Week 25: Four new baptisms set!

Hello every one!!

Guess what! Its that time of year! The time between April and October conference that missionaries in the England Leeds mission can work without their suit coats! Isn't that exciting?? Well... now that I think about it... That's about as exciting as sliced bread... Well, lets just say its getting to be really hot now, and we are very thankful for the change :) See first picture!

PS, conference was amazing, was it not? Just thought I'd put that out there :)

So! Exciting things happened this week! I went on exchange again! This time with Elder Nicholas, from Dallas, Texas! Can I just say how fun and refreshing it is to work in the University area?? A lot! Its so nice to actually talk to people my own age... And it really does make street contacting a blast :) Now don't get me wrong.. Morley is great... But there are only so many old pensioners you can talk to about growing up around the war (especially when you're trying to invite them to be baptised!)

We had interviews with the mission president again! That was fun. I was able to ask him a lot of interesting and informative questions... (Epic side note, President Lindley has actually been inside the church vault and held the very papyrus scroll that Abraham wrote facsimile #2 on! I know, crazy, right??)

We were able to have a powerful week! The Lord blessed us with the opportunity to schedule four different people for baptism! Which is quite the blessing! Not only that, but our old friend Gareth (former investigator/drug dealer with a heart of gold/Jesus Christ enthusiast) came out of nowhere, after his dad told us he had been put away! Now I don't know if he escaped of not... But hey! He loves having us over! He even fed us fish and chips, and came to church yesterday! He is definitely one of the nicest people in England I have ever met :)

Well, this next week is bound to be another blessed week of epic proportions! Just you wait!

Gotta go! Enjoy the pictures!

Love,

Elder Gabriel G. Spencer

PS Special shout out to Josh! Good luck on your midterms! I'll be praying for you!

PPS Another special shout out! Ms. Karstin Lake, you're a star! In case my letter doesn't come to you soon enough, kick butt on your recital this Wednesday! You've practiced hard, and you're going to nail it! My prayers will be with you! (and so will my mom and dad, apparently ha ha) Break a leg! (not a finger)

PPPS One last shout out to Dahveed! Good luck with your intramural championship! Oh yeah, and finals too, I guess. But those are no big deal. Kick butt, bro!

PPPPS Last photo! You wont believe it... We found Elder Thomas's long lost son!

Week 24: April General Conference

Hello everyone!

I gotta be quick, the Leeds teams are callin us to play basketball!

This past week was full of new and interesting opportunities!! We had a Sihk party at the church on Wednesday! There was some well good Indian food present as well :) Yum! Elder Thomas and I had been teaching a family of Sihks for about two weeks, and we were able to help them have a bithday party which was held at the church building! (See first and second picture) Sihks are kind of a branch off of Hinduism, and they NEVER cut their hair! What a great family!

It was Elder Thomas's birthday on Saturday, April 2nd! He really really enjoyed it : ) We first celebrated at a member family's home (The McCann Family, one of the best! See third picture) And then the next day we went over to a part-member families home and had fried chicken and birthday cake! Afterward, at about 5pm England time, we were able to watch the Saturday morning session of conference with them! What a unique experience!

Conference was so great! We were able to help so many of our investigators come to church! At the request of Ms. Karstin Lake, here were the times to watch the sessions in England

Saturday Morning Session: Saturday, 5pm England Time (Live broadcast)

Saturday Afternoon Session: Sunday, 1pm England Time

Preisthood Session: Sunday, 10am England Time

Sunday Morning Session: Sunday, 5pm England Time (Live broadcast)

Sunday Afternoon Session: Sunday, 9pm England Time (Live broadcast)

Fortunately, Elder Thomas and I were able to watch all of the Saturday Sessions, and President Monsens talk on temples during the Sunday morning session :) We very much enjoyed it, because we watched that talk while in the home of a less-active. After watching that talk together, we were able to invite and commit Luke Evans to work towards becoming worthy to attend the temple in May! It was so inspired!

Ah! Leeds 2 and Leeds 4 are calling us! Gotta go!

I love this work! Everyday is such a blessing to be a full time missionary in the Lord's service!

Love, heart and music,

Elder Gabriel G. Spencer

PS Transfers are April 20th! Any predictions??

Week 23: Spring is Here!

Warm and lovely spring is here, everybody!

No offense, but I am so glad I'm not in Utah weather right now ;)

This past week has been great! I LOVE receiving answers to my prayers! It is so apparent in my life that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ truly do direct this work!

So, I spent a little bit too much time emailing family members, so unfortunately, this one's gonna be quick ;) Sorry!

I don't necessarily have any fun stories to tell at this time, so I'm going to tell of my past week's experience...

Our main goal (meaning mine and Elder Thomas) is to work towards getting Standards of Excellence every week, which I have found is quite difficult to do. For those of you who don't know, Standards of Excellence is a weekly achievement that teams can get if they get a certain number of hours finding, lessons taught, investigators at church, new investigators etc, and on average about 5-8 teams achieve this per week. While Elder Thomas and I have been working together, we have been blessed by the Lord to achieve this 5 consecutive weeks in a row, with getting it again this week. (Lets just say two weeks ago was a tough week for Leeds 5) Elder Thomas and I still don't know how we are doing it... but the Lord is seeing it fit to bless this wonderful area :) My testimony on Faith has increased so much as a result of my experiences this week. So, long story short, we plan basically everything out, new lessons, members are coming out with us, and everything. Then on each day, our plans would fall apart somehow. Members would cancel, investigators wouldn't show up, it was starting to look like a very unsuccessful week. But Elder Thomas and I knew that if we would keep trying our best, and if it was in the Lord's will, we would be able to achieve standards again. Eventually, Friday night came, and our situation was looking almost hopeless. Nevertheless, we did not lose faith. We planned for Saturday to be a jam-packed, yet productive day. Saturday came, and things still fell through. But then, people were calling us, asking us if we needed help, and most of our plans were not carried out, but through the help of the our investigators, the Leeds 5 branch, and most of all the Lord, we were able to make Saturday one of the most productive days of my mission, and make standards!

Yay!

And then Sunday! Oh, Sunday... I had so many different opportunities and experiences to teach... I dare say Sunday was probably one of the most spiritual days of my life! I felt the spirit so much, and it made me so happy!

I love this work! I'm enjoying it more as each day passes!

Love,

Elder Gabriel G. Spencer

PS Its Elder Thomas' birthday this Saturday on the 2nd of April. He's turning 20. If you'd like to wish him a happy birthday, please send it to his email at paris.thomas@myldsmail.net

PPS So first pic is from last p-day, when we cleaned our flat. We moved all of our furniture out of the way and DANCED BEFORE THE LORD WITH ALL OUR MIGHT! (Like David, in the bible)

Second pic is of the new recently changed Leeds Zone! (I cant believe Im going to be in my first area for at least 6 months!!)

Third Picture: Thought you might like this... This is the Russian family we are teaching! From left to right-Me, Yevgeni, Raxalana, Svetlana, Daniel, and Lutmila. I love this family so much!!

Week 22: Russian Family

Hiya, all!

Hope y'all have been having a great week! Its really starting to warm up over here in England, which is very welcomed! Elder Thomas and I walked out of the flat, and at the same time stopped, and looked at each other, saying: 'What is this wonderful feeling?' and then we realized, it was a warm gust of wind! Something we both haven't felt since last year! (ha ha) it was wonderful! PS I love summer rains, so I'm pretty excited for the warm weather :)

This past week in Leeds 5 was a humbling one... Not humbling in the sense that we didn't do well, but humbling in the sense that we continue to realize how much the Lord truly does this work for us. Its really remarkable.

We've been meeting with a part-member family, the Barkers for a while now... We started seeing them in mid-January, in fact. On our first visit, Karen, the less active/ mother/ head of the household told us about her kids, Chris, Jess and Abby. Elder Pass and I asked if any of them would be interested in joining us for the lesson. She responded ''Hmm... Jess might, but definitely not Chris. He's an atheist and doesn't want anything to do with you.'' Since then we have been meeting with them at least once a week, and have developed a very good relationship with Chris. This previous week, Elder Thomas and I felt prompted to talk with him about baptism, to which he accepted! More recently, in our last appointment, we taught the word of wisdom and committed him to live it! We were so shocked, yet excited to see such ''a mighty change of heart'' within Chris, to have him now desire and set a goal to be baptised! What a miracle!

Also in this past week, we met with the Russian family. They speak OK english (enough to get basic points across) but due to the language barrier, it has been a very slow progression process. We were able to bring out a YSA from a distant ward named Ben, who actually got his mission call to Russia, and spent 10 and a half weeks learning the language in the Provo MTC. (5 days before he was supposed to go to Russia, he jumped out of his bunk bed in the MTC and tore his ACL and MCL, causing him to be sent home for surgery) Anyway, he came out with us, and was able to translate and progress the family more than me or either of my companions have been able to in the past few months! Ben is also currently teaching me a bit of Russian, and in a few weeks I should be able to speak enough to bare my testimony in Russian! I'm excited!

Well, that's just about all the news here in Leeds 5. Were getting stoked for conference in a few weeks! Aren't you?? WOOO! Go Monson!

Love, and a tin of biscuits,

Elder Gabriel G. Spencer

PS I have officially given up Kebabs for the transfer. If I don't, they WILL be the death of me... lol

PPS Enjoy the photos!

Pic 1: Photo of what we call ''Street Contacting''

Pic 2: Me with and some of the members of Leeds 5 after ''Tea''

Week 21: Again, again!

Hello everyone!

What a blessed week we had! Elder Thomas and I had such a wonderful experience!

Lets start off with some fantastic news first... For the second week in a row, Leeds 5 had yet another...

BAPTISM!

The baptism of Mr. Benjamin Bywaters went of without a hitch! It was such a blessing to see him progress and change his life in order to become a deciple of Jesus Christ! He was literally a golden investigator... We met with him for the first time about 3 weeks ago, and scheduled him for the 12th of March on the first visit, and look where he is now! Ben loves going to institute, and is already half way through reading the Book of Mormon! He is so so funny, and we were so blessed to see him enter into this covenant with the Lord!

I am emailing today (tuesday) because yesterday was transfer calls, and guess what!!! Elder Thomas and I are staying together for another transfer here in Leeds 5! That will make it 6 months total in Leeds 5 at the end of this upcoming transfer! No word on the camera crew coming down to film us... But I will let you know. If it happens, its bound to be an interesting experience... ha ha :)

Once again, the Lord saw it fit to give us the opportunity to get Standards of Excellence again! For the 5th week in a row! This past transfer was definately one of the greatest of my mission... Consistently getting standards while baptising is quite hard to accomplish in the Leeds mission, so we are feeling very blessed :)

Well thats about all I have to report on for the past week... Time to attach some epic photos!

Im loving my mission! The opportunity we have to help so many people recieve the gospel, while growing at an excellerated rate... What an amazing blessing! I am enjoying every minute of it!

Love,

Elder Gabriel G. Spencer

PS I heard that my pictures from the last email did not go through, so I sent the ones from Sabeena and Antonio's baptism, as well as Ben's. Enjoy!

Week 20: Baptisms all over!

Hello my friends!

Wow, can you believe another week has past?? They just seem to fly by, dont they? Another week, another adventure to be had, right? :) I love serving as a missionary! I am learning so much, and Im growing faster than I'd ever thought possible! So first thing's first... The question you all probably have in your minds (if you've been keeping up on my emails and vaguely interested) and the answer to that question is...

Ba- ba- ba- BAPTISM!!!

Thats right folks! The baptism of Sabeena Ali (29) and her son Antonio Lawrence (9) went off perfectly! We couldnt have asked for a better service :) For those of you who dont know/remember, Sabeena and Antonio were actually my first ever investigators when I got into the field. As soon as I dropped off my bags at my new flat, we went to dinner at a member's home, and then went straight over to Sabeena's home and scheduled her for baptism! Now, four months later, I had the wonderful opportunity of witnessing their lives completely change as they accepted the gospel and became followers of Jesus Christ :) Not only that, but both Elder Thomas and I were asked to perform the acutal baptism! Elder Thomas baptised Antonio, and I baptised Sabeena :) It was truly a night that none of us will ever forget! (See pictures)

Well the exchange with Elder Stettler went really well, and we worked hard and had tons of fun :) Thats about...it... ha ha I dont think I took any pictures unfortunately :-/ Sorry!

More good news! Ben Bywaters has been interviewed for baptism, and is set and ready to go for his baptism this Satuday, March 12th, 2011! He is one of the most dilligent investigators I have ever met, and is already in Jacob in his Book of Mormon reading! He has a wonderful sense of humor, and is looking forward to a job in public services.

So, one more miracle to mention before I sign off... Sunday morning about and hour befor church started, Sabeena texts us saying that Antonio had been up all night feelin very poorly and throwing up and stuff. She was very concerned, and she new that they stil needed to get confirmed and recieve the gift of the Holy Ghost. So Elder Thomas and I went over to their house about 30 minutes before church started, and gave Antonio a health blessing. Needless to say, in accordance with Antonio's faith, the Lord saw it fit to heal him enough to gain the strength to attend church and recieve the greatest gift a person can recieve on this earth! WHAT A MIRACLE!

PS Its Mothers Day here in England this Sunday... So the England Leeds Mission thought we'd give our Moms a gift of song! Check out the North Zone video! (They put the taller guys in the back, so look out for me!)

http://www.youtube.com/user/scottyw123#p/u/1/y1qHvrRnoLA

Explanation of pictures number 3 and 4:

#3. Lets just say, we needed a ride to an appointment, and all of the seats were taken so... Lets just say Elder Thomas and I know what its like to be illegal aliens ;)

#4. Yeah. Thats right. I found the Liahona at President Lindley's house. Doesnt work though. It just kept spinning in circles over and over again...

Anyway, another epic week lies ahead, so wish us luck!

Love,

Elder Gabriel G. Spencer

DISCLAIMER: I couldn't open the pictures on the email this week. Sorry!

Week 19: Best week ever!

Good morrow everyone!

(Nobody really says that here, I thought I would just be a bit more original)

Hello! Wow! What an absolute EPIC week we have had! It truly is incredible how the Lord will bless an area, and prepare so many of His children to hear our message! For some unexplainable reason, the Lord has decided to bless Leeds 5 with the ability to achieve Standards of Excellence for three weeks in a row, and thats exactly what happened! Elder Thomas and I even recieved a call from President Lindley today in regards to our previous week's success, and informed us that our key indicators (the number of people we teach, lessons, new investigators, less-actives visited, etc) are among the best in the mission! Now here's the really tricky part... Neither me, nor Elder Thomas have the slightest idea of how we are accomplishing this, aside from one other explanation... And that is that the Lord is directing this work, and we are simply the tools needed to make it happen... Which is so true! A powerful lesson was learned from this experience, and that lesson is of how truly weak and ineffective we are as missionaries if we are allowing our own ego or desires attempt to dictate what the Lord might have in store for us. This idea is also very applicable to those of us who are not serving as full time missionaries in todays world... If we are constantly striving to bear our burdens on our own, claiming that we are the majority influencers of our outcome, while giving little or no regard to seeking for the Lords help or guidence, that is what we shall recieve. If we choose to take on any aspect of our journey without something as simple as prayer, He will allow us to do it on our own. Our Heavenly Father wishes for us to grow and progress, and He will do whatever it takes to insure that the most necessary growth will take place, whether that be through trials and hardships or through greater success and continued excercising of ones faith. It will always be our choice as to how we would like to grow. So as for Elder Thomas and I, we will continue to thank Heavenly Father for his willingness to bless this wonderful area, and we will continue to seek his guidence and will as much as possible as we go about doing our Father in Heaven's work :)

Now lemme get off my little soap box here...

... There we go :)

So we went on district leader exchange last week, and Elder Wadsworth (From Las Vegas) came and visited the work in Leeds 5. During this exchange, we visited Sabeena and Antonio, who seemed rather suspiciously excited about the appointment... We taught about baptism a little more, and just in the middle of the appointment, Sabeena says to her son ''Okay Antonio, we've held it orr enough! Tell them!'' To which Antonio replied ''We want to get baptised on the 5th of March!'

Hallelujah!

You could just hear the choirs of angels singing!

Sabeena and Antonio have finally accepted the Law of tithing, and will be baptised this Saturday at 6:30pm!

I was so shocked, but excited :) You should have seen the grin on my face! It was SO hard to contain the joy that was brewing in my heart! Sabeena told us she sorted out all of her finances and figured out the necessary sacrifices she had to make to pay her tithing every month, and she is more determined than I have ever seen her! Talk about a might change of heart!

We are so so so very excited! And Elder Thomas and I cant wait for Saturday!

As for now, Im going on exchange with Elder Stettler, who was in my district in the MTC! Party! (Missionary appropriate, of course)

Love,

Elder Gabriel G. Spencer

PS. My camera died, and I could only upload one picture in time. So here's a pic of my dream car! BMW Z4!