Wow! What a fantastic week it was for the Doncaster area. WE WERE SO BLESSED!!! Ah, now I need to decide on which story to tell first!
Halushky!
No, that wasnt a sneeze communicated over email... Its a traditional family meal from Slovakia! Elder Dundee and I were at our investigator's home for tea (that means dinner, remember?) and it was Bozena and David's last day in England. Bozena is quite a good cook, and right after we finished our lesson she insisted that we be fed! And so we helped prepare with the the traditional ''halusky''! What is halushky you might ask? Well, its onions, bacon, boiled potatoes, and dough deep fried in vegetable oil and served in a glop :) Whats a glop? See first picture ha ha :) It tasted... kinda wierd. Like imagine mixing oatmeal with potatoes and soggy bread :) There's halushky for ya! We of course ate it all and graciously thanked them for their kindness... Right after that, however we went to the russian's home and they had just barely finished eating, and offered us what they had left.
Cold soup.
No, Im not describing the soup in any way in particular, thats actually the name of it ha ha :) It was red cabbage, boiled, and some other salad-esk plants. Ugh. I made a promise to myself afterwards, which was to never eat anything that was liquid and so bright purple ever again ha ha. But it was a good experience, anyway!
Next adventure!
The following night, we had tea at the Maynard Family home, a family from the Doncaster Ward. And we had something that I will probably remember for the rest of my life... Chocolate Pots. The Dessert treat legend. Legions of missionaries have come and gone before me and have tasted such greatness. Wow. Just wow. They are amazing. The only way I could describe it is... Warm, fresh out of the oven brownies, with a gooey liquid chololate centre, that literally dances on your very taste buds. Served with vanilla ice cream. Made from scratch. If I ever find out I have 24 hours to live, that is definitely on the list of desserts I want to have :) Thank you so much Maynard Family!!! You will be blessed :) See Second picture :)
Another miracle of the week! So this past week, it felt like all of the leaders we needed and all of the youth we normally call out to help us teach were gone. Its was actually kinda the case as well. Just this week, there was EFY for the doncaster ward, the Deacon/Beehive camp, and I think all of the parents took this time to go out on holiday :-/ So had hardly anyone to help us teach during the week. But we persisted! And made the necessary plans and sacrifices to once again be blessed to achieve standards of excellence :) Woo!
On thursday, we were in an appointment a little longer than we first anticipated, and as a result we just missed our bus. :( Not only that, but it would be at least 30-ish minutes before the next one would come. So, we looked around, hoping to find someone walking by that we could street contact while we waited. Noone was around :( At this point, an average missionary might have sat down at the bus stop, and waited for either someone to come by or for the bust to come. BUT NOT ELDERS SPENCER AND DUNDEE!!! I recieved a thought to just try some knocking and so thats what we did. The first door we knocked had stickers and signs all over it saying ''No doorstep callers. We do not buy. Dont waste your time'' yada yada yada. We knocked it anyway. This 20s ish woman answers the door, and we give our approach. AND SHE LETS US IN!! Not only that, but her mom was there with her, and they both really liked what we said, and accepted the invitation to be baptised! Not only that, but they also agreed to come to church, which they did, and agreed to come to the baptism, which they did! And they loved it!
Whats that you say? I mentioned baptism, did I...
... Oh yes...
BAPTISM IN DONCASTER!!!!
The baptism of James went off without a hitch!!! It was amazing! We've been teaching James for about 2 months now, and its been a fantastic experience :)
James first came into contact with the church last year, when he was coaching youth football (soccer) in america. The program that he was on allowed him to live with a family who was actually LDS. The family would always go to church on a sunday, and out of respect James decided to go to church with them. A little while later, he returned home to Doncaster to start up on his university work again. His older brother, Tom, was in excatly the same situation in Texas, except he continued to investigate the church, and eventually got baptised there in November, later returning to Doncaster in January. He also attended church here in Donny, and his brothr James was curious about the church and started asking questions... He attended church 3 times before Elder Dundee and I were even able to begin the lessons with him (Even wearing a shirt and tie and everything!) The lessons were easily understood, and his brother Tom taught him the word of wisdom well before we did, to which he readily agreed to live. Since we began teaching him, James has loved participating in all the different church activities that he could, including being a youth leader for the young men, teaching football to the youth for Mutual, and even as a coucillor on this past Deacon/Beehive camp! At his baptismal service, over 100 people attended, including the rest of his family, who were a bit hesitand at first that these two brothers were joining a religion. James was baptised by his brother Tom, last night at the Doncaster Chapel :) Woooo!! (See last two pics. James is the guy in white on the left, and Tom on the right)
On thursday, we were in an appointment a little longer than we first anticipated, and as a result we just missed our bus. :( Not only that, but it would be at least 30-ish minutes before the next one would come. So, we looked around, hoping to find someone walking by that we could street contact while we waited. Noone was around :( At this point, an average missionary might have sat down at the bus stop, and waited for either someone to come by or for the bust to come. BUT NOT ELDERS SPENCER AND DUNDEE!!! I recieved a thought to just try some knocking and so thats what we did. The first door we knocked had stickers and signs all over it saying ''No doorstep callers. We do not buy. Dont waste your time'' yada yada yada. We knocked it anyway. This 20s ish woman answers the door, and we give our approach. AND SHE LETS US IN!! Not only that, but her mom was there with her, and they both really liked what we said, and accepted the invitation to be baptised! Not only that, but they also agreed to come to church, which they did, and agreed to come to the baptism, which they did! And they loved it!
Whats that you say? I mentioned baptism, did I...
... Oh yes...
BAPTISM IN DONCASTER!!!!
The baptism of James went off without a hitch!!! It was amazing! We've been teaching James for about 2 months now, and its been a fantastic experience :)
James first came into contact with the church last year, when he was coaching youth football (soccer) in america. The program that he was on allowed him to live with a family who was actually LDS. The family would always go to church on a sunday, and out of respect James decided to go to church with them. A little while later, he returned home to Doncaster to start up on his university work again. His older brother, Tom, was in excatly the same situation in Texas, except he continued to investigate the church, and eventually got baptised there in November, later returning to Doncaster in January. He also attended church here in Donny, and his brothr James was curious about the church and started asking questions... He attended church 3 times before Elder Dundee and I were even able to begin the lessons with him (Even wearing a shirt and tie and everything!) The lessons were easily understood, and his brother Tom taught him the word of wisdom well before we did, to which he readily agreed to live. Since we began teaching him, James has loved participating in all the different church activities that he could, including being a youth leader for the young men, teaching football to the youth for Mutual, and even as a coucillor on this past Deacon/Beehive camp! At his baptismal service, over 100 people attended, including the rest of his family, who were a bit hesitand at first that these two brothers were joining a religion. James was baptised by his brother Tom, last night at the Doncaster Chapel :) Woooo!! (See last two pics. James is the guy in white on the left, and Tom on the right)
Ah. What a truly amazing week it was! I love it! Another one of my favourite weeks! I am loving my mission, and loving the fact that I get to serve others and change the world everyday!
Thank you for all of your love and support!
Love,
Elder G. Gaylen Spencer
Ps finally a longer email...
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