Called to Declare Glad Tidings of Great Joy!

The Fab 5!

Hey all you people, hey all you people won't you listen to me...? (if you know where's that's from, we need to be best friends, unless we already are!)

This week was one for the books! We had our zone conference and then we had exchanges with the Assistants and that was such a blast. Elder Ribeiro and I had a super stellar exchange together. We went contacting for 11 hours and oh my goodness... I never thought it would be so fun! We had a lot of people respond to us and we taught a lot of good solid people and we planted a Book of Mormon which was the first one in a long while... But hey, miracles happen when you stay positive and have the desire to talk to everyone and OPEN YOUR MOUTH! But here is the run down for the entire week! We got to play basketball today and man... Do I miss playing with everyone back home and being on a team... Hopefully the future is bright for #10!

Tuesday: November 10th, 2015
So... Today was great, we started off a little rough by waking up early to wash the car before zone conference and then we drove to Staines for ZC. It started at 10 and finished at 5pm. We learned a lot
about increasing our skills at planning and also becoming a consecrated missionary. (I started a 40 day yesterday (as there are 40 days left till Christmas) and it's called the Process of Purification.
You basically put away and change anything that takes away or offends the Spirit and so for Christmas, I'm planning on doing my best to give my whole heart and soul to the Lord in order to become a more consecrated missionary!) We also got to watch the new Christmas initiative video from the Church before anyone else!:) Learned a ton from ZC and also got to see people from my MTC group again which was nice, we also had a Thanksgiving dinner with everyone.

Wednesday: November 11th, 2015
We didn't do much today, we had to finish up some planning and then we had to travel up to Reading for Elder Richins' final driving lesson before his test this Saturday! We were also completely out of food for the flat so we went shopping during our dinner hour to stock up. Some missionaries in our zone made a covenant with each other that for the rest of our missions, we would not eat any sweets or unhealthy items of food, only exception is at a members home for a dinner appointment. So we have been buying healthier stuff and man... It's so much more expensive... No wonder I just bought In n' Out and Taco Bell all the time...!:)

Thursday: November 12th, 2015
Today was another planning day because we didn't finish on Wednesday. After planning, we had a lesson with Michael and George and we had a cool experience with George. So he is 18, about two months ago we were teaching him and he had a baptismal date and everything and he was committed, however his phone broke and so we lost all contact with him. But by "happens chance" we found him at ASDA one day when we went shopping and he gave us his new number and so we finally were able to meet up with him this time since two months and he totally remembered everything about the Restoration. It was amazing! So we are meeting him again this week and we will invite him to be baptized on December 5th, 2015. We just have to work out some work issues with him because
he works in London Friday to Monday (every weekend) so hopefully it all works out. Pray for us! We finished the night by traveling to Crawley to pick up the Assistants and take Elder Clark to Basingstoke and Elder Ribeiro and I headed to Farnborough and Elder Richins of course, stayed in Crawley with Elder Bos.

Friday: November 13th, 2015
As I was saying earlier, we went contacting for 11 hours and so many things happened. We had a lot of rejection but when a lot of rejection comes, there is always something good that comes from it. Every time we had 10 no's, the next person we talked to was really interested. We found two new investigators and then got a referral for the sisters in Aldershot. We met this girl named Mel who took a Book of Mormon and then also said if she were to read it and prayed about it came to know it was true, she would be baptized. We are meeting up with her again this Friday to see how things are going for her. But she was super super interested and very keen on learning more. It was a really entertaining day with Elder Ribeiro! He wants to come live with me in Arizona before we go to college and are roommates haha! He's a cool guy and a great missionary. He is also from Leeds, England.

Saturday: November 14th, 2015
We exchanged back and the Assistants headed to President's to help him finish moves. They had to start and finish today so it was going to be an all day thing for them. We came home and did even more planning! (If I'm not a good planner by the time I get home... I'll be ashamed!) After we planned we headed to visit a recent convert and then we went to dinner at the Donaghue's. Fun fact... They all have black belts except for two of the young kids... Brother Donaghue teaches martial arts and he's been doing it for about 8-9 years now and he was explaining a lot of cool stuff about it. It would be a fun family thing to do in the future. Challenging... But could be very fun!

Sunday: November 15th, 2015
Ugh... We were very frustrated today... three of our recent converts didn't show up to church. Again! It's really hard but they have their agency but come on... Church is super important and we NEED it. Especially as a recent convert... I know how much it helped me out. After church though we had a quick correlation meeting and then headed to the Hobbs' for dinner. They feed us the greatest and probably my most favorite meal out here. It's just brilliant... Roast dinner! Yum! Potatoes, roast beef, steamed veggies, gravy, and my personal favorite, Yorkshire Pudding. It is so delicious! After we went home and packed and headed up to Reading to finish weekly planning and then did our Sunday night accounting. Transfers are this coming week so we will see what happens! We shall see if I survive another one or if I'll be moved into another zone!

Elder Ribeiro and Myself Being Cheeky!

Verse of the Week:
3 Nephi 5:13
"Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life."

It was a very eventful week and I hope you all have a good one this week! I love you all and hope to hear from you all soon!!!:)

Lots of love from across the pond!
-Elder Rivera