elder Richins and I decided to start from lesson one to help Ryan understand everything because he was INTERESTED! So we taught them all the Restoration and the Gospel of Jesus Christ together. Best decision ever! The Restoration went super well and then we jumped into lesson three and as we were teaching about baptism and repentance, Charlie asked us questions about her family being sealed together forever. We explained it to her, and here's the miracle. You could see the light in her eyes flicker and she stood up, grabbed all her tobacco and threw it away, came back inside, and said, "you know what, that's not good enough" so she ran back into the kitchen, grabbed all of her teabags and went outside and threw ALL of those away as well... everyone in the room was just blank faced. She came back and sat down with just this huge smile on her face and was so involved in the lesson after that. We finished up the lesson by reading 3 Nephi 11(originally we only planned to read 3 verses) and Charlie said we should read the whole thing with excitement (another miracle) So we finished up the entire lesson and proceed to answer more questions they had that were concerning them or of the sort, and then we got Ryan a baptismal date for August 29th as well! Elder Richins and I went back to the flat and were just on cloud 9 the whole night. That lesson was as close to perfect as you could get (so we think) but now our focus is to keep them doing everything they need to do to prepare for the end of the month and then the rest of their lives! It truly was a day of miracles...
Thursday: July 30th, 2015
Very uneventful day following Wednesday. We just did some service for a member and helped them pack the moving truck and then did some visits to recent converts and finished up with some contacting.
"Service Day"
Friday: July 31st, 2015
Today we met up with someone who stopped us on Thursday and wanted some information on the church (yes... he stopped us, miracle right?) but it went well and then we headed to the flat and Elder Richins taught me how to make Korma Curry. (SO DELICIOUS, but the states doesn't have curry so bummer...) Later, we finished up with contacting and then some studies.
Saturday: August 1st, 2015
We woke up and were amazed that it was already August and we were so happy to flip the calendar page (we're weird like that) but we went and did our usual contacting in the town center and we met a really awesome guy named Tony. He's studying to be a religious studies teacher so he know a ton of things about other religions and what their books say and what they believe but guess what church he hasn't studied or read up on. That's right!=) He was super interested in wanting to know more so we exchanged numbers, handed him a Book of Mormon and we are meeting up with him tomorrow (August 2nd) and we'll begin teaching him more. We had another lesson that night with Scott (Daniel's brother) and he has some stuff going on in his life right now so we had to push back his Baptism to the 29th as well, so now the entire family will be together on that date. (zone leaders also told us that on the 29th, half of our zones baptisms will be taking place on that day so what a blessed day that will be)
Sunday: August 2nd, 2015
Fast Sunday! I hope everyone's fast was amazing and you got some answers to your prayers! I know I did! But I had the opportunity to formally introduce myself to the ward and also bear my testimony and it was so nice to finally do that. But church went well, we then went to the Mcfarlane's for lunch and had a very delicious chili con carne meal. Since it was fast Sunday, we were starving so after lunch, we also had a dinner appointment at Tammy's (she is seriously the best) but she made us steak with mashed potatoes and veggies and wow... it was so good to finally taste steak again. We finished up by having waffles and ice cream, brownies and caramel. SO GOOD! The end of our Sunday was just a zone conference call with our leaders and that was it.
"England Sky"
Monday: August 3rd, 2015
Today we just did some shopping and then we are heading to Bracknell for a zone p-day and FINALLY... FINALLY I get to play basketball... it's been weeks since I've even touched a basketball, let alone shoot one.. so that'll be interesting. We also have a lesson with the Baker's tonight so hopefully that all goes well!
I love you all and think about you like crazy! It's already almost been a month! Crazy, but the work is starting to pick up and I'm finally getting the hang of things so we're almost at that stage of just unfolding the miracles that the Lord has in store for us! Love you all and hope to hear from you soon!
--Elder Rivera
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