Week 46: Time for some preachin' to the Gypsies!

Heya everyone! I hope all is well (of course)!

Peterlee is definitely a small area... Nevertheless we began to be fruitful with our labors.
For behold, we did thrust in our sicle with all our might, and did bring in many sheaves unto Christ!
(The Book of Spencer, Chapter 2 Verse 3)

Many miracles were had this past week! Including records broken, district meeting the size of a zone, and epic promptings from the spirit! But where to begin, where to begin... Well, first off, on Tuesday, we were blessed to get in contact with a family of 4 who have been taught on and off with the missionaries for about 10 years, they've visited temple square, and are still in close contact with most of the Elders who have taught them. The Miller family loves missionaries, and have already fed us, showed us clips of them at temple square, and offered to take us to Hogwarts (Durham Cathedral) for P-day! Earlier that day, we were also blessed to find a new investigator, whos contact info we recieved while street contacting in town centre, whos' name is Andrew. On Wednesday, we were blessed to recieve many referrals from both members and investigators of who to teach, and we found 4 more new investigators that day! The next day, we found 3 more new investigators from people we found and talked to earlier in the week, and on friday, we found 2 more new investogators. As of sunday this past week, Elder Brewerton and I were able to teach 15 new investigators, which beat my previous mission record of 10, and created a new standard for my new son :) What a blessing! The Lord truly does provide success :)

So, a little miracle we had on Saturday, Elder Brewerton and I were finishing up with our tea on Saturday night, and we saw that we had about an hour to do some finding, but we both decided we were going to teach someone instead. So we both walked around, going up and down these different streets, talking to absolutely everyone, with no success until we approached this one street in particular. All of the sudden, I got this feeling. I turned and said to my companion, ''Hey guess what? We're going to get let in doors right here.'' He said okay and we walked down this street. Then in an instant, something told me to stop, so I did, and knocked at the door that was directly to my right. A man, about 30-ish opens the door and waits for us to say something. I felt the need to try a different door approach this time... I said ''Hey! How ya doin?'' -''Great, we actually just got back from spain.'' Me: ''Really? Thats sounds like fun. Whats in Spain? Family? Or just some time off?'' Man: ''We just went on holiday for a week.'' Me: ''Nice, nice.'' Then there was a short pause. Man: ''Well, come in then.'' Me: ''Okey-doke'' and then we taught him and his wife! They have a wonderful family, and they have a strong belief in God :) Talk about miracles!

Just some fun stuff I thought I'd mention, if you noticed from the Subject line, Ive mentioned something about gypsies. Yes, they do exist. And not necessarily the ones in The Hunchback of Notre Dam, but with striking similarities... The gypsies are a collection of british people, with little to no education, who spend their lives traveling around the british isles on horses and campers/mobile homes and meeting other gypsies. If you can imagine a busy suburban street full of cars driving up and down, and then all of the sudden this long line of cars slowly driving by, following this horse and buggy, then you'd probably have a gypsy right there. Its actually a huge culture here in england, even though they have a bad reputation for trouble-making, and leaving manure from their horses in all over the streets, they have strong family values and a firm belief in tradition, such as being a staunch catholic (even though they, nor their parents have ever practiced). This past Sunday was a first for me, I street contacted someone on horseback, who was of course, a gypsy. (See 1st picture, which is Peter, and his horse, Gary.)

In addition to that, if you have ever heard of/watched the film or musical ''Billy Elliot'' the town that the story is based in and the street/home where Billy danced in is in my area! I was so stoked when I found out! Billy Elliot is a movie, which has been made into a musical which is about a boy in a mining town who just loves to basically dance his heart out, and he singlehandedly unites a town in the middle of one of the biggest and most violent mining strikes in history. Interestingly enough, the people here are still feeling the effects of the strike that the story depicts. Apparently, fathers and sons who were once pitted against eachother, still refuse to make amends as a result of that conflict. Expect pictures soon! (We're planning on knocking that street!)

Also! I finally have a picture of my new baby boy, Elder Brewerton! Fair warning, dont let his rippling muscles scare you ;) (See second picture)

He is so funny, and a very hard worker, and we will no doubt be seeing much success with our faith and hard work combined!!!

Love,
Elder G. Gaylen Spencer